Search This Blog

Friday, August 28, 2026

CAIR blamed 9/11 on US support for Israel, pitched bin Laden writings in back-to-school guide

 Council on American-Islamic Relations, the US’s largest Muslim charity, blamed the 9/11 terror attacks on the country’s “support of Israel” and accused it of “state-sponsored Islamophobia” in its aftermath, according to since-deleted back-to-school material.

The embattled nonprofit released its annual “Back to school resource guide” for K-12 students Monday, containing a link outlining the outrageous claims – but it was inexplicably yanked a day later.

Screenshots obtained by The Post show the 16-page guide linked to a page that claimed the devastating Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans were masterminded not by Islamic terrorists but a “group self-identifying as Al Quaeda hailing from the mountains of Afghanistan.”

The embattled nonprofit released its annual “Back to school resource guide” for K-12 students Monday.

The since-deleted school material — titled “Muslim Studies Curriculum” — said the worst terror attack on American soil was justified because of the US’s “support of Israel” – and blamed America’s involvement in the Persian Gulf War and the “vast presence” of the military across the Middle East.

CAIR also blamed the US’s response for an “aggressive shift in US domestic and foreign policy” that sparked the Middle East’s War on Terror and an “erosion of civil liberties of many Americans.”

“While Islamophobia and anti-Muslim racism existed long before the 9/11 attacks, this time period marked a stark shift in US policy and state sponsored Islamophobia in the US and abroad. There was immediate backlash against anyone perceived to be Muslim” wearing traditional garb, it said.

Muslims were unfairly targeted by the media, the guide suggested — drawing a contrast to “white supremacists” or “extreme animal rights activists” who were purportedly spared backlash when they also used “violence to further their cause,” read the outrageous claim.

Nicholas Haros Jr., who lost his mother, Frances, on 9/11 was disgusted but not shocked by the “evil propaganda.”

“Israel had nothing to do with 9/11,” said the outspoken kin who once blasted Rep. Ilhan Omar for her callous remarks that “some people did something” on that evil day.

The guide was inexplicably yanked a day later.

“The further we get from 9/11, this new generation of kids will learn to blame our country. These kids are going to be poisoned – and that’s the intent.”

While glibly glossing over the Islamic terror responsible for the devastation of 9/11, CAIR, considered the largest Muslim civil rights group in the US, shifted focus to the aftermath, which led to “the rise in hate crimes and discrimination against American Muslim and perceived- Muslim communities.”

School lessons about 9/11 can create “a particularly dangerous time for Muslim students,” who “often experience a surge in bullying during school lessons about 9/11,” according to a press release from the beleaguered group, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization in both Texas and Florida.

While glibly glossing over the Islamic terror responsible for the devastation of 9/11, CAIR, considered the largest Muslim civil rights group in the US, shifted focus to the aftermath.

CAIR’s student resource recommendations included Osama bin Laden’s sick manifesto, “Letter to America.” 

The 9/11 terror mastermind outrageously asserted, “Your law is the law of the rich and wealthy people, who hold sway in their political parties, and fund their election campaigns with their gifts. Behind them stand the Jews, who control your policies, media and economy.”

The guide distorted the origins of bin Laden, painting the arch terrorist as a one-time ally of the US in the same fight for Afghanistan against the 1980s invasion by the Soviet Union. Among the courageous “rebels” was a “man named Osama bin Laden,” who with the “people later formed the Taliban,” read a glowing description. 

The guide distorted the origins of bin Laden, painting the arch terrorist as a one-time ally of the US in the same fight for Afghanistan against the 1980s invasion by the Soviet Union.
Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), speaks at their headquarters in Washington, DC on June 20, 2016.AFP/Getty Images

The movie “V for Vendetta,” about “a young woman living in a dystopian society meets a shadowy freedom fighter who is plotting to overthrow their tyrannical government,” is part of the recommended background resources. 

The school guide also defended introducing foreign issues in school as a catalyst to “promote understanding.”

While ignoring the atrocities of the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7 2023, that killed 1,200 Israelis, including dozens of children, the CAIR guide also addressed how to talk to kids about “genocide” and Gaza. 

CAIR’s student resource recommendations included Osama bin Laden’s sick manifesto, “Letter to America.” Sygma via Getty Images

When reached by The Post about whether it stands by the 9/11 document, CAIR didn’t deny pulling the hyperlink, and referred The Post to an attached note that vaguely explained changes to an earlier document.

Jewish community leaders are outraged.

“CAIR just nationalized a curriculum that refuses to call the 9/11 hijackers terrorists, assigns Osama bin Laden’s ‘Letter to America’ as high-school reading, and coaches five-year-olds on Gaza without ever naming Hamas or October 7. That is not inclusion – it’s dangerous propaganda,” railed Moshe Spern, President of United Jewish Teachers to The Post. 

Founded in 1993, CAIR was linked to Hamas in 2008 when US authorities successfully prosecuted five leaders at the Holy Land Foundation For Relief and Development, a now-defunct Texas-based nonprofit, for giving more than $12 million from the US to the terror group.

https://nypost.com/2026/08/28/us-news/cair-blamed-9-11-on-us-support-for-israel-recommended-bin-ladens-writings-in-back-to-school-guide/

PhRMA's Medicare price negotiation suit rebuffed in latest blow to industry IRA challenge

 In the latest in a string of setbacks in biopharma’s efforts to fight Medicare drug price negotiations, a lawsuit from the industry’s top lobbying group has been rejected at the appeals level. 

On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed (PDF) a previous ruling in district court rebuffing PhRMA and its co-plaintiffs’ arguments, which challenge the constitutionality of the drug price negotiations baked into 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

In a rejection of one of PhRMA and multiple other drugmakers’ core contentions against the program, Judge Leslie Southwick wrote in an opinion this week that “we conclude that manufacturers lack a protected interest in selling to Medicare beneficiaries at a preferred price because participation in Medicare and Medicaid, and thus in the Program, is voluntary.”

The notion that companies are compelled to take part in what are ostensibly voluntary price talks has been a rallying cry across the industry’s legal challenges to the IRA, though so far, it has failed to carry much water in the courts. 

If companies cannot reach an agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on a maximum fair price on a drug tapped for the program within a stipulated timeframe, the manufacturer may be subject to an excise tax levied by the IRS. Meanwhile, those who choose not to participate could remove their products from Medicare and Medicaid coverage to avoid the tax—an option many pharmas have argued isn’t much of a choice at all. 

“We agree with the Second Circuit, which rejected another IRA due process challenge on the grounds that a ‘company suffers no deprivation of its property interests by voluntarily submitting to a price-regulated government program,’” Southwick wrote in the opinion. 

She acknowledged that the “financial importance to manufacturers of their drugs being available through the Medicare and Medicaid programs is clear,” adding that the Fifth Circuit nevertheless believes that participation in the programs “should not be considered involuntary because of that importance,” as economic hardship is not equivalent to legal compulsion. 

PhRMA, for its part, is “reviewing the decision and all options,” a spokesperson for the trade association told Fierce over email. 

The group brought its challenge against the IRA pricing provisions back in 2023, filing the suit alongside the National Infusion Center Association (NICA) and the Global Colon Cancer Association (GCCA). 

At the time, the plaintiffs asserted that the Medicare price negotiations included in the IRA lacked requirements for checks and balances via public feedback and cut off administrative and judicial review, potentially violating the Constitution’s separation of powers and due process clauses. 

Moreover, they asserted that the “extreme” excise tax placed on those who fail to reach a negotiated price in time is “disproportionate to the purported offense,” which in turn would make it an excessive fine in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Large drugmakers are more or less unified in opposition to the price negotiation program, though efforts to challenge it in court have largely been unsuccessful, even amid efforts to relitigate previous losses

Just this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Washington, D.C., also pushed back claims from Merck & Co. that the price negotiations violate the First and Fifth Amendments. 

Days before that, a federal court in Maryland dismissed a challenge from AstraZeneca, which contended that the government had lumped too many of its drugs together to reach a benchmark making them eligible for inclusion in the price negotiation program. 

Generics and innovative medicines hybrid Teva, meanwhile, scored a rare partial win in its IRA challenge last week, when the Washington D.C., appeals court sent a previous ruling back to district court for further review. Teva’s argument in that particular challenge hits back against CMS’ requirement that a generic drug be genuinely marketed before its brand-name reference product is excluded from negotiation. 

https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/phrmas-medicare-price-negotiation-suit-rebuffed-latest-blow-industry-ira-challenge

Fierce Pharma Asia—Roche’s $2.5B obesity deal; Akeso CEO’s defense; Lawmaker’s reflection on China

 With a potential $2.5 billion deal with Hanmi, Roche is taking a less-trodden path in obesity. Akeso's CEO countered concerns over shrinking lung cancer data for ivonescimab as the PD-1xVEGF drug delivered its first phase 3 win outside lung cancer. A U.S. congressman says China is "beating us on our ground game" in biotech. And more.

1. Roche pens $2.5B pact for Hanmi’s clinical-stage obesity drug targeting less-explored mechanism

Roche is paying $190 million for a clinical-stage UCN2 analog from Korea’s Hanmi. For up to $2.3 billion in additional milestone payments, Roche is betting the candidate, coded HM17321, could promote weight loss while preserving lean body mass. Besides obesity, Roche plans to explore the drug in other associated cardiometabolic conditions.

2. Akeso CEO looks beyond lung cancer with biliary tract win, counters ivonescimab debate

Akeso’s ivonescimab posted its first phase 3 win outside lung cancer by delivering an overall survival benefit against AstraZeneca’s Imfinzi in biliary tract cancer. Meanwhile, CEO Michelle Xia, Ph.D., finds herself defending weaker data from an exploratory longer-term analysis of the Harmoni-6 study in first-line squamous non-small cell lung cancer, as investors worry about its partner Summit Therapeutics’ global Harmoni-3 readout.  

3. Why a Texas congressman believes Chinese biotechs are 'beating us on our ground game'

“The United States has been too focused on measuring the outcomes of strategic scenarios with China and not paid enough attention to the input,” Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, a member of the House Select Committee on China, told Fierce. “We talk about the growing trials that are happening in China," he continued. "What we forget to focus on is that they are beating us on our ground game.”

4. Founded by Metsera backers, Sentivera emerges with $1.5B inflammatory disease deal

After selling Metsera to Pfizer, Arch Venture Partners and Population Health Partners have formed a new biotech, Sentivera, which emerged with a $40 million upfront deal with China’s Haisco Pharmaceutical. The target is an inflammatory disease drug candidate that recently received clearance to enter clinical development in China.

5. Hansoh heralds China’s move from ‘follower’ to ‘frontrunner’ in biopharma race

Hansoh Pharma, which has partnered with the likes of GSK, Roche and Regeneron, said China’s biotech industry is “fully transitioning from the ‘follower’ phase to the ‘frontrunner’ phase,” according to its half-year results announcement. The company cited evidence that China now accounts for 30% of investigational medicines. 

6. SK Biopharma pens $795M deal to usher Biohaven’s epilepsy therapy towards hoped-for 2029 launch

SK Biopharmaceuticals agreed to pay $350 million up front for Biohaven’s Kv7 ion channel platform, led by opakalim, which is in a phase 2/3 trial of patients with focal epilepsy. The Korean pharma hopes to leverage its experience with the epilepsy med Xcopri to speed the development and commercial rollout of opakalim. 

https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/roche-25b-obesity-deal-akeso-ceo-defense-congressman-reflection-china

'Biogen enlists lupus patient advocate to share social media story'

 Biogen’s late-stage lupus candidates may not have crossed the FDA finish line yet, but the company has already hit the ground running with its patient advocacy work. 

A new social media tie-up featuring lupus patient advocate Naomi Rose highlights her journey navigating the chronic autoimmune disease cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE), emphasizing the importance of connecting with community in the disease space.

“Lupus has taught me resilience,” she says in the 54-second video. “Some days I have hope and some days it is hard to have hope.”

The video continues with clips of Rose living her day-to-day life; working out, setting up her camera to film and spending time with her son. As she discusses the power of social media content and building community, a montage of video content from her own social media plays, flashing through a barrage of meaningful moments that she’s posted online. 

“These are real people, with real experiences that can actually relate,” Rose says, referring to the community of lupus patients she’s found by sharing her experience on social media. “And it just makes me happy to connect and find community within that. That is what keeps me going.”

The video ends with Biogen’s “making breakthroughs happen” tagline, but this time with “in lupus” added in a different font. 

“Behind every lupus diagnosis is a person, a story, and a community,” Biogen wrote in its Facebook caption for the video. On Instagram, the company uses a different caption introducing Rose’s journey of “resilience, hope, and finding strength through community," further inviting its audience to “hear how connection and shared understanding have shaped her journey.”  

Outside of her work as a patient advocate for lupus nonprofit organizations such as 50 Shades of Pain and We Are ILL, Rose works in influencer marketing herself as a brand partnerships coordinator for an Atlanta-based creator, according to her LinkedIn. She has also amassed a large following on her own social media pages, where she posts motherhood and travel content on her personal page, plus lupus advocacy content on her lupus-specific page, Lupus Living Diaries. 

Biogen has enlisted several patient advocates so far in the lupus space, who have shared their stories as the company continues to study its two lupus candidates. The drugmaker is working on what it says could be the “first lupus portfolio in the industry” and developing treatments for both systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and CLE. 

Earlier this year, Biogen’s litifilimab earned a breakthrough therapy designation in CLE from the FDA, adding more weight to what the company hopes to be the first advanced therapy specifically approved to treat the disease subtype. Litifilimab is currently in phase 3 trials for CLE and SLE, with a data readout in CLE expected in 2027. In SLE, Biogen’s litifilimab studies were specifically designed to enroll participants that accurately reflect the U.S. lupus patient population, as the disease disproportionately impacts young women, especially in communities of color. 

Biogen often spotlights patient advocates on its social media, with recent posts including a celebration of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) awareness month and a series of patient and caregivers sharing their Alzheimer’s disease stories. Earlier this summer, the company launched a campaign highlighting the “patient journey of individuals who have grown up with SMA,” using images shot from a lower angle to redefine how people view those who use assistive devices, Biogen told Fierce at the time. 

https://www.fiercepharma.com/marketing/biogen-enlists-lupus-patient-advocate-share-social-media-story-resilience

Antibody biotech Electra Therapeutics files for a $100 million IPO

 Electra Therapeutics, a late clinical-stage biotech developing antibodies targeting signal regulatory proteins for immune-mediated diseases and cancer, filed on Friday with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering.


Electra Therapeutics is developing a class of precision medicines directed at signal regulatory proteins (SIRP) expressed on specific immune cell populations. Lead candidate ipsoprubart is a pan-SIRP monoclonal antibody designed to selectively deplete pathological myeloid cells and T cells, currently in the registrational Phase 2/3 SURPASS trial for secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH); Phase 1b data showed a 100% eight-week overall survival rate and 100% overall response rate in 12 frontline malignancy-associated HLH patients. Ipsoprubart is also in a Phase 1 trial for relapsed/refractory T and NK cell malignancies. Second candidate ELA822, a SIRPγ-specific antibody for chronic T cell-mediated immune disorders, began a Phase 1 trial in Europe in August 2026.

The South San Francisco, CA-based company was founded in 2018 and plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol ETRA. Jefferies, TD Cowen, Evercore ISI, and Cantor are the joint bookrunners on the deal. No pricing terms were disclosed.

FDA approves Takeda, Protagonist's drug for rare blood cancer

 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-its-kind drug from ‌Takeda Pharmaceutical and Protagonist Therapeutics to treat ‌a rare blood cancer, the health regulator said on Friday.

The approval ​of rusfertide brings a highly anticipated, less-invasive treatment option for thousands of patients who have historically relied on frequent bloodletting procedures to manage their condition.

The companies ‌were seeking approval for ⁠the drug to treat polycythemia vera, a rare, slow-growing blood cancer affecting roughly ⁠90,000 Americans.

Rusfertide, branded as Mimrylo, will be made available to patients within 48 hours of FDA approval, ​Teresa Bitetti, ​president of Takeda's global ​oncology business unit, told ‌Reuters in an interview.

While the company did not disclose the exact list price of the drug at launch, Bitetti said the company would "price this in a way that is fair to the value, but ‌then also ensures that there's ​access for patients."

Takeda is projecting ​peak global sales for ​the drug in the range of $1 ‌billion to $2 billion.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/us-fda-approves-takeda-protagonists-214953378.html

The Iran War Has Turned VLCCs Into $650,000-A-Day Assets

 by Julianne Geiger via OilPrice.com,

More Gulf oil is moving again. Getting it out now costs a fortune.

Earnings on the benchmark Saudi Arabia-to-China supertanker route surged to a record $647,000 per day on Thursday, according to Baltic Exchange data cited by Bloomberg. That is more than ten times the rate a year ago-and nearly 27% above the $510,000 reached just ten days earlier.

The spike comes as Persian Gulf producers increase crude shipments through the Strait of Hormuz despite the continuing Iran war.

That should, in theory, ease the oil supply crunch. Instead, it has created another one: ships.

Few tanker owners are willing to send vessels through Hormuz, leaving exporters competing for the smaller pool that will take the risk. The result is an extraordinary premium for anyone willing to make the trip.

And crossing Hormuz is increasingly only the first leg.

Producers have begun shuttling crude through the strait before transferring cargoes onto other tankers outside the Gulf. That effectively creates two freight bills-one for getting the oil through Hormuz and another for hauling it onward to Asia.

TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said earlier this week that moving a cargo through Hormuz cost about $20 million. Tanker market participants told Bloomberg those costs have risen further since then.

Even outside the strait, rates are climbing. A tanker traveling from Oman to China now commands roughly $220,000 per day, up from $131,000 a month ago.

The squeeze is being amplified by Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, which have forced Saudi Arabia to redirect some barrels through the Mediterranean and around Africa, adding roughly 30 days to voyages bound for Asia.

There are signs that more oil is escaping the Gulf. Traders estimate Hormuz outflows at 6 million to 8 million barrels per day, while Goldman Sachs puts flows at roughly two-thirds of pre-war levels.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/iran-war-has-turned-vlccs-650000-day-assets