Oct 6, 2018

Murkowski to vote "present" as a courtesy to Montana senator

Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) will vote "present" as a courtesy to Montana Sen. Steve Daines who plans to walk his daughter down the aisle at her wedding, which collides with the timing of the Senate floor vote for Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation.

The big picture: Her vote will not change the outcome of Kavanaugh's confirmation as Sen. Daines was expected to vote in favor of Trump's pick. Though Murkowski announced earlier that she opposes Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court, she says she hopes her "present" vote "reminds us we can take very small steps to be gracious."

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Axios

Updated 2 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

Global: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 12,118,667 — Total deaths: 551,271 — Total recoveries — 6,649,930 — Map.
U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 2 p.m. ET: 3,081,383 — Total deaths: 132,570 — Total recoveries: 953,420 — Total tested: 37,431,666 — Map.
Public health: Cases rise in 33 states — Florida reports highest single-day coronavirus death toll since pandemic began.
Science: World Health Organization acknowledges airborne transmission of coronavirus.
Travel: Young adults are most likely to have moved due to coronavirus.

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Felix Salmon

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China's extraterritorial threat

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

All multinational companies and executives need to worry about breaking U.S. law, no matter where they're based or doing business. Now, they need to worry about Chinese law, too.

Why it matters: The projection of U.S. norms and laws around the world has been an integral (and much resented) part of America's "soft power" since 1945. As China positions itself to replace the USA as global hegemon, expect it to become increasingly assertive along similar lines.

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Eileen Drage O'Reilly

50 mins ago - Health

Big Pharma launches $1B venture to incentivize new antibiotics

Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios

A group of large drug companies launched a $1 billion AMR Action Fund Thursday in collaboration with policymakers, philanthropists and development banks to push the development of two to four new antibiotics by 2030.

Why it matters: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing problem — possibly killing up to 20 million people annually by 2050 — but a severe lack of R&D market incentives has hampered efforts to develop a robust antibiotic pipeline to address the issue.