Hope Is A Verb - NewsFix - Croatia's Landmines. Aral Sea. Spider Silk Superpower.

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

This week’s headlines include: Chile eliminates leprosy; the malaria vaccine is working in Nigeria fall after a vaccine rollout; Croatia clears its last landmines; renewable energy surges; recovery in Kazakhstan’s Aral region; wildlife comebacks from the Galápagos to Central Asia; and a breakthrough that could finally bring spider silk into mass production.NewsFix is brought to you by ⁠Fix The News⁠. Hosted by Anthony Badolato, ⁠Hear That! ⁠ If you want to get in touch with the team, email [e-mail]

Welcome back to NewsFix, your quick shot of good news from around the world, brought to you by Fix the News. I'm Anthony Badolato and here are our top headlines this week. A big health win for Chile. Croatia clears its landmines. Conservation in Kazakhstan gets a boost. What renewable energy has to do with Iran? And who says you can't teach an old silkworm new tricks?

Okay, kicking off with some pretty major health news. Chile has eliminated leprosy, becoming the first country in the Americas and the second in the world to reach this milestone. As one of humanity's oldest diseases, leprosy still affects millions of people across more than 120 countries, often in communities living in poverty. So how on earth did Chile pull this off? Well, the country played the long game. Although there have been no locally acquired cases since 1993, health authorities kept surveillance in place and built a legal and social framework that guaranteed access to care, treatment and disability services for everyone, including migrants. In other words, this victory wasn't just about medicine. It was about building

a health system around inclusion, not stigma. But Chile's not the only country making health headlines this week, Libya has eliminated trachoma, a bacterial eye infection that can lead to permanent blindness. And one year after the R21 malaria vaccine entered routine immunisation in hospitals in northwest Nigeria, malaria cases among children have dropped by 50%. This is one of the world's highest malaria burden regions and it's a powerful signal that the vaccine is working. In other news, Croatia is officially free of landmines, completing a 30-year clearance program that has also included restoring farmland, forests and rural communities long considered unsafe. And the straight-of-haul news between Iran and Oman has been in the headlines lately.

In 2025, about 20% of the world's fossil gas passed through that narrow waterway, enough to generate roughly 650 terawatt hours of electricity. But once that gas is burned, it's gone. Also last year, solar panels added roughly the same amount of electricity to the global grid. The difference, they'll generate that power again this year and the year after that, and for decades to come. That's why it's called renewable energy. It's also why India's solar is booming.

Africa's rollout increased by 55. percent last year, and over half of America's states are introducing legislation to boost adoption of small plug-in solar panels that sit on apartment balconies and plug directly into household outlets. Okay, let's zoom across to Kazakhstan now, where for decades the shrinking North Aral Sea has been the poster child for environmental catastrophe. Q images of rusted ships marooned on sand dunes. But thanks to Kazakhstan's improved water management and cooperation with neighbouring countries, water levels are now reported to be around 50% higher than their lowest point. And that's not all. Along Lake Borkash, conservationists in the country are busy restoring

habitat for the return of wild tigers, planting tens of thousands of trees as they prepare for the species comeback to Central Asia. for the first time in 70 years. Speaking of comebacks, more than 150 giant tortoises are back on Floriana in the Galapagos for the first time in nearly two centuries, and the Scottish Parliament has passed the Natural Environment Bill, which will introduce statutory biodiversity targets. Finally, for decades, spider silk has been a kind of scientific holy grail.

It's an amazing material, five times stronger than steel, but elastic. These tiny threads have the potential to unlock everything from stronger body armor to ultra-light aircrafts and next-generation vaccine delivery. The problem? It's impossible to come by at any volume. Spiders can't be farmed because they tend to eat each other. But now scientists have worked out how to genetically engineer silkworms to spin spider silk, which means we may soon have the stuff in abundance, which is proof that once again

small threads of progress can lead to big possibilities. Okay, that feels like a good place to finish up this week. Although honestly, I've only just scratched the surface. The team has put together a bumper addition, so if you want to find out the good news on tanker oil spills, the big breakthrough in coral restoration and why violence is declared. in Sweden, check out fixthenews.com. Until next week, take care and remember, it's not all bad.