In today’s edition of Squirrel News, we’re talking about the WTO agreement aimed at reducing overfishing, the ozone layer showing significant signs of healing, and the former far-right leader helping those at risk of neo-Nazism.
The World Trade Organization Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies is designed to limit the depletion of fish stocks caused by excessive fishing. The Geneva-based trade body claims that the treaty is the first to focus on the environment and the first binding multilateral agreement on ocean sustainability.
Thanks to the huge drop in the use of ozone-harming chemicals, the earth’s protective layer is on track to return to 1980s levels by the middle of this century. This would significantly reduce the risk of skin cancer, cataracts, and ecosystem damage due to excessive UV exposure.
After the Trump administration gutted agencies that produce climate information and forced the closure of the popular climate.gov website, experts have now launched an independent successor.
Despite vaccination hesitancy, the end may be in sight for cervical cancer, which kills 64% of women with the disease. Healthcare officials and advocates hope the free vaccine rollout will not only save lives but also help break the silence surrounding the disease, and are passionate about dispelling suspicions about vaccines.
The vaccination campaign is expected to pick up in coming weeks, with the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision approving roughly 45,000 additional jabs, adding to the initial stockpile of 2,000 doses already in the country.
From the next school year, it will be compulsory for all schools and after-school clubs to collect students’ phones and hold them until the end of the day. The move sees Sweden joining a string of Nordic countries, such as Norway and Denmark, looking to implement stricter restrictions on the mobile phone and social media use of young people.
As part of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s initiative to ease strain on the increasingly crowded Spanish housing market by curbing illegal tourist rentals, the homes will be made available to young people and families.
A new method known as deep bed farming uses a prototype tractor, Aftrak, to improve on conventional methods by digging deeper into the soil. Although it’s still being rolled out across the region, more than 35,000 farmers are already enjoying its benefits.
A pilot programme at Pondville Correctional Center in Norfolk, Massachusetts, lets a small number of individuals take part in a hands-on curriculum teaching them the science of beekeeping. Participants receive training in caring for beehives, collecting honey, and learning about the environment, gaining useful skills that can help them access opportunities once they’ve completed their sentences.
For nearly two decades, Nigel Bromage was a leading member of the openly neo-Nazi group Combat 18. Now, he’s the founder of Small Steps, an organisation made up of fellow reformed right-wingers to try and prevent others from going down the same path.
