Hillary Clinton’s D-Day comments spark fierce backlash: ‘Sick and disgusting’

 Hillary Clinton’s social media post commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day drew strong backlash from conservatives on Thursday.

“Eighty years ago today, thousands of brave Americans fought to protect democracy on the shores of Normandy. This November, all we have to do is vote,” the former secretary of state posted to her X account.

The D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944, is one of the most famous moments in U.S. military history.

It was a turning point in World War II and the beginning of American and Allied forces’ liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany’s control.

Conservatives criticized Clinton, a Democrat who ran against Trump for president in 2016, for a post they considered disrespectful to America’s heroes.

“Just pure evil. Comparing the sacrifices of those who died to defeat Hitler and retake Europe to Democrats voting against Donald Trump. Sick and disgusting,” RedState writer Bonchie posted on X.

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Hillary Clinton’s social media post commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-Day drew strong backlash from conservatives on Thursday.Getty Images for Vital Voices Global Partnership

Radio host Dana Loesch also was weighed in.

“In 2016 you attempted to undo everything they fought for by partnering with Fusion GPS to launder discredited oppo in the press, and merchandise it into surveillance warrants on enemies through FISA,” she wrote.

“Were my WWII vet grandparents alive today they’d slam this.”

“Ruthless” podcast host “Comfortably Smug“ wrote, “What kind of shameless, broken, lizard person do you have to be to tweet out some nonsense like this?”

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Reinforcements disembarking from a landing barge at Normandy during the Allied Invasion of France on D-Day.Getty Images

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Former President Trump speaks to the press before departing for the day at his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, on May 6, 2024.POOL/AFP via Getty Images

“‘Yes I know what it was like for those soldiers on Omaha beach ducking machine gun fire, I went to vote. I am braver than the troops,'” the conservative account added.

“She has never recovered from Trump’s win.”

“Holy s*** I despise these people,” combat veteran and author Sean Parnell posted.

It’s impossible to capture just how loathsome a comment this is. To cheapen what WWII heroes did to BS garbage politics makes me sick. Again, WWII veterans deserve so much better than this.”

https://nypost.com/2024/06/07/us-news/hillary-clintons-d-day-comments-spark-fierce-backlash-sick-and-disgusting/

Rapport Prices, Launches IPO

 Rapport Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: RAPP), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovery and development of transformational small molecule medicines for patients suffering from central nervous system disorders, today announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 8,000,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $17.00 per share. Rapport’s shares are expected to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Market on June 7, 2024 under the ticker symbol “RAPP.” The offering is expected to close on June 10, 2024, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. In addition, Rapport has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase an additional 1,200,000 shares of its common stock at the public offering price, less underwriting discounts and commissions. All of the shares of common stock are being offered by Rapport.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC, Jefferies, TD Cowen and Stifel are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

In addition to the shares being sold in the initial public offering, Rapport has agreed to sell 1,058,824 shares of common stock at the public offering price per share in a concurrent private placement to certain of its existing stockholders. The sale of the shares of common stock in the concurrent private placement will not be registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The concurrent private placement is also expected to close on June 10, 2024, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The closing of Rapport’s initial public offering is not conditioned upon the closing of the concurrent private placement, but the closing of the concurrent private placement is conditioned upon the closing of the initial public offering.

The gross proceeds to Rapport from the initial public offering and the concurrent private placement, before deducting underwriting discounts and commissions, placement agent fees and offering and private placement expenses payable by Rapport, are expected to be approximately $154 million, excluding any exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of common stock.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/rapport-therapeutics-announces-pricing-initial-225400224.html

Moderna Files FDA Application for the JN.1 Targeting COVID-19 Vaccine

 Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) today announced that it has submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review of its Spikevax 2024-2025 formula, targeting the SARS-CoV-2 variant JN.1.

"For four years, Moderna has consistently delivered vaccines that offer protection against COVID-19, and work is well underway to provide a vaccine targeting JN.1," said Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna. "Staying up to date with your COVID-19 vaccine remains one of the best ways to protect yourself during the upcoming respiratory illness season."

The submission is based on guidance from the U.S. FDA, which advised that COVID-19 vaccines should be updated to a monovalent JN.1 composition for the 2024-2025 season. This guidance aligns with the recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC) and the European Medicines Agency's Emergency Task Force (ETF) on the use of a monovalent JN.1 lineage for COVID-19 vaccine antigen composition.

The most common solicited local adverse event for Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine was injection site pain. The most common solicited systemic adverse events include headache, fatigue, myalgia and chills.

Moderna is submitting data to regulators worldwide to support registration and supply of the 2024-2025 formula of Spikevax in time for the upcoming vaccination season.

https://www.accesswire.com/872882/moderna-initiates-submission-to-fda-of-jn1-targeting-covid-19-vaccine

Arcturus Cystic Fibrosis Data Disappoints

 Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (the “Company”, “Arcturus”, Nasdaq: ARCT), a global messenger RNA medicines company focused on the development of infectious disease vaccines and medicines to treat unmet medical needs within liver and respiratory rare diseases, today presented Phase 1 results in healthy volunteers and Phase 1b interim data in people with CF for ARCT-032, an inhaled investigational mRNA therapeutic, at the 47th European Cystic Fibrosis Conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

ARCT-032 administration was generally safe and well tolerated with no serious or severe adverse events in healthy volunteers and the first four dosed participants with CF. The Phase 1b trial showed improvements in FEV1 (Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second) in the four adults with CF after two inhaled administrations. The absolute change in percent predicted FEV1 averaged +4.0% on Day 8 (5 days after 2nd dose). The relative change in FEV1 averaged +5.8% on Day 8. The observed increases in FEV1 are encouraging and consistent with the previously reported data in the CF ferret model that demonstrated markedly improved mucociliary clearance (MCC) after a single dose of ARCT-032. Of the four participants in Phase 1b to date, one had 2 Class I mutations and the other three had F508del mutations and were being treated with Trikafta®.

No bronchospasm or febrile reactions were observed in the CF participants. Dose-related, mild-to-moderate febrile reactions (elevated temperature associated with headache, muscle aches, back pain, or nausea) occurred in some healthy volunteers. Dose-related transient declines in FEV1 observed in healthy volunteers were mitigated by pretreatment with albuterol, a commonly used bronchodilator. No serious adverse events or dose limiting toxicities were observed at any dose level.

“We are pleased to present positive ARCT-032 Phase 1 results and Phase 1b interim data showing that single doses at all dose levels in healthy volunteers and two doses in the first four CF participants were safe and well tolerated with no serious adverse events. It is encouraging to see favorable lung function improvements in all currently dosed CF participants in this early study,” said Dr. Juergen Froehlich, Chief Medical Officer of Arcturus Therapeutics. “We look forward to completing the Phase 1b trial shortly and to evaluate the further potential for lung function improvement of treatment with ARCT-032 in people with CF in a larger, multiple-dose clinical study.”

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240607691573/en/

Walgreens shelves plans for Boots IPO

 Walgreens Boots Alliance has shelved plans for a potential initial public offering of its UK-based Boots drugstore chain as sale talks continue, Bloomberg News reported on Friday citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The pharmacy chain is now exploring other options for Boots and has continued informal talks with potential buyers, including private equity firms, in recent weeks, according to the report.

Deliberations are ongoing and Walgreens has made no final decisions on its future ownership of Boots, the report added.

Last month, Bloomberg News had reported any deal for Boots would value it at around 7 billion pounds.

In 2022, Walgreens had scrapped preliminary plans to sell the unit. However, it revived discussions on separating Boots, including the possibility of an IPO in London, late last year.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walgreens-shelves-plans-boots-ipo-173558234.html

Biden Apologizes To Zelensky While Handing Him Another Check

 While handing over to Kiev the latest $225 million check defense aid package, the "leader of the free world" has apologized to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Biden during the bilateral meeting in Normandy, where world leaders are attending events for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, told Zelensky he is sorry for the delayed passage of the new military aid package earlier this year (at $61 billion total for Ukraine out the $95 billion passed) and disparaged the Republican opposition that held it up.

Via AFP

"You know, you haven't bowed down, you haven't yielded at all, you continue to fight in a way that is just remarkable, is just remarkable—and we’re not going to walk away from you," Biden told the Ukrainian leader. That's when he followed with:

"I apologize for the weeks of not knowing what’s going to pass, in terms of funding, because we had trouble getting the bill that we had to pass that had the money from some of our very conservative members who were holding it up, but we got it done."

However, Biden still touted that since finally signing the supplemental in April, there's been a surge in new packages.

"Since then, including today, I've announced six packages of significant funding—today I’m also signing an additional package for $225 million to help you reconstruct the electric grid," he said.

Many of these new packages have focused on delivering badly needed artillery ammo. At the front lines, Russia has been outpacing Ukrainian forces' rate of artillery fire by a rate of 10 to 1, according to war monitors. Ukraine has been fairing poorly, is being pushed back in places like Kharkiv, and is suffering its worst ever manpower shortage and crisis.

But Biden still committed to Zelensky and to Ukraine that: "We’re still in... Completely. Thoroughly."

The day prior, Zelensky in a speech addressing D-Day anniversary commemorations drew parallels with Russia's war in Ukraine: "Allies defended Europe's freedom then, and Ukrainians do so now. Unity prevailed then, and true unity can prevail today."

Biden also struck a similar theme, talking about the "struggle between a dictatorship and freedom" and linking Russia's President Putin with 'tyranny' against the 'free world' - a message also reminiscent of the Cold War.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/leader-free-world-apologizes-zelensky-while-handing-him-another-check

US Bombers Drop Live Munitions In Threat To North Korea

 by Kyle Anzalone via The Libertarian Institute,

Two US B-1 strategic bombers dropped live munitions on the Korean Peninsula in a show of force eyeing Pyongyang. Tensions in the region have ratcheted up during the Biden administration as the president has taken a hardline approach toward the DPRK. 

The American B-1Bs and two South Korean fighter jets dropped live GBU-38, 500-pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMS) on test targets in South Korea. "This training showcases the incredible capabilities of our combined forces to simultaneously strike multiple targets in a contested environment," said Lt. Gen. David Iverson, US Force Korea deputy commander and Seventh Air Force commander. "The tremendous capabilities of ROK and US airpower is an overwhelming, asymmetric warfighting advantage for our combined force that adversaries cannot match."

A press release from the Pentagon explained that the B-1B "carries the largest conventional payload of both guided and unguided weapons in the US Air Force inventory and can rapidly deliver massive quantities of precision and non-precision weapons against any adversary, anywhere in the world, at any time."

In addition to the live test bombing, the US and South Korean air forces conducted yet another round of joint war games. The Defense Department press release added that "US Marine Corps F-35Bs, US Air Force F-16s, and KC-135 Stratotankers, and [South Korean] F-35As and KF-16s for air-to-air training over the western region of South Korea."

The provocative drills come as the relationship between US-backed Seoul and Pyongyang continues a long downward spiral. After former President Donald Trump’s negotiations with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un failed, Biden adopted a far more aggressive policy towards North Korea, effectively rejecting diplomacy while carrying out a flurry of exercises with the South. 

The result has been a massive escalation of military activity on both sides of the DMZ. North Korea has conducted record numbers of weapons tests in recent years – including intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICMBs) – while the US and South Korea engaged in historic war games. 

Communication between North and South Korea has also broken down since Biden took power, and some de-escalation agreements between the two sides have been abandoned outright.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/us-bombers-drop-live-munitions-threat-north-korea