Fast food linked to child asthma: study

PARIS: Children who frequently eat fast food are far more likely to have severe asthma compared to counterparts who tuck into fruit, a large international study published on Monday said.Researchers asked nearly half a million teenagers aged 13-14 and children aged six and seven about their eating habits and whether in the previous year they had experienced wheezing, eczema or an itchy,...

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Samsung: We've sold 100 million Galaxy S smartphones

Samsung's Galaxy S series smartphones have crossed the threshold of 100 million sales. According to Samsung's Tomorrow Flickr page, its flagship Galaxy S series has managed to surpass that mark in 2 years and 7 months since the launch of the first Galaxy smartphone in May 2010. In addition, the firm says that the Galaxy S3 is selling "at [a] much faster rate," smashing through the 1 million barrier...

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United Airlines scheme saves millions on fuel taxes: lawsuit

CHICAGO A transportation agency plans to file a lawsuit Monday alleging that United Airlines is falsely claiming to buy huge amounts of jet fuel out of a small, rural Illinois office that doesn't even have a computer to avoid paying tens of millions of dollars in taxes in Chicago, where the purchases are allegedly being made. The Regional Transportation Authority alleges United Aviation Fuels Corp.,...

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Golden Globe Moments: A Night of Laughs, Surprises

Let's finally bury this idea that women can't be funny once and for all. Fey and Poehler were undeniably hilarious throughout the Globes, so much so that many fans on Twitter demanded more of them during the ceremony. From their opening bit -- Poehler: "Meryl Streep is not here tonight, she has the flu. And I hear she's amazing in it." -- to their pseudo drunk heckling of best TV comedy actress...

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Syria war envelops region in "staggering" crisis: aid agency

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syria's civil war is unleashing a "staggering humanitarian crisis" on the Middle East as hundreds of thousands of refugees flee violence including gang rape, an international aid agency said on Monday. Opposition activists said an air strike on rebel-held territory southwest of Damascus killed 20 people, including women and children, adding to the more than 60,000 people...

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S'pore's productivity well below most developed countries: DPM Tharman

SINGAPORE: Singapore's productivity is well below that of the most developed countries, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.In a Facebook post on Sunday, he noted that restaurants here are experiencing difficulties finding employees.Mr Tharman said some restaurants have raised pay to attract part-timers during the peak Lunar New Year season. But...

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JSTOR says it mourns `tragic loss' of Aaron Swartz

As the Internet exploded with anger over news that online activist Aaron Swartz had committed suicide on Friday, the subscription-only archive he was accused of hacking said late today that it "regretted" having been drawn to "this sad event." Swartz, a celebrated computer activist and programming prodigy, was fighting two-year-old charges that he stole 4 million documents from the Massachusetts...

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Beijing air pollution off the charts

BEIJING People refused to venture outdoors and buildings disappeared into Beijing's murky skyline on Sunday as the air quality in China's notoriously polluted capital went off the index. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center said on its website that the density of PM2.5 particulates had surpassed 700 micrograms per cubic meter in many parts of the city. The World Health Organization...

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Poisoned Lottery Winner's Kin Were Suspicious

Urooj Khan had just brought home his $425,000 lottery check when he unexpectedly died the following day. Now, certain members of Khan's family are speaking publicly about the mystery -- and his nephew told ABC News they knew something was not right."He was a healthy guy, you know?" said the nephew, Minhaj Khan. "He worked so hard. He was always going about his business and,...

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France bombs Mali rebels as more troops arrive in Bamako

BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) - French fighter jets bombed Islamist rebels in Mali for a third day on Sunday as Paris poured more troops into the capital Bamako, awaiting the arrival of a West African force to dislodge al Qaeda-linked insurgents from the country's north. French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France's dramatic intervention on Friday to bomb a convoy of heavily armed...

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