MrBeast is being criticized for his philanthropy acts like donating clothes and food, and helping deaf people hear again

Ron DeSantis is reportedly preparing to announce his official campaign for 2024 president next week, after months of anticipation. Two people with knowledge of Mr DeSantis’ plans told The Wall Street Journal the Florida governor plans to file formal paperwork with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Thursday, 25 May. The filing date will correspond with a donor meeting in Miami, according to the report. The Independent has reached out to Mr DeSantis’ office for comment. Mr DeSantis, 44, was first considered a potential candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2021 when he emerged from the pandemic as a hard-line Republican. But after the midterm elections in November, when Mr DeSantis was re-elected Governor of Florida by a nearly 20 per cent margin, he began to be considered a possible frontrunner. As of recently, Mr DeSantis has seemingly secured his spot as a presidential contender - partially thanks to former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump. Over the last several months, Mr Trump has launched attacks on Mr DeSantis- criticising his legislative record in Florida, downplaying his popularity with voters and comparing their polling numbers, despite Mr DeSantis having no official bid. When Mr DeSantis was asked recently about trailing behind the former president in polling, he responded, “I’m not a candidate so we’ll see if and when that changes.” The Florida governor has been coy about his possible presidential bid, giving vague answers to the press and re-directing attention to his current actions in Florida. But that hasn’t stopped the public, media and Mr Trump from assuming Mr DeSantis is running. If the reports about Mr DeSantis’ launch are true, he would be the sixth person to launch a campaign for Republican president. So far, Mr Trump, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and conservative personality Larry Elder have announced their bid for president. On the Democratic side, President Joe Biden announced he would seek re-election, and two other candidates: lawyer and anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr as well as self-help author Marianne Williamson have launched campaigns. Read More Trump news – live: DeSantis to enter presidential race next week as Trump claims governor’s ‘magic is gone’ ‘We will not be erased’: Critics slam Ron DeSantis for unprecedented bills attacking LGBTQ+ people Don’t look now, but Ron DeSantis just suffered some big losses Will Ron DeSantis run for president in 2024? NAACP advises against traveling to Florida: ‘Openly hostile toward African Americans’ Ron DeSantis prepares for 2024 bid as NAACP advises against Florida travel – live

By Jeffrey Dastin SAN FRANCISCO Amazon.com on Monday said it will invest up to $4 billion in cash

A Southern California school district will pay $2.25 million to settle the latest lawsuit involving a teacher who became pregnant by one of at least two students she was accused of sexually abusing

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By Oksana Kobzeva and Vladimir Soldatkin MOSCOW Increased supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia's Novatek mean

Futurama x Fortnite Bender, Fry, and Leela skins, along with matching cosmetics, are now available to purchase for 2,800 V-Bucks in the Item Shop.

BAY SHORE, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 8, 2023--

Alcohol addiction ruins millions of lives every year, but scientists may have found a cure for this terrible affliction. A new treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) has been trialled in monkeys with impressive results and, if these translate to human trials, the impact could be monumental. A team of neuroscientists and physiologists from across the US tested a new type of gene therapy to see if they could directly target the underlying brain circuitry associated with sustained heavy drinking. As they noted, in the journal Nature Medicine, people suffering from AUD commonly return to alcohol use even if they attempt to quit. This is largely to do with what’s known as mesolimbic dopamine (DA) signalling – meaning how the central nervous system circuit communicates the feelgood neurotransmitter dopamine. A protein called glial-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is key to keeping these neurons in this reward circuitry functioning. However, experts have found that levels of GDNF are reduced in people with AUD during periods of alcohol abstinence, most notably in a region of the brain called the ventral tegmental area (VTA), as IFLScience notes. Therefore, the researchers decided to test whether using gene therapy to deliver more GDNF to the VTA could help reinforce this crucial dopaminergic signalling and prevent patients from suffering an alcoholic relapse. The team of scientists explained how alcohol consumption in non-addicts prompts the release of dopamine, creating a pleasurable buzz feeling, but chronic alcohol use causes the brain to adapt and stop releasing so much dopamine. “So when people are addicted to alcohol, they don’t really feel more pleasure in drinking,” Dr Kathleen Grant, a senior co-author of the study, said in a statement. “It seems that they’re drinking more because they feel a need to maintain an intoxicated state.” For their research, Dr Grant and her colleagues used eight rhesus macaque monkeys, who were exposed to increasing concentrations of alcohol over four 30-day “induction” periods. The monkeys then had free access to alcohol and water for 21 hours a day for six months, during which they developed heavy drinking behaviours. This was then followed by a 12-week abstinence phase, with the GDNF treatment performed four weeks in for half of the subjects. The gene therapy was delivered using a a viral vector containing a copy of the human GDNF gene injected directly into the primate’s VTA, according to IFLScience. And the results were truly jaw-dropping. “Drinking went down to almost zero,” Dr Grant said. “For months on end, these animals would choose to drink water and just avoid drinking alcohol altogether. They decreased their drinking to the point that it was so low we didn’t record a blood-alcohol level.” The most exciting aspect of their findings is the suggestion that gene therapy could offer a permanent solution for people with the most severe cases of AUD. This will be a welcome glimmer of hope to many, given that some 29.5 million people were diagnosed with AUD in the US alone in 2021, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Of these 29.5 million sufferers, almost a million (894,000) were aged between 12 and 17. It’ll likely be some time before we know for sure whether the gene therapy can be rolled out in humans, but it’s an important first step in tackling this devastating disorder. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

Last week Shannon Sharpe announced he was bringing his Club Shay Shay podcast to The Volume, the digital network and podcasting outfit founded by Colin Cowherd. The multiyear deal includes Sharpe's company, Shay Shay Media, jointly producing new programming with the network. A few days after that, both ESPN and Sharpe confirmed reports that he would be teaming up with Stephen A. Smith on First Take on Mondays and Tuesdays beginning next week, dovetailing with the start of the NFL season for what promises to be appointment television.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom will name Laphonza Butler, a Democratic strategist and adviser to Kamala Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign, to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat held by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein

Only battery industry veterans or political buffs are likely to recall the tale of A123 Systems. Spun out