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In the headlines...

🎤 Jimmy Kimmel won “Best Talk Show” at the Critics Choice Awards last night, and thanked “all the writers and actors and producers and union members ... who really stepped forward and reminded us that we do not take free speech for granted in this city or in this country.”

🇵🇸 Angelina Jolie visited the Rafah crossing in Egypt to meet with Palestinian refugees and aid workers. The crossing was supposed to have opened under the October ceasefire agreement, but has remained closed.

Animals

England passed the ‘biggest’ animal welfare reforms ‘in a generation’ impacting hens, pigs, puppies, and more

As part of “the most ambitious animal welfare strategy in a generation,” England will end the use of hen cages and pig farrowing crates, ban trail hunting and puppy farming, and more by 2030.

Pig farrowing crates contain sows during birth and nursing to stop them from rolling onto their young, but prevent them from moving around at all. And while battery cages for chickens had already been banned in the UK, it gave rise to “colony cages” in their place.

While an estimated 80% of hens in the UK are already free range, experts say the new laws are further “raising the bar for farmed animal welfare.”

What’s the nuance? Critics worry the move would harm domestic farmers, who would be forced to compete with farmers not held to the same rigorous standards. For that reason, advocates are already requesting the law be expanded to impose the same standards on imports.

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More Good News

​A French ban on “forever chemicals” is now officially in effect. The ban targets a wide range of cosmetics and clothes and will also require French authorities to regularly test drinking water for all kinds of PFAS.

​Tiny “underwater hotels” for sea creatures helped scientists collect 20 new species in the ocean’s twilight zone. Some of the new species included a goby fish with a visible skeleton, a yellow-dotted sea slug, an orange cardinalfish, and a baby octopus marked with polka dots.

​New research shows that up-to-date COVID vaccination is still the best way to prevent severe illness. The latest research found that receiving a vaccine in the last six months was 72% effective at preventing hospitalization and 67% effective at preventing the most serious outcomes.

​Teachers around the country are helping reverse the course of literacy rates that declined significantly during the pandemic. They’re joining forces with universities, nonprofits, and families to create what researchers call a “literacy ecosystem,” a community-based approach that prioritizes early intervention, one-on-one coaching, and ensuring that books are freely available in students’ lives.

Environment

This climate solution is sitting in America’s trash — and it has bipartisan support

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People doing good

For their 50th wedding anniversary, this couple asked for donations to their local dementia charity

Marion and Sandy Ironside of Gamrie, Scotland hosted a party to celebrate 50 years of marriage in the same venue where they had wed decades prior — and they also made it a charitable event.

In lieu of gifts, the Ironsides asked their family and friends to donate to Alzheimer Scotland, a dementia support organization with Dementia Resource Centers in 25 locations across Scotland.

With about 75 guests, they raised a total of £1,005 for the organization, which was unveiled with a large, ceremonial check.

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More Good bits

👏 We’re discovering more species than we’re losing.

🐶 This work is essential, and only 200 people are doing it.

🕷️ A ladybug? Spider? Or a Pokémon?

📚 Comic books about immigrants inspired a new curriculum.

📉 This year, we *will* make progress on reducing gun violence.

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