Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA

The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), made up of members recently hand-selected by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voted 5-1 on Thursday to recommend against flu vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal.A few moments before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s vaccine advisory committee voted 6-0 to recommend all Americans aged 6 months and older receive an annual influenza vaccine.One committee member, Vicky Pebsworth, abstained on each vote.MORE: Why is thimerosal back on the CDC’s agenda when it’s barely in flu shots anymore?Thimerosal is a mercury-based preservative, which is used to prevent microbial contamination of…

A key vaccine committee, newly appointed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., voted against recommending certain vaccines that contain a preservative long targeted by anti-vaccine advocates despite broad scientific consensus on its safety.The call against the preservative, called thimerasol, was first presented by Lyn Redwood, former leader of Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy, during a June 26 meeting for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.She argued that thimerasol is a neurotoxin and the panel should recommend only thimerosal-free flu vaccines for all pregnant women, infants and children. The panel also voted the…

Meta has hired a highly influential OpenAI researcher, Trapit Bansal, to work on its AI reasoning models under the company’s new AI superintelligence unit, a person familiar with the matter tells TechCrunch. OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood confirmed to TechCrunch that Bansal had departed OpenAI. Bansal’s LinkedIn page says that he left OpenAI in June. Bansal has worked at OpenAI since 2022 and was a key player in kickstarting the company’s work on reinforcement learning alongside co-founder Ilya Sutskever. He is listed as a foundational contributor on OpenAI’s first AI reasoning model, o1. Bansal could offer a significant lift to Meta’s…

NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL suspended former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker for the first 10 weeks of the season on Thursday for violating its personal conduct policy.The suspension takes effect on Aug. 26, which is roster cutdown day, and Tucker is eligible for reinstatement on Nov. 11. Tucker remains free to try out with and sign with a team. If he is signed, he can attend training camp and participate in preseason games. If he remains without a team, he can still serve the suspension and return in November.The 35-year-old became a free agent after the Ravens released…

As the number of Palestinians killed in the Israel-Hamas war continues to rise, social media users are falsely claiming that a Harvard University study has determined that hundreds of thousands in the Gaza Strip are also missing.“Israel has ‘disappeared’ nearly 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza since 2023,” reads one X post that had been shared and liked more than 35,700 times as of Thursday. “Harvard has now confirmed what we’ve been screaming into a deaf world: This is a holocaust — and it’s still happening.”But Harvard did not publish the report in question. Moreover, these claims misrepresent data from the report…

2025-06-26T15:46:00Z Share Facebook Email X LinkedIn Copy link lighning bolt icon An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Impact Link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in. The Trump-branded smartphone might not be “Made in the USA” after all. Since its announcement, Trump Mobile has changed the wording of its gold-colored T1 smartphone listing. Now it says the $499 phone will be “brought to life right here in the USA” and ” The listing for the Trump-branded smartphone still…

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A petition drive seeking the repeal of a recent Ohio law banning diversity, equity and inclusion programs as well as faculty strikes at public colleges and universities has fallen short of the signatures needed to place it before voters, organizers announced Thursday. Surrounded by boxes of petitions, the organizers said they lacked the time and support to collect all 250,000 signatures needed to place a referendum on November’s ballot seeking to overturn the bill, which makes several higher education policy changes including the ban on DEI programs. Absent those signatures, Senate Bill 1 is now free…

Suno, the AI music company currently in a legal battle with music labels, announced on Thursday the acquisition of WavTool, a browser-based AI digital audio workstation (DAW). This acquisition aims to improve Suno’s editing capabilities for songwriters and producers. WavTool, launched in 2023, offers several tools to musicians, such as stem separation, AI audio generation, and an AI music assistant. Suno will integrate WavTool’s technology into its new editing interface, which launched this month.   The terms of the deal have not been disclosed. A company spokesperson noted that “most” of the WavTool employees moved to Suno’s product and engineering teams,…

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The North Carolina legislature wrapped up the chief portion of its annual session Thursday, passing another Hurricane Helene aid package this week after Republican majorities pushed through divisive bills to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs and target transgender rights.Lawmakers in the ninth-largest state also fell short on completing their primary responsibility — enacting a two-year budget by July 1. There’s no risk of a government shutdown, and House and Senate negotiators will keep working to reach budget agreements. This and other legislation could be voted on when lawmakers return occasionally, possibly starting next month. More…

The NHL and NHL Players’ Association are on the verge of extending the collective bargaining agreement more than a year before it expires and expanding the regular season to 84 games.The league and union have been in talks since April and are closing in on a memorandum of understanding addressing a number of high-profile topics long before the current agreement runs out in September 2026. The four-year extension that could be announced as soon as Friday at the draft in Los Angeles would provide extended labor peace in a sport that has had multiple work stoppages, including the 2004-05 lockout…