News From Around the Web
#1 Ex-Special Counsel John Durham Undercut Case Against James Comey in Interview With Prosecutors: Sources - ABC News/Adam, CSN, Ticklethewire, Liz Churchill/Wunderdarp, and @googeliart.bsky.social on X
John Durham, the former special counsel who spent nearly four years examining the origins of the FBI investigation into President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and its alleged ties to Russia, told federal prosecutors investigating James Comey that he was unable to uncover evidence that would support false statements or obstruction charges against the former FBI director, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News. Federal prosecutors in Virginia met remotely with Durham in August to understand the findings of his investigation, according to sources familiar with the meeting, and his conclusions raise the prospect that Durham -- who was once elevated by Trump and other Republicans believing he would prosecute high-level officials involved with the investigation of the president's 2016 campaign -- could now become a key figure aiding Comey's defense...
#2 French PM Resigns Hours After Naming Government, Plunging France Further Into Political Chaos - AP News, Mario Nawfal, 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝕸𝖆𝖗𝖛𝖊𝖑𝖔𝖚𝖘 𝕮𝖆𝖙, Je s'appelle Groot, Astéride, Basil the Great, and Context on X
Facing criticism from all sides, France’s new prime minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned less than 24 hours after naming his government and after less than a month in office, plunging the country into a deep political crisis. The French presidency said in a statement Monday that President Emmanuel Macron has accepted his resignation. Lecornu had replaced his predecessor François Bayrou to become France’s fourth prime minister in barely a year. A faithful ally of Macron, Lecornu said conditions were no longer met to remain in office after failing to build a consensus...
#3 Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Any Deployment of National Guard to Portland - CNN, Popeye the Sailor, Mark Brewer, KESQ News Channel 3, Local 5 News, Nancy Willing, and Cryptid Politics on X
A federal judge on Sunday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from sending any National Guard troops to Portland – a ruling which came as the administration stepped up attempts to send out-of-state National Guard troops to the city after the judge earlier denied mobilizing Oregon National Guard troops. Shortly before a Sunday evening hearing prompted by President Donald Trump’s mobilization of the California National Guard to Portland, Trump also ordered the deployment of hundreds of Texas National Guard members to Illinois, Oregon, and “other locations” in the US, according to the states’ governors...#4 3 Scientists Win Nobel Prize in Medicine for Immune Tolerance Work - Newsmax, The Nobel Prize, Sapam Subhangker, Asharq Al-Awsat English, 8News WRIC Richmond, and Nitro News on X
Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell, and Dr. Shimon Sakaguchi won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance. Brunkow is a senior program manager at the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle. Ramsdell is a scientific adviser for Sonoma Biotherapeutics in San Francisco. Sakaguchi is a distinguished professor at the Immunology Frontier Research Center at Osaka University in Japan. Peripheral immune tolerance is one way the body helps keep the immune system from getting out of whack and attacking its own tissues instead of foreign invaders...
#5 RFK Jr.’s MAHA Movement Focuses on Animal Welfare - Xavier Walton for News Nation, Lefty Loading, White Coat Waste, Anna Firth, Stephen Cottrill U.S.M.C. Retired! BS MBA-ERAU, and Madeleine May on X
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” initiative isn’t just for people anymore. Kennedy has asked his agencies to end all animal testing for chemicals and drugs, and called the shift both a moral and a scientific necessity. Last week, the National Institutes of Health announced it had secured $87 million for a new research center, which will eventually move away from animal testing and shift to tiny, lab-grown 3D tissue models...
#6 New, Highly Transmissible COVID-19 Strain Fueling Wave of Infections Across US - Tracy Swartz for New York Post, Dr Dave Cartland BMedSc MBChB Ex-MRCGP, Stephanie Peace, Fire Bare/Bohemian Atmosphere, Cork Beo, and Ramona arnold on X
Just in time for respiratory virus season, a highly transmissible COVID-19 strain is fueling a wave of infections across the US. The XFG variant, informally known as “Stratus,” has been driving up case numbers. Stratus’ ability to evade immune system defenses has propelled it past NB.1.8.1 (a k a “Nimbus”) as the dominant COVID strain. The increased COVID activity comes as the US heads into fall respiratory illness season — which tends to bring a rise in cases of the common cold, flu, and respiratory syncytial virus — and amid evolving guidance for COVID vaccines...
#7 Japan’s First Female Governing-Party Leader Is an Ultra-Conservative Star in a Male-Dominated Group - The Associated Press, 高市早苗, TheDogeGlory, ABC News, and The New York Times on X
In a country that ranks poorly internationally for gender equality, the new president of Japan's long-governing Liberal Democrats, and likely next prime minister, is an ultra-conservative star of a male-dominated party that critics call an obstacle to women's advancement. Sanae Takaichi, 64, admires former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and is a proponent of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's conservative vision for Japan. Takaichi is the first female president of Japan's predominantly male ruling party that has dominated Japan's postwar politics almost without interruption. She hardly touched on gender issues during the campaign, but on Saturday, as she tried out the party president's chair and posed for a photo as is customary for the newly elected leader, Takaichi said: "Now that the LDP has its first female president, its scenery will change a little."
#8 OpenAI, AMD Announce Massive Computing Deal, Marking New Phase of AI Boom - Robbie Whelan and Berber Jin for The Wall Street Journal, Bill Madden, AMD, Yiannis Zourmpanos, Austin Lyons/AMD, 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙕 𝙼𝙽𝚃𝙻𝙼𝚁𝙺𝚃𝚂, and Shay Boloor on X
OpenAI and chip-designer Advanced Micro Devices announced a multibillion-dollar partnership to collaborate on AI data centers that will run on AMD processors, one of the most direct challenges yet to industry leader Nvidia. Under the terms of the deal, OpenAI committed to purchasing 6 gigawatts worth of AMD’s chips, starting with the MI450 chip next year. The ChatGPT maker will buy the chips either directly or through its cloud computing partners. AMD chief Lisa Su said...
