Tehran police will no longer arrest women for failing to observe Islamic dress code
For nearly 40 years, women in Iran have been forced to cover their hair and wear long, loose garments.
Today (2017 C.E. - 2025 C.E.)
This archive spans one of the most eventful periods in recent history, from 2017 through 2025. Browse more than 4,100 articles documenting scientific breakthroughs, policy wins, social progress, and human ingenuity from the present era. Each story highlights what people and communities around the world are building, solving, and achieving right now.
World Health Organization approves first-ever malaria vaccine
The vaccine – called RTS,S and developed by PATH and GlaxoSmithKline – was proven effective in 2015. Now, after the success of pilot immunization programs in Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi, the World Health Organization says the vaccine should be rolled out across sub-Saharan Africa and in other regions with moderate to high malaria transmission. Having a safe, effective vaccine for one of the world’s deadly diseases – after more than a century of trying – is a historic milestone for medicine and public health.
Seattle decriminalizes possession and cultivation of psychedelics
The City Council voted unanimously to decriminalize the non-commercial possession and cultivation of many psychedelics for “religious, spiritual, healing, or personal growth practices.”
Mongolia to spend no less than one percent of GDP to plant one billion trees
The goal is to create a legal environment in which at least 1% of Mongolia’s GDP to be spent annually on combating climate change and desertification, and on increasing environmentally friendly and green facilities.
New iron-based batteries offer an upgrade to storing renewable energy
“Long-duration energy storage, like this iron-flow battery, [is] key to adding more renewables to the grid,” Venkat Viswanathan, a battery expert and associate professor of mechanical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University.
Seven nations launch initiative to end new coal power
The Compact calls on nations to halt the construction of unabated coal-fired power generation projects by the end of this year. Initial signatories include Sri Lanka, Chile, Denmark, Germany, Montenegro, France, and the U.K.
Australia returns one of world’s oldest rainforests to Indigenous people
As BBC News reports, the historic handoff also includes the Cedar Bay (Ngalba Bulal), Black Mountain (Kalkajaka), and Hope Islands national parks, a combined area of more than 160,000 hectares.
Aberdeen University decides to divest from fossil fuels
The move, coming just weeks away from the U.N. COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, makes the university, which lies in the heart of Europe’s “oil and gas capital”, the 90th in the U.K. to commit to divestment.
U.S. federal judge overturns oil and gas lease sales on 58,000 acres of public lands in Colorado
A federal judge agreed with conservation groups that fracking and drilling will worsen air quality in a region where smog levels have exceeded federal pollution standards and threaten public health.
All-electric shuttle service commences operations at Zimbabwe international airport
When compared to a traditional diesel van, the T3 shuttle can reduce the cost of urban logistics for any company while helping combat the climate crisis.