TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - Japanese girls born last year can expect to live until they are 86 years old, which would make them the longest survivors in the world, a report from the country’s health ministry showed.

Boys born in 2007 can expect to live to the age of 79.2, ranking third after Iceland and Hong Kong, the report said.

Japan’s females have topped the world’s longevity ranks for 23 years, something researchers have attributed to their healthy diet and tight social ties, among other reasons.

The report is the latest sign that Japan is ageing quicker than any other country, with government data showing a tenth of the population aged 75 years or older.

The proportion of those 65 years or older is also seen doubling to 40 percent by mid-century.

“People are in different social environments and are influenced by various factors and eating habits, so it’s hard to answer the question of why people live long,” a ministry spokesman said.

“But we can say that the improvement of medical technologies helps,” the spokesman added. Japan has improved treatments for the ageing population’s three biggest killers — cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Japan also has one of the world’s lowest birth-rates, leaving the government with the challenge of how to fund its pension requirements, take care of its elderly and maintain productivity.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota, editing by Miral Fahmy)

SOurce:

 TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - Japanese girls born last year can expect to live until they are 86 years old, which would make them the longest survivors in the world, a report from the country’s health ministry showed.

Boys born in 2007 can expect to live to the age of 79.2, ranking third after Iceland and Hong Kong, the report said.

Japan’s females have topped the world’s longevity ranks for 23 years, something researchers have attributed to their healthy diet and tight social ties, among other reasons.

The report is the latest sign that Japan is ageing quicker than any other country, with government data showing a tenth of the population aged 75 years or older.

The proportion of those 65 years or older is also seen doubling to 40 percent by mid-century.

“People are in different social environments and are influenced by various factors and eating habits, so it’s hard to answer the question of why people live long,” a ministry spokesman said.

“But we can say that the improvement of medical technologies helps,” the spokesman added. Japan has improved treatments for the ageing population’s three biggest killers — cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Japan also has one of the world’s lowest birth-rates, leaving the government with the challenge of how to fund its pension requirements, take care of its elderly and maintain productivity.

(Reporting by Yoko Kubota, editing by Miral Fahmy)

Source:

Velezuelan Dayana Mendoza Crowned Miss Universe 2008: The gargantuan global spectacle who is Miss Universe, known its 57th edition in grand create Sunday out of Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa, Vietnam.

The Pageant, that in the decades has become one of the the majority of viewed and numerous expected annual events, was anything it was probable it may be.

Since betting chances got released by Sportsbook.com, the sculptress Miss Venezuela was the devastating (5 - 1) prefered to win the Miss America 2008 crown.

Miss Universe 2008 kicked off amid every planet parading this quality nationwide customs. All 80 women looked amazing, as properties proudly displayed this colorful bases and culture. One couldn’t assistance but realize Miss Venezuela, who produced type of an awkward nationwide customized be on the look utterly glorious investing in her monumental beauty.

In the preliminary first and foremost cut reached the conclusion the top 15 countries, right here properties are as announced in random order: Venezuela, Kosovo, Mexico, Vietnam, South Africa, Australia, Japan, Dominican Republic, Italy, Colombia, Russia, Hungary, Czech Republic, USA, and Spain.

Next up was the significantly prepared and particularly sexy, swimsuit spectacle. Once once more Miss Venezuela with out a doubt shined more clever as opposed to any other, as she registered a rate of 9.37. Miss USA moreover recorded a astronomical rating among her 9.2, along amidst Miss Colombia through 9.2 points. Next up was nerve-wrecking the minute elimination ass (top 10).

Here got the top-10 countries in random order, as announced live: Kosovo, Australia, Spain, Mexico, Colombia, USA, Dominican Republic, Russia, Italy, and Venezuela. All women looked very much stunning, as properties went backstage, and willing for the Nightgown competition, and the ultimate sweet of matters based on information from the judges.

A basket weave design supplies an ageless draw to this moment Gabriella Rocha pump.
Synthetic leather upper.
Open toe.
Generously softened footbed.
Covered exorbitant heel.
Man-made bottom.
3 1/2″ heel.
7.00 oz.
Not guaranteed how Other of the above expressions mean, or seek to see how the current product was measured?

Benazir Bhutto’s livlihood was dedicated to defending the planet against dictatorship, extremism and tyranny and to submit to the lendees respect, dignity and honour, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Zardari stated on Friday. In a message to party constituents on the 55th birth anniversary of Benazir Bhutto on June 21, Zardari questioned them to dedicate themselves to her mission. Zardari as well surveyed realtors to donate blood as a token of remembrance, declaring Benazir had “shed her blood for the motivate of the world and the people”.

He said, “While we pay tributes to how she did for democracy, for the earth and for the party, her birthday is additionally an occasion to pledge the current we could stay to mimic her path.”

“I seek to thank you, my brothers and sisters, for standing providing her in facing tyranny,” Zardari said.

He recalled her survive speech in that she had declared of the party workers, “I was honoured to cause you. No leader serves to be as proud of such a party constituents as I experience kept on proud of you.”

Gilani: Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani furthermore showered praises on Benazir’s political bravado, and the work for democracy and uplift of people.

He said, “The finest way to pay homage to the happy leader ought to be to copy her objective in letter and sprit, shun sectarianism and militancy and go wholeheartedly for the betterment and uplift of Pakistan. We serves to attain all are expected efforts to do Benazir Bhutto’s duty for the revival of the constitution in its earliest form, supremacy of the parliament, independence of judiciary, freedom of media, provincial autonomy, strengthening of the sector agencies to ensure progress and immensely making of the customers of Pakistan.”

PPP plans to own Quran khawani in all fundamental regions for Benazir Bhutto, providing the chief occurence making had at Rawalpindi’s Liaquat Bagh, at which she was assassinated survive year.

My husband and I just celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary, and we have a recurring goofy argument that’s endured for as long as our union: I want him to brown-bag his lunch to work, and he steadfastly refuses.

Brown-bag Brouhaha

He implies that there’s something undignified about carrying a brown paper bag to Manhattan on the train. I offer to buy him a cool lunchbox, emblazoned with the action figure of his choice. He argues that lunch is an important opportunity to meet clients. I suggest that if a client meeting comes up, he can store my hearty array of delectable deli delights in his office refrigerator.

He argues that our income is adequate enough for him to afford a sandwich at his favorite midtown Italian deli, where he can talk with Joe, the owner, about football’s New York Giants. I suggest he could stop in and get a $1 cup of coffee after his brown-bag lunch and still banter with Joe about which Manning brother is a superior quarterback.

Why this marital standoff over an $8 daily ritual? Because I’m convinced that for the average person who wants to build wealth, pennies count.

Penny-Pinchers Made Good

People disdain pennies. They pass them on the sidewalk. There was even talk a few years ago of the Treasury abolishing the lowly penny. Instead of saving pennies, pundits urge you to get rich quick by investing in exotic commodities, or (a few years ago) buying a heap of real estate with no money down and flipping it for a quick profit.

The latest gambit is to start a business and milk it for big bucks. A “Financial Freedom” invitation that arrived in the mail this week instructed me to attend a seminar at a Newark airport hotel so I could start my own all-cash, home-based vending business. It read: “Laura, you CAN have it all … more money than you’ve ever dreamed of, and the time and freedom to enjoy it!”

Pennies aren’t sexy. (Frankly, home-based vending doesn’t sound that sexy to me, either.) But pennies have a funny way of snowballing into dollars, and then hundreds, and then thousands, especially if you use them to buy the stocks of well-managed companies. Consider the story of a parking attendant who earns $20,000 a year but has amassed a $500,000 equity portfolio. Or the one about a group of New Yorkers who managed to save for a down payment on a (very expensive, very tiny) piece of the Big Apple. Or the clan of seven dubbed “America’s cheapest family,” who paid off their mortgage in nine years on a salary of $35,000 a year.

Splitting the Difference

My husband and I amassed a very old-fashioned 20 percent down payment on our house over a dozen years by watching pennies. We lived with roommates before we married; took the subway instead of cabs; and refused to buy a car (even after the Manhattan Budget Rent-a-Car failed to honor our Christmas-day reservation, and we had to schlep on the bus to south Jersey laden with boxes, bags, and a 19-month-old).

Yet despite our success in saving, my husband doesn’t think you can penny-pinch your way to prosperity. He says we should focus less on $8 lunches and more on increasing our income — something we have the potential to do, since we’re both self-employed.

I do agree that you sometimes have to spend money to make money. For instance, I hired a sitter this fall to pick up the kids from school and drive them to their after-school activities — since, as I discovered, driving kids to their after-school activities with a laptop in tow is a surefire way to lose both your productivity and your mind. (And expose your children to an unseemly amount of traffic-induced cursing.) It also tends to push your workload into the nights and weekends, which is a surefire way to lose touch with your family and known forms of human leisure.

But wealth accumulation results from a mix of figuring out when to invest in hired help, business lunches, or technology to boost your earnings, and when to save pennies.

A Gift from the Fed

I’ve been thinking about pennies because of the Federal Reserve’s surprise half-point cut in short-term interest rates on Sept. 18. Interest rates on consumer debt — such as credit cards, auto loans, and home equity loans — are expected to fall over the next few months. A half-point decline in interest rates would put an extra $30 a year into the pocket of someone with $7,000 in credit card debt, according to CardTrak.com.

That $30 is $2.50 a month — more than eight pennies a day. But if you’re in debt, those are pennies from heaven. At a minimum, keep the amount of your payment constant, so the $30 discount you receive from the lower interest rate goes to reducing your principal.

Better yet, take the opportunity to find some extra pennies to shovel a little more money at your loans. Although I don’t have debt except for a low-interest, 30-year mortgage, I periodically review my spending to see if I’m getting good value for my money. I recently canceled my Netflix subscription, at $13.99 a month, because the DVDs were coming in and sitting on the mail pile. I didn’t have the time to watch them, especially with school, homework, and extracurriculars back in full swing.

I also stopped buying cases of small plastic water bottles at Costco for the kids’ lunches, and replaced them with washable containers (mainly for environmental reasons, but the savings is about $20 a month). And I nixed cases of diet soda, which, while cheap and sweet, are unhealthy and unnecessary (and, ironically, believed to contribute to obesity). For more easy savings ideas, click here.

Let the Pinching Begin

Clearly, the overlooked penny deserves a little more respect in a culture where saving is out of fashion. According to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, Americans have been spending more than they earn since mid-2005. That’s a relatively new development; as recently as the early 1980s, U.S. consumers saved more than 10 percent of their after-tax earnings on average.

Pennies count, so spend them wisely. At the New American Dream organization web site, you can download a free “Wallet Buddy” — a small paper folder for your credit or debit card, imprinted with 13 questions to consider before you swipe. For more tips for smart savers, see my blog.

My 15th-anniversary gift to my husband is to stop nagging him about brown-bagging. Because we both have better things to do with our time — for instance, discuss how much he spends on tailgating at Giants games.

NEW YORK - First lady Laura Bush, a former teacher well known for her advocacy of books, is now writing one.

Bush and her daughter, Jenna, are collaborating on a children’s picture story, currently untitled, that will be published by HarperCollins in spring 2008. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but the authors’ net proceeds will be donated to two education programs: Teach for America and The New Teacher Project.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to partner with one of my favorite teachers, my daughter Jenna, to write a children’s book — and to have it illustrated by the wonderfully talented artist, Denise Brunkus,” the first lady said in a statement issued Thursday by HarperCollins.

Brunkus is the illustrator for the popular Junie B. Jones series, about the sassy grade-schooler whose fresh mouth — including a fondness for the word “stupid” — has inspired much laughter from children and some frowns from parents.

She seems a good fit for the Bush book, which, according to HarperCollins, “depicts a mischievous little boy who likes to do everything but read. With the help of his teacher, he finds out that books and their characters can be a lot of fun.

“The story is loosely based on Mrs. Bush’s and Jenna’s experiences as teachers,” according to the statement.

“My mom has been my lifelong inspiration, sharing her love of reading and books with (my sister) Barbara and me since we were little girls,” Jenna Bush said in a statement. “I’ve taken that passion into the classroom. I hope this book will help kids realize the importance and fun that reading can add to their daily lives.”

Books from first ladies, and first children, have been increasingly common over the years. Then-first lady Barbara Bush, wife of the first President Bush, had a best-seller with “Millie’s Book,” named for the family’s dog. Bush’s successor, Hillary Clinton, continued the pet trend with “Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets” and “It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Me.”

Jenna Bush has her own book coming out in the fall. “Ana’s Story,” based on her time working for UNICEF, tells of a 17-year-old single mother who is HIV positive.

Spears accused of threatening paparazzi

Britney Spears threw a baby bottle and threatened two photographers after they took pictures of her leaving a Las Vegas spa, the photographers said in a statement Tuesday.

Spears yelled “I am going to kill you!” and cursed at Andrew Deetz, a photographer who says he was beaten by Spears’ bodyguard on Thursday, according to a statement released by Deetz’s lawyers.

Deetz, 24, is preparing to sue, his lawyers said. The other photographer involved was Kyle Henderson, 23. They both work for a celebrity photography company called Flynet Pictures, which sells to such publications as People and US Weekly, according to Daniel Kogan, a spokesman for Deetz’s lawyers.

The men were taking pictures of Spears, 25, as she and her children — 22-month-old Sean Preston Federline and 10-month-old Jayden James Federline — left the spa at the Wynn Las Vegas casino-hotel around 11:30 a.m., accompanied by two bodyguards.

One bodyguard, Cesar Julio Camera, 37, pushed Henderson against the wall until Wynn security intervened and asked Henderson to leave, the statement said.

As they were about 30 paces away and walking in the opposite direction, Camera attacked Deetz from behind, threw him on the ground and punched and kicked him until security pulled him off, it said.

Afterward, Spears ran toward Henderson but was stopped by security, and then threw a baby bottle at him, it said.

Then, in front of several other hotel guests and bystanders, Spears threatened to kill Deetz and said he should get a restraining order against her because she was going to kill him or hire someone that would, it said.

Camera also told Deetz on July 23 outside the Lisa Kline boutique in Beverly Hills, “I have unfinished business with you,” the statement alleged.

Spears’ lawyer Gary Stiffelman declined to comment.

Wynn Las Vegas released a statement confirming that Spears stayed at the hotel and left on Thursday, but also declined to discuss the confrontation.

“We respect the privacy and do our utmost to maintain the anonymity of our guests,” it said.

Las Vegas police issued a summons for a charge of battery to Camera, the only person cited. He could face up to six months in county jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted.

Stiffelman’s office would not relay messages to Camera seeking comment, and The Associated Press was unable to find a phone number for him.

Brain freeze, cold headache, ice cream headache, freezie, Frozen Brain Syndrome, or its given scientific name sphenopalatine ganglioneuralgia are terms used to describe a form of cranial pain or headache which people are known to sometimes experience after consuming cold beverages or foods such as ice cream, slurpees, or margaritas, particularly when consumed quickly.

Mechanism and cause
The reaction can be sometimes triggered within a few seconds after a very cold substance consumed comes into contact with the roof of the mouth. The body’s response to cold environments is to vasoconstrict the peripheral vasculature (to reduce the diameter of blood vessels). This vasoconstriction is in place to reduce blood flow to the area, and thus minimize heat loss to keep warmth in the body. After vasoconstriction, they return to normal status and artery size results in massive dilation (vasodilation) of the arteries that supply the palate (descending palatine arteries). The nerves in the region of the palate (greater and lesser palatine nerves) sense this as pain and transmit the sensation of this pain back to the trigeminal ganglia. This results in pain that is referred to the forehead and below the orbit, other regions from which the trigeminal nerve receives sensation (This phenomenon is partially similar to the referred pain that is present in the left arm when someone is having a myocardial infarction). A similar effect occurs when one takes a prescription vasodilator, such as Nitroglycerin or Viagra. It is a stabbing or aching type of pain that usually recedes within 10–20 seconds after its onset, but sometimes 30–60 seconds, and can persist for up to five minutes in rare cases. The pain is usually located in the midfrontal area, but can be unilateral in the temporal, frontal, or retro-orbital regions.

It has been reported that the pain can be relieved by moving the tongue to the roof of the mouth,[1] which will cause greater warmth in the region; it is also believed that the pain can be relieved by slowly sipping room temperature water. Laying the head to the side may also provide relief. Creating a mask with one’s hands and placing over the mouth and nose and breathing rapidly is also said to be useful as the temperature in the mouth rises quickly. A report was submitted to the British Medical Journal on brain freeze; it focused on the effect of speed of consumption of ice cream on causing brain freeze. Commonly referred to as “ice cream headaches,” it has been studied as an example of referred pain,[2] an unpleasant sensation localized to an area separate from the site of the painful stimulation.

It has been estimated that “30% of the population” experiences brain freeze or freeze head from ice cream.[3] Some studies suggest that brainfreeze is more common in people who experience migraines. Raskin and Knittle found this to be the case, with brain freeze occurring in 93% of migraine sufferers and in only 31% of controls. However, other studies found that it is more common in people without migraines. These inconsistencies may be due to differences in subject selection–the subjects of the first study were drawn from a hospital population, whereas the controls in the second were student volunteers, making the tests inconclusive.