2024 C.E.

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.

Brazil renews plan to restore 30 million acres of degraded land

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Brazil recently announced a plan to restore an area of degraded land about half the size of the U.K. by 2030, in a bid to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. The Planaveg 2.0 initiative, launched at the U.N. biodiversity summit, COP16, in Colombia on Oct. 28, aims to restore 30 million acres, about half of Brazil’s degraded land area. Home to 15-18% of the world’s known species, Brazil is the most biodiverse nation on Earth, making it a key player in global ecosystem restoration.

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.

Wooden satellite

World’s first wooden satellite, developed in Japan, heads to space

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LignoSat, developed by Kyoto University and homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry, opens new tab, will be flown to the International Space Station on a SpaceX mission, and later released into orbit about 250 miles above the Earth. Named after the Latin word for “wood”, the palm-sized LignoSat is tasked to demonstrate the cosmic potential of the renewable material as humans explore living in space. Decommissioned satellites must re-enter the atmosphere to avoid becoming space debris. Conventional metal satellites create aluminum oxide particles during re-entry, but wooden ones would just burn up with less pollution.

Sarah McBride

Sarah McBride makes history as first trans member of U.S. Congress

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Her recent election win makes McBride the first out transgender person to serve in Congress. She beat her Republican opponent, John Whalen III, who ran on an anti-immigration, anti-choice platform. At only 34, McBride has already made an impressive name for herself, with her seat in Congress adding yet another “first” to the list. After working for the Human Rights Campaign and interning in the Obama-Biden White House, the 2020 elections in her home state of Delaware made her the first trans person elected to a state senate.

Australian money

Australia to slash $10 billion off student debt amid cost of living pressures

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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that his government plans to cut student loans for around three million Australians by 20%, wiping off around $10 billion USD in debts. The move builds on May’s budget, which attacked cost of living pressures in Australia and gave debt relief for students, as well as more investment to make medicines cheaper, and a boost to a rent assistance program. The changes would mean the average graduate with a loan of A$27,600 would have A$5,520 wiped, the government said, adding that they would take effect from June 1, 2025.

Thai flag

Thailand moves to end statelessness for nearly 500,000 people in “historic development”

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Thailand’s cabinet has approved an accelerated pathway to permanent residency and nationality for nearly half a million stateless people, marking one of the region’s most significant citizenship initiatives. The decision will benefit 335,000 longtime residents and members of officially recognized minority ethnic groups, along with approximately 142,000 of their children born in Thailand. The country recently pledged at the Global Refugee Forum 2023 to resolve statelessness and was among the founding members of UNHCR’s Global Alliance to End Stateless, launched in October 2024.

Biden delivers “long overdue” formal apology in Arizona for Indian boarding school atrocities

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President Biden has issued a formal presidential apology to Native American communities for the atrocities committed against Indigenous children and their families during a 150-year era of forced federal Indian boarding schools. “After 150 years, the United States government eventually stopped the program,” the president said. “But the federal government has never, never formally apologized for what happened — until today. I formally apologize, as president of the United States of America, for what we did.”

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