South African parliament approves national minimum wage bill
South Africa’s parliament passed a national minimum wage bill by an overwhelming majority to tackle strikes and wage inequality.
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Ireland votes to end abortion ban
Ireland voted decisively to repeal one of the world’s more restrictive abortion bans, dealing the latest in a series of stinging rebukes to the Roman Catholic Church.
New facial recognition software tracks and protects endangered primates
Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) developed a facial recognition software program that could help save the lives of endangered primates.
Scotland sets target of cutting greenhouse gases by 90% by 2050
The Scottish government also said it would have a new interim target for 2020 of a 56 per cent cut compared with the existing goal of 42 per cent.
U.S. federal judge in Missouri grants transgender inmates transition-related health care
Denying transgender prisoners transition-related health care violates their Eighth Amendment rights, according to a final ruling from a federal judge in Missouri, in an important win for transgender people in the prison system.
Americans support of same-sex marriage at all-time high
In each of the past three annual polls, Gallup has recorded three-percentage point increases among Americans who say same-sex marriages should be legally valid.
Global carbon market increases by 56% in one year, says World Bank
The report, launched today, finds that there are currently 51 carbon pricing initiatives around the world, consisting of 25 emissions trading schemes and 26 carbon taxes.
Pivot Power to build ‘world first’ battery network in the U.K.
Pivot Power unveiled plans to build the world’s first national network of grid-scale batteries and rapid-charge stations across the U.K. to accelerate electric vehicle adoption.
Premature birth rates drop in California after coal and oil plants shut down, study finds
Within a year of eight coal- and oil-fired power plant retirements, the rate of preterm births in mothers living close by dropped, finds new study on air pollution.
Nepal eliminates trachoma as a public health problem
The country becomes the first in WHO’s South-East Asia Region to defeat the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness.