Let’s celebrate global good news a day early this week. Among the items behind the paywall in this edition of Fix the News:
— Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that describes itself as helping to vaccinate “more than half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases.”
Gavi’s Humanitarian Partnerships program delivers catch-up vaccination services to children up to age five in hard-to-reach communities affected by conflict and other humanitarian crises.
“It’s dangerous work,” Gavi says. Workers can spend weeks and even months negotiating with a wide range of state, local and community leaders before scheduling immunizations in remote or conflict-affected areas. And even then, constant vigilance and flexibility are required to keep workers safe.
But training of workers has paid off: In 2022, workers could safely get into only about 16 percent of the project areas to offer vaccinations because of access challenges, recent conflict and deteriorated political conditions. Now they and their partners are able to deliver immunization services in 100 percent of the targeted locations.
— The American bison, which once roamed across vast stretches of northern Mexico, has been reintroduced to parts of its historical range after being hunted to near extinction in the late 19th century, reports Yucatan Magazine.
And European bison have been reintroduced in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, says the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Program.
European bison? Apparently, the steppe bison in Eurasia migrated across the Bering land bridge into North America more than 100,000 years ago.
— “Solar construction in Trump-supporting states has buoyed an ongoing explosion in national solar deployment,” reports Grist.
The United States added more than 11 gigawatts of solar power in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 45 percent compared to the same period in 2025, Grist says. States that supported President Trump in the last election made up nearly three-fourths of that growth. Texas and Florida, the two biggest Trump-supporting states by population, ranked first and third, respectively.
Note to readers
I’m going to extend this holiday weekend for what I recently heard amusingly described as “preventive rest.” It just means taking care of ourselves and balancing our focus. I hope you’re getting your own preventive rest!
I’ll be back on Wednesday, Oct. 14. John will be writing his regular weekday commentary on briefing.center.
Voting rights, commentary on briefing.center
“The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it.” — late Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., civil rights activist
Here are regularly updated voting rights resources for the November midterm elections, on John Dineen’s briefing.center website. And here is John’s daily quick commentary on his briefing.center home page.
Also in the news
UN panel’s report offers new insight into Haiti gangs as general election nears
Israelis mourn Oct. 7 attack as Palestinians in Gaza languish in ruins of war it sparked
Marco Rubio urges Europe to defend Western values, strengthen alliance with U.S. in speech at the Acropolis in Athens
WSJ: Kimberly Guilfoyle offered to help Trump donor, pushed him to pay her credit card bill before her confirmation as ambassador to Greece
Trump $90 Medicare rebate rolls out, but millions aren’t eligible and critics see a political stunt
Forty state attorneys general urge Supreme Court to let them regulate prediction markets
Flight attendants’ union has safety concerns about Trump arch that will be on final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Democratic National Committee sues Trump administration, alleging taxpayer-funded ads violate propaganda law
Bipartisan House duo asks colleagues to pledge they won’t block midterm-election winners from taking their seats
Opal Lee, ‘grandmother of Juneteenth,’ spends 100th birthday at center of celebrations in Texas
Some guardrails on ChatGPT for Teens don’t work as promised, Common Sense Media says
NYTimes’ lead consumer tech reporter: ‘Why my conversations with ChatGPT for Teens made me very worried’
Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai awarded Nobel Prize in chemistry for work leading to advances in understanding molecular origins of life
KFF’s Elisabeth Rosenthal: The concept of ‘Medicare for all’ is popular, but ‘turning an inspirational slogan into law gets gnarly’
Sen. Patty Murray, former Senate health committee chair, forms group of experts to examine how to insulate CDC from political interference
You can call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, and be connected to the offices of your representative and senators. To email your House member and your two senators, you can connect to their websites at Congress.gov. Most lawmakers seem to only accept emails from their constituents, but these leaders accept emails from Americans nationwide, at:
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer
Senate Majority Leader John Thune