• The Democratic Republic of the Congo certified free of Guinea-worm disease. WHO.
• Between 2014 and 2021, the South-East Asia Region recorded 73% reduction in measles deaths and 64% reduction in measles cases. Five of the 11 countries have eliminated measles, and two countries – Maldives and Sri Lanka – have eliminated rubella as well. WHO.
• In India between 2017 and 2021, measles has decreased by 62%, and rubella by 48%. WHO (PDF link).
• Saudi Arabia is making strides in women’s rights. Strict dress regulations, mandatory gender segregation, and a ban on women drivers were abolished. ABC.
• Almost half of electricity in Germany was generated from renewables in 2022. IEEFA.
• Congress’s bipartisan deal to spend billions more fighting HIV and malaria abroad. Vox.
• Hawaii to make preschool available for all 3-4 year-olds. AP.
• Postpartum haemorrhage: Niger halves blood-loss deaths at clinics. BBC.
• Gentle policing: Social workers team up with Raleigh officers to successfully respond to over 1,000 calls. WRAL News.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• There’s been a 33% overall reduction in cancer deaths since 1991 and an estimated 3.8 million deaths averted, mostly due to the decline in tobacco use. American Cancer Society.
• Here are all the positive environmental stories from 2023 so far. Euronews.
• EU solar deployment rate soars by almost 50% in 2022. Energy Monitor.
• A powerful laser can redirect lightning strikes. Science News.
• Medicare begins to rein in drug costs for older Americans. The New York Times.
• 118th Congress is most racially diverse to date. The Hill.
• 118th Congress breaks record for lesbian, gay and bisexual representation. Pew Research Center.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• Why the ozone hole is on track to be healed by mid-century. Vox.
• The green jobs boom is benefiting the people who need it most. Reasons to be Cheerful.
• How Jersey City got to zero traffic deaths on its streets. Bloomberg.
• New antibody therapy works for 73% of multiple myeloma patients. Freethink.
• Number of populist world leaders at 20-year low. The Guardian.
• The economy is improving in three major ways. The Atlantic.

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• 183 ways the world got better in 2022. Reasons to be Cheerful.
• Adolescent risk behaviours (such as drinking, smoking, drug use, crime, and sex) have declined markedly in high-income countries between 1999-2019. ScienceDirect.
• Teen birth rates have declined 77 percent in the past 30 years. Child Trends.
• There are more than a billion fewer people living below the International Poverty Line today than in 1990. Our World in Data.
• Carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union reached a 30-year low this November despite Russia. The Hill.
• This new sea salt battery has 4 times the capacity of lithium. Euronews.
• Minimum wage rises in more than half of U.S. states. Yahoo!
• Cancer vaccines are showing promise. National Geographic.
• Secret Congress delivers more good news on clean water. Slow Boring.
• Income inequality has been falling for a while now. Slow Boring.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• Best science news 2022. Neurologica.
• New clean energy investments have topped $40B since the IRA passed, report says. Utility Dive.
• Oregon governor commutes all 17 of the state’s death sentences. CBS News.
• Largest study to date confirms Ebola vaccine safety, with immunity lasting up to a year. Gavi.
• Moderna’s mRNA cancer vaccine shows promise in preliminary study. The Wall Street Journal.
• U.S. rents drop at the fastest rate in 7 years. Axios.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• 99 good news stories you probably didn’t hear about in 2022. Future Crunch.

• The biggest wins in clean energy in 2022. Inside Climate News.
• Experimental CRISPR technique has promise against aggressive leukaemia. NewScientist.
• More cities are excelling at policies on LGBTQ equality even amid hostile legislation, report finds. USA Today.
• How Houston halved homelessness. The Nation.
• The White House unveils a new system to track and better prevent opioid overdoses. NPR.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• Rubella eliminated from Singapore. WHO.
• Over the past 30 years, Cambodia has cleared landmines from a total of 2,531 sq km, making the land safe for an estimated nine million people to use for the construction of houses, schools, hospitals, bridges, roads and farming. The Phnom Penh Post.
• Bangladesh attains huge success in reducing infant, maternal mortality. The Business Standard.
• Canada’s overall poverty rate fell from 14.5% in 2015 to 6.4% in 2020. This means that Canada has met its target of reducing poverty by 50% by 2030 ten years ahead of time. National Advisory Council on Poverty (PDF link).
• Abu Dhabi reduces number of single-use plastic bags by half a million per day. The National News.
• The cost of college has stopped rising faster than inflation for the first time since the 1980s. The Hechingerr Report.
• Here are all the positive environmental stories from 2022 so far. Euronews.
• New Mexico voted a child care guarantee into its constitution. CNN.
• Critically endangered tiny gecko comes back from the brink. New Scientist.
• Kenyan female innovator awarded $1.2M for providing clean cooking stove. Africanews.
• Renewable energy sources accounted for 47.1% of Greece’s electricity generation in the first 10 months of the year, surpassing the share of fossil fuels. Ekathimerini.
• Captioned smart glasses let deaf people see, rewind conversations. CBS.
• Immigration naturalizations in the US highest in a decade. Changing America.
• U.S. jobless claims fell last week, showing solid labor market. The Wall Street Journal.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.

• In Tanzania, there has been a 27 percent decline in tuberculosis incidence and a 52 percent reduction in TB deaths. The Citizen.
• Brazil reports almost 28% decrease in malaria from 2017 to 2021. In the Americas overall between 2000 to 2020, malaria cases decreased by 58%. Outbreak News.
• In Kenya, child mortality is about half of what it was 20 years ago. Nation.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announces it will spend more than $7 billion over the next four years to support African countries and institutions working to confront hunger, disease, gender inequality, and poverty. Gates Foundation.
• Overall crime in the United Kingdom is now at its lowest level since the 1980s. ONS.
• The governor or Oregon grants pardon for marijuana offenses. Approximately 45,000 people will be impacted. More than $14,000,000 in fines and fees will be forgiven. State of Oregon.
• South Korea has almost zero food waste due to mandatory composting. Guardian.
• Efforts to save the endangered Fender’s blue butterfly in Oregon have quadrupled the population and saved its host plant from extinction as well. The butterfly is slated to be downlisted from endangered to threatened. High Country News.
• Electricity from snow? A Japanese city believes it can be done. Nikkei Asia.
• Promising universal flu vaccine could protect against 20 strains. NewScientist.
• A hundred UK companies sign up for four-day week with no loss of pay. The Guardian.

For more good news, check out The Progress Network, and Future Crunch.