‘Shoot him in the neck, like Charlie Kirk’ chant erupts during massive London protests

 A group of protesters in London despicably called for a controversial rightwing figure to be killed, “like Charlie Kirk,” disturbing video shows.

The crowd was filmed chanting about Tommy Robinson, who organized a massive “Unite the Kingdom” rally in London Saturday which saw tens of thousands of demonstrators turn out.

“Shoot him in the neck like Charlie Kirk!” they can be heard chanting in the clip.

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An estimated 50,000 protesters flooded the streets of London on Saturday for the Unite the Kingdom rally organized by right-wing activist Tommy Robinson.REUTERS

The group spewing the vile message was waving Palestinian flags, the video showed.

The heinous incident happened as two separate rallies consumed the streets of London.

In one organized by Robinson, a sea of flag-waving Brits marched down Kingsway before crossing London Bridge and rallying in Parliament Square with many protesters wearing “Make England Great Again” hats.

The estimated 50,000 protesters draped themselves in British flags — including the Union Jack and St. George’s Cross, alongside Scottish and Welsh flags.

A pro-Palestinian march also drew thousands for the commemoration of Nakba Day, memorializing the Palestinians who fled from their homes during the war surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948. 

London Metropolitan Police arrested 31 people across the two rallies and had a massive force of 4,000 officers to control the crowds, according to SkyNews.

Robinson, an anti-Islam activist whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, slammed the Palestinian rally and UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

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Rally goers in Parliament Square after a sea of patriotic Brits crossed the London Bridge.Mario Mitsis / BACKGRID

“We’re a Christian nation. Why do we keep seeing demonstrations from Palestine in our nation — there’s one today — when Christians are being butchered and massacred across every Middle Eastern nation,” Robinson said on stage during a speech.

“While our feckless PM Keir Starmer creates division and fake outrage, we will continue to #UnitedTheKingdom. He’s such a wanker,” Robinson wrote on X during the rally.

“We’re in a fight for the soul of this country, and the Unite the Kingdom march this weekend is a stark reminder of exactly what we are up against,” Starmer said Friday.

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London Metropolitan Police arrested 31 people across the two rallies.

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U.S. right-wing activist and commentator Charlie Kirk appears at a Utah Valley University speaking event moments before being assassinated in Orem, Utah, U.S. September 10, 2025via REUTERS

“Its organizers are peddling hatred and division, plain and simple. We will block those coming into the UK who seek to incite hatred and violence.”

Then the PM concluded with a warning: “For anyone who sets out to wreak havoc on our streets, to intimidate or threaten anyone, you can expect to face the full force of the law.”

Starmer revoked visas of 11 “far right agitators” from entering the country for the Unite The Kingdom rally, according to the BBC.

Those banned included Polish MEP Dominik Tarczynski and anti-Islam influencer, Valentina Gomez.

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One exuberant young reveler on the streets of London where 31 people were arrested across the two demonstrations, according to the Metropolitan Police.REUTERS

Investigative journalist Nick Shirley was in attendance at the event and slammed Starmer for threatening to ban him from the UK if he spoke at Saturday’s rally.

“I’ve heard that those that speak today might be banned. I sure hope that’s not the case,” he told Rebel News, adding, “I think it’s crazy.

“When you see an attack on free speech like that, it really makes you wonder where this country is going.”

https://nypost.com/2026/05/16/world-news/shoot-him-in-the-neck-like-charlie-kirk-vile-chant-erupts-during-massive-london-protests/

Half of Patients With Post-BCG Bladder Cancer Achieve CR With Nonviral Gene Therapy

 More than half of patients with previously treated non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) had complete responses (CRs) with an intravesical gene therapy, according to preliminary results from an ongoing study.

The interim data showed that 54% of 125 patients achieved a CR with detalimogene voraplasmid, and the 12-month CR rate was 25%. Among patients attaining CRs, 84% remained in CR at the 9-month evaluation and 59% remained in CR at the 12-months evaluation.

The therapy has been well tolerated, as fewer than 5% of patients had grade ≥3 treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs), reported Ashish Kamat, MD, of the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, at the American Urological Association (AUA) annual meeting.

Kamat highlighted that the "durability data" were encouraging, but also cautioned that the findings are preliminary. Still, he said it was "also encouraging to note that 96.8% of patients were free of progression to T2 or more advanced disease. A primary analysis with longer follow-up is planned in the second half of 2026, and the [therapy developer] is planning to have discussions with the FDA later this year."

The study involved patients whose disease had proven unresponsive to traditional first-line treatment with intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). Multiple therapies are in development to meet that need. During a post-presentation discussion, AUA session co-moderator Adam Kibel, MD, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, asked how urologic oncologists might use the different treatments.

"We've all wrestled with that, and I don't think there's going to be one clear winner. It's not going to be one size fits all," said Kamat. "We're going to adapt it to different patients. For example, a patient that doesn't have the ability to come to the clinic very often might need a treatment that's once very 3 months, even though the efficacy might not look that high. On the other hand, a patient that has very high risk on BCG nonresposive disease and says, 'Throw the kitchen sink at me,' might want some that has a very high CR rate."

"I think it's great for our patients to have all these options, but it's more complicated for us to have that true shared decision-making with the patient," he added.

Co-moderator David Penson, MD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, said multiple questions from the online audience revolved around the relative safety and efficacy versus other treatment options.

"If you look at the data at 3-months and the durability data, [they are] pretty much parallel to what we saw with nadafaragene [Adstiladrin], because nadafaragene is proven," Kamat said. "When we look at viral versus nonviral delivery technique, some people will say that nonviral [such as detalimogene] is less durable, but it seems to have similar results to at least one of the approved gene therapies."

Kamat referenced an ongoing need for novel, bladder-sparing therapies to treat BCG-unresponsive NMIBC. Many existing therapies are toxic, require frequent follow-up visits and procedures, involve complex administration and storage, and possibly the need for biosafety handling. As many as 80% of patients are not in response after 1 year.

Detalimogene works via plasmid delivery of three genes that activate innate and adaptive immune response within the bladder, he continued. The treatment involves fewer administrations per 12-week cycle with less patient-related preparation and no need for special handling. The product can be stored in a standard freezer and administered by a physician or nurse in an exam room.

The phase I/II LEGEND study involves patients with high-risk BCG-unresponsive NMIBC, defined as carcinoma in situ with or without high-grade Ta/T1 that is persistent or recurrent within 12 months of BCG treatment. Patients receive intravesical doses of the gene therapy at weeks 1, 2, 5, and 6 of a 12-week cycle, each dose requiring a 16-minute dwell time. Patients not in CR after 12 weeks have the option for a second induction. Maintenance consists of doses on weeks 1 and 2 every 12 weeks for a maximum of 3 years.

The primary endpoint is CR at any timepoint. Secondary endpoints include duration of response (DOR), CR at landmarks, and progression-defined survival.

The 125 patients had a median age of 71, and men accounted for 80% of the cohort. About 60% of patients had CIS and the rest had CIS with Ta/T1 disease. More than 90% of the patients had declined cystectomy, and the rest were ineligible. All patients had received BCG (median of 12 doses), and a fourth of the patients had received additional treatment.

The 54% of patients who attained CR had a median follow-up of 5.5 months, and 91% of the CRs occurred at the 3-month assessment. Median time to CR was 2.4 months. Kamat said 22 patients have completed the 12-month evaluation, and 21 others have pending evaluations at 6-12 months and potential to achieve CR.

The most frequent TRAEs were fatigue (21.6%), dysuria (13.6%), micturition urgency (12%), pollakiuria (12%), and bladder spasm (11.2%).

Disclosures

The study was supported by enGene Therapeutics. Some co-authors are company employees.

Kamat disclosed relationships with AstraZeneca, CG Oncology, enGene Therapeutics, Ferring Pharmaceuticals, ImmunityBio, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Pfizer, Protara Therapeutics, Theralase, Urogen Pharma, and Photocure ASA.

Kibel and Penson disclosed no relationships with industry.

Primary Source

American Urological Association

Source Reference: Kamat AM, et al "A nonviral intravesical gene therapy for BCG-unresponsive NMIBC with CIS, with or without papillary disease: Pivotal phase II interim results of detalimogene voraplasmid" AUA 2026.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/aua/121300

Durvalumab Plus BCG Cut Early Recurrence of High-Risk Bladder Cancer

 Add-on durvalumab (Imfinzi, AstraZeneca) reduced the number of early high-risk disease recurrences within the first year in patients with high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), according to new analyses from the POTOMAC trial.

The phase III study showed that in that first year, 16% of 339 patients who received durvalumab plus bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) induction and maintenance therapy experienced a high-risk event compared with 20% of 340 patients who received BCG therapy alone, reported Neal Shore, MD, of the Carolina Urologic Research Center in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The median time from randomization to high-risk disease event was substantially longer in the durvalumab arm at 14.1 months versus 8.3 months in the BCG-alone arm.

Moreover, just 45% of those who had a disease event in the durvalumab arm experienced it in the first year compared with 61% in the BCG arm.

Shore also reported that the addition of durvalumab to BCG induction and maintenance therapy resulted in fewer recurrences among BCG unresponsive patients, and fewer cystectomies.

"The data clearly support 1 year of durvalumab in combination with BCG induction and maintenance as a potential new treatment for patients with BCG-naive, high-risk NMIBC, with an appropriate shared decision-making conversation." he said at the American Urological Association annual meeting.

POTOMAC was done at 116 sites in 12 countries with 1,018 patients, 37% of whom had carcinoma in situ while 65% had papillary disease only. They were randomized to receive durvalumab plus BCG induction and maintenance, durvalumab plus BCG induction only, or standard BCG induction and maintenance alone. Median age was 67-68 years across the three groups, 80% of participants were men, 79% were white, and 18% were Asian.

Initial trial findings showed the durvalumab plus BCG regimen resulted in a 32% reduction in the risk of recurrence of high-risk disease or death by any cause compared with BCG therapy alone (HR 0.68, 95% CI 0.50-0.93, P=0.015), meeting the trial's primary endpoint.

Shore also reported that BCG-unresponsive high-risk disease recurrences were fewer in the durvalumab group (65% vs 81%). Of those unresponsive patients, fewer proceeded to cystectomy with durvalumab (8% vs 25%). There also were fewer cystectomies in the durvalumab arm (4% vs 6%, HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.31-1.24). And median time to cystectomy was longer in the durvalumab arm (19.0 vs 14.1 months).

In an analysis of the papillary-only population (65% of patients) Shore reported there was a 39% to 52% reduction in the risk of risk-disease recurrence or death across papillary tumor subtypes with durvalumab plus BCG.

Overall survival (OS) showed a trend among the intention-to-treat population in favor of the combination (HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.53-1.20), with no detriment t0 OS observed across papillary subgroups.

Regarding safety, in the overall safety population, any-cause adverse effects (AEs) occurred in 97% versus 91% of patients in the durvalumab and BCG only groups, respectively.

Treatment-related grade 3 or 4 AEs occurred in 21% versus 4% of patients in the durvalumab and BCG groups, respectively. Serious AEs happened in 13% versus 4%. AEs leading to discontinuation occurred in 31% versus 20%. Discontinuations possibly related to durvalumab specifically were 16% versus 0.3%.

For immune-mediated AEs, Shore emphasized that it is "important for our colleagues to become comfortable with these, if you haven't already." These AEs of any grade occurred in 27% of the durvalumab arm versus 1% in the BCG arm. Shore noted that the safety profile of combining durvalumab with BCG induction/maintenance in papillary only tumors "was consistent with the overall safety population," as an equal proportion of patients in those populations had any-grade immune-mediated AEs.

The most common immune-mediated AEs were hypothyroid events (11%), hepatic events (5%), dermatitis/rash (3%), hyperthyroid events (2%), and thyroiditis (2%), most of which were low grade and manageable, with 67% having those AEs resolved by the time of data cutoff, Shore reported.

Disclosures

POTOMAC was funded by AstraZeneca. Some co-authors are company employees.

Shore disclosed relationships with Alessa, Amgen, Asieris Pharmaceuticals, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Aura Biosciences, Bayer, BioProtect, Bristol Myers Squibb, CG Oncology, Clarity, Dendreon, Exact Imaging, Ferring, FIZE Medical, GlyTherix, ImmunityBio, Invitae, Janssen, Lantheus, Lilly, MDxHealth, Merck, Minomic, Myriad, Novartis, Nusano, Pfizer, Photocure, Promaxo, Protara, Sumitomo, Telix, Tolmar Tutelix, UroGen.

Primary Source

American Urological Association

Source Reference: Shore N, et al "Durvalumab in combination with bacillus Calmette-Guérin induction and maintenance therapy for bacillus Calmette-Guérin-naive high-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer: expanded efficacy and safety analyses from POTOMAC" AUA 2026.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/aua/121301