On our planet and show that over the years Human Progress has actually made plenty of things a lot better. Not everyone is convinced of that however a 2016 study also people from 17 Different Countries whether they thought the world was Getting Better or worse. Just 11 percent believed things were improving. 30 percent thought things said more or less stayed the same. But the overwhelming majority 58 percent were of the opinion things were getting worse. This dramatic scene is one of a selection of photos taken by photographers in 2018 for the World Press Photo exhibition at the valley brown terrace in berlin but which impression is it that we take home with us one with positive foundations providing us with inspiration joy and amusement but in negative story. As overshadow a view of the world one that can be so cruel unjust so traumatizing and terrifying. The world in oxford is a more rarefied one the English University town has a special appeal for those with open minds its venerable halls of learning have seen no shortage of unconventional thinkers and people who like to see things along alternative lines. And ritchie from scotland is no exception she has a take on life that is fairly uncustomary. The world does not always a good points but its much much better than it was in the past and having is really important that we acknowledge this and understand this to make sure progress continues. Postdoctoral research on Global Development is a champion of presenting the world as it is including the good sides she and her colleagues at the universities Martin SchoolResearch Unit compiled figures and graphics for a database that emphasizes positive trends its featured on their website oh world in data. Life expectancy for example has risen significantly across the world. From a global average of 46 in 1950 to over 70 now. And the proportion of children dying before the age of 5 has steadily declined in many countries Child Mortality is now close to 0. The researchers also have encouraging news on the global poverty front over the last 30 years the number of people below the absolute Poverty Level those with an income of less than 1. 90 per day has fallen by 2 thirds the reason you need to standees positive developments is because if you come out of the belief that the world is continuing. Then none of the interventions. What then you become really cynical of the world and then you. Feel like you can change in our friends. For. Solutions scientists have literally been taking to the stage to publicize their encouraging findings and a swedish doctor who died 2 years ago was a star on the International Conference circuit as enlightening and entertaining ted talks have been viewed by millions online and many in the rich countries they think oh we can never end the extreme poverty and of course they think so because they dont know what thats how we have the more systematic when we fight. And then i discovered the work. And i really realized that all of the conceptions that hard about the way the world is today were really wrong spent all these years in education i kept up to date. And i just had no idea so why does news tend to be dominated by misery and suffering while positive stories barely have an impact media critic peter litters says the imbalance in coverage is no accident. Negative stories are just part of the Media Product menu that we are. And that menu look good says is determined by intense competition in the media world where the print online or t. V. And radio the desire to court consumers and enhance your brand positioning leads to exaggeration and sensationalism in the process of turning human hardship into a spectator sport that is precisely what readers and viewers want says let go. Is because people are limited in their process of selection limited to things that deviate from what they themselves see as normal. It might be unpleasant to accept but we tend to define our own happiness via the misfortune of others meaning im not a. Did you get off with thats why we need negative news stories classes for nigger people. Very transformative change is. A single event so you can the poor on a daily basis there things happen every single day the same thing every single day which you may think are very incremental but over derek is really a transformative changes and no one is supporting that. So how does the prevalent present is a must for those who are promoting a more balanced view. Far from being disappointed or better than a rich she and her team are happy to see even modest progress including at grade school level. You see kind of students oh i know they were all mops. And theyre based on. Poverty or so theyre really learning about the world and learning about a large scale which for us is just the best thing to see and what better place for his team to celebrate the human story than the green market. Global cold in the region lights just around the corner from their offers a microcosm of the modern world and here it is without doubt the positive world. Our global ideas series regularly features people striving to change things for the better for instance by helping to protect nature and our climate. This week we go to southern kenya a vast area home to a wide variety of flora and fauna particularly in the National Park the regions main tourist attraction. Its also home to the mass i a people that traditionally practice strict gender roles but as our reporter betina told me i discovered here 2 things are changing. Who i am. Early morning in southern kenya near the tanzanian border now i. Want. To. Know if we should you go to the monday morning pool full 4 places to put ballots that are for their long water bottle to make sure that our bodies that are ready to act and to not allow 30 she works in a large area of my psych Community Land the local luly although rushy group branch it almost surrounds say the National Park at the foot of mount kilimanjaro. But purity like carra is one of 8 young women who have recently completed their training as rangers. Head ranger base patrick. Together they plan their Daily Missions their work can be very dangerous your thorny we walking a very very high street is that the so buffaloes. Sometimes i left them when you go to get through the bush is a little bit. Thats comes with the trimmings precautions and how would you react how would you be aware of your battle because you go out in one. Team lioness says the 8 are known as one of the 1st all female ranger units in kenya and the very 1st made up of masai women are traditionally women are considered weak and do not pursue an occupation outside of the family. Strict rules and hierarchies observed for centuries in must psych munity star slowly being questioned and loosened. Other group is planning a patrol in the area surrounding the 4 ranger camps on the messiah Community Land in all there are 70 rangers here. And we hear they like the idea of this event as dad was the only one to protect. Them once and also their community that we went to see ben wedeman who bought and. We can listen to a community several 1000 elephants live here too they move back and forth between National Parks in the west and the east of the country and traverse my side lands along the way there are no fences barring their path purity car and the rest of her team travel long distances on foot. Between 20 and 40 kilometers a day the same as the male rangers. Among their most important duties is talking to people who live here the messiah or seminomadic pastoralist who cover a lot of ground with their flocks and encounter wild animals along the way. Sometimes lions kill cattle elephants rampage in villages the rangers need to hear about problems and be informed if poachers are in the area. They chart animals Movement Patterns and register their g. P. S. Coordinates rangers are on patrol 7 days a week its a way for these women to break out of strict traditional gender roles but the job is far from easy something. Because the little animals they will follow and once they hurt and they can kill you so scared because a little. Long for that then so. You can because you know. You might be not going to do that which will be they can kill you. Once a month purity like car of visits her family in their village for a weeks break. You know her daughter lives here and is looked after by the extended family. Of them and i manage her female relatives make jewelry and sell to tourists visiting the National Parks nearby from a side of women that this kind of business is not considered controversial. It is also an important source of income. It allowed purity like cars mother to pay her Childrens School so yes. I told my father and my mother that youve educated me yet now ive done with my family you wanted me to come in death in how we live without. Me if you dont want of me to go into work then i told them no because you have educated me id like you implicitly with me to win. Me that. And with her regular income she can support her family. That has earned her respect in the community. Whatever. Having seen purity and the other girls join the ranger unit. And seeing them working with confidence we made the right decision you know might have been feeding you know now were all going to. Any other girl who will be accepted into a rangy unit will also have our acceptance. By. Purity like karr is a pioneer a woman of courage and that will one day benefit her daughter as well. The job created a strong bond between the female rangers. It took a while to convince the village elders to give them permission to do the work the project was initiated by the ngo International Fund for animal welfare. This is a community that is really male dominated a lot saw the godchild that women get dont have a c. You know looking for issues so weve been importing them not just to doing range of course but also in terms of educational scholarships to one to see in general weve been playing a bigger role in controversial matters here. The women rangers live in tents for now but proper housing is being planned. They spend 3 weeks together at a stretch that creates a sense of community. We discuss how youll be in chad of your beef cattle are you ready to continue with these walk then when remit to give that kind of us then lets just say the all about do their job so when we come together we talk about flow things that i both and even the interaction between us and the men we talk about it yeah we had both author on this kind of female empowerment and selfdetermination is something new in their society but it appears to be catching on. Repression and discrimination are part of life for many women around the world on our new Facebook Channel d. W. Women youll find stories about those taking a stand and inspiring others to do the same d. W. Women gives a voice to the women of our world. Have you ever seen a whale in the wild whale watching excursions provide an opportunity to get up close to these gentle giants. Whales can be spotted in deep waters around the globe from the west coast of north america across the seas to south Africa Europe japan through to australia and new zealand. And something sensational is happening 2 humpback whales that once again being sighted in several places in the 1970 s. Widespread commercial whaling nearly caused their extinction then in the 1980 s. Whaling was largely banned and now humpback whales are returning to areas where they hadnt been seen for decades. Will watchers off shore near new york welcome on board the american birds this is their only bet. That has that fabulous. Photographing and recording the humpback whale that was grouse in new york. Every summer the humpback whales migrate here in search of food and are now believed to have strayed as far as the busy shipping lanes of new york harbor. Sylvia ackerman works for the gotham wales Conservation Group and is out here almost every day on the lookout for humpbacks. Whales. Have recovered significantly since a day of national whaling because of that protection and our waters now also believed her. Then theyve been in decades of. Ox cart and then we see the 1st 2 whales spouting. A sign that theyre on the hunt. The whale watchers are then also treated to a pod of young dolphins a key prey for both dolphins and humpback whales is menhaden up the. Its an oily forage fish that is in rich supply in these waters. What looks like rain hitting the water is actually a dense school of fish the menhaden often cluster in such concentrations that they can be easily spotted from the air off the coast of long island. The fish feed off algae and plankton that have absorbed Carbon Dioxide as such many atan are both invaluable filter fish for the ocean and a vital part of the marine food chain. They not only supply the whales and dolphins but other species the fish like stright. Fish are sea theyre there whats known as a keystone species. Menhaden arent easy catch for whales but also for commercial fishing fleets there catches reached a level where there were not enough fish left for the whales and dolphins the introduction of fishing quotas in 2013 saw stocks recover and the whales returned. Further south in reveal virginia menhaden provide the main source of income for the amiga Protein Corporation is the last company on the east coast of the u. S. To catch manhattan on an industrial scale but not for the dinner table there are a mega 3 rich flushes turned into fish oil or fish meal this fish here appear to be probably 3 to 4 years old based on the size 4 representatives from the fisheries agency. Actually well come here and take a sampling they are free to determine the exact age that they have based on where we catch them which are in our fathers logs theyll help track that species the bar massive men hate. The menhaden are a big deal in retail until recently there were no official limits on catches of the fish their stock seemed inexhaustible except they werent overfishing brotman haydon close to extinction in the 1960 s. By which point the whales had already left a make up protein believes there is no danger of that happening again thanks to the quota theres no overfishing going on and the fact is that the fishery only takes you know about 6 to 8 percent of the biomass every year 68 percent and the other 94. 00 to 96. 00 or so percent of that biomass is left out there to to Service Ecological purpose. No menhaden no humpback whales a simple enough equation. But the figures cited by the fishing industry are disputed by scientists who are opposed to any increase in the permitted fishing photos other animals such as the sea hawk also feed on the menhaden its a pivotal element of the entire ecosystem. For we join researcher alan picketts from Long Island Stony Brook University for a trip on her Research Ship theyre studying the biodiversity here in chicago bay which serves as a kind of nursery for a range of atlantic fish including many hayden using bait made of muzzle flash they set up an underwater camera and trap on the bottom of the bay always at the same spot. A few hours later the scientists will retrieve the latest findings for their long term study. The concepts that really take into account not only the amount of fish of a. All bolts of fish but the amount of fish available to eat by whales by striped bass 5 to nose british arcs that concept has been heard loud and clear the team records and measures everything picked up in the trap from baby blowfish to shrimp all links in the chain of the ecosystem which the whales depend on for food. We see Large Schools right off of the close of new york city you know its incredible this is something that during my lifetime i have not been able to see before so it is just incredible to be able to see. Her excitement is shared by tourists who go on the 4 hour long whale watching tours. To go you know full well be free to crowds but slice of other elements my. Mother offered me theyre here we love to hear our dirty work native new yorker so were skeptical about everything under so many set their wills out here we have to see it to believe it because we go back to the days where you know there was no light down here at. The gotham whales activists advocate for the whales and against higher fishing quotas will there be enough men haven for all parties in the long term there. If it stands properly. And thats something the conservationists want to ensure in the hope that migrating humpback whales will keep on returning to feed on fish in the waters off new york city. And now were often told in europe where weve been invited into a home in iceland. Hi my name is software and bam from there like every character is a small village in the south and part of iceland so i want to welcome you into my home. So this is our living room. And here we stayed most of the time. Our house is built on a hot area we never have to warm it up not in the wintertime really because its all this hot. Comfortable. This is also my favorite thing here its from my mother grew up with this. The flowers. For this for example is a gift from a very good friend and i really love this thing also these 2 years there since i was just since i remember since i was a little girl also this chair here its its very old i think at this for around 250 years salt and it comes or its in the early from work. Its something which people in the old things and this is my favorite thing here. My belief that its an old grand piano since 884 i sometimes play it. With maybe try. Oh. Yes this is our kitchen here. And we have very fresh water enough of warm water and. Its so clear you just drink it its very clear very cold the water. In them. So i have a lot of africa things for example here in the window world this is my husband this is my house spent watching the revenue its. My husbands name is stephanie ok i hate that me. But. Its me and my husband. Our mothers. Our children he has 4 and i have 4 and grandchildren. I hope you enjoyed visiting me and my husband here in connecticut and i hope you will come here to this it guys and our beautiful country see you here. But. Thats all this time did you enjoy a look at the brighter side of life. Drop us a line into global 3000 d. W. Dot com 10 days to get were on facebook d w women see you next week. Going to. Be a where the real talent resides. I come from there lots of people in fact know them a really good use of blood not just democracy thats one reason why im passionate about people ambassador missions and taken the sun so. Much in the book is why chip in my name popped in the form of the one i remember thinking at the time because bali unbroken for what anything can happen if people. Come together and unite for a call of the just slid into the news i often confronted difficult situations more conflict between does the mustangs i see just cause my child to confront floods ejaz on policies and development to put the spotlight on the issues that matter most to the congo Food Security question marshall nice to see. A notch has been achieved so much more needs to be john and i feel people have to be at constitutions my name is on the touchy dock and i walk into jail. Leave me alone subject but. I believe the issues above is from bad. To. Be a submissive the b. M. P. Of the priests love me and show some respect for the bold move the boost the shoulder to place the mists the bowl up misplaced good luck goldstraw be honest about. Love and respect. The just some other. Place. In the below. From. The children of Islamic State thousands live with their mothers in this camp in northeastern syria some European Countries have allowed some of them to come home now germany has agreed to take. On the program on u. N. World humanitarian take a look at the. Syria. Group. Plus the leaders of germany on 200. 00 mocking milestone the both feet behind