☕ Florida's move against vax mandates

Good morning!

We didn’t win, team.

No winner was declared in last night’s Powerball jackpot, which is now worth a sweet $1.7 billion.

There are, however, 11 people across the country who walk away with $1m. It’s a big difference between an ‘m’ and a ‘b’, but still would be a nice way to wake up this morning.

I’ve got 30 seconds

Some headlines from this morning:

• A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration's freeze of $2 billion in Harvard University grants violated the institution's First Amendment rights. The freeze was imposed in April after Harvard refused to comply with administration demands related to campus antisemitism policies. Judge Allison Burroughs called the funding cut a "targeted, ideologically-motivated assault" on the university, finding "little connection" between the affected research and antisemitism concerns. The White House said it will appeal the decision.

• The governors of California, Washington and Oregon announced Wednesday they will form a West Coast Health Alliance to coordinate public health guidelines separately from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The alliance will rely on guidance from national medical associations that recently broke from CDC recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines. The move comes as more than 1,000 current and former HHS (Health and Human Services) employees demanded Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s resignation, claiming his leadership "put the health of all Americans at risk."

• Texas state senators passed a bill banning mail-order abortion pills 17-8 on Wednesday, sending the legislation to Governor Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign it. The bill allows Texas citizens unconnected to a pregnant woman to sue providers, manufacturers, and distributors of abortion pills, though women who take the pills face no liability. Anti-abortion advocates hope the legislation will serve as a blueprint for other states. Democratic Senator Carol Alvarado said the bill "deputizes Texans as bounty hunters."

• ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at a political rally in Quetta, Pakistan, that killed 15 people and injured dozens more on Wednesday. The bomber detonated an 8kg explosive at a Balochistan National Party rally attended by hundreds of members in the capital of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province. ISIS published a photo of the masked bomber following the attack. The province regularly experiences violence from terrorist organizations and separatist groups seeking independence from Pakistan.

I’ve got 1 minute

At least 17 people have died and 18 others have been injured after a funicular (electric streetcar) derailed and crashed in Lisbon, Portugal.

According to the Lisbon Firefighters Regiment, the accident was caused by “a cable that came loose”. Lisbon mayor Carlos Moedas has called it a “tragic moment for the city”.

Lisbon’s Funiculars

The crash occurred on one of Lisbon’s most famous funiculars, the Elevador da Glória.

The funicular operates in a pair, with one starting at the top of a steep hill in one of Lisbon’s most wealthy neighbourhoods, and one at the bottom. As one funicular descends, its weight hauls the other up the hill.

The Elevador da Gloria is used almost exclusively by tourists, attracting 3.5 million passengers per year.

What happened?

Eyewitnesses quoted by Portuguese media place the time of the crash at approximately 6 PM.

The funicular was reportedly near the end of its descent when eyewitnesses saw a cable snap. The carriage rolled, uncontrolled, down the hill. It overturned and crashed into a building just before a busy intersection.

Videos from the incident show a yellow cable car flipped, beside the rails, with smoke and debris all around.

The head of the Portuguese Health Ministry said foreign surnames were among the dead, but none have been identified.

Investigation

Portuguese authorities say the cause of the crash has yet to be determined. Investigations by the company that operates the funicular, firefighters, and the police are underway.

The head of the company that operates the funicular told reporters that major maintenance is carried out every four years, alongside biennial maintenance, and daily, weekly, and monthly checks.

I’ve got 2 minutes

Florida Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo is attempting to ban vaccine mandates for children.

Currently, children in the state must be vaccinated against several common illnesses (e.g. chicken pox and polio) to attend school.

It comes as part of an effort to ban all vaccine mandates in the state.

Context

Soon after his re-election, President Trump appointed Robert F. Kennedy Jr as Secretary of the federal Health Department.

Kennedy has been a leader of the anti-vaccine movement since the 2000s.

Before he ran for president in 2024, he founded an anti-vaccine organisation called Children’s Health Defense, and has said he believes a range of conditions from food allergies to autism are tied to childhood vaccinations.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also opposes vaccinations.

In a speech this week, DeSantis said the “medical establishment” had implemented “coercive measures” and “mandates” during the COVID-19 pandemic that pushed “products on people they didn’t want.”

The proposed ban

The proposed ban would make Florida the first state to repeal mandatory school vaccinations.

DeSantis said he will work with Florida’s Health Department and the state legislature to implement the ban.

At a press conference on Wednesday (local time), Ladapo suggested the ban was religiously motivated.

“Your body is a gift from God. What you put into your body is because of your relationship with your body and your God. I don’t have that right. Government does not have that right,” Ladapo said.

Ladapo and DeSantis are planning to ban “every last one” of the state’s vaccine mandates, including for aged care residents and university students.

Response

Medical experts and state Democrats have opposed the ban.

The American Medical Association said it “strongly opposes” the plan, which it said will “place children and communities at increased risk for diseases… resulting in serious illness, disability, and even death.”

Senator Shevrin Jones said, “Ending vaccine mandates poses a grave public health risk and will likely lead to a resurgence of preventable diseases.”

Looking ahead

Last week, President Trump flagged that the Health Department would release a report on the causes of autism.

The report follows an investigation launched by Kennedy in April, which vowed to investigate all possible causes, including vaccines. The concept that vaccines cause autism is a long-debunked theory, now perpetuated largely by conspiracy theorists.

"We're going to look at vaccines, but we're going to look at everything," Kennedy said in an interview with Fox News at the time.

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