Hope Is A Verb - NewsFix - The Kiss. Child Poverty ⬇️. Rewilding Keeps Winning.

Episode Date: December 1, 2025

This week's headlines include - major victory against extreme child poverty; rewilding efforts paying off in Scotland, Vietnam, Bulgaria and Ukraine; more good news on the malaria vaccine; what went right at COP30 and science reveals some very flirty primates. NewsFix is brought to you by ⁠Fix TheNews⁠. Hosted by AnthonyBadolato, ⁠Hear That! ⁠ Ifyou want to get in touch with the team, email [e-mail]

Welcome to NewsFix, your quick hit of the good news you may have missed this week. I'm Anthony Badolato and here are our top headlines. 95 million kids lifted out of extreme poverty. Rewilding brings healing in Ukraine. An exciting update on the malaria vaccine, the good news from COP 30 and a plot twist that no one saw coming. Apes were making out long before human. started kissing. Okay, let's kick off with the story that deserves far more airtime. Since the year 2000, 95 million children have been lifted out of extreme poverty. That's 95 million

kids who now have a shot at a safer, healthier and longer life. And this isn't just a statistical fluke, because what's extraordinary is that this all happened as the global child population grew by a few hundred million. When researchers looked at the countries that made the biggest dense in child poverty, they weren't doing 50 different things. They were doing the same four. They all built child rights into national budgets,

expanded inclusive cash transfers, reduced the cost of schooling and healthcare, and improved labour security for caregivers, especially women. That's why this story is such a big deal. Because we know exactly what work, We now have a playbook to finish the job. In other news around things that humans are getting right, rewilding is still having a moment, and it's breathtaking to watch.

In Scotland's, Frick Highlands, Britain's largest rewilding landscape is being stitched back together, and the wildlife are loving it, with wildcats, golden eagles and beavers coming back to the area for the first time in 400 years. Meanwhile, Seneerius vultures are returning to the skies of Romania, Spain and Bulgaria. Environmentalists in Cambodia have taken the first step to restoring the population of milky stalks and in Ukraine. Frontline soldiers and their families are taking part in restoring wetlands and forests across the Danube Delta. It's a project that's not only healing the war-torn landscape, but giving these people a much-needed symbol of resilience. Now, if you've been following us for a while, you'll know that we're so passionate about the malaria vaccine. I mean, we made a documentary about it.

We may have wrapped up the series, but the progress keeps happening, and now Garvey and UNICEF have secured a deal to cut the price of the R21 malaria vaccine by 25%. The savings total roughly $90 million, which will finance around 30 million extra doses to reach an estimated 7 million more children over the next five years. And that's even as donor budgets tighten. And an update on COP 30, the Global Conference that's like the Olympics for climate policy, although this year's meeting didn't manage to tick off the big ticket stuff, there was plenty of progress around the margins.

11 countries issued new commitments to drastically reduce fossil methane emissions. Forest countries committed to maintaining Amazon Territory, free from oil and mining. And Brazil made a commitment to bring 100% of their national waters. That's an area bigger than the entire European Union under sustainable management by 2030. If they pull this off, it will be the largest ocean governance upgrade ever attempted by a coastal nation and could rewrite what's possible for ocean stewardship globally. And finally, a story we did not see coming.

Scientists have just pushed the origins of kissing way, way back, like 21 million years back. Turns out romantic kissing didn't start with the ancient humans at all, but with some very flirty primates. Researchers compared kissing across dozens of species, wolves, polar bears, you name it, and found that it was extremely sloppy with lots of tongue. They used a very serious scientific definition And I'm quoting here Non-aggressive mouth-to-mouth contact

With movement and no food exchange Ooh, hot Under that criteria Great Apes have been locking lips for ages Which means our ancient ancestors Were kissing long before we had poetry, romance or good deodorant Turns out kissing is primal

which explains a lot, actually. So I'm going to leave you on that awkward note, but don't forget to check out the full roundup in our newsletter at fixthenews.com, and I'll be back again next week.