Millions of designer mosquitoes have been released onto the streets of Medellin, Colombia under the "hope that they will then go out and bite people." Scientists bred these mosquitoes with a safe and naturally occurring bacteria that helps to stop the growth and spread of dengue virus, typically transmitted by mosquitoes.  Medellin schoolchildren are helping the program, already implemented successfully in Townsville, Australia. The young students who are given their own mosquito breeding tool-kits to use at home, are taught not to be scared by the mosquitoes and to share their purpose with others. One parent notes of her daughter's involvement: "I thought I was going to be invaded by flies, but once she explained the process and what the purpose of the mosquitoes was, I could see that it's a great project."

On Saturday, housing activists protested rising rent prices and unaffordable housing in Berlin. Specifically, the mass protestors reiterated previous demands that the German government expropriate 200,000 Berlin apartments sold to private landlords. Chancellor Angela Merkel and her center left allies are not convinced. Merkel spokesperson Steffen Seibert asserts: "The key to affordable living space is not expropriation but having a sufficient number of apartments available." As the Washington Post notes, at the core of the housing demonstrations stands disagreements over which philosophy should guide Berlin's urban development. The Post sees on the one hand "free market companies that see real estate as a means to profit," and on the other "housing activists who see low rents not only as a necessity but as central to the German capital's character."