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The Best Positive News We’re Celebrating This Week —

In an anti-trafficking landmark, nearly 1,000 endangered animals were repatriated to Madagascar

The largest repatriation between Thailand and Madagascar is now underway, with Thai officials sending nearly 1,000 highly endangered tortoises and lemurs home to Madagascar.

It’s part of a landmark victory against animal trafficking, in which Thai police recovered 1,117 animals during an anti-trafficking operation earlier this year.

Among the animals recovered were spider tortoises and ring-tailed lemurs, which are all listed among the world’s “most endangered” animals.

Why is this good news? These animals are highly sought-after in Asia as exotic pets, but replicating their habitats is difficult, and puts their lives at risk. Some of them died due to a lack of food and water when they were first smuggled, so it’s very good news that almost all of them will be returned to their home habitats to thrive again.

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The number of people volunteering in the U.S. is increasing again, especially in states like Colorado

While volunteering rates saw a dip at the start of the pandemic, a biennial AmeriCorps report found that both organized volunteering and informal helping are rising.

Overall, 28.3% of people in the U.S. say they volunteered at least once in the last year, which is up five percentage points from 2021.

Some states saw higher increases, too. In Colorado, 34.7% of people reported volunteering through a formal organization at least once — an 8.5-point increase between 2021 and 2023.

While that rate is still lower than the 2019 rate of 42.2%, it’s really good progress to celebrate — and a trend in the right direction.

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Improving access to care for low-income patients, a telehealth abortion service just became the first to accept Medicaid

Hey Jane, a United States-based virtual clinic that provides reproductive and sexual healthcare — including abortion care — announced today that it is now accepting Illinois Medicaid for medication abortion services.

Nationally, 45% of abortion patients are enrolled in Medicaid, with Illinois Medicaid covering over 3.4 million residents, many of whom face barriers to health care.

Last year, Hey Jane also became the first clinic to accept private insurance for telemedicine abortion care. And now, it’s working to expand this access in even more states.

Why is this good news? As extreme restrictions to accessing life-saving reproductive health care take effect in more states around the country, “sanctuary states” for reproductive health care like Illinois have experienced strains on their system.

Hey Jane offers an alternative to in-person clinics, and this expanded access will help people regardless of income level get the care they need.

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Jane Fonda (and research) says one lifestyle change can help you live 7.5 years longer — more than quitting smoking or exercising more

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The first of the “big four” to do so, London Fashion Week announced it will ban exotic animal skins from shows

Officially the largest industry event to do so, London Fashion Week will officially be exotic animal skin-free.

Starting with its next event in 2025, all its participating designers must eliminate skins from animals like crocodiles, alligators, and snakes from their collections.

This follows the event’s ban on fur, which was officially enforced starting in December 2023. London is following in the footsteps of smaller influential events like Melbourne Fashion Week and Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Why is this good news? While there’s still some work to do to make these events entirely wildlife-free, animal rights campaigners agreed it’s “important progress” and that it sends an “important message throughout the global fashion industry that exploiting animals for their skins is both unethical and unnecessary.”

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There was an over 60% decrease in cervical cancer deaths among U.S. women from 2016-2021

The first vaccine for human papillomavirus, or HPV was introduced in 2006. Now, a new study shows a steep decline in cervical cancer deaths among the group of women first eligible for the vaccine in the U.S.

Researchers looked at the number of cervical cancer deaths from 1992 to 2021. They found that the number of deaths among women under 25 years old due to cervical cancer declined steadily by about 4% from 1992 to 2015.

Then, things changed dramatically. From 2016 to 2021, mortality rates dropped by just over 60% — from about 0.02 deaths per 100,000 people between 2010 and 2015 to about 0.007 deaths per 100,000 people.

Experts are hopeful this data is an indication of even more good progress to come if HPV vaccination rates improve.

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During a 14-week applied science program for underrepresented students, a middle schooler found a cancer-fighting compound in goose poop

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The World Wildlife Fund just released a decade-long report on the Congo Basin, revealing the discovery of 742 new species

Reminding us all just how much of the world is yet to be explored, a new study from the World Wildlife Fund breaks down the discoveries of 742 new species in the Congo Basin, the second-largest rainforest and river basin in the world.

Assembled from data collected from 2013 to 2023 the report catalogs the existence of new plants, spiders, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.

The researchers discovered one new mammal species a year on average, including a new monkey species, three mice, and two bats. They also recorded 25 new snakes, 101 fish, 121 insects, and more.

An important note: Although many of these “new species” were unfamiliar to researchers, and previously unrecorded in taxonomy records, they were known by Indigenous communities in the basin — like a blue-bottomed monkey species with a “booming” call is known by natives of the Lomami Basin as the “lesula.”

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More than three-quarters of UK universities have joined the pledge to divest from fossil fuels

Following years of activism from students and staff, more than three-quarters of universities in the UK have now publicly committed to divesting from fossil fuels.

The 115 out of 149 universities pledging to exclude fossil fuel companies from their investment portfolios represent £17.7 billion worth of endowments that will now be inaccessible to the polluting industry.

One activist said this kind of progress would have been “unthinkable” even a decade ago, and it’s thanks to “the generations of students and staff that have fought for justice in solidarity with impacted communities.”

While we still need to see these kinds of commitments at more universities around the world, this kind of progress only makes divestment more appealing for others to do so, too.

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With millions turning out to help, the number of Giving Tuesday volunteers increased by 4% in 2024

The results are in: This year, $3.6 billion total was donated on Giving Tuesday, an increase of 16% from last year, with 36.1 million people in total participating — either by giving money or donating goods.

Just as notably, 9.2 million people donated their time through volunteering, a 4% increase from last year. One provider of corporate social responsibility solutions reported a 17% increase in volunteering on its platform from 637 participating companies.

This evens out to about 260,000 volunteer hours logged by more than 21,000 individuals from these companies, showing that Giving Tuesday goes beyond employee-matched donations, too.

Why is this good news? When people show up to collect trash in their communities, serve meals at a food bank, or lead read-alongs at their local libraries, they commit to improving the environment and social landscape of the places in which they live — which is especially important right now.

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Noah Kahan celebrated Small Business Saturday at a coffee shop staffed by workers with disabilities

Bitty & Beau’s calls itself “a human rights movement disguised as a coffee shop.” At its 20 locations across the country, it employs people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and has an incredibly inspiring backstory.

Ahead of a Small Business Saturday concert in Charleston, South Carolina, folk singer Noah Kahan paid a visit to the local business to “fuel up” before his show.

“Nice to meet you,” Kahan said, giving a hug to the famous Bitty as he walked into the shop. “Thanks for having me in to your spot!”

He went on to greet every employee, having learned their names ahead of time, ordered a seasonal frappuccino, posed for photos, and spent time after chatting with workers.

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More good news of the week —

​An “exciting” new treatment for lupus could end the need for lifelong medication. With symptoms including joint pain and major organ inflammation, lupus patients with mild or severe cases often have to take drugs their whole lives, ranging from ibuprofen to steroid tablets and injections.

​A drugmaker announced its twice-yearly shot that prevents HIV infections will be available in 120 poor countries. The closest the world has ever come to a vaccine against AIDS, Gilead announced it will allow cheap, generic versions to be sold in countries with high HIV rates, helping improve access where it’s most needed.

​Libraries across the U.S. are offering free health and wellness classes. Helping provide greater access to health information for communities, they offer fitness and cooking classes, conversations about loneliness and mental health, and blood pressure monitors that can be checked out like books.

​Giving hope to more terminal brain cancer patients, a UK man’s deadly brain tumor shrank in half after a new treatment. Scientists are trialing new studies into the aggressive brain cancer glioblastoma, which normally kills patients within 18 months.

​Researchers used Fitbit data to accurately predict mood episodes associated with bipolar disorder. The new machine learning algorithm’s predictions open the door to further research into using a personalized algorithm to drive treatment of the life-impacting condition.

​Under a new rule, people with HIV who need a kidney or liver transplant will be able to receive an organ from a donor with HIV. The rule change is expected to shorten the wait time for organs for all, as before such transplants could only be done as part of research.

​A Taylor Swift commemorative street sign auction raised more than $200,000 for a Toronto food bank. Fans bid more than $100,000 and the venue that hosted Swift’s six Eras Tour dates donated $113,000 to double their impact.​

​Alex Consani made history as the first openly transgender person to win Model of the Year. With a massive, dedicated social media following, Consani has walked the runway for brands including Chanel, Diesel, and Stella McCartney.

​Researchers found the first new treatment for asthma attacks in more than 50 years. Their findings stem from the realization that not all asthma or COPD attacks are the same, but different parts of the immune system are overreacting in different patients.

​A new Roblox game donates a real-life meal to someone in need for each one served in a “virtual community kitchen.” This holiday season, one in five children in the U.S. will face hunger, and nearly half of all kids play Roblox every day — those overlapping statistics presented an opportunity to do good.

​A new study shows that cancer-sniffing dogs and artificial intelligence successfully detected disease with a simple breath test. The largest clinical trial to date for cancer detection using both AI and trained canines, the test demonstrated remarkable accuracy, with up to 97% sensitivity for certain cancers.

​Thanks to a “remarkable” rewilding project, Scotland’s bumblebee population grew by 116 times what it was two years ago. A 90-acre project has been working to restore nature to green spaces in an increasingly built-up area, and bumblebee populations surged from just 35 counted in 2021 to more than 4,000 in 2023.

​Spain introduced paid climate leave for people impacted by deadly flooding in the country. The leave will give workers up to four days off so they don’t have to travel during climate events like the recent flooding catastrophe in October that killed at least 224 people.

​Sierra Leone just began a nationwide rollout of the Ebola vaccine a decade after it saw a deadly outbreak. The 2014 Ebola outbreak was the deadliest in history and nearly 4,000 deaths out of the more than 11,000 recorded globally were in Sierra Leone, which lost 7% of its healthcare workforce to the outbreak.

​A once-endangered species is going to roam free at a California national park. Native to the state, the tule elk neared extinction due to hunting and habitat loss in the 1800s from European settlement, and the herd that was reintroduced 50 years ago has been restricted by a fence that will soon be removed.