Good morning and happy Sunday. As always, we begin our Sunday with a good news update. There is so much happening in the world that deserves to be highlighted, from medical breakthroughs to uplifting human stories. I would love for you to share one piece of good news from your own week in the comments.
For me, the best news of the week was the impact of our coverage. It helped push Congress to pass a bill that requires the release of the Epstein files. That happened because of all of us. In the past week alone, we have generated more than one hundred million impressions, reached millions of Americans, and delivered accurate news to people across the political spectrum. Republicans, Democrats, independents. It does not matter. We are breaking through, and that is the greatest victory I could ask for.
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Here’s the good news of the week:
After a prearranged birthday bouquet from her late husband arrived six months after his passing, a British Columbia woman began planting hundreds of daffodils along her street in his honor, a gesture that quickly grew into a yearly community tradition as friends formed a group called the Spade Maids to expand the memorial, ultimately transforming the entire roadway into a growing ribbon of bright spring blooms that continue to spread joy to neighbors and visitors alike.
As a 17-year-old in solitary confinement, Reginald Dwayne Betts received a contraband copy of The Black Poets, sparking a transformation that led him to pursue education after release, become a Yale-trained lawyer and acclaimed poet, and found Freedom Reads—now responsible for installing over 550 prison libraries with 275,000+ books to bring community, dignity, and hope to incarcerated people across the U.S.
When a Tesco supermarket sought to open a Timpson repair shop directly across from Alan Macdonald’s 30-year-old family cobbler business in Bishop Cleeve, villagers rallied with a 1,000-signature petition—including support from their MP—leading Tesco to withdraw its plan; the community’s effort protected Macdonald’s small, generational cobbler shop and reaffirmed his cherished place in the town.
For more than 12 years, Charlotte baker Manolo Betancur has partnered with a local nonprofit to bake and deliver free birthday cakes, including vanilla sheet cakes with caramel or peaches, to people experiencing homelessness, and he has now given out over 300 cakes to make sure his neighbors feel remembered on their birthdays.
Since 2023, more than 86 million girls in high-risk countries have received the HPV vaccine, which the WHO says is driving strong global momentum toward ending cervical cancer by preventing an estimated 1.4 million future deaths and expanding vaccination, screening, and treatment programs.
In Oakland, artisan Sydney Jones transforms shattered car-window safety glass—collected after local break-ins—into jade-green floral earrings through her small business Odd Commodities, turning waste into wearable art, reducing landfill impact, and channeling community frustration into creative, eco-friendly reuse.
A well-preserved 2,000-year-old Roman razor—once used for clean-shaven grooming central to Roman culture—is being auctioned in England, highlighting ancient shaving practices, elite fears of barbers, and the razor’s role in coming-of-age rituals.
Two strangers in Chicago confronted a man rummaging through an abandoned purse, seized it back by pretending it was theirs, and turned it in—ultimately saving visiting Michigander Lavonne Schaafsma from losing her keys, cash, meds, and IDs, and showing how courageous kindness can protect someone who isn’t even present.
After mistakenly ordering takeout from a similarly named Canadian burger truck over 1,000 miles away, an Alabama man mailed a handwritten apology and $40 to cover the cost—astonishing the Nova Scotia owners, who later sent him a Christmas gift in return, turning a small mix-up into a heartwarming exchange of kindness.
Virginia Tech engineers developed an “electrostatic defrosting” method that uses electric fields—not heat or chemicals—to make frost detach and jump off surfaces, offering a cleaner, far more energy-efficient way to de-ice cars and other equipment.
After a decade in safe-keeping during insurgent threats, around 300,000 of Timbuktu’s medieval manuscripts—rich with medical, scientific, historical, and cultural knowledge—have been returned home, preserved, and digitized, marking a major victory for Mali’s heritage and its continued scholarship.
A large clinical trial of the new malaria drug KLU156 showed a 99.2 percent cure rate across 1,600 patients in 12 African countries, offering a potent non-artemisinin treatment option at a critical time as resistance to current frontline therapies continues to grow.
A young Carolina Panthers fan and heart transplant survivor, Bryson Shupe, enjoyed the best day of his life in Green Bay where he traveled for his first-ever flight, met players on the field, reunited with Greg Olsen, and celebrated a Panthers win while sharing an encouraging message to fellow patients to keep pounding.
@levinechildrens
Atrium Health Levine Children's on Instagram: "Reuniting with y…
A camera trap in South Africa’s West Coast National Park captured the region’s first leopard sighting in 170 years, marking a major conservation milestone credited to decades of habitat restoration and coexistence work that reconnected wildlife corridors and enabled the species to naturally return.
A lost sea otter pup named Caterpillar was rescued in Morro Bay, California, after conservationists used recorded pup cries to draw in a searching mother, leading to a successful and emotional reunion caught on video.
@themarinemammalcenter
The Marine Mammal Center on Instagram: "A sea otter pup recentl…
Toyota unveiled a new four-legged mobility robot called Walk Me that mimics the stability of mountain goats, allowing wheelchair users to climb stairs, navigate uneven terrain, and position themselves more easily, using independent mechanical legs, sensors, LiDAR, voice controls, and a 12-hour battery.
A Nova Scotia burger truck received a handwritten apology and $40 from an Alabama man who accidentally ordered food from them believing it was his local Bentley’s Burgers, prompting the owners to share the heartwarming gesture online and send him a Christmas gift in return.
See you this afternoon.
— Aaron
