3 Things You Shouldn't Worry About

Don't let a US-China trade war, trouble in Kashmir, the showdown in Hong Kong, the DRC's Ebola emergency, new warnings from Iran and North Korea, the Venezuelan embargo, a Russian crackdown, Brexit risks, and the toxic American political culture persuade you that all the news this week was bad.

Here are three new pieces of good news:

Moscow's New Graffiti Rules: No need to fear that your upcoming visit to the Russian capital will expose you to offensive graffiti. New rules ensure that Moscow street artists must avoid depictions of violence, sex, naughty words, drugs, tobacco, explosives and anything else not directly related to science, sport, art, historical events, or the popularization of "outstanding personalities." Russian graffiti artists, world renowned for their respect for local authorities, will definitely obey these new rules.

Traffic in Lagos: Nor is their need to fear that your drive across Lagos will be impacted by the kind of late-night traffic jam the city experienced this week. Confusion reigned when drivers were confronted with a glass-sided truck with a seated man inside tossing cash at women dancing around stripper poles in their underwear. Turns out this was a one-time problem created by Augustine Kelechi, better known in Nigeria by the stage name Tekno, who responded to complaints on social media by explaining that he and the dancers were merely travelling between locations while shooting a music video. This (probably) won't happen again.

Squawkzilla: Scientists searching the bottom of a lake in New Zealand have found the fossilized leg bones of an ancient parrot they say was probably flightless, carnivorous, and half the height of an adult human. That's tall enough, an Australian paleontologist helpfully noted this week, "to pick the belly button lint out of your belly button." Signal estimates just a 7 percent chance that you will encounter a bird this size as you travel through New Zealand this weekend.

More from GZERO Media

The clock is ticking on efforts to help halt and reverse biodiversity loss, but there’s still time to help support the animals, plants, and ecosystems that are all necessary for a healthy planet. In order to protect biodiversity — every living organism and ecosystem from microbes to mangroves — citizens, companies, and countries all need to do their part. That’s why the Mastercard-led Priceless Planet Coalition is on a mission to restore 100 million trees and regenerate biodiversity-rich forests. Read more about the Coalition's approach and progress.

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Delegates at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings have been giving rosy outlooks to the press while the cameras are rolling, but GZERO Senior Writer Matthew Kendrick heard a different story in private settings. He told Tony Maciulis that the global outlook depends heavily on US policy continuity — which is highly unlikely under a second Trump administration — and successful efforts in China to revive its own floundering economy.

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This week World Bank announced a bold initiative to bridge the gender divide by creating more economic opportunity, broadening female leadership, and reducing gender-based violence in the next 5 years as 2030 approaches.

Matthew Kendrick

When a country hits rock bottom financially, the International Monetary Fund is meant to step in with funds to stabilize the economy without damaging its society — or the gender gap. But studies show that these programs often push women out of work at a disproportionate rate to men as the economy contracts. Matthew Kendrick reports from the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings on a push to build more equitable programs.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend a farewell ceremony before Putin's departure at an airport in Pyongyang, North Korea June 19, 2024.
Gavriil Grigorov/Reuters

Kyiv says that roughly 12,000 North Korean troops are in Russia, a far greater number than reported by the US, though it remains unclear precisely how many have entered what Ukraine referred to as the “combat zone.”

Supporters of the Georgian Dream party attend a final campaign rally ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia October 23, 2024.
REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze

Georgian Dream insists the country is still on track to join the EU, as critics accuse the party of pushing Georgia in an increasingly anti-Western, authoritarian direction.

Luisa Vieira

In 2001, a Goldman Sachs economist coined an acronym for the four largest and most promising “emerging market” economies: Brazil, Russia, India, and China became known as the “BRIC” countries.