These are stories of global progress, compiled by the media group Fix the News and shared in partnership with The Advocate/The Times-Picayune.
Each story overview is linked to an original report or story with more information.
Progress in access to primary education
Over the past century, global primary school enrollment has soared. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, about 9 in 10 children of school age are enrolled in school. Based on a report from Our World in Data, this data represents a dramatic expansion of access to basic education worldwide -- and "education is widely seen as a basic right that governments are expected to provide." While gender gaps were large for much of the 20th century, they have largely closed, with 91% of boys and 89% of girls enrolled in primary education in 2023.
Meningitis deaths decrease
A global study from BMC Public Health found that childhood meningitis deaths have decreased significantly worldwide due to conjugate vaccines and faster outbreak detection. The study, which analyzed trends in childhood meningitis from 1990 to 2021, explored patterns in the incidence, mortality and disability-adjusted life years in children aged 0-14 years across 204 countries. By 2035, it's projected that N. meningitidis will become the leading pathogen. Despite overall global improvements, disparities persist, particularly in low-income areas and among newborns.
How does the brain generate 'aha' moments?
A cognitive neuroscientist at Duke University, Maxi Becker, and her team have pinpointed how the brain generates 'aha' moments -- and why they tend to stick. A sudden realization, or aha moment, is known as insight, like when Greek mathematician Archimedes exclaimed "Eureka!" By studying people as they viewed ambiguous images (so-called Mooney images) in an fMRI scanner, scientists found that insight triggers a rapid surge of activity in the ventral occipitotemporal cortex, which processes visual patterns, the amygdala (emotion) and the hippocampus (memory). An article from Quanta Magazine reported that those neural bursts appear to rewire how the brain represents the information -- making the moment subjectively powerful and easier to recall later.
Egypt eliminates trachoma after over 3,000 years
Egypt has been officially certified by the World Health Organization as having eliminated trachoma as a public health problem. It is now the seventh country in the eastern Mediterranean region -- and the 27th globally -- to reach this milestone. This accomplishment follows decades of coordinated action under WHO's SAFE strategy (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, Environmental improvements), national surveillance across Egypt's governorates and integration of trachoma surveillance into Egypt's disease-reporting system.
A new refuge for bumblebees
A new study led by Lancaster University found that solar farms in Britain -- if managed for biodiversity -- could become important refuges for bumblebees. Their modeling shows that solar-farm sites with wildflower margins (rather than plain turf) could support about 120% more bumblebees. While the increase is mostly limited to the solar farm itself, strategic placement of multiple well-managed farms could help sustain local bee populations.
The world's largest cave is now protected
In Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park in Vietnam, the world's largest cave can be found. A report from the nonprofit Mongabay said that, when a Vietnamese hunter found Sơn Đoòng cave, he conducted expeditions with the British Caving Association in 2001. In 2008, a team stepped inside the cave's chambers, which are as wide as an airplane hangar and taller than the Great Pyramids of Giza. Today, the national park has made significant progress in tourism, development and conservation. After 15 years of efforts, wildlife populations are rebounding, studies have increased and poaching has decreased -- leading UNESCO to create a new transboundary World Heritage with Laos.
Colombia has banned all new oil and mining projects
Also from Mongabay, the Colombian Amazon has been officially declared a protected "renewable natural resources reserve," and its government has banned all new oil exploration and large-scale mining projects in the region. The decision covers about 42% of Colombia's territory, aiming to prevent forest degradation, water pollution and biodiversity loss. The government also called on other Amazon-region countries to adopt similar protections.
A breakthrough in coral restoration
Researchers on the Great Barrier Reef have developed a new technique -- the "larval seed box" -- to help restore damaged reef areas, according to Oceanographic Magazine. During a 2024 trial at Lizard Island, the method boosted coral-larvae settlement rates up to 56 times higher across thousands of square meters of reef habitat. Scientists collect millions of larvae during the annual coral spawn, place them in seed boxes, then deploy the boxes over degraded reefs so larvae can settle slowly and effectively. A second trial is now underway in the Whitsundays to test efficacy under varied conditions.
London records its fewest homicides in years
The first nine months of 2025 in London included fewer homicides than any year since monthly homicide records began in 2003, according to the Mayor of London's Office for Policing and Crime. Between January and September of this year, there were 70 homicides, a 16% drop from the same period last year. Violent-injury crimes decreased across all 32 boroughs, and homicide rates remain lower than in several major international cities. The improvement is credited to increased policing, prevention programs and the efforts of the Metropolitan Police Service alongside the London Violence Reduction Unit.
Fix the News is the world's leading solutions journalism newsletter. The organization finds hidden stories of progress and shares them with readers from 195 countries. Steven Pinker calls Fix the News "the best source for positive news on the internet."