Study: Anesthesia in Infancy Linked to Later Disabilities

Every surgery poses risk, as doctors will inform you, but in most cases it’s a necessary one. The benefits of going under the knife frequently outweigh the risks of infection or complications, or the dangers associated with anesthesia. But balancing the benefits and risks is more difficult when the patients are babies, the most fragile population

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CIA chief arrives in Pakistan

Leon Panetta, director of the CIA, arrived in Pakistan on Saturday morning, a Pakistani Interior Ministry official said. Khamenei said a change in rhetoric is not enough, and Washington must practice what it preaches, according to the English-language Press TV channel in Iran. He also promised that Iran will change its policy if the United States does so as well, Press TV reported.

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Amid a New Baby Boom, a Jump in Adult Unwed Mothers

Somewhere Dan Quayle is clenching his fists. Two decades after the then-vice president bemoaned single motherhood — calling out the sitcom Murphy Brown for having its eponymous main character choose to have a child on her own — the latest data on U.S. births show that a full 40% of babies are now born to unmarried mothers

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Obama offers Iran ‘the promise of a new beginning’

President Barack Obama reached out to Iran on Friday — the start of the Iranian New Year — in a video message offering "the promise of a new beginning" that is "grounded in mutual respect." The message is a dramatic shift in tone from that of the Bush administration, which included Iran, along with North Korea and Iraq, in an “axis of evil.” It also echoes Obama’s inaugural speech, in which he said to the Muslim world, “we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” In Friday’s video, Obama said: “The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right, but it comes with real responsibilities. And that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful actions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization.” There was no immediate response from Tehran to Obama’s message, but Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last month that his country would welcome talks with the United States “in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect.” The United States, several European nations and Israel suspect that Tehran has been trying to acquire the capacity to build nuclear weapons, but Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes.

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Gil Kerlikowske: Obama’s New Drug Czar

President Obama’s choice to head the Office of National Drug Control Policy — otherwise known as the country’s “Drug Czar” — is Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. Having served in law enforcement for more than 30 years, Kerlikowske is known as an innovator and fierce defender of community policing principles that emphasize relationships with citizens over force. He’s clashed with city councils over his leadership style, but he’s also built a national reputation while working as a police chief all over the country

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Will the Economy Be Ahmadinejad’s Downfall?

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to believe that only desperate measures on the economy can save his presidency when Iranians go to the polls in June, but he suffered a shocking setback on Monday when the legislature dominated by like-minded conservatives blocked his key initiative. Ahmadinejad had proposed legislation in the Majlis, Iran’s parliament, that would have summarily withdrawn government subsidies on oil, gasoline and electricity, freeing up about $20 billion in government funds, of which he planned to transfer more than half in direct cash handouts to middle- and lower-income households

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The plight of young, uninsured Americans

They’re generally healthy and have a long life ahead of them. The health insurance industry even calls them ‘the young invincibles.’ So, what’s the problem Young adults, ages 19 to 29, are the largest age group of uninsured people across the country. For Maryland resident Bree Honey, all she can do for her chronic back pain right now is to exercise at the gym where she works and take Tylenol PM instead of other medicine she needs.

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U.S.: Iran has material for nuclear bomb but still ‘not close’

Iran likely has enough material to make a nuclear weapon, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen told CNN’s John King on Sunday. “We think they do, quite frankly,” Mullen said on “State of the Union,” when asked whether Iran “might now have enough fissile material to make a bomb.” “Iran having a nuclear weapon, I believe, for a long time, is a very, very bad outcome for the region and for the world,” Mullen added.

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