Japan has a new drug that could kill the flu in 24 hours. So why doesn't the U.S. have it?

This has been an especially deadly flu season here in the U.S., but a new breakthrough medication promises to kill the flu virus in 24 hours. The catch: It’s only available in Japan.

On Friday, officials in Japan approved the single-dose drug, known as Xofluza, for use in the country, according to the Wall Street Journal. In a clinical trial, Japanese and American patients who took the drug when they had the flu saw the virus wiped out, on average, in 24 hours.

Source: Yahoo News

These companies are cutting ties with the NRA

Corporate America is taking on the country’s most powerful gun lobby group. In the wake of the mass shooting in a Florida high school last week, companies are dropping their partnerships with the National Rifle Association (NRA), which touts 5 million members.

According to a list compiled by ThinkProgress, an advocacy organization, there are at least 22 corporations, including car-rental companies and financial institutions that have been offering discounts to NRA members. As the #BoycottNRA movement picks up steam, some companies have cut ties.

Here is a list of companies: (We’ll update it as the story develops.)

–First National Bank of Omaha: The largest privately held bank announced to stop issuing the NRA Visa Card due to “customer feedback” on Thursday.

-Hertz (HTZ): The major rental-car company says on Friday it has “notified the NRA that we are ending the NRA’s rental car discount program with Hertz”

–Enterprise: Its three car rental brands— Enterprise, National and Alamo will end a discount program for NRA members.


Source: Yahoo News

Ex-Trump aide pleads guilty, will cooperate in Russia probe

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former senior adviser to President Donald Trump's election campaign pleaded guilty Friday to federal conspiracy and false-statements charges, switching from defendant to cooperating witness in the special counsel's probe of Trump's campaign and Russia's election interference.

The plea by Rick Gates revealed that he will help special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation in "any and all matters" as prosecutors continue to probe the 2016 campaign, Russian meddling and Gates' longtime business associate, one-time Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

With his cooperation, Gates gives Mueller a witness willing to provide information on Manafort about his finances and political consulting work in Ukraine, and also someone who had access at the highest levels of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign.

Gates, 45, of Richmond, Virginia, made the plea at the federal courthouse in Washington. He stood somberly beside his attorney and did not speak during his hearing except to answer routine questions from the judge about whether he understood the rights he was giving up.

Source: Yahoo News

In Zagitova’s figure skating victory, the judges chose athleticism over artistry

The battle of the Russians was singular in its excitement, but the fundamental tension of the competition was as old as the sport of figure skating itself: Should technical mastery be valued over theatrical brilliance?

Between Evgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova, there was no better test case. They came from the same coach in the same rink in Moscow, but they displayed two distinct styles in Thursday’s dramatic conclusion to the Olympics women’s competition. In Medvedeva, there was sophistication and storytelling as she condensed the nuances of Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina” into four minutes. In Zagitova, there was speed and spontaneity as she exploited the musical accents of Minkus’s “Don Quixote.”


Source: Yahoo News

Chris Broussard: When Steph is unencumbered, not looking for Durant, the Warriors are better

 Feb 23, 2018 at 8:10a ETIn his reaction to Golden State defeating the Los Angeles Clippers last night where Steph Curry scored 44 points, Chris Broussard reveals to Danny Kanell why Steph Curry is such a potent, offensive force for the Warriors whose electric scoring needs to be showcased more as the second half of the season progresses. 

Source: Yahoo News

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/02/23/oldest-known-cave-paintings-yield-big-surprise-neanderthals-may-have-been-first-artists/?utm_term=.a69ba09a55f9

The 65,000-year-old cave paintings were little more than stencil-like drawings, an abstract combination of lines and geometric shapes and handprints, as well as rudimentary attempts at animal representations.

And yet those drawings, recently discovered in three caves in Spain by a team of archaeologists, might have just changed what it means to be human.

The cave art was made by Neanderthals, representing the first certain Neanderthal paintings ever discovered and suggesting that the modern human species didn’t invent creative expression, as previously thought, according to an article published Thursday in Science and Science Advances.


Source: Yahoo News

Alina Zagitova edges past Evgenia Medvedeva to win gold, Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond takes bronze

The final figure skating medal event — women’s singles — will conclude Thursday at 8 p.m. Eastern with the free skate portion of the competition. We will be updating this story throughout the night with  live results and analysis. Chelsea Janes is reporting from Gangneung Ice Arena and Des Bieler is in Washington.

Alina Zagitova hangs on for gold medal

Evgenia Medvedeva could not quite match her 15-year-old Russian rival, Alina Zagitova, whose sudden emergence this season was capped with a gold medal at the Olympics. Medvedeva posted the same score as her OAR teammate in Friday’s free skate, 156.65, but the world record score Zagitova posted in Wednesday’s short program, 82.92, was enough to put her over the top.

The 18-year-old Medvedeva, who had won the past two world championships, had to overcome a broken foot suffered late last year, and she could point to that injury while Zagitova won the European championsips last month. 


Source: Yahoo News