Month: February 2014

BRUSSELS (AP) — Belgium, one of the very few countries where euthanasia is legal, is expected to take the unprecedented step this week of abolishing age restrictions on who can ask to be put to death — extending the right to children.

By Martinne Geller LONDON (Reuters) – Consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser reported a rise in sales and forecast further growth this year, despite challenges in emerging markets, and named a new chairman for its declining pharmaceuticals business to help with a strategic review. The company did not say what option it was leaning towards for the business, which centres on the opioid-dependence drug Suboxone, but some analysts took the appointment of drugs industry veteran Howard Pien chairman as a sign it might be preparing for a sale. "The appointment of a chairman of this business might be taken as implying a spin-out is a serious possibility," analysts at Credit Suisse said in a research note. CS values the pharmaceuticals business at about 1.5 billion pounds, or just over 200 pence a share.

The average age for US curlers is 33.9, and the oldest is 45.        

By Oliver Holmes and Khaled Yacoub Oweis GENEVA (Reuters) – Peace talks between the Syrian government and opposition are not making much progress, the international mediator said on Tuesday after a face-to-face meeting of the warring parties in Geneva that both sides called fruitless. Negotiations intended to end Syria's three-year-old civil war began with a week-long session last month and have resumed this week in Geneva. But Lakhdar Brahimi, a veteran diplomat charged with running the internationally sponsored talks, told a news conference the second round so far was as "laborious" as the first. Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said Tuesday was a "lost day" while opposition spokesman Louay Safi said "no progress" had been made.

The Chinese government will pump 61.66 billion yuan ($10.17 billion) in extra funds into the restive far western region of Xinjiang this year to improve housing and employment, state media said on Wednesday. Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people and strategically located on the borders of central Asia, has been beset by violence for years, blamed by the government on Islamist militants and separatists who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan. Exiles and many rights groups though say the real cause of the unrest is China's heavy-handed policies including restrictions on Islam and the Uighur people's culture and language, charges the government strongly denies. But the government has begun to recognize the economic roots of some of the upheaval, especially underdevelopment and lack of job opportunities in heavily Uighur areas like rural southern Xinjiang, and has poured money in to rectify the problem.

Inventor of new zipper design was inspired by his physically challenged uncle.        

Inventor of new zipper design was inspired by his physically challenged uncle.        

Cash-strapped Zimbabwe asked for international aid on Wednesday to evacuate thousands of families threatened by a dam it feared could burst following torrential rains. Authorities said they had only managed to move 36 families out of 2,230 in immediate danger, warning any break in the Tokwe-Mukorsi dam could flood tens of thousands of other people downstream. Zimbabwe was asking for $20 million from foreign donors, Local Government and Public Works Minister Ignatius Chombo told Reuters.

The Duke Diet and Fitness Center is promoting an approximately 800-calories-a-day meal replacement program for people unable to lose weight …