Things aren't as bad as they seem.

Uganda has been declared Ebola-free 42 days after its last patient was discharged, meeting the WHO benchmark. The country confirmed 20 cases linked to the outbreak in eastern DR Congo, then used event cancellations, travel suspensions, quarantine and 21-day contact follow-up to stop further transmission.

Uganda declared Ebola-free after containing 20 confirmed cases

Uganda declared Ebola-free after containing 20 confirmed cases

29.07.2026

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Uganda declared Ebola-free after containing 20 confirmed cases

06.07.2026

Cognitive rehabilitation clears long COVID brain fog symptoms

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06.07.2026

Delhi bans new petrol two-wheelers and auto-rickshaws to clear its air

India's capital, Delhi, launched its EV Policy: new electric auto-rickshaws and small goods carriers will be the only ones eligible for registration from January 1, 2027; two-wheelers follow from April 1, 2028. Two-wheelers and three-wheelers together account for 81% of vehicular pollution in the city. The policy runs through March 2030 and targets 95% electric new vehicle registrations by 2027.

06.07.2026

Leopard density in Benin’s last stronghold more than tripled in six years

Leopard density in Benin's Pendjari National Park rose more than threefold between 2017 and 2023. Researchers credit the African Parks' management: anti-poaching patrols, habitat restoration, and community programs, succeeding despite the security crisis in the wider W-Arly-Pendjari Complex, a 27,000 km² transboundary landscape spanning Benin, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

06.07.2026

Switzerland’s solar railway works — and Italy wants to be next

Swiss startup Sun-Ways installed 48 photovoltaic panels between active tracks in Buttes, canton Neuchâtel, in April 2025. One year and 11,000 train passes later, the plant has produced 16,000 kWh, required no special maintenance, and caused no safety issues. If rolled out across Switzerland's 5,320-km network, the technology could generate 1 TWh a year.

06.07.2026

Cape Verde emerges as a rare haven for LGBTQ rights in Africa

Same-sex relationships have been legal in Cape Verde since 2004, and workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation is banned, rare protections in a region where roughly 30 countries criminalize same-sex relationships. Advocates say acceptance is rising, though many LGBTQ people still face violence and rejection.

06.07.2026

Insect number in millions more than once believed, study finds

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04.07.2026

Three to four cups of coffee a day linked to 32–47% lower liver disease risk

A study tracking 350,000 UK Biobank participants over 13 years found that five or more cups of coffee daily cut cirrhosis risk by 32%, liver cancer by 47%, and liver-related death by 42%. Published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the findings apply to decaf too, suggesting caffeine is not the key factor.

04.07.2026

Neighbors hand out 900 Pride yard signs and 250 flags after Idaho’s ban

After Idaho banned all non-government flags from public property, a Boise grassroots group called Pride North End began distributing Pride flags and yard signs to residents willing to display them at home. The GoFundMe campaign surpassed its $2,000 target, raising over $10,000, with surplus funds earmarked for LGBTQ+ nonprofits.

04.07.2026

Europe’s air is measurably cleaner as SOx and NOx emissions keep falling

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04.07.2026

Nigerian researchers grow a wild protein-rich mushroom on sawdust waste

A doctoral researcher at the Federal University of Technology in Owerri, Nigeria, has successfully cultivated Lentinus squarrosulus — a wild edible and medicinal mushroom native to tropical forests — using sawdust from mango, African breadfruit, and African pear trees. It grew fastest on African breadfruit sawdust, opening a path to year-round farming using forestry byproducts.

04.07.2026

Zero-emission truck deployments in the US rose 37% in 2025

According to CALSTART's latest report, zero-emission trucks reached a 4.14% share of new US deployments in the second half of 2025 — a record high, up from 1.32% in the first half of the year. This growth came even as the overall commercial truck market contracted 35% year-over-year in that period.

04.07.2026

Puffins back from near-extinction on Lundy Island after 20 rat-free years

In 2000, just 13 puffins remained on Lundy, a small island in England's Bristol Channel. After rats were eradicated in 2006 by an RSPB, National Trust, Natural England, and Landmark Trust partnership, the island now holds 1,335 puffins and over 40,000 seabirds total — the highest count since the 1930s.

01.07.2026

Morocco’s women riders are reclaiming a 500-year-old equestrian tradition

Tbourida — a UNESCO-recognized Moroccan cavalry sport practiced since the 16th century — was for centuries exclusively male. Since the mid-2000s, women like Zahia Aboulait have formed all-female troupes, or sorbas. Last year's largest festival welcomed 130 male troupes and three female ones; Aboulait now trains the next generation.

01.07.2026

Former NOAA scientists rebuild shuttered US climate data site with $280,000 in public funding

After the Trump administration shut down Climate.gov — which drew nearly 1 million visitors a month — former NOAA program director Rebecca Lindsey and two colleagues rebuilt it as Climate.us. Crowdfunded with $280,000 and backed by 80 volunteer scientists, the independent site restores access to climate dashboards, data maps, and 15 years of reporting.

01.07.2026

Stem cells from menstrual blood shown to repair cartilage in lab studies

Researchers at Kaunas University of Technology isolated extracellular vesicles from menstrual blood stem cells and applied them to damaged human cartilage tissue. Published in Scientific Reports, the study found the vesicles reduced cartilage breakdown and boosted production of key structural proteins — a potential cell-free therapy for osteoarthritis, which affects over 600 million people worldwide.

01.07.2026

US murder rate hits its lowest level on record since FBI data began in 1960

Data analyst Jeff Asher, drawing on figures from 600 police agencies, found murders fell 18.7% in the first four months of 2026 versus the same period in 2025, which itself was already the lowest year on record. All violent crime dropped 6.4%. The rate had spiked to 6.8 per 100,000 in 2021, up 54% from its prior low of 4.4 in 2014.

01.07.2026

Bangladesh scraps EV import taxes to cut deadly air pollution

In its June 11 budget, Bangladesh eliminated tariffs on electric buses and trucks, reduced EV registration fees, and hiked duties on fossil fuel vehicles — effective July 1, 2026. Transport causes 9% of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. The target: 25% electric buses and 30% electric trucks by 2035, per the country's NDC commitments.

01.07.2026

Barcelona tests olive pit asphalt that cuts road surface emissions by 75%

Spanish firms AMSA and ELSAN, with the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, replaced conventional mineral filler in bituminous road mix with biochar made from olive pits and pine waste. Lab results show comparable durability to standard asphalt, with up to 75% lower CO₂ emissions in the surface layer. The project won Barcelona's "21st Century Street" urban challenge.