A recap of 2020 – Part 2: first female vice-president, Belarus’s historic uprising, Mexico to legalise marijuana
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Photo: Jacob Creswick/Unsplash (CCO)
To mark the end of 2020, we’re excited to present you part two of a compilation of highlights from this year, curated by Squirrel News.
Kamala Harris will make history as the first female, Black, and Asian-American vice-president
The California senator – who is of Indian and Jamaican heritage – is breaking a number of records before even setting foot in the White House.
Source: The Guardian
Tens of thousands gather in Minsk for biggest protest in Belarus history
In spite of the recent collective shock and anger, the mood in Belarus became celebratory, with protestors holding flowers and cheering, as if the revolution had already been won.
Source: The Guardian
Mexico’s Senate approves a landmark cannabis legalisation bill
The move paves the way for the creation of the world’s largest legal marijuana market, something of particular importance in a country dominated by powerful drug cartels.
Source: Thomson Reuters News Foundation
The African-led Great Green Wall Initative
As the Sahara desert extends slowly south, this continental project is planting millions of trees, keeping the sand at bay with a belt of rejuvenated land.
Source: Euronews
Ethiopia commits to planting 5 billion trees in 2020
The country’s Green Legacy initiative hopes to reforest some of the 97% of its native forests lost to deforestation.
Source: The Planetary Press
Researchers have created 3D-printed coral to help replenish dying natural resources
Due to higher sea temperatures and more acidic waters, coral reefs around the world are dying, which makes the creation of bionic coral vital to ensure its future survival.
Source: Clean Technica
Women in Botswana are to be made equal landowners under new law
The amendment to a land act will allow women to be independent in marriages, and is being celebrated as long overdue by rights groups.
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation News
Mobile greenhouses to combat hunger in humanitarian crisis
In order to provide essential nutrition in war zones, researchers have developed three systems that function without soil, are mobile and can yield returns on short notice.
Source: RESET
How to get gun owners to give up their firearms during crises
Guns do not just do harm to others, they are also a risk for oneself, especially in times of personal crises.The new, growing “voluntary storage” movement now tries to prevent suicides by asking gun owners to give up their arms voluntarily.
Source: Guns & America
Decoy turtle eggs put in nests to track the illegal wildlife trade in Costa Rica
Using satellite tracking, the stolen fakes were consistently monitored, from thief to trafficker to consumer.
Source: The Guardian
Second person to be cured of HIV has had no symptoms of the disease in over 30 months
The 40-year-old’s blood contained no trace of the active viral infection, scientists report.
Source: RTÉ
The Black musician making white supremacists reconsider
Daryl Davis, a blues musician has successfully convinced over 200 KKK members among other supremacists to abandon their allegiances.