Kosovo nears mine-free status, innovations cool airports and boost reading
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The Halo Trust completed its work clearing landmines in Kosovo this week, opening the way for recovery in a country where over 800,000 people were displaced by conflict between 1998 and 1999.
Following the war, landmines killed or injured an estimated 150 people in the first month, with young people under 24 accounting for 71% of casualties.
In Lisbon, Portugal, authorities released 30,000 sterile male mosquitoes in the Alvalade district as a final test to control the Asian tiger mosquito, a species that transmits diseases like dengue, Zika, and yellow fever. The United Nations also affirmed its support for low-lying island nations by adopting its first declaration on sea-level rise, protecting their maritime rights as rising waters threaten their territories.
Elsewhere, doctors in the UK developed a rapid test that can diagnose brain tumours in two hours, significantly faster than the previous wait time of up to eight weeks. Additionally, a new urine and vaginal fluid test promises to help rule out womb cancer in women experiencing post-menopausal bleeding, potentially reducing the need for invasive procedures.
A farm in Iowa transitioned from raising pigs to growing specialty mushrooms with support from The Transfarmation Project, while a restored wetland in Cheshire, UK, now supports almost two-thirds of the country’s breeding black-necked grebes, a rare bird species. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library expanded its reach, aiming to provide free books to an additional 157,000 children.
