From Lower Bills To Bridgerton: 7 News Stories That'll Actually Make Your Life Better This Week

From Donald Trump’s “inexcusable” women’s hockey team joke to the ongoing fallout from the Epstein scandal, it’s been a pretty tough news week.

But some headlines spell better news.

We asked editors from our Entertainment, Politics, Life, and Parents verticals to share some of the stories from the past week that will actually make a tangible difference to people’s lives, and looked for some ourselves, too. 

These are, by section:

Politics

1) Typical electricity bills are set to fall by 7% in April

In Rachel Reeves’s November budget, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said that electricity bills would fall by an average of £150. These were set to affect households starting in April 2026.

But because the cost of maintaining and improving various energy neworks has risen, that figure has now been amended to a £117 average yearly cost reduction for the average household regulated by Ofgem. 

Energy regulator Ofgem recently said that amounts to a 7% cut on average.

2) Streamers like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, ITVX, and Disney+ will soon have to comply with broadcasting accessibility standards 

Video streamers like Netflix will soon have “to meet subtitling, audio description and signing requirements that traditional broadcasters already follow,” the government shared. 

Those standards will mean that streamers and video on demand sites will have to ensure that at least 80% of all of their catalogue has subtitles, a minimum of 10% is audio-described, and 5% or more is signed.

It’s expected that this could benefit more than 18 million people across the UK.

Entertainment 

3) Bridgerton has officially returned to Netflix

Season four of the hit show Bridgerton has returned to the streamer after a two-year break. And so far, the reviews have been pretty good, with The Times describing it as a “rollicking good romantic lifter for miserable January and February”.

4) The Brit Awards will hit our screens this Saturday 

The Brit Awards, which are set to take place this Saturday, are looking pretty promising for Lola Young and Olivia Dean this year, having both racked up five nominations each. And PinkPantheress has become the first woman in Brit Award history to have been awarded Producer Of The Year in 2026′s show.

Life 

5) We’re a matter of days away from a 6pm sunset – and the endless rain may soon go away

This year began with storm after storm, which was partly caused by a southerly jet stream and a stubborn area of high pressure. Combined, these led some miserable conditions to blow up to the UK in what the Met Office called a “conveyor belt” of low pressure with “no end in sight”.

But, at least for now, the conditions are a little warmer and milder in parts of the UK (except for the northwest). And heading into early March, the Met Office said an area of high pressure will lead to “many places seeing plenty of dry weather with variable cloud amounts and some sunshine”. Add that to the fact that 6pm sunsets are expected by 9 March, and I’m almost feeling optimistic.

6) It turns out that being really, really good at birdwatching might help to prevent dementia 

Yep – scientists recently learned that expert “birders” had denser brain tissue, and an increased “cognitive reserve” (seen as a buffer against dementia) than those who were less involved in the hobby. So, if you’re looking for a new way to enjoy the sunshine, why not get your binoculars out?

Parents 

7) New changes to GP contracts will help to protect more children from life-threatening illnesses 

The government’s updated GP contracts for 2026-27 could mean that thousands more children, especially those in areas where vaccination rates are low, will be protected from serious illnesses, the government said. 

Currently, only GP surgeries with a high rate of vaccination receive additional financial incentives. But this change would mean the government will offer “improvement incentives that recognise those practices making progress”.

The updated contract “includes additional help for GPs to save young lives and shield families from preventable illness by strengthening vaccination delivery where it is needed most”.