4 Israeli hostages including Noa Argamani freed during ‘complex’ raid in central Gaza

 Four Israelis held hostage by Hamas were freed in a daring raid in central Gaza on Saturday.

Noa Argamani, 25, Almog Meir Jan, 21, Andri Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 40, were all rescued, the Israel Defense Forces said after the mission, the BBC reported.

The hostages were rescued during a “complex” operation at two locations in Nuseirat, central Gaza, the IDF said.

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Noa Argamani, one of Israel’s hostages in Gaza was rescued Saturday.via REUTERS

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Noa Argamani is seen here with her family in a hospital.IDF

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The four hostages were rescued during a Saturday raid by the IDF in Central Gaza.Keshet News12

They are the first rescued since two others were freed during a raid in February.

Israel says that another 130 hostages remain in Gaza, though a high percentage of them could be dead as a result of deprivation from captivity.Cheers erupted on the beaches of Tel Aviv after lifeguards announced the successful operation, videos of the moment circulating on X showed.

Video of Argamani embracing her father after being reunited was broadcast by Israel News 12. 

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Andrey Kozlov, 27, was kidnapped in the deadly October 7 attack by Hamas.REUTERS

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Hostage Almog Meir Jan, 21, was rescued by IDF soldiers.REUTERS

Argamani’s mother has terminal brain cancer and had prayed to see her daughter again.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Argamani by phone after the raid.

She and the other three former hostages are in good health and recovering at Tel HaShomer hospital in central Israel, Haaretz reported. 

“On behalf of the entire people of Israel, I thank the IDF, the Shin Bet, the Israel Police and the Israel Defense Forces for an impressive and daring rescue operation, and I wish for the speedy return of all our abductees to their families. Israel Lives!,” Herzog said in an X post Saturday.

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Shlomi Ziv (on the left in the gray shirt) was rescued during an IDF raid.REUTERS

Footage of Argamani being dragged into Gaza by Hamas terrorists circulated widely after the vicious Oct 7 attack that left 1,200 Israelis dead.

More recently, Argamani had been featured in propaganda videos broadcast by the group.

The Saturday raid was the largest single recovery of hostages captured by Hamas, bringing the total number of rescued up to seven. 

In October Israel successfully rescued IDF corporal Ori Megidish.

In February, they recovered Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har. 

https://nypost.com/2024/06/08/us-news/four-israeli-hostages-freed-during-raid-in-central-gaza/

Biden aide raises possible increased deployments of U.S. strategic nuclear weapons

 The United States may have to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons in coming years to deter growing threats from Russia, China and other adversaries, a senior White House aide said on Friday.

Pranay Vaddi, the top National Security Council arms control official, made his comments in a speech on "a more competitive approach" to arms control that outlined a policy shift aimed at pressing Moscow and Beijing to reverse rejections of U.S. calls for arsenal limitation talks.

"Absent a change in adversary arsenals, we may reach a point in the coming years where an increase from current deployed numbers is required. We need to be fully prepared to execute if the president makes that decision," he told the Arms Control Association.

"If that day comes, it will result in a determination that more nuclear weapons are required to deter our adversaries and protect the American people and our allies and partners."

The U.S. currently observes a limit of 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear warheads set in the 2010 New START treaty with Russia even though Moscow "suspended" its participation last year over U.S. support for Ukraine, a move Washington called "legally invalid."

Vaddi spoke a year after National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the same group there was no need to increase U.S. strategic nuclear arms deployments to counter the arsenals of Russia and China, to which he offered talks "without preconditions."

The administration remains committed to international arms control and non-proliferation regimes designed to curb the spread of nuclear weapons, Vaddi said.

But, he said, Russia, China and North Korea "are all expanding and diversifying their nuclear arsenals at a breakneck pace, showing little or no interest in arms control."

The three and Iran "are increasingly cooperating and coordinating with each other in ways that run counter to peace and stability, threaten the United States, our allies and our partners and exacerbate region tensions," he said.

Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are sharing advanced missile and drone technology, said Vaddi, citing Moscow's use in Ukraine of Iranian drones and North Korean artillery and missiles, and Chinese support for Russia's defense industries.

PUTIN'S WARNING

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he could deploy conventional missiles within striking distance of the U.S. and its European allies if they allowed Ukraine to strike deeper into Russia with long-range Western weapons. But he said on Friday Russia had no need to use nuclear weapons to secure victory in Ukraine, where Moscow is waging war.

U.S. nuclear doctrine, Vaddi said, reserves nuclear weapons to deterring attacks by adversaries "on us and our allies and partners," while remaining committed with Britain and France to "transparency" on nuclear policies and forces.

But if U.S. adversaries boost reliance on nuclear weapons "we will have no choice but to adjust our posture and capabilities to preserve deterrence and stability," he said.

The administration is taking "prudent steps" toward that end, including modernizing the U.S. arsenal, he said.

At the same time, the administration is committed to halting the spread of nuclear weapons, including bolstering the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the cornerstone of the global arms control regime, he said.

Vaddi noted that President Joe Biden has pledged continued compliance the deployment limits set in the New START treaty as long as they are observed by Russia.

However, he said, Moscow has repeatedly rejected talks on a successor pact to New START, the last strategic arms limitation pact between the world's largest nuclear powers, which expires in 2026.

China, meanwhile, has declined to discuss with the United States its expanding nuclear arsenal, he said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-aide-raises-possible-increased-170918786.html

New US truck, SUV fuel economy rules much less stringent than original proposal

 President Joe Biden's administration on Friday finalized tighter fuel economy rules for trucks and sport utility vehicles through 2031 that are not as stringent as it first proposed, a federal agency said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the proposed new rules will result in much lower compliance penalties than originally proposed, a significant win for Detroit automakers.

Automakers praised the changes and environmental groups criticized them.

In July 2023, NHTSA had proposed boosting Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) requirements by 2% per year for passenger cars and 4% per year for light trucks from 2027 through 2032.

Under the final rule, NHTSA will not require any increase for light trucks for 2027 and 2028 and will only require 2% increases from 2029 through 2031.

Last year, NHTSA said its proposal to hike fuel economy standards through 2032 would cost the industry $14 billion in projected fines. This includes $10.5 billion for the Detroit Three: $6.5 billion for General Motors,$3 billion for Chrysler-parent Stellantis and $1 billion for Ford Motor.

Under the final rule, the auto industry is collectively expected to face a total of up to $1.83 billion in fines through 2031 -- and it could be as little as nothing -- based on various models, government NHTSA told Reuters.

Automakers buy credits or pay fines if they cannot meet CAFE requirements. In June 2023, Reuters first reported Stellantis and GM paid a total of $363 million in CAFE fines for failing to meet U.S. fuel economy requirements for prior model years.

NHTSA said the rule will hike fuel economy to about 50.4 miles per gallon by 2031 from 29.1 mpg currently. Last year, the agency projected the rule would hike requirements to 58 mpg by 2032.

The is the third regulatory action the Biden administration has taken in recent months that did not tighten vehicle regulatory proposals as much as promised. Earlier actions included new compliance calculations for EVs that were less strict than originally proposed, and tailpipe rules that would ultimately require automakers to make fewer EVs than they had originally forecast.

John Bozzella, who heads the Alliance for Automotive Innovation trade group representing major automakers, praised the revisions that will dramatically reduce projected penalties that his members had feared.

"Those fines wouldn’t have produced any environmental benefits or additional fuel economy and would’ve foolishly diverted automaker capital away from the massive investments required by the electric vehicle transition," Bozzella said.

Dan Becker, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's Safe Climate Transport Campaign, said NHTSA had "caved to automaker pressure" and said the agency's "weak final rule wastes too much gas, spews too much pollution and cedes the clean vehicle market to foreign automakers." 

https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/STELLANTIS-N-V-117814143/news/New-US-truck-SUV-fuel-economy-rules-much-less-stringent-than-original-proposal-46931288/

MASH Clash Between Lilly and Boehringer-Zealand Takes Center Stage at EASL24

 You would be forgiven if, with all the cancer news from ASCO24 in Chicago this week, you missed the hepatology data dump at the 2024 Congress of the European Association for the Study of the Liver in Milan, Italy. However, there’s a battle brewing between Eli Lilly and the partnered companies Boehringer Ingelheim and Zealand Pharma in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), previously referred to as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

The drugs being tested in MASH belong to the now-blockbuster class of therapies known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1s). Lilly’s tirzepatide is already approved for type 2 diabetes (marketed as Mounjaro) and weight loss (marketed as Zepbound), spaces it shares with Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide products Ozempic and Wegovy—a duopoly that has led to skyrocketing revenue for both companies, which continue to seek additional indications. Meanwhile, Boehringer and Zealand are looking to leap into the space with its own GLP-1 agonist, survodutide, which is under investigation for obesity and other indications.

What is interesting this week at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL24) is the GLP-1 clash between Lilly and Boehringer/Zealand in the MASH space, with both sides providing readouts on their latest Phase II data.

MASH is a potentially deadly fatty liver disease that affects more than 115 million people globally and is expected to increase to 357 million by 2030. In March, the FDA approved Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ Rezdiffra, a liver-directed thyroid hormone receptor (THR)-β agonist, as the first-ever treatment for the disease. 

Following a data leak snafu at EASL24 on Thursday, Boehringer and Zealand announced Friday that survodutide demonstrated “breakthrough improvement” in liver fibrosis with no worsening of MASH in 64.5% of patients with F2 and F3 fibrosis. The companies said the new data also revealed up to 52.3% of adults with fibrosis stages F1, F2 and F3 had improvement in fibrosis without worsening of MASH. Survodutide, which is licensed to Boehringer from Zealand, is moving into a Phase III trials.

Lilly’s Phase II data will be presented at EASL24 on Saturday as a late breaker, which according to the abstract will show that 54.9% of MASH patients treated with a 5-mg dose of tirzepatide saw at least a one-stage improvement in fibrosis. In the study of MASH patients with F2 and F3 fibrosis, tirzepatide treatment was found to be more effective than placebo in achieving MASH resolution without worsening of fibrosis.

While GLP-1 drugs may have beneficial effects on MASH by improving insulin sensitivity, reducing liver fat accumulation and reversing fibrosis, Jefferies analysts said in a note to investors this week that they “don’t think GLP-1s will eliminate the market opportunity” for Madrigal in MASH. Likewise, Evercore ISI analysts opined, “there is room for different treatment options for patients with different needs, including daily oral pills and injectable products.” Evercore estimated a potential U.S. market opportunity for Madrigal’s Rezdiffra of $4 billion, while Jefferies’ estimate was considerably lower, pegging peak U.S. sales for Rezdiffra at $2.3 billion.

Of course, there are a host of other promising MASH candidates, including Akero Therapeutics. Also at EASL24 this week, Viking Therapeutics announced its candidate VK2809—a thyroid hormone beta receptor agonist—significantly improved secondary histologic endpoints at 52 weeks with no worsening of fibrosis, as assessed by hepatic biopsy. And tomorrow, 89bio will be presenting Phase IIb data for pegozafermin, a specifically engineered glycoPEGylated analog of fibroblast growth factor 21. Meanwhile, new data from Altimmune and a preclinical poster presentation from Aligos Therapeutics also hint at promise in the treatment of MASH.

Still, MASH is a complex and confounding disease that has caused many once-promising programs to be discontinued. However, with a projected $25.7 billion total market by 2032 in the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and Japan, competitors will continue to be in hot pursuit of Madrigal, which has set the standard. Let the clash of the MASH titans begin!

https://www.biospace.com/article/mash-clash-between-lilly-and-boehringer-zealand-takes-center-stage-at-easl24/

Trump supporters unfurl a massive ‘law and order’ flag in NYC… and get arrested

 New York City has effectively turned into Gotham City where criminality reigns supreme, so let’s go through what you can and cannot do in the Big Apple.

You can illegally trespass into this country, take money that you didn’t earn for hotel rooms, food, and spending money, take advantage of taxpayer-funded services like public school and county health services, then march for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the streets, causing traffic chaos and preventing the New Yorkers paying your way from going where they need to go:

But, you cannot unfurl a flag in support of President Trump and a fair justice system, because political protests in the roadway are a big deal when you do it like this:

You can illegally trespass into this nation, squat in a property that doesn’t belong to you with illegally-possessed firearms and tons of drugs, and expect to be immediately released without bail; but you cannot be an immigrant black man who discovers the fun of gunsmithing and begins to legally build firearms during the government-forced Covid-19 lockdowns (See my blog on the case of Dexter Taylor here.)

You can shoplift from businesses, and peddle the stolen goods on the sidewalk right outside the store from which you just stole, but you cannot sell cigarettes on which you haven’t paid enough taxes. Remember Eric Garner?

You can take “hush money” payments and sign an NDA, then renege on the legal agreement with no consequences, but you cannot settle a bill with your lawyer if it’s been incorrectly labeled, even though the statute of limitations has passed.

You can attack cops unprovoked and again, expect immediate release, just as long as you’re a Venezuelan thug who is in New York illegally; but you cannot fight back against cops who come to arrest you for protesting buses delivering countless new migrants to your neighborhood, to take over the school facilities for which you pay.

You can violate the First Amendment and unconstitutionally place a gag order on a defendant, but you cannot claim to have the right to self-defense, protected by the Second Amendment, because as a judge will tell you, the Second Amendment “doesn’t exist” in certain courtrooms. (Again, see my Dexter Taylor blog.)

You can tell wildly unbelievable stories about sexual escapades in high-end department stores with absolutely zero proof to support your tale, but you cannot accuse the person spinning those erotic literature yarns of being a liar, or you’ll be on the hook for tens of millions of dollars.

You can engage in business activities that are genuinely fraudulent, but you cannot be a stellar bank customer and pay back a loan in full with interest, without having cheated anyone.

You can commit perjury and still be considered a star witness, but you cannot attempt to defend yourself before the public.

What else did I miss?

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/06/trump_supporters_unfurl_a_massive_law_and_order_flag_in_nyc_and_get_arrested.html