Naharnet Newsdesk (Editorial)
Naharnet/Agence France Presse

Hezbollah vowed on Wednesday to punish Israel for a deadly attack in which hundreds of paging devices used by the militant group's members exploded almost simultaneously across Lebanon.

There was no immediate comment from Israel on the wave of explosions that killed nine people, including the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member, and wounded around 2,800 others.

The attack came just hours after Israel announced it was broadening the aims of the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attacks to include its fight against the Palestinian militant group's ally Hezbollah along the country's border with Lebanon.

💬 "We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression," the group said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that Israel "will certainly receive its just punishment for this sinful aggression".

On Wednesday, the group vowed in another statement on Telegram it would continue its fight in support of Gaza while reiterating it would avenge Tuesday's blasts.

Sasha Latypova
Due Diligence and Art

(Making bread, watercolor, 9x12 in)

Moderna cuts R&D budget by $1.1B, Charles River lays off 3% staff.

According to Endpoint News, Moderna is in financial trouble. They are not even “break-even”, i.e. not generating positive cash flow from operations! This is after Trump’s Operation Warp Speed showered $10B+ on them in a span of about 18 months. Where did all this money go? Swiss vaults? Secret underground bases in Antarctica where Bancel is planning to hide out for the duration of Armageddon? I don’t know, I am not well versed in these conspiracies.

💬 To kick off its annual R&D day in New York, Moderna said Thursday that it will slash its annual spending on research and development by $1.1 billion by 2027. The biotech will also stop developing five early-stage programs, place other drugs on the backburner and focus on a handful of late-stage mRNA medicines.

Simultaneously, Moderna overhauled its long-term financial projections, and it now forecasts the company’s break-even point in 2028 instead of 2026. The shake-up will not include major layoffs, Bancel told Endpoints News, and he envisions the company staying around its 6,000-employee headcount for the next three to five years.

But, you see, according to Bancel, this is because “it’s working!”, just like your beautiful mRNA shot is working as promised…

💬 “It’s a moment of evolution, in the sense the platform is working, which is the most important thing,” Bancel said. “We just want to be responsible and financially disciplined.”

Moderna’s stock price $MRNA has fallen over 80% over the past three years, erasing about $150 billion in market value from its all-time, pandemic highs. The Wall Street is not impressed: