Sickle cell gene therapies offer new hope, but access remains a major challenge

CNBC - Oct 16, 2026

FDA-approved gene therapies for sickle cell disease offer a chance to help patients, but factors including cost and access have slowed their use.

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Oct 16, 2026

US Coast Guard rescues at least 16 and is searching for more in Mexico's Baja Coast

LOS ANGELES — At least 16 people seen floating in the Pacific Ocean off Mexico’s Baja California coast were rescued in the predawn hours Friday and authorities were searching for several others, a U.S. Coast Guard official said. Petty Officer Chris Sappey said at about 1 a.m. PT several people were spotted floating in the water about 140 miles west of Ensenada. Sappey said it was unclear why people were in the water and no vessel has been found. He said one person who was rescued said as many as 27 people were on board a boat. Sappey had no further details about what the people were doing. “There was no sight of a vessel in the water, just straight people in the water,” Sappey said. Those being rescued were being taken to hospitals in San Diego, Sappey said. The Coast Guard was assisting Mexican authorities in the search efforts with a helicopter, fixed-airwing plane and a cutter, Sappey said. Migrants are increasingly turning to the risky alternative offered by smugglers to travel by sea to avoid heavily guarded land borders, including off California’s coast. Pangas leave Mexic

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First images released of Pope Leo after cancer surgery, celebrating Mass at hospital

ROME — The Vatican on Friday released the first images of Pope Leo XIV since his lung cancer surgery, showing him celebrating Mass, as doctors said that tests confirmed the “continued improvement” in his recovery. The photos show Leo standing up at the altar in green vestments celebrating Mass in a makeshift chapel that has been set up for him in Gemelli hospital. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Leo presided alone over the liturgy, distributing Communion to medical personnel and Vatican gendarmes present. He also delivered a homily in which he thanked the hospital staff “for the work they do every day taking care of the sick in their fragility, and in a particular way what they had done for him,” Bruni said. Bruni confirmed Leo would deliver the traditional noontime Angelus prayer on Sunday, but it wasn't clear whether he would do it from the hospital or back at the Vatican. The Vatican had originally estimated a weeklong hospital stay, and had cancelled his audiences through Tuesday. Bruni said the pope’s doctors would decide if there were any changes expected to his dis

Oct 16, 2026

Zelensky drums up European backing as Trump ties slump

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged EU leaders Friday to keep financing Kyiv's fight with nearly $80 billion more next year, as he insisted he was standing up for his country amid a fresh row with US President Donald Trump. Kyiv's ties with Trump have nosedived after the US leader eased sanctions on Russia as part of a deal to supply diesel. Trump branded Kyiv's actions a "disgrace" and said it was easier to deal with Russia's President Vladimir Putin than Zelensky after the Ukrainian leader ordered his forces to resume strike on Russian refineries. "I defend the interests of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people exclusively," Zelensky told journalists after talks with EU leaders in Brussels. Asked if he was being made a scapegoat for Trump's domestic woes ahead of the US midterms, Zelensky just smiled. "This is my answer," he said, after an extended pregnant pause. The latest breakdown between Trump and Zelensky has fuelled fear that the US leader is siding with Moscow. Those concerns have been heightened by disruptions to a critical US-provided satellite system t

Oct 16, 2026

Watchdog asks California bar to probe Katie Zacharia's lawyer claims

A nonpartisan government watchdog has filed a complaint with the State Bar of California requesting an investigation into newly appointed White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia following reports that she is not licensed to practice law in the state. Zacharia, a resident of California who has repeatedly referred to herself as a lawyer, held her first briefing as White House press secretary on Tuesday amid reports that the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law graduate may not have passed the bar in California or in any other state. Asked Tuesday where she passed the bar, she told reporters outside the White House, "When I moved to China." Campaign for Accountability filed its complaint with the State Bar of California on Wednesday, saying if it is accurate that she is not licensed to practice law in the state, she may be breaking California law by publicly claiming she is entitled to practice law while being unlicensed. "Ms. Zacharia has represented herself as a lawyer repeatedly to buttress her reputation and credibility as a television commentator and now as the White House spokesperson,

Oct 16, 2026

Pyongyang rejects Seoul's hypersonic test claims, justifies own arms buildup

North Korea renewed its attack on South Korea's recent hypersonic weapon test Friday, rejecting Seoul's explanation that advanced materials prevented the weapon from showing burn marks and using the South's weapons development to justify its own arms buildup. The latest dispute comes as the two Koreas offer conflicting assessments of the technology demonstrated in South Korea's first test launch of a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV) on Oct. 8. North Korea initially questioned the test's success, arguing the vehicle must have failed to reach hypersonic speeds because photos showed no soot on its surface. Seoul's defense ministry countered that the vehicle was equipped with advanced thermal-protection technology and that visible soot was not necessarily expected during hypersonic flight. On Friday, Pyongyang fired back at the defense, calling Seoul's explanation "far-fetched." "It's not a matter of heat-resistant materials or thermal protection performance," Kim Jong-sik, a vice department head of the Workers' Party Central Committee, said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Ag

Oct 16, 2026

Alex Murdaugh lawyers question police handling of murder weapons ahead of retrial

Alex Murdaugh lawyers question police handling of murder weapons ahead of retrialAlex Murdaugh returned to court on Friday as his lawyers demanded new evidence about missing murder weapons ahead of his retrial for killing his wife and son.According to CNN, the former South Carolina lawyer's...

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Sickle cell gene therapies offer new hope, but access remains a major challenge

US Coast Guard rescues at least 16 and is searching for more in Mexico's Baja Coast

First images released of Pope Leo after cancer surgery, celebrating Mass at hospital

Zelensky drums up European backing as Trump ties slump

Watchdog asks California bar to probe Katie Zacharia's lawyer claims

Pyongyang rejects Seoul's hypersonic test claims, justifies own arms buildup

Alex Murdaugh lawyers question police handling of murder weapons ahead of retrial

Michael Carrick must escape cycle of Manchester United circus and its old ghosts

Starlink dispute spotlights Ukraine’s reliance on US in intensifying battle for the skies against Putin

Zelensky says Ukraine has right to defend itself after Trump calls latest strikes a 'disgrace'

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Trump gets thrown under the bus by Katie Zacharia about not passing the bar: ‘Those questions weren’t asked’

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