Latest news with #Leiden
CNA
8 hours ago
- Politics
- CNA
Commentary: Why bending over backwards to agree with Donald Trump is a perilous strategy
LEIDEN, Netherlands: Donald Trump is a difficult figure to deal with, both for foreign leaders and figures closer to home who find themselves in his crosshairs. The United States president is unpredictable, sensitive and willing to break the rules to get his way. But in Trump's second term, a variety of different leaders and institutions seem to have settled on a way to handle him. The key, they seem to think, is flattery. The most obvious example came at the recently concluded NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, where world leaders got together to discuss the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Previous summits with Trump have descended into recrimination and backbiting. The organisers were determined to avoid a repeat – and decided the best way to do it was to make Trump feel really, really good about himself. Even before the summit began, NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte had texted Trump to thank him for his 'decisive action' in bombing Iran. This, he said, was something 'no one else dared to do'. Then, when discussing Trump's role in ending the war between Israel and Iran, Rutte referred to Trump as 'daddy' – a name the White House has already transformed into a meme. 🎶 Daddy's home… Hey, hey, hey, Daddy. President Donald J. Trump attended the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands. Posted by The White House on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 MAKING TRUMP FEEL GOOD The summit itself was light on the sort of contentious and detailed policy discussions that have historically bored and angered Trump. Instead, it was reduced to a series of photo opportunities and speeches in which other leaders lavished praise on Trump. Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda even suggested the alliance ought to copy Trump's political movement by adopting the phrase 'make NATO great again'. NATO leaders aren't the only ones trying this trick. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has had a go at it too. Starmer has made sure that Trump will be the first US president to make a second state visit to the United Kingdom. He described the honour in Trump-like terms: 'This has never happened before. It's so incredible. It will be historic.' After Trump announced global trade tariffs earlier in the year, Starmer was the first leader to give Trump a much-needed victory by reaching a framework trade agreement. But it worked both ways, with Starmer able to land a political victory too. In his first term, flattery was also seen as a tool to be used to get Trump onside. Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy tried it in phone conversations with the US president, calling him a 'great teacher' from whom he learned 'skills and knowledge'. Flattery and compliance clearly have their uses. Trump is extremely sensitive to criticism and susceptible to praise, however hyperbolic and transparent it might be. Buttering him up may be an effective way to get him to back off. But it doesn't achieve much else. At the NATO summit, an opportunity was missed to make progress on issues of real importance, such as how to better support Ukraine in its war against Russia or to better coordinate European defence spending. A summit dedicated to the sole aim of making Trump feel good is one with very limited aims indeed. All it does is push the difficult decisions forward for another day. A MISSED OPPORTUNITY Individual decisions to bow down to Trump also mean missing the opportunity to mount collective resistance. One country might not be able to stand up to the president, but the odds of doing so would be greatly improved if leaders banded together. For example, Trump's trade tariffs will damage the US economy as well as those of its trading partners. That is especially the case if those partners impose tariffs of their own on US goods. If each country instead follows Britain's lead in the hope of getting the best deal for itself, they will have missed the opportunity to force the president to feel some discomfort of his own – and possibly change course. But perhaps the greatest danger of flattering Trump is that it teaches him that he can get away with doing pretty much whatever he likes. For a president who has threatened to annex the territory of NATO allies Denmark and Canada to nevertheless be feted at a NATO summit sends a message of impunity. That's a dangerous lesson for Trump to learn. He has spent much of his second term undermining democratic and liberal norms at home and key tenets of US foreign policy abroad, such as hostility to Russia. He is attempting to undermine all traditional sources of authority and expertise and instead make the world dance to his own tune. Given the expansive scope of his aims, which many experts already think is leading to a constitutional crisis that threatens democracy, the willingness to suck up to Trump normalises him in a menacing way. When his targets roll over, it sends a message to others that Trump is unstoppable and resistance is futile. It encourages not just the next presidential abuse of power, but also the next surrender from those he chooses to attack. Perhaps the best that can be said for this strategy is that maybe it will appease Trump enough to prevent him from doing too much actual harm. But when dealing with such an unpredictable and vindictive president, that is a thin reed of hope. It is much more likely to encourage him to press on – until the harm becomes too severe to ignore.
CTV News
4 days ago
- General
- CTV News
1,000-year-old sword decorated with spiritual symbols found in Dutch river
A medieval sword has gone on display at a museum in the Netherlands after its chance discovery during a dredging operation on a river in the centre of the country. The sword was found during routine maintenance at the Linschoten Estate on March 1, 2024, and has been donated to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities) in Leiden, according to a statement from the museum on Tuesday. Dating from around 1050 to 1150 and measuring one metre (3.3 feet) in length, the sword is inlaid with gold-colored copper forming the shape of a cross and a spiritual symbol known as an endless knot, the museum added. It features a long crossguard and a nut-shaped pommel, said the museum, which added that it was made from high-quality iron mined at Veluwe. 'The sword remains remarkably well-preserved after a thousand years. Only the organic components – such as the wooden grip and any leather wrappings – have succumbed to time,' reads the statement. 'The iron is barely corroded due to the oxygen-poor environment of the wet soil. Traces of the wooden hilt are still visible on the preserved sword,' it added. Sword Ruben de Heer It appears that the sword was deposited in the river on purpose, and there were no traces of a scabbard found nearby. 'Medieval swords were deeply personal possessions: they were either buried with their owner or – alternatively – ritually deposited into water,' said the museum. 'In the latter case, they are often exceptionally well preserved,' it added. At the time it was forged, the area would have been ruled by the Bishop of Utrecht, a nearby city, although he would have been in frequent conflict with the Counts of Holland and Flanders, who were becoming increasingly powerful. 'This era also saw a shift in military tactics and weaponry: vertical slashing from horseback gave way to horizontal thrusting between pieces of armour,' said the museum. 'This sword, which could be wielded with one hand, embodies that transitional phase – suited to both techniques.' By Jack Guy, CNN
CNN
4 days ago
- General
- CNN
1,000-year-old sword decorated with spiritual symbols found in Dutch river
A medieval sword has gone on display at a museum in the Netherlands after its chance discovery during a dredging operation on a river in the center of the country. The sword was found during routine maintenance at the Linschoten Estate on March 1, 2024, and has been donated to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities) in Leiden, according to a statement from the museum on Tuesday. Dating from around 1050 to 1150 and measuring one meter (3.3 feet) in length, the sword is inlaid with gold-colored copper forming the shape of a cross and a spiritual symbol known as an endless knot, the museum added. It features a long crossguard and a nut-shaped pommel, said the museum, which added that it was made from high-quality iron mined at Veluwe. 'The sword remains remarkably well-preserved after a thousand years. Only the organic components – such as the wooden grip and any leather wrappings – have succumbed to time,' reads the statement. 'The iron is barely corroded due to the oxygen-poor environment of the wet soil. Traces of the wooden hilt are still visible on the preserved sword,' it added. It appears that the sword was deposited in the river on purpose, and there were no traces of a scabbard found nearby. 'Medieval swords were deeply personal possessions: they were either buried with their owner or – alternatively – ritually deposited into water,' said the museum. 'In the latter case, they are often exceptionally well preserved,' it added. At the time it was forged, the area would have been ruled by the Bishop of Utrecht, a nearby city, although he would have been in frequent conflict with the Counts of Holland and Flanders, who were becoming increasingly powerful. 'This era also saw a shift in military tactics and weaponry: vertical slashing from horseback gave way to horizontal thrusting between pieces of armour,' said the museum. 'This sword, which could be wielded with one hand, embodies that transitional phase – suited to both techniques.'
CNN
4 days ago
- General
- CNN
1,000-year-old sword decorated with spiritual symbols found in Dutch river
A medieval sword has gone on display at a museum in the Netherlands after its chance discovery during a dredging operation on a river in the center of the country. The sword was found during routine maintenance at the Linschoten Estate on March 1, 2024, and has been donated to the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities) in Leiden, according to a statement from the museum on Tuesday. Dating from around 1050 to 1150 and measuring one meter (3.3 feet) in length, the sword is inlaid with gold-colored copper forming the shape of a cross and a spiritual symbol known as an endless knot, the museum added. It features a long crossguard and a nut-shaped pommel, said the museum, which added that it was made from high-quality iron mined at Veluwe. 'The sword remains remarkably well-preserved after a thousand years. Only the organic components – such as the wooden grip and any leather wrappings – have succumbed to time,' reads the statement. 'The iron is barely corroded due to the oxygen-poor environment of the wet soil. Traces of the wooden hilt are still visible on the preserved sword,' it added. It appears that the sword was deposited in the river on purpose, and there were no traces of a scabbard found nearby. 'Medieval swords were deeply personal possessions: they were either buried with their owner or – alternatively – ritually deposited into water,' said the museum. 'In the latter case, they are often exceptionally well preserved,' it added. At the time it was forged, the area would have been ruled by the Bishop of Utrecht, a nearby city, although he would have been in frequent conflict with the Counts of Holland and Flanders, who were becoming increasingly powerful. 'This era also saw a shift in military tactics and weaponry: vertical slashing from horseback gave way to horizontal thrusting between pieces of armour,' said the museum. 'This sword, which could be wielded with one hand, embodies that transitional phase – suited to both techniques.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Pharming Group to host webcast on findings of a new study published in Cell advancing functional classification of variants of uncertain significance (VUS) to improve APDS diagnosis
For media and investors only Researchers identified variants which may cause activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta (PI3Kδ) syndrome (APDS) Results enable clinical genetic testing labs to appropriately reclassify VUSs, accelerating the path to a definitive APDS diagnosis for many patients Findings reveal APDS may be more prevalent than previously estimated Webcast to take place on Monday, June 30, 2025, at 16:30 CEST / 10:30 EDT Leiden, the Netherlands, June 24, 2025: Pharming Group N.V. ('Pharming' or 'the Company') (EURONEXT Amsterdam: PHARM/Nasdaq: PHAR) announces it will host a webcast for investors and analysts featuring Joshua Milner, MD, an internationally renowned immunologist, to discuss the findings of a recent study published in the peer-reviewed journal Cell. The study titled 'Scalable generation and functional classification of genetic variants in inborn errors of immunity for improved clinical diagnosis and management' was led by Zachary Walsh, MD/PhD candidate, Dr. Milner and Benjamin Izar, MD, PhD of Columbia University. The publication details significant advances in diagnosing inborn errors of immunity, also known as primary immune disorders. The researchers' approach helps resolve a major limit to interpretation of genetic testing that often yields variants of uncertain significance (VUS) when evaluating such disorders, including activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta (PI3Kδ) syndrome (APDS). There are currently over 1,300 known U.S. patients with a VUS in the PIK3CD and PIK3R1 genes implicated in APDS. The team at Columbia introduced more than 2,000 PIK3CD/PIK3R1 variants, representing a portion of all potential variants, into human T-cell lines and assessed PI3Kδ pathway activity. These studies successfully confirmed known disease-causing APDS variants and, importantly, also identified over 100 new variants with evidence for PI3Kδ pathway hyperactivity. By analyzing very large datasets of patients who agreed to have their genetic testing linked to their medical records, the research team at Columbia concludes that the real prevalence of APDS may be higher than previously estimated. During the call, Dr. Milner will provide insights into the study's methodology, key findings, implications, and next steps. Anurag Relan, Pharming Chief Medical Officer, will lead a Q&A session with Dr. Milner and discuss next steps to collaborate with genetic testing laboratories on their VUS reclassification efforts, extend the study to assess additional variants, and further investigate the clinical phenotype of APDS in the newly identified variants. Anurag Relan, MD, MPH, Chief Medical Officer of Pharming, commented: 'This important study, recently published in Cell, is a key step towards providing answers to patients with a VUS in the PIK3CD or PIK3R1 genes. The study highlights the importance of increased genetic screening and awareness to ensure timely diagnosis of APDS. We expect these data to enable clinical genetic testing laboratories to reclassify a portion of the VUSs, accelerating the path to a definitive APDS diagnosis for many patients. We look forward to additional near-term studies to facilitate the reclassification of the remaining VUSs and to further exploring the prevalence and phenotype of this rare disease.' Dr Joshua Milner, MD, Director Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, commented: 'This study offers a powerful new lens for interpreting VUSs and uncovering therapeutic insights in conditions like APDS. We hope these findings will support clinicians in making more informed decisions and ultimately lead to better outcomes for patients navigating rare immune disorders.' Note: This study was supported by a National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant and was in part supported through a sponsored research agreement with Pharming. The webcast will take place on Monday, June 30, 2025, at 16:30 CEST / 10:30 EDT. To participate, please register at Questions can be submitted in advance, via email to investor@ For more information and to access the full peer-reviewed study in Cell, please visit About Activated Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase δ Syndrome (APDS) APDS is a rare primary immunodeficiency that was first characterized in 2013. APDS is caused by variants in either one of two identified genes known as PIK3CD or PIK3R1, which are vital to the development and function of immune cells in the body. Variants of these genes lead to hyperactivity of the PI3Kδ (phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta) pathway, which causes immune cells to fail to mature and function properly, leading to immunodeficiency and dysregulation1,2,3 APDS is characterized by a variety of symptoms, including severe, recurrent sinopulmonary infections, lymphoproliferation, autoimmunity, and enteropathy.4,5 Because these symptoms can be associated with a variety of conditions, including other primary immunodeficiencies, it has been reported that people with APDS are frequently misdiagnosed and suffer a median 7-year diagnostic delay.6 As APDS is a progressive disease, this delay may lead to an accumulation of damage over time, including permanent lung damage and lymphoma.4-7 A definitive diagnosis can be made through genetic testing. APDS affects approximately 1 to 2 people per million worldwide. About leniolisibLeniolisib is an oral small molecule phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta (PI3Kẟ) inhibitor approved in the U.S., U.K., Australia and Israel as the first and only targeted treatment of activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta (PI3Kδ) syndrome (APDS) in adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older. Leniolisib inhibits the production of phosphatidylinositol-3-4-5-trisphosphate, which serves as an important cellular messenger and regulates a multitude of cell functions such as proliferation, differentiation, cytokine production, cell survival, angiogenesis, and metabolism. Results from a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase III clinical trial demonstrated statistically significant improvement in the coprimary endpoints, reflecting a favorable impact on the immune dysregulation and deficiency seen in these patients, and interim open label extension data has supported the safety and tolerability of long-term leniolisib administration.8,9 Leniolisib is currently under regulatory review in the European Economic Area, Canada and several other countries for APDS, with plans to pursue regulatory approval in Japan. Leniolisib is also being evaluated in two Phase III clinical trials in children with APDS and in two Phase II clinical trials in primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) with immune dysregulation. The safety and efficacy of leniolisib has not been established for PIDs with immune dysregulation beyond APDS. About Pharming Group N.V. Pharming Group N.V. (EURONEXT Amsterdam: PHARM/Nasdaq: PHAR) is a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming the lives of patients with rare, debilitating, and life-threatening diseases. We are commercializing and developing a portfolio of innovative medicines, including small molecules and biologics. Pharming is headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands, and has employees around the globe who serve patients in over 30 markets in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific. For more information, visit and find us on LinkedIn. Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as 'aim', 'ambition', ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''goals'', ''intend'', ''may'', 'milestones', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''plan'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''risks'', 'schedule', ''seek'', ''should'', ''target'', ''will'' and similar terms and phrases. Examples of forward-looking statements may include statements with respect to timing and progress of Pharming's preclinical studies and clinical trials of its product candidates, Pharming's clinical and commercial prospects, and Pharming's expectations regarding its projected working capital requirements and cash resources, which statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including, but not limited to the scope, progress and expansion of Pharming's clinical trials and ramifications for the cost thereof; and clinical, scientific, regulatory, commercial, competitive and technical developments. In light of these risks and uncertainties, and other risks and uncertainties that are described in Pharming's 2024 Annual Report and the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the events and circumstances discussed in such forward-looking statements may not occur, and Pharming's actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied thereby. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on information available to Pharming as of the date of this release. Pharming does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. References Lucas CL, et al. Nat Immunol. 2014;15(1):88-97. Elkaim E, et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016;138(1):210-218. Nunes-Santos C, Uzel G, Rosenzweig SD. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2019;143(5):1676-1687. Coulter TI, et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2017;139(2):597-606. Maccari ME, et al. Front Immunol. 2018;9:543. Jamee M, et al. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol. 2020 Dec;59(3):323-333. Condliffe AM, Chandra A. Front Immunol. 2018;9:338. Rao VK, et al Blood. 2023 Mar 2;141(9):971-983. Rao VK, et al. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2024;153:265-74. For further public information, contact:Pharming Group, Leiden, the NetherlandsMichael Levitan, VP Investor Relations & Corporate CommunicationsT: +1 (908) 705 1696E: investor@ FTI Consulting, London, UKSimon Conway/Alex Shaw/Amy ByrneT: +44 203 727 1000 LifeSpring Life Sciences Communication, Amsterdam, the NetherlandsLeon MelensT: +31 6 53 81 64 27E: pharming@ US PRChristina SkrivanT: +1 (636) 352-7883E: Attachment Pharming to host webcast on study published in Cell on VUSs_EN_24JUN25
