06/01/2019 | UPONSOFT

Breast Cancer Drug Shows Promise

By Uponsci | 06/01/2019 | No Comments | Science

A new form of drug drastically improves survival rates of pre-menopausal women with the most common type of breast cancer, researchers said on Saturday, citing the results of an international clinical trial.

The findings, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, showed that the addition of cell-cycle inhibitor ribociclib increased survival rates to 70 percent after 3½ years.

The mortality rate was 29 percent less than when patients were randomly assigned a placebo.

Lead author Sara Hurvitz told AFP the study focused on hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, which accounts for two-thirds of all breast cancer cases among younger women and is generally treated by therapies that block estrogen production.

“You actually can get synergy, or a better response, better cancer kill, by adding one of these cell-cycle inhibitors” on top of the hormone suppression, Hurvitz said.

The drug works by inhibiting the activity of cancer-cell promoting enzymes known as cyclin-dependent 4/6 kinases.

The treatment is less toxic than traditional chemotherapy because it more selectively targets cancerous cells, blocking their ability to multiply.

An estimated 268,000 new cases of breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S. in 2019, while the advanced form of the disease is the leading cause of cancer deaths among women aged 20 to 59.

Growing menace

Though advanced breast cancer is less common among younger women, its incidence grew 2 percent per year between 1978 and 2008 for women aged 20 to 39, according to a previous study.

The new trial, which looked at more than 670 cases, included only women under the age of 59 who had advanced cancer — stage four — for which they had not received prior hormone-blocking therapy.

“These are patients who tend to be diagnosed later, at a later stage in their disease, because we don’t have great screening modalities for young women,” said Hurvitz.

In addition, patients who develop breast cancer early tend to have more complex cases.

“That’s what makes us so excited, because it’s a therapy that’s affecting so many patients with advanced disease,” added Hurvitz.

A pill is administered daily for 21 days, followed by seven days off to allow the body time to recover, since two-thirds of patients have a moderate to severe drop in white cell count.

Jamie Bennett, a spokeswoman for Novartis, which markets the drug under the brand name Kisqali and funded the research, said it cost $12,553 for a 28-day dose.

But, she added, “the majority of patients in the U.S. with commercial insurance will pay $0 per month for their Kisqali prescription.”

There is no cure for metastatic breast cancer, and the majority of the women on the drug will require some form of therapy for the rest of their lives.

‘Significant survival benefit’

Oncologist Harold Burstein, who was not involved in the research, said it was “an important study,” having established that the use of cyclin inhibitors “translates into a significant survival benefit for women.”

Burstein, who is with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, said, “Hopefully, these data will enable access for this product for more women around the world, particularly in health care systems which assess value rigorously as part of their decisions for national access to drugs.”

Moving forward, Hurvitz said she was interested in investigating whether ribociclib could help nip cancer in the bud at an earlier stage.

“We want to go and look at those women diagnosed with early stage disease, small tumors, tumors that haven’t gone to the lymph nodes or haven’t gone to other parts of the body, and see if we can stop it from returning later,” she said.

A new global clinical trial is now underway.
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Momentum Toward Trade Deal Hits Trump Turbulence

By Uponbiz | 06/01/2019 | No Comments | Business

The Trump administration had taken steps in recent weeks to work with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to address concerns about the proposed United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement — and then came the threat of a new tariff.

President Donald Trump said this past week that he would put a 5% tariff on Mexican imports unless America’s southern neighbor cracked down on Central American migrants’ efforts to cross the U.S. border.

His recent decision to remove U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico had appeased mostly Republicans who were using their trade votes as leverage to do away with those penalties.

The administration also had committed to meeting with a group of House Democrats to allay their concerns. That gesture created goodwill, and as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., described it, put Democrats “on a path to yes.”

Now it’s unclear where that path may lead.

Jobs at stake

Influential business groups fear that Trump’s threat against Mexico could derail the proposed trade agreement.

“The last thing we want to do is put that landmark deal — and the 2 million manufacturing jobs that depend on North American trade — in jeopardy,” said Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it was considering legal action to block the tariffs from going into effect.

Some GOP senators are rankled, too, most notably Charles Grassley of Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

“This is a misuse of presidential tariff authority and counter to congressional intent,” Grassley said.

Congressional aides from both parties said that it’s too soon to say whether Trump’s proposal will derail the agreement. But it does make it harder for lawmakers to assess how the agreement would improve the economic landscape if the tariffs on Mexico go into place.

Democrats seem mostly concerned with other breaking developments.

Hours before Trump announced his tariff plan, his administration tried to set up the agreement for a possible congressional vote before the August recess. The administration completed the formal steps necessary to start the clock for submitting legislation to Congress.

Not ‘positive’

Pelosi said that was not a positive step'' andindicates a lack of knowledge on the part of the administration on the policy and process to pass a trade agreement.”

Democrats want to strengthen enforcement of labor and environmental standards in Mexico. They have pushed for Mexico to change labor laws that have encouraged wages as low as $1 or $2 per hour at some plants, giving U.S. companies a strong incentive to move operations south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mexico lawmakers have approved a law that requires secret-ballot union votes and proof of workers’ consent for contracts. Democrats in Washington want to ensure follow-through, and Pelosi still holds the final say in determining when, or whether, the agreement comes up for a vote.

Pelosi also joined several Republican senators in slamming Trump’s tariff threat, saying it is “not rooted in wise trade policy but has more to do with bad immigration policy on his part.”

“Yet again, the president is sowing chaos over the border instead of delivering solutions for American workers and for American consumers,” Pelosi said.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said the tariffs should not jeopardize passage of the trade pact and that the president simply wants Mexico to do more to stem the flow of migrants.

She said the White House is confident it would pass the Democratic-run House, if Pelosi put it to a vote.

Investors unhappy

Trump said he had the authority to impose a 5 percent levy on all goods imported from Mexico and pledged to increase those duties to as high as 25 percent if Mexico did not dramatically reduce the number of migrants crossing the border.

Investors have responded negatively, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing Friday down roughly 355 points, or 1.4%.

Still, Conway told reporters that “tariffs are a good way to get a trading partner’s attention, and apparently it did.”

Mexico’s foreign relations secretary, Marcelo Ebrard, announced that he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would lead talks Wednesday in Washington, a move seen as potentially easing tensions and avoiding retaliatory tariffs.

Both Mexico and Canada are moving ahead with steps toward ratifying the trade agreement.

Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, indicated that it’s up to the U.S. and Mexico to work out their dispute. “This is a bilateral issue,” she said.
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Mexico’s President Hints Migration Controls Could Be Tightened

By Uponbiz | 06/01/2019 | No Comments | Business

VOA News Center associate producer Jesusemen Oni contributed reporting from Washington.

Mexico’s president suggested Saturday that his country could clamp down on migration, and he said he thought the United States was ready to discuss its threatened use of tariffs as a means to combat illegal migration from Central America.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said at a Mexico City news conference that “there is willingness on the part of U.S. government officials to establish dialogue and reach agreement and compromises.”

His comments came ahead of talks in Washington next week, and Obrador said he said he expected “good results.” He added that Mexico was willing to “reinforce” existing “measures without violating human rights.”

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Friday that he began negotiating with U.S. officials after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexican products related to the migrant surge at the border.

Ebrard said on Twitter that he had spoken to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by phone and said face-to-face talks between the two would take place Wednesday in Washington.

“We will be firm and defend the dignity of Mexico” at the talks, Ebrard said.

Obrador also responded Friday to the U.S. tariff threats with caution, urging “dialogue” over “coercive measures.”

“I want to reiterate that we are not going to fall into any provocation. But we are going to be prudent, and we are going to respect the authorities of the United States and President Donald Trump,” Obrador said.

That statement followed a two-page letter to Trump made public late Thursday, similar in tone, responding to Trump’s announcement on Twitter earlier in the day that the United States would begin imposing an escalating tax on imports from Mexico.

“On June 10, the United States will impose a 5% Tariff on all goods coming into our Country from Mexico, until such time as illegal migrants coming through Mexico, and into our Country, STOP,” Trump tweeted. Until “the illegal immigration problem is remedied,” tariffs will continue to rise monthly, going as high as 25% by Oct. 1.

U.S. border agents have apprehended an increasing number of people, largely from Central America, who crossed the southern U.S. border without authorization in recent months.

In contrast to previous spikes in arrivals, recent groups have included a large number of children, prompting U.S. officials to scramble to support families and children traveling without parents — some of whom are seeking asylum.

In an indication of the pressing demands at the border, U.S. Customs and Border Protection solicited bids for the purchase of tens of thousands of diapers, baby wipes and bottles this past week, according to documents reviewed by VOA on a government contracting website.

Trump’s announcement of the new tariffs came on the same day Mexico began the formal process of ratifying the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on trade.

Mexico’s deputy foreign minister for North America, Jesus Seade, said such tariffs would be disastrous, expressing more alarm than the Mexican president.

“If this threat is carried out, it would be extremely serious,” he told reporters. “If this is put in place, we must respond vigorously.”

For one trade expert, who previously served as Mexico’s ambassador to China — a top trading partner for that country and the U.S. — the timing of Trump’s tariff statement raised questions about the future of the USMCA.

“By mixing two things — immigration and now, just lately, drug flow, with trade — I think it confuses the issue,” said Jorge Guajardo, a senior director at the Washington-based international trade consulting firm McLarty Associates.

The trade deal “was a triumph for all three countries, and now of course, that all comes into doubt,” Guajardo added.

Some Republican members of Congress but no Democrats were consulted about White House plan, according to acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.

Asked in a hastily arranged conference call with reporters about benchmarks Mexico would need to achieve to have the tariffs lifted, Mulvaney said there needed to be significant and substantial reductions in arrivals from Central America crossing into the United States.

“We’re going to take this and look at it on a day-to-day and week-to-week basis,” said Mulvaney. “We are interested in seeing the Mexican government act tonight, tomorrow.”

Trump has repeatedly accused Mexico of not doing enough to stop Central American migrants from traveling through the country on their way to the United States.

The U.S. system, however, is not infallible. While the country has increased its apprehension rate at the border in recent years, U.S. border agents stop an estimated 65% to 80% of people crossing into the country without authorization, according to a 2018 DHS report.
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DC’s Go-Go Sound Becomes Anti-Gentrification Battle Cry

By Uponent | 06/01/2019 | No Comments | Entertainment

It’s the soundtrack of “Chocolate City,” the non-federal Washington that has traditionally been a tent pole of black America.

Go-go music, a distinctive D.C.-specific offshoot of funk, has endured for decades through cultural shifts, fluctuations in popularity and law enforcement purges.

Now go-go has taken on a new mantle: battle hymn for the fight against a gentrification wave that’s reshaping the city.

“It’s a very deep cultural thing,” said Justin “Yaddiya” Johnson, an activist and creator of the #Don’tMuteDC campaign. “When you think about go-go, you should think about D.C. culture. It should be the symbol of our culture.”

Many longtime Washingtonians fear that culture is being steadily eroded as the city becomes whiter and richer. A recent controversy over an innocuous noise complaint placed go-go at the center of a perfect storm of gentrification symbolism.

The owner of a popular mobile phone store in the historically black Shaw neighborhood was told to turn off the go-go that he had been playing through sidewalk speakers for more than 20 years. He claims the complaint came from a resident of the gleaming new mixed-used apartment building erected on the next block.

The reaction was fierce. Seemingly overnight, a protest movement and petition drive sprung up and members of the D.C. Council started weighing in. Within days, the decision was reversed.

The mini-controversy was over almost before it started. But it obviously touched a nerve.

“I think that was messed up. Go-go IS D.C. Go-Go is our history,” said community activist Tiffany Richardson, one of the thousands of fans who turned out on a Tuesday night this month for an outdoor concert/protest featuring go-go mainstays Backyard Band. “They’re not going to stop go-go.”

The concert, mischievously named “Moechella,” was organized by Johnson under the #Don’tMuteDC banner. And since it was a protest, he didn’t need to secure a permit, so police obligingly blocked off several city blocks. The location – the corner of 14th and U streets – was no accident. That intersection was once one of the hearts of black D.C.; now it’s within two blocks of a Trader Joe’s (market) and a lululemon (apparel store).

To the uninitiated, go-go music seems indistinguishable from funk. What sets it apart are a specific conga-driven syncopation, known as the pocket beat, and a culture of call-and-response that turns the crowd into part of the show. Go-go bands feature multiple percussionists and often multiple vocalists- with one usually designated as “lead talker.”

“It’s the drumming it’s the rhythm pattern. It’s the feel of the rhythm,” said Liza Figueroa Kravinsky, founder of the band Go-Go Symphony. “In go-go, the fans know who the conga player is more than the guitar player.”

The late Chuck Brown is generally considered the godfather of the sound, starting in the early 1970s. And bands like Rare Essence and Trouble Funk have all flirted with mainstream success, but there has never been a full-scale breakout star. Probably the most famous go-go song is”Da Butt” by Experience Unlimited, which was showcased in the Spike Lee film “School Daze.”

While the music retains a local fanbase, musicians and devotees say the scene is still recovering from the effects of the crack epidemic, which ravaged Washington and turned go-go shows into magnets for violence. Eventually police began shutting down famous clubs like the Ibex in 1990s and forcing the shows out of the city.

Anwan “Big G” Glover, lead talker of Backyard Band, still recalls the time with bitterness. Authorities blamed the music for drawing violence when he says go-go was simply the ambient soundtrack of a city in crisis .

“Those rave parties in the suburbs with these rich kids – if anything happened there, they could just cover it up. That was the difference,” he said.

The purge was especially damaging because go-go is all about live performances. Glover and others say there’s a missing generation of fans who weren’t exposed to live go-go in their youth.

“The reason a lot of kids don’t know about go-go is that it’s been erased,” said Angela Byrd, founder of “Made in the DMV” incubator for local artists and activists. She was speaking at a recent #Don’tMuteDC conference. “I feel like go-go was pushed out, but it’s coming back.”

This official mistrust has continued. As recently as 2010 the alternative weekly City Paper published the Metropolitan Police Department’s bi-weekly internal “go-go report” tracking all the shows in the area.

Glover says the attitudes of the police have eased a bit in recent years and Backyard Band and others now play regular shows around the district. But there’s still a shortage of the all-ages shows that used to be the main gateway for young new fans. That age gap was evident during one of Backyard Band’s recent shows at a bowling alley in Chinatown. The concert drew a healthy crowd of about 150 people – many of whom were obvious hardcores who knew every song by heart. But almost everybody seemed to be at least 35 years old.

Now the renewed attention comes at a time when go-go may organically be approaching one of its periodic flirtations with mainstream popularity .

Glover has gained personal fame for a memorable recurring role as Slim Charles on the popular TV show “The Wire.” Artists as diverse as Snoop Dog and Dave Grohl from Foo Fighters have paid public tribute to the genre. Rare Essence and Backyard Band have both performed at the South by Southwest music festival and Backyard Band recently scored an improbable hit with a go-go cover of Adele’s “Hello.” Wale, the most famous Washington rapper, pays regular homage to go-go and recorded a song with TCB, purveyors of a neo-go-go sound called bounce-beat.

But local musicians still feel authorities have kept the culture at arms-length. They want to see the District government embrace go-go the way Chicago has done with blues and New Orleans with jazz. They want a go-go museum , a hall of fame and go-go landmark-themed tours.

Glover says District politicians tend to rediscover their affection for go-go during election season.

“They love us at campaign rally time,” he laughed. “They know that’s the only way to bring people out.”

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Coal Industry’s Survival in Question as Companies Go Green

By Uponsci | 06/01/2019 | No Comments | Science

You know things are not going well for your industry when one of your best customer gives a keynote speech at your annual conference to talk up your competition.

At the Virginia Coal and Energy Alliance’s 40th Annual Conference in May, electric utility Dominion Energy highlighted the company’s agreement with Smithfield Foods to generate electricity from hog waste.

“That’s right,” Dominion lobbyist James Beamer told the coal crowd, “Hog poop to green energy.”

Speakers from both main utilities at the conference said they have big plans for renewable energy, and they aim to reduce their emissions of planet-warming carbon dioxide 80% by 2050.

None of this was good news for coal, the most carbon-heavy fuel for power generation.

Saturday marks the two-year anniversary of President Trump’s announcement that the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. But momentum to combat climate change continues anyway.

But it’s not enough. Greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise in the United States and globally, putting the world farther and farther from the goal set in Paris to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Gloom in coal country

Beamer told the crowd at the Virginia coal conference that Dominion’s biggest upcoming investment in coal country would be a storage facility for renewable power. The company plans to build 3 gigawatts of solar by 2022 and a pioneering offshore wind project, he added.

Although the Trump administration has acted to loosen regulations on mining and burning coal for power, utilities aren’t interested. Since 2010, 289 coal-fired power plants have shut down or plan to, according to the Sierra Club. That’s more than half the national fleet. No new coal plants have been built. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts coal will continue to lose market share to natural gas and renewable energy through at least 2050.

Kentucky’s energy and environment secretary, Charles Snavely, a former coal executive, told the conference that EIA may be underestimating.

“If we’re already projecting a significant decrease over time,” he said, “I think that it will probably be worse than that.”

Private sector pressure

One big reason utilities are moving away from fossil fuels is that some of their biggest customers are demanding renewable energy. Big, energy-hungry corporations are pushing for solar and wind power in states where fighting climate change is not a priority.

In Alabama, for example, the state public service commission first opened the door to large-scale solar projects in 2015 “based solely on the Walmart decision to come in and use solar power,” according to Commissioner Jeremy Oden, speaking on a panel of state utility regulators at the Virginia coal conference.

The company aims to power half its operations with renewable energy by 2025.

Other corporations that Alabama is courting, including Toyota and Amazon, also have goals to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and are willing, in some cases, to pay a premium to get it.

Companies like these are telling state regulators that they want renewable energy “no matter what,” said Missouri Public Service Commission Chairman Ryan Silvey.

“No matter what,” agreed Kentucky Public Service Commissioner Talia Mathews.

Federal climate

Major corporations also are lobbying the federal government to do more. Levi’s, Nike, Mars Incorporated, Microsoft, PepsiCo, eBay and dozens of others are making the case that “we need federal policy. We need a price on carbon. And this is an issue that is not only about the future of our planet, our families, our kids, but our economy,” said CEO Mindy Lubber with the corporate sustainability nonprofit Ceres.

Since the November 2018 elections swept a wave of left-leaning lawmakers into office, several states have stepped up their plans to fight climate change.

This year, New Mexico, Nevada and Washington committed to producing 100 percent clean energy by 2050 or earlier. California and Hawaii already passed similar laws.

The 2018 elections put climate change on the agenda at the federal level, too, for the first time in a decade. Democrats see an opportunity to campaign against Republican climate denial and inaction in the 2020 presidential election.

World falling short

No other country has followed the United States on its path out of the Paris climate agreement.

President Trump and his supporters have said the agreement puts the United States at a competitive disadvantage because it requires Americans to cut their emissions but does not impose the same restrictions on other countries.

“The biggest emitters in the emerging economies, including China, India and Indonesia, all have very ambitious pledges under Paris,” said Andrew Light, Distinguished Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute and a former Obama administration climate advisor. “And it looks like they are on track to meeting them.”

Meeting those pledges still would not keep the planet from disastrous warming. And efforts so far have not stopped greenhouse gas levels from rising, in the United States or globally. Emissions reached an all-time high last year, climbing more than 2% over 2017, at a time when U.N. scientists say global emissions must fall 45% by 2030 to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

Some 80 countries are prepared to announce bigger steps to cut their emissions at the U.N. climate summit in September, according to U.N. climate envoy Luis Alfonso de Alba, although he did not specify which ones.

“I am asking leaders not to come with beautiful speeches but to come with concrete plans to promote the climate action we need,” said U.N. Secretary-General Luis Guterres.
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Report: US to Launch Google Antitrust Inquiry

By Uponsil | 06/01/2019 | No Comments | Silicon Valley

The U.S. Justice Department is preparing an investigation of Alphabet Inc.’s Google to determine whether the tech giant broke antitrust law in operating its sprawling online businesses, two sources familiar with the matter said.

Officials from the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission, which both enforce antitrust law, met in recent weeks to give Justice jurisdiction over Google, said the sources, who sought anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.

The potential investigation represents the latest attack on a tech company by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who has accused social media companies and Google of suppressing conservative voices on their platforms online.

One source said the potential investigation, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, focused on accusations that Google gave preference to its own businesses in searches.

A spokesman for the Justice Department said he could not confirm or deny that an investigation was being considered.

Google declined comment.

FTC investigation

Early in 2013, the FTC closed a long-running investigation of Google, giving it a slap on the wrist. Under FTC pressure, Google agreed to end the practice of “scraping” reviews and other data from rivals’ websites for its own products, and to let advertisers export data to independently assess campaigns.

Google’s search, YouTube, reviews, maps and other businesses, which are largely free to consumers but financed through advertising, have catapulted it from a startup to one of the world’s richest companies in just two decades.

Along the way, it has made enemies in both the tech world, who have complained to law enforcers about its market dominance, and in Washington, where lawmakers have complained about issues from its alleged political bias to its plans for China.

Some welcome news

TripAdvisor chief executive and co-founder Stephen Kaufer welcomed news that Google could face Justice Department antitrust scrutiny.

“TripAdvisor remains concerned about Google’s practices in the United States, the EU and throughout the world,” Kaufer said in a statement. “For the good of consumers and competition on the internet, we welcome any renewed interest by U.S. regulators into Google’s anticompetitive behavior.”

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has pushed for action to break up Google, as well as other big tech companies. Senator Kamala Harris, who is also running for president on the Democratic ticket, has agreed.

“This is very big news, and overdue,” Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican Google critic, said Twitter, regarding the investigation.

Google has faced a plethora of overseas probes.

Europe’s competition authority, for one, hit Google with a 2.4-billion-euro ($2.7-billion) EU fine two years ago for unfairly promoting its own comparison shopping service.

Google has since offered to allow competitors to bid for advertising space at the top of a search page, giving them the chance to compete on equal terms.
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Team Paradise Helps Veterans, Disabled Persons Set Sail

By Uponent | 06/01/2019 | No Comments | Entertainment

In 2000, Magnus Liljedahl received an Olympic gold medal in sailing. He has been in love with the sport all his life, and it paid off. But after finishing a career in professional sports, he never gave up sailing, and today, he is introducing the therapeutic and healing sport to underserved young people, U.S. veterans, and individuals with disabilities. Lilia Anisimova met with the Olympic champion. Anna Rice narrates her story.
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Ramadan Tradition in Washington: Young Muslim Volunteers Feed Local Homeless

By Uponent | 06/01/2019 | No Comments | Entertainment

Muslims around the world break their fast at sundown during the holy month of Ramadan. Muslims believe Ramadan is an opportunity to get closer to God by, in some cases, learning more about the poor. That’s why every Tuesday, a group of young volunteers break their Ramadan fast with homeless people in Washington. The young Muslims are part of an Islamic charity, where they raise money, buy food and feed the homeless. VOA’s Nilofar Mughal has more.
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First African American to Lead the Smithsonian Institution

By Uponent | 06/01/2019 | No Comments | Entertainment

The huge Smithsonian Institution is getting a new leader soon — the first insider and African American. Lonnie Bunch, the founding director of the Smithsonian’s popular National Museum of African American history and culture in Washington, will become the new secretary June 16. As we hear from VOAs Deborah Block, Bunch says the Smithsonian should be a place to help everyone understand a diverse America.
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Day: June 1, 2019