North & Central America

A Aerial Photo Of Fredericksburg Va on a clear fall day

Rappahannock Tribe first in U.S. to enshrine rights of nature into constitution

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The Rappahannock Tribe in Virginia has become the first tribal nation in the U.S. to adopt a tribal constitution that grants legal rights to a river, specifically protecting the Rappahannock River’s rights to exist, flourish, and maintain clean water. The provisions allows legal cases on behalf of the river itself, with a tribal court system planned for 2025 to enforce these rights. The Rappahannock’s actions are part of a rights-of-nature movement that includes Ecuador’s constitutional recognition of these rights in 2008 and New Zealand granting legal personhood to the Whanganui River in 2017.

MIT building

MIT will make tuition free for families earning less than $200,000 a year

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Families making under $100,000 will not have to pay housing, dining or other fees, and they’ll have an allowance for books and other personal expenses. Families who make Families of students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) making under $100,000 will not have to pay housing, dining, or other fees, and they’ll have an allowance for books and other personal expenses. Families who make more than $200,000 a year can still receive need-based financial aid. Tuition for the 2024-2025 academic year at MIT is nearly $62,000. Housing, dining, and other fees can add up to another $24,000 annually, making it an enormous burden for families or forcing students to go into decades of debt.

Teepees under the northern lights

Indigenous governments in the Canada’s Northwest Territories sign $375M deal to protect their land

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Canada’s federal government contributed $300 million to the initiative, while private donors contributed $75 million. Funds are expected to be received starting in mid-2025 and flow for 10 years after that. The funds can be used to establish new protected and conservation areas as identified by Indigenous governments and to support guardian and stewardship programs. The money can also be used for things like eco-tourism and traditional economic activities, climate research, and on-the-land language and culture programs . It’s one of the largest Indigenous-led conservation efforts in the world, according to a news release.

Breakthrough genomic test identifies virtually any infection in one go

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Researchers at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) have developed a single genomic test that can quickly detect virtually any kind of pathogen in a patient. This allows for much quicker diagnoses, enables targeted treatment to begin sooner, and could lower healthcare costs. Over the course of 7 years, researchers led by UCSF professor Charles Chiu tested 4,828 patients’ samples with its clinical mNGS method. The mNGS test accurately identified 86% of neurological infections.

Landmine

Groundbreaking laser tech enables faster, safer landmine detection

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Researchers at the University of Mississippi have come up with a faster, more efficient method for detecting landmines – millions of which pose a lethal threat to people in war-ravaged countries all over the world. That could spell a safer future for people who live in 70 current and former war-torn countries around the world that are riddled with an estimated 110 million active landmines. These explosives caused 2,793 deaths globally in 2017, and that number tragically rose to 4,710 in 2022.

Missouri voters approve ballot measure to expand abortion rights

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Missouri banned almost all abortions after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The state’s current law is considered one of the most strict in the country, though it makes exceptions to protect the life of the mother, and for medical emergencies. The new amendment, which required a simple majority to pass, now removes the state’s ban on abortion and protects abortion rights up to fetal viability, around the 24th week of pregnancy, with exceptions afterward to protect the life or health of the woman.

Female politician at podium

Women have won 60 seats in the New Mexico Legislature to secure the largest female legislative majority in U.S. history

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New Mexico voters are sending 11 additional women to boost female representation in their state legislature. Women have made steady advances in statehouse representation across the country, with one notable surge in the 2018 election cycle almost entirely among Democrats in a trend associated with the #MeToo movement and political engagement linked to the election of Donald Trump. The share of women in all state legislatures across the United States combined roughly tripled from about 11% in 1980 to 33% in October 2024.

Tulsa elects its first Black mayor

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Monroe Nichols will become the first Black mayor of Tulsa. Nichols, a state representative, edged out Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith in a runoff election to become the mayor of Oklahoma’s second-largest city. Nichols’ election comes 103 years after the Tulsa Race Massacre, when a white racist mob, including some deputized by authorities, descended on the city’s Greenwood District, also known as Black Wall Street. They burned down homes and businesses, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 300 Black residents.

New York sign

New York passes Equal Rights Amendent passes

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New Yorkers have passed Amendment 1, branded the Equal Rights Amendment. The New York Constitution already forbids discrimination based on race, creed, or religion. Amendment 1 adds language that would prohibit denial of civil rights based on national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes or reproductive healthcare and autonomy. The amendment effectively guarantees a right to abortion and adds protections for trans New Yorkers.

Colorado voters move to put existing abortion laws into state constitution

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The amendment is similar to a law Democratic Gov. Jared Polis signed in 2022 and would codify protections for abortion including barring local governments from passing their own laws to try to restrict the procedure. It would also remove Colorado’s current constitutional ban against public funding for abortions. That would allow the state to cover the procedure under Medicaid and add it to state employee health plans.