FIVE MINUTE DAILY

Trump rewrote the childhood vaccine schedule, historic floods displaced families across the Midwest, and a powerful earthquake left western Colombia facing a vast recovery. Meanwhile, progressive victories shook up Democratic politics and cooling inflation pushed stocks to records. Here’s what mattered this week — and what could drive the next one.

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President Trump signed an executive order Monday cutting the federal childhood vaccine schedule to 11 recommended doses. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. joined the signing, which also splits the MMR shot across separate office visits.

Pediatricians pushed back hard, noting that two American children died of measles in the past year. Justice Department lawyers were told to press states on school vaccine requirements, and a courtroom fight was expected within weeks.

Days of stalled storms dumped what state officials called once-in-a-thousand-year rainfall across Indiana, Ohio, Illinois and Iowa. Gov. Mike Braun declared a statewide disaster emergency and activated the National Guard as rivers crested.

More than a thousand people were displaced in Indiana alone, and water treatment plants took damage officials could not yet measure. Forecasters warned of more storms through the weekend, leaving the flood zone no chance to dry out.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan beat Rep. Angie Craig in Tuesday's Democratic Senate primary despite being badly outspent. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren had backed her, while Craig held the establishment lane.

Flanagan would be the first Native American woman elected to the Senate if she wins in November. Her upset followed a similar progressive win in Michigan, sharpening the party's fight over direction before the midterms.

Consumer prices rose just 0.1% in July, putting the annual rate at 3.4% and landing under Wall Street forecasts. Traders read the report as a green light for a Federal Reserve rate cut in September.

Stocks climbed for a third straight week, helped by strong corporate earnings alongside the inflation relief. Investors had spent the summer waiting for proof that price pressure was easing, and July delivered it.

A magnitude 7.4 quake struck Colombia's Chocó region on Monday, the country's strongest this century. Blocks collapsed in Cali, Pereira and Quibdó, and more than 2,000 people were reported missing.

Rescuers could not reach the epicenter for days, and the death toll passed 250. Washington pledged $15.5 million in emergency aid as Mexico, Chile and El Salvador sent search teams.

Karoline Leavitt announced she is leaving the White House podium at the end of August, citing time with her two young children. No successor has been named, and the pick will signal how the administration wants to talk to voters before the midterms.

A federal judge dismissed the administration's lawsuit accusing Harvard of ignoring antisemitism, calling the alleged incidents too isolated. Justice Department lawyers said they are assessing next steps, so watch for an appeal that could reopen the funding fight.

Vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz sank toward a three-month low this week with a U.S.-Iran agreement still out of reach. Energy markets take their cue from whether the waterway reopens or the standoff hardens into autumn.

This week was defined by institutions being pushed into unfamiliar territory. Trump’s vaccine overhaul reopened a fight over public health and federal authority, while progressive victories in Minnesota showed Democratic voters are still willing to challenge the party establishment. Cooler inflation gave markets something to celebrate, but the Midwest floods and Colombia’s devastating earthquake offered a reminder that economic optimism can coexist with enormous human disruption.

Next week, several of those stories move from headline to consequence. Courts could begin shaping the future of the vaccine changes and Harvard’s legal fight, Democrats will start absorbing what the latest primaries mean for November, and investors will decide whether one encouraging inflation report is enough to justify growing expectations for a Fed cut.

The Iran standoff remains the biggest wildcard. Reduced traffic through the Strait of Hormuz puts one of the world’s most important energy corridors at the center of the story, where a diplomatic breakthrough could calm markets quickly and another escalation could reverse much of this week’s optimism.

The common thread is uncertainty over what comes next. Political shifts, legal battles, natural disasters and geopolitical pressure are all moving at once, making the next few weeks less about isolated headlines and more about which developments begin producing lasting consequences.

That’s the week in five minutes. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and forward this to someone who wants to start Monday already caught up.

—The Five Minute Daily Team