Compounds found in cannabis could provide a new roadmap for treating the world’s most common chronic liver disorder, according to a study released by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The research, published in the British Journal of Pharmacology, found that cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG) significantly reduced liver fat and improved metabolic health in experimental models.

CBD is the more widely studied non-intoxicating cannabinoid, while CBG is a less common “precursor” cannabinoid from which CBD is formed.

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Unlike THC, the primary psychoactive component in cannabis, these compounds do not produce a “high,” making them viable candidates for long-term medical treatment, the study suggests.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) currently affects approximately one-third of the global adult population, according to health data.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) currently affects approximately one-third of the global adult population. (iStock)

The condition, which is closely linked to obesity and insulin resistance, has few approved pharmaceutical treatments, the researchers said, leaving patients to rely largely on lifestyle changes that can be difficult to maintain. 

“Our findings identify a new mechanism by which CBD and CBG enhance hepatic energy and lysosomal function,” said lead study author Joseph Tam, director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Cannabinoid Research at Hebrew University, in a press release.

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The study highlights a process called “metabolic remodeling,” in which the cannabis compounds created a “backup battery” for the liver by increasing levels of phosphocreatine, a high-energy molecule stored in muscle cells.

This energy reserve helps the organ function under the stress of a high-fat diet, which was an unexpected discovery, the team noted.

Researchers focused on CBD and CBG, two non-psychoactive compounds that offer therapeutic benefits without the “high” associated with THC. (iStock)

The researchers also found that CBD and CBG restored the activity of “cellular cleaning crews” known as cathepsins, enzymes that work within the cell’s recycling centers to break down harmful fats and waste.

With this process, the liver was better able to clear out dangerous lipids, including triglycerides and ceramides, which are known to trigger inflammation, the study showed.

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While both compounds were effective, CBG showed more robust results in certain areas, such as reducing total body fat mass, lowering “bad” LDL cholesterol and improving insulin sensitivity.

Researchers say this study opens a new path for using plant-based compounds to treat metabolic diseases by focusing on how cells manage energy and waste.

The discovery of a phosphocreatine “backup battery” in the liver marks a significant shift in how scientists understand the organ’s ability to survive high-fat diets. (iStock)

Limitations and caveats

Despite the promising results, the research team cautioned that the study was conducted in a controlled experimental environment. Further clinical trials are necessary to determine the proper application for human patients.

Other recent studies have pointed to potential issues with using cannabis as a medical tool.

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A major analysis published in JAMA examined more than 2,500 scientific papers from the last 15 years, including other reviews, clinical trials and guidelines focused on medical marijuana.

The 2025 review highlighted significant gaps between public perception and scientific evidence regarding cannabis’ effectiveness for most medical conditions.

Other recent studies have pointed to issues with the efficacy of cannabis as a medical tool. (iStock)

The researchers concluded that there are very few conditions for which cannabinoid therapies have clear, well-established benefits backed by high-quality clinical data.

“Whenever a substance is widely used, there is likely to be a very wide set of outcomes,” Alex Dimitriu, MD, who is double board-certified in psychiatry and sleep medicine and founder of Menlo Park Psychiatry & Sleep Medicine, previously told Fox News Digital. “This study points to the reality that this widely used substance is not a panacea.”

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The strongest evidence supports FDA-approved cannabinoid medications for treating specific conditions, including HIV/AIDS-related appetite loss, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, and certain severe pediatric seizure disorders, according to the review.

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Anyone interested in using marijuana for medical purposes should speak to a healthcare provider to discuss potential risks and benefits.

One of the 26 people charged in an alleged bribery and point-shaving scheme to fix NCAA Division I men’s basketball games and Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) games has pleaded guilty, United States Attorney David Metcalf announced.

Jalen Smith, a 30-year-old from Charlotte, North Carolina, entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge Nitza I. Quiñones Alejandro on Monday in connection with the scheme, as well as charges related to an unlawful possession of a firearm. 

Smith pleaded guilty to bribery in sporting contests, and aiding and abetting, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and possession of a firearm by a felon. 

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The NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis is shown on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

An unsealed indictment back in January noted Smith was engaged in the scheme to influence or fix NCAA and CBA men’s basketball games from at least “in or about September 2022 through at least in or about February 2025.”

Co-conspirators enlisted Smith as a “fixer,” where they would work together with others to recruit and bribe NCAA Division I men’s basketball players to underperform and ensure their team failed to cover spreads during games from the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.

“Through various sportsbooks, Smith helped to arrange for large wagers to be placed on those games, betting against the team whose player or players they had bribed to engage in this point-shaving scheme,” the United States Attorney’s Office said in a press release.

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“Smith and other fixers approached and communicated with the players, in person and through social media, text message communications, and cellular telephone calls, offering the players bribe payment, usually ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 per game.”

With today’s college athletes being paid via name, image and likeness (NIL) brand deals, Smith and other fixers “specifically targeted college players for whom the bribe payments would meaningfully supplement.”

A generic view of a basketball on a court. (Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

It was found that more than 39 players on more than 17 different NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams were involved in the bribery and point-shaving scheme, with fixing or attempted fixing on more than 29 NCAA games. 

The fixers were making “wagers totaling millions of dollars,” with players who were involved collectively receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribe payments. 

Smith faces a maximum sentence of five years in jail, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine for the bribery in sporting contests charge, up to 20 years for each count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and a maximum 15 years for the firearms charge. 

NCAA president Charlie Baker responded to the point-shaving scheme in January. 

NCAA president and former Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker is interviewed by Boston Globe Sports writer Chris Gasper at the Globe Summit 2023.  (Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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“Protecting competition integrity is of the utmost importance for the NCAA. We are thankful for law enforcement agencies working to detect and combat integrity issues and match manipulation in college sports,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement.

Baker said the indictments were “not entirely new information to the NCAA,” as it had conducted “integrity investigations into approximately 40 student-athletes from 20 schools over the past year.”

Fox News’ Ryan Morik contributed to this report.

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Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., questioned a State Department official last week over Biden-era grants for DEI programs around the world amid her claim that former President Joe Biden’s administration was “trying to make the maps more gay.”

Sarah Rogers, the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy, was testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee in a hearing titled: “Advancing National Security Through Public Diplomacy.”

“Can you tell me what is queering the map?” asked Mast, who serves as chair of the committee.

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Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., questioned a State Department official who said the Biden administration was trying to make maps “more gay.” (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“So I think we were trying to make the maps more gay,” said Rogers, referencing Biden administration efforts.

“Literally? How do you make a map more gay? Or gay at all?” Mast replied.

“I don’t know,” admitted Rogers. “Since the age of cartography, we’ve had pretty good maps, but maybe they weren’t gay enough. I also took critical theory in college, and I think sometimes people use ‘queer’ as a verb. I do understand that the maps we were trying to make gay were, I think, of Czechia and Slovakia. So maybe those countries asked for it. I doubt it, but I don’t know.”

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Sarah Rogers, the State Department’s undersecretary for public diplomacy, said the Biden administration was trying to make maps “more gay.” (House Foreign Affairs Committee)

Mast noted that lawmakers have “real things” to work on in Congress, like the “imminent threat of Iran.”

“It is embarrassing that we have to talk about the fact that things like this were funded non-binary and transfranophones, linguistic attitudes and ideologies toward inclusive French in Montreal, Canada,” he said. 

Other grants were for a DEI flash mob in Kyrgyzstan, a diversity roadshow in India, diversity and inclusion programs in Luxembourg, Spain, New Zealand, Canada, and Malaysia, teaching trans and intersex leaders in India,” said Mast. 

People protest in favor of DEI policies, April 29, 2025, in Warren, Mich. (Getty Images/Dominic Gwinn)

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“We would absolutely love to know the individuals specifically who were busy writing these grants, because they have no business receiving another paycheck from the people of the United States of America,” he concluded. 

TUCSON, Ariz. — “Today” co-host Savannah Guthrie is back in New York City as the search for her missing mother enters its sixth week with little publicly known progress in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona.

Guthrie was photographed in public for the first time since her mother’s suspected abduction, alongside husband Mike Feldman and one of their young sons in the Big Apple Sunday, days after an emotional reunion with her NBC colleagues and more than a month after her 84-year-old mother Nancy was last seen. 

Nancy’s disappearance shocked the country — especially when the FBI released disturbing surveillance video of a masked man on her doorstep.

Savannah Guthrie spent weeks in Tucson with her siblings as the investigation played out — before she and her older sister, Annie, added bouquets of yellow flowers to a growing display at the foot of their mother’s driveway. She quietly flew home to New York last week.

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Savannah Guthrie is seen out in New York with her husband Michael Feldman and their son Charles as the “Today” show anchor makes her first public appearance more than five weeks after the suspected abduction of her mother, Nancy Guthrie. (ASPN / BACKGRID)

Sunday marked five weeks since the suspected kidnapping.

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation, which is now being overseen by a task force consisting of local detectives and FBI agents.

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Savannah Guthrie visits the Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

No suspects have been publicly identified.

A masked man who appeared on Nancy Guthrie’s Nest doorbell camera around the time authorities said she was taken is described as being of average height and build and carrying a black Ozark Trail backpack.

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Savannah Guthrie and her mother, Nancy Guthrie, are pictured Thursday, June 15, 2023. (Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)

He appeared to be armed with a handgun as well. Law enforcement sources said he visited Nancy Guthrie’s home at least once in advance of her disappearance, wearing a similar disguise.

Other identifying details are scarce.

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The use of cadaver dogs is also on hold, according to authorities, who re-canvassed Nancy Guthrie’s neighborhood as recently as last week.

When asked if that meant they believed she is still alive, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos declined to discuss evidence in the case.

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“Anything is possible,” he told Fox News Digital.

Authorities have said they won’t consider the case cold until they run out of viable leads to follow up on — and tens of thousands have come in so far.

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There’s a reward of more than $1.2 million in play for information that leads to Nancy’s recovery.

Savannah Guthrie has asked anyone with information to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Elizabeth Hurley dug into her archives to re-wear the Versace dress she wore 27 years ago at the 1999 Met Gala.

On Sunday, Hurley, 60, shared a side-by-side image of herself wearing the dress in 1999 and again during an adventure in India in 2026.

“Viva Versace! For this weekend’s adventure in India, I dug into my archives and unearthed one of my favourite pieces, which I last wore to the Met Gala in 1999 😳 27 years may have passed, but some loves never fade💋 #Versace #shoppingfrommycloset @versace @donatella_versace,” Hurley captioned her post on Instagram.

Elizabeth Hurley re-wore her 1999 Versace Met Gala dress for a trip in India 27 years later. (Getty Images/Instagram)

The dress, which Hurley first wore when she was 33, has a low neckline that’s pulled together with a flower embellishment. The black dress also has a high slit. According to InStyle, Hurley paired her look with a $50,000 Bulgari necklace. The necklace is encrusted with 2.07 carats of diamonds on their signature snake design.

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Fans quickly hopped into her comment section to give the English actress praise.

“Looking even better now than then.”

— Instagram user

“Looking even better now than then. ❤️,” one user wrote. Another added, “What elixir do you take? I mean seriously 🔥.”

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“Just like a very fine wine. @elizabethhurley1 YOU ARE AMAZING!” a third user wrote. “BRAVA!!! You look even better now if that’s possible — and so natural! What a true beauty you are! 💖,” another added.

Elizabeth Hurley steps out at the Costume Institute Gala “Rock Style” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1999. (Richard Corkery/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

According to Good Housekeeping, Hurley recently revealed the answer to the “one question” the world has been dying to know.

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“One question I get asked all the time is, how do you stay in shape and what do you eat?” she recently wrote on Instagram, according to the outlet.

Elizabeth Hurley, 60, wearing the same dress she wore 27 years ago. (Instagram/Elizabeth Hurley)

“So here goes. My mantra is: don’t eat too much, too fast, too often or too late. Or, put another way, eat smaller meals, chew properly, ban snacking and eat dinner earlier… Other than diet, my other advice is to move more. I don’t go to the gym or do any set exercise but I’m extremely active. There endeth the sermon,” she wrote.

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