All Philadelphia Liquor Stores Closed After Night of Looting

 All of Philadelphia’s liquor stores will be closed Wednesday after several locations were broken into during a rash of looting incidents late Tuesday.

More than two dozen Fine Wine & Good Spirits locations across the city — as well as one in Cheltenham Township, just outside the city — will stay shuttered Wednesday, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, citing a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.

The citywide closure came after at least 18 Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores were among the retailers looted by mobs of masked teens late Tuesday, the spokesperson, Shawn Kelly, said.

“Fortunately, no employees were hurt, although some were understandably shaken,” Kelly said.

Stores will remain closed Wednesday “in the interest of employee safety and while we assess the damage and loss that occurred,” Kelly said

The looting came shortly after a peaceful demonstration was held in the Center City neighborhood to protest charges being dismissed against a former police officer in the shooting death of 27-year-old Eddie Irizarry, but police said the looting was not related.

https://themessenger.com/news/all-philadelphia-liquor-stores-closed-after-night-of-looting

Obama’s auto task force head rips Biden for joining UAW picket

 Steven Rattner, the head of former President Obama’s auto industry task force, called President Biden’s visit to Michigan and a United Auto Workers (UAW) picket line “outrageous” in a Wednesday interview.

“For him to be going on a picket line is outrageous,” Rattner, a former journalist who later worked in private equity, said in an interview with NBC News. “There’s no precedent for it. The tradition of the president is to stay neutral in these things.”

Biden joined striking UAW members Tuesday in Michigan after a back-and-forth if he would, and should, go.

Biden’s trip showed a display of support for unions and marked the first time a sitting president attended a picket line. Biden has been both pro-union and pro-electric vehicle, which — among advocating for better pay and benefits — is a large reason why the autoworkers are striking.

Former President Trump has a visit to Michigan planned for Wednesday, skipping the second GOP presidential primary debate.

Rattner, who worked for the Obama administration on the government program to help U.S. automakers survive the 2009 financial crisis, said he understands the politics behind the visit. Michigan is one of several key states that will help determine the next president.

“I get the politics. The progressives all said, ‘We don’t want a mediator; we want an advocate,’” Rattner said. “And he bowed to the progressives, and now he’s going out there to put his thumb on the scale. And it’s wrong.”

In discussing his support for the UAW, Biden mentioned the 2009 crisis and argued that labor offered concessions at the time that helped keep the U.S. automakers solvent.

https://thehill.com/homenews/4225836-obamas-auto-task-force-head-rips-biden-for-joining-uaw-picket-line/

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Stock Trading Halted

 FDA advisory committee (ADCOM) meeting to review NurOwn® for ALS

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/brainstorm-cell-therapeutics-stock-trading-110000718.html

Lawsuit claims H&R Block, Meta, Google used spyware to illegally share consumers' financial data

 Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Meta (META), and H&R Block (HRB) are facing a proposed class action lawsuit alleging they illegally coordinated to use spyware to collect and share taxpayers’ sensitive financial information.

A similar lawsuit was brought against Google and H&R Block in July, on the heels of a Congressional investigation into a data collection technology known as tracking “pixels” used to generate lucrative targeted ads. The case alleges the companies conspired to collect and exploit data on hundreds of H&R Block customers, without their consent.

Pixels operate quietly in the background of millions of websites, some tracking visitors’ entries in real time. Companies like H&R Block that handle entries containing sensitive financial information are required by law to refrain from sharing that data with third parties unless they’ve obtained their customer’s consent.

According to the suit, H&R Block tried to circumvent federal racketeering and other laws by misleading consumers using vague language in their customer consent agreements and programming agreements with Meta and Google. Meta and Google for their part, the plaintiff’s claim, conspired with H&R Block and misled consumers about the types of information that website developers like H&R Block could access.

“Defendants knew that by concealing their involvement with one another … [they] could acquire and share [personal tax data] in contravention of the law for defendants’ own financial gains,” the complaint states.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lawsuit-claims-hr-block-meta-google-used-spyware-to-illegally-share-consumers-financial-data-175419860.html

Ozempic and Wegovy Alert: FDA Adds Intestinal Blockage Warning

 In a significant development, the FDA has updated the labeling for Novo Nordisk A/S's NVO Ozempic, a diabetes drug known for its weight loss side effect, to include warnings about reports of blocked intestines following its use. 

This alteration follows a series of FDA-approved updates for the product's manufacturer, Novo Nordisk.

The change in Ozempic's label aligns it with other medications in the GLP-1 agonist class, such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly And Co's LLY Mounjaro. 

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are facing a lawsuit related to claims that their medications can lead to a similar condition known as gastroparesis, characterized by stomach paralysis and a blockage in the passage of food to the small intestine despite no physical obstruction.

All these drugs now acknowledge the increased reports of ileus, a condition characterized by a blockage in the intestines.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are facing a lawsuit related to claims that their medications can lead to a similar condition known as gastroparesis, characterized by stomach paralysis and a blockage in the passage of food to the small intestine despite no physical obstruction.

The FDA has not directly attributed this potentially life-threatening condition to the use of these drugs. 

According to the label, "Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure."

The FDA's database reveals 8,571 reports of gastrointestinal disorders associated with semaglutide medications, including Ozempic and Wegovy, CBS noted.

Among these reports, 33 specifically mention ileus as a reaction, with two cases resulting in fatalities.

https://www.benzinga.com/general/biotech/23/09/34953403/popular-weight-loss-drugs-ozempic-and-wegovy-alert-fda-adds-intestinal-blockage-warning

Volkswagen's Factories In Germany Paralyzed After Massive "IT Malfunction"

 What's being described as an "IT malfunction" has paralyzed Volkswagen Group's central infrastructure, forcing the automaker to suspend production at several plants on Wednesday. 

German business newspaper Handelsblatt spoke with a Volkswagen spokesman who said an "IT disruption of network components at the Wolfsburg location" was detected around 12:30 pm local time. 

The network disruption has led to production lines at the main auto plant in Wolfsburg, as well as in Emden, Osnabrück, and Zwickau, to halt operations.  

"Nothing is currently working in the offices at the Wolfsburg headquarters either. The extent of the disruption is not yet entirely clear," Handelsblatt said. 

The newspaper noted, "An attack from outside is considered unlikely." However, nothing is confirmed amid a spate of recent cyberattacks across the Western world (remember Vegas a few weeks ago). 

How long until Russia is blamed? 

*Developing... 

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/nothing-working-volkswagens-factories-germany-paralyzed-after-massive-it-malfunction

Seelos Encouraging Data from In Vivo Study of SLS-005 in Aggressive Preclinical Model of Alzheimer's

  Treatment with SLS-005 demonstrated a 46% reduction in tau protein and an 18% reduction in NfL biomarker from baseline values within six months  

- Seelos has been selected to present these data at Neuroscience 2023 to be held on November 11-15, 2023 in Washington, D.C. 

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/seelos-therapeutics-announces-encouraging-data-from-an-in-vivo-study-of-sls-005-in-an-aggressive-preclinical-model-of-alzheimer-s-disease/