The British government is asking people to consider whether couples with a genetic risk of incurable defects should be allowed to use the DNA of a third party.Jeremy Hunt, the British health secretary, said the technique -- which involves genetically modifying a human egg or embryo -- is currently forbidden, but a public debate and comment period began Monday on whether the clinical benefits outweigh the ethical concerns, The Daily Telegraph reported.The technique -- dubbed three-parent baby fer

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (AP) -- A decade before he was charged with murder, a 2-year-old Cristian Fernandez was found naked and dirty, wandering a South Florida street. The grandmother taking care of him had holed up with cocaine in a messy motel room, while his 14-year-old mother was nowhere to be found.His life had been punctuated with violence since he was conceived, an act that resulted in a sexual assault conviction against his father. Fernandez‘ life got worse from there: He was sexually ass

CHICAGO, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- A Chicago-area teenager accused of plotting jihad by blowing up a bar with a car bomb was ordered held Monday until another hearing in federal court.The attorney for Adel Daoud, 18, of Hillside, Ill., told the court during the brief hearing he needed more time to challenge the arrest and detention of his “immature 18-year-old” client, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.Daoud, a U.S. citizen, will stay behind bars at least until his next appearance before U.S. Magistrate Ju

Netanyahu says Iran on brink of nuclear bomb in 6 monthsWASHINGTON (AFP) -- The gap between Israel and the United States on Iran widened Sunday as Benjamin Netanyahu insisted on a “red line” from Washington, claiming Tehran is “90 percent” toward having a nuclear bomb.The Israeli leader, speaking on two U.S. political television talk shows, pressed the need for a categorical bar on Iran, saying such a safeguard had averted nuclear calamity with Russia during the Cold War and could ensure peace

India’s top auditor Vinod Rai is like a recurring nightmare for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government.In the past two years, Rai released a series of audit reports, such as on the telecoms scandal and the coal-mining scam, that upbraided the government for wasteful management or mismanagement of public resources and funds even as they brought corruption to light.The publicity generated by the reports ― the latest released last month on a coal-mining scandal that may have led to revenue loss

It has taken more than two decades for Norazatulshima Nordin to come forward and publicly reveal her HIV+ status.Although she has spoken to the press in the past, it was always in anonymity. Yesterday, she finally revealed herself.“I realize that I do not have anything to be ashamed of. I have done nothing wrong. I am not afraid,” she said after completing a series of empowerment programs here.Relating the stigma and discrimination that she had faced over the years, the most heartbreaking was se

PARIS (AFP) ― Britain’s royal family takes to the courts Monday to try to stop the spread of topless photos of Prince William’s wife Catherine, but an Italian magazine plans to devote 26 pages to the grainy snaps.The royals are seeking an injunction and damages from the French gossip magazine Closer that first published the candid shots last week.The couple will also lodge a criminal complaint with French prosecutors seeking charges against the photographer who snapped the topless photos and the