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A 63-year-old man has been functionally cured of HIV with a bone marrow transplant. While bone marrow donations have resulted in HIV remission in the past, this is the first time that has occurred with a donation from the recipient’s sibling.

The man received a bone marrow donation from his brother, who has a rare genetic mutation called CCR5Δ32 that confers resistance to HIV-1, the most common type of human immunodeficiency virus. When a person has two copies of this genetic mutation, the CCR5 surface protein, to which HIV commonly binds, is prevented from being expressed on human immune cells called T cells. A paper published today in Nature Microbiology showed how, after the transplant, the donor cells had replaced the HIV-positive man’s bone marrow cells and their genes had two copies of a CCR5Δ32 mutation (not all cells in the recipient’s body got replaced, however). His healthy T cell count soared in the year after the procedure and stayed at healthy levels after he stopped antiretroviral therapy (ART)—the gold standard treatment for HIV—two years later.

ART drugs can prevent HIV from reproducing in the body and spreading to other people. But they don’t eliminate the virus entirely—it sticks around in dormant reservoirs around the body. If a person with HIV stops taking ART, the virus begins spreading again.

In the new study, the researchers tested the recipient’s blood, gut tissues, and bone marrow to search for reservoirs of HIV after the bone marrow transplant. They found no detectable HIV in the places it would normally linger in someone who was on ART.

“If this reaction does not happen in all or at least most of the immunological tissues, there might be a risk for rebound at some point,” says Marius Trøseid, an infectious disease specialist at Oslo University Hospital and a co-author of the paper. “I think we have shown, for the first time, that it’s a complete engraftment—both in peripheral blood, which has been shown in several other cases, in bone marrow, which has also been shown in a couple of other cases, and then also the gut mucosal tissue, which we think is key for [a] cure.”

But this treatment isn’t yet available for most people with HIV. Patients in New York City, London, Düsseldorf, and other places who achieved HIV remission after a bone marrow transplant from a donor with a CCR5Δ32 mutation each needed it for another reason, such as cancer treatment.

“This is really only for a patient with additional malignancies or medical conditions that require a transplant because [by] itself, it’s just too risky” compared with ongoing ART treatment, says Jingmei Hsu, an oncologist at NYU Langone Health’s Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center and lead author of the study on a patient in New York City, who was not part of the new paper.

For recipients, bone marrow transplants present significant risks, including severe infections, graft versus host disease (GVHD), in which donor cells attack the patient’s body, or even death. So “the risk of transplant needs to be substantially lower than the risk of the patient dying from their malignancy,” Trøseid says.

Through various studies that have measured the effect of a bone marrow transplant on a person’s HIV status, scientists have seen the infection go into remission even when the donor does not have two copies of the CCR5Δ32 mutation. Because the new study used donor cells from the patient’s sibling, it adds novel information about how these transplants work.

If the cells are too different from those of the donor, transplant complications such as GVHD could be more of a concern, says Björn-Erik Ole Jensen, head of the infectious disease department at the University Hospital of Dusseldorf, who was not involved in this study. If the donor cells are too similar to those of the recipient, however, there’s a risk that the treatment could fail to effectively destroy infected T cells.

“[A sibling transplant] may be a difference, but we don’t understand everything perfectly,” Jensen says. “This is why all these cases are still interesting.”

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Open since 2016 on the NRG Solar Terrace atop the SAP Tower, the organic farm typically grows nearly 40 crops, including broccoli, squash, eggplant, peppers, artichoke, strawberries, garlic, and herbs. Harvested ingredients show up in the stadium via the hors d’oeuvres passed out in suites, the fresh market salads served in premium clubs, and as special menu items sold at select concessions vendor stands. Crops are replanted annually after each harvest, with one to two planting cycles per season, depending on growth. Anything left over is donated to local food banks and nonprofits.

Open since 2016 on the NRG Solar Terrace atop the SAP Tower, the organic farm typically grows nearly 40 crops, including broccoli, squash, eggplant, peppers, artichoke, strawberries, garlic, and herbs. Harvested ingredients show up in the stadium via the hors d’oeuvres passed out in suites, the fresh market salads served in premium clubs, and as special menu items sold at select concessions vendor stands. Crops are replanted annually after each harvest, with one to two planting cycles per season, depending on growth. Anything left over is donated to local food banks and nonprofits.

“Faithful Farm is the largest on-site farm at a stadium in North America at 7,500 square feet, and it’s not just for show,” Jon Severson, the regional executive chef for Levy, the hospitality team at Levi’s Stadium, tells Food & Wine. “Each year, we plan menus across the stadium around the crop harvest calendar, and we work proactively with our farm partner, Farmscape, to cultivate in-season produce that is ripe at just the right time to bring peak freshness to game day.”

Inside Levi’s, fans have access to more than 100 food and beverage concessions, which include food stands, bars, and beer carts. On Super Bowl Sunday, two dishes will be sourced directly from the farm: the Gilroy Garlic Steak Frites sold near sections 109 and 315 and in the East Field Club, and the Rooftop Bulgogi Vegan Cheesesteak, available in the Bud Light Club.

“We’re using collard greens in our Rooftop Bulgogi Vegan Cheesesteak. It brings a crisp, slightly bitter freshness to cut the rich and creamy sriracha,” says Severson. “We’re also roasting hanger steak for our Gilroy Garlic Steak Frites with rosemary from our rooftop for a nice, herb-forward c

rust. It’s hyper-local sourcing on a massive scale, unlike anywhere else.”

Fans likely won’t see the farm when attending Sunday’s game — it’s only available for certain ticket holders to visit during the regular season — but attendees seeking something more elevated to eat than nachos or hot dogs (though rest assured, they’re still there, too) may taste its impact with locally grown flavors that are raising the bar on stadium fare. 

Severson adds, “It’s the ultimate tool that our chefs use to put an extra culinary touch on all that fans can enjoy at the stadium.”

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Credit: Courtesy of 49ers.com

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Hmmmm … This proves

“It is not 

Necessary for a presidential candidate to be able to read or even write; even a congenital idiot can run for the presidency of the United States of America and serve if you were elected. “

Edgar Rice Burroughs 

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The image showed President Trump in a white and red robe, commonly used in renderings of Jesus Christ and in Scripture prophesying his return. Bright golden light, which is used to depict divine intervention in religious imagery, radiated from Mr. Trump’s hand as he touched the forehead of a sick man. A woman observed the scene with her hands steepled in prayer.

As he received two bags of a McDonald’s food delivery to the Oval Office on Monday morning, Mr. Trump told reporters that he did not catch all that religious imagery. He said he had thought the image he had posted to his Truth Social account had depicted him not as Jesus — but as a physician.

“I thought it was me as a doctor,” Mr. Trump said of the social media post, which he deleted after an outcry. “Only the fake news could come up with that.”

He added, “I make people better.”

The post’s removal was a rare retreat for Mr. Trump, who had posted the apparently A.I.-generated image shortly after using the same platform to attack the American-born Pope Leo XIV, a vocal critic of the U.S. war in Iran. The appearance of the image had sparked an evening’s worth of backlash from religious leaders and Christian supporters who were hurt and shocked that Mr. Trump had appeared to depict himself as a Jesus-like figure.

Later in the day, in an interview with CBS News, Mr. Trump repeated his explanation that he believed the image, which he said he thought was made by “a very beautiful, talented artist,” had depicted him as a doctor.

“I viewed that as a picture of me being a doctor in fixing — you had the Red Cross right there, you had, you know, medical people surrounding me,” he said. “And I was like the doctor, you know, as a little fun playing the doctor and making people better. So that’s what it was viewed as. That’s what most people thought.”

He said he had taken the image down because “I didn’t want to have anybody be confused. People were confused.”

Mr. Trump did not apologize for either post, just as he did not apologize for threatening to wipe out the Iranian civilization last week. (“I’m fine with it,” he said of the threat on Fox News on Sunday, because it had brought Tehran to the negotiating table.) The post attacking Pope Leo XIV as “weak on crime” remains online, and so do countless posts from legions of critics who believe Mr. Trump’s mental fitness for office should be evaluated.

As a rule, Mr. Trump does not apologize for doing and saying things that hurt or offend people, and officials in his White House characterize his behavior as radically refreshing and transparent. Outrage from people representing powerful constituencies that helped elect him to a second term has only rarely prompted him to backtrack or retreat.

In February, Mr. Trump deleted a racist video depicting former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, the former first lady, as apes after several members of the Republican Party — including Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the Senate’s only Black Republican — called on him to remove it. Mr. Trump took the post down, blamed a staff member and never apologized.

“I just looked at the first part — it was about voter fraud in some place, Georgia,” Mr. Trump told reporters of that video in February. “I didn’t see the whole thing.”

A little over two months later, Mr. Trump was again in a position of explaining the thought process behind something inflammatory he posted to his social media account. (Other posts sent on Sunday night included a rendering of a Trump office building on the moon and a meme mocking the long careers of Democratic politicians.)

Mr. Trump was talking to reporters in the first place because White House officials had staged a fast-food delivery to the Oval Office to promote a Trump administration-led policy that has removed taxes on overtime and tips. A woman named Sharon Simmons delivered the bags of burgers and avoided the president’s questions about whether she opposed “men playing in women’s sports.” Ms. Simmons stayed on message: “I’m here about no tax on tips.”

Standing next to Ms. Simmons, who wore a red shirt that said “DoorDash Grandma,” Mr. Trump refused to apologize for his post attacking the American-born pope. “I’m just responding to Pope Leo,” Mr. Trump said. “There’s nothing to apologize for. He’s wrong.”

Leo is one of the world’s most powerful critics of the U.S. war with Iran. In recent days, he has condemned the worship of mortals and money, the pitfalls of arrogance, and the “absurd and inhuman violence” unleashed by fighting that has further destabilized the Middle East.

“Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise,” Mr. Trump wrote in a lengthy social media post on Sunday night. “He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican.”

On Monday morning, Leo told reporters he had “no fear” of the Trump administration. He added that he was not afraid of “speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do.”

Later on Monday, Vice President JD Vance, the highest-ranking Catholic in the federal government, was asked to respond to the president’s criticism of the pope in an interview on Fox News.

Mr. Vance said that he would advise the Vatican to “to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of, you know, what’s going on in the Catholic Church, and let the President United States stick to dictating American public policy.”

Other prominent conservatives, and not only Catholics, quickly expressed outrage at the image that Mr. Trump posted of himself as a Jesus-like figure.

“Does he actually think this?” Riley Gaines, the anti-transgender rights activist, posted on social media. “God shall not be mocked.”

David Brody, an evangelical journalist with the Christian Broadcasting Network, called on Mr. Trump to take it down.

Last year, after the death of Pope Francis, Mr. Trump posted a photo of himself as pope and joked that he would like to be the next pope.

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President Trump said on Monday that he had thought the image he had posted to his Truth Social account had depicted him not as Jesus — but as a physician. Credit…Tierney L. Cross/The New York Times

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“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn’t become a king, the palace instead becomes a circus. — Turkish proverb,”

 

Hmmmmm…History is repeating itself yet again!

 

Isaiah 59:14

New Living Translation

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You might find these videos enlightening!

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A. R. Bernard: one of many

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The Artemis II moon mission might have come to an end after a 10-day voyage around the moon and back. But thankfully, the mission’s crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen—as well as NASA’s cameras on Earth and in space, captured their daring journey from start to finish.

In fact, the mission was largely communicated to the world in photos, especially those from Monday’s capstone lunar flyby. From the moment the Orion spacecraft left the launchpad last Wednesday, each milestone was made timeless with stunning, perspective-shattering visuals that were beamed down to Earth via the Orion spacecraft’s novel laser-based communications system.

Here’s a look at twelve of our favorite photographs from the mission, including the moon photos that have inspired billions to gaze at the night sky anew.

1. Launch Day

Thousands of people trekked to Florida’s Space Coast on Wednesday, April 1, to watch the lift off of the first crewed moon mission since 1972. The launch went smoothly, and within a few hours the astronauts were in a controlled orbit, positioning themselves for a maneuver to put them on course for the moon the next day.

NASA

2. Spaceship Earth

On Tuesday, April 2, the Orion spacecraft burned 6,700 pounds of fuel to lurch out of Earth orbit and toward its distant target. The astronauts gazed out the capsule’s windows at an ever-shrinking Earth, committed to their long journey.

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NASA

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Tucker Carlson has called Donald Trump a “slave” who “can’t make his own decisions,” in the latest escalation of the feud between the two former allies.

“I’ve always liked Trump and still feel sorry for him, as I do for all slaves,” Carlson told Newsmax Friday. “He’s hemmed in by other forces. He can’t make his own decisions. It’s awful to watch.”

His remarks came shortly after Trump posted a lengthy Truth Social rant, which took aim at several MAGA acolytes who have split from the president in recent months over the ongoing conflict in Iran.

In the post, Trump described Carlson, as well as other right-wing commentators Megyn Kelly and Candace Owens, as well as conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, as all having “Low IQs.”

“They’re stupid people, they know it, their families know it, and everyone else knows it, too! Look at their past, look at their record. They don’t have what it takes, and they never did!” he fumed.

“They’ve all been thrown off Television, lost their Shows, and aren’t even invited on TV because nobody cares about them, they’re NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS, and will say anything necessary for some “free” and cheap publicity.”

Both Carlson and Trump have recently ramped up their rhetoric and actions against one another.

In response to Thursday’s social media tirade from the president, Carlson has launched a new line of merchandise, including baseball caps bearing the phrase “LOW IQ,” in reference to the insults.

“Calling all nut jobs, troublemakers, and third-rate podcasters! New merch just dropped,” The Tucker Carlson Network posted Friday, advertising the new apparel.

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Tucker Carlson has called Donald Trump a “slave” who “can’t make his own decisions,”

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By Tyler Pager

Tyler Pager is a White House correspondent. He traveled with Vice President JD Vance to Islamabad, Pakistan.

April 12, 2026Updated 2:45 p.m. ET

After more than 16 straight hours of closed-door meetings that stretched into early Sunday morning, Vice President JD Vance ambled into an ornate ballroom in Pakistan and let out a sigh. When he arrived at the lectern to speak to the press, he grimaced.

He talked about “shortcomings,” “bad news,” and not being “able to make headway.” The United States and Iran did not reach any agreement.

Exhausted and frustrated after 21 hours on the ground, Mr. Vance provided few details, took three questions, and departed. He did not address whether the two-week cease-fire with Iran would hold, or what would happen to the Strait of Hormuz or if President Trump would now follow through with his threat to wipe Iranian civilization off the map.

It was a remarkable conclusion to a high-stakes diplomatic trip for Mr. Vance, who made his opposition known to a full-scale war in Iran. America’s allies and adversaries alike were pinning their hopes on Mr. Vance to find a way out of a conflict that has upended the global economy, frayed alliances, and expanded to the wider region.

Instead, he left with nothing. He blamed Iran for the failed talks, saying the United States sought a commitment that Iran would not seek a nuclear weapon, and it refused.

That it was Mr. Vance who found himself in this position was extraordinary in itself. The man inside Mr. Trump’s inner circle most opposed to the war was tasked with leading the highest-level talks between the United States and Iran in nearly 50 years. Mr. Trump, for his part, was thousands of miles away at the Kaseya Center in Miami, watching a U.F.C. fight alongside Marco Rubio, his secretary of state and national security adviser.

For Mr. Vance, the trip represented the highest-profile assignment of his tenure, which has largely been marked by domestic politics. White House officials had hoped he would be spending the months leading up to the midterms traveling the country to boost the Republican Party. Instead, he spent the early part of the week in Hungary campaigning for Prime Minister Viktor Orban and concluded it in Pakistan, trying to negotiate the end of a messy and complicated war.

The United States and Israel have spent more than five weeks bombing Iran. They have assassinated the supreme leader and other senior officials, hit 13,000 target,s and, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, killed more than 1,700 civilians. Iran responded by launching attacks at countries across the region, including U.S. military bases, and effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz.

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Vice President Vance is arriving for a news conference after meeting with representatives from Pakistan and Iran in Islamabad on Sunday. Credit…Pool photo by Jacquelyn Martin

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Hmmmm … Really Tasty!

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• Asparagus cooks quickly, so make sure to have all your ingredients ready by the stove. It’s best served warm or room temperature; ice-cold asparagus is unpleasant.

How to Buy and Store Asparagus

Asparagus comes in different shades and sizes, and each has its strengths. Here are some tips on how best to choose, clean, and store it.

What does asparagus’s color mean?

There are three colors of asparagus: green, purple, and white.

Green asparagus is by far the most common and is available year-round in American supermarkets. You’ll find thin, medium, and fat green spears in almost any market. Whatever its thickness, green asparagus should be cooked al dente.

White asparagus is more common in Europe. It is white because the plants are covered in mulch to prevent them from developing the chlorophyll that gives plants their green color. White asparagus must be completely peeled from tip to tail, and, unlike green, should be well-cooked. It is a mistake to cook green and white asparagus together.

Purple asparagus has a beautiful violet skin that turns dark green when cooked. Its taste is similar to that of green asparagus.

What about its thickness?

Asparagus usually comes in three sizes: pencil-thin, medium, and jumbo. The thickness of the asparagus does not indicate its maturity; a thin asparagus spear does not grow into a fat one. What you’ll choose is based on personal preference and what you’re cooking. Some describe thin spears as grassy or thicker ones as meaty.

• Thin asparagus is great for stir-fries and sautéing.

• Fat asparagus is good for roasting or grilling, and best when you want to serve whole spears, even simply steamed.

• Medium spears work in almost any cooking method.

How should I store asparagus?

Store your asparagus in your crisper drawer, wrapped in a damp paper towel and then in a plastic bag, no longer than three days. Do not clean it first. Or you can store asparagus upright in a container with an inch of water. Place it in the fridge, uncovered.

Preparing the Asparagus

Before you begin cooking, take a minute to snap or cut off the tough bottom ends of the asparagus. If you have nice fat spears, peel their tough skin away too. We’ll show you how.

How to Snap Off the Ends

Snapping off woody asparagus bottoms gives you spears of slightly different lengths, but guarantees no tough ends when you sit down to eat.

To snap, hold a spear with both hands and find the natural bending point near the bottom of the stalk. Then snap. Make sure your hands really are near the bottom, or you risk discarding too much; a stalk will snap in the middle if you’re not careful. The spear should break at a point where the asparagus has started to lose its moisture.

Cutting your spears is fine as long as you take care to avoid the woody ends. (But please, don’t use the discarded ends to make anything but compost.)

How to Peel Asparagus

The skin on larger asparagus spears doesn’t soften with cooking, which is why it’s best to peel the lower stalks of medium or fat spears, both green and purple. Always peel white asparagus.

To peel, place the spear flat on your work surface. Using a vegetable peeler, preferably one with a swivel blade, peel the asparagus from about halfway up the spear toward the root end. Never peel the tips. Use a light hand, or you’ll peel off too much of the sweet core.

Asparagus can be peeled a few hours ahead of time, wrapped, and refrigerated.

How to Roast Asparagus

Roasting asparagus allows for a slight caramelizing of the vegetable’s skin. It’s luscious and a fast way to get delicious asparagus on the table without standing at the stove.

Here’s a very simple method that just requires olive oil, salt, and pepper, but you can add other spices as well: cayenne, red pepper flakes, or smoked salt. Or try chopped walnuts, a sprinkle of grated Parmesan, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Heat your oven to 425 degrees, and dress asparagus spears lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Spread them on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan in one layer and roast until lightly browned and sizzling, and just firm-tender. If you are roasting on a baking sheet, that should take 10 to 12 minutes, or about 15 minutes in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan. The trick here is getting the spears nicely colored without overcooking them, and you should always err on the undercooked side — asparagus will continue to cook off the heat.

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Recipe: Roasted Asparagus With Crispy Leeks and Capers

Credit…Andrew Purcell for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Carrie Purcell.

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How to Steam, Blanch, and Simmer Asparagus

Simply steamed or simmered asparagus is delicious, and you can dress the spears however you like: in a bagna cauda, with lemon juice and olive oil, or nothing at all. Any size spear will work, although medium is best. We’ll also tell you how to blanch asparagus, a useful method when incorporating the vegetable into other dishes.

How to Steam Asparagus

It’s easy to cook asparagus in a steamer. Bring 1 inch of well-salted water to a boil in a pot with a steamer insert, and place the spears in the steamer in a single layer. (If necessary, work in batches; do not pile in the asparagus or try to cook too many at a time.) Cover the pot and cook for about 3 minutes, depending upon size of spears. Err on the undercooked side — asparagus will continue to cook off the heat.

Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon or tongs and blot the excess water away with a towel.

How to Simmer Asparagus

Simmering asparagus is another easy way to cook asparagus quickly, and a good option if you don’t own a steamer.

In a wide pot, boil a few inches of generously salted water and add your asparagus. Cook at a rapid simmer for 2 to 4 minutes, depending on the size of your asparagus. Again, don’t cook too many at one time; a dozen in the pot at once is plenty. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon or tongs and blot to remove any remaining water.

Old recipes sometimes call for using twine to tie asparagus into bundles, to make it easier to retrieve them from the water. If you do, blot the cooked bundle, transfer to a platter, and snip the twine with kitchen shears.

How to Blanch Asparagus

Spring pasta dishes may call for blanching asparagus, and it’s quite simple.

In a wide pot, boil a few inches of generously salted water and add your asparagus, either whole stalks or cut into pieces. Cook at a rapid simmer for 1 minutes. Then immediately plunge the spears into a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking and to keep them green. Remove from ice

water and blot, otherwise risk waterlogged asparagus.

How to Prepare Raw Asparagus

Tender, sweet asparagus can be delicious raw and dressed simply with olive oil, lemon, and salt. And you don’t even need to turn on your stove.

Fat asparagus works best in raw preparations, like this fast recipe for a delicious asparagus salad.

Using a sharp, thin-bladed knife, slice 6 to 8 fat asparagus spears very thinly on the diagonal. (Alternatively, you can cut them on a mandoline, or use a peeler to slice them lengthwise into long, thin ribbons.) Pile them into a bowl and dress with 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 tablespoons olive oil, and a few pinches of salt. Toss and serve.

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Recipe: Tofu and Asparagus With Frizzled Leeks

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Christopher Testani for The New York Times

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