Good news: Behind the scenes of some of the most uplifting stories of 2025

FILE - John Prevost, member of caller Pope Leo XIV, holds a representation of the 3 Prevost brothers from 1958, Pope Leo, 3, left, John, 4, and Louis, 7, astatine his home, May 8, 2025, successful New Lenox, Ill.

Obed Lamy/AP

FILE - Mary E. Brunkow speaks connected the telephone during an interrogation aft winning a Nobel Prize successful medicine for portion of her enactment connected peripheral immune tolerance, successful Seattle, Oct. 6, 2025, adjacent to her is her canine Zelda.

Lindsey Wasson/AP

FILE - Newlyweds Jade Rick Verdillo, right, and Jamaica buss during their wedding wrong a flooded Barasoain religion successful Malolos, Philippines, July 22, 2025.

Aaron Favila/AP

FILE - Callum Ganz, 17, center, gives a pre-show pep speech to castmates successful Crazy for You connected opening nighttime arsenic the Theatre Palisades Youth radical returns to the signifier aft losing their theatre successful the Palisades fire, successful Los Angeles, Feb. 28, 2025.

Jocelyn Gecker/AP

It was 1 of the year’s biggest stories — the enactment of the archetypal American pope — and an Associated Press writer was interviewing the pope's member astatine his location successful suburban Chicago. Suddenly, they heard a ringing coming from the basement. “That mightiness beryllium the pope,” the caller pontiff’s member said.

Indeed, the antheral who had emerged hours earlier connected the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica arsenic Pope Leo XIV was calling to drawback up with his older brother. Obed Lamy, a video journalist, listened and recorded arsenic the speech played retired connected speaker.

“I was shaking due to the fact that I didn’t cognize what the pope would say,” Lamy said. “Am I expected to accidental thing oregon not accidental anything?”

In a twelvemonth marked by governmental strife, earthy disasters and different calamities astir the world, 2025 besides had its stock of uplifting moments. AP journalists were successful the mediate of galore of them.

Some recovered stories of joyousness amid disaster, including a wedding successful a typhoon-flooded religion successful the Philippines and a younker theatre radical that staged a accumulation weeks aft a devastating wildfire successful California. Some became portion of the stories they were covering, simply by being there. In Seattle, an AP lensman broke the quality to a idiosyncratic that she had won a Nobel Prize.

Here are their stories.

The pope was connected the line

I had arrived astatine Prevost’s location successful the aboriginal evening aft driving 3 hours from Indianapolis, wherever I americium based. After walking by different media outside, I knocked connected the door. Prevost fto maine in.

As we talked, a ringing came from the basement. Prevost hurried to a tablet downstairs and I followed, my camera on. He recovered helium had a fewer missed calls from his brother. He called the pope back, utilizing a talker to play the audio retired loud. The pope picked up.

I got the changeable — the caller pontiff’s dependable speaking to his older brother, asking him wherefore helium hadn’t been answering his calls.

“Well, archetypal you request to cognize you’re connected the aerial close now,” the older member responded. “This is the archetypal clip I’m proceeding that this happening rang.”

The speech went connected for conscionable a fewer minutes. They talked similar immoderate different brace of siblings. He told the pope, “Oh, we’re coming to Rome.” And the pope said, “Oh, wherever are you going to sleep?” It was absorbing the pope himself did not cognize what the accommodations for his household would look like.

Breaking the quality to a Nobel winner

When I arrived, I wasn’t wholly definite I was astatine the close location due to the fact that my GPS had taken maine to the back. After walking done a neighbor’s pitch-black driveway, I arrived astatine the beforehand door. It was wide cipher was awake.

Thankfully, erstwhile I knocked, their canine barked and woke Mary’s husband, Ross, who spoke to maine done the solid door. I identified myself and asked if a Mary lived determination and if helium knew wherefore I was there. Not wanting to spoil it but seeing nary different mode in, I told him, “Sir, your woman conscionable won the Nobel Prize.”

Thankfully, helium fto maine in, and I took a speedy framework arsenic helium brought Mary to the room portion telling her the news. They were inactive successful disbelief, truthful I handed my telephone to Ross with our archetypal AP story, which helium work aloud successful portion to Mary.

The archetypal mood, precise understandably, was a premix of tension, annoyance and disbelief astatine being woken up astatine 3:45 a.m. Ross told maine that erstwhile helium archetypal went into their chamber with the news, she said, “Don’t beryllium ridiculous.” As soon arsenic Mary and Ross began to process the quality and realized each those missed calls from Sweden overnight weren’t spam, the temper shifted to 1 of joy.

I was capable to travel on with my camera arsenic Mary sifted done an avalanche of emails, substance messages and telephone calls from family, friends and different journalists hoping to talk with her.

Capturing a wedding that went connected contempt typhoon flooding

I had an hr model to marque it to the venue and had to thrust retired of municipality and transverse respective flooded roads during a dense downpour. The flooding successful the country was excessively heavy for our vehicle, truthful we had to stop. Luckily, a rescue motortruck passed by, and I rode that.

I got determination close earlier they opened the doorway for the bride.

The groom, Jade Rick Verdillo, told maine they were anxious to spell up with the ceremonial contempt the floodwaters. “We’ve been done a lot. This is conscionable 1 of the struggles that we’ve overcome,” helium said.

If I was shooting for a deadline story, I would person tally retired aft the archetypal kiss. But for this one, I stuck till the extremity to marque definite I captured each infinitesimal … conscionable similar a wedding photographer.

A younker theatre accumulation rises from wildfire ashes

Rehearsals for the group’s upcoming musical, “Crazy for You,” had started connected Jan. 6. The adjacent day, the Palisades Fire ripped done their community. But the amusement would spell on, said manager Lara Ganz, whose household besides mislaid their home. It was astir restoring togetherness, anticipation and regular and showing the kids who had mislaid truthful overmuch that beingness was not over.

Witnessing opening nighttime was a gift. It was an evening of specified aggravated emotions jumbled together: joyousness and pain, heartbreak and happiness, grief and pride. It was a airy successful the darkness, arsenic 1 begetter told me.

One teen said erstwhile helium sang and danced to the euphony of George and Ira Gershwin, the value of his nonaccomplishment lifted. He lone felt happiness.

After the nonfiction was published, Ganz relayed that members of the Gershwin household spot had work the communicative and attended a aboriginal performance. They delivered a missive to the formed and crew.

“On behalf of the families of George and Ira Gershwin, we applaud your resilience,” the missive said. It praised their “amazing dedication” successful the look of hardship and said they hoped the formed was immensely arrogant of their production. “We cognize that George and Ira would beryllium too.”