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In the headlines...

🇺🇸 Republican senators in South Carolina rejected a Trump-backed redistricting map that would have eliminated the state’s single majority-Black district.

🧯 California fire officials conducted an operation that eliminated the risk of a chemical tank explosion in California, allowing around 50,000 residents to return to their homes.

⛪ In his first published manifesto, Pope Leo XIV called for robust AI regulation and condemned its use in military operations.

Environment

A record number of dams were dismantled across Europe to restore nature and help wildlife thrive

Last year, a record-breaking 602 dams were removed across Europe, up 11% from the year prior and part of a larger, global trend to restore rivers and allow the surrounding ecosystem and wildlife to thrive.

With 2,324 total miles of rivers reconnected through the dam removals, the EU is a step closer to its goal of restoring 15,500 miles of river to their natural flow by 2030.

Since the first official count in 2020, removals have increased sixfold, with Sweden leading the way with 173, Finland with 143, and Spain with 109. Iceland and North Macedonia removed their first barriers in 2025.

Why is this good news? For centuries, communities around the world used rivers for economic growth, redirecting them to improve navigation or damming them to harness power, but that came at an enormous ecological cost. This massive effort is a critical corrective step in the right direction.

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More Good News

​The longest-running guaranteed income program gives Black mothers in Mississippi $1,000 a month. According to the organization’s report on the third cohort, 82% of participants felt more hopeful about their children’s futures, and 79% felt more hopeful about their own futures.

​Conservationists are celebrating the birth of a rare wild horse, proof that the last “truly wild” horse in the world is no longer extinct. On April 21, the Bronx Zoo welcomed a new foal to its herd of endangered Przewalski’s horses.

​An Oregon city created a first-of-its-kind $1 billion clean energy fund to help the city’s most vulnerable residents. The Portland Clean Energy Fund is also aimed at reducing carbon emissions and has distributed more than 20,000 free air conditioning units, funded energy efficiency retrofits for 3,100 homes, and more.

​Scientists invented a new immunotherapy treatment that kills cancer cells — and it can be administered in under two minutes. The injection, which was just rolled out in England, is expected to help thousands of cancer patients.

​The Oregon Symphony just performed lullabies written by parents who are incarcerated or experiencing homelessness. The Lullaby Project was designed to help parents who are physically separated from their children connect with them in a new way.

​The level of “forever chemicals” in Canadian seabird eggs dropped dramatically in the last 55 years. Conservationists hailed the decline as a clear sign that environmental regulations can create real change.

LGBTQ+

New study: Most people are not actually worried about trans women in women’s bathrooms

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good progress

Violent crime rates continue to plunge in America’s biggest cities

New data from 67 of the nation’s largest police departments revealed a sharp nationwide decline in violent crime rates. The decline can be seen in every major region — from Portland to Baltimore — continuing a downward trajectory that began after crime rates spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to homicides dropping by 17.7%, robberies fell 20.4%, sexual assaults declined by 7.2%, and aggravated assaults decreased by 4.8%.

The cities that saw the most sizable percentage drops in homicide were Washington, D.C. (64.7%), Philadelphia (54%), and Memphis (34.4%), with New York City not far behind at 31.7%.

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More Good bits

🦉 After seven months and a feather transplant, an owl is flying free.

🎤 This unique suicide prevention approach is no joke.

🐴 The Pitt should consider hiring this four-hooved hero.

🦔 Tiny endangered species require even tinier solutions. (Gifted link)

🖼️ An empty L.A. hospital is getting a new life as an art museum.

🏳️‍⚧️ A “trainsgender” reveal party is the only way to commute. (Reels)

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