With many in the Trump administration pushing an anti-vaccine agenda, declining measles vaccination rates have forced scientists to reinvigorate the hunt for a drug that could fight the virus. And researchers seem hopeful that a breakthrough is on the horizon.

Why are researchers revamping the search?
For a long time, the quest to create a measles drug was essentially dormant, as the virus had been “kept at bay” in the U.S. for “more than two decades thanks to a remarkably effective vaccine,” said The New York Times. But in 2025, amid anti-vaccine sentiment from the White House, a “series of outbreaks popped up in unvaccinated communities across the country,” marking the worst year for measles in the U.S. since 1991.

The outbreak led to a “‘very crowded’ hunt for new measles therapeutics that could prevent or treat infections,” said the Times. Currently, if an unvaccinated individual contracts the measles, doctors can “offer ways to manage symptoms, which often include fever, fatigue, cough and a hallmark blotchy rash,” said Science News. But they “can’t fight off the virus itself.”

How far away is an approved drug?
There have been several breakthroughs from various scientific groups, and many feel that FDA approval of a measles drug is imminent. At least one antiviral drug, GHP-88310, has recently been shown to “help treat measles, croup and other related viral diseases that cause contagious and life-threatening respiratory infections,” said The Independent. Another company, Saravir, is developing its own measles antibody treatment. 

Still, an antibody treatment and other measles drugs could be cost-prohibitive. If the drug “makes it through trials,” Saravir “expects the infusions to cost roughly $2,500,” said the Times.

The success of a drug doesn’t necessarily mean it will become ubiquitous as a measles treatment, in part because of people’s feelings about the disease. One of the “biggest misunderstandings about measles is that it’s ‘not that bad,’” said Kathryn Hastie, a structural virologist at San Diego’s La Jolla Institute for Immunology, to Science News. The virus instead can “cause a range of complications that can severely impact people’s lives, including pneumonia and blindness.”

Major League Baseball remains the only North American professional sport without a ceiling on team spending, largely because of the power of its players’ union. But owners have declared their intent to impose a salary cap, setting them on a collision course with the players, who remain opposed to joining their capped peers in football, hockey and basketball.

Fans crave a cap
Owners are emboldened by polls that show fans want a salary cap. But perhaps the highest-profile booster for the owners’ position is Donald Trump. “If you don’t have a salary cap, you don’t have a sport,” said the president earlier this month, per The New York Times. Fellow critics of the current structure note that teams with top-15 payrolls have won all the championships in the 2020s. “The correlation between spending and winning is obvious,” said Andy McCullough at The Athletic.

The failure of the sport’s luxury tax system to dissuade richer teams from spending lavishly means that “we need a realistic framework that addresses the fans’ concerns about competitive balance,” said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, per Fox Sports. Those concerns have been heightened by the free-spending habits of teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, who hoovered up the most prominent free agents on the market over the past several offseasons, using financial loopholes like deferred salary payments. 

Owners’ greed
Baseball’s labor war pits owners and fans against not just the players but most baseball journalists. The push for a salary cap “drives me crazy,” said The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal on the Foul Territory podcast. Baseball does not “need a salary cap that could cost us games in 2027.” Rosenthal and other salary cap critics point out that wild spending is no guarantee of success and that many clubs operating on a shoestring have found ways to win consistently.

For others, the salary cap proposal demonstrates pure greed from owners. MLB owners “want a salary cap just because everyone else in their micro-class has one” said Ray Ratto at Defector, and because it “would inflate the value of their franchises.”

Smoke and flames rise from Kyiv’s Dormition Cathedral, part of the Unesco-listed Pechersk Lavra monastery complex, following a wave of Russian missile and drone strikes on the Ukrainian capital. It’s “one of Russia’s most serious crimes ​against Christian culture to date,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on social media. 
Andriy Dubchak / Frontliner / Getty Images

If you are getting ready to hit the beach, you may want to bring along some new tunes. Fortunately, there’s a wide selection of new albums from big-name artists to help you herald the arrival of all that glorious sunshine.

Giveon, ‘Beloved: Act II’
The new iteration of the eight-time Grammy nominee’s second studio album, “Beloved,” includes “five exclusive bonus songs, offering a deeper look into the artist’s introspective lyrics and captivating baritone,” said the singer’s website. The album’s 19 total songs, which are influenced by Giveon’s former relationship with singer Justine Skye, represent a “rich, immersive soundscape that defies musical standards and solidifies Giveon’s place as a modern icon.” (out now)

Lido Pimienta, ‘Caribenya’
Head to a tropical paradise with the fifth studio album from the Colombian Canadian artist. The album “relies on joyous resistance, on the moments of escape on the dance floors and beaches and living rooms of our loved ones as the world burns,” said Glide magazine. The LP’s lead track, “Tóxica,” is out now. (July 17)

Tricky, ‘Different When It’s Silent’
The album is something of a homecoming for Tricky, as it was “recorded between the trip-hop innovator’s new home of France and old hometown of Bristol,” said Pitchfork. “I just love making music. I am grateful I have had the chance to live this life and keep creating,” he said in a press release. A single from the album, “Out of Place,” is out now. (July 17)