NewsFix

Welcome back to NewsFix, the news podcast that tells you what’s going right in the world. I’m Anthony Badolato, and here are the headlines from Fix The News this week:

• 50 million people turn on the lights
• More progress for LGBTQ rights
• The end of Pakistan’s period tax
• The world’s most efficient solar panel
• And the wildlife crossings quietly changing the world

Ok, here's a number that blew my mind this week.

Fifty million.

That's how many people across Africa have gained access to electricity since 2024.
Think about that - fifty million people who can turn on lights at home, help their kids study after dark, charge a phone or keep their business open a little longer.

This is one of the fastest expansions of electricity access in history. And it’s thanks to something called Mission 300 - an ambitious plan to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030.

What makes this even more remarkable is where it's happening. This isn't one country building a grid. It's 40 countries - with different governments, infrastructure challenges and some of the hardest terrain on earth.

If you're looking for some context, the closest example is probably rural America in the 1930s, when electricity slowly changed lives across the country.

That rollout took about 15 years.

Mission 300 is trying to pull off something similar across an entire continent in less than a decade. The scale is insane. But so far, it looks like it's working.

And here’s another thing that jumped out at me this week. Three very different stories from three different countries that all point in the right direction for LGBTQ rights.

In Nepal, the Supreme Court has strengthened marriage rights for sexual and gender minorities, putting the country's equality movement on its strongest legal footing yet.

In the Netherlands, lawmakers have voted to ban conversion therapy after almost 15 years of campaigning.

And I’m actually pulling this one in from our last edition - a court in Costa Rica has upheld the country's first same-sex marriage, bringing a decade-long legal battle to an end.

The thing that really struck me was how long people have been fighting for these rights– 15 years of advocacy in the Netherlands, a decade for that couple in Costa Rica. That’s a huge commitment to changing the world.

And it's not just social change that takes time. The same is true for technology.

One of the big stories this week was that German scientists have just built the most efficient solar panel ever, converting more than a third of the sunlight into electricity.

Now, this is a laboratory breakthrough, so you won't be putting one on your roof anytime soon.

BUT the reason this stuff matters is because while those scientists in Germany are breaking records, farmers in Kenya are using that solar power to solve a completely different problem.

Solar-powered cold rooms are helping them store produce without expensive or unreliable electricity. One company says spoilage has dropped from around 50% to less than 2%.

And I think that's the thing, right?

Eventually, solar stops being a technology story. It becomes a story about food, income and making everyday life a little bit easier.

And speaking of that, two young lawyers in Pakistan have just pulled off a remarkable victory, successfully challenging an 18% tax on sanitary products.

This is a big deal.

Around one in five girls in Pakistan misses school during menstruation, and for many families the cost of sanitary products is another barrier to education.

And finally, my favourite conservation story of the week. Around the world, we’re finally designing roads with animals in mind.

Wildlife crossings are popping up everywhere. Some are bridges across highways. Some are tunnels. Some are rope crossings suspended above the road.

And they work. Studies show they can reduce collisions with vehicles by more than 90%. But here's my favourite part.

Animals actually use them.

This is why you'll find wildlife crossings in places like the US, Brazil, India and Croatia. And here in Australia, engineers have built rope bridges, underpasses and wildlife crossings along a new highway in Western Australia. Night-vision cameras have already recorded thousands of crossings by endangered species.

It really is the ultimate ‘build it and they will come’ scenario.

Ok, that's it from me this week. But make sure you check out the full edition at fixthenews.com. We've got updates on the global green economy, more progress on dementia and HPV vaccines and an exclusive interview with Eric Nguyen, the cofounder of Radical Numerics about AI that can read, write and identify dangerous DNA.

It's fascinating, slightly mind-bending, and exactly the kind of story we love covering.

I'm Anthony Badolato, and that's your news fixed.