What went right this week: the good news that matters

Health authorities in Uganda have declared an end to the country’s Ebola outbreak less than three months after the virus was confirmed in the capital Kampala.

Fourteen cases of Ebola were reported, with four deaths recorded. However, Uganda’s ministry of health acted fast to contain the virus, deploying medical teams to investigate every case and dispatching support workers to reduce stigma around the virus, helping medics build trust with affected communities.

“Uganda’s leadership and resilience were crucial in containing this outbreak,” said Dr Kasonde Mwinga, a WHO representative in Uganda. “The people of Uganda have shown extraordinary resolve.”

Image: Bill Wegener

Two US scientific organisations have announced that they will join forces to produce peer-reviewed research on the climate crisis and its impact. 

The move comes days after the Trump administration dismissed some 400 contributors to the National Climate Assessment (NCA), a multi-year government study examining how the US can prepare for the impacts of climate change, including extreme heat, flooding and hurricanes. The NCA was launched by George H W Bush and is next due to be published in 2028, but its future now appears in doubt.  

In response to the Trump administration’s actions, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the American Geophysical Union (AGU) announced this week that they will join forces to “maintain momentum” on research supporting the National Climate Assessment.

“It’s incumbent on us to ensure our communities, our neighbours, our children are all protected and prepared for the mounting risks of climate change,” said AGU president Brandon Jones. “This collaboration provides a critical pathway for a wide range of researchers to come together and provide the science needed to support the global enterprise pursuing solutions to climate change.” 

Image: The Colorado River, Arizona, US. Credit: Gert Boers

One of Pope Francis’s popemobiles is to be converted into a mobile clinic to deliver frontline care to children in Gaza – but not until Israel lifts its humanitarian blockade of the territory.    

In his final months, the pontiff directed Caritas, a humanitarian organisation, to refit the popemobile he used for his 2014 visit to Bethlehem into a mobile clinic. The car is now being kitted out with equipment for diagnosis, examination and treatment.

“This vehicle represents the love, care and closeness shown by his holiness for the most vulnerable, which he expressed throughout the crisis” says Anton Asfar, secretary general of Caritas Jerusalem.

The war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 15,000 children and displaced around one million people, Unicef reports. Israel has blocked humanitarian aid from entering the strip for more than two months, which the charity said is leaving people in Gaza “without the very basics they need to survive”. Israel has since pledged to expand its ground offensive.  

Caritas says that if and when the blockade is lifted, the popemobile will be ready to deliver “lifesaving” care. 

“It’s not just a vehicle, it’s a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza,” said Peter Brune, secretary general of Caritas Sweden. 

Image: Caritas Jerusalem 

Elk are being mooted for a return to the British Isles some 3,000 years after they were wiped out by hunters.  

Ecologists have hatched a plan to reintroduce the semiaquatic deer to sites in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The proposed sites are already home to reintroduced beavers, another “keystone” species that is making a comeback in Britain after a long absence.

“This exciting project could demonstrate how this crucial ecosystem engineer can thrive in floodplain landscapes, shaping diverse habitats that benefit communities and support biodiversity recovery,” said Rachel Bennett of the charity Derbyshire Wildlife Trust. 

The trust’s elk project got a boost this week after it was awarded funding by the charity Rewilding Britain. 

“Successfully reintroducing missing species like these is absolutely crucial,” said Rebecca Wrigley, chief executive of Rewilding Britain. “It’s a complex process involving multiple stages of research and development, feasibility studies, impact assessments, and community consultations. By taking the time and effort to get it right, we can create a more hopeful future for everyone.”

Image: Geoffrey Oddie

More children than ever are attending pre-school in Uzbekistan following efforts to improve early years education. 

The preschool enrolment rate has jumped from just 27% in 2017 to 75% in 2024, data from the World Bank shows. It’s thanks partly to initiatives like the Kindergarten On Wheels project, which delivers education to rural children via a fleet of specially adapted buses. 

Fitted with solar panels, a bathroom and a library, the buses are staffed with teachers and can function entirely off grid – a must in a region where electricity and running water can be scarce. Positive News reported on the project in 2022. Read our report here.

Image: Chi Lok Tsang

A “bell-to-bell” smartphone ban is set to be rolled out across New York City’s 1,600 public schools, as the movement to protect childhood from digital devices gains traction. 

Under the new policy, districts have until August to develop plans for how to store phones and prohibit their use at school. 

New York is hardly a trailblazer. The Netherlands and France already implement phone bans in schools. And while there is no national ban in the UK, research published last month showed that most schools restrict their use. 

Such policies are a response to mounting evidence linking early years smartphone and social media use with poor mental health. 

Image: Vtaylor Flowe

For years, campaigners have asserted that supermarket car parks offer untapped potential for solar power. This week, the UK government started listening.  

On Wednesday, it proposed mandating solar panels on car parks in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. A “call for evidence” has now been launched for the idea, which France has already embraced: large car parks in the country must be fitted with overhead solar canopies by 2028. 

“Right now, the sun is shining on hundreds of thousands of car parking spaces across the country which could be used to power our homes and businesses,” said energy secretary Ed Miliband.

“We want to work with businesses and car park operators to turn our car parks into solar carports to save families and businesses money with clean, homegrown British energy.”

Image: Kindel Media

There is no evidence to suggest that environmental legislation holds up housebuilding in the UK, according to the UK government’s own analysis. 

The research had been commissioned by the government to support its plans to slash environmental protections in a bid to speed up building projects. Instead, the research vindicates those campaigning against the changes. 

The government’s controversial proposals are part of the planning and infrastructure bill, which is currently going through parliament amid outcry from ecologists. 

The Wildlife Trusts, a coalition of environmental charities, has put forward suggested amendments to the bill that it wants the government to consider. The trust’s head of planning Becky Pullinger said: “It’s time for ministers to follow the evidence.”

The government was contacted for comment. 

Image: Bob Brewer

“The world needs more working-class writers. The Bee is going to find, nurture and publish them.” 

That’s the rallying cry of a new literary venture that aims to address the “class problem” in the UK publishing industry.

The Bee – a twice-yearly magazine, podcast and online writing community – is a response to research showing that just 12% of writers in the British workforce are from working-class backgrounds. Those behind the venture hope to improve those figures, while opening a wider conversation about class.   

“We believe that by publishing great fiction, non-fiction and poetry by people of working-class origin, we’ll encourage better representation, and a grown-up debate about how class works in the 21st century,” The Bee said in a statement. 

“We’ll also simply celebrate that mix of joy and wonder that comes from a reader or a writer of any age. And any class.”

Image: Brad Neathery

It’s a revival that few would have predicted two decades ago, but vinyl’s resurgence is showing no sign of slowing.

According to fresh data from the Recording Industry Association of America, 43.6m vinyl records were sold in the US last year, up from less than a million in 2006. It was the 18th straight year of growth for a format that once looked like dying out. 

Vinyl’s rising popularity is a lifeline for many artists, providing them with a much-needed revenue source in the free-for-all streaming age. 

The UK has witnessed a similar revival. In 2024, after an absence of more than 30 years, vinyl was once again used by the Office for National Statistics to track prices and work out the rate of inflation – a sign of its increasing relevance. 

Image: Clem Onojeghuo
Main image: Zach Wear