We’re wrapping up the week talking about how the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines purchased an island taken from them as a result of colonialism, a first-of-its-kind agreement to practice tribal cultural burns in California, and how Wimbledon’s 55,000 used tennis balls are finding a second life as mice shelters.
Elizabeth Jacyshyn-Owen
First English river granted legal rights, ocean liner becomes world’s largest artificial reef, hotel for cows
In today’s edition, we’re talking about the first river in England to have its legal rights recognised by a local authority, the mission to repurpose an aging ocean liner as the world’s largest artificial reef, and how the practice of silvopasture is reducing deforestation in the Amazon while keeping farmers happy.
27 stories of solutions and progress from February 2025
It’s the start of a new month, which means it’s time to take a look back at our editors’ favourite stories from the past few weeks! Read on to learn about efforts to reintroduce integrity into Welsh politics, the Scottish rewilding project that’s increased the local bumblebee population 116 time over, and the ways in which refugee communities are breathing life back into empty Spanish villages.
UN reaches global nature funding deal, abandoned mines as energy storage, first disabled astronaut for ISS mission
As the week comes to a close, we’re talking about a last-minute UN funding agreement to protect biodiversity across the globe, the abandoned coal mines being repurposed as opportunities for green energy storage, and the first astronaut with a disability cleared for a space station mission.
Child mortality falls sharply across Asia, downward trend in air accidents, Vienna’s refugee-run hotel
We’re starting the week at Squirrel News talking about the big drop in child mortality across Asia, the decline of air traffic accidents over the past two decades, and the hotel in Vienna that shows social impact and economic success can go hand in hand.
Welsh Senedd to expel lying politicians, gene therapy restores sight in blind children, combustion car sales drop
In today’s edition of Squirrel News, we’re closing out the week with a look at new measures to remove dishonest politicians from office in Wales, a gene therapy that cures a rare form of childhood blindness, and big news in the automotive industry as global sales of combustion engine vehicles have officially passed their peak.
Detroit on pace for fewest killings since 1965, New York to track 25 million trees, global solar power speeds up
We’re starting the week at Squirrel News talking about Detroit’s big drop in carjackings and homicides, a new tool that turns planting trees into a community-powered project, and solar power picking up speed across the globe.
The Global South’s cleantech revolution, guaranteed income for ex-inmates, oystercatcher population nearly doubles
We’re wrapping up the week at Squirrel News talking about how Global South countries are rapidly adopting clean energy, the guaranteed income project offering no-strings cash to Chicago’s ex-prisoners, and the conservation measures that have seen American oystercatcher populations increase by 45%.
Baltic states join EU power grid, AI improves breast cancer detection, restaurant staffed by homeless people
We’re kicking off the week at Squirrel News talking about three Baltic states choosing to disconnect from Russia’s power grid, a new AI method which can diagnose early stage 1A breast cancers with an accuracy rate of over 90%, and the world’s first fine dining restaurant staffed entirely by homeless people.
Emptying NY youth prisons led to huge drop in crime, new nonopioid painkiller, Brazil’s ‘scholarship mums’
In the last edition of Squirrel News for this week, we’re talking about how the closure of juvenile incarceration units resulted in an 86% drop in youth crime across the state of New York, the FDA’s approval of nonopioid pain relief Journavx, and the programme offering support to the families of those impacted by state violence.
NZ mountain granted legal personhood, women-led ridesharing, bumblebee population increases 116 times over
We’re kicking off a new month at Squirrel News with some big stories: New Zealand has granted its second-highest mountain legal personhood, a women-only rideshare service has launched in Las Vegas, and a conservation project in Scotland has seen the number of local bumblebees jump from 35 individuals in 2021 to over 4,000 in just three years.
30 stories of solutions and progress from January 2025
Although it’s been a rocky start to 2025, we’re wrapping up January with some positive news! Read on to see our editors’ favourites for this month – from Thailand banning plastic waste imports to El Salvador seeing a record low number of homicides in 2024.
