Lack of sleep may be deadly, research shows

People who do not get enough sleep are more than twice as likely to die of heart disease, according to a large British study released on Monday.

Although the reasons are unclear, researchers said lack of sleep appeared to be linked to increased blood pressure, which is known to raise the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

A 17-year analysis of 10,000 government workers showed those who cut their sleeping from seven hours a night to five or less faced a 1.7-fold increased risk in mortality from all causes and more than double the risk of cardiovascular death.

The findings highlight a danger in busy modern lifestyles, Francesco Cappuccio, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Warwick's medical school, told the annual conference of the British Sleep Society in Cambridge.

"A third of the population of the UK and over 40 percent in the U.S. regularly sleep less than five hours a night, so it is not a trivial problem," he said in a telephone interview.

"The current pressures in society to cut out sleep, in order to squeeze in more, may not be a good idea -- particularly if you go below five hours."

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In California, Selling Marijuana is a big business.

A decade ago, California became the first of a dozen states to legalize medical marijuana. Is the law working as intended and helping ease the pain of the truly ill? Or, are some people abusing the system just to get high? The federal government still views all marijuana as illegal and has been cracking down on the dispensaries where it is sold. Morley Safer explores California's pot laws and the business of medical marijuana.

Yahoonews.

Forbidden City coffee shop replaces Starbucks

A coffee shop has opened at the heart of the Forbidden City, the former Chinese imperial palace, replacing a controversial Starbucks cafe that was forced out by public protest.

The Starbucks outlet opened in 2000 prompting a media backlash so severe that museum authorities considered revoking its lease after a couple of months. In recent years it had operated without the usual outdoor corporate Starbucks bunting.

A campaign for its closure began building early this year, when a television anchor complained that the U.S. chain's presence at the symbolic heart of the Chinese nation was trampling on Chinese culture. It finally closed in July.

"With wooden tables and chairs and pictures featuring Chinese culture, the Forbidden City Cafe serves not only coffee but also traditional Chinese beverages such as tea," the China Daily said.

The rectangular Forbidden City, formally known as the Palace Museum, covers 74 hectares (183 acres) surrounded by a moat to the north of Tiananmen Square and has a fabled 9,999 rooms. It was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

"Unlike the Starbucks coffee shop, the Palace Museum is the managerial authority of the cafe," Li Wenru, deputy curator of the Forbidden City was quoted as saying.

Yahoonews

'Eater X' wins burrito-eating contest

A day trader and aspiring pizza chef known as "Eater X" munched through 10 3/4 burritos in a dozen minutes Saturday to win what was billed as the world burrito-eating championship.

Tim Janus, 30, of New York City, said he prepared by just eating candy for a day, which he said helped clear his system.

"I love Mexican food," he said after his victory.

About 100 spectators watched the contest outside the Costa Vida restaurant, where about a dozen entrants competed for $3,000 in prize money. The 18-ounce burritos were made of rice, black beans, pork, cheese and a mild sauce wrapped in a tortilla.

The burrito record holder, Eric "Badlands" Booker, has retired from competitive eating and wasn't on hand to defend his title. But other contestants well-known on the eating contest circuit showed up.

Among them was Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas of Alexandria, Va., who holds a world lobster-eating title that she won in Kennebunkport and who finished second Saturday by downing 10 "Big Kahunas."

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Today in history - Sept. 24

Today is Monday, Sept. 24, the 267th day of 2007. There are 98 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 24, 1789, Congress passed a Judiciary Act that provided for an Attorney General and a Supreme Court.

On this date:

In 1869, thousands of businessmen were ruined in a Wall Street panic known as "Black Friday" after financiers Jay Gould and James Fisk attempted to corner the gold market.

In 1929, Lt. James H. Doolittle guided a Consolidated NY-2 Biplane over Mitchel Field in New York in the first all-instrument flight.

In 1948, Mildred Gillars, accused of being Nazi wartime radio propagandist "Axis Sally," pleaded not guilty in Washington, D.C., to charges of treason. (Gillars, later convicted, ended up serving 12 years in prison.)

In 1955, President Eisenhower suffered a heart attack while on vacation in Denver.

In 1957, the Los Angeles-bound Brooklyn Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0.

In 1960, the USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, was launched at Newport News, Va.

In 1963, the U.S. Senate ratified a treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union limiting nuclear testing.

In 1969, the trial of the "Chicago Eight" (later seven) began. (Five of the defendants were later convicted of crossing state lines to incite riots at the 1968 Democratic national convention, but the convictions were ultimately overturned.)

In 1976, Patricia Hearst was sentenced to seven years in prison for her part in a 1974 bank robbery in San Francisco carried out by the Symbionese Liberation Army. (She was released after 22 months after receiving clemency from President Carter.)

In 1991, children's author Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as "Dr. Seuss," died in La Jolla, Calif., at age 87.

Ten years ago: President Clinton urged the annual convention of the AFL-CIO not to try to punish Democratic lawmakers who stood with him on his request for stronger authority to negotiate new free-trade treaties. Garth Brooks was named best entertainer by the Country Music Association.

Five years ago: British Prime Minister Tony Blair asserted that Iraq had a growing arsenal of chemical and biological weapons and planned to use them, as he unveiled an intelligence dossier to a special session of Parliament. Gunmen stormed a Hindu temple in the western Indian state of Gujarat, killing some 30 worshippers.

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Australian has 'world-first' conscious brain surgery

An Australian man was conscious and spoke to his medical team during life-saving brain surgery in what doctors are claiming as a world-first procedure with cutting-edge technology.

John James said it was a strange experience to hear the doctors and nurses talking to each other as he lay on the operating table with a 1.5-centimetre (half-an-inch) hole in his head.

But he said he was confident throughout the April surgery to remove an aneurysm from his brain, which threatened to burst and kill him.

"The nurses looking after me, they were talking to me," the retired bus driver told a press conference in Canberra. "I could only see bits because I couldn't move my head at all."

"I wasn't worried whatsoever.... I was quite confident all the way through."

Doctors asked James to read the words and numbers on flashcards shown to him during the surgery so they knew they were not affecting his vision.

The team believes the combination of the technology and the small size of the hole in James's head, as well as the fact he was conscious throughout the operation, makes it a world first.

"As far as I'm aware reading the literature, this kind of thing done as a package has never been done before," Canberra Hospital neurosurgeon Vini Khurana said.

"So we were pleased. The result was obviously very good.

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Im on a diet!!

I used to be very skinny but when i got here in US im getting big and bigger. My husband keep teasing me about it and i think i have to lose weight.

This time, i do a little exercise and eat bread and peanut butter. They said its dieter's bestfriend! and its true!i tried it for like 2weeks now i dont really eat heavy meals anymore. I just eat bread with peanut butter in the morning and water each meal. And now im losing weight. I feel good again, my confidence is start boosting. So for those who wants to lose weight try eating bread with peanut butter as your meal.
Now this is me when im starting to eat Peanut Butter!!
Read here for more information about dieter's bestfriend.

Man accused of stealing false teeth

A man accused of snatching another man's false teeth straight from his mouth during a fight has been charged with robbery. Robert Henry Stahl, 62, was charged Thursday in Delaware Circuit Court with felony robbery and battery causing bodily injury, a misdemeanor. If convicted of robbery, he could face two to eight years in prison.

Police and prosecutors said they did not know if Stahl had retained an attorney.

Billie Townsend, 56, told police he went to a bar on July 27 to pay Stahl money he owed him, then Stahl asked him to go outside and started punching him repeatedly.

During the fight, Stahl allegedly put Townsend in a headlock and removed his false teeth. "He said, 'You ain't getting these back,'" Townsend told police.

Stahl did not attend Thursday's hearing and prosecutors did not seek a warrant for his arrest. Another hearing was scheduled for Oct. 22.

Stahl had no number in published listings for Yorktown or Muncie and he could not be reached for comment Friday.

yahoonews.

Turkey orders YouTube blocked over clips

A Turkish court has ordered the country's telecommunications company to block access to the popular video-sharing site YouTube because of clips the court deems insulting to leading political figures.

It was the second time Turkey has blocked access to YouTube. In March, the site owned by Google Inc. was blocked for two days after a complaint that some clips insulted Turkey's founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The ban was lifted after the offending clips were removed.

On Wednesday, a court in the eastern city of Sivas ordered the block, saying video on the site insulted Ataturk, President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the army.

Read more here.

Woman carried fake bomb into airport

A woman who walked into Logan International Airport allegedly wearing a fake bomb strapped to chest was arrested at gunpoint Friday, officials said.

Star Simpson, 19, had a computer circuit board, wiring and a putty that later turned out to be Play-Doh in plain view over a black hooded sweatshirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport.

After a Massachusetts Port Authority official notified State Police about 8 a.m., troopers tracked Simpson down outside Terminal C, where they arrested her and later determined the device was a fake.

More here.

Doctors to separate conjoined twins

Doctors at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital said they would attempt to separate 2-year-old twin girls who are conjoined at the chest and abdomen.

Surgery on Yurelia and Fiorella Rocha-Arias of San Jose, Costa Rica, is expected to take place in late November, after their skin has been stretched to cover the large gap where they have been connected.

The survival rate for separation surgery for twins joined primarily at the chest — known as thoraco-omphalopagus twins — is about 50 percent, doctors said Thursday. But rates vary widely, depending in part on the extent of heart defects.

"We hope to send home two girls who are healthy and happy," lead surgeon Gary Hartman said. "I can envision these girls, a few years from now, flipping through a photo album and calling mama and saying, 'Look mama! This is a picture of us when we were connected.'"

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Im a bit worried.

Last July 20, 2007 me and husband mailed the package to apply for my Change of status. After 2 weeks USCIS send me an appointment letter for my biometrics schedule which to get finger prints and picture taking. My problem is i keep tracking my case online at USCIS site but i cant view my case, i wanna see if i have update for my case. They said in the forum(WOF) that after they took biometrics they can view their cases in USCIS but my case is different until now i cant still view my case. I think USCIS is not that consistent on updating cases. Im just wondering where and what happen to my case. Some of my friend got approved after taking biometrics in just 2 weeks or 3 weeks but i guess every cases is different. I hope i can get mine soon so i can start finding a job. Its not easy to just stay at home nothing to do and no one to talk to. Plus, your not earning income and you feel like useless. Ill pray that next month i can have update on my case. So whoever wants to view their case online just click here at USCIS site and enter your application number.

U.S. study finds potential new ways to fight aging

Researchers said on Thursday they had found more ways to activate the body's own anti-aging defenses -- perhaps with a pill that could fight multiple diseases at once.

Their study, published in the journal Cell, helps explain why animals fed very low-calorie diets live longer, but it also offers new ways to try to replicate the effects of these diets using a pill instead of hunger, the researchers said.

"What we are talking about is potentially having one pill that prevents and even cures many diseases at once," said David Sinclair, a pathologist at Harvard Medical School who helped lead the research.

Sinclair helped found a company that is working on drugs based on this research, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals.

The key is a family of enzymes called sirtuins. They are controlled by genes called SIRT1, SIRT2 and so on.

Last year, researchers showed that stimulating SIRT1 can help yeast cells live longer.

Sinclair, working with colleagues at his company, at Cornell University in New York and the U.S. National Institutes of Health, identified the actions of two more sirtuin genes called SIRT3 and SIRT4.

They found the enzymes controlled by these genes help preserve the mitochondria -- little organs inside of cells that provide their energy.

"These two genes, SIRT3 and SIRT4, they make proteins that go into mitochondria. ... These are little energy packs inside our cells that are very important for staying healthy and youthful and, as we age, we lose them and they get less efficient," Sinclair said in a videotaped statement.

more here.

Kanye caps banner week with singles chart-topper

NEW YORK (Billboard) - A day after reaching No. 1 on the U.S. album charts, hip-hop star Kanye West took the top spot on the singles chart Thursday.

His tune "Stronger" rose one place on the Billboard Hot 100, trading places with last week's champ, teen rapper Soulja Boy's "Crank That (Soulja Boy)."

Adding to West's good fortune, "Good Life" featuring T-Pain was the chart's top debut at No. 14. His third album, "Graduation," sold 957,000 copies during the six days ended September 16, the biggest opening tally in more than two years.

R&B hit-maker Timbaland's "The Way I Are" featuring Keri Hilson rebounded one place to No. 3 on the Hot 100, trading places with Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry." Rapper 50 Cent's "Ayo Technology" featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland" soared 14 places to No. 5.

R&B singer J. Holiday's "Bed" jumped five places to No. 6, Keyshia Cole's "Let It Go" featuring Missy Elliott and Lil' Kim climbed three to No. 7, Canadian rock band Nickelback's "Rockstar" fell two to No. 8, pop singer Pink's "Who Knew" jumped five to No. 9, and rapper Plies "Shawty" featuring T-Pain slipped one to No. 10.

Also new to the chart was Feist's "1,2,3,4," currently in use in an iPod commercial, at No. 61. It's the first Hot 100 appearance for the Canadian singer. The Backstreet Boys enjoyed their first Hot 100 ink in two years with "Inconsolable" at No. 86, while Nelly Furtado's "Do It" started at No. 88.

entertaiment yahoonews.

Canadian dollar climbs to parity with greenback

The Canadian dollar hit parity with the U.S. dollar for the first time in 31 years on Thursday, capping a 62 percent rise from 2002 on the back of booming commodity prices and a deepening disenchantment with the greenback.

The historic level comes as oil prices sit near record highs and a China-led building boom helps boost base metals prices, developments that have guided billions in profits to Canada's resource-rich West, stoking the bulk of the currency's past rise.

"The huge increase in commodity prices in general have fed the acceleration of the Canadian dollar," said Carlos Leitao, chief economist at Laurentian Bank of Canada.

"The fact that economic growth in Asia and in general, has accelerated has fed this large appetite for natural resources, particularly energy, which we have a lot of."

more here.

Lesbian couple who wanted baby sue over twins

A lesbian couple in Australia are suing their doctor after they had twin girls from an in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedure when they only wanted one child.

The two women are seeking more than A$400,000 ($340,000) in damages to help pay for the cost of raising the second child, including private school fees, saying they had made it clear to their doctor that they only wanted one baby.

The twins are now 3 years old and the civil case, the first of its kind in Australia, has prompted debate about the value of children and the role of parents.

"The litigation involving twins already 3 years old undermines the importance of parenthood," conservative government Senator Guy Barnett said on Thursday.

"We seem more intent on preserving and pandering to the wishes of adults than we are in protecting the rights of children," he said.

Barnett called for banning same-sex couples and unmarried women from access to publicly funded IVF services, sparking a new moral debate ahead of national elections due within months.

The case is being heard in Canberra, where letters published in the local Canberra Times newspaper overwhelmingly criticized the legal action after the birth of two healthy children.

"The child's identity is subsumed to the whim of the mother who has bought the sperm and paid the IVF clinic," newspaper columnist Angela Shanahan wrote in the Australian.

"Ultimately the result is the child as product, robbed of its unique identity."

Story Continue here.

First cholera case confirmed in Baghdad

BAGHDAD - The World Health Organization on Thursday confirmed the first cholera case in Baghdad, raising fears the disease is spreading.

25-year-old woman from western Baghdad was found to have cholera after she turned up at the hospital with a severe case of diarrhea, said Dr. Naeema al-Gasseer, the WHO's representative in Iraq.

Cholera is a gastrointestinal disease that is typically spread by drinking contaminated water and can cause severe diarrhea that in extreme cases can lead to fatal dehydration. It broke out in mid-August but had been limited to northern Iraq.

Several suspected cases had been reported in Diyala province, north of Baghdad, but al-Gasseer said none of those had been confirmed.

Story Continue here.

Today in history - Sept. 20

Today is Thursday, Sept. 20, the 263rd day of 2007. There are 102 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 20, 1519, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan and his crew set out from Spain on five ships on a voyage to find a western passage to the Spice Islands in Indonesia. (Magellan was killed en route, but one of his ships eventually circled the world.)

On this date:

In 1857, Delhi, India, fell to British forces

In 1870, Italian troops took control of the Papal States, leading to the unification of Italy.

In 1881, Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as the 21st president of the United States, succeeding the assassinated James A. Garfield.

In 1947, former New York City Mayor Fiorello La Guardia died.

In 1957, Finnish composer Jean Sibelius died.

In 1957, "M Squad," starring Lee Marvin, premiered on NBC-TV.

n 1962, black student James Meredith was blocked from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Gov. Ross R. Barnett. (Meredith was later admitted.)

In 1967, the Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 was christened by Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in Clydebank, Scotland.

In 1973, in their so-called "battle of the sexes," tennis star Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, at the Houston Astrodome.

In 1984, a suicide car bomber attacked the U.S. Embassy annex in north Beirut, killing a dozen people.

More History

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masterseek

Experts confirm meteorite crash in Peru

LIMA, Peru - A fiery meteorite crashed into southern Peru over the weekend, experts confirmed on Wednesday. But they were still puzzling over claims that it gave off fumes that sickened 200 people.

Local residents told reporters that a fiery ball fell from the sky and smashed into the desolate Andean plain near the Bolivian border Saturday morning.

Jose Mechare, a scientist with Peru's Geological, Mining and Metallurgical Institute, said a geologist had confirmed that it was a "rocky meteorite," based on the fragments analyzed.

He said water in the meteorite's muddy crater boiled for maybe 10 minutes from the heat and could have given off a vapor that sickened people, and scientists were taking water samples.

"We are not completely certain that there was no contamination," Mechare said.

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Meet Rex

A little boy with both a severe disability and a great genius. He is a musical savant. Rex was born blind, with brain damage so severe it looked as though he would never walk, talk, or do much of anything. And yet, he has a musical talent few of us can imagine.

Rex's mom Cathleen reports that he is doing great. He continues to make progress in his music and in his personal life.

He regularly performs at concerts all over the United States. Back home, Rex plays in his middle school band. He also learned to swim the week before his 12th birthday.

Watch the clips here.

Elderly at highest risk for suicide

Not long after 72-year-old Anne Beale Golsan had retired on disability from her job as a librarian, she put a stack of paid bills out for the mail, hung up a freshly pressed outfit and taped a note to the front of the house. "Don't come in by yourself. Get somebody to come with you. Sorry, Love Beale."

Her niece arrived at the house they shared in Baton Rouge, La., to find police already there. Golsan had killed herself with a gunshot to the head.

"Every single day it makes me feel like I wish I could have done something," Jane Golsan Ray said, recalling her aunt's death eight years ago. "I wish I could turn back the clock and prevent it. It doesn't get any better, it hurts every day."

The elderly are the highest risk population in the country for suicide. But few suicide-prevention programs target them — a result, advocates say, of scarce funding and lack of concern for older Americans.

More here.

Tooth loss in elderly linked to mental impairment

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older people who have lost their teeth are at more than three-fold greater risk of memory problems and dementia, UK researchers report.

"This study essentially raises questions rather than answering them," Dr. Robert Stewart of Kings College London, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health. "The measurements were taken at the same time, so we are not able to say what caused what."

It's possible that people with cognitive impairment simply take worse care of their teeth, he added, but there are also mechanisms by which poor dental health itself could harm the brain. "One message still stands regardless of what caused what," he said. "Particular attention may need to be paid to the health and nutrition of people with cognitive impairment because they may also have dental problems."

Stewart and his colleague Vasant Hirani at University College London looked at 2,463 men and women 65 and older who were living independently, as well as 1,569 elderly people residing in nursing homes. Among people living independently, 40 percent had no teeth, compared to 68 percent of those in nursing homes, the investigators report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

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Firefighters use forklift to move 900-lb. man

LANSING, Michigan (AP) -- Firefighters cut a hole in the side of a house and used a forklift to extricate a 900-pound man from his second-floor bedroom after a visiting nurse became worried about his health.

Rescue workers were called in Tuesday by the nurse, who determined the 33-year-old man needed medical help, Fire Chief Tom Cochran said.

Cochran said the man had not left his home since 2003.

The man's brother, who lives with him, said he suffers from Prader-Willi Syndrome.

The rare genetic disorder creates a chronic hungry feeling that can lead to overeating and life-threatening obesity.

Rescue workers brought in a forklift, high enough to raise a platform to a hole cut into the wall of the house.

They covered the man with a blue tarp to shield him from onlookers and slid the platform onto a flatbed truck for a trip to Sparrow Hospital.

Watch the video here

CNN

Study sees rise in men not washing hands

CHICAGO - The gender gap has widened when it comes to hygiene, according to the latest stakeout by the "hand washing police." One-third of men didn't bother to wash after using the bathroom, compared with 12 percent of women, said the researchers who spy on people in public restrooms. They reported their latest findings Monday at a meeting of infectious disease scientists.

Two years ago, the last time the survey was done, only one-quarter of men didn't wash, compared with 10 percent of women.

"Guys need to step up to the sink," said Brian Sansoni, spokesman for the Soap and Detergent Association, which co-sponsors the survey and related education campaigns.

The latest study was based on observations last month of more than 6,000 people in four big cities.

Continue here.

Africans describe lives destroyed by floods

SANDEMA, Ghana - As rain fell in torrents onto her dirt-walled home in northern Ghana, Asubonga Apebani tried desperately to plug the leaks in her roof.

But when floodwaters swirled through her village, her house collapsed, leaving her homeless and hungry along with hundreds of thousands of other hapless Africans who have suffered a similar drenching fate across the continent’s Sub-Saharan belt.

“I have no sleeping place and the grain supplies also fell down. All of our crops have totally failed. We have no food. We are starving ... we have been eating only one meal a day,” said Apebani, 67, who comes from Pungu in Gh
ana’s Upper East region.

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10 killed in ambush of ex-vice governor in south Philippines

Ten people were killed and three others were injured including a former vice governor in an exchange of fires in the south Philippines' North Cotabato province, a military official said on Wednesday.

The shootout occurred at around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday morning when the convoy of Norodin Matalam, former vice governor of the neighboring Maguindanao province, was chased by armed villagers.

"Matalam's escorts and the villagers got out of the vehicles and opened fire against each other," said Col. Pedro Soria, commander of the Army's 602nd Brigade.

Matalam and his wife survived the shootout but were injured. The leader of the attacking villagers, Tayatog, and six of his men were killed on the spot. Three men from the other side were also dead after the crossfire, Soria said.

Soria said Matalam is recovering in the hospital and the cause of the shootout is under investigation.

Local news network ABS-CBN News said Matalam belongs to an influential Muslim political clan, and police are investigating whether the attack was politically motivated.

People's Daily Online

Abandoned toddler case leads to body in trunk

Police searching for the mother of a toddler believed to have been abandoned by her father at a train station in Australia found a woman's body locked in the trunk of a car at the family's New Zealand home Wednesday.

The body was not immediately identified but the car was registered to the father of the 3-year-old girl, and the inquiry into the mother's whereabouts is now a homicide investigation, Detective Senior Sergeant Simon Scott said.

Authorities found Qian Xun Xue alone and confused at a station in the southern Australian city of Melbourne on Saturday. Police in Australia, New Zealand and the United States as well as Interpol are looking for her father, Xue Naiyin, a 54-year-old Chinese-language magazine publisher.

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Britney Ordered To Take Alcohol, Drug Tests

LOS ANGELES - Britney Spears has been ordered to undergo random drug and alcohol testing twice a week. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon also has ordered both Spears and her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, to refrain from drinking and using drugs around their two young sons. They're also forbidden from drinking or doing drugs 12 hours before either one cares for the children.

Only Spears has been ordered to submit to testing.

Spears must meet for eight hours a week with a parenting coach, who will report back to the court on Spears' parenting skills.

Both Spears and Federline have been forbidden from making derogatory comments about each other in the presence of the boys.

Spears and Federline each is seeking custody of the children.

Messages left with attorneys for Spears and Federline were not immediately returned.

MSNBC

Bus crash kills 17 in western Mexico

MEXICO CITY - An American citizen and members of a family traveling to Mexico from the U.S. for a funeral were among at least 17 passengers who died in a bus crash in western Mexico over the weekend.

he bus was carrying 35 passengers from the resort city of Puerto Vallarta to Guadalajara — including passengers of several detoured flights — when it went off a mountain road Saturday, bus company and government officials said.

The U.S. Embassy on Sunday confirmed that the crash killed U.S. citizen Jesus Morales Robles, 66, of Los Angeles.

Among the surviving passengers was Juan Antonio Quezada de la Cruz, who lives in Riverside, Calif., and was traveling with seven family members to attend their father's funeral in Guadalajara. A sister and a 1-year-old nephew died in the crash, he said.

Story continue here.

J.Lo set to be Mommy from the Block

Turns out that the baggy green dress Jennifer Lopez wore to the New York Fashion Week launch of her new clothing line, JustSweet, wasn’t so much a questionable fashion choice, but baby-bump camouflage.

After two years of trying, it’s at least one — maybe two — spring offspring for J. Lo and husband Marc Anthony, reports In Touch. According to a magazine insider, Jennifer’s Sept. 12 ultrasound revealed she’s about 12 weeks pregnant.

This long-awaited pregnancy reportedly is the result of in-vitro fertilization, so there may be more than one celebu-baby waiting in the world-famous womb. “The way the fetus is lying made it difficult for the doctor to tell if there was more than one baby in there,” the source said.

Even before this secret spilled, Jennifer’s beginner baby bump was obvious to those around her. Aside from the shape-shielding apparel and obvious glow at Fashion Week, Jennifer’s been fastidious about her food intake, reports In Touch. At a recent dinner party, Jennifer pushed off wine and refused to touch tuna, two nutritional no-nos for expecting mamas.

TABLOID TIDBITS

Breakout female TV stars for fall

Michelle Ryan (“Bionic Woman,” NBC)
You might already know her computer-chip-ified eye from billboards all across the nation, and astute fans of the BBC know her from the hit show “EastEnders,” but most American TV fans will meet Ryan when she bursts onto the small screen as the new “Bionic Woman.” Ryan brings a new twist to '70s-era icon Jaime Sommers, and not just because she’s a brunette. She kicks butt soon into the series premiere (9 p.m. Sept. 26, NBC), but she’s got a lot to live up to. Loyal fans might not even give her a fair shot, but Ryan has the goods to hold her own.


Yvonne Strahovski (“Chuck,” NBC)
Every secret-agent show needs a leggy, blond sidekick, right? After watching Strahovski tear it up in the series premiere of “Chuck” (8 p.m. Sept. 24, NBC), many viewers will agree. Strahovski, a Polish actress who comes to the States by way of Australia, goes from lingerie and garters to uppercuts and karate kicks in mere minutes as the sultry CIA agent assigned to watch Chuck’s back. She’s changed the spelling of her last name since the show was introduced over the summer (it was Strzechowski), but you’d do well to start practicing the pronunciation (Stra-hof-ski), because you’ll soon be seeing a lot more of this newcomer.


Blake Lively (“Gossip Girl,” CW)
The final member of “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” to get her own TV show, Lively is a scene stealer as Serena van der Woodsen on the new teen drama “Gossip Girl” (9 p.m. Sept. 19, CW). Lively’s “Sisterhood” co-stars Amber Tamblyn (“Joan of Arcadia”) and Alexis Bledel (“Gilmore Girls”) already had their shows when the 2005 movie came out, and America Ferrera has since taken the TV world by storm as “Ugly Betty.” Now it’s Lively’s turn to shine, and she makes an immediate impact as a popular Upper East Side prep school girl who mysteriously left town and just as mysteriously returns.


Laura Marano (“Back to You,” FOX)
Marano has been popping up over the past year like one of the elusive targets on those Whack-a-Mole games, but she gets pinned down as a regular on the new sitcom “Back to You” (8 p.m. Sept. 19, FOX), playing Patricia Heaton’s 10-year-old daughter. Marano has guest starred as Anthony LaPaglia’s daughter on “Without a Trace,” but she’s been on fire the past year with appearances on Showtime’s “Dexter,” “The Sarah Silverman Show” and the movie “Superbad.” She also was one of the brainy youngsters in the first season of FOX’s “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” She’s a pro and could make for some magical moments while sharing screen time with Heaton and co-star Kelsey Grammer.

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A 2 yr. old called 911 to save her mother!!

2 yr. old Alana called 911 when her mother collapsed in their home. i cant believe kid like her can do something now. i think kids right now are smart.

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Man gets stuck in chimney

Watch the man who get stuck in the chimney.

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Cousin: I never forced sex on teen bride

The cousin of a woman who claims the leader of a polygamous sect forced them to marry when she was 14 said Wednesday he never forced himself on the teen bride.

He also claimed she was the one who initiated sex.

The testimony came during the trial of Warren Jeffs, 51, who is president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Prosecutors claim he used his iron-fisted influence to force her into sex and marriage with her cousin in 2001.

At times breaking into tears, the cousin spoke softly as he told jurors how she approached him after he fell asleep in his clothes following a 12-hour day at work. During his testimony, the woman, who is now 21, ran from the courtroom.

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Pitt says he & Jolie want more children

Brad Pitt, who stars as legendary outlaw Jesse James in a new film, jokes that the advantage of today's celebrity culture is that people aren't carrying six-shooters around the way they did in James' day.

Even so, as the father of four young children, the 43-year-old actor is mindful of the potential dangers that come with fame.

"It's something that I want to be aware of and be cautious about, especially with the family, that everybody's protected," Pitt told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

"I mean it's rare, but there are imbalanced people out there. I've had break-ins in the house. ... I've had some of these abnormal incidents that can be a bit frightening," he said.

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World's oldest man turns 112

The world's oldest man celebrated his 112th birthday Tuesday with a healthy Japanese breakfast of rice, miso soup and seaweed, saying he wanted to live forever.

Tomoji Tanabe, who has been the world's oldest man since January this year, lives with his son and family in Japan's southern prefecture of Miyazaki. He keeps a diary and reads the newspaper every day.

"I want to live indefinitely. I don't want to die," he said as he marked his birthday, Kyodo News reported.

Tanabe, a teetotaller who has repeatedly said that avoiding alcohol is a secret of his longevity, was given a certificate from the Guinness Book of World Records by the mayor of his local municipality in June.

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Weight Loss News: Obesity may raise the risk of stillbirth

Obese pregnant women may have an increased risk of losing their baby relatively late in pregnancy, and black women appear particularly at risk, a large study suggests.

Researchers found that obese women were 40 percent more likely than normal-weight and overweight women to have their pregnancy end in stillbirth -- defined as fetal death in the 20th week of pregnancy or later.

African-American women were especially at risk. Compared with obese white women, their rate of stillbirth was 90 percent higher, the study authors report in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Part of the reason for the obesity-stillbirth link may rest in the fact that obese women are more prone to diabetes and high blood pressure in pregnancy, explained Dr. Hamisu Salihu, an associate professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa and the study's lead author.

Because black women have higher rates of these pregnancy complications than white women do, this may also help explain the racial gap, according to the researchers.

However, diabetes and high blood pressure are not the whole story, Salihu told Reuters Health, and other factors must be at work.

For example, he explained, obese women also have higher levels of lipids -- blood fats such as cholesterol. These fats suppress a substance called prostacyclin, which can narrow the blood vessels and promote blood clotting in vessels supplying the fetus.

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Police: Teens forced to perform sex acts

SALEMBURG, N.C. - Three men were arrested on charges that they held 10 teenagers at gunpoint and forced them to smoke marijuana and perform sex acts on one another, authorities said Tuesday.

The alleged abductors also fired four shots into the floor of the home where the teens were held early Sunday, Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton said. He described the victims as six high school-age girls and four boys and said the home belonged to one of the victims.

Three men in their 20s were arrested and charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon and second-degree kidnapping.

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The Science of conjoined twins.

Conjoined twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined together in utero. It is a rare phenomenon; it is estimated to range from 1 in 50,000 births to 1 in 200,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence in Southwest Asia and Africa. [1] Approximately half are stillborn, and a smaller fraction of pairs born alive have abnormalities incompatible with life. The overall survival rate for conjoined twins is approximately 25%.[2]

About 70 to 75% of conjoined twin pairs are female.

Conjoined twins form in one of two ways. The first is fission, in which the fertilized egg splits partially, resulting in two-to-one type conjoined twins, i.e. Dicephalus twins. The second is fusion, a more common type of conjoined twinning, in which a fertilized egg completely separates, but stem cells (which search for similar cells) find like-stem cells on the other twin and fuse the twins together. This results in single and relative organ sharing, i.e. Thorapagus twins.

Perhaps the most famous pair of conjoined twins was Chang and Eng Bunker (1811–1874), Chinese brothers born in Siam, now Thailand. They traveled with P.T. Barnum's circus for many years and were billed as the Siamese Twins; due to their fame and the rarity of the condition, the term came to be used as a synonym for conjoined twins, although in recent years the term has fallen out of favor and is considered a pejorative term.[3] Chang and Eng were joined by a band of flesh, cartilage, and their shared liver at the torso. In modern times, they could have been separated easily.[4]

Conjoined twins

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Mystery illness strikes after meteorite hits Peruvian village

Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday.

Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located in the high Andes department of Puno in the Desaguadero region, near the border with Bolivia.

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L.A. has worst traffic; drivers lose 72 hrs a year

Its true!!! stay here for almost 5months now. The traffic here very bad. I was really shocked when it was my first time encounter the traffic here cuz i thought its only in the Philippines that happens but guess what im wrong. I though its no more here cuz i was thinking LA is so big but i didn't know it has lots of people here too. And i feel like almost every person has its own car.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area led the nation in traffic jams in 2005, with rush-hour drivers spending an extra 72 hours a year on average stuck in traffic, according to a study released on Tuesday.

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China evacuates 1.6 million for typhoon

SHANGHAI, China - A typhoon expected to be the most powerful storm to hit China in a decade churned toward the densely populated coast on Tuesday with 165 mph wind gusts, and the government evacuated 1.6 million people.

The fringes of Typhoon Wipha lashed northern Taiwan, where schools, offices and the stock market closed. A construction worker was killed when the storm's winds knocked down scaffolding, Taiwan's Disaster Relief Center said.

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Dole recalls bagged salads due to E. coli

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A division of Dole Food Co said on Monday it was recalling "Dole Hearts Delight" bagged salads in the United States and Canada because a sample at a grocery store in Canada was found to contain E. coli.

Dole Fresh Vegetables said it has not received any reports that anyone has become sick from eating the products. The recall covers "Dole Hearts Delight" salads sold with a "best if used by" date of September 19.

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"Dead" man wakes up under autopsy knife

CARACAS (Reuters) - A Venezuelan man who had been declared dead woke up in the morgue in excruciating pain after medical examiners began their autopsy.

Carlos Camejo, 33, was declared dead after a highway accident and taken to the morgue, where examiners began an autopsy only to realize something was amiss when he started bleeding. They quickly sought to stitch up the incision on his face.


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China to hold first-ever 'no car day' on Saturday

BEIJING, (AFP) - China will initiate its first-ever nationwide "no car day" this weekend in an effort to promote environmental health and alleviate increasingly gridlocked urban roads, state press said Monday.

Residents in 108 cities will be urged to take public transport, ride bikes or walk on the nation's first "no car day" on Saturday, the China Daily reported.

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