New England Sun-Times

While some studies have hinted that a little alcohol might be harmless during pregnancy, a leading U.S. pediatricians group has issued a new warning that no amount of drinking is safe while pregnant. "The only guarantee of having no effects from alcohol is no prenatal alcohol exposure," said Dr. Janet Williams, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center and co-author of the new statement and report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). It's likely, she added, that future research will continue to show that "alcohol has subtle yet important lasting effects on academic performance, attention, behavior, cognition, memory, language skills, and visual and motor development." Physicians and researchers have been warning about the hazards of alcohol use during pregnancy for decades. Yet almost half of all women of childbearing age in the United States reported consuming alcohol within the past month, the researchers sai...

A federal probe into allegations of corruption at  Wal-Mart Stores  Inc's ( WMT.N ) Mexico operations has found few major offenses, and is likely to result in a much smaller case than investigators expected, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the situation. The three-year investigation is mostly complete and the case could be resolved with a fine and without any criminal charges, the  newspaper said . SEE ALSO:  Identical twins could be born months apart As part of the same probe, investigators found evidence of bribery in India, centering on widespread but relatively small payments made to local officials, the Journal said.  Wal-Mart  is likely to face U.S. foreign-bribery charges under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act over those payments, the newspaper said. Wal-Mart  spokesman Greg Hitt said the company was cooperating with the government on the matter. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment on ...

"It looks as though he's an actor playing a role of the candidate for president" Presidential candidate Jeb Bush said he has “grave doubts” about the ability of his GOP rival Donald Trump to be president in aninterview on CNN’s State of the Union with Jake Tapper on Sunday.   “It looks as though he’s an actor playing a role of the candidate for president,” said Bush, arguing that Trump doesn’t understand foreign policy or the responsibilities of a president.  “Across the spectrum of foreign policy, Mr. Trump talks about things as though he’s still on ‘The Apprentice.'”  In the interview, Bush specifically ridiculed Trump’s position that the U.S. should let the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) fight the Syrian government’s troops and then allow Russia to pick up the pieces.  Bush described policy as “some kind of board game and not a serious approach.”   The comments come as Bush launches a new ad campaign ridiculing Tr...

by   JOHN HAYWARD President Obama’s cyber-security deal with China is beginning to look a lot like his Iran nuke deal: Obama makes loud pronouncements about a new era of mutual understanding and cooperation, while his partners-in-peace stab him in the back. China waited less than 24 hours to resume hacking U.S. companies after Obama and President Xi Jinping announced a new era of mutual commitment to data security, according to research from a security firm called CrowdStrike, as reported by  The Hill .   “The very first intrusion conducted by China-affiliated actors after the joint Xi-Obama announcement at the White House took place the very next day – Saturday, Sept. 26,” CrowdStrike CEO Dimitri Alperovitch wrote on his blog. Alperovitch went on to say that most of these new hacking targets were technology and pharmaceutical firms, suggesting the intrusions were meant to “facilitate theft of intellectual property and trade secrets, rather than to conduct trad...

Incident happened during the city's annual "Helldorado Days." Two people were shot in Tombstone, Arizona, during a gunfight reenactment when one of the actors allegedly used real bullets. One of the actors, Tom Carter, was late to the performance and his weapon wasn't checked, according to News 4 Tucson. During the shootout,  he allegedly hit actor Ken Curtis with a real bullet . Both were members of the  Tombstone Vigilantes  performance group.  "The Vigilantes immediately stopped the show and Tom was relieved of his weapon," Bob Randall, the city's marshall, said in a statement cited by the Tucson Sentinel. "During inspection of his weapon, it was discovered that there was one live round in the cylinder with five expended casings indicating the gun had held six live rounds prior to the skit ." Tucson News Now said that  Curtis was airlifted to a hospital to have the bullet removed . KGUN reports that  he is in...

State and local officials put their shovels to the tile floor inside the terminal at Worcester Regional Airport for a ceremonial groundbreaking on Friday. The event was originally planned for the tarmac outside, but threatening rain gave organizers pause. The ceremony marked the beginning of construction for the airport's new $30 million Category III landing system upgrade. T&G Staff/Paul Kapteyn WORCESTER - There was a touch of irony Friday at a "groundbreaking" at Worcester Regional Airport. Rain forced local officials to hold the groundbreaking for the new CAT III landing system inside the terminal, aiming their golden shovels at the floor. The $30 million landing system, which is scheduled to be completed in 2017, will allow planes to land, even in bad weather. Heavy fog at the airport regularly causes delays and occasional cancellations, of flights. City Manager Edward Augustus hopes that a new landing system will take Worcester Regional Airport to the n...

Taylor Swift has reportedly managed to earn an average of $1 million per day this year. The 25-year-old "Bad Blood" singer was named the highest-paid musician in the world, according to The Express . Swift has brought in approximately $317.8 million since January. Most of her wealth has been accrued from the success of the hit songs from her "1989" album, the 1989 world tour and her many endorsement deals. Swift's popularity skyrocketed after she transitioned from country singer to pop star. After finding her place in the genre, she released "1989" on Oct. 27, 2014. The album sold 1.287 million units in its first week and debuted at No. 1 on several charts globally. So far, the record has produced the five popular singles "Shake It Off," "Blank Space," "Style," "Bad Blood" and "Wildest Dreams." The singer's 1989 world tour, which began in May, had her playing 85 tour dates in North America, Asia, ...