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In the headlines...

🇮🇹 Italy became the first country in the European Union to pass a comprehensive law regulating the use of artificial intelligence, including imposing prison terms on those who use the technology to cause harm and limiting child access.

💰 Amazon reached a $2.5 billion settlement after the Federal Trade Commission alleged the company tricked tens of millions of customers into enrolling in its Prime subscription program and deliberately made it exceedingly difficult to cancel it.

🎤 NBC announced the Super Bowl Halftime show performer will be Bad Bunny, who wrote in a statement following the announcement, “... this is for my people, my culture, and our history.”

Environment

The world’s first ocean reserve to be led and governed through Indigenous knowledge is a step closer to reality

New resources have been committed to continue the development of the Melanesian Ocean Reserve, which will be the world’s first Indigenous-led marine protected area.

Located across the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, it will be the first reserve that utilizes modern science and local governments, but is led and governed completely by Indigenous knowledge.

When it’s complete, it will make up more than 6 million square kilometers of ocean and islands — an area as large as the Amazon rainforest — and will protect some of the most biologically diverse seas on the planet.

Why is this good news? Healthy oceans and marine ecosystems are critical to the health of the planet and the living things that call it home. These areas have historically gone under- or un-protected, but more and more countries and leaders are taking concrete action to do better, while prioritizing the wisdom and insight of Indigenous groups who have long histories and connections with the ocean.

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More Good News

​In a new documentary, stand-up comedians open up about anxiety and depression — and streaming profits go to mental health support. “Anxiety Club,” blurs the lines of vulnerability and humor and promises an unflinching look at how deeply rooted anxiety and depression are in the stand-up comedy scene, all while inviting viewers to have “some laughs along the way.”

​A California-based nonprofit has saved over 1.5 million acres of island forest and marine ecosystems. Seacology’s latest project is working to protect and restore Greece’s seagrass, a natural resource that protects the country’s coastline from erosion and sequesters ten times more carbon per acre than a rainforest.

​A world-first sea turtle tracking project is giving scientists insight into the vulnerable flatback turtle species. The research team used turtle trackers comprising of motion sensors, GPS, and video cameras to monitor the turtles’ movements and feeding habits to help inform behavior-specific conservation efforts.

​A nonprofit in Wyoming is launching a three-year initiative to build the state’s first “third space” for teens. A “third space” is anywhere outside of home or school where youth can socialize and hang out without spending any money — at the new space, teens will actually be able to make money in the program.

Governments doing good

After Global Plastic Treaty fails, cities and states leap into action on microplastics

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People doing good

A woman in Australia has donated thousands of hand-knit baby clothes to the NICU

For some babies born prematurely, hand-knit clothes may be all that fits them as they receive critical treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit.

When the COVID-19 pandemic slowed donations of essential items for these tiny humans in John Hunter Children’s Hospital’s NICU, it made a Facebook post asking for donations of knitted goods.

Kim Franks saw that post and immediately got to work. Franks suffers from the chronic inflammatory skin condition psoriasis, which often leaves her bedbound, so knitting for NICU babies has been a welcome hobby in recent years. With semi-monthly donations, she estimates she’s made thousands of items.

→ Read more​

More Good bits

🎧 There’s still good news in politics — here’s the proof.

🌎 Preparing for climate change is a worthy investment.

📚 Banned Books Week starts next week. Make plans to join a read-in.

🐓 Chicken feathers, or fabric of the future?

🐾 A veteran-owned company gives dogs the life they deserve.

What’s good?

I know not everyone watches football, but a whooooole lot of people do tune in for the big game — even if just for the halftime show! I thought Kendrick Lamar’s last year was incredible.

Do you have a favorite halftime show performance?

Reply and tell me who it was!

— Megan