The Council of States passed a law that would legalize marriage equality with a 22-15 vote, with seven abstentions. The lower house passed the bill this past June. The bill now goes back to the National Council for final approval and it is expected to pass before the end of the year.
According to the Washington Post, the Danish Parliament voted on December 3 to end offshore gas and oil extraction, which had started in 1972 and made the country the largest producer in the European Union. The Danish government says it is “now putting an end to the fossil fuel era.”
Scotland’s gas SGN company will outfit some 300 homes in Fife with free hydrogen boilers, heaters, and cooking appliances. The effort is the largest attempt so far to test whether carbon-free hydrogen can help the U.K. meet its carbon goals.
The Period Products Bill, which passed unanimously, requires local authorities to ensure that period products are generally obtainable free of charge. Schools and colleges must ensure period products are freely available to students, and designated public places must also make the products available.
The U.K. government initially announced the ban in 2017 with a deadline of 2040. The deadline was met with criticism. Experts warned that the 2040 deadline was too late, and the UK would not achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
Mosgortrans, a public transit company for the Moscow metro area, has reportedly put its 500th electric bus into service. This electric bus was produced by Kamaz, a Russian truck and engine (and apparently electric bus) manufacturer.
A new report shows that there were 1,700 new HIV diagnoses in gay and bisexual men in 2000. In 2019, new HIV diagnoses stood at 1,500. HIV transmission has fallen by 80% between 2011 when there was an estimated peak of 2,700 cases and 2019 when there was an estimated 540.
The strategy involves vaccinating 90% of girls by the age of 15, screening 70% of women by the age of 35 and again by the age of 45, and treating 90% of women identified with cervical disease.
The new project, which will be implemented over the next 10 years and cost an estimated $44 million, will convert 21 intersections into public squares, meaning that no one in the area is more than around 650 feet from a small park.
Over the last two decades, Gavi has helped to immunize a whole generation – over 822 million children – and prevented more than 14 million deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 developing countries.
