Impossible

• The FDA approved a new cancer drug from Revolution Medicines last week after founder Greg Verdine spent 14 years developing the treatment. • Former Senator Ben Sasse, who has stage 4 pancreatic cancer, called the daily pill a "miracle" for shrinking his tumor volume and reducing pain. • This approval validates high-risk biotech experiments that target previously untreatable cancer pathways to provide new options for late-stage patients.

• Iran is calling for a global effort to oppose U.S. sanctions while maintaining that diplomatic solutions remain possible. • The Iranian government demanded an immediate end to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, alongside an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and a cessation of attacks on Syria. • In a strategic shift, Iran has opened a "temporary and limited" corridor for ships passing through the Hormuz Strait.

• The Takaichi Administration is facing a fiscal squeeze as Japan recorded a 364 billion yen trade deficit for the month, equivalent to roughly 7% of the annual defense budget. • Trade data shows oil imports from the United States now comprise 36% of Japan's total volume, while Chinese tourism remains down over 50% for the eighth straight month. • Tourism has turned fractionally positive overall, though this growth is driven primarily by visitors from Korea and Taiwan rather than China.

• Economics professor and financial crisis expert Tuomas Malinen has warned that the United States is currently on the verge of a recession. • Malinen highlights a critical indicator where private sector yields have risen above the bank prime rate, a trend that historically precedes economic downturns. • This specific pattern was previously observed prior to the 2008 financial crisis and again following the COVID-19 pandemic.

• NASA is preparing to launch the Roman Space Telescope on August 30, marking the arrival of the agency's next major space observatory. • The telescope is designed for unprecedented efficiency, capable of completing Milky Way observations in one month that would take the Hubble Space Telescope approximately a century to finish. • This mission matters because it will enable astronomers to perform tasks and observations that are currently impossible with existing technology.

What once felt exceptional now arrives with grim regularity​ all over the continent, and it will only get worse• Don’t get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereSpain has changed immeasurably since I arrived here 10 years ago to begin work as the Guardian’s Madrid correspondent.Over that time, the push for Catalan independence has exploded, sputtered and faded out; the Covid pandemic has hit with unimaginable ferocity, before seeming to linger for a face-masked eternity; and Podemos and Ciudadanos – the two upstart parties that once seemed likely to alter the Spanish political landscape irrevocably – have risen and fallen. Continue reading...

• NASA astronauts successfully grew a unique, scroll-like crystal aboard the International Space Station (ISS) using ordinary salts. • The experiment demonstrates how the absence of gravity allows crystals to form shapes that are physically impossible to replicate naturally on Earth. • This discovery is significant because it reveals new insights into the structural behavior of materials and chemical crystallization processes in microgravity.

As the climate crisis fuels more intense blazes, pushing them to new parts of the world, those tackling them are forced to ration resources and decide which to fightCésar Alcaraz had only just become a firefighter in the late 1990s when he found himself ambushed by a fast-moving blaze. Barely able to breathe and with no more water left in his truck, he and his colleagues fled an inferno ravaging Spain’s Montgó mountain region, wishing their bosses had sent more support.But nearly three decades on, as an officer with Alicante’s provincial firefighters, Alcaraz has more sympathy for the agonising choices that commanders have to make. When wildfires overwhelm an area, his job resembles that of a doctor in an emergency room with too few ventilators. Continue reading...

Documentary No Country for Mothers details how US moms lack support, paid leave and childcare help – and hopes to inspire push for actionWhen Reshma Saujani set out to make a documentary, she was clear from the outset: it would not be released on streaming platforms, or at film festivals.Instead, No Country for Mothers – a new movie about how moms across the US are being failed – is being screened by hundreds of the subject themselves, nationwide, in person. Continue reading...

• The Hubble Space Telescope has detected light from a distant galaxy known as MXDFz4.4, which researchers previously believed should have been invisible. • This "impossible" light suggests that the galaxy existed during a period when the early universe was thought to be opaque. • The discovery is significant because it may provide critical insights into the process of cosmic reionization, explaining how the universe transitioned from opaque to transparent billions of years ago.

• Scientists from World Weather Attribution report that the recent U.S. heat wave would have been "virtually impossible" without the influence of human-driven climate change. • The analysis suggests that the current climate is "fundamentally different" from the era before the rapid increase in fossil fuel usage began warming the planet. • This finding highlights the direct link between global warming and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

Study also finds high humidity means people in hundreds of cities are enduring their worst ever heat stressThe heatwave scorching western Europe is the most severe and widespread ever and is only possible due to the climate crisis driven by fossil fuel burning, scientists have said.Almost half of Europe’s 850 largest cities are also enduring their worst ever heat stress, a combination of temperature and humidity, they found. Muggier conditions mean sweating is less effective at cooling the body, making heatwaves even more dangerous. Continue reading...

Vetting of former UK ambassador to Washington warned of ties to senior figures in China, Russia and IsraelA former head of MI6 has said it would have been “totally impossible” for the Foreign Office to put in place mitigations to manage Peter Mandelson’s associations with senior figures in China, Russia and Israel when he was the UK’s ambassador to the US.On Wednesday, the Guardian revealed some of the concerns that contributed to security officials recommending that Mandelson be denied developed vetting clearance in early 2025. Continue reading...

Iran seizes two ships in critical waterway as Washington and Tehran maintain separate blockades. Plus, Jodi Kantor on how to find a career you loveGood morning.Iranian forces have seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz as the US and Iran doubled down on imposing separate blockades of the shipping waterway.What has Donald Trump said? The US president announced that the US would extend the ceasefire with Iran until the country’s leaders came up with a “unified proposal” to US negotiating positions amid Tehran’s “seriously fractured” government. He had earlier threatened to renew bombing. White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Trump was “satisfied” with the US naval blockade of Iranian ports and “understands Iran is in a very weak position”.This is a developing story. Follow the liveblog here.Who took part in the debate? The primetime showdown, hosted by Nexstar Media Group, featured two Republicans – Steve Hilton, the former Fox News host and director of strategy to the former UK prime minister David Cameron, and Chad Bianco, the sheriff of Riverside County – and the four leading Democrats: the billionaire Tom Steyer, the former health secretary Xavier Becerra, the former congresswoman Katie Porter and the San Jose mayor, Matt Mahan. Continue reading...

‘Stone age’ system of booking cross-border rail tickets holding back climate action by consumers, says thinktankEurope’s “stone age” system of booking train tickets makes it needlessly difficult for travellers to avoid polluting flights, a report has found.Booking equivalent train tickets is “difficult or impossible” on almost half of the EU’s busiest international air routes, analysis from the Transport & Environment (T&E) thinktank shows. Continue reading...

Stephen Doughty says US withdrawal of support means bill cannot complete passage through parliamentA treaty over ceding sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has become “impossible to agree at political level” and the corresponding bill will not complete its passage through parliament, a Foreign Office minister has said.Stephen Doughty told the Commons that the agreement with Mauritius was initially negotiated in close coordination with the US, but Donald Trump’s position “appears to have changed”. Continue reading...

Unseasonably warm and even dangerous temperatures this week were up to 30F above average for the time of yearThe record-breaking heatwave scorching the US west this week would have been “virtually impossible” if not for the climate crisis, a team of scientists has determined.Millions of Americans from the Pacific coast to the Rockies baked under unseasonably warm and even dangerous temperatures this week, with temperatures up to 30F (17C) above average for the time of year. Continue reading...

Deep canyons in the Andes are the perfect location to catch the most energetic particles in the universe. Carlos Argüelles-Delgado reveals how these intergalactic envoys could help prove the quantum nature of gravity