US Ditches Saudi Oil, FDA Approves Controversial Vaccine as AI Designs Viruses

The US Department of Energy reported that American refiners imported zero Saudi Arabian crude in July, marking the first time this has happened since 1985. This significant drop in imports was largely due to Venezuela becoming the largest supplier, with imports reaching approximately 600,000 barrels per day.

In related news, the FDA approved Moderna's mRNA influenza vaccine, branded mFLUSIVA, despite concerns over its high rate of adverse reactions. Briefing documents revealed that a staggering 75.3% of recipients experienced adverse effects, and severe systemic reactions occurred four times more often than with conventional shots.

Meanwhile, researchers at Stanford used generative AI models to design functional virus genomes, producing 16 viable viruses out of 302 designs. However, experts like Nicolas Hulscher cautioned that these artificially created viruses pose a risk and called for further research to be halted.