Cancer Breakthrough, NBA Finals, & Best Pizzerias

News without the noise

Adam Rogers
June 01, 2026

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A new drug called daraxonrasib nearly doubled survival times for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, marking the first treatment to show a substantial advantage over chemotherapy for one of the deadliest cancers.
Patients taking the daily pill lived a median of 13.2 months compared to 6.7 months on chemotherapy — a 60% reduction in risk of death. The drug targets a mutated protein called KRAS that drives tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases and has long been considered "undruggable." Patients also reported fewer severe side effects and a better quality of life than those on chemotherapy.
The FDA is fast-tracking the review of daraxonrasib and has already opened an expanded access program for eligible patients. Pancreatic cancer kills more than 52,000 Americans annually, with a five-year survival rate of just 13%.

The San Antonio Spurs defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-103 in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals Saturday, ending the reigning champions' bid for a repeat and extending the NBA's streak of consecutive seasons with a different champion to eight.
Victor Wembanyama scored 22 points in the win and was named conference finals MVP after averaging 27.3 points, 10.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. The 7-foot-4 French phenom is making his first postseason appearance in only his third NBA season. The Spurs trailed the series 3-2 before winning two straight. Thunder star and regular-season MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, but injuries to two key offensive players were too much for the Thunder to overcome.
San Antonio will face the New York Knicks in the NBA Finals — a rematch of the 1999 championship the Spurs won, and New York's first Finals appearance since. The Knicks arrive having won 11 consecutive playoff games by an average of 23.8 points. Game 1 is June 3 in San Antonio.

Israeli forces captured Beaufort Ridge in southern Lebanon on Sunday, crossing the Litani River in the country's deepest military incursion in 26 years. Prime Minister Netanyahu said he had instructed forces to "deepen and expand" their grip on areas previously controlled by Hezbollah. Defense Minister Katz said troops would remain as part of a permanent security zone.
Israel previously held Beaufort Ridge from 1982 until its withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. UNESCO had warned ahead of the capture that Beaufort Castle, a medieval site with protected status, should be shielded from military use. More than 3,350 Lebanese have been killed and 1.2 million displaced since Hezbollah opened a second front in March.
The escalation threatens to derail US-Iran peace negotiations. Iran has made an end to the Lebanon conflict a condition of any deal with Washington. According to a senior Arab mediator, a US-Iran agreement was reached in Doha days ago, but both sides are now stalling.

Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner's campaign confirmed that he exchanged sexually explicit texts with multiple women while married, the latest in a string of scandals since he launched his campaign last year. (More)

Protests and counterprotests clashed outside Newark's Delaney Hall detention center Saturday as immigrants inside marked nine days on hunger strike demanding better conditions. (More)

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi told the House Oversight Committee on Friday that her team made "redaction errors" in releasing the Epstein files but defended the Justice Department's overall transparency. (More)

Colombia's first-round presidential vote Sunday set up a June runoff between tough-on-crime lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, who took 44%, and progressive senator Iván Cepeda, who got 41%. (More)

Four miners trapped for 10 days in a Laos cave walked out Saturday after rescuers pumped out enough water to clear a path, while two others remain missing deeper inside. (More)

Japan's defense minister pushed back on China's "neo-militarism" accusations at a Singapore security forum Saturday, saying Japan remains open to dialogue even as it expands its military capabilities. (More)

US stock markets closed higher on Friday (S&P +0.22%, Nasdaq +0.21%, Dow +0.72%) as tech stocks helped the major averages notch a winning month. (More)

Universal Music Group's board unanimously rejected Bill Ackman's $64 billion takeover bid Friday, saying the offer "fundamentally undervalues" the company. (More)

The Commerce Department moved to close a year-old loophole that allowed Chinese companies to buy advanced Nvidia and AMD chips through overseas subsidiaries. (More)

The Yankees scored 13 runs in the third inning Sunday, with their first 12 batters all reaching base, in a 13-8 win over the Athletics — their biggest single-inning outburst in nearly 21 years. (More)

Christian Pulisic ended a five-month scoring drought, and Folarin Balogun broke a second-half tie as the US beat Senegal 3-2 Sunday in a World Cup warmup match. (More)

PSG beat Arsenal 4-3 on penalties to win back-to-back Champions League titles after Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes missed the decisive kick in Budapest. (More)

A Nature study estimated Earth has about 3 trillion trees, more than seven times the stars in the Milky Way, but also found humans have cut roughly half of all trees since civilization began. (More)

A global medical consensus renamed PCOS to Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, a change doctors say should trigger earlier screening for diabetes and heart disease and push treatment beyond fertility to address long-term metabolic health. (More)

A meteor exploded over northeastern Massachusetts Saturday, releasing energy equal to 300 tons of TNT and shaking buildings across the region with a double sonic boom. (More)

Luxury grocery store Erewhon has a $15K-a-year VIP membership.

United flight forced to turn around over “BOMB” Bluetooth speaker name.

Ranking America’s 50-best pizzerias.

New Texas rollercoaster set to break six world records.

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