Rare

While president’s last-minute endorsement of Randy Feenstra failed, he has enjoyed successes in Texas, Indiana and KentuckyZach Lahn’s victory in Iowa’s gubernatorial primary on Tuesday is a rare instance of Republican voters rejecting Donald Trump, who has used his endorsement to elevate proteges and oust rivals nationwide ahead of the November midterm elections.In the race to replace Kim Reynolds, Iowa’s Republican governor, who is not seeking re-election, the president had given Randy Feenstra, a congressman, his “Complete and Total Endorsement”, which would normally be enough to see him to victory. Instead, Lahn, a farmer and businessman, won Tuesday’s Republican primary with 38% of the vote to Feenstra’s 37.2%, according to the Associated Press. Continue reading...

• Following the resignation of Commissioner Marty Makary, the FDA is seeking a new leader to oversee the agency's commitment to accelerating treatment access for rare disease patients. • The urgency is highlighted by UX111 gene therapy, which clinical trials show can reduce toxin buildup for over eight years and slow cognitive decline if administered early. • This transition is critical because children unable to access UX111 through clinical trials continue to suffer irreversible losses while awaiting formal FDA approval.

Tragedy in Washington and near-miss in California cast in sharp relief the risk of chemical spills and explosionsFor several tense days last week, tens of thousands of southern California residents were left wondering whether a 7,000-gallon chemical storage tank would either explode or spill out into the streets.The episode cast in sharp relief the risk of chemical spills and explosions that lurk behind every corner of modern life. The methyl methacrylate that recently left the city of Garden Grove teetering on the edge of disaster is just one of many toxic chemicals commonly found in American cities. Continue reading...

• Representative Esposito is urging the FDA to accelerate the approval process for rare disease treatments, noting that 30 million Americans suffer from over 10,000 different rare conditions. • The push highlights UX111 gene therapy, which clinical trials show can reduce toxin buildup for over eight years and slow cognitive decline when administered early. • The situation is critical because standard regulatory timelines are too slow for fast-progressing diseases, leaving children to suffer permanent losses while waiting for access.

Double-sided page featuring a sketch and text sheds new light on the baroque master and his time living in RomeMore than 400 years ago, the up and coming Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens toured the streets of Rome, notebook in hand, sketching images from Renaissance works adorning the city’s churches and palazzos.Now a rare sheet, thought to be from his Roman sketchbook, has gone on display in his home city of Antwerp, shedding new light on the baroque master. Continue reading...

• US President Donald Trump arrived in Beijing on May 13, 2026, for a state visit and high-level talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping addressing major bilateral and global issues. • Key agenda items include US-China trade disputes, rare earth minerals supply chains, Taiwan's political status, artificial intelligence competition, and the ongoing Iran conflict. • The summit represents a critical diplomatic engagement aimed at managing US-China strategic competition and reducing military escalation risks.

Medicines watchdog approves two treatments for patients with spinal muscular atrophyHundreds of children with a rare muscle-wasting disease will be able to receive two drugs that can improve their survival in a move parents hailed as a “lifeline”.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) has published final draft guidance recommending that any patient who would benefit can have either drug. Continue reading...

• Astronomers discovered a rare X-ray source that provides crucial insights into the nature of 'little red dots,' compact early universe galaxies detected by the James Webb Space Telescope. • The finding, reported on May 11, 2026, reveals these dots host supermassive black holes actively accreting material, explaining their intense red glow and small size. • This breakthrough matters as it resolves a key puzzle in cosmology, confirming black hole growth mechanisms in the universe's first billion years and aiding JWST data interpretation.

Scores of women have told how they were affected by placenta accreta spectrum for an awareness campaignWomen have had to undergo major emergency surgery, including a hysterectomy, when medical staff failed to detect they had a rare but potentially fatal complication of pregnancy.Scores of women have come forward to tell their stories of how they were affected by placenta accreta spectrum (PAS) since the launch in February of a campaign to raise awareness among NHS staff and mothers-to-be of the dangers it poses. Continue reading...

Over the next two weeks stargazers have a chance to spot the blue-green orb and smudgy tail of comet known as C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS A comet formed on the edges of the solar system will grace southern skies over the next fortnight, giving viewers a rare chance to glimpse it before it disappears from view for another 170,000 years.The comet – known as C/2025 R3 PanSTARRS – had been travelling through the northern hemisphere but has “swung around the sun” and is now visible in the south, said Josh Aoraki, an astronomer at Te Whatu Stardome in Auckland, New Zealand. Continue reading...

Spinosaurid fossil bought by Stuttgart institution in 1991 has been the subject of a long restitution campaignIt is a 113-million-year-old bone of contention.After Stuttgart’s museum of natural history bought a fossilised dinosaur skull in 1991, researchers found it was the most complete spinosaurid skull known to date, belonging to a previously unknown genus of the huge meat-eating dinosaurs. Continue reading...

• Northland analysts have initiated a buy rating on USA Rare Earth as the U.S. pursues rare earth independence from China. • The move reflects broader geopolitical efforts to establish domestic supply chains for critical materials essential to technology and defense sectors. • Rare earth elements are vital for electronics, renewable energy, and military applications, making supply chain security a strategic priority.

Researchers find increase in whale deaths in the Bay, largely because of collisions with vessels on busy shipping routeGray whales have historically been a rare sight in the San Francisco Bay. They trek from the warm lagoons of Mexico’s Baja California over 10,000 miles north to the Arctic region to feast on shrimp-like animals during the summers, seldom stopping in the busy shipping corridor for prolonged periods.But in recent years, that story has changed in a dire way. A new study, published this week in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science, has found that gray whales in the Bay have been dying at alarming rates, largely due to collisions with vessels. Continue reading...

• Researchers at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) directly measured the proton capture reaction of arsenic-73 forming selenium-74, the lightest p-nucleus, using a rare isotope beam. • Led by Artemis Tsantiri, the study involved over 45 scientists from 20 U.S., Canadian, and European institutions, published in Physical Review Letters. • This first-of-its-kind experiment sharpens models of p-nuclei formation, proton-rich heavy isotopes that have puzzled astronomers.

Cheng Li-wun’s visit to Beijing has sparked controversy in Taiwan, with critics accusing her of being too close to ChinaIn a rare meeting with Taiwan’s opposition leader, China’s president, Xi Jinping, declared that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait were Chinese and wanted peace.The meeting in Beijing between Xi and Cheng Li-wun, the chair of Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT), is the first such contact in a decade. The visit has sparked controversy in Taiwan, with Cheng’s critics accusing her of being too close to China, a country that many in Taiwan see as a threat. Continue reading...

Australian PM also welcomes a conditional two-week ceasefire deal that will reopen the strait of Hormuz to global shippingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnthony Albanese has welcomed a two-week ceasefire deal between the US and Iran that is set to temporarily reopen the strait of Hormuz, as he issued a rare criticism of Donald Trump for threatening a “whole civilization will die”.The prime minister said news of the conditional ceasefire was “very positive” and was hopeful it would lead to the permanent end to a conflict that has sent global fuel prices soaring. Continue reading...

Prime minister urges Australians to consider using public transport and conserve fuel for ‘critical industry’ and othersFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralian prime minister Anthony Albanese has used a rare address to the nation to attempt to allay public fears over dwindling fuel supplies, vowing to keep petrol prices down by shoring up international supplies and ramping up local production.But the opposition has been scathing of the address, describing it as “nothing but hot air” and urging more clarity over the fuel crisis. Continue reading...

Microglossum cyanobasis – or blue-based earthtongue – is only the second such specimen ever to be found in EuropeThe discovery of a rare, tongue-shaped fungus is being hailed as a sign of the crucial ecological value of England’s national nature reserves.Never before recorded in the UK, the blue-based earthtongue, also known as Microglossum cyanobasis, was found sprouting at the Kingley Vale national nature reserve in West Sussex. Continue reading...

Tehran skeptical of president’s offer – and troop deployments for potential ground operations suggest claim of imminent end to war not credibleSomewhere between the strait of Hormuz and the screens of Bloomberg terminals around the world, the standard laws of cause and effect appear to have been suspended for Donald Trump’s war in Iran.Trump this week soft-launched his latest Iran peace talks – which he has said must be accepted or “we’ll just keep bombing our little hearts out” – with few details or proof that anyone in the Iranian regime was willing to listen to him. The ultimatum was described as “maximalist” by Iran and quickly derided as a non-starter by analysts and former government officials. Continue reading...

Storm is not likely to make a direct hit on Perth, though the city may experience heavy rainfall on Friday and SaturdayFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTropical Cyclone Narelle was again intensifying into a severe storm off Western Australia’s Kimberley coast on Wednesday with communities in the state’s world heritage-listed Shark Bay preparing for a potential direct hit on Friday night.Narelle had made a rare trip for a cyclone system by forming in the Coral Sea off Queensland and maintaining structure all the way west to the Indian Ocean, where it was expected to build into a major category four system. Continue reading...

Narelle weakens to a tropical low after bringing heavy rain to already-saturated parts of the Northern Territory Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCommunities in Australia’s far north were again on flood alert as ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle continued its destructive westward journey on Monday, with forecasts suggesting the system could re-intensify and potentially threaten the Perth region this weekend.Narelle had weakened to a tropical low system on Monday after bringing heavy rain to already-saturated parts of the Northern Territory over the weekend. Continue reading...

Ilya Remeslo sends Telegram post titled ‘Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin’ to his 90,000 followersFor years, Ilya Remeslo was a reliable pro-Kremlin operator, going after critics of the regime and smearing independent journalists, bloggers and opposition politicians.Then the 42-year-old lawyer abruptly turned on the country’s most powerful man. Late on Tuesday, Remeslo posted a manifesto to his 90,000 Telegram followers titled: “Five reasons why I stopped supporting Vladimir Putin.” Continue reading...

Photographer Jonas Kako travelled to Greenland to explore how mining for the rare earth elements and minerals that are vital for new green technologies is impacting locals

Analysing the births of a Utah family over seven generations has revealed that their disproportionate number of boys could be caused by a selfish Y chromosome