Lead Story
El Salvador eliminates trachoma, the world's leading infectious cause of blindness
The World Health Organization this week validated El Salvador as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem — the first country in Central America and only the second in the Americas to do so. Targeted assessments between 2023 and 2026 in the communities most at risk found no evidence of active transmission: no signs of the disease in children and no advanced, blindness-causing cases in adults. The validation makes El Salvador the 64th country recognised by the WHO for eliminating at least one neglected tropical disease, a steady drumbeat of progress against illnesses that overwhelmingly affect the world's poorest.
Read more →Lead Story
El Salvador eliminates trachoma, the world's leading infectious cause of blindness
The World Health Organization this week validated El Salvador as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem — the first country in Central America and only the second in the Americas to do so. Targeted assessments between 2023 and 2026 in the communities most at risk found no evidence of active transmission: no signs of the disease in children and no advanced, blindness-causing cases in adults. The validation makes El Salvador the 64th country recognised by the WHO for eliminating at least one neglected tropical disease, a steady drumbeat of progress against illnesses that overwhelmingly affect the world's poorest.
Solar is the EU's largest source of electricity for the third month running
New data out this week shows solar was the European Union's single largest source of power again this month — the third month it has topped the mix, after June 2025 and May 2026. 'Solar's rise has been truly stratospheric, beating prediction after prediction,' said Chris Rosslowe, senior energy analyst at climate think tank Ember. The milestone underlines how quickly cheap panels and batteries are reshaping Europe's grid, with solar now routinely out-generating every fossil and nuclear source across the bloc during the summer months.
Read more →Solar is the EU's largest source of electricity for the third month running
New data out this week shows solar was the European Union's single largest source of power again this month — the third month it has topped the mix, after June 2025 and May 2026. 'Solar's rise has been truly stratospheric, beating prediction after prediction,' said Chris Rosslowe, senior energy analyst at climate think tank Ember. The milestone underlines how quickly cheap panels and batteries are reshaping Europe's grid, with solar now routinely out-generating every fossil and nuclear source across the bloc during the summer months.
Teens sleep better and focus more after cutting back social media, UK trial finds
Results published this week from a UK government trial of social media restrictions for teenagers found improvements in sleep, concentration and wellbeing across the board. The trial assigned 309 households to one of three interventions — an outright social media ban, a 9pm-to-7am curfew, or a 15-minute daily limit — and all three groups reported better sleep, mood, concentration, study time and family relationships. The findings give parents and policymakers rare hard evidence that even modest limits, not just total bans, can measurably improve teenage wellbeing.
Read more →Teens sleep better and focus more after cutting back social media, UK trial finds
Results published this week from a UK government trial of social media restrictions for teenagers found improvements in sleep, concentration and wellbeing across the board. The trial assigned 309 households to one of three interventions — an outright social media ban, a 9pm-to-7am curfew, or a 15-minute daily limit — and all three groups reported better sleep, mood, concentration, study time and family relationships. The findings give parents and policymakers rare hard evidence that even modest limits, not just total bans, can measurably improve teenage wellbeing.
Clean energy outproduces coal worldwide for the first time in history
For the first time in recorded history, clean sources generated more electricity than coal across a full half-year period, a genuine turning point after a century of fossil-fuel dominance on the global grid. Solar led the charge, meeting the bulk of new electricity demand growth after expanding 30% in 2025, while battery capacity jumped 66% in a single year. The milestone caps a run of records: global renewable capacity passed 5,100 gigawatts — 49% of all installed power worldwide — after the largest single-year addition ever recorded, and in April wind and solar together overtook gas for the first time. Solar is now the cheapest source of electricity in history, and analysts project solar-plus-battery costs will keep falling through 2030 for most of the world's population.
Read more →Clean energy outproduces coal worldwide for the first time in history
For the first time in recorded history, clean sources generated more electricity than coal across a full half-year period, a genuine turning point after a century of fossil-fuel dominance on the global grid. Solar led the charge, meeting the bulk of new electricity demand growth after expanding 30% in 2025, while battery capacity jumped 66% in a single year. The milestone caps a run of records: global renewable capacity passed 5,100 gigawatts — 49% of all installed power worldwide — after the largest single-year addition ever recorded, and in April wind and solar together overtook gas for the first time. Solar is now the cheapest source of electricity in history, and analysts project solar-plus-battery costs will keep falling through 2030 for most of the world's population.
High Seas Treaty enters into force in historic win for ocean conservation
The long-awaited High Seas Treaty has officially come into force, a historic milestone for global ocean conservation. The agreement creates the first legal framework for establishing marine protected areas in international waters — the two-thirds of the ocean that lies beyond any nation's jurisdiction and has until now been largely ungoverned. Conservationists have campaigned for such a treaty for nearly two decades, and its entry into force gives the world a real mechanism to meet the goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030.
Read more →High Seas Treaty enters into force in historic win for ocean conservation
The long-awaited High Seas Treaty has officially come into force, a historic milestone for global ocean conservation. The agreement creates the first legal framework for establishing marine protected areas in international waters — the two-thirds of the ocean that lies beyond any nation's jurisdiction and has until now been largely ungoverned. Conservationists have campaigned for such a treaty for nearly two decades, and its entry into force gives the world a real mechanism to meet the goal of protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030.
World's rarest parrot smashes its breeding record as genetic rescue brings a 'lost' marsupial back
New Zealand's kākāpō — a flightless nocturnal parrot with only 235 adults left — has completed its most successful breeding season on record, hatching more than 100 chicks and comfortably beating the previous best of 85 set in 2019. Across the Tasman, a species once declared extinct on mainland Australia took its most significant steps toward recovery yet: a world-first genetic rescue programme saw conservationists release up to 100 eastern barred bandicoots onto Phillip Island. Together the two programmes show how intensive, science-led conservation can pull species back from the very edge of extinction.
Read more →World's rarest parrot smashes its breeding record as genetic rescue brings a 'lost' marsupial back
New Zealand's kākāpō — a flightless nocturnal parrot with only 235 adults left — has completed its most successful breeding season on record, hatching more than 100 chicks and comfortably beating the previous best of 85 set in 2019. Across the Tasman, a species once declared extinct on mainland Australia took its most significant steps toward recovery yet: a world-first genetic rescue programme saw conservationists release up to 100 eastern barred bandicoots onto Phillip Island. Together the two programmes show how intensive, science-led conservation can pull species back from the very edge of extinction.