Meanwhile. . .

Bird populations across the French countryside have fallen by a third over the last decade and a half, researchers have said . . . The primary culprit, researchers speculate, is the intensive use of pesticides on vast tracts of monoculture crops, especially wheat and corn.

In 2016, a coalition of media, tech, and community organizations launched the Equitable Internet Initiative, a project that will result in the construction of wireless broadband internet networks across three underserved Detroit neighborhoods. Leading the initiative is the Detroit Community Technology Project, a digital justice project sponsored by Allied Media Projects. Each network will provide wireless internet service to 50 households per neighborhood, according to Diana Nucera, executive director of DCTP.

Voting methods that streamline the voting process into just one election, such as ranked-choice voting, make it easier for more people to weigh in on the whole election process. In addition, proportional and semi-proportional voting systems, such as multi-winner ranked-choice voting, give voters of all stripes a real chance of electing someone who represents them. These systems often yield elevated voter turnout between 5 and 7 percentage points compared with jurisdictions using plurality and majority voting. That increase remains even after several election cycles.