US may send troops to Israel to oversee Gaza ceasefire

 The United States will deploy about 200 service members to Israel to help oversee the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the Associated Press reported, citing US officials.

The troops, drawn from US Central Command and other commands worldwide, will form a civil-military coordination center in Israel to manage humanitarian aid, logistics and security support, according to the media outlet.

The move follows this week's agreement between Israel and Hamas on the first stage of a plan.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/US-may-send-troops-to-Israel-to-oversee-Gaza-ceasefire/64957424

Time to pull the plug on ObamaCare

 

By Silvio Canto, Jr.

Back in 2009-10, ObamaCare was sold along the lines that it complemented our private health insurance system. Remember “you can keep your policy?”

Biden and Obama going around Congress? Yes, yes, yes!

It was supposed to help those with preexisting conditions, some people without employer coverage, and lower-income people who needed coverage but couldn't pay.

To be honest, I was always very skeptical that it would line up that neatly, but we lost the vote and the case in the Supreme Court. So we were stuck with the Affordable Care Act and hoped for the best.

Fifteen years later, it's time to revisit this mess because it's not going to get any better. Everything went wrong as it usually does with any government program focused on creating dependency rather than solving a problem. See this summary from Michael F. Cannon:

Obamacare offers junk insurance at outrageous premiums. In 2021, Democrats created temporary COVID-19 emergency premium subsidies for families earning $130,000 to $600,000 annually because even wealthy people struggle to afford Obamacare. These supposed “tax credits” are just checks the government sends to private health insurance companies. Thankfully, those temporary subsidies expire at the end of this year.

Democrats want to make those subsidies permanent because if they disappear, it would reveal that Obamacare’s excessive premiums and junk coverage are unpopular, as they have been from the beginning.

Public opinion turned against the first draft the moment Democrats introduced it in June 2009. After Democrats passed the “Affordable Care Act” by a single vote, voters gave them a “shellacking” in the 2010 midterms.

Congress has since repealed dozens of unpopular ACA provisions. The long-term care program? Gone. The death panel? Gone. “Every single one of the funding mechanisms to help offset the cost of the bill has been repealed,” says health reporter Julie Rovner. “The individual mandate is gone. Most of the industry-specific taxes are gone. The Cadillac tax… is gone.” 

Dozens of other provisions were so unpopular that bureaucrats and judges rewrote them, in many cases subverting the Constitution by legislating without Congress.

Ignoring the ACA’s spending limits, the Obama and Biden administrations issued billions of dollars in illegal subsidies to millions of ineligible people, including members of Congress, and diverted funds from public health and elsewhere to insurance companies.

Illegal subsidies to ineligible people? I thought they weren’t doing that!

By the way, let me add this personal observation. Years ago, when customers started going to the website to get a plan, I remember talking to a lady at the church who was complaining about the coverage. She said that the ACA forced her to buy a maternity provision at age 60. As the lady explained, she had an individual policy before with a high deductible and sufficient coverage. Now, she was paying for maternity and couldn't have a baby anymore. In a nutshell, that's the insanity of this unaffordable care act. It was written by Democrats, not actuaries.

As usual, Democrats want more subsidies to keep a bad plan going. It's time for something new and admit that this thing called ObamaCare was the fraud we thought it would be.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/10/time_to_pull_the_plug_on_obamacare.html

'Shuttle to Enter $3.24 Billion AI Pharmaceutical Market'

Shuttle Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: SHPH) announced a non-binding letter of intent dated Oct 9, 2025 to acquire AI developer Molecule.ai for a $10 million purchase price payable at closing subject to milestones.

Molecule.ai provides an AI drug-discovery platform using LLMs with modules for molecule property prediction, drug-target interaction modeling, and an initial Agentic AI mode to automate multi-step discovery workflows. Shuttle will acquire all rights and assume liabilities; Molecule.ai will extend the platform and assist hiring. Consideration will be a mix of cash and Shuttle common shares tied to milestone completion.

https://www.stocktitan.net/news/SHPH/shuttle-to-enter-3-24-billion-ai-pharmaceutical-ty4cnbm5vs7h.html

Ex-UK PM Sunak joins Microsoft and AI firm as paid adviser

Rishi Sunak has taken up paid adviser roles at tech giant Microsoft and artificial intelligence start-up Anthropic.


The former prime minister has been told he must not lobby ministers on behalf of the companies by the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), an independent watchdog which oversees the activities of former government figures.

Sunak - who remains the MP for Richmond and Northallerton - said he was "delighted" to be working "with two of the world's leading tech firms" and planned to donate his earnings to a charity he founded.

During his premiership, Sunak made tech regulation a significant priority, setting up an AI safety summit in 2023.

In letters of advice sent to Sunak by Acoba and published on Thursday, his part-time role at Microsoft was described as providing "high- level strategic perspectives" on geopolitical trends.


The watchdog said it had been informed by Sunak that his part-time advisory role at Anthropic - an AI firm seeking to compete with companies like OpenAI, Google and Meta - would be "akin to operating as an internal think tank".

Acoba said Anthropic "has a significant interest in UK government policy", meaning that Sunak's appointment could potentially be seen to offer "unfair access and influence" within government.

The appointment with Microsoft, a "major investor" in the UK, also presented similar issues, it wrote.

However, it also said that his time spent out of government would have reduced the value of any information Sunak may still possess, while reiterating the standing rules ex-ministers have to abide when seeking employment after leaving government.

Sunak was told not to advise on bidding for UK contracts, or to lobby the government for two years from his last day in ministerial office.

In addition to the two tech roles, it was previously confirmed Sunak will act as a paid advisor to the bank Goldman Sachs, where he previously worked between 2001 and 2004.

There had been speculation that Sunak, who was in No 10 between October 2022 and July 2024, would leave the Commons to take up a Silicon Valley role shortly after the election.

He previously lived in California, where he still has a home, and held a US visa until 2021.

But in his final prime minister's questions, Sunak vowed to spend more time in his constituency, which he called "the greatest place on Earth".

"If anyone needs me, I will be in Yorkshire," he said.

All proceeds from the new roles will be donated to The Richmond Project, a charity Sunak founded with his wife to tackle numeracy problems in the UK, another area he was vocal about while in Downing Street.


Posting on social media, Sunak said he would use his roles to "ensure" that coming technological change "delivers the improvements in all of our lives".

Sunak said: "I have long believed that technology will transform our world and play a key part in determining our future.

"We stand on the edge of a technological revolution whose impacts will be as profound as those of the industrial revolution: and felt more quickly."

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyqe22pz81o

Aetna over 81% of Medicare Advantage in 4-star plans, over 63% in 4.5-star plans for 2026

 Aetna®, a CVS Health® company (NYSE: CVS), announced today that over 81 percent of its Medicare Advantage (MA) members are in 2026 Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) plans that are rated 4 stars or higher (out of 5 stars) by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Additionally, over 63 percent of Aetna Medicare Advantage members are in a 4.5-star plan for 2026.

"This year's Star Ratings reflect Aetna's strong fundamentals and unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional care experiences and better health outcomes for our Medicare Advantage members," said Aetna president Steve Nelson. "I am proud of the way our teams show up every day to support our members, enabling Aetna to serve as their trusted, reliable health care partner."

Aetna continues to be an industry leader in providing high-quality Medicare solutions, consistently ranking among the top tier of large publicly traded companies in CMS Star Ratings.

Our Star Ratings success includes high-quality performance for many of our largest MA contracts:

• Our Aetna Life Insurance Company's H5522 contract, the primary contract serving over 1.3 million Employer Group Medicare Advantage members across the country, as well as serving 110 thousand Individual Medicare Advantage members in Pennsylvania, achieved 4.5 stars, extending its streak to 14 years with 4+ star performance.
  
  
• Our Aetna Life Insurance Company's H5521 contract, serving 1.1 million Individual Medicare Advantage members in 33 states, once again achieved 4.5 stars repeating its performance from the prior year.
  
  
• Our Aetna Health Inc. (PA)'s H3959 contract, with 210 thousand Individual Medicare Advantage members primarily in the states of Pennsylvania and Delaware, earned 4 stars.
  
  
• Our SilverScript Insurance Company's H2293 contract, with 134 thousand Individual Medicare Advantage members in the states of Georgia and Texas, repeated a 4-star performance from its inaugural year.
  
  
• Our Aetna Health Inc. (FL)'s H1609 contract, with 132 thousand Individual Medicare Advantage members in the states of Florida and Iowa, earned 4.5 stars, improving half a star year over year.
  
  
• Our Coventry Health Care of Missouri, Inc.'s H2663 contract, with 128 thousand Individual Medicare Advantage members in the states of Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Arkansas, and Oklahoma earned 4 stars, extending its streak to 14 years with 4+ star performance.
• https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20251009ne94853/aetna-achieves-over-81-of-medicare-advantage-members-in-4-star-plans-and-over-63-in-45-star-plans-for-2026

US Statistics Bureau said to publish inflation data

 The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics reportedly plans to publish the Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for September amid the ongoing government shutdown, the New York Times reported.

While the exact date is still unknown, it is likely that it will be moved from the original October 15 date.

Last week, the US government entered a shutdown after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement on a stopgap spending measure. The shutdown continued into this week after the Senate rejected funding bills in a new vote.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/US-Statistics-Bureau-said-to-publish-inflation-data/64957368

Hamas leader declares end of war, permanent ceasefire

 One of Hamas' top leaders and the head of its negotiation team Khalil al-Hayya announced on Thursday that the military group reached an agreement with Israel to end the war in Gaza and to implement a permanent ceasefire.

"I am happy to announce that we have reached a deal for a ceasefire, to put an end to the aggression and also proceed to a permanent ceasefire, as well as the withdrawal of the army. We have also reached an agreement to allow the aid to enter Gaza and open the Rafah crossing from both sides," al-Hayya stated.

Moreover, the Hamas chief shared that the agreement includes the release of "all jailed Palestinian women and children," adding that the group received guarantees from the United States and other mediators that the war has ended permanently.

https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Hamas-leader-declares-end-of-war-permanent-ceasefire/64956399