Hope Is A Verb - NewsFix - 'Remarkable' Iraq. Cancer ⬇️. Matchmaking for Lizards.

Episode Date: January 16, 2026

Welcome back to NewsFix and our first edition for 2026. This week's headlines include – a counterpoint to the Middle East, astonishing progress on cancer, a golden age of vaccines, murder and homicide rates decline in the world’s leading cities, coal bites the dust (again)  and Love Island for lizards? NewsFix is brought to you by ⁠Fix TheNews⁠. Hosted by Anthony Badolato, ⁠Hear That! ⁠ Ifyou want to get in touch with the team, email [e-mail]

Hi, and welcome back to News Fix, our first edition for 2026. We're less than one month into the new year, and if you follow the headlines, you're probably feeling like the world has fallen off the rails. But just a reminder, you won't be hearing any of that coverage here. Instead, our job is to bring you up to date on the hidden stories of progress that matter just as much as the chaos dominating your feed. I'm Anthony Badolato, and here's what's making news this week. an unexpected bright spot in the Middle East, astonishing progress on cancer,

homicides drop in London, New York and 12 other American cities, and is this love island for lizards? To kick off this year, a powerful counterpoint in the Middle East. After two decades of conflict, Iraq is now unrecognizable and remarkable. According to the United Nations, the country is more stable, with poverty down to 17.5%, and improved security allowing around 5 million internally displaced people to return home. There are also signs of political recovery too, and the most recent parliamentary elections saw a 56% turnout, and women made up a third of all candidates.

Did you know that global cancer deaths have now fallen by more than 20% since the 1980s? This means if you're the same age today as someone was four decades ago, you're far less likely to die from cancer, And that's thanks to a lot of hard work and research into prevention, detection and care. In the United States alone, 7 out of 10 people now survive at least 5 years after a cancer diagnosis, up from just half in the mid-1970s. And in the UK, the first leukemia patient has just received CAR-T cell therapy through the NHS. This is a leukemia that typically leaves patients with just six to eight months to live.

But doctors say this treatment can offer patients years. and potentially a cure. And in other health news, for more than a century, vaccine development was slow and often accidental, but that era is over. And we're now entering a golden age for vaccines. In the past five years, multiple diseases have received their first ever vaccines, and what's coming up next is even bigger, with scientists working on a universal flu shot, personalized cancer vaccines, and more effective tuberculosis and malaria vaccines.

scenes. Now, if you ask most people, they'd say violence is on the rise. However, here are some surprising facts. In 2025, London recorded just 97 homicides, the lowest level since current records began. New York City recorded the lowest number of shootings in its history last year, and despite the headlines, murder rates fell to an all-time low across 12 U.S. cities, including San Francisco, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago. Also on the decline, coal. Last year, coal-fired electricity fell in India and China for the first time since 1973, which is huge news because these two countries account for roughly 40% of global annual CO2 emissions.

2025 was also the first full year the UK went without coal power since 1881, with renewables supplying 47% of electricity. I mean, there's a reason science named renewable, energy its breakthrough of the year for 2025. And you heard it here first. Love Island for lizards. Yep, that's right. Across Caribbean matchmaking project has helped rescue the critically endangered lesser

Antillian iguana on the uninhabited islet of Prickly Pear East near Anguilla. Try saying that after a late night. After being driven to the brink, conservationists moved just 23 surviving iguanas there in 2016. But then comes the plot twist. To avoid inbreeding, 10 young iguanas were flown in from Dominica in 2021. Chaperoned, of course, to find a soulmate. Fast forward less than five years, and the population has exploded to more than 300 adults and juveniles, making the island one of only five places on Earth, where the species is now increasing.

Turns out, sometimes conservation just needs a decent dating pool. And that's my cue to sign off this week. Thanks for tuning in and make sure you catch up on all the good news in our newsletter at fixthenews. There's everything from ocean conservation, more energy and health breakthroughs, some incredible wins for human rights and some very cool science stories in the premium version. I'll be back, well hopefully next week, although if I'm a few days late, I've got a solid reason. My gorgeous and incredible wife, Sammy and I are expecting our first baby boy. those hospital bags are packed and at the door. Wish us luck.