Wautoma native Dr. Steve Bahrke to be remembered for his love of family and his contribution to the genetic disease, Cadasil, that claimed his life on…

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In this world we go around once, sometimes we live for years close to a century, other times our life is cut short in our 50s, 60s or even earlier. When a person passes through this life and makes it a better world, they are remembered forever and their dedication and work to complete the task does not go unnoticed.

This is where Dr. Steve Bahrke, a Wautoma High School graduate, has made a difference. He was a husband, father, and brother, grandfather and had a plethora of friends, in the medical field and out. Steve was the youngest of four children growing up in Wautoma. He was the fourth child of Ervin Bahrke and Dorothy Roeske Bahrke. Ervin passed away at the age of 61 in 1975. His brother Jim was his soul mate and they spent many hours together on adventurous escapades and fun-loving practical jokes. His sisters, Ann and Barb, enjoyed watching their brothers raise some cane and the brothers were always there for their sisters.

While in high school at Wautoma Steve found a love for science. He attended he University of Wisconsin Oshkosh with a major in chemistry and a minor in mathematics. During a summer internship at his childhood Doctors family practice, Dr. Darby, he found a passion for medicine. He graduated from UW-Oshkosh and did research for the University of Wisconsin in genetics lab and McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research while he prepared for medical school. He graduated from UW-Madison medical school in 1979. He was assigned to a public health hospital on the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona for five months.

Steve matched for his medical residency in family medicine with the Fox Valley Family Medicine Residency Program in Appleton. During his residency, he met Dr. Pete Sanderson and they agreed to start a practice together in Plover. Dr. Bahrke went on to build a new larger, state of the art clinic in Plover. Many came to study the design and replicate it in other clinics around the country. When they enlarged the clinic they welcomed Dr. Mark Felon as the third partner.

Being a doctor, one would think all is a slam-dunk and you care for your patients and Steve did that and went beyond to be a doctor that went out of his way to help others. Steve was having some health issues himself and found out that he had a genetic disease, Cadasil, and after testing the family two of his siblings, Ann and Jim, also had the disease. This sent Steve on a path that would put in him medical history as he began research on the disease and some suggested treatment that would slow the progression down. Many medical institutions have documented the research. Steve dedicated his life to the research and lost his life fighting it, but the work he did to help others is life changing.

Steve married Kathy Hartnet in 1971 and they had three children, Erin (Jeremy), Scott, and Michael (adopted at the age of 4 from Thailand). Later he married his loving wife, Debra Hopp, in Hawaii. She brought an additional two children into the family. When the affects of Cadasil made practicing medicine too difficult, Steve and Debb retired to Hernando, FL for the winter where he continued with golf, fishing, and movies. He also enjoyed refinishing antique furniture and doing lawn care. They spent their summers in Conover, WI, where they enjoyed boating, fishing, and watching eagles.

A Memorial Service for Dr. Steve Bahrke will be held on Saturday, July 25th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Pfiffner Building, 401 Franklin St., Stevens Point. Dr. Bahrke may have left this earth, but the research he did and documented on Cadasil will remain a legacy. The love he had for family and friends and for his dear mother, Dorothy Bahrke Pearsall, a resident at Heartland House, Wautoma, his wife, his children, his brother and sisters, will live forever in the hearts of those that remain on earth to cherish his memory.

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Wautoma native Dr. Steve Bahrke to be remembered for his love of family and his contribution to the genetic disease, Cadasil, that claimed his life on...

Research Roundup: Ancient Polynesian and Native American contact, Arctic phytoplankton, protein link to rare genetic disease – The Stanford Daily

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Each week, The Dailys Science & Tech section produces a roundup of the most exciting and influential research happening on campus or otherwise related to Stanford. Heres our digest for the week of July 5 July 11.

Genetic evidence links Polynesians and Native Americans

Scientists have determined from genetic evidence that ancient Polynesians and Native Americans made contact in present-day Colombia hundreds of years ago, concluding a decades-long debate in the field of archaeology, a study published on July 8 in Nature reports. Previously, there was much contention as to whether the two groups were connected, given that they were separated by thousands of miles of ocean.

The researchers conducted genetic analyses of more than 800 Indigenous individuals living across Mexico, Polynesia and various South American countries to find evidence of common ancestry.

Genomics is at a stage where it can really make useful contributions to answering some of these open questions, Alexander Ioannidis M.S. 18, Ph.D. 18, a postdoctoral research fellow in biomedical data sciences, told Stanford Medicine News. I think its really exciting that we, as data scientists and geneticists, are able to contribute in a meaningful way to our understanding of human history.

The findings suggest that there were common genetic signals between Native American and Polynesian DNA tracing back centuries.

If you think about how history is told for this time period, its almost always a story of European conquest, and you never really hear about everybody else, Ioannidis told Stanford Medicine News. I think this work helps piece together those untold stories and the fact that it can be brought to light through genetics is very exciting to me.

Phytoplankton growth increases in the Arctic Ocean

In the Arctic Ocean, the growth of phytoplankton tiny creatures that cause algae blooms has increased significantly over the past two decades, a study published on July 10 in Science found. This represents a significant regime shift as the Arctic waters become warmer due to climate change.

The team studied the net primary production (NPP), a measurement of how quickly plants and algae convert sunlight and carbon dioxide into sugars for other organisms.

The rates are really important in terms of how much food there is for the rest of the ecosystem, earth system science professor Kevin Arrigo told Stanford News. Its also important because this is one of the main ways that CO2 is pulled out of the atmosphere and into the ocean.

The findings suggest the NPP increased by 57% in the Arctic Ocean between 1998 and 2018. As a result, phytoplankton numbers grow more concentrated, potentially leading to more algae blooms.

Theres going to be winners and losers, Arrigo told Stanford News. A more productive Arctic means more food for lots of animals. But many animals that have adapted to live in a polar environment are finding life more difficult as the ice retreats.

Its taking in a lot more carbon than it used to take in but its not something were going to be able to rely on to help us out of our climate problem, he added.

Protein identified as possible target in rare genetic disorder

A newly identified protein may be an ideal drug target for Diamond Blackfan anemia, a rare genetic disease that affects red blood cell development, a study published on July 3 in Nature Communications found.

One of the difficulties of treating patients with Diamond Blackfan anemia is that the mutation which causes the disease varies across patients. The researchers approached the issue by examining which faulty cellular mechanisms protein movement or enzyme activity patients have in common.

The study identified an enzyme called Nemo-like kinase. In Diamond Blackfan anemia patients, this enzyme is overactive. The team found that slightly inhibiting the kinase activity reversed problems with red blood cell development.

The team is led by pediatrics, hematology and oncology instructor Mark Wilkes and professor Kathleen Sakamoto. Moving forward, they are working to identify potential new drugs to target the protein.

Contact Derek Chen at derekc8 at stanford.edu.

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Research Roundup: Ancient Polynesian and Native American contact, Arctic phytoplankton, protein link to rare genetic disease - The Stanford Daily

WCM-Q Research Helps Shed Light on Genetic Heritage of the Arabian Horse – Al-Bawaba

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Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) have helped probe the genetic diversity and origins of the Arabian horse, prized all over the world for its beauty, grace and athletic endurance.

Renowned for its ability to thrive in extremely hot, arid environments, the Arabian is the oldest recorded breed of horse, with credible documentation stretching back more than 2,000 years placing its development in the Middle East.

Working in collaboration with an international team of fellow researchers, scientists at WCM-Q helped conduct a comprehensive global sampling and analysis of the genomes of 378 individual Arabian horses in Qatar, Iran, UAE, Poland, USA, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Kingdom, Australia, Denmark and Canada. Blood and hair samples were painstakingly collected from the horses over an eight-year period.

The international team of scientists was led by the University of Floridas Samantha Brooks, a UF/IFAS assistant professor of animal sciences formerly based at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York; Doug Antczak, the Dorothy Havemeyer McConville Professor of Equine Medicine at the Baker Institute for Animal Health of Cornell University; and Andy Clark, the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor in Cornells department of molecular biology and genetics.

Researchers at WCM-Q, led by Dr. Joel Malek, Associate Professor of Genetic Medicine, used the colleges state-of-the-art equipment and expertise to assist with the sequencing of the horse DNA. The study was made possible by National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) grant 6-1303-4-023 from the Qatar National Research Fund, a member of Qatar Foundation. The paper, entitled Genome Diversity and the Origin of the Arabian Horse has now been published in Scientific Reports, a journal of the Nature series of publications

Brooks said: The Arabian horse has a special mystique due to the long recorded history of the breed. Arabian horse breeders, in particular, know their horses bloodlines many generations back. What we found was that in the area where this breed originates likely the near East region, but we dont know exactly theres a healthy level of diversity. This is particularly evident in populations from Bahrain and Syria, which suggests these are some pretty old populations.

The horse is prized for characteristics like heat tolerance and endurance, as well as its unique appearance, with a dish-shaped facial profile, wide-set eyes, an arched neck and a high tail carriage. It has been exported from its ancestral homeland for centuries, with some modern lineages drawn strictly from these smaller genetic pools, giving the breed a reputation for inbred disorders. While this was true for some groups they tested, Brooks noted, they also found remarkable diversity when considering the breed as a whole.

Brooks contrasted the discovery of more diverse populations with the samples they received from racing Arabians. Another longstanding myth says that the Arabian contributed genetically to the modern Thoroughbred, but the racing Arabians DNA told a different story.

What we found in these samples was not that much Arabian ancestry was part of the Thoroughbred line, but the opposite: that Thoroughbred DNA exists in most of the modern racing Arabian lines, indicating a more recent interbreeding within this group, Brooks said. I cant speculate on the how or why, but this is clearly the story the DNA is telling us.

Another implication of this study, Brooks said, is the potential to identify the genetic regions that determine some of the Arabians unique traits, like their facial profile. This could be expanded to identify the marker for other horse breeds head shapes, for example.

Dr. Joel Malek of WCM-Q said: It was extremely gratifying to be part of this fascinating and interesting research about the iconic Arabian horse, which is so important to this region. We are very proud to have been able to work with so many talented and dedicated researchers all over the world on this project, which underlines WCM-Q's commitment to pursuing projects at the cutting edge of science that have great local significance, in line with the goals set out in Qatar National Vision 2020.

We are also very grateful for the support this project received from Qatar Foundation through Qatar National Research Fund, which made the research possible.

The study has a long list of co-authors, with contributors from the University of Tehran, Iran; the University of Kentucky; the University of Agriculture in Krakw, Poland; the Hong Kong Jockey Club; the Equine Veterinary Medical Center at Al Shaqab (a Qatar Foundation member) in Doha, Qatar; and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria. Elissa Cosgrove from the Clark lab and Raheleh Sadeghi, a visiting scientist from Iran in the Antczak lab, shared first co-authorship of the study.

Dr. Khaled Machaca, Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and Senior Associate Dean for Research, Innovations, and Commercialization at WCM-Q said: It is extremely pleasing that the advanced capabilities in genomic analysis that we have developed in the Biomedical Research Program at WCM-Q allow us to contribute to ground-breaking international projects such as this one. The Arabian horse is truly a majestic creature and it is wonderful to be able to shed light on its genetic heritage in this way.

The study also had contributors from the University of Tehran, Iran; the University of Kentucky; the University of Agriculture in Krakw, Poland; the Hong Kong Jockey Club; the Equine Veterinary Medical Center (a Qatar Foundation member) in Doha, Qatar; and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria.

The study can be read in full at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-66232-1

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WCM-Q Research Helps Shed Light on Genetic Heritage of the Arabian Horse - Al-Bawaba

Largest-Ever Study of Prostate Cancer Genomics in Black Men IDs Potential Targets for Precision Therapies – UCSF News Services

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Black men in the United States are known to suffer disproportionately from prostate cancer, but few studies have investigated whether genetic differences in prostate tumors could have anything to do with these health disparities.

Now, in the largest study of its kind to date, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), UC San Francisco (UCSF), and Northwestern University have identified genes that are more frequently altered in prostate tumors from men of African ancestry compared to other racial groups, though the reasons for these differences is not known, the authors say. None of the individual tumor genetic differences that were identified are likely to explain significant differences in health outcomes or to prevent Black Americans from benefiting from a new generation of precision prostate cancer therapies, the authors say, as long as the therapies are applied equitably.

The newly identified gene variants could potentially lead to precision prostate cancer therapies specifically focused on men of African ancestry, and will inform broader efforts by the National Cancer Institutes RESPOND study to link gene variants to health outcomes in an even larger cohort of Black patients nationwide.

Despite declines in mortality related to cancer in the U.S., disparities by race have persisted. One in every six Black Americans will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, and these men are twice as likely to die from the disease as men of other races. But it is not yet clear to researchers whether differences in prostate cancer genetics contribute to these health disparities in addition to the social and environmental inequities known to drive poorer health outcomes across the board.

To date, studies trying to figure out what genes are commonly mutated in prostate cancers often have had very few samples from racial/ethnic minority groups despite the greater burden of prostate cancer in these populations. In May, the FDA approved a class of drugs known as PARP inhibitors as a therapy for men with prostate cancers driven by specific genetic mutations, but it is not known how prevalent these mutations are in people of African descent. As more genetic health studies are performed in minority populations, it has become clear that other genetically targeted therapies that have been developed based on studies of patients of European descent are at times much less effective, and in some cases cause dangerous side-effects, in other racial and ethnic groups.

In the new study, published July 10, 2020 in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, the research team set out to better understand differences in the mutations driving prostate cancer tumors in men with African versus European ancestry, and whether any such differences could influence disease outcomes or the effectiveness of PARP inhibitors or other targeted therapies.

The researchers collected and analyzed DNA sequencing data from previously published studies and from a commercial molecular diagnostics company. In total, they examined mutational patterns in prostate cancers from more than 600 Black men, representing the largest such study of this population to date.

The team found that the frequency of mutations in DNA repair genes and other genes that are targets of current therapeutics are similar between the two groups, suggesting that at least these classes of current precision prostate cancer therapies should be beneficial in people of both African and European ancestry, according to corresponding author Franklin Huang, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in UCSFs Division of Hematology/Oncology and member of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, UCSF Institute for Human Genetics, and UCSF Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute.

While the researchers found no significant differences in frequencies of mutations in genes important for current prostate cancer therapies, they did identify other genes, such as ZFXH3, MYC, and ETV3, that were more frequently mutated in prostate cancers from Black men.

"These results reinforce the idea that there can be biological differences in prostate cancers between different ancestral groups and that samples from Black Americans need to be included in future molecular studies to fully understand these differences," said co-corresponding author Joshua Campbell, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at BUSM.

The poorer health outcomes we see in Black men with prostate cancer are not easily explained by any of the distinct gene mutations we identified in prostate tumors from men of African ancestry. This highlights the need to examine the environmental and social inequities that are well known to influence health outcomes across the board, Huang added. On the other hand, our tumor genomic analysis also showed that current precision medicine approaches ought to be as effective in Black Americans as they have been for other groups if we can ensure that these drugs are applied equitably going forward."

Developing a comprehensive understanding of how tumor genomics and other biological factors interact with social and environmental inequities to drive poorer clinical outcomes for Black prostate cancer patients should be an important priority for the efforts to improve precision medicine for these patients, the researchers say.

These types of studies will remain important to understand when certain therapies may preferentially benefit Black patients, who continue to remain underrepresented in clinical trials, Campbell said.

In particular, the results will inform the efforts of the NCI-funded RESPOND Study. RESPOND provided funding for the new UCSF-BUSM-Northwestern study to guide its efforts to perform targeted gene sequencing in tumors from an even larger cohort of Black prostate cancer patients, said Huang, who leads RESPONDs tumor genetics studies based at UCSF. Through partnerships with Black communities across the country, RESPOND aims to recruit 10,000 Black prostate cancer patients in an effort to better understand the drivers of the diseases outsize burden among Black Americans.

"Previous studies have looked in isolation at different biological, social and environmental drivers ofwell-knownracial disparities in prostate cancer,Huangsaid. RESPOND is a nationwide effort to integrate all these components and ultimately identify specific steps that can be taken toeliminateprostate cancers unequal burden in Black communities.

Authors: The studys lead authors are Yusuke Koga of BUSM, Hanbing Song of UCSF, and Zachary Chalmers of Northwestern University. Additional authors are Elad Ziv of UCSF; Justin Newberg and Garrett M. Frampton of Foundation Medicine, in Cambridge; Eejung Kim and Daphnee Piou of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Jian Carrot-Zhang and Matthew Meyerson of the Broad Institute and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Paz Polak of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York; and Sarki Abdulkadir of Northwestern University.

Funding: The study was supported by the U.S. Department of Defense (W81XWH-17-PCRP-HD); the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Cancer Institute (NCI) (P20 CA233255-01, U19 CA214253); and the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

Disclosures: The authors declare no relevant conflicting financial interests.

About UCSF:The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwidethrough advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and healthprofessions, and excellence in patient care. It includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals, as well as affiliations throughout the Bay Area.

About BUSM: Originally established in 1848 as the New England Female Medical College, and incorporated into Boston University in 1873, Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) today is a leading academic medical center with an enrollment of more than 700 medical students and 950 students pursuing degrees in graduate medical sciences.BUSM faculty contribute to more than 950 active grants and contracts, with total anticipated awards valued at more than $693 million in amyloidosis, arthritis, cardiovascular disease, cancer, infectious diseases, pulmonary disease and dermatology, among other areas. The Schools teaching affiliates include Boston Medical Center, its primary teaching hospital, the Boston VA Healthcare System, Kaiser Permanente in northern California, as well as Boston HealthNet, a network of 15 community health centers. For more information, please visithttp://www.BUSM.bu.edu/busm/.

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Largest-Ever Study of Prostate Cancer Genomics in Black Men IDs Potential Targets for Precision Therapies - UCSF News Services

BridgeBio Pharma’s QED Therapeutics Doses First Child in Phase 2 Clinical Trial of the Investigational Medicine Infigratinib in Achondroplasia -…

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SAN FRANCISCO, July 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BridgeBio Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: BBIO) affiliate QED Therapeutics announced today that the first child with achondroplasia has been dosed with the investigational medicine infigratinib, an orally available small molecule, that targets the overactivity of fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) in the PROPEL 2 Phase 2 clinical trial. Achondroplasia is the most common cause of disproportionate short stature.

With preclinical evidence showing increased growth in the long bones, spine and cranial bones, including the base of the skull, there is the potential for infigratinib to help children with achondroplasia by decreasing the impact of serious medical complications, said Professor Ravi Savarirayan, M.B., B.S., M.D., Ph.D., clinical geneticist and group leader of skeletal biology and disease at Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Australia and the lead investigator for the PROPEL 2 trial. Additionally, infigratinib is being studied as a once-daily dose taken orally, which is an important factor for administration of therapies to children with achondroplasia.

Achondroplasia is caused by an alteration in the FGFR3 gene, which causes the FGFR3 protein to be overly active.This interferes with skeletal development and can lead to disturbances in bone growth.Infigratinib is an oral investigational medicine that is designed to reduce the activity of FGFR3.

The start of this clinical trial is the culmination of more than two years of work first to secure rights to develop infigratinib, which we pursued following the publication of data relating to its potential in achondroplasia, and then to establish preclinical data showing the efficacy and safety of very low doses of the molecule, said Michael Henderson, M.D., CEO of QED Therapeutics. Infigratinib illustrates the heart of what BridgeBio set out to do: leverage the highest quality science to identify and develop potential therapies that target genetically driven conditions at their source. Our hope is that a daily, oral dose of infigratinib, which directly targets FGFR3, can provide health benefits for children with achondroplasia.

The PROPEL 2 trial is a Phase 2 dose escalation and dose expansion trial and the first clinical trial to study infigratinib at low doses in children with achondroplasia. The goal of the study is to assess safety and measure changes from baseline in annualized height velocity and changes in other health factors. To be eligible for the trial, children must first complete a six-month period of assessment in the PROPEL prospective clinical assessment study.

About QED Therapeutics

QED Therapeutics, an affiliate of BridgeBio Pharma, is a biotechnology company focused on precision medicine for FGFR-driven diseases. Our lead investigational candidate is infigratinib (BGJ398), an orally administered, FGFR1-3 selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor that we are evaluating in clinical studies for the treatment of achondroplasia. We plan to conduct further clinical trials to evaluate the potential for infigratinib to treat patients with FGFR-driven tumor types and rare disorders. At much higher doses, infigratinib has shown activity that we believe to be meaningful in clinical measures, such as overall response rate, in patients with chemotherapy-refractory cholangiocarcinoma with FGFR2 fusions and advanced urothelial carcinoma with FGFR3 genomic alterations. QED intends to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for second and later-line cholangiocarcinoma in 2020.

For more information on QED Therapeutics, please visit the companys website at http://www.qedtx.com.

About BridgeBio Pharma, Inc.

BridgeBio is a team of experienced drug discoverers, developers and innovators working to create life-altering medicines that target well-characterized genetic diseases at their source. BridgeBio was founded in 2015 to identify and advance transformative medicines to treat patients who suffer from Mendelian diseases, which are diseases that arise from defects in a single gene, and cancers with clear genetic drivers. BridgeBios pipeline of over 20 development programs includes product candidates ranging from early discovery to late-stage development. For more information, visit bridgebio.com.

BridgeBio Pharma Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Statements we make in this press release may include statements that are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the Securities Act), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), which are usually identified by the use of words such as anticipates, believes, estimates, expects, intends, may, plans, projects, seeks, should, will, and variations of such words or similar expressions. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act and are making this statement for purposes of complying with those safe harbor provisions. These forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the timing, expectations, plans, and potential success of QED Therapeutics Phase 2 PROPEL 2 clinical trial, the regulatory approval process, clinical trial designs, clinical development plans, clinical trial results, timing and completion of the PROPEL 2 and other clinical trials, clinical and therapeutic potential of infigratinib for the treatment of achondroplasia or other FGFR-driven diseases, reflect our current views about our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects, which are based on the information currently available to us and on assumptions we have made. Although we believe that our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects as reflected in or suggested by those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations or strategies will be attained or achieved. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but not limited to, QED Therapeutics ability to continue or complete its Phase 2 PROPEL 2 clinical trial, ongoing and planned clinical trials of infigratinib for the potential treatment of achondroplasia and other FGFR-driven, the availability of data from these trials, past data from preclinical and earlier clinical studies not being indicative of future data from clinical trials, its ability to advance infigratinib in clinical development according to its plans, and the timing of these events, as well as those risks set forth in the Risk Factors section of BridgeBio Pharma, Inc.s most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and our other SEC filings. Moreover, QED Therapeutics operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment in which new risks emerge from time to time. Except as required by applicable law, we assume no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

1. National Institutes of Health.https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/achondroplasia. Accessed June 23, 2020.

QED Contact:Carolyn HawleyCanale Communicationscarolyn@canalecomm.com858-354-3581

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BridgeBio Pharma's QED Therapeutics Doses First Child in Phase 2 Clinical Trial of the Investigational Medicine Infigratinib in Achondroplasia -...

Zikani Therapeutics Appoints Chief Scientific and Medical Officer – Business Wire

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WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zikani Therapeutics, a company leveraging its unique TURBO-ZMTM platform to develop novel ribosome modulating agents (RMAs) for the treatment of rare, nonsense mutation-driven diseases, today announced the appointment of Vijay Modur, M.D., Ph.D., as its Chief Scientific and Medical Officer to lead the company in advancing its ribosome-modulating scientific platform into the next stage of drug development.

Dr. Modur was previously Global Project Head in Rare Disease Clinical Development at Sanofi-Genzyme where he oversaw key functions responsible for advancing venglustat for the treatment of conditions caused by lysosomal dysfunction and other investigational therapies for several rare diseases, many with the potential for accelerated approval. Before joining Sanofi-Genzyme, Dr. Modur served as Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Translational Research for HTG Molecular. Dr. Modur previously held clinical development leadership roles at Novartis and Merck.

Zikanis top priority is to advance its current nonsense mutation readthrough programs from lead optimization to candidate selection for first in human clinical trials following the positive, pre-clinical data demonstrated in multiple disease areas, said Sumit Aggarwal, President and CEO, Zikani Therapeutics. Were optimistic about the opportunity to impact diseases with limited or no treatment options including: APC mutant colon cancer, familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), class 1 cystic fibrosis, and recessive dystrophic and junctional epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB and JEB), and Vijays experience and leadership will strengthen our capabilities to pursue this important work, added Aggarwal.

Zikani has focused its technology on where it holds the most promise and with the addition of Vijay is building a leadership team that will advance the company into the next phases of preclinical and clinical development, said Alan Walts, Ph.D., Executive Chairman of Zikanis Board of Directors.

Dr. Modur earned his MBBS at Karnatak University, Dharwad, India and his Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology at the University of Utah. He completed his residency at Washington University, St. Louis where he served as Chief Resident, Laboratory Medicine. Dr. Modur is board certified in Clinical Pathology.

The promise of impacting rare diseases through such novel technology that builds upon the science of modulating protein translation is compelling, said Modur. The TURBO-ZMTM technology platform and the proof of cellular concept demonstrated across multiple disease states provides a compelling approach to treating rare diseases. Im excited to join the team and look forward to making an impact on behalf of patients, added Modur.

Ribosomal RNAs form the translation machinery that generates function proteins from genetic sequences. Ribosome modulation provides a therapeutic approach to addressing a number of diseases, but the development of disease-specific ribosome modulators has been a challenge.

About Zikani Therapeutics

Zikani Therapeutics is an emerging leader in the science of ribosome modulation, leveraging its innovative TURBO-ZMTM chemistry technology platform to develop novel ribosome modulating agents (RMAs) as therapeutics for people with limited treatment options. Zikanis TURBO-ZMTM platform allows rapid synthesis of novel compounds that can be optimized to modulate the ribosome in a disease specific manner. As the company evolves its focus from early-stage to clinical-stage research, Zikani is actively moving into pre-clinical development to target select rare diseases including inherited diseases and cancers caused by nonsense mutations. For more information, visit zikani.com.

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Zikani Therapeutics Appoints Chief Scientific and Medical Officer - Business Wire

Biomarkers and a battle of the bases – PharmaTimes

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Why RNA is the future of diagnostics

Weve come a long way from the early days of using medicinal leeches and mercury treatments as therapeutics. As described in the book Soonish, the path to precision medicine has been a long one, often lacking scientific rigour and sometimes, common sense.

Thankfully, on the diagnostics front, weve advanced further than posthumous autopsies and microscopic pathology developed in the nineteenth century. Today, molecular diagnostics have become commonplace in medicine. Looking into the future, how will the innovations of today shape the face of medicine ten or twenty years from now? We may see the biggest change occur in genomics, with a battle of the bases determining which biomolecule will reign supreme for biomarker discovery.

In one corner is DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, in the other corner is RNA, or ribonucleic acid. These two contenders are known for their respective and important roles within the central dogma of biology. And, while both are composed primarily of a sugar and base combination, major differences exist. First, the base pairs differ slightly since DNA uses the bases adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine while RNA uses adenine, uracil, cytosine and guanine. Second, DNA most often exists as a double-stranded molecule, while RNA is usually found in its single-stranded form. RNAs bonus hydroxyl group results in decreased chemical stability relative to DNA. This, coupled with the pervading presence of RNases, results in a much shorter lifetime for RNA, and is a third defining difference between these two biomolecules.

Finally, while most organisms have only two copies of DNA per cell, even low abundance RNA transcripts often have hundreds of copies present per cell (or organism).

So, lets start off with a warm-up match: infectious diseases. RNAs ubiquitous nature affords an advantage here. Diagnostics which are developed to detect RNA species for infectious organisms could require less patient material or detect the infection earlier due to a stronger signal compared to their DNA counterparts. Further, as described by John Brunstein, if a transcript or set of transcripts is selected correctly, an RNA diagnostic could also provide a measurement of viability of the infectious agent. Looks like RNA has taken an early lead.

One more bout to get warmed up: autoimmune disease. Since the completion of the Human Genome Project and with the introduction of high-throughput sequencing, weve been able to collect massive amounts of DNA data from both healthy and diseased patients. These data sets have enabled us to determine genetic changes implicated in many diseases, including autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and multiple sclerosis (MS). However, one challenge that remains is that DNA only reports on the risk or potential for developing one of these diseases. RNA, however, gets us one step closer to the downstream biology, and can greatly help disease diagnosis. By analysing RNA signals, its been reported that earlier, more accurate diagnosis can be achieved. This warm-up round goes to RNA, as well.

And now, for a championship match of great significance: Cancer.

This disease, or rather an assemblage of diseases, still represents the second most prevalent cause of death in the world. Despite immense improvements in understanding cancer biology and using this to develop new and impactful treatments, including targeted therapies, immunotherapies, cell therapies and cancer vaccines, we still see only a small percentage of patients benefiting with robust responses. Cancer, with its combination of hereditary, environmental and sometimes random origins, has required diagnostic approaches covering many fronts.

Round 1: genetic mutations For hereditary cancers, there are a number of mutations that have been determined to play a major role in the likelihood of developing the disease or the path of disease progression. In breast cancer, for example, these include BRCA1 and BRCA2, along with the less commonly discussed PTEN and p53 mutations.

However, for many patients, a genetic analysis delivers a number of mutations which are listed as Variants of Unknown Significance. These mutations are known to be different from a normal genome, but there is not sufficient clinical evidence to use the information to make medical decisions. However, when RNA data is layered on top of this genetic data, additional context may be used to determine whether these variants should be classified as pathogenic or benign. As described above, while were still looking at risk factors in this case, the additional clarity provided by RNA can make a big impact in determining whether a patient receives preventative surgery or more rigorous surveillance. Round 1 goes to RNA.

Round 2: gene fusions Understanding the mechanisms of cancer that impact progression and pathogenesis are imperative to improving treatment plans. Further, specific molecular events have also informed therapy selection, more commonly known as targeted therapies. One excellent example is in non-small cell lung cancer, where the EML4-ALK gene fusion, arising from chromosomal rearrangement, has become both a diagnostic marker and a target for ALK inhibitor therapies. In the diagnostic arena, fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) of the two DNA sequences has been used to detect the presence of this gene fusion. However, there is significant genomic heterogeneity in these ALK rearrangements undetectable by FISH, which has been shown to be related to differences in kinase inhibitor treatment response rates. Use of RNA sequencing technologies, which look not only for expression of these fusions but also enable discovery and quantification of novel fusions, has enabled the field to move beyond the limited information provided by DNA diagnostics. RNA wins another point.

Round 3: immune response Undeniably, the most promising path to understanding and treating cancer is immuno-oncology. This approach, which harnesses the bodys immune system to fight the disease, has garnered much attention, resulting in the 2018 Nobel Prize in Medicine. While these therapies show enhanced and lasting responses, a number of challenges remain. DNA technologies, including tumour mutational burden (TMB), showed promise in predicting response to immune checkpoint inhibitors; however, the results in the clinic were disappointing. Understanding the dynamic immune composition at the site of the solid tumour is imperative, and new approaches using RNA models to achieve that are showing the promise that RNA will have in this space. It may be too early to call this round for RNA, but it is beginning to make a case.

Concluding thoughts

As it turns out, the battle of the bases was not really a fair fight. The advances in high-throughput sequencing and analysis that have bolstered our databases of DNA information have in parallel provided us with a plethora of RNA data to mine and interpret. Further contributing to this are enhanced tools for analysing chemically and enzymatically degraded RNA, removing a roadblock that previously existed. Now, instead of seeing RNAs lability as a weakness, its dynamic nature is now considered a massive advantage. We can measure the impact of therapy and disease progression in the bodys ever-changing RNA. Today, the field is focused on building and validating new tools using RNA to aid physicians in understanding what causes disease, when disease will manifest itself, how we can predict which therapies will benefit individual patients and when disease will recur or progress. From infectious diseases to oncology, and likely in areas we have not yet discovered, RNA diagnostics will certainly be a key chapter in the tome entitled precision medicine that so many of us in the industry are currently writing. And, if successful, may help us knockout some of these malevolent diseases.

Jarret Glasscock is a geneticist, computational biologist, and founder and chief executive of Cofactor Genomics

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Biomarkers and a battle of the bases - PharmaTimes

Trudeau urged to boost Canadas post-COVID economy by investing in nature – Boundary Creek Times

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By Carl Meyer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter. National Observer

Federal Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson says the government remains fully committed to preserving a quarter of natural land and ocean habitat by 2025, following a call from hundreds of groups to ensure conservation is at the heart of any post-pandemic recovery.

In an open letter published July 13 to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, 235 environmental organizations, including about 50 B.C.-based groups, said they stand ready to provide staff, research and resource support to help Canada devise a strategy to achieve its biodiversity and climate targets.

The letter argues that government investments in forests, wetlands, grasslands, oceans, lakes and rivers can create jobs and help boost Canadas economic recovery as it works to build capacity following the initial wave of COVID-19.

Over the next six to 18 months, we urge the government to support investments in a variety of economic recovery solutions that support climate and biodiversity outcomes, reads the letter, signed by Nature Canada, the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, the David Suzuki Foundation and others.

Over the longer term, expert advice should be sought by relevant departments on how to structure programs and investments in order to achieve the transformative relationship between society and nature that is needed to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for Canadians.

Canada set a target to conserve at least 17 per cent of land and freshwater, and 10 per cent of marine areas, by this year, as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity. According to federal government figures, by the end of 2019 it had reached this goal for marine areas, but not for land and freshwater.

Those figures show that Canada conserved 13.8 per cent of its marine territory, and 12.1 per cent of land and freshwater by the end of 2019. The proportion of conserved land and water varies widely across the country, with British Columbia conserving the most, at 19.5 per cent.

Last year, dozens of scientists warned the Trudeau government it was not on pace to meet its conservation goals. During the federal election campaign, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised to increase the amount of land, freshwater and marine areas conserved to 25 per cent by 2025.

The goals under the convention say the original target should be achieved by 2020, but Trudeau said during the campaign that the government was on track to its 17 per cent goal by the end of next year.

In July, Canada also joined the Global Ocean Alliance, which has as its goal the protection of 30 per cent of the oceans by 2030. Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan said Canada will work toward a new biodiversity target under the Convention on Biological Diversity, next year in 2021.

Harry Crosby, president of North Vancouver-based BC Nature, a federation of more than 50 naturalist clubs across the province, said in an interview that he was encouraged by the promises and the concern which the federal government is showing on the issue of biodiversity and land protection, but wanted to see more details.

Our concern is that there needs to be a coherent policy developed, Crosby said. Its great to talk about spending money on biodiversity, but our concern is looking at the difference between the general policy statements and the practice, whats actually happening on the ground.

Wilkinsons press secretary Moira Kelly said the governments priority remains COVID-19, but climate change and biodiversity loss still present a threat to our economic and physical well-being.

We remain fully committed to preserving 25 per cent of Canadas land and oceans by 2025 and ensuring that nature-based climate solutions are embedded in our plans to fight climate change, Kelly said.

We are always open to hearing innovative and green ways to grow our economy while protecting the environment, and will consider these recommendations with interest.

The letter points out that biodiversity loss is accelerating worldwide, and Canada has a responsibility, as a country with a large land mass containing many ecosystems, for the welfare of planetary diversity.

Out of 80,000 species in Canada, there is only enough information to assess the health of 30,000 of which a fifth are imperiled, they said.

Natural landscapes are key to storing up to 20 per cent of carbon pollution over the next 30 years, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a fact that is key to avoiding the more severe effects of the climate crisis.

In Canada, human disruption is leading to habitat loss, which is putting its Paris climate target at risk, the letter said.

In addition to BC Nature, officially the Federation of British Columbia Naturalists, there are 47 other B.C.-based organizations that have put their names to the letter, including West Coast Environmental Law, Wildsight and the Great Blue Heron Nature Reserve Society.

Carl Meyer / Local Journalism Initiative / Canadas National Observer

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Saskatchewan pilots hydrogen to fuel the future – Yorkton This Week

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A hydrogen production pilot project in Saskatchewan could be the start of a new resource economy in Canada, industry insiders say.

"We plan to supply 10 per cent of the worlds energy needs in the form of exported hydrogen by 2040, Proton Technologies CEO Grant Strem told Canadas National Observer.

First of its kind in the world, Strem's method can extract hydrogen from orphaned oil wells and repurpose oilfields to produce close to zero-emissions fuel.

The new extraction method is being tested near Kerrobert, Sask., and could change the way we power our economy.

"Our province looks forward to being the home of the worlds first zero-emission hydrogen oil reservoir extraction technology, Kindersley MLA Ken Francis said.

This project already employs 14 people in the Kerrobert area and has the potential to employ up to 30 people by the end of the year, and lead to further economic diversification and growth, despite these challenging times.

HOW IT WORKS

The hydrogen market is expanding globally, with increasing use in power generation, transportation fuel and feedstock in the chemical industry.

As a chemical feedstock, oil will always be necessary, but as an energy product, I think it will be priced out of the market in the next five to 10 years, Strem said.

Strem said that Proton's technology is a combination of existing technologies that are currently used in oil extraction, but refurbished to extract hydrogen, in a near zero-emissions process.

His company developed a way of getting at the hydrogen byproduct of oil extraction, which until recently has been ignored by industry in Canada.

One of the techniques that has been used in the oil industry is to inject oxygen into an oilfield. Historically thats been done to warm up the oil so that it flows more easily. Every project produces hydrogen as a byproduct.

Proton's technology is unique because it extracts the gas directly from underground water, using bitumen to free hydrogen from water before the hydrogen is extracted in its pure form, leaving associated pollutants such as CO2 underground.

Strem said Canada, because of its vast underground energy reserves, is uniquely positioned to become a global leader in clean energy production through the new extraction process.

We already have the systems in place to make the switch, he said.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Analysts at the Pembina Institute, a Canadian think tank that advocates for a clean energy transition, say that the technology, while promising, has not been fully tested yet.

Technology that is capable of turning an existing high-carbon product like bitumen into zero-carbon hydrogen, while leaving the carbon dioxide byproduct stored in the ground, is exactly the kind of innovation we need for zero-carbon jobs and energy systems, Benjamin Israel, senior fossil fuels analyst at the Pembina Institute said.

To be validated as a zero-carbon technology, this new technology would have to go through a full life-cycle assessment of environmental and social benefits and risk, Israel said.

The pilot project is the first full deployment of Proton's technology, and the first time the projects emissions performance can be measured in the field.

If life-cycle assessment of this technology demonstrates it can reach its potential, then there may be more energy production in the future for orphaned wells, as well as wells reaching their end-of-life at large. Environmental concerns with the oilsands industry extend beyond orphaned wells, however.

Israel said that at the end of the day, carbon intensity is key, and that they will have to demonstrate that their technology permanently sequesters emissions underground.

SHIFTING THE NARRATIVE

But a slam-dunk on the technology side isnt always an automatic win according to Transition Accelerator CEO Dan Wicklum.

We have this assumption that if we get the economics right and the technology right then all of a sudden we will go through this energy transformation, but it ignores the social component, Wicklum said.

Wicklums Alberta based company is focused on building up the supply and demand chain for hydrogen fuel as the world transitions to cleaner energy systems. Right now he is working on laying out a step by step pathway to a hydrogen-based economy.

Wicklum said its important to be able to present clean energy through a positive lens to get investors onboard.

People have an easy time with change if they know the state that they are changing to is better than the state they are changing from, he said.

AN ECONOMIC WIN?

Saskatchewan Energy and Resources spokesperson Robin Speer said that if Protons technology is proven effective, repurposing oil and gas wells to support hydrogen production could help optimize the value generated from Saskatchewans natural resources as well as support economic growth in the province.

Hydrogen is expected to play a significant role in the worlds future energy mix, as countries strive to achieve net-zero emissions goals by 2050, so hydrogen production, processing and exporting in Saskatchewan could lead to significant economic impacts, Speer said.

But even if innovation makes hydrogen a more cost effective fuel source, there are barriers to commercialization that need to be addressed before hydrogen can be broadly adopted.

Existing standards for gas pipelines, furnaces and boilers would likely need to be revised before they can handle large volumes of hydrogen being blended into the natural gas stream.

If this technology is proven effective in the pilot stage, it could lead to the large-scale development of hydrogen from oil and gas reservoirs in Saskatchewan, Speer said.

Hydrogen could reduce the cost of power and the emissions associated with traditional power generation allowing the oil industry to "grow faster, meet their environmental management objectives and obligations, and operate more efficiently, Speer said.

Speer said if the project goes full scale, Saskatchewan residents would be hired for facility construction and ongoing operations.

He said that employees with experience in Saskatchewans oil and gas sector have many of the transferable skills needed in the hydrogen sector, especially for Protons subsurface technology.

He said that the application of this technology to extend or renew the life of mature oil reservoirs can reduce or delay the need for future well site closure.

That would help the oil and gas industry manage liability and risk associated with maintaining abandoned operations like orphaned wells.

As it happens someone elses abandonment liability is our opportunity, so thats a natural thing. Were not doing it just to fix an abandonment problem, were doing it so that we can make significant volumes of hydrogen and sell it, Strem said.

Strem said that shifting to Proton's method of extracting hydrogen will help Saskatchewan, and Canada, make a smooth transition to clean energy, and keep existing infrastructure in place while employing oilsands workers.

Oilpatch skills and hydrogen patch skills are essentially the same. You need geologists, geophysicists, engineers, facilities people, pipeline guys, welders, pressure vessel people, truckers Strem said.

But that change doesnt come without a lot of facility upgrading.

Our process is very different since were not targeting oil production. Were converting the oil facility to be more of a hydrogen facility, Strem said.

Speer said that hydrogen is an intriguing opportunity in part because it is an existing commodity that industry already understands how to handle. It is currently shipped by pipeline, truck, rail and ship.

Economic development and environmental stewardship can go hand-in-hand and Saskatchewan can be a global leader in supporting the technologies that are needed to create the global energy sector of the future, Speer said.

Speer said that the Saskatchewan Petroleum Innovation Incentive, through which Proton Technologies is operating, was designed to capture the developmental life cycle of an innovation, which may also limit the risk of competition.

Saskatchewan is really well-positioned to maintain leadership in this industry

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COVID-19 gives B.C. First Nation rare chance to examine tourisms impact on grizzly bears – Boundary Creek Times

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COVID-19 continues to be tough on people. But it might be doing good things for the grizzly bears of B.C.s central coast.

A positive outcome of the COVID-19 shutdown for the Klemtu-based Kitasoo-XaiXais First Nation, was the opportunity to study tourisms impact on the grizzly bears in their region.

The Kitasoo-XaiXais reserve has maintained a shutdown since the pandemic began and will continue to do so until further notice. This gave the community the perfect chance to invest in a research program that could be conducted only in the absence of tourists.

Dr. Christina Service, the lead scientist in charge of the project with the Resource Stewardship Department of the Kitasoo-XaiXai Nation, was glad that they mobilized really quickly when the situation presented itself and deployed 40 infrared cameras which are triggered when the animals walk by.

Since were not going to have tourism in the territory this year, it provided a remarkably unique situation where we could essentially study and take baseline conditions to see what these bears will do in the absence of tourism.

The cameras will be taken down in October and the recordings will be used to analyze behaviour patterns and to get a sense of how the bears choose to spend their time in the absence of humans. The process will be repeated and cameras will be re-installed again in spring 2021, when hopefully tourism activity will have resumed again.

The results will then be compared to arrive at a sustainable management plan for a conservation-based economy for the community, said Service.

So were looking at factors like what areas should humans be restricted to that have the least impact on bears? Or, what time of the day does tourism heavily impact bears? There will definitely be some interesting patterns to see.

Since the research is spread over two years, Service said it will be a while before they have concrete answers. But the study will help provide the best available information to formulate a management plan.

The First Nation has seen increased pressure from tourism since the Great Bear Rainforest was established and visitors started coming to the territory to learn more. And though tourism opportunities are welcomed, the First Nation also indicated its desire to conserve the bears in their region.

Service commended the Kitasoo-XaiXais First Nation for their interest, capacity and desire to invest in such a research program, especially at a time when theres so much uncertainty with the pandemic.

READ ALSO: Conservationists raise concerns over state of care for grizzly cubs transferred to B.C. zoo

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COVID-19 gives B.C. First Nation rare chance to examine tourisms impact on grizzly bears - Boundary Creek Times

How Donald Trump will try to scapegoat George Soros to win re-election – The Conversation CA

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When future scholars write the history of the administration of Donald Trump, he may end up being called among many other things the conspiracy theorist president. Trump famously began his ascent to power with the false and racist birther claim that Barack Obama was not really an American.

Trump and his followers have also legitimized bizarre conspiracy theories against Hungarian American financier and philanthropist George Soros. It now appears continued attacks toward Soros will be a part of the presidents re-election campaign.

Soros has been a punching bag for authoritarians, anti-Semites and conspiracy theorists around the world since 1992, when he became famous as The Man Who Broke the Bank of England by making more than US$1 billion by shorting the British pound.

Born in Budapest in 1930, Soros barely survived the destruction of European Jewry by the Nazis. Living in New York City since 1956, he has combined a long career as a successful capitalist while doing philanthropy under the banner of his Open Society Foundations.

Attacks on Soros have circulated on the margins of mainstream politics for years, tinged with anti-Semitism and fuelled by half-truths and outright lies. Russia has always been at the heart of anti-Soros propaganda, and its now joined by China in promoting attacks, distortions and lies. Over the last few years, these conspiracies have entered mainstream debate in Hungary, Poland, Brazil and the United States.

The Trump movement attempted to scapegoat Soros as part of its Make America Great Again rhetoric. Trump supporters accused Soros, among other things, of supporting the caravan of migrants attempting to enter the United States from Central America, being behind the attacks on Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court nomination (a falsehood Trump himself tweeted about) and promoting an elitist globalist agenda that undermined American jobs and culture.

Most incredibly, in recent weeks Soros has been accused of paying Black Lives Matter protesters who demonstrated across the United States after the police killing of George Floyd.

Trump has major liabilities in his quest for re-election: his incompetent handling of the coronavirus pandemic, his polarizing opposition to protesters after the Floyd killing and the decline of the U.S. economy since the outbreak of COVID-19. Loss of support among suburban white women, members of the military elite and moderate Republicans are now a threat to his electoral prospects.

Attacking China, stoking nationalist resentments, uncritically defending the police, claiming economic competence and bashing Joe Biden will be Trumps major electoral strategy. But Republican attacks on Soros are also likely to circulate widely until the election.

Soros is a perfect foil to try to convince people that Trump stands for the average American. What better scapegoat than a wealthy, uber-liberal currency speculator who helped fund Obama and Hillary Clinton, supports abortion, gay and trans rights and gives generously to the electoral campaigns of liberal public defenders and prosecutors? In Trumpist rhetoric, Soros is soft on crime and promotes the values of cultural liberalism and global elites over the average American.

Soross history of supporting Palestinian rights and calling for a negotiated peace settlement created an opportunity for the White House to exploit. Rhetoric about big finance linked to a globalist Jewish philanthropist understandably concerns Jewish voters and others opposed to anti-Semitism, but anti-Soros rhetoric can unify evangelical Christian Zionists, pro-Israel Republicans, interventionist neo-conservatives and far-right extremists.

Attacking Soros is also part of a Trumpist appeal to conservative Black voters, now being led Candace Owens, a young media figure and Republican activist.

Prone to gaffes that expose her ignorance about history and politics, Owens has gained a massive online presence among far right-wing Trump supporters by directly challenging the mainstream Democratic Party narrative on racism, police violence and poverty in America. Shes also attacked George Floyds character. Whats more, Owens has spread anti-Soros paranoia online, giving it a cooler, hipper and younger flavour.

The core of the Trumpist scapegoating of Soros is an attempt to blame Soros for the Black Lives Matter protests and calls for defunding the police. The lie that Soros is paying for the protests that have swept through the United States and is promoting riots is deeply corrosive to American democracy.

Conspiracy theories work best when lies, exaggerations and paranoia are linked to real things in the world that can be distorted by spin. Soross recent pledge of US$220 million to support civil rights and racial equality groups like Black Voters Matter will add fuel to extremist fire.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson will play a major role in all this. During a recent segment on his show, former Missouri governor Eric Greitens attempted to link Soros to anti-police violence and made reference to a George Soros-funded prosecutor involved in the case of the couple in St. Louis who stood in front of their house with guns while anti-racism protesters marched on their street.

None of this is likely to save Trump from going down to an electoral defeat in November. While there are legitimate criticisms to be made of the role of billionaires like Soros in politics and economic life, the divisiveness of anti-Soros paranoia will take years to repair.

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Trump weakens environmental law to speed up permits for pipelines and other infrastructure – CNBC

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President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce proposed rollbacks to the National Environmental Policy Act regulations in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, January 9, 2020.

Kevin Lamarque | Reuters

President Donald Trump on Wednesday finalized a rollback to the country'slandmark environmental law,the National Environmental Policy Act, by speeding up approval for federal projects like pipelines, highways and power plants.

NEPA was signed into law by President Richard Nixon 50 years ago and requiresfederal agencies to consider the environmental consequences of infrastructure projects before they are approved. The law has also been vital in allowing communities to weigh in on how such projects impact climate change and their own health and safety.

In a major victory for the energy industry, the administration's changes will aim to decrease the number of infrastructure projects that will be subject to NEPA review, effectively shortening long permit processes that have historically delayed projects.

Trump made the announcement at the UPS Hapeville Airport Hub in Atlanta, Georgia. The president pointed to some U.S. infrastructure projects that have been delayed due to extensive litigation and permit processes: "All of that ends today," he said. "We're doing something very dramatic."

The move is the latest effort from the Trump administrationto roll back a slew of environmental regulationsin place to combat accelerating climate change and protect natural habitats from drilling and development. The administration has so far rolled back more than 100 environmental rules, and previously announced its intent to weaken NEPA in January.

Environmentalists swiftly condemned Trump's announcement, arguing that the decisioncurtail the public's right to have a say in the development of pipelines and other projects in their neighborhoods and disproportionately affects poor and minority communities, many of whom live in areas with higher rates of pollution.

"The Trump administration's anti-environment agenda is a racist agenda. Dismantling NEPA is a blatant attempt to silence the working class communities of color who are resisting the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure into their communities,"said Lisa Ramsden, senior climate campaigner of Greenpeace USA.

Gina McCarthy, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the administration's roll back of NEPA is a clear effort to allow industries to more easily pollute communities and limits the ability of communities to have input on projects.

"People have a right to weigh in before a highway project tears up their neighborhood or a pipeline goes through their backyard," McCarthy said in a statement. "Steamrolling their concerns will mean more polluted air, more contaminated water, more health threats and more environmental destruction."

"Now more than ever our leaders should be helping people breathe easier, not handing out favors to oil drillers, pipeline developers and other polluters,"McCarthy said.

However, Republican officials and the oil and gas industry have long complained of lengthy, burdensome approval process for projects that are often under scrutiny of environmental groups.

The American Petroleum Institute was one of the industry groups that was urging the administration last year to modernize and speed up NEPA reviews in a way that "strengthens our economy andenhances environmental stewardship."

The move to dismantle NEPA will likely be challenged in court and also comes before the November election. Under a different administration, Congress could potentially put an end to Trump's weakening of NEPA by a majority vote and the president's signature. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, who recently unveiled a $2 trillion climate change plan, has vowed to reverse Trump's environmental rollbacks.

"This may be the single biggest giveaway to polluters in the past 40 years," said Brett Hartl, government affairs director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

"NEPA's dismantling is a win for corruption, a win for polluters, and a win for those that profit off the destruction of our planet," Hartl said. "Everyone else loses."

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Trump weakens environmental law to speed up permits for pipelines and other infrastructure - CNBC

Donald Trump, Ted Cruz back opposing candidates in competitive GOP runoff to replace U.S. Rep. Will Hurd – The Texas Tribune

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The race for Texas' 23rd Congressional District, a perennial November battleground, is never without drama. But the Republican nominating battle is especially delivering this time thanks lately to dueling endorsements by two of the biggest GOP names that could possibly get involved.

As early voting got underway two weeks ago, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz shook up the runoff by endorsing conservative underdog Raul Reyes and then three days later, President Donald Trump backed national GOP favorite Tony Gonzales. The whirlwind week set off a wave of speculation about behind-the-scenes machinations and recriminations, while Democrats watched the GOP fracture with glee.

Cruz's endorsement in particular complicated Gonzales' closing pitch that the former Navy cryptologist is the best choice to unify the party and keep the seat red in November. But in an interview after Trump's endorsement, Gonzales maintained he is still the strongest candidate to do that, and the president's backing only reinforces it.

"We have a lot of momentum," Gonzales said, "and its going to take everybody if we're gonna hold this seat, and Tony Gonzales is the only one who can hold this seat."

In the runoff's final hours, Trump's campaign is making sure voters know who his choice is. On Monday, the campaign sent a cease-and-desist letter to Reyes, citing a "misleading" mailer from Reyes featuring the president's image.

"So there is no doubt, let us be absolutely clear about this: President Trump and the Trump Campaign unambiguously endorse Tony Gonzales," top Trump staffer Michael Glassner wrote in the letter.

Later Monday, Gonzales' campaign released a robocall from Trump telling voters, "Tony will work for you in Congress, and by working for you, he's working for me."

Reyes, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, said Friday he "still very much love[s]" Trump despite the snub.

"We think hes made this endorsement in error, but its happened and its out there," Reyes said during an online interview with the GOP activist Duke Machado. "People are just going to have to decide: Do you want an establishment guy whos gonna pay lip service to keeping Texas red, or the guy from Del Rio who understands what youre saying about the problems we have here?"

Gonzales and Reyes are vying for the Republican nomination to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, R-Helotes, who has endorsed Gonzales along with the top Republican leaders in the House. The seat is national Democrats' best pickup opportunity this fall in Texas, and they are bullish about their already selected nominee: Gina Ortiz Jones, who lost to Hurd two years ago by a razor-thin margin.

On the Republican side, the high-level endorsement drama added to a runoff that had already been bitter for weeks, with Reyes attacking Gonzales as a GOP establishment tool and Gonzales hitting Reyes as a risky bet in the general election. The better-funded Gonzales has been blasting away at Reyes on TV and in mailboxes, though he avoided direct criticism during the interview, saying the contrast between the two is one of coalition-building.

"I've been able to bring people together that otherwise would not be together," Gonzales said.

Gonzales has had Hurd's endorsement since early in the primary, and Reyes has hammered at it while arguing that Gonzales would continue the legacy of the moderate lawmaker who occasionally splits with his party and Trump. Reyes was already challenging Hurd in the primary before the incumbent announced last summer he would not seek reelection.

"You want Will Hurd 2.0? My opponent is your guy," Reyes told Machado.

Gonzales finished first in the nine-way March primary 5 percentage points ahead of Reyes and has had a decisive financial advantage since the start of the race, raising well over $1 million. On their pre-runoff campaign finance filings covering April 1 through June 24 Gonzales reported raising nearly three times as much as Reyes did and spending more than twice as much. He ended the period with just under $400,000 cash on hand to Reyes' $59,000.

They are both far behind Jones, who easily won her March primary and entered July with $3 million in the bank, according to campaign figures.

National Republican leaders had signaled some support for Gonzales in the primary but made it official weeks into the two-man race, with Gonzales announcing endorsements from the top two Republicans in the House, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise. But in an effort to show he was bringing the party together, Gonzales also secured and emphasized the support of people like Alma Arredondo-Lynch, the third-place primary finisher and a feisty Hurd critic. Like Reyes, she had also been running against Hurd prior to his retirement announcement.

Those had been some of the most notable endorsements in the runoff until the first week of early voting came around.

A few days before Cruz endorsed Reyes on June 30, the senator brought up the runoff at the end of an unrelated phone call with Trump, according to a person close to the senator who was granted anonymity to describe the private conversation. Cruz let Trump know he would be backing Reyes and told the president about comments that Gonzales made in late September saying he had not "fully developed a position" on the House's Trump impeachment inquiry, which was in its early stages then.

Gonzales' interest in a Trump endorsement was not a secret he had said during the primary that he hoped to eventually earn the president's support. And it looked like the stars were aligning on the first day of early voting, when Gonzales wrote on Facebook that he would have "HUGE news to share later this week."

A day later, Cruz made the Reyes endorsement official, saying the district "deserves strong conservative representation." He also tapped funds in his leadership political action committee to launch a six-figure TV ad buy for Reyes that vowed he would be a strong Trump ally if elected. A Hurd-led super PAC that had boosted Gonzales in the primary, the Future Leaders Fund, had already announced plans to spend six figures on TV in the runoff.

The all-in endorsement was a somewhat curious play by Cruz, who has built a reputation for going against party leaders' preferences but has largely stayed out of intraparty contests down-ballot this cycle in Texas. The only other competitive House nominating contest that Cruz waded into this year in Texas was the primary for the district where he lives in Houston and that was to back favorite Wesley Hunt, the top national GOP recruit challenging Rep. Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, D-Houston.

Cruz's Reyes endorsement was not entirely a mystery, though. If Reyes prevails Tuesday, it would set up a high-stakes test study of Cruz's longtime political theory that Republicans win when they run unapologetic conservatives who energize the base versus more moderate candidates who, in Cruz's view, fruitlessly chase independent voters.

Gonzales' campaign had a simpler explanation for Cruz's intervention, pointing out that Reyes also employs the main political consulting firm that works with Cruz, Axiom Strategies. Gonzales spokesperson Matt Mackowiak called Cruz's move a "catastrophic endorsement of a candidate who cannot win" in November and "strategically indefensible."

Two days after Cruz waded in, word of his conversation with Trump got out in a New York Times story, which noted it was "now unclear what the president will do."

Within 24 hours, Trump answered the question, tweeting his endorsement of Gonzales.

Gonzales and his team celebrated and moved quickly to get the endorsement in front of voters, cutting a new ad highlighting it.

On Friday, Reyes offered a theory for why Trump got involved.

"My best guess is Kevin McCarthy pulled in there and said, 'We've got to get this guy out of the fire,'" Reyes said, suggesting the House minority leader is less interested in helping the 23rd District than lining up candidates who would support him for speaker if they win in November.

McCarthy has not shied away from the runoff in the homestretch, starring in a robocall Wednesday that promoted Gonzales as "the only candidate who can win Texas 23." The call did not mention Reyes, but McCarthy said that if Gonzales loses Tuesday, "we'll be handing Nancy Pelosi a seat that Republicans once held."

As for Cruz, he reiterated his support for Reyes earlier Wednesday, including him in a new effort to raise over $100,000 each for 25 conservative candidates this cycle. The fundraising pledge is only for the general election. And on the eve of the runoff, Cruz is holding a tele-town hall with Reyes.

Things were already bitter and personal between the runoff candidates before Cruz and Trump got involved.

Gonzales has singled out the Reyes Cartel for attacking him, his campaign workers and even my own mother. Those tensions appear to go back to the primary, when Gonzales mom filed a police report accusing a Reyes supporter of surveilling her son.

One of Reyes top hits on Gonzales is that he is too cozy with the League of United Latin American Citizens, which Reyes has called an anti-Trump open borders group. Gonzales has said Reyes is making hay out of a "one-time donation that went to help underprivileged children."

Gonzales has seized on the circumstances of Reyes leaving an administrative job with Southwest Texas Junior College in 2017. A Gonzales TV ad claims Reyes was fired from the job, though Reyes says he resigned, and a spokesperson for the school confirmed that to The Texas Tribune last week.

Amid the back-and-forth Tuesday, Reyes issued a news release denouncing Gonzales losing, lying, liberal LULAC-loving campaign. And Reyes said Friday that a post-runoff reconciliation would be difficult.

"We intend to win, Duke, but if he does win, he's gonna wanna try and heal some things you cant come back from that," Reyes told the online interviewer, adding that there were "integrity issues" at play.

Even before Trump endorsed Gonzales, there was tension around the president's specter in the runoff. After Reyes sent out a mailer featuring images of Trump superimposed alongside him, a Trump campaign adviser, Katrina Pierson, took to Twitter to call the piece "misleading, and possibly unethical" and remind voters that the president had not endorsed in the runoff at that point.

The jockeying for Trump's support has been a boon to Democrats, who see the president as a general-election liability in the district, which he lost by 4 percentage points in 2016. Republicans figure Democrats will link whomever they nominate to Trump regardless of his endorsement and Jones has done little to disprove their suspicions.

"No matter who wins the Republican runoff for TX-23, the general election will be the same," she wrote in a fundraising email Thursday. "I'll face off against a Trump puppet who will support the Trump administration's extreme agenda regardless of how much it harms Texas families."

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Donald Trump, Ted Cruz back opposing candidates in competitive GOP runoff to replace U.S. Rep. Will Hurd - The Texas Tribune

Does Trump owe Russia? The Supreme Courts ruling on the presidents taxes may eventually give us answers – Brookings Institution

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This weeks Supreme Court decisions on Donald Trumps finances and tax returns will allow us to finally answer the question that has hung over his presidency from the earliest days:

Is Donald Trump a brilliant businessman and a visionary statesman or is he a bogus billionaire who has been propped up by Russian money?

The information on Trumps finances may not come out in time to impact his re-election campaign but it will have a profound impact on his legacy. The Court considered two cases. In the first, Trump v. Vance, the ruling means that Trumps accounting firm will have to hand over financial records to the New York County District Attorneys office. Once Trump is no longer president, prosecutors could use the information to accuse him of crimes. At any time, they could use the information to accuse his children or his associates of crimes. The other decision, Mazars v. Trump, keeps Congress away from Trumps records but only until they can make a better case on the separation of powers issues. Both decisions were 7-to-2 votes with two Trump justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, voting with the majority and against Trump.

Eventually the decisions announced today may help explain Trumps love affair with Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin. From the earliest days of his presidency Trump has advocated policies towards Russia that are not grounded in any coherent foreign policy and that have been at odds with the foreign policy goals of most of the Republican Party.

Alone amongst the 2016 Republican presidential candidates, Trump had a different view of Russia and Ukraine. The first solid evidence came on July 11, 2016 when the Republican platform meeting began. Trump operatives moved to delete language from the platform that would call for providing lethal defensive weapons to the Ukraine and replace it with softer language calling for appropriate assistance. A few weeks later Trump gave an impromptu news conference from his golf course in Doral, Florida. His suggestion that Russia find Hillarys 30,000 emails made big news. But he also had a less-well-coveredexchange about Crimea and Russia:

QUESTION: I would like to know if you became president, would you recognize (inaudible) Crimea as Russian territory? And also if the U.S. would lift sanctions that are (inaudible)? TRUMP: Well be looking at that. Yeah, well be looking.

Once in office, Trump proceeded to do things that raised suspicions about his relationship with Russia. He fired the FBI Director James Comey in an attempt to stop an investigation into Russian interference in the campaign, a move that made it look as if he had something to hide. Even after a Republican Senate had issued a report proving Russian interference Trump continued to call the story a hoaxgoing so far as to say publicly that he believed Vladimir Putins denials over the evidence of his own intelligence community. He threw American journalists out of an Oval Office meeting with the Russian Ambassador, he took notes away from the interpreter who sat in on a meeting with Trump and President Putinleaving no record of the meeting. He has consistently badmouthed NATO and caused rifts in what has been, for decades, the strongest alliance against Russia. In an embarrassing press conference in Helsinki, Trump, a man who is always eager to prove his machismo, instead played lap dog to Vladimir Putinresulting in howls of condemnation from all across the spectrum, including many Republican Senators. Not too long after that, he withdrew American troops from Syria, leaving it to the Russians. And it wasnt long after that that he held up military aid to Ukraine in order to try and get dirt on Joe Biden. Trumps habit of doing things for Russia led House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a famous Oval Office meeting, to assert that with Trump All roads lead to Putin.

His pattern of doing catering to Putins interests resulted in the fact that, in his first three years in office, Trump left behind a long list of disgruntled foreign policy advisors, many of whom quit in protest. And Republican Senators repeatedly departed from their usual fawning praise of the president to object to his foreign policy moves.

This year alone, as the country and the world reeled from the coronavirus pandemic and protests against police brutality against African-Americans, Trump continued to confound and disappoint even his Republican supporters when it came to moves that were seen as favorable towards Russia. In June he announced plans to bring home 9,500 American troops out of the 35,000 stationed in Germany. Once again, this sudden move drew strong objections from Republicans as well as Democrats.

Early this year a SEAL team raided a Taliban outpost and discovered $500,000 in cash. This led to an investigation indicating that the Russians had been providing Taliban fighters with bounties for killing American soldiers. Trump was apparently briefed on this in late March, although it was in his written briefing, which, he apparently rarely reads. This did not become public until the New York Times reported the story on June 26th. Until that story Trump had continued making favorable statements about Putin, even insisting that Russian be reinstated into the G-7. Faced with an embarrassing situation, Trump dismissed the intelligence as a hoax.

Democrats were outraged and demanded an explanation but received only White House spin. And while Republicans largely stayed silent, one Republican Senator, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, said Congress should investigate, asking did the commander in chief know? And if not, how the hell not?

Trumps romance with Putin has never been easily explained. It is unlikely that it is a case of kompromat, which is usually associated with sexual or personal misconduct of one sort or another. Sexual misconduct is unlikely to bother Trump and his supporters. He has already admitted to extra-marital affairs and to grabbing women inappropriately. He has paid off multiple women with whom he had affairsone of whom was an adult film actress.

The other explanation that comes to mind stems from Trumps out of control narcissism. It is possible that he is so obsessed with the possibility that he won in 2016 solely because of Russian interference that he has gone out of his way to deny any wrongdoing on the part of Russia. In spite of Trumps rhetoric and veto threat, the Senate did pass a tough Russian sanctions bill early on in the administration. And in late 2017, Trumps administration reversed its stance in the Republican platform and approved the sale of lethal weapons to Ukraine.

The final explanation might be found in his financial dealings. Trump has a long history of doing business with shady Russian characters with ties to Russian intelligence.[1] His behavior in office, beginning with his refusal to release his tax returns and the vehemence with which he has fought any transparency when it comes to his business affairs, leads one to wonderwhat does he owe Russia? The Courts decisions may eventually answer this question one way or the other.

[1] See for instance, Timothy Snyder, The Road to Unfreedom, Crown Publishing, 2018. And House of Trump, House of Putin, by Craig Unger, Dutton Books, 2018.

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Does Trump owe Russia? The Supreme Courts ruling on the presidents taxes may eventually give us answers - Brookings Institution

Ajit Doval | The spy who came in from the cold – The Hindu

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Earlier this year, National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval walked through the narrow lanes of northeast Delhi that just witnessed one of the worst communal riots in more than three decades. With television cameras milling around, the 75-year-old Mr. Doval, a former Intelligence Bureau (IB) Director, marched and stopped to speak to residents, assuring them of peace and justice.

On February 26, as TV channels beamed the visuals and social media was agog with praises for the septuagenarian, reporters were duly informed that it was Home Minister Amit Shahs idea to send Mr. Doval to the riot-hit areas. On March 11, Mr. Shah himself informed the Lok Sabha that it was on his request that the NSA visited northeast Delhi so that the latter could motivate Delhi Police. The police were criticised for being mute spectators as rioters burnt houses and went on a killing spree.

Ever since Mr. Doval was reappointed NSA in the second Modi government and Mr. Shah moved to North Block, there has been discussion on the power equation at play. The question often asked: whose words on internal security weigh more to the Prime Minister? Both have responsibilities and roles that often overlap. Mr. Doval had an amiable working equation with Rajnath Singh, Mr. Shahs predecessor. After Article 370 was diluted last August and Jammu and Kashmir was placed under an unprecedented lockdown and a communication blockade, photos and videos of Mr. Doval eating chicken curry and rice with local people in southern Kashmirs Shopian emerged. With the local cable channels snapped and the phone and Internet lines down, the video was played on loop on Delhi-based satellite news channels, the only connect Kashmiris had with the outside world. Cooped in their homes, with concertinas ringed at every lane, Kashmiris watched as Mr. Doval spoke of the benefits (of reading down Article 370 and turning the State into a Union Territory) and the bright future that awaited them. Officials say Mr. Doval is heavily invested in the security affairs of Kashmir.

Born in 1945 at Pauri Garhwal in the erstwhile United Provinces, now in Uttarakhand, Mr. Doval grew up in Ajmer, Rajasthan. His father was an officer in the Indian Army. After graduating from Agra University, he joined the IPS in 1968 in the Kerala cadre. He cut his teeth in anti-insurgency operations in Mizoram and Punjab, including undercover missions. In 1999, Mr. Doval was one of those who negotiated the release of passengers from the hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in Kandahar. In July 2004, he was appointed Director of the IB. After retirement in 2005, Mr. Doval retreated to his private life, often contributing to the national security discussions through commentaries and talks. When Mr. Modi came to power in 2014, the former spymaster returned to the government, as the countrys fifth NSA.

On June 3 last year, when Mr. Doval was reappointed, the NSAs post was upgraded from the rank of Minister of State to Cabinet Minister in the table of precedence, a first since the post was created in 1998. The decision was reportedly taken as Mr. Doval was also leading strategic dialogues with many countries. A case in point being the talks between Special Representatives of India and China on the Boundary Question.

While China was represented by the State Councilor with a Cabinet rank, India was represented by the NSA with a Minister of State rank. The mismatch in hierarchy had raised protocol issues with the Chinese. The leg-up was also accelerated by the appointment of S. Jaishankar, a retired Foreign Secretary who was much junior in service to Mr. Doval, as the External Affairs Minister. In the first stint of the Modi government, the two differed on various foreign policy matters. Mr. Jaishankar, then Foreign Secretary, had shot off a terse letter to the Home Ministry and the NSA in 2016 after Chinese Uighur activist Dolkun Isa was granted a visa to attend a conference at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh. In the letter, Mr. Jaishankar asked both to consult the Ministry of External Affairs to better manage the political and media fallout from such decisions.

To address the ongoing Chinese troops build-up at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, Mr. Doval quietly revived the China Study Group (CSG). An informal group constituted in 1997, the CSG comprises the Cabinet Secretary, Secretaries of Defence and Home, Army chief and Director of Intelligence Bureau, among others. The group has met at least on three occasions since May. The government had initially denied any serious crisis on the LAC. The extent of the Chinese build-up was later established through satellite images. On July 5, Mr. Doval held talks with Chinas Special Representative Wang Yi on the disengagement plan at all the confrontation points, including the Galwan Valley where 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent clashes with the Chinese on June 15.

Before he sat for the talks on the phone, the ground commanders were sent again to check if the Chinese had indeed moved back 2 km as agreed during the June 30 Corps Commander level talks. As per the agreement, Indian troops also pulled back 1.5 km from Indias perception of the LAC with a 30-day moratorium on foot patrolling. Two days before the Doval-Wang meeting, Prime Minister Modi made a surprise visit to Ladakh. Mr. Doval did not accompany the Prime Minister as he was in self-isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though he has an office in South Block, in 2018, Mr. Doval ensured that the Sardar Patel Bhavan at Parliament Street in New Delhi was taken over exclusively for the functioning of the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). The NSCS, headed by Mr. Doval, works as an advisory group, comprising various experts on security related matters. Several Ministries and departments were moved out of the five-storeyed building to make space for the NSCS.

Last August, the Cabinet Secretariat amended the Allocation of Business Rules, 1961 to include the NSCS, granting it a constitutional authority. Through the order, the NSCS has been empowered to generate Cabinet notes, a role till now reserved for the concerned Ministries. The order said the Secretariat would assist the National Security Adviser, the Principal Adviser on National Security matters to the Prime Minister; and the National Security Council. The Hindu has learnt that the NSCS has so far not generated a single proposal for consideration of the Union Cabinet.

The oft-repeated tales of his undercover operations in Pakistan have helped craft his image as a super spy among the common people. When the NSA enters a government building, security personnel and civilians stand in reverence, a gesture duly acknowledged by Mr. Doval.

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Ajit Doval | The spy who came in from the cold - The Hindu

Posted in NSA

‘Global Britain’? Assessing Boris Johnson’s major changes to national security and foreign policy – British Politics and Policy at LSE

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There is a real risk that the shake-up of UK national security and foreign policy currently being orchestrated by Number 10 will not provide the solutions the country needs, write Edward Elliott and Sam Goodman. Here they interview former National Security Advisers, former Foreign Secretaries, former foreign policy advisers to PMs, and former senior diplomats, to assess recent developments and their potential repercussions.

The first year of Boris Johnsons premiership has been dominated by Brexit and then COVID-19. This chaotic schedule has not held him back though from making a big shake-up of UK national security and foreign policy. But is it the right shake-up? Many policy experts have long argued that the UK has been in need of greater co-ordination in how it approaches national security and foreign policy; and under the auspices of the Sedwill driven Fusion Doctrine, an attempt to fuse capabilities to deliver strategy-led design of (national security) policy, the Conservative Government has been moving around the pieces of the UKs national security infrastructure over the last few years.

The Prime Minister has ramped up this process in recent weeks, He replaced Sir Mark Sedwill as National Security Adviser (NSA) with political appointee David Frost, merged the Department for International Development (DfID) into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), and encouraged Sir Simon McDonald to step down early as Permanent Under-Secretary at the FCO. Through these changes, and the upcoming Integrated Review, there is a risk that this government could end up centralising foreign policy once again to the confines of a small cadre of unaccountable advisers loyal to the Prime Minister.

National Security Council (NSC)

The NSC is supposedly central to all national security decisionmaking yet has been neglected by Johnson. In many ways, the NSC is the perfect showcase of the changes the PM is looking to make and of the risks that come with it. The decisionmaking process at the top level of foreign policy is always going to be somewhat nebulous, and it is hard to know exactly what happens behind closed doors.

In late May, it was revealed that the NSC had not met in months, with the official excuse being the pandemic. Although former NSAs we spoke to confirmed it had started meeting again since the end of lockdown, the ease with which the NSC has been put to one side during a national crisis is worrying. To provide just one example, one source told us the NSC had only met once in the past few months on Huawei, a critical national security issue that has yet to be fully addressed and resolved.

Now more than ever, the future of the NSC is up in the air.

Decline of the NSC over the years

The UKs NSC structure was the brainchild of the Coalition Government and was considered a break from past allegations of foreign policy being run by a small clique of advisers and Ministers in an informal setting. Under the Coalition, the NSC stood separate from No.10 with its own secretariat under a permanent secretary-level National Security Adviser. Members of the NSC have generally included relevant government ministers, the heads of the security and intelligence agencies, and the Chief of the Defence Staff.

According to Lord Peter Ricketts NSA under Cameron the NSC would meet every week after Cabinet; key ministers would be expected to attend or decisions would be made affecting their Department in their absence. Other sources confirmed that it met weekly under Theresa May too. However, there were instances where meetings would be postponed, with former members of the NSC stating that over the past ten years, it would be reasonable to estimate that it met on average 30-35 times a year.

Much of the initial decline of the prominence of the NSC happened under May. Arguably the biggest structural shift was combining the role of the NSA with that of the Cabinet Secretary. By merging those two roles, May was inevitably diluting the impact of the NSA, who had less time to dedicate to the role. Sedwills predecessor as NSA between 2015-2017, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, told us that the merging of the two roles was a mistake, although one brought about by the circumstances at the time.. This sentiment has been shared by many, including former NSA Lord Ricketts and Tobias Ellwood MP, Chair of the Defence Select Committee.

When quizzed by the Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy in 2019, Mark Sedwill admitted doing the job somewhat differently from his predecessors, focusing on embedding the Fusion Doctrine and reforming Whitehall. The question then becomes who takes the decisions the NSA used to take? Sir David Manning, former UK Ambassador to Israel and the US, and former foreign policy adviser to Tony Blair, has stated that the NSCs focus and effectiveness, unlike the US NSC, seemed to depend strongly on the personality, interests, and time of the Prime Minister of the day. He or she chairs the meetings as they are the ones who chair the meetings and, it would appear, decides what priority to give to NSC business. This assertion is backed up by Ricketts, who recognises that the NSCs effectiveness depends on the Prime Ministers use of it.

Gavin Williamsons supposed leaks from the NSC in 2019 further undermined the NSC, risking making senior civil servants and intelligence officials less willing tospeak freely about sensitive issues one of the original benefits of having an NSC. Under Theresa May, the number of NSC sub-committees was also reduced sources indicated that some of these hardly ever met at all.

The political instability in this period of time, due to the lack of a parliamentary majority, battles over Brexit, and rising ministerial leaks, was part and parcel of a breakdown of trust which coincided with the devaluation of the NSC under May. Some sources indicated that May really valued the NSC, but even if it was a consequence of circumstance and external pressure, Theresa May oversaw a notable decline in the NSC.

New National Security Adviser: a frosty reception

The biggest announced change to the NSC is the appointment of David Frost as NSA. A former diplomat, Scotch Whisky Association CEO, and SpAD to Boris Johnson, David Frost is well-respected. Yet there has been widespread concern about his appointment to the role of NSA, due to both the lack of relevant security experience and the lack of accountability following the decision to make his appointment a political one, breaking from previous tradition. Frost will also hold the role of chief Brexit negotiator when he starts as NSA which is a concern for some, even though the overlap with the two roles is currently expected to be of short duration.

It makes sense to look to Americas NSC; after all, our model is based on theirs. But we should avoid copying their mistakes: in defending the decision to make the NSA a political appointee, the government argued that this was not unusual in America. However, Javed Ali, a former Senior Director of Counterrorism at the American NSC, told us how having a political appointee as NSA was controversial in the US too, stating that there has been lots of debate in Congress in changing the law about the Nat Sec Advisor position to allow the Senate to exercise its advice and consent role, similar to the confirmation process for other equivalent positions. There are also concerns in the US about the NSA holding a second position. Ali told us that there is some thought too that active duty military officers should retire if so appointed (like McMaster) in order to not conflict with the unique requirements of the job.

Other potential NSC reform

The possibilities for reform extend beyond just the NSA. For example, the argument of needing to balance the members who attend the NSC is a well-trodden one. In light of the DfID/FCO merger, several former members of the NSC spoke to us about the importance of keeping a unique voice for Development on the table, to avoid the risk of this being absorbed by the FCO. This contrasts with the view shared with us by Tom Swarbrick, a former adviser to Theresa May, who argues that there is a need to reduce the number of people who attend NSC meetings. Members of the NSC have previously expressed to him that membership size creates logistical issues including there not being enough time for everyone to make their points and then substantially discuss the issues at hand.

There is also a need to have a membership of the NSC that reflects the immediate threats facing the UK. The 2015 NSS and SDSR identified pandemics as a top threat for the UK yet the Health Secretary was not a permanent member. The fact that this was still the case when the latest list of members was published in late June, in the middle of a huge crisis sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, remains baffling.

One of the challenges of the national security and foreign policy process is finding the balance between crisis management and strategic thinking. An aspect of the NSC infrastructure that is crucial in obtaining this balance is the NSC Officials Group, with permenent-secretary-level attendees and focussed more on long-term strategic thinking. As Johnson looks to reform the national security apparatus, it is key that this group is maintained and continues to meet, even when the main NSC isnt able to. Again we can turn to our US counterparts to see the value they place on having an equivalent system at the NSC. Javed Ali talked about the importance of having a built-in layer of integration and transparency that informs the highest level of decision making, and that without that revert to a decentralised approach, which leads to bad policy outcomes with unintended consequences. Bolstering the NSC in this manner does carry some risks. Sir Christopher Meyer, former UK Ambassador to the US, told us the UK does not need/want American bureaucratic gigantism in its national security process.

The Merger of DfID into the FCO

The merger was unsurprisingly unpopular in the international development sector, but many of the former foreign policy advisers we spoke with reserved judgment, arguing that in theory the move could be successful. There has been a need for several years now to better co-ordinate foreign policy in Whitehall, especially around having a shared strategic vision. This has been paired with growing concerns that an under-funded and under-staffed Foreign Office has fallen into neglect. Former Foreign Secretary, Lord David Owen, in particular believes that the merger fits with the radical need to reduce the number of separate ministries and number of ministers who attend Cabinet for it to become an effective decisionmaking body again.

There are of course risks that could stem from the DfID/FCO merger, including the fact that it could serve as the starting point to more fundamental changes to how the UK does international aid. These range from moving away from the transparency and accountability of Official Development Assistance spending that the UK had in DfID, to bigger moves such as moving away from the OECD definition of Official Development Assistance, or even eventually scrapping the 0.7% gross national income spending on it.

The Integrated Review

In 2020, Johnson announced the Integrated Review, the newest version of what was the NSS, but which brings foreign policy and international development very explicitly into the fold. One of its four remits is to identify the necessary reforms to Government systems and structures to achieve these goals. Although the Integrated Review has been delayed, the reforms clearly havent. If the reforms precede the review, what remains the purpose of the latter? Tobias Ellwood recently echoed that we are: seeing changes in Whitehall architecture without firstly understanding threats coming over the horizon, taking a stock check of our current capabilities and then working out what we actually want.

For Lyall Grant, the biggest strategic security threat the UK faces remains the threat to the rules-based international order. To combat that threat, in particular from China, Lord David Owen said the UK must focus on by strengthening defence spending within NATO, forging a unified stance within the Five Eyes rejecting Huawei 5G, and working with partners towards a new policy of containment to deal with the CCPs expansionist ambitions and in response to dismantling of One Country, Two Systems in Hong Kong.

The UK also needs to assess its capabilities across defence, soft power, aid, diplomacy, and more. For Sir David Manning, the review must consider not only the post-Brexit world but the potential for a post-special relationship one that may be under great strain if Trump is re-elected. He cautions that if Global Britain is to mean anything we need to invest in our defence and intelligence capabilities and above all in reinforcing the Foreign Office and our diplomatic network overseas.

All of this leads to the hope that the Integrated Review can help the UK decide on what it wants its role in the world to be. Sir Stephen Wall, the former Ambassador to the EU and private secretary to John Major believes the integrated review should take an objective, rigorous, fact-based approach to the UKs place in the world post-Brexit. Lyall Grant told us that it is likely the UK will make the strategic choice to remain a global player with strong regional interests and that the review should go much wider than machinery of government and focus on building on the strategic direction taken in 2015. In order to do so, Sir Stephen Wall argues the UK must make ourselves an unavoidable partner both for the US and our erstwhile fellow EU member states, even if it will be impossible to replicate the unique cooperation the EU provides.

Whilst it is unfortunate that this government has decided to implement structural reform before reviewing its objectives and capabilities, its success will ultimately depend on the degree of clarity it brings to the objectives of Global Britain, and whether it can show a detailed pathway of how the UK can get to where it wants to be.

Conclusion

After one year as Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has stuck with his ambition for a Global Britain and not been shy to make major changes in that pursuit. It has been clear for a while that the UKs security and foreign policy has been in need of a shake-up. Yet there is a real risk that the shake-up currently being orchestrated by Number 10 will not provide the solutions the UK needs. Recent changes already indicate that the UKs national security decisionmaking process is set to further radically shift under Johnsons tenure there even still remains a small possibility that the NSC in its current format will be scrapped altogether. This would be a mistake as it continues to have immense value as a vehicle for coordinating policy.

The UK has a unique opportunity to provide strategic clarity, appropriate funding, and structural soundness to its foreign policy and national security, and the fact the government has already shown it is willing to take action is a positive sign. However, as it does so, the UK risks veering towards the tendency of many of Johnsons predecessors: to centralise power in an unaccountable nucleus at the expense of a collaborative model designed to encourage long-term strategic thinking.

___________________

About the Authors

Edward Elliott is Senior Associate at the British Foreign Policy Group.

Sam Goodmanis an Associate at the British Foreign Policy Group.

Photo by Greg Rosenke on Unsplash

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'Global Britain'? Assessing Boris Johnson's major changes to national security and foreign policy - British Politics and Policy at LSE

Posted in NSA

Following are the top foreign stories at 1700 hours – Outlook India

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FGN24 CHINA-INDIA-TALKS

Talks between Chinese and Indian militaries reached ''progress'' on further disengagement: China

Beijing: China on Wednesday said the fourth Commander-level talks between Indian and Chinese militaries to ease tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh have reached progress on promoting "further disengagement" of the border troops to de-escalate tensions.

FGN23 US-TRUMP-LD XI

No plans to speak to Chinese president Xi: Trump

Washington: US President Donald Trump has indicated that he has no plan to speak with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, amid a war of words between the two countries on a range of issues and tit-for-tat sanctions on lawmakers and senior officials.

FGN21 US-TRUMP-LD HONG KONG

Trump ends preferential economic treatment for Hong Kong

Washington: US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to end the preferential economic treatment for Hong Kong after China imposed a controversial national security law in the Asian trading hub to curb autonomy and democratic freedoms.

FGN17 US-LD TIKTOK

Banning TikTok takes a big espionage tool away from China: US NSA

Washington: China will lose "a big tool" of espionage and surveillance if America and some western European countries ban Chinese apps like TikTok as done by India, US National Security Advisor Robert O''Brien has said.

FGN11 US-STUDENTS-LD VISA

Trump administration rescinds rule on foreign students policy

Washington: In a surprise U-turn, the Trump administration has dropped its controversial plan to deport hundreds and thousands of international students, including Indians, if their universities switch to online-only classes in this fall semester due to the coronavirus pandemic.

FGN10 US-NSA-CHINA-INDIA

China''s aggressive actions against India give insight into how CPC thinking theses days: US NSA

Washington: China''s "very aggressive" actions against India, including the brutal attack on Indian soldiers in eastern Ladakh, and its moves in the South China Sea and Hong Kong give a "good insight" into how the ruling Communist Party of China is thinking these days, US National Security Advisor Robert O''Brien has said.

FGN15 UN-MODI-ADDRESS

PM Modi to deliver keynote speech at High-Level Segment of UN ECOSOC

United Nations: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually address the UN on Friday at the High-Level Segment of the ECOSOC, his first since India was overwhelmingly elected as a non-permanent member of the powerful Security Council last month.

FGN18 US-BIDEN-CLIMATE

Biden announces USD 2 trillion climate plan, vows to rejoin Paris deal

Washington: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has unveiled a USD 2 trillion proposal to boost investment in clean energy and combat the global warming as he pledged to rejoin the historic Paris agreement on climate change if elected in the November elections.

FGN16 US-INDIAN-DEMOCRATIC-PRIMARY

Indian-American Democrat Sara Gideon wins primary in Maine

Washington: Indian-origin American politician Sara Gideon has won the Democratic primary for the US Senate seat from the state of Maine and will face incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins in the November elections.

FGN9 US-LD IMMIGRATION

Trump says he will soon sign new merit-based immigration act

Washington: US President Donald Trump has reiterated his pledge to soon sign a "very strong" merit-based immigration act that will also take care of the immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, many of whom are of Indian or South Asian descent.

FGN25 UK-INDIA-HEALTHCARE

2020 will mark ''inflection point'' in India-UK healthcare collaboration: Indian diplomat

London: The year 2020 will witness an inflection point in the UK-India healthcare collaboration as the COVID-19 pandemic has brought collaboration in medicine to the centrestage, outgoing Consul General of India in Birmingham Dr Aman Puri has said.

FGN20 UN-INDIA-PDS-NITI

India set to make PDS location independent: NITI Aayog CEO at UN forum

United Nations: India is set to make the Public Distribution System location independent to ensure that no one, especially the inter-state migrants, is left behind, NITI Aayog CEO has said, citing the ''One Nation, One Card'' initiative being implemented by the government as a transformative solution in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. PTI PMS

Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds. Source: PTI

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Following are the top foreign stories at 1700 hours - Outlook India

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Things to do in the Mat-Su | Arts & Entertainment – Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman

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Pyrah's Pioneer Peak Farm Summer Festival and ButteAthlon

Pyrah's Pioneer Peak Farm is holding its annual, two-day Summer Festival Friday and Saturday from 12 to 6 p.m. There will be an assortment of activities including scavenger hunts, cow train and hayrides, pedal tractors, a maze, ButteAthlon Fun Run and Triathlon, contests and prizes. Tickets are limited this year due to COVID-19.

Those looking for a hearty run can participate in Pyarahs Pioneer Peak Farms annual ButtAthlon Farm Fun Run Friday at 7 p.m. and Triathlon Saturday at 8 a.m. For more information, call 907-745-4511 or visit mobile.pppfarm.net.

I Like Robots playing at Chepos Mexican Restaurant in Wasilla. The public is invited to a throwback night to the 80s, featuring the music of I Like Robots. There are no tickets required to this outdoor, family friendly event. There will be a margarita/beer garden with live music starting at 7 p.m. For more information, call 907-373-5656.

Virtual Community Car-dboard City

United Way of Mat-Su is inviting the public to raise awareness for the homelessness in the Valley during the Virtual Car-dboard City overnight event Friday from the comfort of their homes.

NSA Wrestling presents: Back and Blue

NSA Wrestling getting back in the ring Friday, July 17 at 7 p.m., bringing live, homegrown entertainment to the Valley for the first time in nine months. The event is at the Palmer Depot. For more information, search NSA Wrestling on Facebook.

School district COVID informational community events

The Mat-Su Borough School District is hosting five COVID informational community event to allow parents to speak with district officials about the return to school in August. The first is Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The district will have a booth at Friday Fling in downtown Palmer.

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Things to do in the Mat-Su | Arts & Entertainment - Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman

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Police may serve search warrants out of their jurisdiction, Alabama AG says – alreporter.com

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The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday handed down two decisions strengthening religious liberty and expanding freedom of religion.

In the first case, the Court ruled in favor of the Little Sisters of the Poor, saying that the Catholic nuns do not have to pay for medical procedures that they object to including abortion.

The decision was written by pro-life Justice Clarence Thomas. The 7 to 2 decision majority opinion is the biggest pro-life decision of the Trump presidency. This overturns a lower court ruling saying employees are entitled to abortion and birth control services.

The Montgomery-based Foundation for Moral Law praised the Supreme Courts decision in Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania. The Foundation had filed an amicus brief with the Court arguing in favor of the Little Sisters of the Poors case.

This case arose from Obamacares contraception mandate. The Little Sisters objected to complying with the Obamacare mandate of contraception and abortion services based on their religious convictions. The Trump administration issued new rules that exempted employers with religious and moral objections to complying with the mandate. The States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey sued, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled against the Trump administration and the Little Sisters.

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Third Circuit. The Court held that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 allowed the Trump administration to craft these regulations and that the Trump administration had complied with the Administrative Procedures Act in enacting the rules.

Consequently, it did not reach the religious freedom claim, but it held that it was proper for the Trump administration to consider the effect of federal religious freedom law when it passed the rules.

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GREAT win at the Supreme Court today on the Obamacare abortion drug mandate, said Republican Senate candidate Jeff Sessions. For the first time in nearly a DECADE, the Little Sisters of the Poor & other religious groups can do their good work without fear of being forced to violate their beliefs.

As Attorney General, I reversed the Obama administrations position in the Little Sisters of the Poor litigation, and said NO MORE to government persecution of religion, Sessions said. I have a lifelong record of fighting to protect religious freedom. This is one of many issues on which President Donald J. Trump and I worked on together to take a strong stand for religious liberty. I also started the Religious Liberty Task Force at the Department of Justice to protect religious freedom across the entire government.

Sessions is running for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in the Republican primary on July 14. His opponent is former Auburn head football Coach Tommy Tuberville.

Although the majority opinion focused more on administrative law than on religious liberty, the Courts decision was a win for religious freedom because it upheld important rules that protect Americans with religious and moral objections to Obamacares contraceptive mandate, said Matt Clark, the attorney who wrote the Foundations amicus brief in this case.

Justice Alitos concurring opinion importantly emphasized that the courts must defer to a persons interpretation of his religious obligations when he raises a religious objection, Clark continued. As James Madison wrote in 1785, The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate.

Kayla Moore is the President of the Foundation for Moral Law.

The main opinion said that Congress considers religious liberty to be an unalienable right, Moore said. We commend Congress and the Court for recognizing it as such, and we hope that the Court will take that principle to its logical conclusion in every religious freedom case that it considers.

Bible scholar and cultural commentator Dr. Michael Brown said, This is a tremendous victory for freedom of religion and conscience in America. Under Obamacare, employers were forced to provide birth control coverage as part of their health plans, which for many Catholics in particular would be in violation of their faith. The court has overwhelmingly ruled for religious freedom, honoring moral objections of employers who now may opt out of providing abortion or birth control services.

The Supreme Court also released a ruling Wednesday saying religious institutions have the right to pick their own employees and are exempt from secular anti-discrimination laws.

Trump and moral conservatives won two big ones, Brown said.

In Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru the Court ruled that the First Amendment prevents courts from intervening in employment disputes between religious schools and the teachers at those schools who are entrusted with the responsibility of instructing their students in the faith.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, The religious education and formation of students is the very reason for the existence of most private religious schools, and therefore the selection and supervision of the teachers upon whom the schools rely to do this work lie at the core of their mission. Judicial review of the way in which religious schools discharge those responsibilities would undermine the independence of religious institutions in a way that the First Amendment does not tolerate.

Brown is the author of the new book, Evangelicals at the Crossroads: Will We Pass the Trump Test? He has written 35 books and hosts a nationally syndicated daily talk radio show The Line of Fire, as well as the host of shows on GOD TV, NRBTV, and METV.

Barbara Ann Luttrell is the Vice President of External Affairs for Planned Parenthood Southeast.

Planned Parenthood SE was upset with both rulings.

Today, the Supreme Court of the United States upheld two Trump administration rules that allow employers and universities to push their religious or moral beliefs on employees and students by denying them access to insurance that covers birth control, Luttrelll said in a statement. Bosses and universities will be able to decide based on their own objections if their health insurance plans cover birth control.

Staci Fox is the President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast.

Todays ruling deals yet another devastating blow to health care access in this country, Fox said. As is so often the case, it will hit people of color and low-income people hardest, and in the middle of a global pandemic that is already ravaging those communities. It is more proof that reproductive rights are under attack at all levels not just abortion access.

Both decisions were victories for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. The State of Alabama, under Marshalls leadership, had previously joined multistate amicus briefs to the Supreme Court in both cases, supporting the Little Sisters of the Poor and Our Lady of Guadalupe School: Little Sisters of the Poor v. Pennsylvania; and Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru.

The First Amendment rightly recognizes that one of the unalienable rights all men and women possess is the right to exercise their faith, Marshall wrote in a statement. And today the Supreme Court has reaffirmed that fundamental truth in two important decisions. Thankfully, the Court recognized that the federal government need not force nuns to violate their sincerely held beliefs by providing contraceptive coverage to employees who help them care for the sick. And the Court likewise reaffirmed that the government has no authority to tell religious schools who they must hire or retain to teach their faith.

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Police may serve search warrants out of their jurisdiction, Alabama AG says - alreporter.com

The Show To Watch This Week: Peacock’s ‘Brave New World’ & ‘The Capture’ + ‘The Alienist’ Season 2 & ‘Indian Matchmaking’ – Deadline

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This wasnt the way Peacock planned on taking flight.

The NBCUniversal streamer, which had its full launch today, thought it would have a deep library of the likes of 30 Rock, Cheers, Downton Abbey and eventually exclusively The Office, plus a plethora of new programming and the Summer Olympics to propel the latest addition to the streaming near the front of the pack.

However, with the Tokyo Games now pushed to next year and productions shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Peacock today is now very much a very Britbox affair with crowd-free English Premier League soccer providing the sport and a handful of UK imports like the David Schwimmer-starring Intelligence, the Ben Chanan-created The Capture and a New London-set Brave New World the primary newbies among the comfort food of old shows and the latest Ryan Lochte comeback attempt.

Still, as former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld once said: You go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time. So that puts the big-budget adaption of Aldous Huxleys 1932 novel Brave New World and the CCTV-based The Capture in contention to be the show you have to watch this week as you can see in my review above.

Of course, we also have Netflixs unscripted series Indian Matchmaking, which premieres tomorrow, and the return of TNTs adaption of Caleb Carrs bestselling franchise with The Alienist: Angel of Darkness on July 19.

Back over two and a half years after its Emmy-winning first season debuted on the WarnerMedia-owned outlet, The Alienist: Angel of Darkness starring Dakota Fanning, Luke Evans and Daniel Bruthl was moved up last month from its original July 26 debut.

The second season of the series from Paramount Television and Turners Studio T is set to air two episodes a week starting Sunday for its eight-episode run. Based on the 1997 published sequel to The Alienist, the Cary Fukunaga and showrunner Stuart Carolan EPd Angel of Darkness weaves in some Sigmund Freud, William Randolph Hearst, a child kidnapping, womens rights, media sensationalism, a war with Spain and a bloody and brutal New York City of the last years of the 19th century.

Set in the seeming utopia of New London, Peacocks ambitious Brave New World stars Game of Thrones Harry Lloyd, Downton Abbey alum Jessica Brown Findlay and Solo: A Star Wars Storys Alden Ehrenreich in a new take on the classic cautionary novel.

From UCP, in association with Amblin Television, the series sees Fear The Walking Dead vet David Wiener serving as EP and showrunner. The nine-episode adaptation also has comic legend Grant Morrison as an EP along with Amblin TV co-presidents Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey.

Also dropping in one complete season today, conspiracy thriller The Capture first played on the BBC in the UK last year before jumping across the Atlantic for the new semi-free streamer.

Featuring Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwalds Callum Turner as a former soldier suddenly caught in the crossfire as a fall guy for the powerful intelligence agencies, the six-episode The Capture tries to peel back what truth really is in a world of competing perspectives and fake news. Co-starring Patrick Melroses Holliday Grainger as the detective assigned to the case of Turners Shaun Emery, The Capture also sees Ron Perlman, Famke Janssen and The Crowns Ben Miles amidst its deep bench cast.

In a search for love and more, Netflixs July 16-launching Indian Matchmaking pulls the veil back in more ways than one on a custom that seems so alien to many of us. Focusing on seven clients both here in the U.S. and over on the subcontinent itself, the Smriti Mundhra-EPd reality series has Mumbais so-called top matchmaker Sima Taparia lead us down the potential matrimonial path for some very well-heeled and high-expectations-holding bachelors and bachelorettes.

So, with that and the obvious temptation to check out Peacock, what is the show you have to watch this week? Well, you know the drill, youll have to watch the video above to find out.

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The Show To Watch This Week: Peacock's 'Brave New World' & 'The Capture' + 'The Alienist' Season 2 & 'Indian Matchmaking' - Deadline