Roche’s Tecentriq wins FDA approval for…

Genentech, a unit of Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG, said on Monday it got approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its already approved immunotherapy drug, Tecentriq, to treat advanced bladder cancer.Tecentriq, also known as atezolizumab, received the go-ahead under the FDA’s accelerated approval program as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced bladder cancer who are not eligible for standard cisplatin chemotherapy. The drug was earlier approved in patients with advanced or metastatic bladder cancer whose disease worsened within a year of receiving chemotherapy. The approval, which came six months after the FDA approved Tecentriq for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer, is a boost to the Swiss drugmaker’s bid to expand indications for the drug….
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Medical marijuana industry taking root in…

One year after Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation to legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania, Philadelphia’s Department of License and Inspections has issued nine zoning permits for potential grower-processors and dispensaries in the city.Wolf approved a bill legalizing and setting up protocol for medical marijuana in the state on April 17, 2016. According to the Governor’s Office, since the bill’s enactment, the Department of Health has created temporary regulations for segments of the medical marijuana industry and developed a Medical Marijuana Physician Workgroup.Though the department closed applications for medical marijuana business licenses, a spokesperson for the department told the Tribune Monday that the department is still reviewing applications and expects to have statistics on the number of applications by the end…
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BofA’s profit boosted by surge in…

Bank of America (BAC.N) reported a higher-than-expected jump in quarterly profit as bond trading surged and the lender earned more from advising on debt and equity offerings and deals.Wall Street banks have been vitalized by increased market activity prompted by the so-called “Trump trade”. Investors also changed their positions around the Brexit vote and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes, boosting trading revenue for the big U.S. banks.Customers also borrowed more as the economy expanded, though the pace of loan growth has slackened somewhat recently.”We saw good client activity in our balanced portfolio of businesses … The U.S. economy continues to show consumer and business optimism, and our results reflect that,” BofA Chief Executive Brian Moynihan said in a statement.The…
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Google forced to open up Android…

Google has been forced to open up Android to rival search engines and applications in Russia, after settling a two-year battle with competition authorities for 439m roubles (£6.2m). The deal sets a new precedent for Google, which until now has resisted permitting the pre-installation of rival search engines and certain applications on to the world’s most popular operating system. In 2015, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) ruled that the Android-maker was breaking the law and abusing its dominant position through restrictions on third-party manufacturers, fining Google 438m rubles (£6.2m) in August 2016. The FAS said that Google will no longer demand exclusivity of its applications on Android devices sold in Russia and will not restrict the pre-installation of rival search…
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MLB roundup: Cubs lose fourth in…

First baseman Eric Thames homered in his club record-tying fifth straight game and streaking Milwaukee beat the Chicago Cubs 6-3 on Monday night at Wrigley Field.Milwaukee never trailed after Thames hit an opposite-field homer to snap a 3-3 tie in the third inning. Jeromy Burnitz became the first and last Brewers player to homer in five straight games in August 1997.Ryan Braun and Jeff Bandy also went deep for Milwaukee, the only team to hit as many as three homers in a game off Chicago starter John Lackey (1-2) last season. The victory was the Brewers’ sixth in the last seven games. The Cubs (6-7) lost for a fourth straight time, their worst stretch since a five-game skid in July…
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Kendrick Lamar gives a ‘DAMN.’ Hear…

In this brave new world of corrosive alterna-facts and neo-nuclear heebie-jeebies, let us give thanks for Kendrick Lamar, a rapper brave enough to mop up America’s most pungent funk and blast it back in verbal laser light, sea to shining sea.On his extrasensory new album, “DAMN.,” our hero outlines the ills of the nation — “It’s murder on my street, your street, backstreets, Wall Street, corporate offices, banks, employees and bosses with homicidal thoughts” — then points his finger at a really bad dude: “Donald Trump is in office.” He’s spraying red-hot invective, but his voice is a minty cool spritz. As the world grows more disordered, his vision clears.And who better to trust than a California dreamer who can…
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Bruins Can’t Afford Another Sleepy Start…

BOSTON — Catch-up hockey is losing hockey, and the Boston Bruins have played a lot of catch-up hockey in their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Ottawa Senators. The Bruins got off to a bad start in Game 1 but were able to overcome it with a two-goal third period for a 2-1 win. Game 2 started much better, as the B’s jumped out to a 3-1 lead, although they ultimately lost 4-3 in overtime. Another poor start plagued Boston on Monday night in Game 3, as Ottawa went up 2-0 after the first period and 3-0 just 3:42 into the second frame. “It was definitely a terrible start on our part,” Bruins center Patrice Bergeron said. “That can’t happen…
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Opponents seek to annul Turkish vote…

By Gulsen Solaker and Tuvan Gumrukcu | ANKARA ANKARA Turkey’s main opposition began a battle on Tuesday to annul a referendum handing President Tayyip Erdogan sweeping new powers, while the bar association and an international monitor said an illegal move by electoral authorities may have swung the vote.A defiant Erdogan, whose narrow victory exposed the nation’s deep divisions, has said Sunday’s vote ended all debate on the more powerful presidency he has long sought, and told European observers who criticised it: “talk to the hand”.Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, whose job will cease to exist once the constitutional changes take full effect, said Erdogan would be invited to rejoin the ruling AK Party as soon as official results are announced, a…
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Trump to seek changes in visa…

By Steve Holland | WASHINGTON WASHINGTON U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday will sign an executive order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs.Two senior Trump administration officials who briefed reporters at the White House said Trump will also use the “buy American and hire American” order to seek changes in government procurement practices to increase the purchase of American products in federal contracts.Trump is to sign the order when he visits the world headquarters of Snap-On Inc, a tool manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin.The order is an attempt by Trump to carry out his “America First” campaign pledges to reform U.S. immigration policies…
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Science strikes back: anti-Trump march draws…

On Saturday, thousands of scientists are set to abandon the cloistered neutrality of their laboratories to plunge into the the political fray against Donald Trump in what will likely be the largest ever protest by science advocates. The March for Science, a demonstration modeled in part on January’s huge Women’s March, will inundate Washington DC’s national mall with a jumble of marine biologists, birdwatchers, climate researchers and others enraged by what they see as an assault by Trump’s administration upon evidence-based thinking and scientists themselves. The march is a visceral response to a presidency that has set about the evisceration of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and many of its science-based rules, the dismissal of basic climate change tenets by…
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