The briefing for Tuesday, August 11.

A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck western Colombia on Monday morning, killing at least 132 people and injuring more than 480 others. The epicenter was near San José del Palmar in Chocó province, about 250 miles west of Bogotá, with tremors felt across an enormous area stretching hundreds of miles and into neighboring Ecuador, Venezuela, and Panama.

The city of Pereira, in Colombia's coffee-growing region, saw some of the worst damage with at least 40 deaths and 65 collapsed buildings. Videos verified by the BBC show at least one building collapsing in Plaza Bolívar, the city's main square. Cali reported 32 collapsed buildings, while Manizales saw one of its neo-Gothic cathedral towers collapse. In the capital Bogotá, trees and traffic lights shook violently with reports of cracks in buildings, though no serious infrastructure damage has been reported so far.

President Abelardo de la Espriella, who took office just days ago on Friday, declared a national disaster situation and said he will personally supervise recovery efforts. More than 1,500 homes have been damaged, and authorities fear the death toll will rise as rescuers continue searching collapsed buildings where people are believed trapped. The quake comes less than two months after twin earthquakes in Venezuela killed more than 6,300 people, raising concerns about seismic activity across the region.

Congo's Ebola outbreak has now killed over 2,000 people among 4,381 confirmed cases, making it the fastest-growing outbreak on record. The World Health Organization revealed Monday that the outbreak actually began in February—three months before it was officially declared in mid-May—as early cases were misdiagnosed as malaria and typhoid. Testing was initially conducted for the more common type of Ebola, contributing to delays.

The outbreak involves the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, which has no approved vaccines or treatments, making response efforts significantly more challenging. WHO's Africa director Dr. Mohamed Yakub Janabi said responders are 'chasing the virus, the virus is ahead of us,' noting that between 60% and 70% of new cases are occurring outside of contacts being monitored. Health teams are reaching only about 30% of cases, with the rest dying at home, hampered by rebel conflict, unpaved roads, strikes by unpaid health workers, and misinformation claiming Ebola isn't real.

The outbreak took about nine weeks to record 1,000 deaths but just three weeks to record the next 1,000, demonstrating how rapidly the crisis is escalating beyond responders' control. It's already the second-largest outbreak in history, behind only the 2014-2016 West Africa outbreak that killed over 11,000 people. Clinical trials for vaccines and treatments have begun in Ituri, the epicenter of the outbreak, but the response continues to be outpaced by the virus's spread across five provinces.

President Trump signed an executive order Monday advocating for significant changes to childhood vaccination schedules, including separating the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine into three different shots administered in separate appointments. The order also directs the Department of Health and Human Services to improve vaccine research, though vaccines already undergo extensive research and continuous safety tracking for years after introduction.

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump repeatedly suggested a link between vaccines and rising autism rates, despite scientific consensus and decades of studies firmly concluding there is no connection. The order reduces recommended childhood vaccines to 11 core immunizations and promotes spacing them out over multiple doctor visits. Separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines for children are not currently available in the United States. Trump also touted several changes to the childhood vaccine schedule his health department has already attempted, but which have been blocked by a federal judge.

Public health experts have raised concerns that spacing out shots as Trump suggests increases the risk that children will contract vaccine-preventable diseases before returning for subsequent visits. Major medical groups oppose the guidance. The renewed focus on vaccines marks a departure from the administration's recent emphasis on less controversial health policies related to healthy eating and drug prices ahead of November's midterm elections. Childhood vaccine combinations undergo rigorous studies to ensure safety and efficacy when administered together.

Todd Blanche, President Trump's former personal lawyer, was sworn in as attorney general Monday following a bruising Senate confirmation fight that saw him approved by the narrowest possible margin of 50-49. Two Republican senators voted against him, citing concerns about increased politicization of the Justice Department under Trump. Judge Emil Bove, another former Trump attorney now serving on a federal appeals court, administered the oath at the White House.

Blanche, a former federal prosecutor in New York, officially takes command of a Justice Department he has been leading in acting capacity since former Attorney General Pam Bondi's firing in April. As deputy attorney general and later acting attorney general, Blanche has overseen investigations of numerous Trump critics, including former FBI Director James Comey, whom the Justice Department indicted in April for a second time since Trump returned to the White House.

Blanche now faces the challenge of navigating demands from a president who has made no secret of his desire to use the Justice Department to target political opponents. He will do so while managing an agency hollowed out by resignations, firings, and voluntary departures, and while confronting mounting pushback from the courts. Shortly after taking his oath, Blanche arrived at Justice Department headquarters to cheers from employees lined up along the entrance.

Russian forces killed at least nine Ukrainian civilians in overnight attacks, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning that Moscow is receiving new military assistance from North Korea, including ballistic missiles used in the strikes. Six people were killed and 19 wounded in Zaporizhzhia, where Zelenskyy said Russia deployed North Korean-supplied missiles. Three more people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed by Russian drones and artillery in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

Zelenskyy said Monday that Russia has received additional ballistic missiles from Pyongyang and is preparing to deploy more North Korean troops—potentially up to 50,000 soldiers according to weekend estimates. Russia's Defense Ministry said it struck military industrial facilities and transport centers in Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia with precision weapons. Ukraine's air force reported Russia fired Zircon anti-ship missiles, Iskander ballistic missiles, and 120 long-range strike drones across the country.

The escalation comes as U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to end the war have stalled, with Washington's attention turning to the Iran conflict. Zelenskyy warned that Moscow is scaling up ballistic missile production to exploit Ukraine's critical shortage of Patriot air defense interceptors. 'Every step Russia takes—increasing ballistic missile production, bringing in North Korean equipment, preparing for mobilization—all of this shows that Moscow is preparing not for peace, but for escalation,' he said. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed it intercepted nearly 400 Ukrainian drones overnight over 14 Russian regions and occupied Crimea.

Nvidia announced Monday it has teamed with some of Wall Street's largest financial institutions—including Apollo, BlackRock, Blackstone, Brookfield, Goldman Sachs, and KKR—to raise $500 billion in capital for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The investors are for the first time treating AI hardware and infrastructure, often called 'compute,' as a distinct asset class worthy of massive institutional investment.

The financing will support construction of new data centers to house and operate the miles of stacked computer chips that process AI data, as well as new factories to manufacture AI chips and increase their availability. 'In AI, compute is revenue,' said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. 'We are bringing the world's leading long-term capital providers together to independently underwrite AI infrastructure.' The projects will include both Nvidia's own initiatives and those being built by its partners.

Major technology companies including Google, Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, SpaceX, Tesla, OpenAI, and Anthropic all rely on Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) to power their AI services and platforms. These companies have collectively spent over $1 trillion in just three years on AI projects and infrastructure, driving Nvidia's market value up fivefold during that period. Apollo president Jim Zelter said 'modern compute has emerged as a scarce, mission-critical asset class' positioned to drive significant long-term economic growth and productivity gains.