Author: Bruce Hawsking

Middle East Crisis News: Hamas Has Responded to Cease-Fire Proposal, Officials Say
6Feb Avatar photoBy Bruce HawskingNo Comments
World

Middle East Crisis News: Hamas Has Responded to Cease-Fire Proposal, Officials Say

Israel has called securing the freedom of the hostages abducted to Gaza a key goal in its war against Hamas, so many in the country were shocked on Tuesday when it emerged that at least a fifth of the captives were already dead. The news was likely to worsen a furor in Israel, where a debate over the government’s course of action in Gaza regarding the hostages has become divisive.Israeli intelligence officers have concluded that at least 30 of the remaining 136 hostages captured by Hamas and its allies on Oct. 7 have died since the start of the war, according to a confidential assessment that was reviewed by The New York Times. The bodies of two other dead Israelis, killed in 2014 during a previous war between Israel and Hamas, have been held in the territory ever since, bringing the total...
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Users of Zepbound or Mounjaro Had Lower Blood Pressure in Study
5Feb Avatar photoBy Bruce HawskingNo Comments
Health

Users of Zepbound or Mounjaro Had Lower Blood Pressure in Study

A study of the weight loss drug tirzepatide showed that people who took it had significantly lower blood pressures after 36 weeks of using the medication.Tirzepatide, made by Eli Lilly, is used to treat Type 2 diabetes, under the brand name Mounjaro, and to treat obesity, under the brand name Zepbound. It is the latest among a new class of weight loss drugs, and its chief competitor is semaglutide, made by Novo Nordisk and sold as Ozempic for diabetes and as Wegovy for weight loss. For both drugs, researchers have been assessing whether they have additional effects that go beyond weight loss.The blood pressure study, supported by Eli Lilly and published on Monday in the journal Hypertension, was part of a larger effort to assess tirzepatide’s effects on weight loss. Researchers had already...
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​​NHL player poll: Why 78 percent say there should be no neck-guard mandate
5Feb Avatar photoBy Bruce HawskingNo Comments
Sports

​​NHL player poll: Why 78 percent say there should be no neck-guard mandate

Mandatory neck guards are coming to youth hockey in the United States.Already required in Canada and many other countries, USA Hockey, which governs the sport at the amateur level in the U.S., has long held its line at “recommending” laceration protection — namely neck guards, but also cut-resistant socks, sleeves and undergarments.The decision was announced Sunday and will go into effect on Aug. 1, about nine months after the issue was thrust into the spotlight when former NHL player Adam Johnson died of a skate cut to the neck during a game in England.More NHLers have begun to wear neck protection in the months since, either regularly or to try to find something comfortable.“You’re seeing more and more of it,” one player told The Athletic. “I wear the shirt for my wrists. I think you’re ...
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Amazon Introduces Rufus, an AI Shopping Tool, and Reports Earnings
5Feb Avatar photoBy Bruce HawskingNo Comments
Technology

Amazon Introduces Rufus, an AI Shopping Tool, and Reports Earnings

Amazon entered the consumer chatbot fray on Thursday, announcing a new artificial intelligence personal shopping assistant as the company races to catch up with other tech giants.Customers can ask the tool, Rufus, product questions directly in the search bar of the company’s mobile app, Amazon said in a blog post. The A.I. will then provide answers in a conversational tone. The examples provided in the announcement included comparing different kinds of coffee makers, recommendations for gifts and a follow-up question about the durability of running shoes.Rufus will be available starting on Thursday to a “small subset of customers,” according to the post, and it will be rolled out to additional customers in the coming weeks. Amazon declined to provide more details about how many people will...
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Fed Chair Powell Says Officials Need More ‘Good’ Data Before Cutting Rates
5Feb Avatar photoBy Bruce HawskingNo Comments
Business

Fed Chair Powell Says Officials Need More ‘Good’ Data Before Cutting Rates

Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, made clear during a “60 Minutes” interview aired on Sunday night that the central bank is moving toward cutting interest rates as inflation recedes, but that policymakers need to see continued progress toward cooler price increases to make the first move.Mr. Powell was interviewed on Thursday, after the Fed’s meeting last week but before Friday’s blockbuster jobs report. He reiterated his message that lower borrowing costs are coming. But he also said that the Fed’s next meeting in March is probably too early for policymakers to feel sure enough that inflation is coming under control to reduce rates.“We think we can be careful in approaching this decision just because of the strength that we’re seeing in the economy,” Mr. Powell said duri...
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El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele Wins Re-Election
5Feb Avatar photoBy Bruce HawskingNo Comments
World

El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele Wins Re-Election

Nayib Bukele, the millennial president who reshaped El Salvador by cracking down on both gangs and civil liberties, looked poised to win another five years in office after polls closed on Sunday.The electoral authorities had not released official results by Sunday night, but Mr. Bukele claimed victory in a post on X, saying he had won more than 85 percent of the vote. Legal scholars say Mr. Bukele violated the Constitution of El Salvador by seeking a second consecutive term, but most Salvadorans don’t seem to care. Surveys showed that voters overwhelmingly supported his candidacy and were likely to maintain the ruling party’s supermajority, extending Mr. Bukele’s control over every lever of government for years.Since imposing a state of emergency in the spring of 2022. the Bukele governmen...
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