Man grabs patch of land, organizes citizens and declares a brand new country
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
35 minutes ago
- New York Times
Ousted F.D.A. Vaccine Chief Returns to Agency
Dr. Vinay Prasad, who led the Food and Drug Administration's vaccines and gene therapy division before resigning under pressure two weeks ago, is returning to the agency, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesman confirmed Saturday. Dr. Prasad left the F.D.A. in late July after being targeted by the right-wing activist Laura Loomer and others who criticized his decisions regarding certain medications and pointed out critical comments he had made about President Trump before joining the administration. A series of editorials published in the weeks leading up to Dr. Prasad's resignation also appeared to have contributed to the pressure on him. Those editorials found fault with his decisions to deny drug approvals and to demand a pause on a medication linked to several patient deaths. Dr. Prasad's return was an unusual instance of a federal official being allowed to rejoin the administration after being targeted by Ms. Loomer for being insufficiently loyal to the president. She has repeatedly demonstrated her influence over federal personnel decisions. His rehiring also suggests that the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the F.D.A. commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary, remain influential enough in the Trump administration to employ someone who had previously expressed disdain for Mr. Trump and his followers. 'At the F.D.A.'s request, Dr. Vinay Prasad is resuming leadership of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research,' Andrew Nixon, a health department spokesman, said in a statement. In a post on X Saturday, Ms. Loomer called Dr. Prasad's return 'another egregious personnel decision,' describing him as a 'Marxist.' She also pledged to ramp up her campaign against other health officials she deemed 'rabid Trump haters.' Before the resignation, Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Makary had defended Dr. Prasad against the mounting attacks, even as those seeking to have him fired lobbied the White House directly with their concerns, people familiar with the conversations said. Dr. Makary called him an 'impeccable scientist,' and Mr. Kennedy told an associate he wanted Dr. Prasad at the F.D.A. in part because of his approach to vaccines, according to people familiar with the conversation. Dr. Prasad had played a key role in the decision in May to limit the use of the Covid vaccine to people over 65 and to those with medical conditions that put them at high risk for severe illness. Their advocacy fell short, though, and Dr. Prasad issued his resignation on July 29. Dr. Prasad's long-running penchant for sharp criticism of the federal health bureaucracy, often peppered with expletives, led to intense speculation about the reasons for his ouster. It was a surprise to many in medical circles when Dr. Makary said at an event with Mr. Kennedy earlier this week that he was seeking to bring Dr. Prasad back to the F.D.A. Before entering government, Dr. Prasad was an oncologist and epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, where he was active on Substack, YouTube and other social media sites, often excoriating public health officials for their approaches to the pandemic and what he viewed as poor decisions by the F.D.A. After joining the agency, he attracted attention for declining to approve several drugs, including one meant to treat advanced skin cancer and another meant to treat heart conditions for patients with a rare muscle disorder. Dr. Prasad had long called on the F.D.A. to take a stronger stance against drugs with a high price tag and uncertain benefits for patients. He has taken a similar position on vaccines, saying they need more careful examination before authorization and heightened scrutiny after. In the weeks before his ouster, Dr. Prasad also called on the company Sarepta Therapeutics to stop shipping its gene therapy drugs after the deaths of two teenagers and a 51-year-old man were deemed related to the medication. The company initially refused but later conceded. Since then, the company has resumed shipments of the medication for younger patients.
Washington Post
3 hours ago
- Washington Post
Panamanian park becomes newest U.S.-China battleground
World Panamanian park becomes newest U.S.-China battleground August 9, 2025 | 4:05 PM GMT A monument to Panama's Chinese community has become a reflection of the country's shift away from China, influenced by pressure from President Trump.
Associated Press
5 hours ago
- Associated Press
Gunmen attack a boat off Ecuador's coast, killing at least 4 with more than a dozen missing
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Dozens of gunmen have attacked a boat off Ecuador 's southeast coast, killing several people after opening fire on its occupants and launching explosives at the vessel, according to local news reports. The attack occurred Friday evening in the troubled region of El Oro. Extra, a local newspaper, quoted witnesses as saying that some 60 armed men approached the boat, killing at least four people with more than a dozen believed to be missing. At least two victims have been identified, according to the newspaper. Authorities have yet to issue comment on the attack. It occurred less than 48 hours after the government placed El Oro province under a two-month state of emergency following a surge in violence. President Daniel Noboa, who was re-elected in May, has pledged to tackle drug trafficking and violent crime. The South American country of some 18 million people reported some 8,000 killings last year, with crime surging this year.
