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Russia becomes first nation to recognize Taliban government of Afghanistan

CNN
—

Russia has become the first nation to recognize the Taliban government of Afghanistan since it took power in 2021, announcing on Thursday it has accepted an ambassador from the Islamist group.

“We believe that the act of official recognition of the government of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan will give impetus to the development of productive bilateral cooperation between our countries in various fields,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

“We see significant prospects for cooperation in the trade and economic area with an emphasis on projects in the fields of energy, transport, agriculture, and infrastructure,” the statement continues. “We will continue to assist Kabul in strengthening regional security and combating the threats of terrorism and drug-related crime.”

The statement by the Russian ministry was accompanied by a photo of the new Afghan ambassador to Russia, Gul Hassan Hassan, handing his credentials to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko.

In a post on X, alongside pictures of Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi meeting with Russian Ambassador to Kabul Dmitry Zhirnov, the Taliban’s foreign ministry hailed the decision as positive and important.

Russia’s recognition is historically significant. The former Soviet Union fought a 9-year war in Afghanistan that ended with Moscow withdrawing its troops in 1989 following their defeat by the Afghan mujahideen, some of whom later founded the modern Taliban.

In the aftermath of the 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia was one of a few nations to maintain a diplomatic presence in the country. Russia removed its designation of the Taliban as a terrorist group in April 2025.

While the Taliban has exchanged ambassadors with China and the United Arab Emirates, and has a long-standing political office in Qatar, those countries do not recognize it as the government of Afghanistan.

The lack of recognition has not prevented Afghanistan’s new rulers from doing business with the outside world. In 2023, a Chinese oil company signed an oil extraction deal with the Taliban.

Moreover, the Taliban has angled for the recognition of another former adversary: the United States. Efforts have reportedly ramped up since US President Donald Trump began his second term earlier this year. March 2025 saw the release of two Americans from Afghanistan, along with the US removing millions of dollars of bounties from three Taliban officials.

People familiar with American conversations with the Islamist group told CNN in April that the Taliban has proposed numerous steps toward US recognition, including the creation of an embassy-like office within the US to handle Afghan issues.

“You need to be forthcoming and take a risk,” US officials told the Taliban during a March meeting to secure an American prisoner’s release, according to the person familiar with the proceedings. “Do this, it will likely open up the door for a better relationship.”

It wasn’t the first time the US had diplomatically engaged with the Taliban. In the last year of his first term, Trump reached an agreement with the group for a full US withdrawal by 2021. The deal achieved a chaotic fulfillment as the Taliban swept to power during former US President Joe Biden’s first summer in the White House.

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July 3, 2025
Indian Aircraft Manufacturing Company Raphe mPhibr Revolutionizes Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Innovation with Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE Platform

VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France — July 4, 2025 — Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: FR0014003TT8, DSY.PA) today announced that Raphe mPhibr, India’s most innovative aircraft manufacturing company specializing in unmanned aerial vehicles, has adopted its 3DEXPERIENCE platform to transform how aircraft systems are conceived, validated and built, substantially reducing the design cycle.

Unmanned aircraft systems are emerging in light of growing applications in defense, homeland security, agriculture, logistics and infrastructure monitoring, and are expected to reach an estimated 6.5 million units in 2030. To contribute to India’s goal of becoming self-reliant in aerospace and defense, Raphe mPhibr needed a new approach to integrate technology and advanced scientific principles into its design process for the engineering of next-generation UAVs with superior strength-to-weight performance and increased payload capacity.

From metals to composites and electronics, Raphe mPhibr designs and builds everything under one roof. Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform significantly reduced its product development cycle while integrating physics and design for manufacturing within the design phase. One of the most compelling use cases for the 3DEXPERIENCE platform at Raphe mPhibr was during the development of its engine. Traditionally a multi-year effort, the engine development process was shortened to just three months. The platform empowered the team to redesign parts optimized for 3D manufacturing.

Raphe mPhibr successfully created complex composite parts through an integrated design and simulation workflow. It reduced the weight of its 4kW 2-stroke engine, which outperforms systems seven times its weight, by 700 grams (1.54 pounds), and made a strategic shift toward 3D-centric design thinking that led to more intuitive and efficient part development. The platform also enabled the team to push the boundaries of engineering by designing high-performance aerodynamic surfaces.

“Designing and manufacturing a drone is nothing less than designing and manufacturing a whole aircraft. The kind of drones we are manufacturing have 20,000 to 30,000 parts,” said Vikash Mishra, Chairman, Raphe mPhibr. “The 3DEXPERIENCE platform allows us to think in 3D – not in straight lines, circles or squares. Biological systems that have evolved in nature – such as plants, anatomical structures and geological formations – are not made up of geometrical shapes. So, using this platform, we can design more organically and without limitations. It’s the best software to create our vision.”

“Raphe mPhibr’s adoption of our 3DEXPERIENCE platform shows how innovators are building tomorrow’s advanced air mobility solutions with virtual twin experiences. Its focus on in-house design sets a new benchmark for engineering excellence,” said David Ziegler, Vice President, Aerospace and Defense Industry, Dassault Systèmes. “The 3DEXPERIENCE platform combines all aspects of design, simulation and collaboration in a single environment for innovation and operational efficiency.”

Raphe mPhibr recently announced it closed $100 million in funding in a round led by General Catalyst – the largest private funding round for an Indian aircraft manufacturer to date. Raphe mPhibr has a team of over 500 people and more than 100 unique intellectual property assets. Its products have logged over one million kilometers (621,371 miles) with the security forces of India. Raphe mPhibr’s future roadmap includes growing its workforce, expanding its research, development and manufacturing facility, and using virtual twin experiences for lifecycle management.

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July 3, 2025
Oasis ‘sounding huge’ as comeback tour launches

Mark Savage

Music Correspondent

Getty Images

Oasis’s second album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? has sold over 22 million copies worldwide, making it one of the most successful records of all time

It’s the gig that fans have been waiting 5,795 days for, as Oasis kick off their reunion tour at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Friday night.

The venue has been hosting soundchecks and rehearsals all week, with passersby treated to snatches of songs such as Cigarettes & Alcohol, Wonderwall and Champagne Supernnova.

“It’s sounding huge,” Noel Gallagher told talkSPORT radio. “This is it, there’s no going back now.”

The Oasis Live ’25 tour was the biggest concert launch ever seen in the UK and Ireland, with more than 10 million fans from 158 countries queuing to buy tickets last summer.

Around 900,000 tickets were sold, but many fans complained when standard standing tickets advertised at £135 plus fees were re-labelled “in demand” and changed on Ticketmaster to £355 plus fees.

The sale prompted an investigation from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which said Ticketmaster may have breached consumer protection law by selling “platinum” tickets for almost 2.5 times the standard price, without explaining they came with no additional benefits.

The CMA ordered Ticketmaster to change the way it labels tickets and reveals prices to fans in the future. Ticketmaster said it “welcomed” the advice.

Still, the debacle has done nothing to dampen the excitement in Cardiff, where fans have arrived from Spain, Peru, Japan, America and elsewhere for the opening night.

“For me, Oasis represents an overwhelming optimism about being young and loving music,” says Jeff Gachini, a fan from Kenya who’s making his first visit to the UK for the show.

“To write simple music that relays the simple truth of life is very difficult. For me, they do that better than anyone.”

Kenyan fan Jeff Gachini is among the lucky 74,000 fans who got tickets for the opening night

PA Media

A mural of Liam and Noel, made entirely of bucket hats, has been unveiled in Cardiff’s city centre

Brothers Noel and Liam Gallagher will be joined on stage by Gem Archer, Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs and Andy Bell, all former members of Oasis, alongside drummer Joey Waronker, who has previously recorded with Beck and REM; and toured with Liam.

The band will also be augmented by a brass section, and backing singer Jess Greenfield, who is part of Noel’s side project the High Flying Birds.

Meanwhile, rumours about the setlist have been swirling all week, as Oasis songs echoed around the Principality Stadium.

One purported running order that was leaked to Reddit suggested the band would open with Hello and finish with Champagne Supernova, with other highlights including Acquiesece, Roll With It, Live Forever and Supersonic.

Noel is also expected to take lead vocals twice during the show, on short sets including songs such as Half The World Away and The Masterplan.

Britain’s biggest band

Oasis were the biggest band in Britain from 1994 to 1997, selling tens of millions of copies of their first three albums Definitely Maybe, (What’s The Story) Morning Glory and Be Here Now.

Liam’s sneering vocals and Noel’s distorted guitars brought a rock and roll swagger back to the charts, revitalising British guitar music after an influx of self-serious Seattle grunge.

Born and raised in Manchester, they formed the band to escape the dead-end mundanity of their working class backgrounds.

“In Manchester you either became a musician, a footballer, a drugs dealer or work in a factory. And there aren’t a lot of factories left, you know?” Noel Gallagher once said.

“We didn’t start in university or anything like this. We’re not a collection of friends that kind of come together and discuss things musically.

“We started the group… because we were all on the dole and we were unemployed and we rehearsed and we thought we were pretty good.”

Reuters

The 2025 line-up includes Gem Archer (far left) and Andy Bell (third from left), who originally joined the band in 1999 after founder members Guigsy and Bonehead left

Oasis was originally Liam’s band, performing under the name The Rain. But after watching them live, Noel offered to join – on the condition that he became chief songwriter and de facto leader.

That fait accompli brought them worldwide fame, culminating in two open-air gigs at Knebworth House in summer 1996.

Nearly five per cent of the UK population applied for tickets, with a then-record 125,000 people watching the band top a line-up that also included The Prodigy, Manic Street Preachers, Ocean Colour Scene, The Chemical Brothers, The Charlatans and a Beatles tribute.

But festering tension between the Gallagher brothers often spilled over into verbal and physical violence.

Backstage at a gig in Barcelona in 2000, for example, Noel attacked Liam after he questioned the legitimacy of his eldest daughter. The guitarist walked out for the rest of the European tour, leaving the band to continue with a stand-in.

Although they repaired the relationship, the insults and in-fighting continued until 28 August, 2009, when Oasis split up minutes before they took the stage at the Rock en Seine festival in Paris.

“People will write and say what they like, but I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer,” Noel wrote in a statement at the time.

He would later recount a backstage argument in which his younger brother grabbed his guitar and started “wielding it like an axe”, adding, “he nearly took my face off with it”.

PA Media

The band’s biggest hits include Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Live Forever

Since then, they’ve pursued successful solo careers, while constantly fielding questions about an Oasis reunion.

Liam called the idea “inevitable” in 2020, and said the band should reform to support NHS workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, he said his brother had spurned the idea, despite a lucrative offer from promoters.

“There was a lot of money knocking about,” he told ITV’s Jonathan Ross Show. “It was £100 million to do a tour.

“But [Noel] isn’t into it. He’s after a knighthood, isn’t he?”

The reconciliation took another five years and, with neither of the Gallaghers consenting to an interview, it’s hard to know what informed their decision to get back together.

Tabloid newspapers suggested that Noel’s divorce from Sara McDonald in 2022 led to a thaw in relations. Others have suggested the brothers simply wanted the Oasis story to have a more satisfactory conclusion than a dressing room bust-up.

“I’ve heard everything is honky dory and they’re getting on great,” says Tim Abbott, former managing director of Oasis’s record label, Creation.

“I’ve worked with bands in the past that had separate limos, separate walkways onto the stage. I don’t think they’ll get to that. They’re grown men.”

Getty Images

According to analysis by Birmingham City University, the Oasis tour could bring in £400 million in tickets sales and merchandise.

Whatever sparked the reunion, the sold-out tour will see the band play 41 shows between July and November, spanning the UK & Ireland, North America, Oceania and South America.

“Probably the biggest and most pleasing surprise of the reunion announcement is how huge it was internationally,” said Oasis’s co-manager Alec McKinlay in an interview with Music Week.

“Honestly, we knew it would be big here, and that doesn’t take much intuition. But looking outside the UK, we knew they had a strong fanbase, we did all the stats.

“We were quite cautious about what that would mean when it came to people actually buying tickets but we were just bowled over by how huge it was.”

McKinlay added that the band had no plans for new music, and described the tour as their “last time around”.

They take to the stage for the first time in 16 years at 20:15 UK time on Friday night.

Shunning the usual rock and roll trappings, Noel Gallagher was spotted arriving for the show by train.

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July 3, 2025
Debreczeni and O’Donnell to leave Brumbies after Lions clash

Safeguard Global ACT Brumbies fly half Jack Debreczeni and wing Ben O’Donnell will depart the club after next Wednesday’s game against the British & Irish Lions.

The pair are available for selection for the Lions and will receive a farewell in front of a packed house at GIO Stadium.

Head coach Stephen Larkham thanked the players for their efforts at the club during their stint in the nation’s capital.

“Everyone at the Brumbies wishes Ben and Jack the best for the future,” Larkham said.

“They’ve both made a massive contribution to the club on and off the field during their time here. I’m sure they’ll be looking forward to the chance of playing in front of our fans at GIO Stadium one last time next week, against a world-class team in the British & Irish Lions.”

Debreczeni and O’Donnell arrived at the club on the same day in 2023, from Canterbury Rugby Club and Connacht respectively.

Debreczeni, 32, joined the Brumbies after also having spells at Melbourne Rebels, Honda Heat and Hino Red Dolphins in Japan and the Chiefs.

He has gone on to receive 28 caps for the Brumbies, showcasing plenty of standout performances as a playmaker, including guiding us to a crucial 29-21 win against the Waratahs in torrential rain at Allianz Stadium in Sydney during Round 12 last year. The 32-year-old is currently considering whether he will continue his playing career.

O’Donnell, 29, also joined the club in 2023 after playing for Australia Sevens and Connacht, winning the prestigious Shawn Mackay award for Australia’s Sevens’ Player of the Year in 2018.

His time in Canberra has been impacted due to injury, playing nine times for the club in total, after being ruled out for this year’s Super Rugby Pacific campaign with a hamstring operation in February. O’Donnell is set to join French side Aurillac on a two-year deal.

If you would like to see Debreczeni and O’Donnell feature for the Brumbies for the final time next Wednesday against the British & Irish Lions at GIO Stadium, buy tickets here.

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July 3, 2025
Neanderthals operated prehistoric “fat factory” 125,000 years ago on German lakeshore

Neanderthals in central Germany 125,000 years ago employed an advanced method of food preparation, according to a recent study: systematically stripping fat from the bones of large animals using water and heat. The practice, uncovered at the Neumark-Nord 2 archaeological site, shows that Neanderthals had a much more advanced conception of nutrition, planning, and resource management than previously believed.

Artistic impression of activities at the “Fat Factory” site. Credit: Scherjon, LEIZA-Monrepos

The research, published in Science Advances, was conducted by international researchers from MONREPOS (Leibniz Centre for Archaeology), Leiden University in the Netherlands, and the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt. The study indicates that Neanderthals, in addition to smashing bones to access the marrow—a behavior shared by their earliest African ancestors—also crushed them into fragments and boiled them to obtain bone grease, a nutrient-rich resource.

“This was intensive, organized, and strategic,” said Dr. Lutz Kindler, the study’s lead author. “Neanderthals were clearly managing resources with caution—planning hunts, transporting carcasses, and rendering fat in a task-specific area. They understood both the nutritional value of fat and how to access it efficiently.”

Excavations at the Neumark-Nord 2 site. Credit: Wil Roebroeks, Leiden University

At least 172 large mammals, such as deer, horses, and aurochs, were butchered here. The production of bone grease, which required huge quantities of bone to be worthwhile, was previously considered to be something limited to Upper Paleolithic modern humans. This find pushes back the timeline by thousands of years and represents a fundamental shift in our knowledge of Neanderthal diet and adaptation.

From complete bones to tiny fragments. Credit: Kindler, LEIZA-Monrepos

The Neumark-Nord complex, discovered in the 1980s by archaeologist Dietrich Mania, is a full interglacial ecosystem. Excavations from 2004 to 2009 revealed several zones with various Neanderthal activities: deer hunting and light butchering in one, straight-tusked elephant processing in another, and fat removal in a third, specialized area. Remarkably, cut-marked remains of 76 rhinos and 40 elephants were also discovered at nearby sites like Taubach.

“What makes Neumark-Nord so exceptional is the preservation of an entire landscape, not just a single site,” said Leiden University’s Prof. Wil Roebroeks. “We are seeing a range of Neanderthal behaviors within the same landscape.”

Massive bone processing. At the Neumark-Nord 2 site, near the margin of a shallow pool, there is a dense concentration of bones from more than 170 larger mammals (highlighted in blue), mixed with flint artifacts (red) and hammer stones (red). Credit: Kindler, LEIZA-Monrepos

The activities of the Neanderthals at Neumark-Nord not only demonstrate high sophistication but were also likely to have long-term environmental impacts. Prof. Roebroeks warned that their mass hunting of slow-reproducing species undoubtedly left a significant impact on fauna in the region during the Last Interglacial period.

The finds depict the Neanderthals as more capable and more intelligent than the stereotype of the brutish caveman. The “fat factory” at Neumark-Nord reveals a species that could plan for the future, manage its environment, and maximize nutrition in resource-poor environments.

More information: LEIZA

Publication: Kindler, L., Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., Scherjon, F., Garcia-Moreno, A., Smith, G. M., Pop, E., … Roebroeks, W. (2025). Large-scale processing of within-bone nutrients by Neanderthals, 125,000 years ago. Science Advances, 11(27). doi:10.1126/sciadv.adv1257

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July 3, 2025
On-Demand TACE Plus Atezolizumab/Bevacizumab Boosts PFS in Unresectable HCC

On-Demand TACE Plus Atezolizumab
and Bevacizumab in HCC | Image Credit:
© Sebastian Kaulitzki – stock.adobe.com

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) plus atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and bevacizumab (Avastin) prolonged investigator-assessed TACE-progression-free survival (TACE-PFS) vs TACE alone, according to data from the phase 3 TALENTACE trial (NCT04712643) presented during the 2025 ESMO Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress.¹

The median investigator-assessed TACE-PFS with TACE plus atezolizumab and bevacizumab (n = 171) was 11.30 months (95% CI, 7.52-15.01) vs 7.03 months (95% CI, 5.32-8.41) with TACE alone (n = 171), meeting the primary end point (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.55-0.92; P = .009). In the TACE plus atezolizumab/bevacizumab arm, the 12- and 24-month TACE-PFS rates 48.46% and 37.98%, respectively; in the TACE-alone arm, these respective rates were 33.60% and 29.85%.

The median PFS by investigator assessment and RECIST 1.1 criteria with TACE plus atezolizumab and bevacizumab was 10.32 months (95% CI, 8.51-11.93) vs 6.37 months (95% CI, 5.32-7.46) with TACE alone (HR, 0.64; 95% CI, 0.50-0.82). The 12- and 18-month PFS rates in the TACE plus atezolizumab/bevacizumab arm were 41.96% and 31.66%, respectively; in the TACE-alone arm, these rates were 26.73% and 20.60%, respectively.

“TALENTACE is the first phase 3 study to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of on-demand TACE combined with atezolizumab and bevacizumab, suggesting a new and effective treatment option for patients with systemically untreated, intermediate-to-high tumor burden unresectable HCC,” Guohong Han, MD, of the Department of Gastroenterology, Xi’an International Medical Center Hospital, in Xi’an, China, said in late-breaking presentation.

Taking a Look at TALENTACE

The prospective, open-label, multicenter, phase 3 study enrolled patients with confirmed unresectable HCC who were candidates to receive TACE, including those with BCLC-A, BCLC-B, and BCLC-C for Vp1/2, and BCLC-C for an ECOG performance status of 1. Their sum of tumor maximum diameter plus tumor number needed to be at least 6, they needed to have an ECOG performance status of 0 or 1, and Child-Pugh A disease without extrahepatic spread. They could not have previously received systemic therapy or locoregional therapy to the target lesions.

Patients (n = 342) were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive on-demand TACE followed by 1200 mg of atezolizumab and 15 mg/kg of bevacizumab every 3 weeks or underwent observation in the control arm. Stratification factors included baseline alpha-fetoprotein (<400 ng/mL vs ≥400 ng/mL), prior locoregional therapy except curative resection and ablation (yes, TACE vs yes, other locoregional therapy vs no), baseline Vp1/2 (yes vs no), and geographic region (China vs Japan).

The primary end points of the trial were investigator-assessed TACE-PFS and overall survival (OS). Secondary end points were investigator-assessed PFS by RECIST v1.1 criteria, time to untreatable progression, time to progression, extrahepatic spread per Response Evaluation Criteria in Cancer of the Liver (RECICL), objective response rate (ORR), duration of response per RECICL and RECIST v1.1 criteria.

TACE-PFS was defined as the time from randomization to untreatable progression or TACE failure/refractoriness or death by any cause. For the statistical testing hierarchy, hypotheses will be formally tested on the primary end points of TACE-PFS and OS. Han clarified that TACE-PFS and OS will be tested sequentially, with the overall type I error controlled at a 2-sided significance level of 0.05.

Looking at the Analysis

A total of 342 patients were randomized; 171 were assigned to receive TACE plus atezolizumab and bevacizumab and 171 were assigned to receive TACE alone. In the TACE/atezolizumab/bevacizumab arm, 166 patients received all three components, 4 received only TACE, and 1 did not receive any treatment; 73 patients discontinued the study. A total of 171 patients comprised the intention-to-treat (ITT) population and 166 comprised the safety set. In the TACE-alone arm, 169 received TACE alone and 2 did not receive any treatment; 81 discontinued the study. A total of 171 patients comprised the ITT population and 173 comprised the safety set.

The median time from randomization to the data cutoff for the first interim analysis was approximately 26 months, and the minimum follow-up was 18.4 months.

The median patient age was 62 years (range, 30-89) in the TACE/atezolizumab/bevacizumab arm vs 60.0 years (range, 21-90) in the TACE-alone arm. Most patients were male (TACE/atezolizumab/bevacizumab, 79.5%; TACE-alone, 81.9%), had an ECOG performance 0 (81.8%; 87.1%), were from China (91.2%; 88.9%), had BCLC-B disease (58.5%; 61.4%), and had Child-Pugh score of 5 (81.3%; 78.4%).

Additional Efficacy Data

OS data were immature at the time of the analysis, with only 38.6% of events reported. The median OS was 34.53 months (95% CI, 26.78-not evaluable [NE]) with TACE plus atezolizumab and bevacizumab vs 35.38 months (95% CI, 29.50-NE) with TACE alone (HR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.68-1.34; 2-sided P = .793). The 12- and 18-month OS rates in the TACE plus atezolizumab and bevacizumab arm were 87.95% and 78.13%, respectively; in the TACE-alone arm, these rates were 84.30% and 73.92%, respectively.

The ORR per RECICL with TACE plus atezolizumab and bevacizumab was 81.3%, which comprised a complete response (CR) rate of 39.2% and a partial response (PR) rate of 42.1% with stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD) rates of 11.7% and 3.5%, respectively; in the TACE arm, the ORR per RECICL was 66.7%, which comprised a CR rate of 28.1% and PR rate of 38.6%; SD and PD rates were 12.9% and 14.0%, respectively. ORR by RECIST v1.1 criteria with TACE plus atezolizumab and bevacizumab was 49.1%, which included a CR rate of 3.5% and a PR rate of 45.6%; SD and PD rates were 35.1% and 11.7%, respectively. ORR by RECIST v1.1 criteria with TACE alone was 33.9%, which comprised a CR rate of 4.1% and a PR rate of 29.8%; the SD rate was 34.5% and a PD rate was 24.0%.

Safety Spotlight

“On-demand TACE combined with atezolizumab and bevacizumab showed a safety profile consistent with the well-established profiles of the individual agents and the underlying disease,” Han said.

All patients in the TACE plus atezolizumab and bevacizumab arm (n = 166) experienced at least 1 AE vs 99.4% of those in the TACE-alone arm (n = 173), with 100% and 97.7% of AEs related to treatment. Treatment-related grade 3 or 4 AEs occurred in 60.8% of those in the TACE combination arm vs 40.5% of those in the TACE-alone arm; 41.6% vs 40.5% were related to TACE, 27.7% were related to atezolizumab, and 38.6% were related to bevacizumab. Grade 5 AEs occurred in 4.2% of those in the TACE combination arm vs 2.9% of those in the TACE-alone arm; 3.0% vs 1.7% were related to treatment. Serious AEs occurred in 40.4% and 23.7% of those in the TACE combination and alone arms, respectively; they were related to treatment for 25.9% and 13.9% of cases, respectively.

In the TACE combination arm, 21.1% experienced AEs that led to withdrawal from any study treatment and 58.4% experienced AEs leading to any interruption of study treatment or TACE delay; in the TACE-alone arm, these respective percentages were 2.3% and 2.3%.

The most common treatment-related AEs were proteinuria, post-embolization syndrome, increased aspartate aminotransferase, decreased platelet count, hypoalbuminemia, hypertension, increased alanine aminotransferase, abdominal pain, pyrexia, and increased blood bilirubin.

“No new safety signals were identified,” Han said. “The safety profile of on-demand TACE combined with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab was generally manageable.”

Disclosures: Han disclosed receiving research grants from Shanghai Roche Pharmaceuticals, Co. Ltd; Bayer; Sirtex; Boston Scientific; and MSD. Lecture fees were received from Roche, Bayer, Gore, MSD, AstraZeneca, Sirtex, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boston Scientific, and Eisai. He does advisory consulting for Roche, Bayer, AstraZeneca, Boston Scientific, Gore, and MSD. The TALENTACE study is sponsored by Shanghai Roche Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

Reference

Dong J, Han G, Ogasawara S, et al. TALENTACE: A phase III, open-label, randomized study of on-demand TACE combined with atezolizumab + bevacizumab (atezo+bev) or on-demand TACE alone in patients with systemically untreated intermediate-to-high tumor burden unresectable HCC. Presented at: 2025 ESMO Gastrointestinal Cancers Congress; July 2-5, 2025; Barcelona, Spain. Abstract LBA2.

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July 3, 2025
Britain launches strategy to expand onshore wind, create jobs – Reuters
1. Britain launches strategy to expand onshore wind, create jobs Reuters
2. ‘Overturning the ban was just the start’: Government sets out 40-step plan to build out onshore wind edie.net
3. Miliband plots garden windfarm revolution The Telegraph
4. RenewableUK praises ambitious onshore roadmap reNews
5. Challenges remain ahead of UK onshore wind ‘renaissance’ current-news.co.uk
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July 3, 2025
Viral band success spawns AI claims and hoaxes

A band called The Velvet Sundown has had its tracks played hundreds of thousands of times on Spotify since appearing several weeks ago – without anyone knowing for sure what it is.

The band has a verified page on the music streaming platform, with more than 850,000 monthly listeners.

However, none of the four named musicians in the band have given any interviews or appear to have individual social media accounts, and there are no records of any live performances.

It has prompted accusations that they and their music are artificial intelligence (AI) generated – something the band denies on social media.

It did not respond to the BBC’s request for an interview.

Further confusing the story, Rolling Stone US reported that the band’s spokesman had admitted The Velvet Sundown’s music had been generated using an AI tool called Suno – only for the magazine to report shortly afterwards that the spokesman was himself a hoax.

The man, who goes by the name of Andrew Frelon, said it was a deliberate plot to hoax the media.

A statement on the band’s Spotify page says that the group has “no affiliation with this individual, nor any evidence confirming their identity or existence.”

An account on X which claims to be the band’s official channel, is also fake, it added.

Professor Gina Neff, from the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge, says it points to a problem which affects much more than just one band.

“Whether this is an AI band may not seem important,” she told me.

“But increasingly, our collective grip on reality seems shaky. The Velvet Sundown story plays into the fears we have of losing control of AI and shows how important protecting online information is.”

The Velvet Sundown’s indie ballads, with guitar music and male vocals, is fairly easy, if bland, on the ear.

With lyrics such as “eyes like film in faded light, dreams walk barefoot into the night” and “ash and velvet, smoke and flame, calling out in freedom’s name”, it could all feasibly be either AI-generated or penned by humans.

Deezer, a rival music streaming platform, said that its AI detector tool had flagged the music as being “100% AI generated”.

Spotify did not respond to a request for comment.

CEO Daniel Ek has previously told the BBC that he did not intend to ban AI-generated music from the platform but added that he did not agree with using the tech to mimic real artists.

Many in the creative arts industry are deeply concerned about the impact of AI.

Hundreds of musicians have protested about the use of their content in the training of AI tools to create music.

Sir Elton John and Dua Lipa joined many members of the House of Lords in fighting for the UK government to include AI and copyright in a new set of laws regarding data use and access. Their campaign was ultimately unsuccessful.

The government says it is carrying out a separate consultation about AI and copyright.

Ed Newton Rex, founder of Fairly Trained, which campaigns for AI firms to respect creators’ rights, said the questions around the The Velvet Sundown bore out musicians’ concerns.

“This is exactly what artists have been worried about, it’s theft dressed up as competition,” he said.

“AI companies steal artists’ work to build their products, then flood the market with knock-offs, meaning less money goes to human musicians.”

Sophie Jones, chief strategy officer at BPI, said it illustrated the need for government action.

“This discussion reinforces many of the concerns raised by the music industry and artist community in recent months on the critical issues of AI and music rights.

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July 3, 2025
2032 Games locked in for Cairns
2025-26 Queensland Budget and revised Intergovernmental Agreement confirms 2032 Delivery Plan venues.

Cairns’ Barlow Park to benefit from major upgrades ahead of 2032.

2032 Delivery Plan sets the plan for a successful 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Australian and Queensland Governments have reached a new funding agreement that locks in critical and generational infrastructure for 2032 and beyond.

As part of that new agreement, upgrades to Barlow Park in Cairns are locked in, with locals and visitors set to benefit from generational infrastructure for decades to come.

The funding partnership, which was announced by Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie at Queensland Media Club on Thursday, comes a week after the Crisafulli Government passed the landmark Planning (Social Impact and Community Benefit) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 which will also streamline the delivery of Games infrastructure.

It also follows the Crisafulli Government’s first budget which puts Queensland back on track to deliver a successful 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games legacy following the Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority’s (GIICA) 100-day review.

After 1,200 Days of Games chaos under the former Labor Government, the Crisafulli Government’s 2032 Delivery Plan is delivering for regional communities like Cairns and the Far North to host Games events, driving tourism opportunities and support community grassroots sport.

As part of the 2032 Delivery Plan, Cairns is in the box seat for:
Major upgrades to Barlow Park Stadium including a new grandstand with a permanent seating capacity of 5,000 to support Cairns attracting major event hosting opportunities like football.

The opportunity for the Cairns Convention Centre to host events.

The opportunity to host sports including football and cricket.

Major upgrades to the Cairns Arterial Road between Redlynch Connector Road and the Captain Cook Highway.

Bruce Highway upgrades as part of the joint $9 billion investment between Brisbane and Cairns.

Leveraging the 20-year tourism plan for initiatives like Wangetti Trail.

A share in the $250 million Games On! programs with upgrades to grassroots community clubs.
Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development, Infrastructure and Planning Jarrod Bleijie on Thursday announced the agreement reached with the Australian Government on the IGA and the commencement of procurement on four venue projects.

“This landmark agreement is the beginning of a new partnership that will kick-start the delivery of world-class infrastructure in the 2032 Delivery Plan,” the Deputy Premier said.

“I thank the Australian Government and Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King for their commitment of $3.4 billion towards this legacy infrastructure as we continue to work together to deliver the best Olympic and Paralympic Games ever.

“I am also very pleased to announce that, building on what we have heard from industry, we are asking to hear from those keen to build these remarkable projects.

“In addition to the funding agreement and our new Games venue planning laws, we are kicking off Games venue procurement at Barlow Park in Cairns marking a major milestone for the project.”

Assistant Minister for Tourism, Early Learning, Creative Industries and Far North Queensland and Member for Barron River Bree James said the Crisafulli Government was delivering for the Cairns region.

“The 2032 Delivery Plan sent the Games to Far North Queensland, and with Barlow Park Stadium out for tender, we’re delivering the infrastructure to support it,” Ms James said.

Member for Mulgrave Terry James said the State Budget activated the Games investment.

“The upgrades to Barlow Park will leave a legacy across our region and address the growing demand for a major multi-sport facility,” Mr James said.

MEDIA CONTACT: Samantha Scott 0499 984 004
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July 3, 2025
Cramps, fatigue and hallucinations: paddling 200km in a Paleolithic canoe from Taiwan to Japan | Japan

Dr Yousuke Kaifu was working at an archaeological site on the Japanese islands of Okinawa when a question started to bubble in his mind. The pieces unearthed in the excavation, laid out before him, revealed evidence of humans living there 30,000 years ago, arriving from the north and the south. But how did they get there?

“There are stone tools and archaeological remains at the site but they don’t answer those questions,” Kaifu, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Tokyo, says.

In the Paleolithic era, or the old stone age, technology was rudimentary, he says. “I thought it was great they reached those islands with such simple technology. I wanted to experience it.”

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So Kaifu devised an adventurous plan that would see a team of researchers take to the sea in a 225km canoe trip from Taiwan to Japan’s Yonaguni island.

Yonaguni is the closest of the Ryukyu islands – a chain stretching south-west from Kyushu to Taiwan – but it lies across one of the world’s strongest currents. The voyage was reminiscent of the famed 1947 Kontiki crossing by Norwegian Thor Heyerdahl, which proved it was possible that peoples from South Americas paddled to Polynesia.

But first, Kaifu’s team needed a boat. Any vessel used by the original Paleolithic travellers had long since disintegrated. The team used traditional techniques to build rafts made of bamboo and reed, but ocean tests found they were too slow to battle the Kuroshio current, which was even stronger at the time of the Paleolithic crossing.

“Through those failed experiments we gradually learned the difficulty of the crossing, but at the same time we knew the Palaeolithic people were on the island. They had succeeded, so there must be a resolution which we just hadn’t found,” Kaifu says.

The canoe’s route by day (in red) and night (in blue). Composite: Google Earth / Yousuke Kaifu/The University of Tokyo

Eventually, the team built a heavy, unstable but workable dugout canoe out of Japanese cedar, and identified Wushibi bay on Taiwan’s east coast from which to launch the “Sugime”.

Crucially, Yonaguni is not visible from Taiwan’s shore but can be seen on a clear day from its mountains, near Taroko. The researchers believed it likely that the early migrants had seen it, and that they were well aware of the strength and behaviour of the Kuroshio current from fishing ventures.

The team of five included professional paddlers as well as the scientists, but no one who had made such a journey, let alone without modern navigation. The day they set out, the weather was not good, Kaifu recalls, with choppy seas and clouds obscuring the stars they needed to find their way. Instead, they had to rely on another ancient technique, monitoring the direction of the swell to keep their own direction stable. “Polynesian and Micronesian people did it, and we learned the technique,” says Kaifu, who travelled on the crew’s escort vessel, “the safe place”, he laughs.

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For 45 hours they paddled, suffering muscle aches, fatigue, cramps and even hallucinations. “Surrounded only by the sea, clouds, and sky, they were uncertain about their position,” the report’s journey log notes.

But their arrival on the second night was anti-climactically untraditional.

Still almost 40km away, “they found the island by the lighthouse, which was unfortunate”, Kaifu said.

“But the beautiful moment for me was the time of [the previous day’s] dawn, the sun was coming up and the sky became gradually light, and we saw the clouds on the horizon. But at one point on the horizon the clouds were different, so there must be something under the clouds. That was the moment we were sure the island was there. Just like the ancient people, the ancestors, it was good to capture the island from the natural signature.”

The team made the journey in 2019, with support from Japan’s National Museum of Science and Nature, Taiwan’s National Museum of Prehistory, and crowdfunding donors. Last week they published two papers and a 90-minute documentary on their findings, on the journey itself and on the ocean modelling of the route’s treacherous currents and unpredictable weather.

Paddlers sit in reed-bundle rafts. The team experimented with different materials before settling on Japanese cedar. Photograph: Danee Hazama/The University of Tokyo

“Paleolithic people are often regarded as ‘inferior’ among the general public, primarily due to their ‘primitive’ culture and technology,” the report said. “In sharp contrast, our experiment highlighted that they accomplished something extraordinary with the rudimentary technology available to them at the time.”

There is much unknown about the early migration of humans. Homo sapiens are believed to have spread across the world with large-scale maritime expansion occurring at least 50,000 years ago. A 2017 study in northern Australia found it could have been 15,000 to 30,000 years earlier than that.

The team’s report noted growing consensus in the scientific community that the maritime migrations were driven by intentional seafaring more than accidental drifting, but without really knowing much about how. Kaifu’s team found that while the journey from Taiwan to an unseen island was treacherous and required skill, strength and a lot of luck, it was possible.

Almost six years to the day since his team paddled away from Wushibi, Kaifu is excited recalling the details of their “imperfect” journey.

“We anthropologist and archeologists who have studied human migration in the past, we draw a line on a map,” Kaifu said. “But behind each of those lines there must be a great story. Crossing the ocean can’t be represented by a simple line. I wanted to know the real story behind those migrations.”

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July 3, 2025