Photo: Charbel Karam / Unsplash (CC0)
From the first country in the Middle East to end capital punishment to the return of the first tiger to Kazakhstan after 70 years: here’s our recap of the best and most important pieces of constructive news and stories from August.
A majority in the Lebanese Parliament has voted to abolish the death penalty. The move makes Lebanon the first country in the Middle East to formally end capital punishment. The legislation follows years of campaigning by civil society groups and lawyers.
Source: BBC News
A personalised cancer vaccine, combined with an existing drug, has prevented high-risk skin cancer from returning in patients in a clinical trial. Developed by Merck & Co (known as MSD in Europe) and Moderna, the vaccine was given to melanoma patients after surgery.
Source: BBC News
The target of treating 80% of all known hepatitis C cases has already been met, with deaths from the virus having fallen by 36% in the last decade alone. Estimates suggest that 84.6% of those living with hepatitis C have been diagnosed – just short of the 90% target.
Source: BBC News
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women, but NHS figures show there are just over four million women in England who are not up to date with their cervical screening. In a move to improve take up, Living Well buses started running walk-in cervical screening clinics in Cheshire and Merseyside. Funded by NHS England North West, the service was so popular that this summer it expanded into neighbouring regions.
Source: The Guardian
In France, Médecins Solidaires is sending doctors to small-town clinics for week-long rotations, helping communities where permanent GPs are in short supply. Doctors share the workload by taking turns, giving patients access to consistent primary care without requiring one physician to move there permanently.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
To cut back the health effects of air pollution, many cities have introduced so-called Ultra Low Emission Zones: schemes which restrict or charge drivers of more polluting vehicles to encourage cleaner transport. Now, a new study has linked improved air quality within these clean-air zones with faster lung growth in children living in London.
Source: Euronews
In Gateshead, heat from flooded coal mines is being used to warm homes and public buildings. A council-backed network draws heat from mine workings around 150 metres underground and distributes it through more than five kilometres of pipes. The project is expected to cut carbon emissions by 72,000 tonnes over 40 years.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
California’s batteries are increasingly shifting surplus midday solar into the evening, helping extend solar’s value beyond standard daylight hours. In May, solar supplied 51% of in-state electricity, while batteries charged at up to 7.3 GW around noon and discharged up to 8.9 GW near 8 p.m., setting new performance records.
Source: Spokesman
In rural Kurdistan, community-managed solar power is helping villages stay resilient, all while creating plenty of new opportunities for farming, livelihoods, and local development.
Source: Al Jazeera
According to new satellite data, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in 13 years, continuing a decline that began after President Lula da Silva returned to office in 2023. The drop has coincided with renewed environmental enforcement under Lula, with Brazil pledging to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2030.
Source: Mongabay
As 33 African countries work to restore 129 million hectares of degraded land by 2030, Niger is offering something of a practical lesson: restoring land does not always mean planting trees. Protecting and managing natural grasslands means farmers have actively helped regenerate five million hectares of Sahel land, improving soils and restoring pastures.
Source: Denkstrom
Aerial footage of an estate in Somerset has revealed the benefits of rewilding land in the face of extreme weather brought about by the climate crisis. The area of the National Trust’s Holnicote estate where rivers have been returned to their natural courses and wetlands have been restored have remained green and lush during the five heatwaves across the summer. In contrast, the surrounding countryside has become parched and brown.
Source: The Guardian
In Spain’s Basque Country, Mondragón has built one of the world’s largest networks of worker-owned businesses. Founded in 1956, the cooperative federation now employs more than 70,000 people across 92 businesses, spanning industries from retail and education to renewable energy and manufacturing.
Source: Reasons To Be Cheerful
In a new study, fathers who took 14-40 weeks of paternity leave were much less likely to experience depression than those who took fewer than 4. Additionally, despite long-standing assumptions that those who took more leave would see negative impacts on work productivity, a new study shows that the opposite is in fact the case.
Source: Times Of India
Balloons can be harmful and even lethal to marine life and birds when they end up on rubbish heaps, beaches and in the sea. Now, a team of UK PhD students have created a green alternative that biodegrades in less than a year and doesn’t leach any toxic chemicals into the environment.
Source: Euronews
The Anythink Nature Library in Colorado has opened as the eighth branch of the Adams County Library. Alongside books, visitors can borrow birdwatching kits, snowshoes and other equipment for exploring the 140-acre Aylor Open Space.
Source: Good Good Good
A converted bus is taking books, puppets and art workshops to children in rural communities and camps across Syria. The Mobile Cultural Bus, launched by the Ministry of Culture with volunteer support, offers a practical way to reach families with little access to libraries or safe creative spaces.
Source: Positive News
In Kenya, the interactive card game Level Up is using play to spark honest conversations among men about masculinity, consent and emotional vulnerability.
Source: All Africa
When he saw a messy yard being criticised on social media, Stephen Jalland grabbed his trimmer and decided to help. An overgrown garden, he discovered, often hides an overwhelmed owner. “Me cutting the grass does not fix somebody’s mental health problems,” he continues. “But it can aid in making them feel a little bit better about themselves. It just takes away that little bit of stress.”
Source: The Guardian
A female Amur tiger called Umit has been released into the wild in Kazakhstan, the first such release since the Turan tiger disappeared from the country more than 70 years ago. The conservation programme hopes to bring back tigers to their historic native range across Central Asia.
Source: Euronews
Fifteen years ago, Jantho Pine Forest Nature Reserve in Sumatra had no orangutans. Today, the Indonesian reserve is home to a growing wild population, thanks to a pioneering conservation programme that has rescued, rehabilitated and returned orangutans to the forest.
Source: Mongabay
