London: A new research suggests that old age now starts at 74. Attaining the age of 65 was earlier considered as end of middle age and the beginning of old age. Academics from the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna, Austria, argue that old age should be measured not by age, but how long people have left to live.
Asian actor puts an end to 'English' Midsomer
London: Midsomer Murders is to feature its first regular Asian character, signalling a demographic shift for the drama since the days its creator hailed as “the last bastion of Englishness.” Manjinder Kaur will play a pathologist, Dr Kam Karimore, who will appear throughout the series. She will join Neil Dudgeon and Gwilym Lee as DCI John Barnaby and DS Charlie Nelson.
Depression doubles risk of dementia
London: A new study has suggested that people who suffer from both depression and type 2 diabetes are twice as likely to develop dementia. Researchers led by Dimitry Davydow of the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, found that people with type 2 diabetes were 20 per cent more likely to develop the condition, while those with depression 83 per cent. For those with both the conditions the risk rose by 117 per cent and appeared to be even higher for the under 65s.
Divorcees suffer more heart attacks
London: Divorce can leave a woman with a broken heart even if she remarries, a new research finds. Such women are likely to have a heart arrack after one divorce and after two or more the likelihood doubles. Even women who remarry are likely to have an increased risk of the condition until they had been divorced twice or more. The researchers look at 15,827 men and women aged 45-80. The subjects were interviewed every two years between 1992 and 2010. While men generally had a higher heart attack risk, women who had divorced were at higher risk than men.
Chennai-born is New York's first PIO judge
Washington: Chennai born Raja Rajeswari, who came to America when she was 16, has become the first person of Indian descent to be named as a criminal court judge in New York City. Rajeswari, 43, an assistant district attorney at the Richmond county district attorney's office, who was nominated to the bench by Mayor Bill de Blasio, formally assumed her new office. “It's like a dream. It's way beyond what I imagined,” she was quoted as saying. “For someone like me, an immigrant who comes from India, I'm beyond grateful,” she said.
Another Hindu temple vandalised in US
Texas: A Hindu temple in the US state of Texas has been vandalised with offensive images spray-painted on its walls, the third such incident in the country this year. The number ‘666’ and an upside down cross was spray-painted on the door of the temple in Old Lake Highlands, north Texas. Krishna Singh, who is on the temple’s board, said they discovered the graffiti last Monday. “That was a big shock, really. The whole thing has been very disturbing to the community,” Singh said. Dallas police sent out detectives with the gang unit who are still searching for suspects. Now devotees will build a fence around the entire property to keep vandals out. Neighbours are upset too and both Hindus and non-Hindus have offered to help the temple clean the damage. “The sentiment of the neighbourhood is that we all find it appalling,” said Ted Hoffman, who lives across the street.
Morrisons to offer halal pick and mix sweets
London: Morrisons will offer gelatine-free sweets to Muslim customers. The selection of 36 sweets includes liquorice sticks, cola bottles, jelly beans, gummy bears and sugared lips - all guaranteed to be free of non-halal animal products or alcohol-based colourings and flavourings. The move is being tested at stores in Blackburn, Bolton, Preston, Bradford, West Bromwich, Birmingham, Leamington Spa and three in London.
Man faces action for branding Muslims as 'disgrace' for praying
London: A Liverpool FC faces action for allegedly branding two Muslim men as “a disgrace” for praying during the half-time break of a match. Stephen Dodd was at the centre of a Twitter storm over a picture of solicitors Asif Bodi and Abubakar Bhula worshipping during the half-time break as the Reds took on Blackburn Rovers on March 8. The picture appeared to be sent from his account, with the caption: "Muslims praying at half time at the match yesterday #DISGRACE.”
Miliband's US adviser pays no tax in Britain
London: Labour Party leader Ed Miliband's senior adviser pays no tax on his reported £300,000 earnings in Britain, reports said. David Axelrod, a former adviser to Barack Obama, admitted that he is not resident for tax purposes in the UK. Labour confirmed it pays Axelrod in dollars through his consultancy and that he "lives in the US, works in the US and pays taxes in the US”.
Adultery website Ashley Madison plans share issue
London: Ashley Madison, the website for people seeking extramarital affairs, plans to raise money from the public. The online dating company aims to raise £135m from the initial public offering and will use the proceeds to fund international expansion. Avid Life Media, the website’s parent company that also owns CougarLife.com, botched its first attempt at an IPO in 2010 due to lack of investor appetite. But Christoph Kraemer, who runs Ashley Madison’s European operations, said that he hopes for a London listing due to Europe’s more relaxed approach toward infidelity.
Afghan suicide blast kills 33, injures over 100
Jalalabad (Afghanistan): A suicide bomb blast in Afghanistan's eastern city of Jalalabad killed 33 people and injured more than 100 outside a bank where government workers collect salaries, the city's police chief said. Taliban insurgents denied responsibility, although they have claimed earlier killings in a wave of attacks coinciding with the sharp draw down of foreign troops. "It was an evil act. We strongly condemn it," the Islamist militants' spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said. For the first time since the hardline Islamist Taliban movement was ousted from power in 2001, Afghan forces are fighting with little support from NATO troops. NATO, which at its peak had 130,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, has only a few thousand left, involved mainly in training and special operations.''
Indian-American leads Hillary Clinton's advisers
Washington: Making her second presidential run, Hillary Clinton has set up a three person team of senior policy advisers headed by Indian-American Maya Harris, a former senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. The team will help develop an agenda for her presidential campaign that would be unfolded in a series of policy rollouts expected to begin late next month after her early phase of road trips to meet voters, Politico reported. Two others on the policy team are Ann O'Leary, a former legislative director to Clinton when she was in the Senate; and Jake Sullivan, a top aide to Clinton while she was Secretary of State and a former national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden. Besides the policy team, Clinton is also likely to keep getting informal advice from another Indian-American Neera Tanden, the current president of CAP and a longtime adviser.
Pak chief of ISIS killed while planting bomb
Peshawar: The Pakistan chief of ISIS Hafiz Muhammad Saeed was killed when a roadside bomb he was planting went off in the country's restive northwest tribal region, according to a media report.
Saeed and two of his accomplices were killed when the bomb they were planting exploded in Toor Dara area of Tirah Valley in the Khyber tribal region, Express Tribune reported. The security forces claimed one of the men killed in bombing was the Pakistan ISIS chief, the report said. However, there was no confirmation from the ISIS militant group.
Pakistan SC orders govt to get temple restored
Islamabad: Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to get a temple restored and reconstructed after it was ‘dismantled’ in 1997 and later occupied by a cleric. Lawmaker Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, patron of the Pakistan Hindu Council, had asked the court to intervene into the frequent desecration of temples, including occupation of Shri Paramhans Ji Maharaj’s Samadhi in Teri village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak district by a cleric. The court after hearing the arguments ordered the provincial government to restore and preserve the Karak temple.
