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Companies spend lots to sponsor the Olympics, but COVID has put them in a tight spot.
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Miriam Kramer, author of Space
38 mins ago - Science

Live updates: Jeff Bezos heads to space

Jeff Bezos at the unveiling of the Blue Origin New Shepard system in 2017. Photo: Matthew Staver/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Jeff Bezos, the world's richest man, and three other passengers will fly on a suborbital mission into space Tuesday morning aboard Blue Origin's New Shepard.

The latest: The New Shepard is set to take flight around 9 a.m. ET with Bezos, his brother Mark, aviator Wally Funk and the company's first paying customer, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen. The livestream will be aired on Blue Origin's website.

Miriam Kramer, author of Space
1 hour ago - Science

New wrinkle for space tourism: Deciding who counts as an astronaut

Illustration: Megan Robinson/Axios

Jeff Bezos is going to space today, but whether that makes him an astronaut is open to interpretation.

Why it matters: Bezos and his billionaire rival, Richard Branson, are hoping to lure wealthy customers into space tourism, in part, with the promise of becoming astronauts — but the definition of who is considered an astronaut isn't clear-cut.

Listen to “Axios Today”
Companies spend lots to sponsor the Olympics, but COVID has put them in a tight spot.
1 hour ago - Sports

Olympians are getting their voices back

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Colin Kaepernick isn't in the Olympics, but the lasting image of an athlete kneeling on the sidelines in silent protest is likely to find its way to Tokyo all the same.

Why it matters: Such a demonstration would have previously been banned at the Games, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has relaxed its rules governing protests in the wake of 2020's global racial reckoning.

Axios-Ipsos poll: Convincing the unvaccinated

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Data: Axios/Ipsos poll; Note: Among a sample of 295 respondents, with a margin of error of +/-5.8%; Chart: Connor Rothschild/Axios

Most Americans who still aren't vaccinated say nothing — not their own doctor administering it, a favorite celebrity's endorsement or even paid time off — is likely to make them get the shot, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Why it matters: The findings are more sobering evidence of just how tough it may be to reach herd immunity in the U.S. But they also offer a roadmap for trying — the public health equivalent of, "So you're telling me there's a chance."

2 hours ago - Technology

Conservative media diets tied to distrust in health officials

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Reproduced from Annenberg Public Policy Center; Chart: Axios visuals

People who rely on conservative media have much less confidence in key public health institutions and experts, and are much more likely to believe misinformation about the vaccine, according to a new study from the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

Why it matters: The survey finds a widening gap between Americans who trust key health institutions and those who don't.

Bryan Walsh, author of Future
41 mins ago - Technology

Software bots could be the future of business automation

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

Businesses are building a new kind of assembly line — and this one is digital, staffed by software bots.

Why it matters: For all the hopes and fears around industrial robots, more progress is being made in the realm of digital workers: Bots that can perform a growing number of often tedious and time-consuming tasks in an increasingly online business world.

Facebook's vaccine-misinformation mess

Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios

In walking back his comments about Facebook "killing people," President Biden Monday conceded that the debate around vaccine misinformation is too complicated to be narrowed down to soundbites.

Why it matters: Inoculating people is the surest path to ending the COVID pandemic, but the U.S. vaccination drive has petered out against a tide of partisan rhetoric and suspicion fueled by misinformation.

Resources pushed to limit as wildfires burn across U.S. and Canada

A helicopter flies with a load of water to the Bootleg Fire, near Bly, Oregon. Photo: Payton Bruni/AFP via Getty Images

Fire officials are seeing resources stretched to the limit as scores of wildfires burn across the U.S. and Canada amid hot, dry conditions.

Threat level: In Oregon, officials have called in firefighting support from outside the Pacific Northwest — as the biggest blaze in the U.S., the Bootleg Fire, swelled to 537 square miles Monday.

Man sentenced to prison for threatening to kill Flynn case judge

Judge Emmet Sullivan works at his office on in D.C. Photo: Dominic Bracco for THE WASHINGTON POST via Getty Images.

A New York man was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday for threatening to kill the judge overseeing the criminal case against Trump administration national security adviser Michael Flynn, per the Washington Post.

Driving the news: Frank Caporusso pleaded guilty last April to leaving a threatening message on the voice mailbox of U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan over Flynn's case in May 2020.

Updated 8 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Twitter account suspended for COVID misinformation

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene at the U.S. Capitol in June. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Twitter announced Monday that it's suspending the account of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for 12 hours.

Driving the news: "We took enforcement action on the account you referenced (@mtgreenee) for violations of the Twitter Rules, specifically the COVID-19 misleading information policy," Twitter said in an emailed statement.

Updated 9 hours ago - Science

FEMA chief heads West as large wildfires rage, heat wave peaks

Fire engulfs trees at the Tamarack fire in Central California on Saturday. Photo: Ty O'Neil/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell will make her first trip to wildfire-affected states amid another dangerous week of extreme heat and "critical" fire weather conditions, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The West is experiencing its worst drought this century, and repeated, extreme heat waves have dried out forests and grasslands, priming them to burn. Officials are gearing up for an unprecedented, prolonged peak fire season.

10 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Dems eye infrastructure for Medicare expansion

Sen. Bernie Sanders. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Senate Democrats are debating lowering the Medicare eligibility age as part of the $3.5-trillion "soft" infrastructure package, at the risk of jeopardizing centrist support for a measure being pushed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

Why it matters: Giving Americans over age 60 access to Medicare would force Democrats to either add an estimated $200 billion to their overall infrastructure price tag or cut other progressive priorities currently in the package.

House builds infrastructure alliances

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Members of the House are forming alliances and gearing for battle while waiting for the Senate to work out final details of an infrastructure deal.

Why it matters: The lower chamber has been on the sidelines during its two-week recess, yet representatives have been watching senators carefully in anticipation of their own debate on the measures that will be shipped their way.

By the numbers: Would-be Dreamers

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Data: Migration Policy Institute, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; Chart: Will Chase/Axios

The fate of roughly 80,000 people who applied for but hadn't been approved for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program rests with Congress — and the Senate parliamentarian.

Why it matters: A federal judge Friday blocked roughly 500,000 to 700,000 unauthorized immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from participating in DACA and receiving its deportation protections. Nothing changed — for now — for the more than 600,000 active DACA recipients.

10 hours ago - Politics & Policy

GOP split over infrastructure messaging

Republicans are looking to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, seen Monday, for their infrastructure cue. Photo: Tom Brenner/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Republicans are all over the map about how their party should proceed on the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure proposal.

What we're hearing: GOP strategists tell Axios they've struggled over not only whether they support the current Senate negotiations but how to message off the broader infrastructure debate.