2 NFL seasons since agreement, still no HGH tests

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Count Baltimore Ravens defensive end Arthur Jones among those NFL players who want the league and the union to finally agree on a way to do blood testing for human growth hormone."I hope guys wouldn't be cheating. That's why you do all this extra work and extra training. Unfortunately, there are probably a few guys, a handful maybe, that are on it. It's unfortunate. It takes away...

Read More..

Bill Gates: We should grade teachers

Bill Gates discusses class work with students at South High School in Denver, Colorado last year.STORY HIGHLIGHTSBill Gates says his foundation is focused on setting goals, measuring progressTo improve education, we need measures of teacher effectiveness, he saysGates: It's worth spending what it takes for strong evaluation systemHe says better measuring will empower teachers to do their best workEditor's...

Read More..

Actress Ashley Judd and race car driver Dario Franchitti split

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – American actress Ashley Judd and her Scottish race car driver husband Dario Franchitti are ending their marriage after 11 years.The movie star, 44, and the Indianapolis 500 race car driver, 39, married in 2001 and have no children.“We have mutually decided to end our marriage. We’ll always be family and continue to cherish our relationship based on the special love, integrity...

Read More..

UK petrol market ‘working well’

30 January 2013 Last updated at 06:06 ETA study of the UK petrol and diesel market by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said little action is needed.“The evidence gathered by the OFT suggests that at a national level, competition is working well in the UK road fuel sector,” its report said.It found the UK has some of Europe’s cheapest fuel prices before tax.It said there was very little evidence...

Read More..

IRS free electronic tax filing program now open

Taxes » Tax Filing » E-file, Free File Now Open To Taxpayers?Impatient taxpayers can finally stop twiddling their thumbs. Tax-filing season 2013 officially begins today.It was delayed for almost two weeks while the Internal Revenue Service updated its systems to conform to law changes that were approved earlier this year as part of the so-called fiscal cliff bill — the American Taxpayer Relief Act.Most...

Read More..

Stock futures flat ahead of data, Amazon climbs early

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures were flat on Wednesday as investors digested recent gains and awaited a new round of key U.S. economic data, though Amazon surged after its earnings results. Equities have soared in recent weeks, with the S&P 500 rising for nine of the past 10 sessions. The Dow Jones industrial average has been flirting with 14,000, a level it hasn't seen since...

Read More..

A-Rod implicated in PED use again as MLB probes

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Rodriguez is in the middle of Major League Baseball's latest doping investigation after an alternative weekly newspaper reported baseball's highest-paid star was among the big leaguers listed in the records of a Florida clinic the paper said sold performance-enhancing drugs.The Miami New Times said Tuesday that the three-time AL MVP bought human growth hormone and other performance-enhancing...

Read More..

Why haven't we learned from fires?

STORY HIGHLIGHTSPyrotechnics, overcrowding, poor exits have contributed to tragic fires in recent yearsYou would think the world would have learned from past incidents, John Barylick saysConcertgoers have to be their own fire marshals, he saysEditor's note: John Barylick, author of "Killer Show," a book on the 2003 Station nightclub fire in Rhode Island, is an attorney who represented victims in wrongful...

Read More..

Animal shelters are real winners of ‘Puppy Bowl’

LOS ANGELES (AP) — There will be a winner and a loser every Super Bowl Sunday. But at the “Puppy Bowl,” it’s always a win for animal shelters.The show provides national exposure to the shelters across the country that provide the puppy athletes and the kittens that star in the halftime show, and introduces viewers to the different breeds and animals that need homes, animal workers say. Many shelters...

Read More..

Peugeot job cuts halted by court

29 January 2013 Last updated at 06:13 ETA court in France has suspended the restructuring plans of Peugeot Citroen, saying the carmaker had failed to consult some of its employees properly.The plans are controversial in France, as they involve 8,000 job cuts in the country and closure of a Paris factory.Peugeot said it would continue to negotiate the cuts with unions, despite the Paris appeal court...

Read More..