Rights, rhinos and Olympic revelry: Uplifting stories from 2024
Source: France 24 – International breaking news, top stories and headlines
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Northern Lights lit up the sky
They put on an exceptional show, decorating the sky with shades of green, yellow and violet. 2024 was a fantastic year for observing the Northern Lights. Some appeared in regions where they are very rarely seen, such as the US state of Arizona, Spain, Namibia and France, allowing lucky people to see them directly from their windows.
The unusual phenomenon is a result of the Sun entering a period of peak activity, which happens every 11 years or so. During such periods, the smouldering ball of gas is in turmoil, spewing out particles and matter. It is these so-called solar eruptions that cause the aurora borealis (scientific term for the Northern Lights) on Earth. And the good news for those who missed them this time is that they should reappear in 2025. So look up.
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Europa mission looks for signs of life near Jupiter
Could our solar system be home to a second celestial body containing life? The implications of such a discovery would be staggering. That is what the Europa Clipper probe – which took off in mid-October bound for Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons – is hoping to find out once it reaches its faraway target in 2030.
Scientists believe an ocean of liquid water lies under the icy surface of Europa, located in a corner of our Galaxy that NASA has never before observed in such detail. The mission will not be looking directly for signs of life, but instead hopes to answer the question of whether Europa could harbour life. If the answer is yes, it will be up to another mission to try and detect it.
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Same-sex marriage legalised in Thailand, Greece and Liechtenstein
In good news for LGBTQIA+ rights, 2024 saw three more countries join the growing list of nations that allow same-sex marriage. Greece got the ball rolling by becoming the 37th country in the world and the 21st in Europe to legalise marriage for same-sex couples on February 15 – in a major step forward for a country heavily influenced by the Orthodox Church. Liechtenstein followed suit in May, and so did Thailand in June, becoming the third Asian country to do so after Taiwan and Nepal.
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Abortion rights enshrined in French constitution
On March 4, the two chambers of the French parliament voted to enshrine the right to an abortion in France’s constitution in a historic session at the Château de Versailles, marking a world first.
The right to an abortion was already guaranteed under French law by the so-called “Loi Simone Veil”, which was passed in 1975. It allows women to terminate their pregnancy up to the end of the 14th week or for medical reasons throughout the pregnancy. Women’s rights groups, however, had warned that the law remained at the mercy of decisionmakers.
The consitutional change was prompted by recent developments in the US, where abortion rights were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2022 – in a huge setback for women’s rights. Following the vote in Versailles, the Eiffel Tower in Paris was lit up in celebration, with the message: “My Body My Choice”.
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Progress in treating asthma and type 1 diabetes
The year that passed has brought a number of breakthroughs in the medical field as well.
Researchers at King’s College London demonstrated the effectiveness of benralizumab, a treatment for people suffering from asthma and COPD – a serious form of bronchitis. Injections of benralizumab, sold under the brand name Fasenra, could soon replace oral steroids to treat severe attacks, with far fewer side effects. Quite literally, it could give patients a new lease of life.
There was also promising news for people suffering from type 1 diabetes. In early October, a patient suffering from this autoimmune disease, in which the cells of the pancreas are destroyed, was cured using a new transplant technique based on reprogrammed stem cells. The procedure allowed the patient to regain autonomous insulin production – and become the first patient to be officially cured of diabetes. While the treatment remains complex and cannot be generalised for the moment, it opens up interesting prospects for the future.
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Norway backs down on seabed mining
It’s a welcome reprieve for the ocean. Norway, which had planned to award its first underwater mining exploration licences next year, has delayed its decision until at least 2026.
At the start of the year, the Nordic country’s parliament had provoked the ire of environmental activists by giving the green light to seabed mineral exploration in an area covering 280,000 km² – larger than the total surface area of the United Kingdom. According to Oslo, the seabed likely contains large deposits of copper, cobalt and zinc – materials that are seen as essential to transitioning towards a green economy. However, developing mining activities there would pose an additional threat to this little-known ecosystem already weakened by global warming.
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Some countries lead the way on climate action
When it comes to fighting climate change, 2024 was a year of missed opportunities, with major climate gatherings mostly failing to live to up to expectations. Some countries, however, took significant steps in the right direction.
Mexico, the last G20 country to take the plunge, finally committed at COP29 to reducing net greenhouse gas emissions to achieve carbon neutrality by the mid-century. This is no mean feat, given that Mexico is one of the world’s 12 biggest greenhouse gas emitters.
The UK officially turned the page on coal at the end of September, closing its last power station after 57 years of operation – and becoming the first G7 country to do away with coal entirely, the most polluting fuel on the planet. Meanwhile, Indonesia, the world’s third-largest coal producer, promised to decommission all its coal-fired power stations by 2040 to make way for renewable energies.
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One-horned rhino bounces back
A handful of endangered species made a comeback this year, starting with the one-horned rhinoceros, now a prime example of succesful wildlife conservation.
India’s one-horned rhinoceros population has exceeded 4,000 specimens and almost tripled in 40 years, according to data published by the Indian government. Stripped of its natural habitat and long targeted by poachers, the rhino had seen its numbers shrink to as few as 600 in the 1960s, and was classified as a “threatened species” until 2008 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which has since upgraded it to the “vulnerable” category.
Underwater, the right whale population also showed signs of recovering. In October, the New England Aquarium and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration revealed that the number of right whales had risen by 4%, from 358 in 2020 to 373 in 2023.
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France’s ‘Golden Owl’ unearthed after 31-year search
It’s a story that has fascinated would-be detectives for the past three decades.
The quest for the “Golden Owl” began on April 24, 1993, when a man named Max Valentin buried a bronze owl 80 centimetres underground at an unspecified location in France. The statuette was worth 1 million francs at the time, or €150,000 today. But before it could be found, 11 riddles published in a collection entitled “On the Trail of the Golden Owl” had to be solved. Each riddle was more cryptic than the last, consisting of charades, encryption and Morse code, and could be interpreted in an infinite number of ways.
France’s greatest treasure hunt lasted 31 years, 5 months and 9 days, until an anonymous participant finally unearthed the owl in early October. Its location has not been revealed, but treasure hunters have reason to rejoice: Michel Becker, the sculptor of the owl, has hinted that a new treasure hunt will be launched in April next year.
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France’s Olympic summer of love
France’s long-awaited Olympic and Paralympic summer opened with one downpour and closed with another. But not even the grouchiest French could deny that the Paris Games put on a tremendous show, earning enthusiastic plaudits from around the world.
Highlights included the hugely ambitious opening ceremony on the River Seine, the first to take place outside a stadium, as well as the flying Olympic cauldron that brought hundreds of visitors to the Tuileries gardens on balmy evening. Nestled among some of the French capital’s most iconic monuments, the competition venues provided a stunning backdrop to memorable sporting feats.
For those suffering from Olympics nostalgia, streaming platforms now offer the soundtrack to the Games’ curtain-raiser, entitled “Music from the Opening Ceremony of The Olympic Games Paris 2024” and created specifically for the occasion by French composer Victor Le Masne.
This retrospective has been translated from the original in French by Mariamne Everett.
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