Political Turmoil and Cancer Drug Shortages

From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, june twenty fifth, Here's what we're covering In Venezuela last night, the country was rocked by a pair of huge, deadly earthquakes One of the quakes, with a magnitude of seven point five, was the largest there in more than a century And people describe scenes of terror and confusion as building after building collapsed and residents flooded into the streets. Footage posted online showed rescue crews working through the night as they picked over the rubble, looking for survivors. The areas that appear to be the hardest hits are coastal areas, Venezuela's Caribbean cooast, which is a densely populated area, one of the poorest areas of the country, so a lots of substandard housing, a lot of informal housing. and the images that we have seen show widespread devastation Anatoi Kerm and I have covered Venezuela for the times He says that the full scale of the disaster is not yet clear early this morning, Venezuela's president said more than one hundred and sixty people had been killed and hundreds more have been injured numumbers that are expected to rise Keep in mind that this is a government that's sort of been shaped by secrecy, that has not published any public data for years, in many cases for decades and have been very strict about information that they provide to the public. So it's important to keep it in mind that the official estimates that we're going to be seeing in the next few days or weeks may not be an accurate reflection of reality or even of the numbers that the government has internally The earthquakes are the latest blow to Venezuela, which has been in a state of upheaval for years, facing economic devastation and the dramatic U S capture of its authoritarian leader, Nicolas Maduro Since Maduro was seized by American troops in January The Trump administration took control of the country's oil industry turning Venezuela into something resembling a vassal state Last night, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U. S. is deploying search and rescue teams to Venezuela, as well as humanitarian assistance And other countries, including Spain, Chile, and Argentina, have also offered to send help You can find live coverage of the latest on the earthquakes in the Times app or at nyTimes. com Now in Washington, my colleague Robert Jemison is tracking what has been a head spinning twenty four hours in Congress. You know, by the end of the day on Wednesday, it was almost challenging to even remember How the day had beun We started with Republicans arriving on Capitol Hill, optimistic. They expected to spend the day, probably the rest of the week in a good bit of their recess over the fourourth of July holiday touting a major housing bill. that they believed would strengthen their message on affordability as they make the turn into midterm campaign season. That's what the Republicans stand for to give more people a chance to restore the Americanream. That's what we promiseed to the voters and that's what we are delivering Robert says partway through a GOP press conference. As the stage was being put up for President Trump to sign that housing bill, Trump canceled saying he would not do it until lawmakers passed a separate bill, imposing controversial new voting restrictions. This doesnt compromise it Motor ID. It's proof of citizenship And it's also the mail in ballots by lunch, Republicans were being castigated by President Trump blasted them for failing to pass his preferred voting legislation. And he was extremely upset that the two chambers, both controlled by Republicans allowed a war p's resolution to be approved, an overt rebuke of his handling of the war in Iran The Senate H voted that they'd like Trump to stop the war So Iraon sees that. they go, what's that all about Everything that followed that lunch was an exercise in appeasement. Republican leaders spent the rest of the day searching for a way to undo what Trump had seen as political damage It says that Republicans scrambled. and by the end of the night, the Senate took another vote, this time, reversing course and defeating a measure that would have called for Trump to end the war It was largely symbolic, but Trump still celebrated it on social media as a win The day began with Republicans hoping to show voters something that they had accomplished, but it ended with them shifting to prove something just to Donald Trump A clear reminder of who controls and sets the agenda for the Republican Party Across the country, doctors treating cancer patients are facing a critical shortage of chemotherapy drugs due to supply chain issues The drugs in short supply are among the most effective treatments for some breast, lung, ovarian, and other cancers And there are growing fears the situation could lead to widespread rationing. hasn't happened yet But some clinics have started spacing out the time between doses. And one cancer doctor in Michigan told the Times that physicians there are already starting to prioritize some patients over others a process that tends to favor those who are younger and have a better chance at recovery He said the situation puts medical providers, patients and families, quote in a horrific situation The chemo drug shortage is a global problem caused by disruptions at a major manufacturer over hygienic issues the soaring costs of materials and other factors And this is not the first time this has happened. A few years ago, there was a similar shortage, and some of the same drugs were rationed in the U S, which set off intense discussions among lawmakers about how to find a solution. But few new measures were put into place This week, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services said the agency is working to alleviate the shortage And it's considering allowing imports of medications from companies that don't typically ship to the US And finally World Cup last night, Brazil breezed by Scotland advancing in the tournament and taking first place in its group. It' somethinghing the country's done in every World Cup since nineteen eighty two. win for Bight Brazil produces some of the most elite soccer talent on Earth. Now the Times has been looking at how it's increasingly using AI to find its next generation of stars For a long time, finding that talent had meant traveling to far flung corners of the massive country big cities to the Amazon rainforest, as scouts scoured amateur matches, school tournaments, and neighborhood games, looking for the next paylay. But now, hundreds of thousands of young Brazilian hopefuls are uploading footage of themselves from drills or matches into AI programs The apps analyze everything from speed to ball control and generate a score then agents, human ones, can sift through that data, looking for the highest ranking players The technology is already widely used in Europe But it could be particularly transformative in Brazil, given the huge amount of territory scouts are trying to cover Of course, there are trade offs. For example, the AI metrics can favor taller, stronger athletes and overlook less conventional talent And some scouts say, even if you are using new technology, there is nothing like standing on the sidelines watching for yourself One recruiter who told The Times he was about to travel six hundred miles the next day, just to see one promising player in person. Those are the headlines. Today on the daily week's primary sweep by left wing candidates in New York. could mean for the Democratic Party's chances in the midtermss You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts I'm Tracy Mumford, We'll be back tomorrow with the latest and the Friday News quiz