ER visits tied to energy drinks double since 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new government survey suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide during the past four years, the same period in which the supercharged drink industry has surged in popularity in convenience stores, bars and on college campuses.From 2007 to 2011, the government estimates the number of emergency room visits involving...

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Wall Street dips at open, Boeing drags

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell off five-year highs on Wednesday as concerns about global economic growth offset strong bank results and shares of Boeing weighed on the Dow after two Japanese airlines grounded their Dreamliner fleets. Goldman Sachs shares hit an 18-month high as its earnings nearly tripled on increased revenue from dealmaking and lower compensation expenses, while...

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The Female Factor: New Delhi Only Seems Far Away

LONDON — Only an estimated 15 percent of female victims of rape and sexual assault in England and Wales report the crime to the police. Many of the rest say they chose not to because it was “embarrassing” or they considered the attack “too trivial or not worth reporting,” or because they “didn’t think the police could do much to help,” according to new official statistics released last week. ...

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Elizabeth Banks: Why I'm Really a Mom Now

Michael Simon/Startraks Elizabeth Banks has hit official mom status.Since welcoming her second son Magnus Mitchell in November, the actress — also mom to son Felix — admits she’s feeling the full effects of motherhood.“Two is very different from one. When you have one kid, you feel like you can jet set around and you can throw him on the hip and you get your life done,” Banks told PEOPLE at the launch...

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Hospitals crack down on workers refusing flu shots

CHICAGO (AP) — Patients can refuse a flu shot. Should doctors and nurses have that right, too? That is the thorny question surfacing as U.S. hospitals increasingly crack down on employees who won't get flu shots, with some workers losing their jobs over their refusal."Where does it say that I am no longer a patient if I'm a nurse," wondered Carrie Calhoun, a longtime critical care nurse in suburban...

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Wall Street opens lower on debt limit concern

DEAR ABBY: Recently my husband, "Byron," and I had an argument, and he took off in his truck. He didn't return until after work the following day. He had he spent the night at our friend "Arlene's" house. She is divorced and lives alone. Byron assures me "nothing happened" between them. I want to believe him, but ever since this incident, Arlene will not look me in the eye or speak to me.I love Byron...

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IHT Rendezvous: 2012: The Year of Extreme Weather

The weather reports are in. 2012 was the hottest and the most extreme year on record in many places.While parts of China are enduring the harshest winter in 30 years, the Antarctic is warming at an alarming rate. In Australia, out of control bushfires are the partially the result of record-breaking weather (new colors were added to weather forecast maps, to account for the new kind of heat). In the...

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BlackBerry service outage hits Europe [updated]

BlackBerry subscribers using Vodafone in Europe, the Middle East and Africa were hit with a service outage on Friday morning that left many with no access to data services. Vodafone confirmed the outage to ZDNet but did not indicate what might have caused the service interruption. “We are aware that some BlackBerry customers are experiencing issues,” Vodafone said in a statement. “Vodafone is...

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Robin Roberts: 'I'm Coming Home'

TV Watch By Andrea Billups and Sharon Cotliar 01/14/2013 at 09:25 AM EST She's healthy and coming back to television soon!"It's a matter of weeks, not months," Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts, speaking from her apartment, told viewers live on Monday's show. "I'm coming home." Looking healthy and resplendent...

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Flu more widespread in US; eases off in some areas

NEW YORK (AP) — Flu is now widespread in all but three states as the nation grapples with an earlier-than-normal season. But there was one bit of good news Friday: The number of hard-hit areas declined.The flu season in the U.S. got under way a month early, in December, driven by a strain that tends to make people sicker. That led to worries that it might be a bad season, following one of the mildest...

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