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| Obama urges Democrats to wake up ahead of tough midterm elections Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 07:51 PM PST  By Roberta Rampton MCLEAN, Virginia (Reuters) - Democrats need to wake up and understand the stakes involved in holding on to control of the U.S. Senate in the November congressional elections, President Barack Obama told Democratic Party donors at a fundraiser on Tuesday. We don't fund campaigns as passionately," Obama said. Obama was speaking to a group of more than 40 donors who paid $10,000 to $32,400 a ticket to attend a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee event at the home of former Senator Chuck Robb and his wife, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb. Obama said he planned to devote time and energy to working for Democratic candidates because advancing issues ranging from the environment to women's health issues depend on keeping control of the Senate. Full Story | Top |
| China to 'declare war' on pollution, premier says Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 07:20 PM PST  China is to "declare war" on pollution, Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday at the opening of the annual meeting of parliament, with the government unveiling detailed measures to tackle what has become a hot-button social issue. It is not uncommon for air pollution in parts of China to breach levels considered by some experts to be hazardous. Full Story | Top |
| Alabama lawmakers weigh strict 'fetal heartbeat' abortion ban Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 06:23 PM PST By Verna Gates and Melinda Dickinson BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - Alabama lawmakers on Tuesday approved a bill that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat is heard, which will almost guarantee a legal challenge from opponents. The bill, along with three other abortion restriction bills, now goes to the Senate. The sponsor of the Alabama measure, Republican state Representative Mary Sue McClurkin, said it was needed to protect the lives of unborn children. Critics of the legislation say a fetal heartbeat can be detected as early as five or six weeks into a pregnancy, which is before many women even realize they are pregnant. Full Story | Top |
| Japanese film "Homeland" tiptoes into Fukushima nuclear debate Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 06:22 PM PST By Ruairidh Villar and Elaine Lies TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese farming family is forced from their home by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, living in cramped temporary housing under stress as they wait for permission to return to land worked by their ancestors for generations. That is the all-too-real backdrop of "Homeland", the first Japanese mass-market film set in Fukushima since the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years made the area's name infamous. Despite an intense debate about whether to restart the rest of Japan's nuclear reactors that were idled after the disaster, director Nao Kubota said he opted to tell a human story. "That's what I want everyone to feel - and it's for that reason that it's not anti-nuclear." On March 11, 2011, a massive offshore earthquake sent tsunami tearing through villages in northeastern Japan, setting off meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant that irradiated a wide swath of countryside and forced more than 150,000 people from their homes. Full Story | Top |
| Los Angeles moves to ban e-cigarettes, joining NY, others Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 05:56 PM PST  By Dan Whitcomb and Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Los Angeles City Council voted on Tuesday to ban the use of electronic cigarettes, also known as "vaping," from restaurants, bars, nightclubs and other public spaces in the nation's second-largest city. A spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Garcetti confirmed to Reuters that he would sign the measure into law in the coming days. When he does, Los Angeles will join a growing list of cities, including New York, Boston and Chicago, that restrict the use of e-cigarettes, which are battery-powered cartridges filled with liquid nicotine that creates an inhalable vapor when heated. "We have an obligation to protect the workforce from the effects of secondhand aerosol exhaled by people who choose to 'vape' on e-cigarettes," said City Council member Mitch O'Farrell, who co-sponsored the proposal. Full Story | Top |
| Alabama House passes bill banning abortions after fetal heartbeat Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 05:30 PM PST BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) - The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill on Tuesday that would ban abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, according to a state lawmaker. The bill passed by a vote of 73 to 29, according to State Rep. Paul Lee, a Republican, who spoke to Reuters from the house floor. The measure now goes to the Senate. (Reporting by Melinda Dickinson in Birmingham; Writing by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Cynthia Johnston) Full Story | Top |
| Arizona advances bill for surprise inspections of abortion clinics Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 05:04 PM PST By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona lawmakers advanced a Republican-backed measure on Tuesday that would allow unannounced inspections of licensed abortion clinics in a state that has taken some of the country's toughest stances on abortion. The bill, which passed in the state House of Representatives 34-22, would delete a provision in state law mandating that an administrative warrant be obtained from a judge to inspect any of the nine licensed abortion clinics in Arizona. This is about the healthiness of a facility where a woman goes to get a procedure done," said Republican Representative Debbie Lesko, the bill's sponsor. "What is it that they have to hide?" The measure, which still must be approved by the state Senate and signed by Republican Governor Jan Brewer before it can become law, is the latest abortion-related restriction to be sought by conservatives in state legislatures across the United States. Full Story | Top |
| Yosemite bears turn health nuts with junk food off menu Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 05:02 PM PST By Alex Dobuzinskis LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Bears in Yosemite National Park in California have adopted the wildlife version of a health food diet after increased safety measures largely blocked them from scavenging for food in campgrounds over the last 15 years, a study showed on Tuesday. An estimated 350 to 400 black bears roam Yosemite, one of the most popular U.S. tourist destinations. Interactions between the park's bears and people reached a record level in 1998 as the animals raided campgrounds and broke into cars in search of groceries and leftovers, according to Yosemite spokesman Scott Gediman. After recording 1,584 human-bear interactions that year, the park east of San Francisco adopted a policy in 1999 that included placing bear-resistant food storage containers at campgrounds and cracking down more forcefully on people leaving out items like chips or bread, Gediman said. Full Story | Top |
| White House readies health insurance renewal extension: sources Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 04:53 PM PST  By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration will allow consumers to extend health insurance plans that fail to comply with President Barack Obama's healthcare law beyond 2014, according to three people familiar with the matter. Without an extension, analysts say a new round of cancellation notices is likely to begin this October, just weeks before the poll. Full Story | Top |
| Arkansas lawmakers vote to fund state's alternative to Obamacare Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 04:37 PM PST By Steve Barnes LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - The Arkansas House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to fund the state's so-called "Private Option" medical insurance program that has drawn interest from lawmakers in other states as an alternative to Obamacare. The measure, which had earlier passed the state Senate, received 76 votes, one more than necessary in the 100-member House. This ended a more than week-long standoff over the health insurance program for lower-income residents. The Private Option uses $915 million in federal Medicaid funds from the Obama Administration's Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, to purchase health insurance for employed individuals whose earnings hover just above the federal poverty level. Full Story | Top |
| Passive smoking causes irreversible damage to kids' arteries Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 04:10 PM PST  By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Exposure to second-hand smoke in childhood causes irreversible damage to children's arteries - increasing their risk of heart attacks or strokes when they grow up, according to a large international study published on Wednesday. The research, which lends weight to campaigns for smoking to be banned in private cars and homes, found passive smoking leads to a thickening of children's artery walls, adding some 3.3 years to the age of blood vessels by adulthood. Full Story | Top |
| Virginia investigator quits over probe of death of senator's son Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 03:49 PM PST By Gary Robertson RICHMOND, Virginia (Reuters) - A senior Virginia state investigator has resigned his post, citing changes that officials made to his report on a November incident in which the mentally ill adult son of state Senator Creigh Deeds stabbed the senator and later shot and killed himself. On Saturday, Douglas Bevelacqua resigned as Virginia's director of the inspector general for behavioral health and developmental services. In a letter to Governor Terry McAuliffe, Bevelacqua said revisions in his report on the death of Austin "Gus" Deeds "will diminish the report's usefulness as policy makers consider changes to the Commonwealth's emergency services response system." Among the revisions to his final report on the incident, Bevelacqua said officials struck a section in which the senator said the state had "failed" his son. That change weakened his review of Virginia's system of responding to people with mental health problems, Bevelacqua said. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: Details of U.S. President Obama's fiscal year 2015 budget Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 03:21 PM PST (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama released his fiscal year 2015 budget request to Congress on Tuesday, and lawmakers will promptly ignore it. Obama outlined how he would parcel out $1.014 trillion on government agencies' discretionary programs ranging from the military to national parks. The level, barely above this year's spending cap of $1.012 trillion, was set by a recent budget deal and forces Obama to make some difficult cuts to fund the programs he wants. If the president wants to spend more, he will have to sell Congress on the idea of raising additional revenues. Full Story | Top |
| Children of older fathers may be at higher risk for mental illness Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 03:19 PM PST Based on millions of children born in Sweden since the 1970s, researchers say those born to fathers older than 45 were significantly more likely to develop autism, bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and schizophrenia than those born to much younger fathers. The analysis of all the births in Sweden over 28 years also found that children of older fathers were at heightened risk for substance abuse, suicide and academic failure. "Historically, the focus has been on the mothers' age at childbirth," lead author Brian D'Onofrio told Reuters Health. "This study is adding to a growing body of research that suggests we also need to consider fathers' age at childbearing." In the largest study to date on the effects of paternal age, D'Onofrio, an Indiana University psychologist, worked with Karolinska Institute researchers to analyze the civil and medical records of more than 2.6 million children born in Sweden between 1973 and 2001. Full Story | Top |
| For his next act, genome wiz Craig Venter takes on aging Tuesday, Mar 04, 2014 03:09 PM PST  By Julie Steenhuysen LA JOLLA, California (Reuters) - Craig Venter, the U.S. scientist who raced the U.S. government to map the human genome over a decade ago and created synthetic life in 2010, is now on a quest to treat age-related disease. Venter has teamed up with stem cell pioneer Dr Robert Hariri and X Prize Foundation founder Dr Peter Diamandis to form Human Longevity Inc, a company that will use both genomics and stem cell therapies to find treatments that allow aging adults to stay healthy and functional for as long as possible. "We're hoping to make numerous new discoveries in preventive medicine. The San Diego-based startup company has $70 million in private backing and has already purchased two ultrafast HiSeq X Ten gene sequencing systems from Illumina Inc, a leading manufacturer of DNA sequencing machines, with the option to buy three more. Full Story | Top |
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