Annus mirabilis: all the things that went right in 2017

It was a tale of two years - the best of times and the worst of times. But not everything went wrong - from Mata's 1% to orangutans, we look at the good

How was it for you? A bit grim? Many people will be eager to see the back of 2017, the year of Trump, Twitter, terrorism, Yemen, Libya and the plight of the Rohingya, as well as environmental degradation and almost daily doomsday warnings about the multiplying threats to sustainable life on earth.

But the big, bold headlines tell only half the story - perhaps not even that much. Away from the hysteria of daily news, it is possible to discern progress, joy, breakthroughs and that rarest commodity of all: optimism.

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