With new research emerging, more questions have been raised about weight-loss injections, how they work, and the risks involved. Here are some of your questions answered. What are weight loss injections? Championed by some celebrities, including Elon Musk, weight loss injections were originally created to treat people with type 2 diabetes and other weight-related health issues. They are a type of prescription-based medical treatment that interferes with your metabolism, regulates your appetite and as a result encourages weight loss. The drugs belong to a class of medications known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, or GLP-1 RAs, which mimic the GLP-1 hormone, released in the gut after eating some food. The only FDA-approved stomach injections to help with weight management are semaglutide — sold under the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus — and liraglutide — sold under Saxenda. But others are in development. Helen Knight, programme director of the Centre for Health Technology Evaluation at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said: “We know that management of overweight and obesity is one of the biggest challenges our health service is facing with nearly two-thirds of adults either overweight or obese. It is a lifelong condition that needs medical intervention, has psychological and physical effects, and can affect the quality of life. “But in recent years Nice has been able to recommend a new line of pharmaceutical treatments which have shown that those people using them, alongside changes to their diet and exercise, have been able to reduce their weight.” How do they work? According to Nice’s independent appraisal committee, drugs like semaglutide should only be prescribed to patients as an alternative for weight management — alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity in adults. They should also have a BMI of at least 35.0 kg/m2 (this is medically classified as obese), and especially, to people with a BMI of 30.0 kg/m2 to 34.9 kg/m2, have non-diabetic hyperglycaemia (blood sugar that is above normal but below those needed to diagnose diabetes) or are at high risk of other weight-related conditions such as strokes and heart attacks, due to other factors such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Using semaglutide as an example, a typical dose for weight loss is 2.4 milligrams, administered weekly as under-the-skin self-injections. How are they going to be rolled out? Nice formally recommended liraglutide, orlistat and semaglutide as medicines suitable to use for weight loss earlier this year. And with such drugs also available through online pharmacies by private prescription, a growing number of people have tried the jabs. If they are prescribed alongside a reduced-calorie diet, increased physical activity, and behavioural support, after a year, people taking them can lose up to 15% of their body weight, with results visible within the first month, according to the Nice clinical trials. Some weight loss injections are available on the NHS, but they are only prescribed under certain circumstances. Following an announcement of a £40 million two-year pilot on June 7, the government have said more people living with obesity will have access to the newest and most effective obesity drugs to help cut NHS waiting lists. What are the possible side effects? Europe’s drug regulator The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is investigating whether patients using some weight loss and obesity jabs are at risk of suicidal thoughts and thoughts of self-harm, which highlights some of the controversy surrounding the phenomenon. The EMA safety committee said it is looking at cases among people who use a semaglutide or liraglutide-containing medicine for weight loss – where “signals” were raised by the Icelandic Medicines Agency. “A signal is information on a new or known adverse event that is potentially caused by a medicine and that warrants further investigation,” the EMA said. “The case reports included two cases of suicidal thoughts, one following the use of Saxenda and one after Ozempic. One additional case reported thoughts of self-injury with Saxenda. “The semaglutide-containing medicine Wegovy and the liraglutide-containing medicine Saxenda are authorised for weight loss, together with diet and physical activity. “Suicidal behaviour is not currently listed as a side-effect in the EU product information of these medicines.” If you have a history of medullary thyroid cancer, gallbladder disease, or even pancreatitis, you should avoid taking weight loss injections like semaglutide. People who do take the prescription drug for weight loss sometimes experience dizziness, fatigue, and gastrointestinal issues — the most common side effects among patients — such as diarrhoea, constipation and gassiness. They are also at risk of getting headaches and stomach conditions including vomiting, bloating and nausea. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Journalist and author Yomi Adegoke on the real-life consequences of social media What is group B strep? Charity says pregnant women ‘in the dark’ Britney Spears: I worked my ass off to get my memoir written

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The deadly attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians and the devastating Israeli airstrikes and blockade of Gaza have raised accusations among international legal experts that both sides were violating international law. A United Nations Commission of Inquiry said it has been “collecting and preserving evidence of war crimes committed by all sides” since the violence started last week. That evidence could be added to an investigation by the International Criminal Court into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Hamas in past conflicts. “Intentional targeting of civilians and civilian objects without a military necessary reason to do so is a war crime, period,” said David Crane, an American international law expert and the founding chief prosecutor of the United Nations’ Special Court for Sierra Leone. “And that’s a standard that both sides are held to under international law.” Even Israel’s staunchest ally has sounded a note of caution. U.S. President Joe Biden, at a meeting with Jewish leaders Wednesday, said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “that it is really important that Israel, with all the anger and frustration and just — I don’t know how to explain it — that exists is that they operate by the rules of war — the rules of war. And there are rules of war.” DID HAMAS COMMIT WAR CRIMES? After breaking through Israel’s security barrier early Saturday morning, Hamas militants gunned down entire families, including women and young children, in border communities around the Gaza Strip. Israel’s health service said it extricated the bodies of over a hundred community members from Kibbutz Be’eri. Militants attacked the Tribe of Nova music festival, gunning down people as they desperately sought refuge. The attacks killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, including 247 soldiers — a toll unseen in Israel for decades. Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine Director of Human Rights Watch, pointed to Hamas “shooting civilians en masse, taking hostages, including women and children — undeniably grave abuses of international law, for which there’s no justification.” In an analysis published on the international law website Opinio Juris, Cornell Law School professor Jens David Ohlin wrote that the Hamas attacks amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under the International Criminal Court’s founding Rome Statute. Rights group Amnesty International called for accountability. “Massacring civilians is a war crime and there can be no justification for these reprehensible attacks,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary-general. “These crimes must be investigated as part of the International Criminal Court’s ongoing investigation into crimes committed by all parties in the current conflict,” Callamard said. IS ISRAEL’S MILITARY RESPONSE LEGAL? The Israeli military has pulverized large parts of the Hamas -ruled Gaza Strip with airstrikes and blocked deliveries of food, water, fuel and electricity ahead of a possible ground invasion. The bombardment already has killed about 1,800 people in Gaza, including U.N. workers, paramedics and journalists. Experts say the blockade, which is hitting the territory's more than 2 million residents, violates international law. "Collective punishment is a war crime. Israel is doing that by cutting electricity, water, food, blocking aid from entering the Gaza Strip,” Shakir said. Early Friday, Israel’s military directed the evacuation of some 1 million civilians living in the northern Gaza Strip ahead of a feared Israel ground offensive. Hamas called on residents to remain in their homes. The International Committee of the Red Cross said the order to leave along with the siege "are not compatible with international humanitarian law.” Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, also called the order illegal. It is "not an evacuation opportunity, it’s an order to relocate. Under humanitarian law, it’s called forcible transfer of populations, and it’s a war crime,” he said. Israel has also faced criticism for its widespread airstrikes razing large areas of Gaza since the Hamas attacks. But Crane said that Hamas’ base in the densely populated area makes any Israeli military action extremely difficult. “They’re almost in an impossible situation. Every time they fire an artillery piece, an aircraft fires missiles and stuff at a legitimate target, they’re going to collaterally kill civilians,” he said. The Israeli military has “this challenge where you have one of the most densely populated places on Earth where you have a combatant hiding behind and firing from those positions, using the civilians as human shields,” Crane said. Many in Israel’s defense establishment have pledged to fight until every trace of militancy is gone from the territory — even if it means wreaking mass havoc on the besieged strip’s civilian population. But Israel's relentless airstrikes could come under scrutiny, both because of the heavy civilian death toll and heavy damage to civilian infrastructure. “We’re seeing reports of entire neighborhoods, blocks that are reduced to rubble. Certainly that would appear to be, you know, war crimes as well,” Shakir said. “We’ve seen attacks that have affected hospitals and other areas that are entitled to protection.” The Israeli army says it follows international legal norms and strikes only legitimate military targets. “The most pleasant way not to cause any harm to anyone is not to do anything,” said retired Israeli general Giora Eiland. “But Israel has to fight. And how do you fight? You have to bomb them. Or you do nothing. If civilians decide to stay on the streets of Gaza, there will be much more civilian casualties.” CAN THE ICC GET INVOLVED? While Israel is not one of the court’s 123 member states, ICC judges have ruled that the Palestinians are and that the court has jurisdiction over territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. The ICC prosecution office's ongoing investigation — spurred by the last major conflict in Gaza — can analyze war crimes allegations from the latest war. But Israel does not recognize the court's jurisdiction and the ICC does not have a police force to execute arrest warrants. ___ Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Read More A father worries for his missing child: 'My daughter didn't go to war. She just went to dance' US cities boost security as fears spread over Israel-Hamas war despite lack of credible threats BBC journalist ‘stopped and assaulted’ by Israeli police FACT FOCUS: Misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war is flooding social media. Here are the facts Israeli shelling along Lebanon border kills 1 journalist, wounds 6 In Israel's call for mass evacuation, Palestinians hear echoes of their original catastrophic exodus

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MCLEAN, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 14, 2023--

Ukraine’s offensive against Russian forces is making slow progress, and there may not be a major breakthrough of Russian lines in the next two months as had previously been envisaged, according to Western officials. However, “focusing on such tactical issues” is counterproductive and there is a need to look at the bigger picture, the officials said, adding that this shows that Vladimir Putin is losing the war, as Ukraine has retaken a sizeable amount of territory overall since Russia’s invasion began. Nato’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that Ukraine is making progress in its efforts to regain territory that began in June, contradicting Mr Putin’s claims this week that the counteroffensive “has failed, not stalled”. “The Ukrainians are gradually gaining ground... They have been able to breach the defensive lines of the Russian forces, and they are moving forward,” Mr Stoltenberg said in an update to MEPs at the European Parliament on Thursday. “The Ukrainian offensive is slower than we anticipated a couple of months ago,” one Western official said. “That is an acknowledgement of Russian defences. And it’s also an acknowledgement of how Ukraine is having to pull together a force that is a mixed fleet of both old equipment and donated equipment ... and a civilian population that has been thrown to the fore and doing some of the toughest things in land warfare, which is getting through a minefield.” Mines form a layer of Russia’s defences. “Russia has lost either killed or wounded over 270,000 people and [destroyed] over a couple of thousand tanks, and if you add that to armoured fighting vehicles [then it is] over 4,000 fighting vehicles,” the official added. “There has been an enormous drain on Russia, and particularly its army and its combat effectiveness,” the official said. “And then in the broadest base, you’re seeing Russia under economic pressure and under diplomatic pressure.” Armour supplied by the West, including German Leopard tanks, has been damaged or destroyed in the prolonged battles continuing in the east and south across the last three months. The first of 14 Challenger II tanks provided by Britain was put out of action near Zaporizhzhia this week. According to defence sources, it was immobilised by a mine and then targeted by a Russian Lancet loitering drone. There are no plans, sources say, to replace it at present from within the 145 Challenger IIs currently available for deployment. The Western officials said that arms supplies to Kyiv will continue, and denied that “war fatigue” will begin to spread unless Volodymyr Zelensky’s government can show significant success in the near future. That is something that has been suggested by a number of European politicians. It has also been argued that the Kremlin is banking on American support for Ukraine starting to fray as the US presidential campaign gets under way next year. The possibility of Donald Trump – who was accused of being the “Muscovian candidate” when he was previously in the White House – winning the election greatly adds to this concern. “Russia thinks time is on its side; we think time is on our side,” another official said. “It has been put that if you’re Putin, you’re gambling that Donald Trump wins the next [US] election. But that is quite a long way away.” Read More The Body in the Woods | An Independent TV Original Documentary The harrowing discovery at centre of The Independent’s new documentary

TAIPEI, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 15, 2023--