• Portugal is averaging 91% renewable electricity in 2024, with Europe’s lowest power prices. The Progress Playbook.
• The world now gets more than 30% of its electricity from renewables. The Progress Playbook.
• The number of fish on US overfishing list reaches an all-time low. Mackerel and snapper recover. AP.
• The US maternal mortality rate fell from 32.9 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021 to 22.3 per 100,000 in 2022. CNN.
• Average monthly rent dropped by 12.5 percent in Austin, Texas in December and rents dropped by 21 percent in Salt Lake City. The Real Deal.

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• In the 50 years since 1974, vaccines prevented 154 million deaths. Vox.
• Globally, Gen Z is financially better off, at the age they are now, than previous generations were at the same age. The Economist.
• EU Parliament approves ban of products made with forced labour. Reuters.
• China’s EV sales now over 50%. CarNewsChina.
• In the 1970s, less than half of Morocco’s primary-age children attended school. Today, nearly every child is in school. Our World in Data.
• 87% of all people above age 15 were able to read as of 2022, up from 67% as recently as 1979. GZero.
• Real hope for cancer cure as personal mRNA vaccine for melanoma trialed. The Guardian.

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• Nepal had a large decline in poverty from 25% to just 3.6% between 2011 and 2023. World Bank.
• Rwanda has significantly increased its electricity access from 6% in 2009 to 75% as of March 2024. World Bank.
• Morocco has slashed its under-five mortality rate by a remarkable 4.8 percent, dropping from 81 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 17 in 2022. Morocco World News.
• Clean energy accounted for 10% of global GDP growth in 2023. PV Tech.
• California has hit a new renewables record after exceeding 100 per cent of grid demand with clean energy sources for 30 of the past 38 days. Independent.
• More than one in five cars sold worldwide this year will be electric. The Progress Playbook.
• The world installed 117 gigawatts of new wind power capacity in 2023, a 50% increase from the year before, making it the best year for new wind projects on record. AP.
• Second-generation mosquito nets prevented 13 million malaria cases in large pilot programs. STAT.

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• Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, Paraguay, Iceland, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo produce more than 99.7 per cent of their electricity from renewable energy. Independent.
• Between 1950 and 2021, global life expectancy increased from 49 years to 71 years. The Lancet.
• US to close gun show loophole and require more background checks. Reuters.
• Buffalo saw an unheard of drop in gun violence last year. What’s behind the success? The Trace.
• Oil spills from tankers have fallen by more than 90% since the 1970s. Our World in Data.

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• Thousands of deaths avoided in 7.4 magnitude Taiwan earthquake due to strengthened building codes and infrastructure. CNN.
• Slovakia has stopped production at its last coal-fired power plant 6 years ahead of schedule. Euronews.
• 12 US states now get most of their electricity from renewables. The Progress Playbook.
• Solar topped coal in Texas for the first time ever in March. electrek.
• Massachusetts pardons all misdemeanor marijuana possession convictions affecting potentially hundreds of thousands of people. Axios.
• Gender pay gap in Great Britain smallest since reporting first enforced. The Guardian.
• In the US, employers added 303,000 jobs in March, the strongest in 10 months. Axios.

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• Cancer mortality has declined in many countries. Our World in Data.
• Child poverty in Uzbekistan decreases by 7.8% in two years. DARYO.
• Populations of numbats and bilbies are recovering. Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
• China adds 14% of world’s total solar capacity in 2023 alone. S&P Global.
• A record 60% of Europe’s electricity was powered by clean energy sources in the opening two months of 2024. Reuters.
• 3D-printed skin closes wounds and contains hair follicle precursors. PennState.

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• New study: Poverty has decreased more than we thought, as has inequality – including within countries. Warp News.
• Real wages of low-wage workers grew 12.1% between 2019 and 2023. Economic Policy Institute.
• Each of the past four generations of Americans (Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and Silent Generation) was better off than the previous one. SSRN.
• In Cambodia over the last two decades, the mortality rate from tuberculosis has dropped by 45 percent, saving an estimated 400,000 lives. The Star.
• Toxic chemical releases have declined 21% in 10 years in USA. Clean Technica.
• Scientists say they have successfully eliminated HIV from infected cells, using Nobel Prize-winning Crispr gene-editing technology. BBC.
• Surgeons transplant pig kidney into a patient, a medical milestone. New York Times.

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• For the first time on record, the number of children worldwide who died before their 5th birthday has dipped below 5 million. In 2022, 4.9 million young children died – that’s fewer than half the number who died in 2000. NPR.
• In the United States, there was a 13% decline in murder last year (the largest one-year decline ever recorded), 6% decline in violent crime, (likely the lowest rate since the late 1960s), and a 4% decline in property crime. Jeff-alytics.
• Germany’s emissions fell by record 10.1% in 2023. Euronews.
• Brazil installed about 17 gigawatts of solar last year, roughly equal to its entire solar market in 2021. These catapulted Brazil to the world’s third largest solar market in 2023, after China and the US. BloombergNEF.
• Woman given a new 3D-printed windpipe in a world-first. BBC.

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• India eliminates extreme poverty. Brookings.
• Breast cancer death rate dropped 58 percent over the past 44 years in the U.S. The Washington Post.
• After near extinction, the saltwater crocodile has achieved a full recovery in Australia. Science Direct.
• The Florida Golden Aster removed from the endangered list. US Fish and Wildlife Service.
• In Pakistan mangroves expanded nearly threefold between 1986 and 2020. Mongabay.
• Since 2016, 2.5 million plants and 880,000 trees have been planted in 30 corridors in Medellín, reducing pollution and bringing temperatures down by 2°C in a city of 2.5 million people. Reasons to be Cheerful.
• 1 in 5 new car sales globally were EVs in 2023. Electrek.
• In 2023, solar represented over half of the electricity added to the United States grid. Latitude Media.
• Spain has so much solar that electricity costs are almost free. Bloomberg.
• Due to a new breakthrough, life expectancy for those with cystic fibrosis has risen from 35 to 82. The Atlantic.
• In Nepal, the maternal mortality rate has declined from 536 per 100,000 live births in 1996 to 151 by 2021. Nepali Times.
• Nearly half the electricity produced in the Netherlands is now renewable. CBS.

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• $1 billion donation will provide free tuition at a Bronx medical school. The New York Times.
• Italy, home of the mafia, now one of Europe’s safest countries. Yahoo News.
• The Biden-Harris Administration has approved student debt cancellation for nearly 3.9 million Americans totaling almost $138 billion in relief. US Department of Education.
• Slovenia has seen cases of cervical cancer drop by almost half over the last 20 years, with the number of deaths from the disease also falling. WHO.
• Nepal’s Terai Arc Landscape initiative restored 66,800 hectares of forest and significantly increased the Bengal tiger population in the region. Mongabay.
• How Finland halved its suicide rate. The Guardian.
• Electric car sales hit record with over 1 million sold in January. Warp News.

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