New York, Oct 19: With two bitter debates behind and the countdown having begun to next month’s presidential election, rival candidates, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, showed that American politicians were not without their sense of humour when both took a short break from the campaign trail to trade witty barbs at a charity dinner event here.

Taking...

Washington, Oct 19: President Barack Obama will continue to push for strengthening trade and public security in Latin America if he is re-elected on November 6, the top US envoy to the region said on Thursday.

“On the question of the president and what comes next in a second term, let me say that I think there are a number of things the president himself has said he considers sort...

Washington, Oct 19: The race for the White House is still seen as either a virtual tie or Barack Obama’s to lose with national polls ranging from a three point lead for the president to Mitt Romney surging ahead by seven points.

With a new Gallup daily tracking poll released on Thursday showing Romney surging ahead among likely voters 52 per cent to 45 per cent, Romney slightly wi...

Beijing, Oct 19: India’s “soft spot is economic, not military”, said a state-run Chinese daily which made it clear that though India’s military strength may help defend its border, China’s influence “cannot be avoided”. “India has no better choice than to quickly boost its economic growth and improve people’s lives in its northeastern region...

Washington, Oct 19: America is “closely cooperating” with the Japanese authorities in investigating the alleged rape of a Japanese woman by two suspected US military servicemen, Pentagon spokesman George Little said. Two US Navy sailors were arrested in Japan on Tuesday on suspicion of raping a woman in the country’s southern prefecture of Okinawa.

“We are also ...

Sydney, Oct 19: Teenagers wanting a good night’s rest should avoid prolonged video gaming, says a new study. The study - conducted by masters student Daniel King at the Flinder’s University Sleep Lab - found that long hours of video gaming immediately before bed caused significant sleep disruptions in a group of teenage boys. “While they went to bed at their regular bedtime, the ...

Washington, Oct 19: Overactive glands secrete excessive parathyroid hormone, resulting in weak bones, fractures and kidney stones, one which may also be linked with higher high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke risks. The condition, known as primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT), affects one in 800 people during their lifetime. It is most common in post-menopausal women aged between 50 and 60 y...

Copenhagen, Oct 19: A cancer diagnosis doesn’t make young people turn to religion if they are not religious. But it can strengthen beliefs in those who are already religious, says a new study. “My research shows that young cancer patients’ views on existential issues show consistency before and after the diagnosis: Their faith and their religious practices remain the same,”...

Washington, Oct 19: A process to boost efficiency and productivity in Japanese car factories is helping slash treatment time for stroke patients and boosting recovery. Applying the principles of Toyota’s lean manufacturing process, doctors sharply cut down the average time between patient arrival and treatment from 58 to 37 minutes, at the Washington University School of Medicine’s (St...

London, Oct 19: An Indian-origin computer programmer in the US claims to have increased his productivity after he hired a woman to slap him in the face every time she catches him looking at Facebook. Maneesh Sethi placed an advertisement on the classified website Craigslist to recruit someone willing to monitor what he was looking at on his laptop, Daily Mail reported. The computer expert and writ...

London, Oct 19: Planets supporting alien life beyond the solar system will be found within the next 50 years, says renowned astronomer Sir Patrick Moore. Asked if recent discoveries of Earth-like planets meant that we were closer to discovering proof of alien life within the next 50 years, he said: “Yes, we are not far off. We have found other planets. The next stage is to detect the atmosph...

Washington, Oct 19: An Indian-American doctor couple, Drs. Kiran C and Pallavi Patel, have donated $12 million to the University of South Florida in a new endowment aimed at creating the Patel College of Global Sustainability. The endowment would expand on nearly a decade of world-leading applied research to advance sustainability around the globe and improve the lives of the world’s most vu...

New York, Oct 19: US authorities said a man accused of child pornography was connected to a Bangladeshi who planned to set off a bomb at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a media report said. According to a New York Times report, Howard Willie Carter II was suspected of being an accomplice of Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, who was arrested in New York on Wednesday, Xinhua reported. The U...

TOKYO, Oct 19: A rare frog species is armed with combat-ready spikes which shoot straight from the fingers, like that of a comic book hero, says a Japanese scientist. The discovery by Noriko Iwai, from the University of Tokyo, reveals how the Otton frog uses spikes which protrude from a false thumb for both combat and mating. The study focused on the Otton frog whose habitat is the Amami islands o...