Treatment with ECUR-506 resulted in a complete clinical response from three months post exposure to the end of study (six months post exposure)
- ECUR-506 was generally well tolerated with no significant clinical safety concerns
- Insertion of a functional OTC gene through ARCUS in vivo gene editing may provide lasting clinical benefit for children with OTC deficiency who are in dire need of effective treatments
Revenue came to $39 billion for the fiscal quarter ended Nov. 30 — above the average analyst estimate and driven by higher prices for branded drugs and prescription volumes at the company’s US retail pharmacy division, it said Friday. Sales at the company’s international and US healthcare units also beat expectations, as did Walgreens’ adjusted profit.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently described "agentic" AI as the "next giant breakthrough" expected in 2025.
However, the rollout of agentic AI and other AI tools on Wall Street has a huge downside: job loss. According to a new Bloomberg Intelligence survey of 92 global banks, the industry could shed hundreds of thousands of jobs over the next 3-5 years because of AI.
On Thursday, Bloomberg Intelligence's Tomasz Noetzel cited the survey, which found that global banks could experience a 12-17% ($120-$180 billion) lift to 2027 pretax profit based on AI productivity gains. The survey also found that job cuts could exceed 200,000 in 3-5 years.
Separately from the report, the BI senior analyst said, "Any jobs involving routine, repetitive tasks are at risk," adding, "But AI will not eliminate them fully; rather, it will lead to workforce transformation."
Here's more on Noetzel's report focused on AI transformation at major Wall Street banks:
AI May Lift Banks' Profit by as Much as $180 Billion
Implementation of AI tools could bolster 2027 pretax profit of the 92 global banks within Bloomberg Intelligence's peer groups (total market cap $6.4 trillion) by 12-17%, we calculate, based on the survey results. Productivity gains are by far the most important driver, pointing to a potential $120-$175 billion revenue increase (assuming 5-7% productivity gains). The effect on the total cost base appears negligible (about $6 billion), which could reflect the high cost of AI implementation (including modernization of current IT systems) and maintenance. Hiring in new, AI-related (risk, compliance, governance) functions is likely to drive a shift in the total workforce mix and likely offset some expected job cuts.
AI Could Boost Productivity in Banking by at Least 5%
Banks' management teams are bullish on potential revenue boost from generative artificial intelligence, with more than 80% of respondents of our Bloomberg Intelligence survey expecting these tools to increase productivity and revenue generation by at least 5% in the next 3-5 years. This underscores the elevated interest in the technology, especially in the context of worsening revenue prospects as interest rates go down.
The scale of this productivity boost will most likely depend on the pace of AI adoption, competition (also from non-bank institutions) and the increasing regulatory oversight. For these reasons, we consider a 5% increase (the lower end of the range for most responses) a reasonable starting point vs. the 7% average for all responses.
AI vs. Bankers: 200,000 Jobs May Be at Risk
About 60% of respondents to Bloomberg Intelligence's survey expect AI to result in a smaller total workforce over the next 3-5 years, with as many as 24% of banks predicting a 5-10% decline in employment. About 16% see the workforce remaining flat and roughly a quarter anticipate an increase in the number of jobs. The average net job cuts of approximately 3%, based on the survey results, suggest that about 200,000 banking jobs could be at risk across the 92 banks in BI's peer group.
The survey also indicates that though successful AI adoption may lead to job displacement, demand for new roles and functions is likely to increase. Data scientists, cybersecurity experts and compliance specialists are potentially among the functions attracting new talent.
BI's Tracker Shows Key AI Rollouts in Banking
Global banks are adopting artificial intelligence across various functions, which can be seen in detail in our AI tracker on the right. KBC's Kate, NatWest's Cora and Bank of America's Erica chatbots provide significant support in handling millions of customer queries daily, with Kate also using AI for the direct sale of banking products. Klarna estimates that its AI assistant performs the equivalent work of 700 full-time employees. HSBC's AI-powered tools help identify 2-4x more financial crimes. ING uses AI to improve its currency pricing and bolster productivity and competition in the $7 trillion FX market
Outside of global banks and across all industries in just the US and Europe, Goldman analysts made a bold prediction nearly two years ago: "AI Will Lead To 300 Million Layoffs In The US And Europe."
For all the Gen Zers entering the workforce this year and next and aspiring to secure a job on Wall Street or at a major bank, choose your profession wisely.
Zai Lab Limited (NASDAQ: ZLAB; HKEX: 9688) today announced a new strategic collaboration and worldwide license agreement with MediLink Therapeutics (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (“MediLink”) to use MediLink’s TMALIN® antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) platform for the development of a novel LRRC15 ADC, ZL-6201, consisting of an antibody discovered by Zai Lab.
Southern California Edison said on Thursday it had received notices from insurance companies to preserve evidence related to the Eaton Fire that is still burning in Los Angeles, but said no fire agencies have pointed the utility's connection to the fire.
The group, a unit of U.S. utility Edison International, said its filing to regulators was triggered by online publications that "seemingly suggest" the group's equipment may have been associated with the fire's ignition.
"To date, no fire agency has suggested that SCE's electric facilities were involved in the ignition or requested the removal and retention of any SCE equipment," it said.
The utility added that it did not find any interruptions or anomalies in its transmission lines until more than an hour after the reported start time of the fire, citing preliminary analysis done by the group.
"Aside from the preservation notices suggesting SCE's potential involvement and significant media attention surrounding the fire, we do not believe this incident meets the reporting requirements," the utility added.
Two massive wildfires, the Palisades Fire between Santa Monica and Malibu on the city's western flank and the Eaton Fire in the east near Pasadena, have consumed more than 34,000 acres (13,750 hectares) and have lead to 10 deaths.
The fires have collectively devoured over 10,000 homes and other structures and have been ranked as the most destructive in Los Angeles history.
Private forecaster AccuWeather have estimated the damage and economic loss at $135 billion to $150 billion, portending an arduous recovery and soaring homeowners' insurance costs.
by Owen Evans via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
A graphic court transcript of a rape victim from a notorious Pakistani-heritage grooming gang operating in the north of England caught the eye of U.S. readers on social media platform X recently.
Billionaire Elon Musk quickly jumped onto the subject, attacking Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour government, and rekindling a long-smoldering debate in the United Kingdom on what is often called the “Grooming Gangs” scandal.
But what exactly is the scandal? Why did it take so long for the systematic exploitation and rape of thousands of girls to be exposed?
Why are Musk and others taking aim at the current prime minister, given the scandal emerged more than a decade ago? And what have investigations revealed?
For decades, children, specifically poor white girls in various towns in northern England, were targeted and groomed by Pakistani-heritage men, while—as later investigations, court cases, and reporters revealed—local officials turned a blind eye to the abuse due to fears of being labeled racist or destabilizing community relations.
But it took decades to come to light.
In the 1990s, rumors began to emerge that men of Pakistani descent living in northern England towns were involved in raping children.
For example, the parents involved in the Coalition for the Removal of Pimping (CROP), later renamed Parents Against Child Exploitation (PACE), participated in a 2004 documentary that claimed white schoolgirls were being groomed for sex by Asian men in Bradford.
The result was “Edge of the City,” which was due to be screened on Channel 4.
However, it was pulled hours before airing, after claims the British National Party wanted to exploit the situation and the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police saying it might trigger race riots.
Groups such as The National Assembly Against Racism also lobbied against the documentary.
Member of Parliament Ann Cryer, representing Keighley, publicly raised concerns about the abuse of two girls in her constituency in 2002.
In doing so, she became the first public figure in Britain to speak out about allegations of “young Asian lads” grooming underage white girls in West Yorkshire.
She was shunned by her party, which ran the country from 1997 to 2010, and she said no one wanted to know, despite holding “constant” meetings with West Yorkshire Police and social services.
In 2014, Cryer said in The Guardian that she believed other politicians had heard similar stories but chose to ignore them.
Cryer added that she asked a Muslim councillor of Pakistani heritage to approach mosque elders with a list of 35 alleged perpetrators.
The imams reportedly dismissed the matter, saying: “It’s nothing to do with us.”
In 2007, the women and children’s rights campaigner and journalist Julie Bindel was one of the first to report in The Times of London that many northern towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire were experiencing a significant rise in “pimping” within the Asian community.
“It was a very uncomfortable scenario, not least because many of these crimes had an identifiable racial element: the gangs were Asian and the girls were white,” Bindel wrote.
“The authorities, in the shape of politicians and the police, seemed reluctant to acknowledge this aspect of the crimes; it has been left to the mothers of the victims to speak out.”
Although there were prosecutions the patterns didn’t come to light until a journalist joined the dots further.
Andrew Norfolk, a The Times of London journalist, was instrumental in breaking the Rotherham grooming scandal.
At least 1,400 children, girls as young as 11, had been raped by multiple attackers and sexually exploited in the South Yorkshire market town.
Norfolk’s series of investigations on grooming gangs resulted in many articles from 2011 onwards.
One investigation revealed a confidential 2010 police report that warned thousands of such crimes were being committed in South Yorkshire each year by networks of Pakistani-heritage men.
Offenders were identified to police but not prosecuted.
One of the alleged crimes—for which no one was prosecuted—included a 13-year-old girl who was found at 3 a.m. with disrupted clothing in a house with a large group of Asian men who had fed her vodka.
Despite a neighbor reporting the girl’s screams to police, authorities arrested the child for being drunk and disorderly and did not question the men.
Norfolk’s reporting won him prestigious journalistic accolades, including such as the Paul Foot Award in 2012, the Orwell Prize in 2013, and the Journalist of the Year at the British Journalism Awards in 2014.
Speaking to the BBC in 2024, Norfolk said that even he “massively underestimated” the scale of the abuse.
“They were treated like sub-human species for the pleasure of these men,” he said.
Norfolk said he came up against a “conspiracy of silence” when he tried to elicit responses from police forces and councils.
A 2012 Office of Children’s Commissioner study under a Conservative government was the first to set out the scale of the sexual exploitation of children and young people in Britain.
It identified 16,500 children who were at “high risk of sexual exploitation” between 2010 and 2011.
However, Norfolk criticized the report on the BBC at the time as a “missed opportunity,” saying it generalized the issue to all men and failed to address the racial and cultural factors central to the crimes.
“In a country which has a 7 percent Asian population, 35 percent of the identified abusers were Asian. And if you break that down further, less than 2 percent of the population of this country is Pakistani, and overwhelmingly, the men doing this are of Pakistani origin,” he said.
“And there was a chance to venture into sensitive areas here to try to begin the process of understanding why this crime model has put down such deep roots, and it’s been missed, and that’s a great shame,” he said.
There have been reports of grooming gangs in towns and cities, including Rochdale, Telford, Oxford, Huddersfield, Newcastle, Bradford, Keighley, and more.
GB News said that it identified 50 towns and cities where child exploitation gangs have operated or are operating.
The gangs often operate through takeaway restaurants and taxi drivers, using these locations to groom and abuse children, according to a government report.
Numerous reports and investigations have been conducted into the grooming gangs scandal, including those in Rochdale, Oxford, and Huddersfield, among others.
Professor Alexis Jay released a 2013 report that was commissioned by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council into the scale of abuse of 1,400 children, in Rotherham, from 1997 to 2013.
“In just over a third of cases, children affected by sexual exploitation were previously known to services because of child protection and neglect,” Jay said in the report.
“It is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that child victims suffered,” she said, adding that children had been doused in petrol and threatened with being set alight, threatened with guns, made to witness violent rapes, and threatened they would be next if they told anyone.
Jay said agencies relied too heavily on traditional community leaders such as elected members and imams as the “primary conduit of communication with the Pakistani-heritage community.”
In 2022, she chaired a national inquiry into various forms of child sexual abuse, which did not extensively address the racial elements of grooming gangs.
Some of her recommendations included setting up a national child protection authority and making not reporting abuse a criminal offense.
Several investigations said that political correctness influenced authorities’ inaction and failure to make decisive interventions.
Commenting on Jay’s Rotherham report, former Conservative leader Theresa May said there was “inadequate scrutiny by councillors, institutionalised political correctness, the covering up of information, and the failure to take action against gross misconduct.”
A government review covering 2004 to 2013 found that Greater Manchester Police and children’s social care failed to protect vulnerable children in Rochdale and said that they were “left at the mercy of their abusers.”
One senior investigating officer told the review investigators that at one point the issue was so widespread that they wanted “any Pakistani-looking taxi driver” carrying a female child passenger to be “stopped by division from tomorrow until further notice.”
“If the driver can’t account for the fare ... snatch them, arrest the driver, impound the car, let’s go into it big style and disrupt it,” the officer said. However, the officer said that none of these drivers were ever stopped.
The officer explained that there are “huge Pakistani, Indian communities up there, and a large proportion of the taxi drivers are from that background.”
“I can only guess that [Greater Manchester Police] patrols were frightened of being tarnished with a race brush for doing it,” the officer said.
The Telford Inquiry found that more than 1,000 children who had been groomed with child sexual exploitation were ignored because of “nervousness about race.”
In one case, the Inquiry heard about a school where attempts to raise concerns about the involvement of a Pakistani heritage grooming gang led to overt allegations of racism on the part of school staff from council personnel.
“It is difficult to conceive of a more wrong-headed response or one more designed to discourage complaint,” the report found.
In 2023, former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set up a Grooming Gangs Task Force comprised of specialist officers.
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/grooming-gangs-united-kingdom-explainer
It's the end of an era. After nearly three years of war in Ukraine, and with the Biden administration having handed Kiev well over $100 billion in economic and military aid throughout that time, the White House has just announced its very last package.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Thursday that Washington is providing a $500 million military aid package which is the last of the Biden administration, to include air defense missiles, air-to-ground munitions and support equipment for F-16 fighter jets.
And Defense Lloyd J. Austin III on the same day announced in the presence of Zelensky at the 25th Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Germany:
"I am announcing today another Presidential Drawdown Authority package, valued at approximately $500 million. It includes additional missiles for Ukrainian air defense, more ammunition, more air-to-ground munitions, and other equipment to support Ukraine's F-16s."
So despite the Biden weapons 'surge' and spending spree, billions in authorized funds have still been left on the table.
Newsweek has pointed out, "That leaves about $3.8 billion in PDA funds unused, despite the White House's promise to spend the entire amount by the end of Biden's term. The funds will become available to Donald Trump after his inauguration on January 20, the Pentagon said."
Interestingly Trump has not indicated he immediately plans to cut aid, but is expected to use it as leverage for near-future negotiations with Moscow.
President-elect Trump stirred controversy when back in September he mocked Zelensky as the world's "greatest salesman".
"Every time Zelensky comes to the United States he walks away with $100 billion, I think he’s the greatest salesman on Earth,” Trump had said at a campaign event.
And just last month...
AMERICA LAST: During his last days in office Biden ensured that Ukraine's government pension fund is fully funded sending Zelensky $3.5 billion in direct budget assistance in addition to a $2.5 billion military aid package yesterday. Only 20 days until our national nightmare… pic.twitter.com/5MZWcT4kk3
— @amuse (@amuse) December 31, 2024
Trump has also repeatedly voiced serious doubts as to whether Ukraine can win the war. At the same time he's said of Russia, "They beat Hitler, they beat Napoleon—that’s what they do, they fight."
Even if Trump initially finds use for the remnant $3.8 in authorized funds for Ukraine, the tap is not expected to flow for very long, or instead could be geared toward reconstruction and civil services.
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/end-era-biden-announces-final-500m-ukraine-package
