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Preeclampsia is a dangerous complication during pregnancy that endangers both the mother and fetus. New research has uncovered a possible mechanism for how this potentially life-threatening condition occurs and the potential of hydroxychloroquine to treat it. Researchers knew that in pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia, the development of the placenta is impaired. Furthermore, they knew levels of placental DNA in the mother's blood, known as cell-free fetal DNA (cffDNA), are significantly higher in women who experience preeclampsia. So, a team led by Vikki Abrahams, Ph.D. studied the interactions of cultured placental cells called trophoblasts with levels of cffDNA observed in preeclampsia,...

Despite Germany’s last-ditch attempt at realism, the European Union recently approved a 2035 ban on gas-powered cars, moving ahead with its “net zero” emissions agenda. In the U.S., the cost of achieving net-zero carbon emissions would be staggering – $50 trillion if the goal is reached by 2050 – as would the demand for raw materials, which in most cases would exceed current annual worldwide production. The impact on world climate, however, would be negligible. Emissions in developing countries will continue to increase as those countries’ focus is economic growth for their citizens, not permanent economic misery to “save” the...

CLEVELAND -- Former NFL defensive end Chris Smith, who was touched by tragedy while he played for the Cleveland Browns, has died. He was 31. Smith's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, and the Browns confirmed his passing on Tuesday. The cause of death was not immediately known. “Rest in Peace Chris,” Rosenhaus wrote on Twitter. “Condolences to all his family, friends and loved ones. We will miss you.” Smith played for the XFL’s Seattle Sea Dragons this season. He previously spent eight seasons in the NFL with Jacksonville, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Las Vegas and Houston. While Smith was with the Browns in 2019,...

The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “strongest-ever” vehicle emissions standards designed to drive mass adoption of electric cars within a decade will increase the United States’ dependence on China, experts warn.“It benefits the Chinese Communist Party because they control the critical minerals supply chain that is going to be necessary to build out the batteries for those electric vehicles,” said Mandy Gunasekara, director of the Center for Energy and Conservation at Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative think tank, in an April 17 interview with The Epoch Times.Gunasekara served as chief of staff in the EPA under former President Donald Trump. She...

Vitamin D deficiency could be the reason African American men experience more aggressive prostate cancer at a younger age compared with European American men, new research suggests. The study could pave the way for revised nutritional guidelines. While previous research has investigated vitamin D in the context of health disparities, this is the first study to look at its functions in a genome-wide manner in African American versus European American men. "African American men are more likely than European American men to develop prostate cancer, and are twice as likely to die from the disease," said Moray Campbell, Ph.D. "Large-scale...

Demand for California’s new downpayment assistance program overwhelmed the system and depleted its $300 million budget in less than 12 days, with applications put on pause effective April 7, according to the housing finance agency.The legislator responsible for proposing the program responded optimistically to the news. “It is incredible and inspiring to see that the launch of the California Dream for All program has already been so successful,” Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) said in a statement April 14. “The fact that it has helped more than 2,400 first-time homebuyers with their down payments in its first...

The European Parliament has approved three climate laws that form the heart of EU efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by 2030. […] The first law up for adoption was the updated version of the Emission Trading System (ETS) on industry, increasing industry emission-reduction targets to 62 percent by 2030. […] To keep EU industries competitive, a carbon border levy (CBAM) directed at goods coming into Europe was also adopted by a broad majority in parliament, making up the second leg of the so-called holy trinity. The levy will apply to imported steel, fertilizer, aluminum,...

Taiwan will buy as many as 400 U.S. land-launched Harpoon missiles in the face of rising threat from China, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing a trade group's leader and people familiar with the issue. A contract with Boeing that the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command issued on Taiwan's behalf marks the first time the island will get the mobile, land-launched version, the report said citing Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council. It previously purchased the ship-launched version. This month, U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California and stressed the need to accelerate...

A novel software tool set to improve the management of elderly atrial fibrillation patients with multiple conditions is being designed by the EHRA-PATHS consortium. Professor Hein Heidbuchel said, "EHRA-PATHS is developing a standardized approach to ensure that patients with atrial fibrillation receive evidenced-based therapies for the comorbidities that underlie or complicate their heart rhythm disorder." Atrial fibrillation is the most common heart rhythm disorder, affecting more than 40 million people worldwide. Patients with atrial fibrillation have an average of five co-existing conditions including high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart failure, obesity and chronic kidney disease. These comorbidities have a...

Nineteen months ago, the last U.S. soldier was lifted out of Afghanistan, but hundreds of Americans were left behind in a country overrun by the Taliban and abandoned by President Biden. Yet in a recent press conference, Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby had the audacity to state that he was proud of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. This followed the release of a report from the Biden administration that lays the blame for this withdrawal at the feet of President Trump, taking little to no responsibility. This is a sign of failed leadership. President Biden seems to forget that a year and...

A Chicago woman was arrested after a wild gas station confrontation ended in a vehicle being flipped over in the middle of a suburban street on Sunday.

So yesterday, Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy put the House GOP debt ceiling offer on the table – “the plan” basics everyone’s been asking for.…Amid this grim scene, Mr. McCarthy has a fair opening offer for President Biden. One: “Defaulting on our debt is not an option.” Two: House Republicans won’t pass an increase in the federal debt without reforms or spending restraint. “A no-strings-attached debt limit increase cannot pass,” he said, in a red line amid all the red ink.Unfortunately, we didn’t get to hear President Biden’s reaction to it, as the White House called lid on business...

EXCERPTS: KHARTOUM, Sudan -- A 24-hour cease-fire reportedly reached between Sudan's rival generals went into effect on Tuesday, but fighting continued in the capital and it was unclear whether it would hold. "The fighting remains underway," Atiya Abdulla Atiya of the Sudan Doctors' Syndicate told The Associated Press. "We are hearing constant gunfire." The truce between Sudan's military and a paramilitary group known as the Rapid Support Forces came into effect at 6 p.m. local time on the fourth day of heavy fighting. The RSF immediately accused the military of violating the cease-fire, while there was no comment from the...

A new comprehensive US Senate report on the origins of COVID-19 is pointing to at least two different lab leaks ultimately causing the worldwide pandemic. According to Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), a lack of change in operations by both the Chinese and the United States could lead to another outbreak as well.While speaking to reporters (Just the News), Marshall bemoaned the fact that gain-of-function research was being done at the Wuhan facility and noted that there’s no indication that China has changed its procedures. US money is still flowing to Chinese labs despite the communist state’s attempts to cover up...

The US has sensitive nuclear technology at a nuclear power plant inside Ukraine and is warning Russia not to touch it, according to a letter the US Department of Energy sent to Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy firm Rosatom last month. In the letter, which was reviewed by CNN and is dated March 17, 2023, the director of the Energy Department’s Office of Nonproliferation Policy, Andrea Ferkile, tells Rosatom’s director general that the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar “contains US-origin nuclear technical data that is export-controlled by the United States Government.” Goods, software and technology are subject to US export...

This isn’t an article I thought I’d be writing, but Donald Trump has left me no choice. The former president came out in support of Disney on Tuesday morning, slamming Ron DeSantis for fighting back against the woke multi-national corporation.That comes a day after DeSantis announced that Disney broke the law in trying to undermine a new state-appointed board put in place to control the company’s special district. The Florida legislature is now moving to void all the last-minute deals made by the old board, and it appears they are on very solid legal ground in doing so.Yet, in a...

Judge John Torbitzky set a preliminary date of Sept. 25 for a possible trial in Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s suit to remove Democratic St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. Judge Torbitzky set the date at the end of a four-hour hearing on Tuesday that included a 50-minute recess for attorneys from both sides to meet and attempt to come to an agreement on what materials could be subpoenaed as evidence. Bailey’s office wanted the quo warranto trial to start in late August and suggested both parties meet for conference calls twice monthly with Judge Torbitzky. During his request...

Twitter sparked backlash this week after some users noticed it had quietly removed language in its hateful conduct policy that explicitly protected transgender people from online harassment. The social media platform had prohibited the targeted misgendering or deadnaming of transgender people since 2018. Some online noticed this month that the sentence had been plucked from Twitter’s section on slurs and tropes, while all other descriptions of policy violations remained intact. Archives captured by the Wayback Machine showed the previous version still existed April 7, the day Twitter announced it had updated its abuse and harassment policy to redefine “targeted harassment.”...

Growing up in Bangladesh, I was raised hearing stories about the massacres, rapes and other horrors inflicted upon my country when Pakistan attempted to crush our fight for independence in 1971. But when I became a journalist and travelled the world, I was shocked to learn how little people in other countries knew about what many consider the worst genocide since the Holocaust. A human rights tragedy that goes unrecognized only deepens the wounds. It tells the victims that they did not matter then, and they do not matter today. In 1971, the Bengali majority in what was then East...

Student enrollment is continuing to decline at the University System of Georgia. Overall enrollment for the spring semester at the system’s 26 institutions fell to 311,484, down 0.9% from last spring, Angela Bell, the system’s vice chancellor of research and policy analysis, told members of the Board of Regents Tuesday. The system’s enrollment grew steadily from 2014 through 2021, Bell said during the regents April meeting on the campus of the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega. But enrollment has declined during the last couple of years to the point where it stands only about 500 students above 2019, she...