Nations

Indian flag

India has treated 6.8 million cancer patients for free in seven years

/

India’s Health Minister just reported that a national insurance program has treated an astonishing 6.8 million people for cancer, three-quarters of whom live in rural areas. The cost of the work amounted to $1.5 billion USD. Managed and paid for by the country’s flagship health insurance program called Ayushman Bharat, patients could get financial assistance to fight breast, oral, cervical, and lung cancers, as well as metastatic melanoma, chronic myeloid leukemia, and Burkitt’s lymphoma.

Big Ben

U.K. emissions fall to lowest level since 1872

/

In a major win for climate action, a new analysis from Carbon Brief has found that the country’s planet-warming emissions fell by 3.6% to 371 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2024, the lowest since Queen Victoria’s reign. Last year’s decrease was largely driven by a drop in coal use, led by the closure of the UK’s last coal-fired power station and one of its last blast furnaces. Other contributors included a drop in demand for oil and gas and a nearly 40% rise in electric vehicles on the road.

Amazon

Brazil’s crackdown on illegal mining in Munduruku Indigenous land sees success

/

Since November 2024, government agents have carried out 523 actions, destroying 90 camps, 15 vessels, 27 heavy machinery, and 224 engines. The coordinated government effort caused losses of $1.9 million USD to criminals. The 5.9-million-acre Munduruku Indigenous Territory, home to 6,500 people, is one of the lands that has been hardest hit by illegal mining in the country. During Bolsonaro’s administration, there was a 363% increase in the area degraded by mining which brought diseases, mercury contamination, attacks, and deaths to communities.

Ukraine flag

Norway boosts financial support to Ukraine with €4.3 billion

/

The Norwegian Parliament has agreed to more than double the financial support to Ukraine for 2025 as the United States continues to withdraw its support under the Trump administration. Norway’s state budget for 2025 initially granted €2.98 billion to Ukraine. Today’s increase by 50 billion kroner boosts the total sum for this year €7.24 billion, more than doubling Norway’s contribution. None of the politicians were against helping Ukraine in its defense against aggressor Russia, from the far right to the far left.

Holding a cell phone|iPhone

Denmark to ban mobile phones in schools and after-school clubs

/

The Danish wellbeing commission was set up by the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, in 2023 to investigate growing dissatisfaction among children and young people. Its long-awaited report, published recently, raised the alarm over the digitization of children and young people’s lives and called for a better balance between digital and analog life. Among its 35 recommendations was the need for government legislation banning phones from schools and after-school clubs.

Fur coats

Norway permanently closes all fur farms

/

Once home to nearly 300 fur farms, the Scandinavian country has now phased out the industry entirely, with the last farmers shutting down operations ahead of a February 2025 deadline. The final decision to ban fur farming was made in 2018, with a phase-out period designed to help farmers transition to other livelihoods. Now, the country has officially made good on its promise, joining a growing list of nations that have decided fur farming belongs in the past.

Benin Bronzes

The Netherlands to return over 100 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

/

The Benin Bronzes are a collection of thousands of metal plaques and sculptures that decorated the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin. Created between the 14th and 16th centuries, British soldiers looted the Benin Bronzes from modern-day Nigeria in the 19th century. Of the looted statues taken during the Benin Expedition of 1897, two hundred were housed in the British Museum, with the rest spread across other European institutions. The Netherlands has now agreed to return its share.

High-speed train

Canada to build massive, fully electric, 185-mph inter-city rail network

/

Canada is set to begin work on a high-speed inter-city rail network – the largest infrastructure project in the country’s history. Spanning 621 miles, the fully electric new rail network will serve 18 million people – nearly half of Canada’s population – across the Toronto-Quebec City corridor. It’s expected to serve 13 times more passengers annually than the current service. Canada is expected to invest nearly $3 billion USD over the next six years to bring the project to light.

Haida Gwaii cove

Haida celebrate title agreement that enshrines right to control their own destiny

/

The Big Tide Haida Title Lands Agreement affirms that the Haida have Aboriginal title over all of the Haida Gwaii islands’ lands, beds of freshwater bodies, and foreshores to the low-tide mark. It will transition the Crown-title land owned by Canada to the Haida people, granting them an inherent legal right to the land. Gaagwiis Jason Alsop, president of the Council of the Haida Nation, said the agreement was the culmination of “well over 100 years of political mobilization by the Haida Nation.”

Illustration of the concept of nuclear fusion

France runs fusion reactor for record 22 minutes

/

Achieving the dream of commercial fusion power is the Holy Grail of engineering and has been for 80 years. With a single gram of hydrogen isotopes yielding the energy equivalent of 11 tonnes of coal, a practical fusion reactor would hold the promise of unlimited, clean energy for humanity until the end of time. France has upped the ante in the quest for fusion power by maintaining a plasma reaction for over 22 minutes – 25% longer than the previous record set by China in January 2025.

Scroll to Top