• The Mosquirix vaccine for malaria has cut deaths among young children by 13% and reduced severe cases by 22% during its four-year pilot rollout to two million kids in three countries. Science.
• Access to electricity in Tanzania has increased from 7% in 2011 to 37.7% in 2020, one of the fastest access expansion rates in sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank.
• In Europe and North America, dementia has fallen by 13% per decade over the past 25 years. Financial Times.
• From 2000 to 2021, the imprisonment rate in the US fell by 70% for Black women and by 48% for Black men. The 19th.
• Number of sea turtle nests on Florida coasts exploding, even tripling in some regions. ABC News.
• Some deaf children in China can hear after gene treatment. MIT Technology Review.
• The typical American family got about 37% richer between 2019 and 2022. Noahpinion.
• 40% more snow leopards in Bhutan. Warp News.
• 98% of Uruguay’s grid is powered by green energy. NPR.
• This Japanese city is piloting EV wireless charging at traffic lights. electrek.
• The world has made substantial progress in increasing basic levels of education. Our World in Data.

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• Between 2002 and 2022, the Global Fund saved over 59 million lives through its HIV, TB, and malaria programs. Friends of the Global Fight.
• Between 2013 and 2021, cases of measles in Indonesia decreased by 95% and rubella incidence decreased by 89%. WHO.
• New cervical cancer therapy cut the risk of women dying or the cancer returning by more than a third. BBC.
• Denver experimented with giving people $1,000 a month. It reduced homelessness and increased full-time employment. Insider.
• In the US so far this year, homicides nationwide have declined 11% to 12%. Los Angeles Times.
• Crime in England and Wales has fallen to its lowest level on record. BBC.
• 50 million more girls have been enrolled in school globally since 2015. UNESCO.
• Half of the world is past a peak in fossil power. Ember.
• Kids are much less likely to be killed by cars than in the past. Economist Writing Every Day.
• Human Progress has launched a new tool with access to thousands of datasets including visualizations of the rise of global income, life expectancy, democracy, education, the end of famine, and more. Human Progress.
• Over the last seven years, Kenya has trained over 1,200 nurses and under-five mortality has more than halved. World Bank.
• Last year, 55,870 hectares of land were reforested in Xizang, China, employing over 1.68 million people. Global Times.
• Between 2010 and 2020, the cost of solar fell by around 15% each year, and installed capacity rose by 25% per year. If this trend continues, solar will become the dominant form of energy for the world. Nature.
• UK emissions fall 3.4% in 2022 as coal use drops to lowest level since 1757. CarbonBrief.
• In August, when heavy rain hit parts of Chile, tens of thousands of people had to evacuate their homes as their communities flooded. Many got a warning a couple of days in advance, thanks to a tool called Flood Hub that rolled out in the country earlier this year. Fast Company.

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• Poland gives support to centrist opposition after 8 years of nationalist rule. AP.
• Brazil set to widen lead as cleanest major power sector. Reuters.
• Bionic hand solves user’s pains in more than one way. Interesting Engineering.
• New AI tool diagnoses brain tumors on the operating table. The New York Times.
• Boston’s high school dropout rate fell by more than half. Here’s their blueprint. Next City.
• ‘People are happier in a walkable neighborhood’: the US community that banned cars. The Guardian.

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• Only 8.6% of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty. This is the lowest percentage in human history. World Bank.
• 100 million doses of a cheap, reliable malaria vaccine are in the process of being manufactured. BBC.
• Egypt has gone from having one of the world’s highest rates of hepatitis C to being on the path to elimination in less than ten years. WHO.
• Millions more students to receive free school meals under expanded U.S. program. PBS.
• UK minimum wage set to rise in 2024. Euronews.
• The monarch butterfly is no longer endangered. Science.
• World’s electricity supply close to ‘peak emissions’ due to growth of wind and solar. CarbonBrief.
• Wind generation exceeds demand for electricity for the first time ever in Ireland. Euronews.
• AI predicts 70% of earthquakes a week before they occur. Interesting Engineering.

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• 40 years ago, Stanislav Petrov saved the world. Vox.
• Renewables sail past 70% on Australia’s main grid, send coal to new lows. Renew Economy.
• The Indian state of Rajasthan hits record-low share of fossil fuel generation for four consecutive months in 2023. Ember.
• Since 1990, the number of healthy years of life lost due to infectious diseases more than halved. Financial Times.
• In Southest Asia, the maternal mortality rate has declined by 41% and under-five mortality has declined by 45%. WHO.
• Kenya achieves remarkable 68% decline in Aids-related fatalities. Star.

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• The proportion of the world’s children living in extreme poverty fell from 20.7% to 15.9% between 2013 and 2022. Overall, 49.2 million children were lifted out of extreme poverty during this period. World Bank (PDF link).
• A guaranteed basic income program for pregnant woman in Delaware resulted in $299,520 in reduced hospital stays and $21,600 in reduced emergency department visits. For every dollar invested into the program, there was a return of more than three-dollars. WDEL.
• In Bangladesh, the proportion of market turmeric samples containing detectable lead decreased from 47 percent in 2019 to 0 percent in 2021. Turmeric mill worker blood lead levels dropped a median of 30%. ScienceDirect.
• Globally, the murder rate has dropped 17% in the past 20 years. Warp News.
• Sixty-seven per cent of the world’s population, or 5.4 billion people, are​ now online. Internet users in low-income countries increased by about 17 per cent over the past year. ITU.
• Leposy has declined around 20% since 2013. WHO (PDF link).
• In the last ten years, girls’ school enrollment in Nigeria has skyrocketed from 1.76 million to 2.87 million – representing a 64 per cent increase. UNICEF.
• The number of countries with low health coverage has decreased from 68 to just 14 from 2000 to 2021. WHO (PDF link).
• The Azores bullfinch, one of Europe’s most endangered birds, has bounced back from the brink of extinction after 20 years of habitat restoration in Portugal. Smithsonian.
• UK wind-energy capacity overtakes gas generation for first time. Bloomberg.
• Since the passage of the IRA, companies in the United States have invested over $92.4 billion into EV and battery factories and have created more than 80,000 new jobs in the same time frame. EDF.
• Germany likely to pass 50% mark for renewable power this year. Reuters.
• Florida is now adding more solar power than any other state. Canary Media.
• Semaglutide is not only effective for weight loss, but also reduces heart attacks and stroke. Vox.
• Life-changing cystic fibrosis treatment wins $3-million Breakthrough Prize. Nature.
• Cash bail disproportionately impacts communities of color. Illinois is the first state to abolish it. AP.
• Median black household income is now at the highest level it has ever been. Economist Writing Every Day.

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• Renewables set to overtake coal as the world’s largest source of electricity by 2024. IEA (PDF link).
• World record: Wind turbine generates enough energy in a day to power 170,000 homes. Euronews.
• 15% of world auto sales are electric vehicles. Clean Technica.
• A Canadian study gave $7,500 to homeless people. The results show the power of cash transfers to reduce homelessness. Vox.
• Within a decade of implementing stricter laws, monthly drunk-driving injuries in Taiwan fell by nearly 40 percent, and monthly alcohol-related traffic deaths dropped by more than 80 percent. Think Global Health.
• Punjab, home to over half of Pakistan’s population, has doubled school enrollment from 13 million to 26 million students between 1998 and 2020. World Bank.
• China’s ‘war against pollution’ over the past decade has led to a 42% drop in pollution levels since 2013. This remarkable progress has added 26 months to the average Chinese citizen’s lifespan. CNN.
• Drones help boost immunization rates in remote parts of Ghana. VaccinesWork.
• Scotland is planning a transition to a 4-day workweek for civil servants and wants the private sector to follow suit. Fortune.
• Peregrine falcons, once extremely endangered, now stable in Iowa skies. The Gazette.
• Tantalising sign of possible life on faraway world. BBC.

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• Schoolkids in 8 US states can now eat free school meals, advocates urge Congress for nationwide policy. AP.
• The poverty rate in Bangladesh declined by 5.6% between 2016 to 2022, lifting almost ten million people out of poverty. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (PDF link).
• Violent deaths in Brazil reach lowest number in 12 years. Fohla De S.Paulo.
• Montreal adds nine more car-free streets after ‘mind blowing’ success. Energy Mix.
• Ocean cleanup group removes record 25,000 pounds of trash from Great Pacific Garbage Patch in one extraction. ABC News.
• A family-run environmental organisation in Indonesia called Sungai Watch has successfully removed 1.2 million kilograms of plastic from polluted rivers and mangroves. Mongabay.
• The takahē, a large, flightless bird once thought to be extinct, returns to New Zealand wild. The Guardian.
• After 90% of the wild population was wiped out by disease, the Tasmanian devil breeding program in New South Wales has produced its 500th joey. ABC.
• Renewables generated 25% of US power in the first half of 2023. Electrek.
• The price of solar modules has reached a record low of $0.15 per watt. pvxchange.
• South Africa, the world’s most coal-dependent economy, has been installing enormous amounts of solar. Bloomberg.
• Mozambique has connected half a million people to tap water. The World Bank.
• Young adults in U.S. drink less alcohol than in prior decades. Gallup.
• Electrified cement could turn houses and roads into nearly limitless batteries. Science.
• Smart contact lens battery charged by human tears. Interesting Engineering.

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

• Polio has nearly been eradicated. Nature.
• 30 million more children have access to school meals than in 2020. World Food Programme (PDF link).
• US murder rates in 2023 are down nearly 13%. Jeff-alytics.
• The number of people without access to electricity has fallen from 1.1 billion in 2010 to 675 million today. Energy Progress Report (PDF link).
• The Okaloosa darter, a tiny two-inch fish, is no longer an endangered species. US Fish & Wildlife Service.
• The amount of global renewable capacity rose by 13% last year and this year it’s expected to jump by a third. IEA.
• Stanford University scientists have invented a new kind of paint that can keep homes and other buildings cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter, significantly reducing energy use, costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Stanford News.
• Colony collapse disorder has been managed. There are now more honey bees on the planet than there have ever been in human history. New York Times.
• Bali rice experiment cuts greenhouse gas emissions and increases yields. Mongabay.

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

• Maharashtra becomes first state in India to introduce universal healthcare policy. Hindustan Times.
• Iraq eliminates trachoma as a public health problem. WHO.
• Once nearing exinction, Brazil’s golden lion tamarins have rebounded from 200 monkeys in the 1970s to around 4,800 today. AP.
• 18 countries have abolished the death penalty in the last ten years. ES Euro.
• 16 million less children suffered from stunting in India in 2022 compared to 2012. Times of India.
• Fatal heart disease in the United States dropped about 4% a year between 1990 and 2019. American Heart Journal.
• Shootings in New York are down 26% this year, and the murder rate has declined by 11%. New York Times.
• Number of Mexicans in poverty declined by 8.9 million from 2020–2022. Mexico News Daily.
• Between 2005 to 2021, particulate emissions in Europe fell by 27%, and emissions of sulphur dioxide fell by 80%. European Environment Agency.
• Large majority of EU countries will hit 2030 solar targets ahead of schedule. Politico.
• India succeeds in reducing emissions rate by 33% over 14 years. Reuters.

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