Deutsche Welle (English edition)
ICYMI: Feel-good stories from around the world
What do Gamestop traders and gorillas, a Ming dynasty vase, a four-day work week and Tanzania's president have in common? They're all positive stories you may have missed this week.
WallStreetBets traders switch meme stocks for great apes
Members of Reddit community r/WallStreetBets, which gained attention worldwide for their coordinating purchasing of Gamestop stocks, rallied at the weekend to save gorillas.
They poured their cash into the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in the form of donations.
So far, the world's largest and longest-running organization fully dedicated to gorilla conservation announced it had received more than $383,000 (€322,000) in donations in under a week.
The choice to invest in gorillas stemmed from a community joke as those in the group refer to themselves as "apes."
On Monday, the gorilla fund tweeted it received donations over the weekend to adopt more than 2,000 gorillas — compared to around 20 adoptions on a typical weekend.
"As it turns out, gorillas are a great investment!" the fund tweeted, explaining that it would contribute towards saving the planet.
Yard-sale bowl fetches over $720,000
A bowl bought for $ 35 (around €30) at a yard sale in New England in the US turned out to be rare Ming Dynasty
Chinese porcelain. This week, it fetched nearly $722,000 at auction.
The rare bowl is one of only seven known to exist in the world.
The find could have easily been missed if it weren't for the sharp eye of an antiques enthusiast, who spotted the antique
piece while browsing a yard sale last year in New Haven, Connecticut.
The buyer later emailed information and photos to renowned international auction house Sotheby's headquartered in New York, asking for an evaluation. Sotheby's confirmed it was from the 1400s.
How the bowl ended up at a Connecticut yard sale remains a mystery.
Spain to launches modest four-day week trial
Spain could become one of the first countries in the world to launch a four-day or 32hour work week, after the government agreed to launch a pilot project for interested companies, according to a report in the British newspaper, The Guardian.
Pablo Iglesias, who resigned as deputy prime minister in Spain's ruling coalition on Monday, put forward the proposal in December 2020. The trial is set to be implemented as a novel response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The exact details of the plan have yet to be decided but it's thought the project will cost around €50 million.
First woman as Tanzania's president
Samia Suluhu Hassan made history when she was sworn in as Tanzania's first female president on Friday.
The historic ceremony took place at State House, the government offices in Dar es Salaam, the country's largest city.
Suluhu Hassan was born in Zanzibar in 1960 and went to school at a time when very few girls in Tanzania were getting an education.
She entered the male-dominated world of politics in 2000, when she became a member of the Zanzibar House of Representatives.
Her inauguration comes two days after she announced the death of President John Magufuli, after he had not been seen in public for more than two weeks.
As Tanzania's former vice president, Suluhu Hassan will complete Magufuli's second term in office which had just started after he won elections in October 2020.