Happy Friday, Smileworthy fam. The evenings are getting longer, the butterflies are coming back (literally – keep reading), and we've got plenty to smile about. Let's get into it.

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

🇺🇸 USA
She Worked as a Janitor at Yale Hospital for 10 Years – Now She's Returning as a Doctor
Shay Taylor spent nearly a decade mopping floors and cleaning patient rooms at Yale New Haven Hospital. After putting herself through college and medical school, she just matched for her residency – at the very same hospital. (Read more 👉 SunnySkyz)

🇬🇧 UK
King Opens World's Longest Coastal Path – All 2,689 Miles of It
After 18 years in the making – spanning seven prime ministers – the King Charles III England Coast Path is officially open, tracing the entire English coastline from Berwick to Bristol. At 15 miles a day with no rest days, it would take you about six months to walk the whole thing. (Read more 👉 BBC News)

🇲🇽 Mexico
Monarch Butterfly Population Jumps 64%, Offering Hope for At-Risk Species
Colonies of overwintering monarchs covered 7.24 acres of Mexican forest this season, up from 4.42 acres a year earlier – the largest coverage since 2018. The rebound follows better weather along the migration route and reduced illegal logging in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. (Read more 👉 The Guardian)

🌍 Global
Terrorism Falls to 15-Year Low, With Reductions Across 81 Countries
The 2026 Global Terrorism Index reports a 22% drop in attacks and a 28% drop in deaths, bringing numbers to levels not seen since 2007. Countries from Turkey to Tunisia to the Ivory Coast posted major improvements, with last year marking the single biggest annual decline since 2020–2021. (Read more 👉 Good News Network)

🇫🇮 Finland
Nordic Nation Named the Happiest Country in the World for the Ninth Year Running
Finland topped the 2026 World Happiness Report yet again, scoring 7.764 out of 10 – with Iceland, Denmark, Costa Rica and Sweden rounding out the top five [Ed: We’re packing our bags to Scandinavia as we speak!. The last time Finland missed the top spot was 2017. (Read more 👉 Smithsonian Magazine)

🇺🇸 USA
This Helpline Run by Teens is Helping Their Peers Cope
Every night in Los Angeles, trained teenage volunteers pick up the phone for Teen Line – a helpline where kids support other kids through everything from school stress to serious crisis. The programme helped nearly 9,000 young people in 2024. (Read more 👉 Good Good Good)

🇨🇭 Switzerland
New AI Tool Predicts Cancer Spread With 80% Accuracy
Researchers at the University of Geneva have built an AI system called MangroveGS that analyses gene patterns in tumour cells to predict whether a cancer is likely to spread – before it actually does. (Read more 👉 ScienceDaily)

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

Halfway through his wedding ceremony Josh Jahlas paused – but not because of nerves. He had something to say, and it wasn't to his bride.

Josh called his stepson Levi up to the altar, took his hands, and read a set of vows written just for him.

"Levi, buddy, I may not have been there when you were born or seen your first steps," Josh said, "but I promise to be there for you in every moment whenever you want to play, run around the backyard, or you need one more bedtime story. I will always be there for you. I love you, buddy."

Cue an entire venue reaching for tissues.

Josh met Levi when he was two years old. Up until then, Lexie had been doing it all on her own as a single mum. But Josh didn't just fall for Lexie – he fell for the whole package. And by the time the wedding came around, Levi had long stopped thinking of Josh as anything other than Dad.

That's what made the altar moment so powerful. Josh wasn't making a grand gesture for the cameras. He was putting words to something that had been true for years – that family isn't defined by biology. It's defined by who shows up. Who reads the extra bedtime story. Who chooses you, every single day, without any obligation to do so.

In the video that has since gone viral, Levi wraps his arms around Josh's leg – tiny suit, sunglasses and all – and holds on tight.

The flood of messages following the clip going viral caught the family off guard.

"So many people resonated with our story," Lexie said, "and it gave hope to other single mothers out there."

Weddings are full of promises. But sometimes the ones that hit hardest aren't between the two people at the altar – they're the ones that say I choose all of you.

Want daily uplifting stories like this? Bookmark Happilynews.com

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

Yes, there's a European Tree of the Year – and yes, it's the kind of wholesome competition the world desperately needs.

This year's winner is the Oak of Laukiai, a 400-year-old giant from the tiny Lithuanian village of Rukai that beat out 11 other contenders to claim the crown. Over 200,000 people across Europe voted, and the race went down to the wire.

The oak's backstory is what clinched it. Until recently, the tree stood almost forgotten – known only to the locals who'd grown up in its shade. Then the community rallied to restore the area around it and threw a celebration in its honour, bringing the village together and putting six generations of shared history back in the spotlight.

Second place went to a 150-year-old wild apple tree clinging to a Slovakian mountainside at 860 metres, and Poland's beautifully wonky Crooked Elm took third.

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That 2pm brain fog isn't a willpower problem – it's your circadian rhythm doing its thing. The fix is simple: a midday meditation that takes less time than making a coffee. Sit back, breathe in for four counts, out for six, and let your shoulders drop. That longer exhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which is science-speak for telling your body it's safe to calm down. You don't need silence, an app or a yoga mat – just one intentional minute between your morning and afternoon tasks. Your 3pm self will thank you.

— T.S. Eliot

Wombats poop in cubes. They're the only animal in the world that produces cube-shaped droppings – and scientists spent years trying to figure out how. (Turns out it's the varying elasticity of their intestinal walls.)

1795 Ludwig van Beethoven (24) has his debut performance as a pianist at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria

1914 First successful non-direct blood transfusion is performed by Dr. Albert Hustin in Brussels

1953 Dr. Jonas Salk announces that he has successfully tested a vaccine to prevent polio, clinical trials begin the following year

1961 After a four-and-a-half-year trial, Nelson Mandela is acquitted of treason in Pretoria

1974 Chinese farmers discover the Terracotta Army near Xi'an, 8,000 clay warrior statues buried to guard the tomb of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang

What word comes next:

jangled · febrifuge · marbles · apricot · mayflower · jungle · julienne · ?

Choose from:

augment, elephant, autumn, juiciest

(Answer at bottom of newsletter)

After years of sharing one room with her mom at her grandparents’ house, little Mireya had no idea a fun scavenger hunt was about to change her life. What started as a day of clues around the city ended with her very own bedroom 👇

*Studies show that watching heartwarming videos can boost your mood. So sit back and start your weekend positively - doctors orders!

🧠 Brain Teaser Answer

augment

The first three letters are the same as the first three letters of the months in order.