NEW YORK, Nov 20, 2012 (AFP) - Philip Roth's surprise decision to lay down his pen after 31 books has left the acclaimed US novelist more relaxed, he says -- and even with time to tackle the newfangled complexities of the iPhone.
Roth, who is 79 and one of the surviving giants of a golden age in American literature, is not retiring because of ill health or age, he claims, but mostly because after decades he has nothing left he wants to say. ...
SYDNEY: People living in the tropics are likely to die more than seven years younger than those in other regions, according to the first findings of a global research project released Monday.The State of the Tropics study, run by 13 institutions across 12 countries, reported that people living in the world's tropical zones in 2010 had an average life expectancy of 64.4 years....
SEOUL - President Obama, the mayor of London, China's top dissident artist and Madonna -- every time someone signals the death of "Gangnam Style" up pops another high-profile figure to keep the phenomenon alive. In the four months since the music video by South Korean rapper Psy went viral on YouTube, it has been name-checked and imitated by an impressive roster of global notables from world leaders to sports stars and business tycoons....
KOTA KINABALU - Malaysia is fortunate to have the Institute National Heart (IJN) which has contributed a lot to the people's health and also uplifted the country's image internationally. Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said IJN which celebrated its 20th anniversary in Sept had become increasingly relevant in medical treatment with a wide range of the latest equipment comparable to foreign countries....
CHICAGO, Nov 16, 2012 (AFP) - A Missouri mother foiled her son's plot to kill people at the latest Twilight film when she told police he was off his medication and had bought assault weapons, court documents showed Friday.
Police found Blaec Lammers, 20, at a Sonic fast food restaurant on Thursday after his mother told them she was worried because the guns he'd purchased were similar to those used in the recent massacre at a Colorado screening of Batman. ...
WASHINGTON, Nov 15, 2012 (AFP) - The United States saw a dramatic rise in the number of adults suffering from diabetes between 1995 and 2010, according to official statistics released Thursday.
The prevalence of the disease increased by at least 50 percent in 42 of the country's 50 states. In 18 of those, the rate at least doubled, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ...
AUSTIN - Lance Armstrong's cancer battling charity took another step to dissociate itself from the disgraced former cycling champ by dropping his name from its title. The Lance Armstrong Foundation will now be officially known as the Livestrong Foundation, in the latest move by the charity to separate itself from its founder. ...
TOKYO, Nov 15, 2012 (AFP) - Six days a week, winter or summer, 73-year-old Mitsumi Kobuna gets up at 5am to go to Tsukiji fish market to stock up his family-run stall.
He will be at work for around 15 hours, in a job he has done for 55 years. He has noticed his body slowing in the last decade or so, but would really like to carry on for two or three more years.
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WASHINGTON: The number of polio cases worldwide reached a record low in 2012, giving experts confidence that the disease can finally be eradicated, according to presentations made Tuesday at a major US conference.Just 177 cases were recorded globally through October 2012, down from 502 during the same period last year, said virologists attending the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in Atlanta....
PALM COVE, Australia, Nov 14, 2012 (AFP) - Sky-gazers in northern Australia donned protective glasses as the clouds parted Wednesday to allow them to witness one of nature's greatest phenomena -- a total eclipse of the sun.
All eyes and cameras turned to the heavens over tropical north Queensland as the moon began moving between the Earth and the sun, like a small bite which gradually increases in size. ...
