Global Checkup: Most People Living Longer, But Sicker

If the world's entire population went in for a collective checkup, would the doctor's prognosis be good or bad? Both, according to new studies published in The Lancet medical journal.The vast collaborative effort, called the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2010, includes papers by nearly 500 authors in 50 countries. Spanning four decades of data, it represents...

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Health-Exchange Deadline Looms

All of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," doesn't go into effect until 2014, but states are required to set up their own health care exchanges or leave it to the federal government to step in by next year. The deadline for the governors' decisions is Friday.The health insurance exchanges are one of the key stipulations of the new health care law. They will offer...

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Rep. Loretta Sanchez’s 2012 Christmas card: Fiscal cliff, Gretzky in heaven

Here it is, ladies and gentlemen — your Rep. Loretta Sanchez Christmas card for 2012! (Courtesy of the Office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez) Over the past decade, the California Democrat’s wacky holiday greetings have drawn a cult following. “I’ve seen them being sold on eBay,” the congresswoman told us. Nice topical theme this year! “The ‘fiscal cliff’ is a very serious situation,...

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Jackie Chan criticism sparks Hong Kong fight-back

HONG KONG: Action hero Jackie Chan provoked a furious fight-back from Hong Kongers after reportedly suggesting in a Chinese magazine interview that protests in his native city should be restricted.The comments from the Hong Kong-born star on Thursday unleashed a wave of criticism in the southern Chinese city, which prides itself on the upholding of civil liberties including the right to...

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40 Indian fishermen return home after their release by Sri Lankan Navy

RAMESWARAM: Forty Indian fishermen detained by Sri Lankan Navy on December 3 off Nagapattinam and Karaikal coasts have arrived here after their release by authorities in the island nation. The fishermen arrived here on Wednesday evening, officials said. The detention of the 40 fishermen had prompted chief minister Jayalalithaa to shoot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on December 5,...

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Hubble Discovers Oldest Known Galaxy

The Hubble space telescope has discovered seven primitive galaxies formed in the earliest days of the cosmos, including one believed to be the oldest ever detected.The discovery, announced Wednesday, is part of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field campaign to determine how and when galaxies first assembled following the Big Bang."This 'cosmic dawn' was not a single, dramatic event," said astrophysicist...

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McAfee Lands in Miami: I'm Free

Software mogul John McAfee has been released from detention in Guatemala City and has landed in Miami.Immediately upon landing, according to passengers on the plane, McAfee's name was called and he was whisked off the aircraft. Federal officials escorted the 67-year-old Internet antivirus pioneer through customs spirit him out a side door, out of the view of reporters, according...

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New Yorkers live longer than other Americans: mayor

NEW YORK: New Yorkers are living longer than Americans overall, and the margin is increasing, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday as he praised his administration's health policies.A New Yorker born in 2010 has a life expectancy of 80.9 years, 2.2 years longer than the national life expectancy of 78.7 years at the time.Since 2001, New Yorkers' life expectancy has increased by three years,...

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Supreme Court appointed panel asks Odisha govt to expedite renewals of mining leases

BHUBANESWAR: A Supreme Court appointed panel has advised the Odisha government to expedite renewal of mining leases and give priority to development of infrastructure in mining areas. The recommendation of the Central Empowered Committee, a panel set up by the court to weigh the impact of industrial projects on forests and wildlife, was conveyed to the state government on Monday. The panel,...

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Best Space Pictures of 2012: Editor's Picks

Photograph courtesy Tunç Tezel, APOY/Royal ObservatoryThis image of the Milky Way's vast star fields hanging over a valley of human-made light was recognized in the 2012 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition run by the U.K.’s Royal Observatory Greenwich.To get the shot, photographer Tunç Tezel trekked to Uludag National Park near his hometown of Bursa, Turkey. He intended to watch the moon...

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