👋 Happy Friday!

The World Cup kicked off yesterday, which means the next few weeks will bring big crowds, big drama, and at least one person in every room pretending they understand the offside rule. But while the world watches the scoreboard, we’re keeping an eye on the smaller wins, too.

Here’s what’s waiting for you this week:

Let’s jump in👇

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It’s not all doom and gloom out there. Here’s some positive news items from publications around the world.

🇺🇸 Chicago, Illinois
Two-Thirds Of High Risk Breast Cancer Patients Could Safely Skip Chemo Thanks To Breakthrough
A 50-gene test can now tell doctors which breast cancer patients actually need chemotherapy – and which can skip it entirely. In a trial of 4,000+ women presented at the world's biggest cancer conference, more than two-thirds avoided chemo with no meaningful difference in outcomes. One survivor's verdict: "an absolute game changer." (Read more 👉 CURE)

🇬🇧 Oxford, UK
A Stick-On Ultrasound Patch Just Helped Save A Baby’s Life
Engineers built a soft, wearable patch that monitors a baby in the womb continuously for hours – no sonographer required. During testing, it caught abnormal blood flow signals at 28 weeks that prompted an early delivery and may have saved the baby. Your move, $200 baby monitor that screams static at 3am. (Read more 👉 Oxford University)

🇮🇩 Buru Island, Indonesia
A Parrot Lost To Science For A Century Was Just Found On A Mountaintop
The Blue-fronted Lorikeet was described in the 1920s, then essentially vanished – one blurry sighting in 100 years. In April, a team spent six days climbing a peak no scientist had ever reached, and there it was. "When we saw the Blue-fronted Lorikeet, I couldn't hold back my tears," said one guide. (Read more 👉 Reuters)

🇺🇸 Dorchester, Massachusetts
Girl Scouts Turned Cookie Money Into A Wheelchair For A Toddler
Eight third-graders spent about $200 of their cookie profits on a 3D-printed pediatric wheelchair, complete with adjustable headrest and cup holder. Printing took 200 hours; assembly took the troop under one. Next on their list: a violet version, and then – their words – a power wheelchair. (Read more 👉 ABC News)

🇵🇬 Western Manus, Papua New Guinea
An Area Of Ocean The Size Of Nebraska Just Got Protected
77,000 square miles of the Coral Triangle – undersea volcanoes, migrating orcas, 100+ coral species – is now off limits to fishing. It's Papua New Guinea’s largest marine protected area ever, and research shows fish catches near reserves like this tend to rise as marine life spills over the borders. (Read more 👉 Good News Network)

🇳🇱 The Netherlands
This Food Truck Swaps Pancakes For Litter
At the WasteBar, litter is legal tender: hand over a fistful of cigarette butts or cans collected from the street and get poffertjes – Dutch mini pancakes – in return. The Dutch discard up to 10 billion butts a year, and half a million collected ones have already been turned into an art installation. (Read more 👉 The Optimist Daily)

🇺🇬 Kidepo Valley, Uganda
Rhinos Are Back In Uganda’s Wildest Park After 43 Years
The last rhino in Kidepo Valley was killed by poachers in 1983. This spring, Southern White Rhinos finally came home – the result of a breeding program that started in 2005 with just six animals, two of them donated by Disney's Animal Kingdom. Uganda now has 61 wild rhinos and hasn't lost a single one to poaching in two decades. (Read more 👉 Happy Eco News)

🇺🇸 Nashville, Tennessee
Data Centers In Tennessee Now Have To Pay Their Own Power Bills
A new state law bars utilities from passing data centers' massive electricity and infrastructure costs on to regular households – the AI giants foot the bill themselves. Tennessee joins Florida, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Alabama, meaning protecting ratepayers from rising bills is quietly becoming a national trend. (Read more 👉 Good News Network)

Feel good stories from Happilynews.com guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Most first-grade teachers survive in our memories as a name, a sticker chart, and a vague feeling of being safe. Jordan Hodges Scaggs got a different deal entirely: his first-grade teacher still answers his FaceTime calls twelve years later.

Denise Crocker taught Jordan at Rosebud Primary School in Texas, helping set him on the right path in life. Her teachings and kindness at a young age helped Jordan stay out of trouble. So, for reasons neither of them has ever needed to explain, the bond outlasted the school year. Then it outlasted elementary school. Then it outlasted a family move to Tampa, Florida – the point where most childhood friendships get tripped up. Long distance, they regularly shared FaceTime calls to catch up and major milestones. And whenever the family visited Texas again, seeing Mrs. Crocker was on his itinerary.

So, when it came time for Jordan’s high school graduation, Mrs. Crocker and Jordan's mom, Atiah, started scheming. This was one event that a video call would just not do for. The plan took months and required everyone involved to keep a secret from an 18-year-old, which is harder than it sounds.

But come graduation day, Mrs. Crocker made the trip from Texas and hid inside while Jordan headed to what he assumed was a normal graduation celebration. As he walked in and scanned the room, he immediately saw her - freezing in shock.

Putting both hands on his head, he blurted out the only sentence he could muster: "How did she get here?!" Before the pair embraced - a friendship that has proved life changing for both of them. Their reunion video has since racked up thousands of likes from strangers, amazed at their journey together.

Mom Atiah, who captured the clip, says she has a theory about what the whole thing proves.

"If there is ever a question of how important and monumental teachers are in a child's life," she said, "this would be a perfect example."

A unique, sometimes quirky, but always eye-catching photo feature each week.

While the World Cup kicked off yesterday with all the usual big-stage drama, here’s a gentler kind of football story for the weekend: Arsenal’s old socks are getting a second life helping sick horses and donkeys.

Yes, really. The beautiful game has entered its horse-girl era.

The club donated worn-out red football socks to Redwings Horse Hospital in Norfolk, where staff have been using them as surprisingly handy medical helpers. The footless socks can protect sensitive legs from flies, hold vet bandages in place, prevent headcollar rubs, and even keep hair out of the way during hoof trims.

Which, when you think about it, is a much better retirement plan than disappearing into the mysterious black hole behind the washing machine.

Nicola Knight from Redwings called the donation “one of the more unusual” the charity has received, but said it has been a “game changer” for the rescued residents in their care.

And it turns out the idea came from Arsenal’s Operational Sustainability Manager, Michael Lloyd, who said the club is always looking for ways to reduce waste and make a positive impact.

So while the world’s best players chase glory across North America over the next few weeks, a few very patient donkeys are quietly pulling off the coziest kit launch of the summer.

Tees, totes and mugs designed by us, printed on quality kit, and worn by readers who like wearing their optimism on their sleeve. Quite literally. Every order keeps Smileworthy free, ad-free and in your inbox every Friday.

Use code SMILE15 for 15% off — subscribers only. 👉 https://www.thehappilyshop.com/

In our busy, screen-filled lives, real connection often gets nudged aside by emails, errands, and the siren call of “just one more scroll.” One very simple way to bring it back? Share a meal with someone.

It doesn’t need to be a candlelit dinner or a three-course masterpiece. Beans on toast counts. Takeout counts. Half a sandwich on a park bench absolutely counts.

Clinical psychologist Erika Kawamura pointed to the World Happiness Report, which found that sharing meals is strongly linked with greater well-being, stronger social support, and lower loneliness. Pretty good return on investment for passing the potatoes.

So this week, try turning one meal into a mini moment: phone down, chair pulled up, conversation gently simmering.

Connection, it turns out, pairs nicely with pasta.

Apples float in water because they're 25% air. That's why bobbing for apples works – and why they bruise so easily.

1963 US Equal Pay Act signed into law by President John F. Kennedy

1987 New Zealand goes nuclear-free with its Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act becoming law

2003 The Spirit Rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission

2007 "The Sopranos" series finale on HBO (infamous "cut to black" ending) left millions of viewers believing their television or cable had malfunctioned.

2010 Africa hosted its first FIFA World Cup in South Africa

Feel-good clips are scientifically linked to better mood - consier this your weekend prescription!

Bernard – a 100-year-old care home resident - has quietly become the internet’s newest dance-floor hero. A video of him dancing has now been watched more than 1 million times, and honestly, it’s not hard to see why. There’s joy, there’s rhythm, there’s the kind of footwork that makes you briefly reconsider every excuse you’ve ever made about being “too tired.”

Watch Bernard steal the show 👇

That’s it for this week. If you liked what you read, why not buy the team a coffee? We’re fuelled by caffeine and a thirst for sharing the most uplifting, positive stories with you, our beloved readers.

And don’t forget to share with your friends and family to brighten their day, too.

Have a great weekend!

~ Team Happily 😊