North & Central America milestones | Good News for Humankind

Repairing laptop, for article on right to repair

Texas right to repair law takes effect, covering phones and laptops

By Peter Schulte / September 8, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

House Bill 2963 requires manufacturers to supply parts, tools, and repair documentation to independent shops and device owners on the same fair terms their authorized service networks already get. Roughly three in four Texans backed it. Consumer group U.S. PIRG estimates the average Texas household could save roughly $382 a year by fixing electronics rather than replacing them, against a $330 national average — and about 8,700 smartphones are discarded in the state every day. But “fair and reasonable” pricing is not yet defined, and manufacturers have complied narrowly with similar laws before.

Costa Rica requires wildlife crossings on all new and existing roads

By Peter Schulte / September 3, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Costa Rica’s economy depends on the wildlife its own roads have long put at risk — sloths and monkeys struck by cars, habitat split in two, coastal crabs unable to reach the sea to lay their eggs. Lawmakers voted unanimously to make wildlife crossings a legal requirement, built into road planning from the earliest stage rather than added as an afterthought. Citizens can now submit their own evidence to force retrofits on existing highways already causing harm. Conservationists call it a meaningful shift away from decorative warning signs, which do little to slow drivers, toward structures proven to actually save lives.

MRI scan, for article on accessible medical equipment

U.S. now requires medical equipment to be accessible for people with disabilities

By Peter Schulte / September 2, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Accessible medical equipment rules now give Americans with disabilities a federal guarantee that hospitals and clinics must actually have the tools to examine them — something existing anti-discrimination law never fully delivered. General facilities must meet a 10% accessibility threshold, rising to 20% at practices specializing in mobility conditions. The gap this closes is stark: some patients had to visit a veterinary office just to be weighed, traveling dozens of miles because no doctor’s office nearby could accommodate them. Real change now depends on consistent enforcement, since most exam rooms remain inaccessible today even as the rules take effect.

Meta’s $18B settlement forces new child safety features on teens

By Peter Schulte / August 29, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Child safety on social media just got its most significant legal enforcement yet. A settlement worth $18 billion requires Meta to automatically enable protections for teen users — including overnight notification blackouts and school-hour restrictions — rather than leaving families to hunt through settings menus. Safety researchers say that default-on distinction is what actually changes behavior, and Meta’s own internal research reportedly confirmed it. The $18 billion arrives in annual installments over a decade, so real impact depends on sustained compliance. If other platforms follow, this could set a floor for what the industry owes young users everywhere.

Cancer cells, for article on pancreatic cancer drug

U.S. FDA approves breakthrough pancreatic cancer drug that doubles survival

By Peter Schulte / August 28, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Pancreatic cancer has long been one of medicine’s most stubborn opponents, with a five-year survival rate of just 13 percent and few good options once chemotherapy stops working. The newly approved drug daraxonrasib offers patients a targeted second chance — blocking a specific protein that drives cancer cell growth rather than flooding the body with toxic agents. Clinical trial results showed a meaningful survival advantage over standard chemotherapy, though pricing remains unannounced and cost could limit who actually benefits. Still, the KRAS-targeting science behind this drug may eventually open new doors for other hard-to-treat cancers too.

element digital T CXBZLUvic unsplash, for article on Seychelles democratic transition, for article on voting rights restoration, for article on Virginia voting rights

Virginia governor restores voting rights to 66,000 citizens with past convictions

By Peter Schulte / August 19, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Voting rights restoration in Virginia has reached a scale in 2026 that would have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago. A federal court ruled that Virginia’s lifetime voting ban violated an 1870 Reconstruction-era federal law — meaning most Virginians with past convictions are now legally eligible to vote without asking anyone’s permission. Governor Spanberger’s office has also proactively restored full civil rights to more than 66,000 people in just six months. A November ballot measure could make restoration permanent, though a requirement to pay outstanding fines first may still leave some people behind.

Bus, for article on Latin American electric buses

Latin American cities cross milestone of 10,000 electric buses

By Peter Schulte / August 13, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Latin American cities are proving that large-scale clean transit is genuinely achievable, with 10,000 electric buses now running across 80 cities in 13 countries — collectively avoiding an estimated 10 million tonnes of CO2 every year. Santiago, São Paulo, and Bogotá are carrying most of that weight, enabled by a financing model that blends regulatory pressure with structured funding. The electric fleet remains a small fraction of regional totals, and smaller cities still face real barriers around grid reliability and maintenance. Still, what’s emerging here is a transferable blueprint, not just a local win.

Roll of American $100 bill, for article on student loan forgiveness

170,000 Americans get student loan debt erased in historic settlement

By Peter Schulte / August 11, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

A federal court has refused the Department of Education’s bid to delay relief by 18 months, unlocking $11 billion in cancellations for borrowers who filed borrower-defense claims during a 2022 filing window. The Sweet v. McMahon class action, filed in 2019, targeted the government’s failure to process claims from students defrauded by collapsed for-profit schools like Corinthian Colleges. Advocates call it the largest settlement against the U.S. government in history — a model for winning relief through litigation, not executive action. Still, millions of borrowers fall outside it, and the $11 billion is a sliver of the $1.66 trillion Americans owe.

Canadian flag, for article on sperm donor restrictions

Canada ends sperm donor restrictions for gay and bisexual men

By Peter Schulte / August 10, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Gay and bisexual men in Canada can now donate sperm without facing blanket behavioral screening — a shift driven entirely by one man’s refusal to drop a lawsuit. Medical experts confirmed in court that modern HIV testing carries effectively no residual risk, making the old restrictions scientifically indefensible. The change may also help ease Canada’s persistent sperm shortage, though the ban on paid donation remains the deeper structural cause of that gap. When individual plaintiffs hold institutions to their own stated values, the legal record they build can pressure similar policies worldwide.

Houseless man on the street, for article on veteran homelessness, for article on veteran homelessness

New Jersey declares “functional zero” on veteran homelessness

By Peter Schulte / August 4, 2026 / Good News For Humankind

Veteran homelessness in New Jersey is no longer a chronic reality — it’s now rare, brief, and recoverable, meeting the “functional zero” benchmark that only a handful of states have reached. Since launching the Bringing Veterans Home Initiative in 2024, a coordinated network of state, federal, and local agencies has permanently housed more than 2,500 veterans. Officials are candid that sustaining this takes ongoing funding and staffing — and that affordable housing supply remains a real pressure. Still, New Jersey has proven that ending veteran homelessness isn’t idealism. It’s an operational problem that coordination and political will can actually solve.