WhatsNew2Day – Latest News And Breaking Headlines
It’s been a tough year for most of us and it would be easy to focus on all the doom and gloom.
But alongside all the tragedy, there were some shining examples of hope, optimism and human kindness that captured our attention in 2023.
From endangered animals making a comeback to a schoolboy doing everything he can to make his community smile, here’s some of the best good news of the year.
A baby Manning River turtle seen in the wild during a survey about a year ago.(Supplied: Hunter Local Land Services)
Conservationists were left “shaking with excitement” after discovering the critically endangered Manning River turtle had laid eggs for the first time.
Following the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, a program was initiated to establish a secure population and save the species from extinction.
The program, run by conservation organization Aussie Ark and the Australian Reptile Park, saved several mature wild tortoises and wild eggs.
Hayley Shute, of Aussie Ark, said the discovery that one of her tortoises had laid eggs seemed like “an early Christmas present”.
“Seeing where they’ve come from, so far…laying eggs that will eventually be little turtles that go back into the wild, it’s just an amazing feeling,” he said.
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Kirsty Bryant says the arrival of baby Henry is a dream come true.(Supplied: Royal Women’s Hospital)
“A dream come true” is how New South Wales mother Kristy Bryant described holding her newborn baby.
Bryant, from Coffs Harbour, underwent a 16-hour surgery in January to receive a uterus donated by her mother Michelle.
She had undergone an emergency hysterectomy after her first child and “desperately wanted” to have a second.
“It’s been a whirlwind year and having Henry here safe is beyond what I thought possible,” she said.
Henry Bryant arrived by caesarean section at Sydney’s Royal Hospital for Women on December 15 and the hospital said he weighed a healthy 2.9 kilograms.
Dr. Rebecca Deans and Swedish surgeon Mats Brännström performed the original uterus transplant and continued to support the family until Henry’s birth.
“He arrived with a healthy cry and totally oblivious to the fact that he had entered the history books,” Dr. Deans said.
“It was incredible, there was barely a dry eye in the room.”
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Volunteers have helped clean, iron and sort hundreds of dresses and suits.(ABC Radio Sydney: Natalie Agius)
Bright, glamorous dresses and freshly pressed shirts and suits hang from dozens of racks.
High heels are lined up, strips of ties adorn the back wall, and a red carpet is being rolled out.
But there’s one big difference at this store, hidden inside a shopping center in Sydney’s southwest: there are no price tags here.
This is The Formal Project, founded by Sam Oaks to give all young people from Year 6 through to university and TAFE the opportunity to find the perfect outfit for their school formal.
“This means everything to me,” says Mrs. Oaks.
“This started in our house with just one child who needed a dress. And that child was too much for me.”
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Ballarat resident Leanne Middleton found these historic photo albums dumped in the bush.(ABC Ballarat: Rochelle Kirkham)
Six damp, old-looking photo albums abandoned in the middle of a rubbish tip in bushland were enough to catch the attention of a Ballarat woman walking her dogs in October.
“I thought they were beautiful and very, very old,” Leanne Middleton said.
“I knew it was going to rain, so I didn’t want to leave them there if they weren’t trash.”
Once home and looking through the pages, he realized he had stumbled upon a hidden treasure from a bygone time.
It was unclear exactly when the photographs were taken, but other items in the albums, including a ticket to the Victoria and Tasmania Methodist Conference, indicate they could date from around 1915.
The search for the owner continues.
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Charging…
The discovery of hundreds of tiny plastic ducks across Brisbane has left residents scratching their heads, thanks to a local year seven student.
Duck enthusiast Flynn Goddard was finishing his last year of elementary school and eagerly awaiting transfer to high school when he ordered eBay to hide some ducks on campus.
“We originally ordered 100 ducks to hide at my school during my last year of elementary school, but we received 2,000 ducks instead,” Flynn said.
“So we decided to hide them in stores during the holidays.”
He started a Facebook page, Random Acts of Duckyness, to chronicle his whimsical duck-hiding adventures around town.
At his new high school he is now known as “Ducky Boy.”
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Elvis was hungry and ownerless in Halls Creek before making the long journey to his new home.(Supplied: Rachel Dancey)
When Elvis the stray dog found a family willing to take him in, it seemed like the perfect happy ending, but there was a problem.
Elvis was in Halls Creek, a remote Kimberley town on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert. His new family was 3,000 kilometers away in Perth.
Social worker Rachel Dancey, who first found him, and the local veterinary center took to social media to find a solution.
The messages poured in and truckers, travelers and locals got in touch to see if they could help.
“We had people from Broome, Halls Creek, Port Hedland, Karratha all offering their homes as stopover points for him, we had people offering to do just small parts of the journey,” said Kimberley Vet Center staff member Tayla Portas. .
Finally it was the WA police plane that intervened to make the trip.
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It was the perfect mystery for puzzle lovers in northern New South Wales: a box of bright red letters made of tin, with no label or label.
Tweed Regional Museum curator Erika Taylor had been trying to solve the mystery of what they spelled for 13 years.
“I was absolutely intrigued. They have a beautiful patina and I had the feeling they were something special,” Ms Taylor said.
“For the last 13 years I’ve tried over and over again to figure out what they spelled.”
After years of Scrabble apps, staff attempts, and various online platforms, he finally released it to the public in December.
Soon the solution appeared: “Tweed District Ambulance.”
“That fabulous red color, you know, it just symbolizes the Red Cross and hospitals or health and first aid – of course it’s going to be an ambulance,” Mrs Taylor said.
“The ambulance station letters, red, now scream ambulance, but I never put it in my mind.”
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Charging…
Beachport trout farmer Pao Ling Tsai set a trap to catch the predator that had been killing his birds; he hoped to catch a wild cat or a fox.
Instead, he discovered an animal species that had not been seen in the region for 130 years.
The spotted-tailed quoll is endangered in mainland Australia. The animal was released at an undisclosed location after being treated by a veterinarian.
John Woinarski, a member of the Biodiversity Council and a professor at Charles Darwin University, said the discovery offered “a bit of hope” that a small population had survived unreported.
“It’s really good news, compared to the typical sea of bad news about biodiversity, so this is a great record and really inspiring,” he said.
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Four-year-old Willow Board (right) found one of the seven golden tickets from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.(Supplied: RCA Records/Shannon Board)
A four-year-old girl who spends her days reading book after book in a regional Victorian town opens one and discovers a golden ticket inside.
Sounds like something out of a story, right?
Willow Board is a member of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which delivers free books to children every month.
When she opened her latest book, she dropped a golden ticket, placed there by Parton and her team.
It was one of seven in the world and will give Willow and her family a video call with Parton, a signed poster and personal letter, and four free tickets to Dollywood.
Mom Shannon Board said that after watching Parton sing, Willow said, “Dolly’s a diva like me!”, adding that Willow loved Parton’s makeup as much as Parton herself.
“Last year in kindergarten, she had dress-up day and she wanted to go as a farm girl, so we bought her a little cowboy hat and she’s been wearing it and walking around and saying, ‘I’m like Dolly,’” the girl said. Mrs. Board.
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