US approves use of landmark pancreatic cancer drug that’s shown to boost survival

The Food and Drug Administration approves a groundbreaking new drug for advanced pancreatic cancer, offering US patients a more effective treatment against one of the deadliest types of cancer.


FDA officials give expedited approval to the first-of-a-kind pill, called daraxonrasib, which blocks a mutated protein that fuels tumor growth in more than 90 percent of pancreatic cancer cases. It’s an approach that previously eluded drugmakers for decades. The daily pills will be sold by Revolution Medicines under the brand name Rasonque. A one-month supply would cost approximately $39,800, the company announced.


Patients taking the drug nearly doubled their survival time, with fewer severe side effects, in a study that randomly assigned them to receive the experimental treatment or more chemotherapy. The company-funded study enrolled 500 patients whose metastatic, or spreading, cancer had quit responding to prior treatment. Patients getting the new treatment lived for a median of 13.2 months compared with 6.7 months for chemotherapy recipients. Side effects included skin rash, mouth sores, diarrhea, and other digestive issues. “This is one of the most anticipated approvals I can think of,” Dr. Andrew Coveler of the Fred Hutch Cancer Center says. “This medicine is not a cure but a significant improvement.”


Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest forms in large part because it is hard to detect before it starts spreading to other organs. The American Cancer Society estimates that about 67,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States this year and more than 52,000 people will die from the disease. The five-year overall survival rate is 13%.

𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐚𝐲 $𝟐𝟏.𝟓 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐚𝐜𝐞- 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐞𝐱-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐢𝐚𝐬

The company used race and sex in employment decisions connected to its diversity initiatives, the Justice Dept. said. Deloitte denied the allegations.


#AssHoleCo #FofS

Aug. 25 - US military transport plane lands in Moscow

An American Boeing C-17A Globemaster III military transport aircraft has reportedly landed in Moscow, according to online air traffic monitoring systems.


According to available data, the aircraft, which departed from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, made a stop in Riga before arriving in Moscow around 7:00 a.m. UTC


A source within EU air traffic control authorities reported that the plane, having originally flown from Andrews Air Force Base to Latvia, had indeed continued its journey toward the Russian border. The source confirmed that the aircraft proceeded toward Russia's border after its stop in Riga. Additionally, the source noted that prior to this, the plane had also visited Charleston Airport.

Iranian hackers shut down UK power plant for four days

Hackers linked to Iran reportedly succeeded in shutting down a British power plant for four days in what is being described as an unprecedented cyberattack against the UK’s energy infrastructure.

The targeted facility has not been identified, but British officials said it was a relatively small power station and that its shutdown did not affect the country’s wider electricity supply. Nevertheless, the incident is significant because it appears to mark the first known case in which hackers linked to the Iranian regime successfully forced a British power-generation facility offline.


Employees spent four days restoring the plant to operation.


The attack was reported to Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre, which operates under the GCHQ intelligence agency. Following the incident, the British government briefed senior energy executives and circulated additional security guidance to companies operating critical infrastructure.

Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia over civil war atrocities

A Syrian court sentences former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, after convicting him over charges of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” during the country’s civil war.
The ruling against Assad, who fled with his family to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus in December 2024, is the first under the transitional authorities who this year began trying figures from the former government, both in person and in absentia.


The court also sentenced Assad-era official Atif Najib, who was arrested in January last year, to death for “crimes against humanity” committed when he was head of political security in Daraa province, the cradle of the country’s 2011 uprising.


The court convicted Najib, a cousin of ousted ruler Assad, of crimes including murder, “the intentional killing of children under 15,” and “torture leading to death.”

Envoy condemns France’s attempts to blame Russia for wildfires in Europe

French officials show disrespect for their own people by accusing Russia of links to wildfires in the country, Russian Permanent Representative to the international organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said.


"Some French officials and journalists claim that Russia is somehow involved in the massive wildfires in France. They simply do not respect their own population," he wrote on X.


Wildfires in Europe, particularly in Spain and France, have reached record levels this year. The European Commission previously said that 13 aircraft, 4 helicopters and hundreds of firefighters from across the European Union were mobilized to help fight the fires through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.


https://thinktank.x-pulse.org//posts/5704

President Trump was reportedly targeted again,

This time, authorities say they stopped it before it was too late.
An armed suspect was arrested after allegedly monitoring security ahead of President Trump's visit to California.


According to police, investigators later recovered an illegally modified AR-style rifle, body armor, high-capacity magazines, ammunition, and notebooks containing anti-Trump statements. May God protect the President.

At least 18 dead after close to 50,000 Moroccan migrants stream into Spanish city

Spain’s Interior Ministry says that, according to its estimates, some 49,000 migrants have crossed into the enclave of Ceuta in North Africa over the past 24 hours, as they rush by sea and land from Morocco.
“There was a steady stream of people all night long,” and while arrivals were lower than during the day, migrants “continued to arrive overnight and are still arriving” this morning, a police source says.


A total of 18 people died while attempting to reach the Spanish enclave, the source adds. Spain sent military and police reinforcements to Ceuta yesterday after the surge.


Ceuta, along with ‌Melilla, another Spanish autonomous city in northern Morocco, represent the European Union’s only land border with Africa. Both cities periodically experience surges in attempted crossings by migrants seeking to reach ​Europe.

Iraqi intelligence busts Ukrainian-run domestic terrorist network

Ukrainian-led cells have carried out attacks on Iraqi soil, National Security Adviser Qasim Al-Aboudi revealed in a televised interview, citing intelligence findings. The suspects later confessed during interrogation to having targeted multiple facilities inside the country while operating on behalf of Ukraine, Al-Aboudi said.


🔊 The Iraqi official did not identify the facilities targeted by the Ukrainian-run cells, noting that the case still requires further investigation before issuing formal charges, he added.
Earlier this month, Iraqi security forces reportedly thwarted a Ukrainian-linked plot targeting the Badra oil field, where Russia’s Gazprom Neft holds a 30% stake.


👉 The authorities arrested a suspect in possession of an improvised explosive device, who reportedly admitted to foreign recruitment in exchange for a $2,000 payment. Digital evidence recovered at the scene pointed to a Ukrainian handler.