The Zambian government introduced free primary and secondary school education in 2021. Three years later, an additional two million students are filling classrooms across the country. The overall increase in enrollment reflects a trend across sub-Saharan Africa, with more children in school than ever before, according to UNICEF.
Zambia’s free schools lead to surge in student numbers Read more
The SAFETY Act prohibits “parental notification” policies in school districts that require educators to notify parents if their child requests to use pronouns and facilities different from the gender they were assigned at birth. The law, which goes into effect immediately, also protects teachers and administrators from retaliation if they choose not to follow district directives to out queer kids to their parents.
Last year, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) launched a series of initiatives aimed at pursuing high-wealth individuals who have failed to pay their tax debts. The IRS says the campaign is focused on taxpayers with more than $1 million in income and more than $250,000 in recognized tax debt.
The amount of forest loss fell from 1,235 sq km in 2022 to 792 sq km in 2023 – a 36% decrease, official figures revealed. Most of the environmental gains were in the Amazon rainforest, where the Colombian government is focusing much of its conservation efforts. The two main successes have been reaching agreements where farmers are paid to protect the land and negotiations with armed groups who are the de facto authority in deforestation hotspots.
Deforestation in Colombia falls to lowest level in 23 years Read more
The CO2 tax proposal, first proposed by government-commissioned scientists in February, is part of Denmark’s ambitious ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent from 1990 levels by 2030. The agriculture sector, which is the country’s greatest producer of CO2 emissions, is the main focus of this project.
Denmark to pioneer CO2 tax on farms in a global first Read more
An Ecuadorian court has ruled that pollution has violated the rights of the Machángara River, which runs through the capital of Quito. In some parts of Latin America and North America, inhabitants have constitutional rights to a clean environment, but Ecuador is one of the few countries that recognize the right of natural features not to be degraded or polluted.
Ecuador river is granted the right to not be polluted in historic court case Read more
After the recent elections, there will now be at least 242 female Members of Parliament in the new U.K. government. The previous record was set in 2019 when 220 women were elected to the House of Commons. Before that in 2017, it was 207 and 196 in 2015. New Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s cabinet will also have the highest number of female ministers in history, as Rachel Reeves became the first female chancellor ever.
British voters elect record number of women to Parliament Read more
It’s only been one year since Fervo Energy unveiled a novel concept in geothermal energy harvesting at its Project Red pilot plant in Nevada. Now the company has signed a 15-year agreement with Southern California Edison to provide 320 MW of power to the utility, which will power about 350,000 homes. The power will be provided by Fervo’s Cape Station project that is currently being built in southwest Utah, with the first 70 MW coming online in 2026 and the balance clicking on in 2028.
World’s biggest geothermal power purchase agreement completed in western U.S. Read more
In this double-blind, randomized study of 5,300 cisgender women in South Africa and Uganda, 2,134 got the injection and the others took one of two types of daily PrEP pills. The trial from California-based company Gilead Sciences began on August 2021 and, so far, not a single woman who received the injections has contracted HIV. The participants who received either of the oral PrEP options, Truvada and Descovy, had infection rates of about 2% — consistent with the infection rates of oral PrEP in other clinical trials.
New twice-yearly shot to prevent HIV achieves 100% success rate in late-stage trial Read more
Anybody in the West African nation now involved in the marriage of a girl under the age of 18 will be jailed for at least 15 years or fined around $4,000, or both. The Ministry of Health estimates that a third of girls are married off before they turn 18, accounting for the country’s high number of maternal deaths – among the highest in the world.
Sierra Leone bans child marriage Read more
