Todd Combs, one of Warren Buffett's investing lieutenants and the CEO of GEICO, is departing Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B, BRK-A) and joining JPMorgan Chase (JPM) in a new role as part of a major shake-up at both firms.
Combs is leaving Berkshire Hathaway and his role leading GEICO to run the bank's new investment group as part of its wider "security and resilience" initiative announced in October.
by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
The House of Representatives voted to pass two bills on Monday that increase protections for taxpayers in matters related to penalties imposed by the IRS and tax dispute proceedings in the U.S. Tax Court.
The first bill, HR 5346, the Fair and Accountable IRS Reviews Act, relates to supervisory approval for certain federal penalties imposed by IRS agents on taxpayers.
An IRS employee can impose certain federal penalties on taxpayers after gaining written authorization from their immediate supervisor.
Under present regulations, an immediate supervisor is broadly defined as an individual tasked with reviewing another employee’s proposed penalties, and not necessarily the supervisor to whom the IRS employee reports, according to a fact sheet from the House Committee on Ways and Means.
IRS agents can thus “shop around for sympathetic supervisors,” it said, which weakens taxpayer protections.
“This circular definition is so broad that IRS agents can obtain approval to apply tax penalties on taxpayers from virtually any other employee,” the fact sheet states.
The bill seeks to resolve the issue by defining an immediate supervisor “to be the person to whom the individual making the determination reports,” the fact sheet said.
In addition, the bill clarifies that supervisory approval of a penalty will only be considered timely if such approval is obtained in writing before a taxpayer is notified of such a penalty.
In a Dec. 3 statement, the House Ways and Means Committee said the bill will ensure that “rogue IRS agents are not levying fines and penalties on taxpayers without specific supervisory approval.”
The second bill, HR 5349, the Tax Court Improvement Act, seeks to expand the authority of the U.S. Tax Court in issuing subpoenas. The court will be authorized to extend certain petition deadlines and also institute other changes to court procedures.
The U.S. Tax Court is a federal trial court specializing in adjudicating disputes related to federal income tax, a process that typically takes place before formal tax assessments are conducted by the IRS, according to a fact sheet from the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The Tax Court is the only forum in the United States where taxpayers can litigate issues without having to first pay in full the taxes that are being disputed.
The bill aims to solve inefficiencies in the Tax Court structure, it said.
For instance, the court currently has limited pre-trial discovery powers, which cause “unnecessary delays in resolutions of cases” since there are limited options for parties in a trial to obtain documents relevant to a case in a timely manner, the fact sheet said.
The Tax Court Improvement Act solves this issue by expanding the court’s powers. It authorizes the court to sign subpoenas to produce relevant documents in the discovery phase of the case, ensuring that parties receive these documents prior to a hearing.
Since the bill allows the court to extend petition filing deadlines, it also resolves difficulties faced by taxpayers when timely filing is impractical and impossible, according to the fact sheet.
In addition, the Act will hold Tax Court judges to the same standards for disqualification that apply to other federal judges.
Other provisions of the bill include expanding the type of proceedings for which special trial judges may be appointed, authorizing special trial judges to impose a jail term of up to 30 days and a maximum fine of $5,000 for contempt of court, and requiring judges to recuse themselves in certain circumstances.
The bills have the backing of multiple groups, such as the National Taxpayers Union and the Taxpayers Protection Alliance. Both bills have been sent to the Senate.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that the enactment of both bills will generate revenues over the coming decade.
In a Nov. 19 statement, the CBO said an analysis by the office and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that enacting the Tax Court Improvement Act would increase revenues by a net $6 million between 2026 and 2035, with administrative costs rising minimally by less than $500,000 between 2026 and 2030.
CBO said in another Nov. 19 statement that the Fair and Accountable IRS Reviews Act is projected to boost revenues by $117 million between 2026 and 2035, with administration costs increasing by less than half a million dollars for the 2026–2030 period.
The passage of both bills comes as the IRS recently urged Americans to start preparing for filing taxes in the 2026 filing season, citing changes in tax laws and other factors.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in July, will significantly affect federal taxes, deductions, and credits, according to agency officials.
“A little advance work preparing paperwork and organizing information now can help with filing tax returns quickly and accurately,” the agency said.
President Trump has continued to speak frankly about Zelensky and the Ukrainian government, at a moment of a sense of stalled frustration on the peace plan with Russia unveiled last month. His frustration with Keiv continues to show, especially after high hopes for his 28-point peace plan were dashed by yet more roadblocks which saw his Thanksgiving deadline quickly come and go.
While speaking on the red carpet at the Kennedy Center Honors on Sunday night, Trump bluntly stated he was "a bit disappointed" that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had not yet reviewed Washington's draft of the latest proposed peace plan to end the war.
"We've been speaking to President [Vladimir] Putin, and we've been speaking to Ukrainian leaders, including President Zelenskyy, and I have to say that I'm a little bit disappointed that President Zelensky hasn't yet read the proposal – that was as of a few hours ago," Trump stated.
He then said "His people love it, but he hasn’t. Russia’s fine with it." The somewhat negative assessment of the Ukrainian leader comes after Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on Friday again met with Rustem Umerov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, and Ukrainian negotiator Andriy Hnatov in Florida.
Trump at the same event went on to describe the war as "very tough, very nasty" and with mounting heavy casualties which have not abated.
As for Zelensky, he has freshly written on social media in response that "Ukraine is determined to keep working in good faith with the American side to genuinely achieve peace."
"We covered many aspects and went through key points that could ensure an end to the bloodshed and eliminate the threat of a new Russian full scale invasion, as well as the risk of Russia failing to honor its promises, as has happened repeatedly in the past," he continued.
Interestingly, while Trump issued critical remarks of Zelensky's stance, the Kremlin seemed to positively welcome the White House's new National Security Strategy memo, issued Friday:
Trump's criticism of Zelensky came as Russia on Sunday welcomed the Trump administration’s new national security strategy in comments by the Kremlin spokesman published by Russia’s Tass news agency.
Dmitry Peskov said the updated strategic document, which spells out the administration's core foreign policy interests, was largely in line with Moscow’s vision.
“There are statements there against confrontation and in favor of dialogue and building good relations,” he said, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement”.
Likely Moscow especially likes that the document characterizes Europe as weak while warning of an unpredictable, disunified atmosphere on the continent where in desperation European leadership could overreact and escalate war with Russia. For example FT has written of the document:
Donald Trump’s first NSS since returning to office blames European officials for thwarting US efforts to end the war in Ukraine and accuses governments of ignoring a "large European majority" who want peace.
Meanwhile, Trump's outgoing Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, while addressing the Reagan National Defense Forum on Saturday claimed that the peace process was "in the last 10 meters." But it's a far different question and highly dubious whether the two warring sides actually see real lasting peace as so much as on the horizon at this point.
On Monday leaders from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany meeting with Zelensky in London. They are still trying to forge a more 'just' and 'fair' alternative or counter peace plan.
"We stand with Ukraine," UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer said while setting out his "principles".
He described, "If there is to be a ceasefire then it needs to be a just and lasting ceasefire; that is why it is so important we repeatedly set out the principle that matters about Ukraine are for Ukraine." He added at the start of the meeting: "We stand here to support you in the conflict and support you in the negotiations." The Europeans have by and large rejected and balked at the US proposal to give up the Donbas and Crimea.
Biodexa Pharmaceuticals PLC (“Biodexa” or “the Company”), (Nasdaq: BDRX), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing a pipeline of innovative products for the treatment of diseases with unmet medical needs, is pleased to announce the enrolment of the first three patients by the University of Bonn, Germany into its pivotal Phase 3 Serenta trial of eRapa in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), a mostly inherited disease that, if left untreated, almost always leads to colorectal cancer.
Kymera Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:KYMR) on Monday released clinical results from the BroADen Phase 1b atopic dermatitis (AD) clinical trial of KT-621, its oral STAT6 degrader medicine.
STAT6 degradation is a novel oral approach for blocking the IL-4/IL-13 pathways in development for the treatment of atopic dermatitis and other allergic diseases.
“The BroADen study results exceeded our highest expectations and provide a powerful additional validation of our industry-leading STAT6 degrader program,” said Nello Mainolfi, Founder, President, and CEO, Kymera Therapeutics.
“The results were in line with, or in some cases numerically exceeded, published data for dupilumab at week 4, and we believe further reinforce Kymera’s pioneering expertise in developing transformative oral small molecules with the potential for the activity and safety of injectable biologics,” Mainolfi said in a press release on Monday.
Dupixent (dupilumab) is a prescription drug from Sanofi SA (NASDAQ:SNY) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:REGN).
KT-621 demonstrated deep and consistent STAT6 degradation in both blood and skin across the 100 mg and 200 mg dose groups.
At Day 29, median STAT6 degradation in blood was 98% at both the 100 mg and 200 mg doses.
In skin lesions, where STAT6 levels were 2-fold higher compared to healthy volunteers, KT-621 achieved median STAT6 degradation of 94% at both the 100 mg and 200 mg doses, with multiple subjects’ STAT6 levels dropping below the lower limit of quantification.
KT-621 achieved strong reductions in disease-relevant Type 2 biomarkers in blood, including a validated biomarker of Type 2 inflammation, Thymus and Activation-Regulated Chemokine (TARC).
Reductions with KT-621 were robust and associated with baseline levels of TARC in treated patients, consistent with reported dupilumab studies across multiple diseases.
In Fractional Exhaled Nitric Oxide (FeNO), a validated biomarker of Type 2 lung inflammation in asthma patients, KT-621 achieved median FeNO reductions at Day 29 of 25% and 33% among all patients within the 100 mg and 200 mg dose groups, respectively.
Encouraging clinical activity was observed across all disease endpoints measured, including a mean 63% Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) reduction and a mean 40% peak pruritus (itch) NRS reduction for all patients.
KT-621 was well-tolerated with a favorable safety profile consistent with the Phase 1a healthy volunteer trial results.
The KT-621 BROADEN2 Phase 2b trial in moderate to severe AD patients is ongoing, and patient dosing has commenced. Data is expected to be reported by mid-2027.
The BREADTH Phase 2b trial in asthma is planned to start in the first quarter of 2026.
Management outlined a portfolio of long-acting antibody programs targeting obesity and related diseases, leveraging AI-driven discovery and a dual Australia-U.S. regulatory path. Key milestones include IND filings, first-in-human trials, and strategic partnerships, supported by a strong cash position.
Based on iBio, Inc. [IBIO] Evercore ISI 8th Annual HealthCONx Conference Audio Transcript — Dec. 4 2025
