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National

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is unharmed after explosions erupted during his live speech at a military event Saturday evening in Caracas, the BBC and AP report.

The details: Seven people were injured when the “drone-like” devices went off, according to Information Minister Jorge Rodriguez, who gave updates in a live broadcast following the explosions. Maduro has since called it an assassination attempt orchestrated by political enemies that include Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, per the AP.

Explosions erupt during Venezuelan president’s speech

Security forces check a nearby building after an explosion was heard while Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was attending a ceremony to celebrate the 81st anniversary of the National Guard. Photo: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

World

Venezuela

California's deadly Carr fire started by flat tire

A firefighter tries to control a back burn as the Carr fire continues to spread towards the towns of Douglas City and Lewiston near Redding, California. Photo: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images

Science

Wildfires

Climate change

Breaking climate science and policy coverage as extreme weather events reshape communities. Keep tabs on the race to a low carbon economy, which may be bumpy as governments, climate tech startups and major oil and gas companies race to find their niche amid the changing energy landscape.

Energy & Climate

Two years after purchasing 10 million shares of Apple then-valued at $1.1 billion — and with numerous incremental additions since — Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway's stake in the company is now worth nearly $50 billion, CNN reports, citing a regulatory filing. 

Why it matters: Earlier this week, Apple became the first-ever U.S. company to have its market cap hit $1 trillion. Berkshire's stake in Apple is the largest of its substantial  investment portfolio.

Correction: This article has been updated to note that Berkshire purchased stock multiple times after its purchase two years ago. 

Berkshire Hathaway's stake in Apple now worth almost $50 billion

It is the most valuable investment Berkshire has on any one company.

Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Photo: Adam Jeffery/CNBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Business

Apple

Technology

Big Tech

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

Following substantial criticism over selling t-shirts adorned with the phrase: "You Are Very Fake News," the Newseum has issued an apology for selling the product, adding it has removed the shirts from the gift shop and online store. 

"A free press is an essential part of our democracy and journalists are not the enemy of the people."

The private museum went on to explain it will continue to sell other merchandise that has received criticism, like red "Make America Great Again" hats, as it has "historically made all types of political merchandise available for our guests to purchase."

The Newseum has removed the "You Are Very Fake News" t-shirts from the gift shop and online. We made a mistake and we apologize. A free press is an essential part of our democracy and journalists are not the enemy of the people.

Questions have also been raised regarding other merchandise. As an organization that celebrates the rights of people from all political spectrums to express themselves freely, we’ve historically made all types of political merchandise available for our guests to purchase. That has included former and current presidential slogans and imagery and merchandise from all political parties. We continue to do so in celebration of freedom of speech.

Newseum apologizes for selling "fake news" t-shirt

It has removed the shirts, however, it will continue selling "MAGA" hats.

The Newseum officially opens to the public. Photo: Bill O'Leary/The Washington Post/Getty Images

Politics

Newseum

The office of First Lady Melania Trump has released a statement in response to President Trump's late night jab at NBA star LeBron James explaining that she would be "open to visiting" James' new I Promise school in Akron. 

The background: Late Friday evening, the president tweeted a response to James' interview with CNN saying it made him "look smart, which isn't easy to do."

First Lady "open" to visiting LeBron James' school

In response to her husband's late night jab at the NBA star.

Lebron James

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

President Trump called out NBA superstar LeBron James in a surprise tweet late Friday night, saying his interview with CNN's Don Lemon made him "look smart, which isn't easy to do." 

Why it matters: This isn't the first time the president has feuded with black athletes. James said in his interview with Lemon that he can't "sit back and say nothing" in regards to Trump's attacks on athletes and dividing the country, CNN reports.

Flashback: In November of last year, the president targeted the Ball family after UCLA basketball player LiAngelo Ball was brought back from China, after being arrested for shoplifting with other teammates. 

He's also gone after NFL players for kneeling during the anthem, and the NFL for its handling of the matter. 

One more thing: Trump doesn't just stick to Twitter. He said at a rally in Alabama last year, about the kneeling controversy: "Wouldn't you love to see one of these NFL owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, 'Get that son of a bitch off the field right now. Out. He's fired. He's fired!'"

Trump targets LeBron James in surprise late night tweet

This isn't the first time the president has feuded with black athletes.

LeBron James smiling, speaking to a crowd.

LeBron James. Photo: Jason Miller/Getty Images

Trump tweets

The move to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use has been shifting to conservative states like Oklahoma, North Dakota and Utah — a reflection of the country’s changing attitude toward the drug, which federal law classifies as an illegal narcotic.

By the numbers: The support for the legalization of marijuana has been steadily increasing. A Pew Research Center survey released earlier this year found that about 61% of Americans say marijuana should be legalized — a four percentage point increase from a year ago. It's supported by almost seven in 10 Democrats, 65% of Independents and 43% of Republicans. 

Two states will vote on ballot measures in November. Utah will vote on whether to legalize medical marijuana, while Michigan will vote on whether to legalize it for recreational use. 

Oklahoma, whose governor last month signed medical marijuana rules into law, could vote to expand the state's laws to include recreational use if supporters collect enough signatures to get it on the November ballot.

In Missouri, four proposals seeking to legalize medical marijuana are awaiting approval from the secretary of state, and supporters are hoping one of them will make it onto the ballot.

The big picture: Marijuana advocates are seeking legalization through ballot initiatives, since GOP-controlled state legislatures or governors have generally opposed legalizing marijuana. 

But the effort is also gaining momentum in blue states like Delaware, New Jersey and New York — whose Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, had once referred to marijuana as a “gateway drug.” 

The states using medical marijuana for opioid substitutes

Businesses are beginning to drop marijuana from drug tests

The big picture: Marijuana legalization shifts to red states

It's a reflection of the country’s changing attitudes.

Photo: Seth McConnell/The Denver Post via Getty Images

Marijuana

For the past month, Axios has been interviewing people trusted with the nation’s most sensitive secrets. We wanted to know, in this time of acute geopolitical stress, which global threat worried them most, and which threats they thought weren’t getting the attention they deserved.

When we asked America’s foremost intelligence experts what keeps them up at night, one response came up over and over again: the risk of a crippling cyberattack.

The big picture: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said this week that the U.S. is in "crisis mode," comparing the danger of a massive attack to a Category 5 hurricane looming on the horizon. Intelligence chiefs from the last three administrations agree, and told Axios there is no graver threat to the United States.

A well-executed cyberattack could knock out the electrical grid and shut off power to a huge swath of the country, or compromise vital government or financial data and leave us unsure what is real.

The sheer number of internet-connected devices, from cars to pacemakers, means the risks are growing by the day.

Gen. David Petraeus, former CIA director: “What worries me most is a cyber equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction falling into the hands of extremists who would, needless to say, be very difficult to deter, given their willingness to blow themselves up on the battlefield to take us with them.”

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta says the biggest threat is "a cyberattack that could paralyze the nation," while former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says "cyberattacks on critical infrastructure from state or state-sponsored actors are the biggest threat right now.”

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are the top U.S. adversaries in the cyber realm, but the threat extends to non-state actors and criminal groups.

“The steady drumbeat of breaches in the headlines — each more fantastic than the next — may have numbed people, but everyone should care about the cyber threat," explains Lisa Monaco, homeland security adviser to Barack Obama. "First, we are all vulnerable. Second, it won’t take a cyber 9/11 to make this very real.”

“There will be tremendous media coverage and assigning of blame after there is a catastrophic attack on U.S. critical infrastructure that results in the loss of American lives,” says Frances Townsend, homeland security adviser to George W. Bush, “but we need to spend more time now covering what is at stake and the magnitude of the growing risk.”

"Companies in the energy, financial, and other key economic sectors need to develop the capacity to share threat information in real time, and give the government the visibility and information to take action when necessary to defend us," says Matt Olsen, former director of the National Counterterrorism Center.

The bottom line: The fact that so many intelligence experts have reached the same conclusion — and feel so strongly about it — shows how much the dangers to the United States have changed since 9/11.

Sign up here for Axios World Editor David Lawler's twice-weekly newsletter breaking down the biggest global stories and why they matter.

Pakistan’s future: "the most dangerous country in the world"

China rising: Our greatest rival and a growing threat

The bottom line: "We don’t focus enough" on climate change

How Russia’s old threat became new again

North Korea's two paths back to "fire and fury"

Artificial intelligence: The threat of the future

Deep Dive: America’s greatest threat is a hurricane-force cyberattack

The number of internet-connected devices means the risks are growing by the day.

Deep Dive - Global Threats

Get an essential look at the news and trends across the globe

Sign up for the Axios World newsletter

Cybersecurity

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

Russian aggression and the rise of China are among the biggest foreign policy concerns Americans face. In many countries, though, the world power seen as most threatening is the United States.

The big picture: Views of the U.S. and its leadership are in sharp decline around the world — particularly among America's closest allies.

According to a 2017 Pew survey, 39% of respondents across 38 countries consider U.S. influence and power a major threat to their countries, compared to 31% for both Russia and China. That’s up from 25% in 2013, when the survey was conducted previously.

Approval of U.S. global leadership fell to 30% worldwide, per a January Gallup poll. That’s narrowly behind China (31%) and ahead of Russia (27%). It’s also the lowest score in the 10 years the survey has been conducted, and down from 48% in Barack Obama’s last year.

America’s favorability around the world has fallen sharply, particularly among key allies like Mexico, Canada and Germany. And that was before Trump's trade war and Iran deal withdrawal.

President Trump would argue that foreign policy is not a popularity contest, and it’s better to be viewed as a threat than a pushover. But there are real foreign policy implications behind these numbers:

Partnerships with South Korea and Japan are crucial to containing both the North Korean threat and the rise of China. Unsurprisingly, both countries list China as among the top threats they face. Startlingly, though, the U.S. is right behind — with 70% in South Korea and 62% in Japan viewing the U.S. as a major threat.

Meanwhile, some NATO allies like Germany apparently see the threat to the west as larger than the one to the east. 35% of Germans view the U.S. as a major threat, compared to 33% for Russia. Meanwhile, as relations with Trump have soured, Chancellor Angela Merkel has sought common cause with both Russia and China.

Worth noting: India and Poland are among the countries that bucked the trend, viewing the U.S. less warily than in 2013.

The bottom line: Global views of the U.S. have slumped before — during the Iraq War, for example — and cracks in U.S. alliances have been repaired in the past. But as the mistrust grows, it could get harder and harder to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

The threat from America

Many countries view the U.S. as a bigger threat than Russia or China

How Pakistan became a global threat

"Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world — not this year, not next year, but certainly down the road," says Michael Morell, former acting CIA director.

The big picture: Pakistan has the world's 5th largest population, 5th largest military and 6th largest nuclear arsenal. The danger begins, Morell says, with a dysfunctional economy and a rapidly growing population of young people without education or job prospects. Add to that a military that continues to call the shots as though war could break out at any moment.

"The main reason the military has a grip on decision-making is because of a long-held and now mistaken belief in Pakistan that India is an existential threat to Pakistan and that Islamabad must do everything it can to protect itself from that threat," he says.

"One of the areas in which this plays out is in Pakistan’s support to jihadists — in short, its support to terrorists fighting India. That support bleeds over to extremists who want to overthrow the Pakistani state itself, including al-Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban."

"Not this year, not next year, but certainly down the road."

Saturday's top stories