Dec
11

Rate of Childhood Obesity Falls in Several Cities

Jessica Kourkounis for The New York TimesAt William H. Ziegler Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia, students are getting acquainted with vegetables and healthy snacks. PHILADELPHIA — After decades of rising childhood obesity rates, several American cities are reporting their first declines. The trend has emerged in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, as well as smaller places like...
Read More..

Rate of Childhood Obesity Falls in Several Cities

Jessica Kourkounis for The New York TimesAt William H. Ziegler Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia, students are getting acquainted with vegetables and healthy snacks. PHILADELPHIA — After decades of rising childhood obesity rates, several American cities are reporting their first declines. The trend has emerged in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, as well as smaller places like...
Read More..

Huawei to Open Research Center in Finland

PARIS — Huawei Technologies, a Chinese maker of telecommunications equipment, said on Monday that it planned to open a research and development center in Helsinki next year, accelerating its investments in Europe, where its business is expanding rapidly. The move illustrates a trans-Atlantic difference in attitudes toward Huawei. The company has been largely shut out of the United States...
Read More..

Libyan Reluctance Hobbles Benghazi Assault Investigation

WASHINGTON — An unarmed American military surveillance drone now flies virtually every day over Benghazi, gathering information and poised to respond at a moment’s notice if any of the suspects believed to be behind the attacks last Sept. 11 on the American Mission in the Libyan city are located. But three months after the assault that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other...
Read More..
Dec
10

Euro Watch: Italian Political Turmoil Weighs on Markets

ROME — Italian bond yields were sharply higher Monday, and Italian stocks led major European indexes lower, after a weekend of political turmoil in Italy gave rise to fears that the country was headed for renewed instability. Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he would again seek Italy’s highest office after pulling his party’s support from Mario Monti, the unelected official who...
Read More..

The New Old Age Blog: Training Needed for Home Care Is Lacking

“H” from Chicago, I heard you when you joined a lively discussion over hospice at home here a couple of weeks ago and asked, “where can family members get the training to do all the nursing tasks?”In the comments section, many readers wrote in to say that caring for relatives at the end of their lives was a duty and a privilege. Others said they were unprepared for the physical and emotional burdens...
Read More..

The New Old Age Blog: Training Needed for Home Care Is Lacking

“H” from Chicago, I heard you when you joined a lively discussion over hospice at home here a couple of weeks ago and asked, “where can family members get the training to do all the nursing tasks?”In the comments section, many readers wrote in to say that caring for relatives at the end of their lives was a duty and a privilege. Others said they were unprepared for the physical and emotional burdens...
Read More..

IHT Rendezvous: Philosophy, or Plumbing: How Well Is Academia Preparing Students for the Real World?

A report being released Monday by the McKinsey Center for Government shows a big disconnect between new grads looking for work and the employers looking to hire them. Both sides have acknowledged that something is amiss: Only 42 percent of employers felt that new hires were adequately prepared by their education or formal training. Similarly, only 45 percent of graduates felt they were adequately...
Read More..
Dec
09

Changes to Agriculture Highlight Cuba’s Problems

HAVANA — Cuba’s liveliest experiment with capitalism unfolds every night in a dirt lot on the edge of the capital, where Truman-era trucks lugging fresh produce meet up with hundreds of buyers on creaking bicycle carts clutching wads of cash. “This place, it feeds all of Havana,” said Misael Toledo, 37, who owns three small food stores in the city. “Before, you could only buy or sell in the...
Read More..

New Taxes to Take Effect to Fund Health Care Law

WASHINGTON — For more than a year, politicians have been fighting over whether to raise taxes on high-income people. They rarely mention that affluent Americans will soon be hit with new taxes adopted as part of the 2010 health care law. The new levies, which take effect in January, include an increase in the payroll tax on wages and a tax on investment income, including interest, dividends...
Read More..