A global exam out today shows U.S. 15-year-olds' math scores lagging way behind their peers in the world's industrialized countries.

• U.S. students saw a 13-point drop in 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) math results when compared to the 2018 exam, Axios' Ivana Saric reports.
• The U.S. scored above the OECD average in reading and science.

Why it matters: The 2022 PISA edition is the first to take place since the pandemic. It compares the test results of nearly 700,000 students across 81 OECD member states and partner economies.

💡 What works: 31 countries and economies maintained or improved upon their 2018 math scores, including Switzerland and Japan.

• Countries that did so shared some common characteristics, including shorter school closures during the pandemic and fewer impediments to remote learning, per the report.

🖼️ The big picture: Students around the world have suffered historic setbacks in reading and math since COVID.

• The setbacks spanned nations rich and poor, big and small, with few making progress.

🧠 Context: Multiple studies have highlighted the adverse and stark impact of the pandemic on education.

• Share this story.

More drug companies are racing to join what's been a two-horse race to make blockbuster obesity drugs, snapping up smaller biotechs and vying for a market that could be worth tens of billions in less than a decade.

• Why it matters: Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic have soared in popularity despite high price tags, mixed insurance coverage and a number of unpleasant side effects, Axios' Tina Reed writes.

The market is expected to top $100 billion by 2030 and is ripe for new entrants, as drugmakers struggle to keep up with demand.

• Should Medicare ultimately cover weight-loss drugs, that would take things to another order of magnitude.

What's happening: Swiss drugmaker Roche on Monday entered the race with a $2.7 billion acquisition of the California-based biotech Carmot Therapeutics. The deal gives Roche access to two obesity drug candidates.

🖼️ The big picture: It's just the latest deal by a big drugmaker to add a weight-loss candidate to its development arsenal.

• AstraZeneca last month paid $185 million to acquire global development rights for an experimental GLP-1 pill from Chinese biotech Eccogene, with up to $1.8 billion more promised if it meets clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones.
• Eli Lilly, which last month became the second to gain approval for a weight-loss drug, in July announced a deal worth up to $1.9 billion to acquire obesity drugmaker Versanis, which is developing a drug that works differently from the appetite-suppressing GLP-1s.
• Novo has also continued to acquire biotechs with obesity targets, including Embark Biotech in August.

Share this story.

The nation's most powerful Jewish interest groups have come together to launch the 10/7 Project, a bipartisan effort to fight misinformation related to the Israel-Hamas war, Axios' Sara Fischer has learned.

• The groups are collectively committing seven figures to the effort.

Why it matters: It's the biggest unified effort from the Jewish lobbying sector in recent memory.

• "Having these five organizations work together in this fashion is unprecedented and shows how important American Jewry believes this moment is to the State of Israel to combat Jewish hate in America and the world," said Josh Isay, executive director of the 10/7 Project.

The effort is being led by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

• Those five groups will fund the creation of a centralized communications operation that aims to provide newsrooms and policymakers with fact-based information on the war.

The group plans to work with surrogates, celebrities and people with recognizable brands to help amplify its message.

• The Jewish groups are working with several bipartisan political operators and public affairs firms, including SKDK — where Isay was formerly CEO — OnMessage Public Strategies, and CKR Strategies, the firm co-founded by former Hillary Clinton aide Philippe Reines.

Share this story.

Bitcoin yesterday touched $42,000 — a level not seen since May 2022, before the collapse of a stablecoin called TerraUSD heralded the start of the industry's meltdown.

Why it matters: The price surge comes thanks to optimism about the possibility of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), plus expectations for Fed rate cuts buoying riskier assets, Axios' Emily Peck writes.

🔭 Zoom out: The market has centralized, with big exchanges operating under the watchful eye of the U.S. government.

• Get Axios Markets.

Editor's note: This item has been corrected to say it was written by Emily Peck, not Matt Phillips.

A poll out today offers a warning for presidential candidates hoping to tap into the youth vote in 2024:

• Just 49% of 18-29-year-olds "definitely" plan to vote for president in 2024, down from 57% who said the same in the fall of 2019, Axios' Erin Doherty writes from the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School poll.
• The 2020 turnout for Americans 18-29 is estimated at about 50%.

Why it matters: Young voters have voted solidly Democratic in recent elections. Strong turnout in 2020 and 2022 contributed to Democratic wins.

🧮 By the numbers: Younger Black Americans saw a sharp decline, with 38% saying they'll "definitely vote" next year, compared to 50% in 2019.

• Hispanic Americans also had a steep drop, with 40% saying they'll "definitely vote" in 2024, compared to 56% in 2019.

Share this story.

The discovery in eastern France of a potentially mammoth cache of white hydrogen — one of the cleanest-burning fuels in nature — has added to a trail of clues elsewhere in the world that a holy grail of clean energy may be lying in the ground for the taking, the N.Y. Times reports.

• Why it matters: Natural hydrogen — called white hydrogen because of its purity — could be a source of clean energy continuously generated by the Earth, The Times explains.

"Hydrogen is magical — when you burn it you release water, so there are no carbon emissions," said Jacques Pironon, a senior researcher and professor at the University of Lorraine, France.

• "We think we've uncovered one of the largest deposits of natural hydrogen anywhere in the world."

🥊 Reality check: There are doubts about the exact size of the French trove and how to extract the gas.

• Keep reading (gift link — no paywall).

This photo shows a duplex in Arlington, Va., exploding in a fireball last night after a four-hour standoff when police tried to serve a search warrant.

• 👀 Someone was filming across the street at the moment the house blew up. It's upsetting. If you wish to watch, the 22-second video is here.

What happened: Police in Arlington — Virginia's closest suburb of D.C. — say they went to the house in the Bluemont neighborhood at 4:45 p.m. ET for a report of possible shots fired.

• A suspect discharged a flare gun 30-40 times from inside his residence into the neighborhood, police say. Police obtained a search warrant and "attempted to make contact with the suspect over the telephone and through loudspeakers," a police statement says.

As officers tried to serve the warrant, the suspect fired rounds from what's believed to be a gun. The massive explosion leveled the house at 8:25 p.m.

• No one nearby was hurt. It's not known if the suspect survived, or whether anyone else was inside the home, AP reports.

More photos.

Rockstar Games has revealed the next Grand Theft Auto earlier than planned, with a 90-second trailer that's promising a 2025 release.

• The GTA VI trailer — set to Tom Petty's "Love Is A Long Road" — has been viewed 60 million times on YouTube since it premiered last night, Axios' Stephen Totilo writes.

Why it matters: GTA is not just one of gaming's biggest franchises, but one of entertainment's biggest.

• The most recent entry, 2013's GTA V, sold 190 million copies.

🌴 Details: The trailer confirms that GTA VI will be set in Vice City, Rockstar's satirical take on Miami.

• It focuses on a character named Lucia who talks to a man — possibly her boyfriend or husband — about sticking together, while footage plays of the two robbing a liquor store and speeding away from the cops.

Watch the trailer ... Share this story.