🐈 Unbelievable Animal Rescues from 2025

Good morning. From daring animal rescues that turned RSPCA staff into true heroes, to a First Nation community in British Columbia reimagining housing with local timber, this week’s stories highlight ingenuity and compassion in action.

France is making headlines with a sweeping ban on “forever chemicals” in everyday products, while ecologists in Cyprus are fighting invasive lionfish by serving them up as a new local delicacy.

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—Stephanie S

The RSPCA’s list of 2025’s wildest animal rescues highlights the dedication and creativity of its staff. Among the year’s most memorable moments were a fox trapped in a patio chair, another fox stuck inside an Amazon van engine, and a kitten named Olivia Twist rescued from a sewage system after three days alone.

Birds also found themselves in trouble, with a peregrine falcon tangled in anti-bird netting and a seagull caught in a football net. Even a badger and a hedgehog needed help after mishaps with sports equipment and garden tools.

A tawny owl was saved after being found hanging from a tree branch above fast-moving water. Each story is a testament to the RSPCA’s commitment to animal welfare.

2025 was one of the charity’s busiest years, with teams rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming hundreds of animals, proving that no rescue is too strange for these everyday heroes.

The Nak’adzli Whuton First Nation in British Columbia is pioneering a prefabricated housing system that uses locally sourced, low-grade timber. By partnering with a university and industry experts, they transform aspen and other woods into strong mass timber panels.

These homes can be assembled in just 10 days, offering affordable, high-quality housing and new economic opportunities for the community.

The project aims to boost local skills and create a sustainable, adaptable housing model for the region.

France has enacted a groundbreaking ban on “forever chemicals” in cosmetics, fashion, and ski wax, aiming to reduce public exposure to these toxic substances. Known as PFAS, these chemicals pose health risks and persist in the environment.

The law was championed by the Green Party and passed with strong support. It also requires regular testing of civic water supplies for PFAS.

While the ban exempts some emergency equipment and non-stick pans, it marks a major step for consumer safety and environmental health.

In Cyprus, ecologists and chefs are teaming up to fight the invasive lionfish by turning it into a local delicacy. The lionfish, native to the Indo-Pacific, has been devastating Mediterranean marine life due to a lack of natural predators.

Restaurants and fish markets are now offering lionfish dishes, making the most of its tender, affordable meat. This creative approach not only helps protect local ecosystems but also supports the fishing industry.

By eating lionfish, communities are transforming an environmental threat into a tasty opportunity.

🌠 Hawaii: Astronomers have spotted 3I/ATLAS, only the third-ever confirmed interstellar comet.

🎮 Washington: Seniors are a larger portion of the 57 million Americans who are thriving as video gamers, proving age is just another level to beat.

🧠 UK: Scientists developed a simple finger-prick blood test that can detect Alzheimer’s disease markers with high accuracy.

🤗 Ohio: An Ohio man who grew up in foster care tracked down his biological father after 33 years apart, thanks to a chance meeting and a DNA search.

🚑 Oregon: After a near-drowning left a 5-year-old boy unresponsive, his brother, a 911 dispatcher, and firefighters saved his life.

47 years ago today, Vietnamese-backed forces under the Salvation Front (FUNSK) entered Phnom Penh, overthrowing the Khmer Rouge regime led by Pol Pot and bringing an end to the Cambodian Genocide. The Vietnamese military intervention followed years of cross-border attacks and came less than a decade after the Fall of Saigon, yet Vietnam’s forces advanced swiftly, defeating the regime in just two weeks and halting one of the 20th century’s worst atrocities.

The intervention ended a genocide that had killed an estimated 18 to 30 percent of Cambodia’s population and enabled international food aid to reach a starving nation. Although Vietnam was initially vilified by many Western governments for its role, history has increasingly recognized that it was the only country willing to stop the killing. A decade later, a UN-led transition helped restore Cambodia’s political institutions, establish a constitutional monarchy, and usher in a period of lasting peace.

Other notable January 7 events:

1610: Galileo Galilei observed Jupiter’s four largest moons for the first time.

1785: The first aerial crossing of the English Channel was completed by balloon.

1924: George Gershwin completed Rhapsody in Blue.

1927: The first transatlantic telephone call was made from New York to London.

— Charles de Gaulle

Every day brings amazing advances and uplifting moments that remind us just how wonderful the world can be. Here are five reasons why today is the best time ever to be alive:

🚁 Drone Medicine: Drone delivery is bringing medicine to remote and disaster-hit areas.

🧱 Plastic Bricks: Eco-bricks made from plastic bottles are being used to build classrooms and community centers.

💧 Water Health: Global clean water initiatives are eliminating waterborne diseases in rural villages.

🚢 Solar Shipping: Solar-powered cargo ships are beginning to reduce emissions in the global shipping industry.

👩‍🔬 Girls in STEM: Global education initiatives are training girls in STEM, closing long-standing gender gaps.

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