Tapping citizen-scientists for a novel gut check

WASHINGTON (AP) — The bacterial zoo inside your gut could look very different if you're a vegetarian or an Atkins dieter, a couch potato or an athlete, fat or thin.Now for a fee — $69 and up — and a stool sample, the curious can find out just what's living in their intestines and take part in one of the hottest new fields in science.Wait a minute: How many average Joes really want to pay for the privilege...

Read More..

GOP senator: Boehner’s budget proposal ‘will destroy American jobs’

South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint (Win McNamee/Getty Images)WASHINGTON—South Carolina Republican Sen. Jim DeMint just gave Democrats a shiny new talking point.The tea party-backed senator on Tuesday slammed House Republican leaders for the fiscal cliff proposal they offered earlier this week."Speaker [John] Boehner's $800 billion tax hike will destroy American jobs and allow politicians in...

Read More..

Gunman severely wounds Swedish woman in Pakistan

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police say a gunman on a motorcycle has shot and critically wounded a Swedish woman in the eastern city of Lahore.Police officer Malik Awais says the woman, Bargetta Emmi, was getting out of her car in front of her home when she was shot in the neck by an unknown assailant Monday. Her servants reported the incident to police.Awais says Emmi was director of FGA Church...

Read More..

Palace says Duchess of Cambridge expecting a baby

LONDON (AP) — Get the nursery ready: Prince William and his wife Catherine are expecting their first child.St. James's Palace announced the pregnancy Monday, saying that the Duchess of Cambridge — formerly known as Kate Middleton — has a severe form of morning sickness and is currently in a London hospital. William is at his wife's side.The palace said that since the pregnancy is in its "very early...

Read More..

US envoy hits China's stand in UN climate talks

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — The United States on Monday challenged China's view of how to split the burden of curbing carbon emissions, saying the rich-poor divide in past climate agreements has no place in a future pact to fight global warming.The U.S. envoy to international climate talks in Qatar, Todd Stern, said that the next climate deal must be based on "real-world" considerations, not "an ideology that...

Read More..

Pacific nations alarmed by tuna overfishing

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Pacific island nations and environmentalists raised an alarm Sunday over destructive fishing methods and overfishing that they say are threatening bigeye tuna — the fish popular among sushi lovers worldwide.Palau fisheries official Nanette Malsol, who leads a bloc of Pacific island nations, said at the start of a weeklong tuna fisheries conference in Manila that large countries...

Read More..

7 Quirky Christmas Gift Ideas

‘Tis the season to give…bacon-shaped Christmas tree ornaments? Stocking-stuffer candy simulating black lumps of coal? Crime scene tape for wrapping packages? How about a dreidel with Santa’s picture on it?Yes to all these and more, say fans of quirky gifts.Online retailers specializing in leg-lamps–the kind made famous by the movie “A Christmas Story”–and in Emergency Santa Kits say business is brisk.Seattle...

Read More..

Letterman up for jabs with Kennedy Center Honors

WASHINGTON (AP) — David Letterman's "stupid human tricks" and Top 10 lists are being vaulted into the ranks of cultural achievements as the late night comedian receives this year's Kennedy Center Honors with six other artists.Letterman will share the honors Sunday night with Dustin Hoffman, the rock band Led Zeppelin, Chicago bluesman Buddy Guy and ballerina Natalia Makarova.President Barack Obama...

Read More..

Asperger's dropped from revised diagnosis manual

CHICAGO (AP) — The now familiar term "Asperger's disorder" is being dropped. And abnormally bad and frequent temper tantrums will be given a scientific-sounding diagnosis called DMDD. But "dyslexia" and other learning disorders remain.The revisions come in the first major rewrite in nearly 20 years of the diagnostic guide used by the nation's psychiatrists. Changes were approved Saturday.Full details...

Read More..

'Cliff' talks: Geithner invites GOP counteroffer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama is ready to entertain Republican proposals for spending cuts, but GOP lawmakers must first commit to higher tax rates on the rich and specify what additional spending cuts they want in a deal to avoid the looming "fiscal cliff," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said. "The ball really is with them now," Geithner, one of the president's chief...

Read More..