Month: January 2024

Israel-Hamas War Updates: U.S. Strikes Houthi Targets in Yemen For a Third Time
16
Jan
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By Jean Thompson
International

Israel-Hamas War Updates: U.S. Strikes Houthi Targets in Yemen For a Third Time

Hila Rotem Shoshani had invited her friend Emily Hand over for a sleepover in Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel. The girls, then 12 and 8, woke early the next morning, Oct. 7, to the sound of thundering booms — the start of the deadliest attack in the history of their country.For about six hours, Hila and Emily hid in the home’s safe room with Hila’s mother, Raaya Rotem, 54, as Hamas attackers overran the kibbutz. Then armed gunmen burst in with guns and knives and took the three out into a landscape of horror, past dead bodies and burning buildings, to a…
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An Ultrasound Experiment Tackles a Giant Problem in Brain Medicine
16
Jan
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By Jean Thompson
Health

An Ultrasound Experiment Tackles a Giant Problem in Brain Medicine

There is a problem with the recently approved Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm. It can remove some of the amyloid that forms brain plaques that are hallmarks of the disease. But most of the drug is wasted because it hits an obstacle, the blood-brain barrier, that protects the brain from toxins and infections but also prevents many drugs from entering.Researchers wondered if they could improve that grim result by trying something different: they would open the blood-brain barrier for a short time while they delivered the drug. Their experimental method was to use highly focused pulses of ultrasound along with tiny gas…
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Peacock’s wild-card game likely just the start of the NFL’s playoff streaming era
16
Jan
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By Jean Thompson
International

Peacock’s wild-card game likely just the start of the NFL’s playoff streaming era

The only place a reverse happens in the NFL is on the field. The league rarely moves backward when it comes to increasing its media rights coffers. If you were to place a wager on whether Saturday’s first-ever exclusive, live-streamed NFL playoff game is going to be repeated in the future, you’d be wise to bet big on the same thing happening during the 2024 postseason.Hans Schroeder, the NFL’s executive vice president of media distribution, nearly said as much during a conference call with reporters three days before the game.“As it relates to the wild-card game exclusively, we’re excited to…
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Do You Have ‘Bookshelf Wealth’?
16
Jan
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By Jean Thompson
Science and Technology

Do You Have ‘Bookshelf Wealth’?

Breana Newton, a legal coordinator in Princeton, N.J., who posts regularly about books on TikTok, was one of the people who responded to Ms. Blalock’s video. “I am going to show you bookshelf wealth,” Ms. Newton, 33, says in a video of her own. “Ready?”She then gives viewers a brief tour of her home, showing books everywhere — on shelves, in overflow piles here and there, and strewed across the bed. Absent is the sense that the rooms have been staged, or that the books were bought with the consideration of how they would look on Instagram.In an interview, Ms.…
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New U.S. Solar and Electric Car Factories Face Familiar Challenge: China
16
Jan
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By Jean Thompson
Investments and Business

New U.S. Solar and Electric Car Factories Face Familiar Challenge: China

The Biden administration has begun pumping more than $2 trillion into U.S. factories and infrastructure, investing huge sums to try to strengthen American industry and fight climate change.But the effort is facing a familiar threat: a surge of low-priced products from China. That is drawing the attention of President Biden and his aides, who are considering new protectionist measures to make sure American industry can compete against Beijing.As U.S. factories spin up to produce electric vehicles, semiconductors and solar panels, China is flooding the market with similar goods, often at significantly lower prices than American competitors. A similar influx is…
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Guatemala’s Presidential Inauguration is Delayed, Flaring Tempers
15
Jan
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By Jean Thompson
International

Guatemala’s Presidential Inauguration is Delayed, Flaring Tempers

Opponents of the anticorruption crusader Bernardo Arévalo delayed his inauguration as president of Guatemala on Sunday, ratcheting political tensions higher in Central America’s most populous country.Confusion around the transition of power emerged shortly after Guatemala’s highest court on Sunday allowed conservative members of Congress opposed to Mr. Arévalo to maintain their leadership of the chamber.After that ruling, arguments among lawmakers flared in the chamber around midday when Congress was expected to officially name Mr. Arévalo as president. Some congressional members went behind closed doors; as they remained deliberating, other lawmakers contended they were trying to derail the transfer of power,…
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