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Axios

Axios

Newspaper | United States | Centre
www.axios.com/

Smart brevity news covering politics, business, technology, and more. Get essential news efficiently.

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Discussions from Axios

Healthcare

What are the possible effects of changing the childhood vaccine schedule on public health and families?

President Trump issued an executive order Monday calling for fewer childhood vaccinations, splitting the childhood MMR vaccine into three shots and delivering vaccines at separate medical visits. Why it matters: Controversial vaccine policy changes appear to be roaring back ahead of the midterms. The executive order states that "the combined MMR vaccine should be administered in three separate single-disease shots once such products are domestically available and that, to the maximum extent feasible, all childhood immunizations should be administered at separate medical visits." The big picture: Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s handpicked vaccine advisers last fall called for splitting up the MMR shot and overhauling a central component of childhood immunizations. But the White House urged Kennedy to back off of such contentious policymaking earlier this year. And yet, President Trump has recently questioned Kennedy about the lack of momentum on childhood vaccine policy, per the Wall Street Journal, signaling his continued strong personal interest in the topic. What he's saying: "You have the MMR. We want it in three separate vaccinations, given at separate times," Trump said at an Oval Office signing event. He suggested the MMR vaccine could be "quite lethal" when administered all at once, and likened the volume to "a bottle of soda." Reality check: The CDC says there's "no published scientific evidence [that] shows any benefit in separating the combination MMR vaccine into three individual shots." It says there can be a "very small risk" of febrile seizures and extremely rare cases of serious allergic reactions, but that getting the MMR vaccine "is much safer than getting measles, mumps, or rubella."In addition, vaccine safety experts at CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics agree the MMR shot is not responsible for recent increases in autism diagnoses. "I'm a doctor. This executive order is wrong. The President does not have the expertise to make the

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Geopolitics

What are the potential benefits and challenges of the U.S. working with Venezuelan oil leaders?

U.S. officials are defending their work with Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt in the unprecedented White House move to effectively gain control over huge oilfields in the country. Why it matters: Betancourt is the colorful and controversial figure who heads North American Blue Energy Partners (NABEP), the oil company partnering with the administration in the agreement that gives the U.S. preferential access to output from 17 major fields. The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital is taking a 35% equity stake in the company.The U.S. also has the rights to buy 20% of the oil at cost after the company pays its taxes to Venezuela. Driving the news: At a briefing with reporters Tuesday, a U.S. official talked up Betancourt as a "proven operator" in the country's oil sector that has been vetted by the administration. The official also bluntly acknowledged the realpolitik in the effort to boost output in the country, which has vast reserves but modest oil production after years of mismanagement and underinvestment. "There's a reality here, okay, and that is that not just here, but in other parts of the world, you have to deal with the dynamics sometimes that are in place in order to get to where you want to get to," the official said. "I'm being blunt: we make choices like this all over the world.""Geopolitics is often not the choice between the ideal and the imperfect. It is often, you're trying to navigate what's the best outcome, and you have to work with the factors that you have in place."In prior conversations with Axios, two other senior administration officials acknowledged the troubles Betancourt has faced, but said they were worth the risk. Catch up quick: Betancourt, 46, is the linchpin to Trump's plan to increase U.S. access to oil and strengthen its dominance in the hemisphere, which became clear after the Jan. 3 removal of Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro. His ties to the first Trump administration, anti-Maduro activity in 2019 and his help in

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Technology

What are the possible benefits and risks of AI becoming more advanced, like with GPT-6 Astra?

OpenAI on Thursday released GPT-6 Astra, which president Greg Brockman called a "generational leap" and said could eventually be seen as the arrival of artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Why it matters: Astra pushes AI agents closer to doing complex professional work on their own — while also raising questions about how safely they can be deployed. Driving the news: Brockman says he personally believes OpenAI has reached AGI, while leaving users to decide whether Astra meets that definition. "I think it might be about this model," Brockman said in a briefing with reporters about whether Astra could mark the arrival of AGI.He ended the briefing by saying: "Welcome to the AGI era." Between the lines: OpenAI said that Astra was built on its largest-ever training run, using more than 100,000 GPUs at its Stargate site in Texas. The company also said this is its first model to use other models in a significant role in supervising Astra's training.GPT-6 Astra will first be available to a limited set of organizations in OpenAI's Daybreak Access program and will be available "in the coming days" for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise customers and API developers. Catch-up quick: OpenAI said earlier this week that Astra would be released soon, but that its most powerful cybersecurity capabilities would remain limited to a small group of trusted testers. Astra is the first model OpenAI has designated as reaching its "critical" cybersecurity threshold under its preparedness framework — meaning it can potentially find and exploit previously unknown vulnerabilities across well-protected systems without step-by-step human guidance.OpenAI previously slowed Astra's release to add safety testing after determining that its cyber capabilities could reach the critical threshold. Zoom in: Astra is designed to work directly inside software, rather than just recommending what a person should do next. In a video demonstration, Astra formatted a legal contract and built a 3D ga

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Politics

What should be done to improve leadership stability at the Pentagon during times of conflict?

The Pentagon has entered a period of profound institutional turmoil, as a crisis of leadership at home converges with a crisis of capacity abroad. Why it matters: Six months into the Iran war, Pete Hegseth presides over a Pentagon with fewer senior leaders, fewer critical weapons and less public accountability than at any point in President Trump's two terms. Zoom in: The most striking departure yet came Monday from Army Secretary Dan Driscoll — Vice President Vance's close friend and Yale Law classmate, once viewed as a potential successor to Hegseth himself. Driscoll, a rising star whom Trump had tapped for sensitive diplomacy in Ukraine, resigned after months of clashes with Hegseth over the Army's leadership and modernization.His exit, following Hegseth's firing of Army chief Gen. Randy George, leaves the service without Senate-confirmed civilian or uniformed leadership in the midst of the Iran war. Zoom out: Hegseth has fired or forced out senior officers across nearly every service, including the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Navy's top admiral and the Army chief of staff. The Washington Post counts more than two dozen top officers dismissed under Hegseth, who has remade nearly the entire Joint Chiefs. Only the Marine Corps and Space Force chiefs he inherited are still serving.The New York Times reports that Hegseth has also personally removed at least 45 officers from promotion lists this year — an extraordinary intervention in a system traditionally insulated from political leadership.NBC News reported Tuesday that Hegseth has blocked more promotions in recent weeks, including more than a dozen Black, Hispanic or female officers across the services. State of play: The cumulative effect is a thinner senior command at the precise moment the Iran war is testing the limits of what the U.S. military can sustain. The Post reports that the commanders overseeing Europe, the Pacific and Latin America — along with the Navy's top officer — formally objected to exte

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Politics

How might changes in campaign ad rules affect the fairness of elections for all parties?

A federal appeals court ruling Tuesday could erase a new midterm advantage for Republicans. Why it matters: The 2-1 ruling would block Republicans from using cash-rich party committees to buy more political TV ads at discounted rates. Republicans plan to appeal the decision, setting up another high-stakes campaign finance fight as the fall ad wars heat up ahead of November. Driving the news: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled the FCC was wrong to extend discounted candidate broadcast rates to political parties and joint fundraising committees that include non-candidate groups for ads they coordinate with candidates. The rates paid by super PACs and other outside groups are often several times higher than candidate rates.The case was brought by four Democratic candidates running this cycle — Sen. Jon Ossoff (Ga.), former Sen. Sherrod Brown (Ohio), former Gov. Roy Cooper (N.C.) and Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (Mich.)The U.S. Supreme Court in June struck down limits on how much committees can spend in coordination with campaigns. Between the lines: Republicans believed the Supreme Court decision, paired with FCC guidance extending candidate rates to certain coordinated ads, would allow party committee cash to stretch further. The ruling applied to both parties.But while Democratic candidates generally have stronger grassroots fundraising, Republican Party committees have amassed larger war chests, fueled by megadonorsRepublicans believed the Supreme Court decision, paired with FCC guidance, allowed party committee cash to stretch further by accessing lower rates reserved for candidates. What they're saying: "Put plainly, today's ruling makes clear that lowest unit rate is an exclusive right given to candidates and incumbent campaigns and that is the law of the land," DSCC executive director Devan Barber and DCCC executive director Julie Merz said in a joint statement. "Democratic candidates' strong grassroots fundraising amplifying the voice of ever

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