Scientists try to keep centenarians on their toes

An $80 million research project aimed at giving people 50 active years after the age of 50 was launched by scientists at the University of Leeds in northern England Tuesday. About half of the babies born in Western countries today will live until they are 100 years old, according to recent research published in the medical journal The Lancet, so the challenge is to ensure they remain active throughout their old age.

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World Cup missing XI?

They are football’s royalty, the marquee players whose almost super human ability on the ball wins cups and championships; their faces adorn billboards and magazine covers from China to Columbia. President Lech Kaczynski’s approval of the treaty leaves the Czech Republic as the lone country that has not ratified the document

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France Considers Warning Labels for Airbrushed Photos

Like many Western countries, France requires health warnings on tobacco and alcohol and similar labels on processed food containing genetically modified ingredients. France’s regulators are also notoriously tough on marketing campaigns that make false product claims

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Report: Alzheimer’s cases to nearly double every 20 years

The number of people with dementia globally is estimated to nearly double every 20 years, according to a report released Monday for World Alzheimer’s Day. Much of the growth will be fueled by longer life spans and population growth, especially in developing nations

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Taliban leader boasts of eventual victory in Afghanistan

The Taliban fight against American and NATO troops in Afghanistan “is forging ahead like a powerful flood,” according to a purported online message posted Saturday by the Taliban’s elusive leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar. “Anyone who opts to resist it will himself be washed away.

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English lessons for India’s rickshaw drivers

Indian tourism authorities will be holding English classes for auto-rickshaw drivers in New Delhi as the city prepares to host the Commonwealth Games in 2010. More than 40,000 natural gas-fueled auto-rickshaws, or motorized three-wheeled taxis, run on the Indian capital’s dilapidated roads, according to the city government statistics

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