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In the headlines...

🗳️ Concerned about voter intimidation, a group of U.S. states is working to keep ICE away from polling locations, including Colorado, Maine, New Mexico, and Rhode Island.

👏 Two teenagers in a Texas mariachi band were released from ICE custody after their detention sparked widespread and bipartisan backlash.

Animals

In ‘one of the most successful wildlife comeback stories,’ bearded vultures have now returned to the French Alps

After a decades-long conservation effort that involved releasing a total of over 260 bearded vultures back into the wild, the species has soared back from local extinction in the French Alps.

Bearded vultures are believed to be the only animal that is ossivorous — they feed mainly on bones, scavenging them from carcasses and dropping them onto rocks to smash them into smaller pieces.

Wildlife experts just discovered the oldest bearded vulture ever recorded in the wild, named Balthazar, who was released in 1988 but had vanished from observations and was presumed dead.

Why is this good news? The bone-smashing birds were hunted to extinction in the Alps and last seen in the early 1900s, and their recovery is hailed as a “huge success” and proof that intention, funding, and support can reverse biodiversity loss.

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More Good News

​Jake Adicoff became the first openly gay man to win an individual gold medal at the Paralympics. Adicoff actually won back-to-back golds in his first two Paralympic Cross-Country Skiing events, the sprint and 10km classic.

​Texas banned Pride crosswalks — so San Antonio painted the sidewalks rainbow instead. In response to Governor Greg Abbott’s directive to remove roadway markings that “advance political agendas,” local City Council members came up with a creative solution.

​Before reintroducing tigers to the wild for the first time in 70 years, Kazakhstan planted tens of thousands of trees to restore their habitat. The willow, oleaster, and poplar trees will provide shelter and support prey animals such as deer and wild boar.

​Artificial reef structures made from concrete blocks are restoring marine life in Cambodia’s coastal waters. The artificial reefs were built to repair severe damage caused by bottom trawling along the country’s coast.

​Zimbabwe joins Zambia, Kenya, and Eswatini in rolling out twice-yearly HIV-prevention injections. The treatment will slow the spread of HIV in a country where about 1.3 million people are living with the virus.

Mental health

A man says a Stephen Colbert joke saved his life. He wants to appear on ‘The Late Show’ before it's too late

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good progress

People in England and Wales are now much less likely to be victims of theft than they were in the 1990s

Based on data gathered from face-to-face interviews, experts found that overall theft trends in England and Wales have declined sharply since the 1990s.

Vehicle-related thefts, which reached their highest levels around 1995, have fallen sharply, and burglaries have seen a similar decline, with both dropping by more than 80% from their peak rates.

The long‑term trend suggests that, despite ongoing challenges in specific theft categories, the typical resident today faces a much lower risk of being a victim of many common theft crimes than people did in the late 20th century.

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More Good bits

📱 Renters are using tech to prevent getting ripped off.

🥇 With 21 medals, Oksana Masters is the GOAT. (TikTok)

📚 Good luck reading this book.

🦜 The world’s fattest parrot is really bringing people together.

🦈 Nursing home residents are skydiving and swimming with sharks.

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