Go T Cells!

Is This The Cancer Treatment We Have Been Waiting For? – In a potential breakthrough in cancer research, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania have genetically engineered patients’ T cells — a type of white blood cell — to attack cancer cells in advanced cases of a common type of leukemia. Two of the three patients who received doses of the designer T cells in a clinical trial have remained cancer-free for more than a year, the researchers said. [latimes]

Michael Schumacher Admits He Is The Problem – Michael Schumacher has admitted that his ‘relaxed mindset’ is costing his Mercedes GP team. For the first time since his much publicised return to the sport, the veteran German said: “I arrived at Mercedes with a specific task: not winning at all costs, but to grow the team.” [topgear]

UK Using Face Recognition In Riots – In the battle to bring calm to the British streets, authorities are playing both sides of technology – employing facial recognition software to hunt suspects while at the same time considering restrictions on social media the government claims has been used as an organizing tool for rioters. [cbsnews]

Conde Nast Elevator Twitter Feed Feels The Heat – After the most recent reports that Conde Nast is entirely unbothered by the now-famous @CondeElevator Twitter feed, it looks like the anonymous account, which documents juicy snippets of conversation from the magazine publisher’s elevators, may be nearing the end. [huffpo]

Four EU Nations Ban Short-Selling – France, Italy, Spain and Belgium have banned short-selling on the shares of banks and other financial companies. It follows sharp gains and losses in bank stocks in recent days, especially in France, on fears about their exposure to eurozone government debt. Short-selling is when traders profit from bets on the fall in a share price. [bbc]

Explosive New 9/11 Coverup Charge – With the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks only a month away, former CIA Director George Tenet and two former top aides are fighting back hard against allegations that they engaged in a massive cover-up in 2000 and 2001 to hide intelligence from the White House and the FBI that might have prevented the attacks. [dailybeast]

Monroe ‘Sex Film’ Fails To Sell – The woman in the 1940s “stag” film being sold in Argentina last night bore an uncanny resemblance to the young Marilyn Monroe, but not enough to attract potential buyers. An auction for a six-minute 8mm film purporting to show the star of Some Like It Hot, finished without a buyer after the legendary actor’s estate categorically denied the woman in the movie was Monroe. [guardian]

George Soros Sued By Ex For $50 Bar – A beautiful Brazilian soap star has the lead role in her own daytime drama, which casts George Soros, the billionaire financier of lefty causes, as a heavy who not only broke her heart, but also reneged on a promise to give her an Upper East Side apartment worth $1.9 million. The drama will be staged in Manhattan Supreme Court, where 28-year-old Adriana Ferreyr yesterday filed a blockbuster $50 million suit charging that the frisky octogenarian slapped her around while they were in bed discussing his real-estate betrayal. [nypost]

Cameron Pledges To Tackle Gangs – Prime Minister David Cameron said today he wanted to build on the success of programmes to tackle gang culture like the task force used by Strathclyde Police. Gang culture – and its associations with violence and serious organised crime – has been a blight on Glasgow’s poorer neighbourhoods for decades. [mirror]

Now Putin Is Into Scuba Diving – Wearing a wetsuit and showing off his scuba diving skills while collecting ancient artefacts from the bottom of the Black Sea, Vladimir Putin continues to portray an action man image to the Russian public. “It’s my trophy,” he said as he walked towards the waiting cameras.
The trip took place seven months ahead of Russia’s presidential elections, when Putin is expected to stand for election. [telegraph]

Zuma Tunes NATO About Libya – Nato allies could be seeking a regime change in Libya in a manner that is “unacceptable”, President Jacob Zuma told the Parliament of Burundi on Thursday. “We have found ourselves in a situation where the developed world has decided to intervene in Africa in a manner that was not agreed to when the UN resolution 1973…was passed,” he said in a speech prepared for delivery. [news24]

‘Barefoot Bandit” Signs $1.3 Million Movie Deal – Barefoot Bandit Colton Harris-Moore has signed a movie deal with 20th Century Fox worth up to $1.3 million, his lawyers tells his local Everett, Wash. Daily Herald newspaper. He will put the money toward the $1.4 million he owes as restitution to victims of his two-year crime spree. [hollywoodreporter]

Township Housing Prices Surpass Other Areas – Houses in former black townships continue to outperform all other housing segments, according to the First National Bank (FNB) quarterly segment house price and market strength review released on Thursday. Houses in these areas come off the lowest base though, said FNB home loan strategist John Loos. [mail&guardian]

Wednesday’s R1.5 Billion Lottery Has A Single Winning Ticket – Wednesday’s record winning $229 million Powerball lottery ticket was sold in Dakota County, according to the the Minnesota State Lottery. Jenny Canfield, the state’s acting lottery director, said the $229 million jackpot will be the state’s largest winner. The state lottery should know later today where the ticket was sold, according Canfield. [igh]

Alex Baldwin Respons Mayor Aspiration Claims – Although it was perhaps a tepid August news cycle that prompted Diane Cardwell to circle back for another view of my comments to Sarah Maslin Nir, I was bewildered by the thrust of Cardwell’s piece in The New York Times. [huffpo]

Grazia Magazine Admits To Photoshopping Kate’s Waist – After a super-skinny Kate Middleton appeared on the cover of an issue of Grazia back on May 9, folks complained to the British Press Complaints Commission that the image had been manipulated. And Grazia has now owned up to some Photoshop wizardry. [nymag]

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