UK Govt. awareness program to cut teen pregnancies ineffective

October 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - In the wake of Friday's suicide attack that killed more than 40 people in Peshawar, Pakistan has vowed to launch a military offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan at the soonest, but people in this region are equally exasperated with both the government and the Taliban. A few hours after the blast Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik had said: "We have no other option but to carry out an operation in South Waziristan.

September 1st, 2009 LONDON - A terrified teen has laid claims to being spied upon by a Yeti as she was swimming in her bikini in a remote stream. Justyna Folger, 19, who was taking a dip in the stream, noticed the hulking ape-like beast in Poland's Tatra mountains, where there has been a spate of Bigfoot sightings in the past week.

July 31st, 2009 AP sources: Govt to suspend 'cash for clunkers'WASHINGTON — Congressional officials say the government plans to suspend the popular "cash for clunkers" program amid concerns it could quickly use up the $1 billion in rebates for new car purchases. The Transportation Department called congressional offices late Thursday to alert them to the decision to halt the program, which offered owners of old cars and trucks $3,500 or $4,500 toward a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle.

July 21st, 2009 Abortion is latest controversy in health overhaulWASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers opposed to federal funding for abortions said Tuesday the House leadership's health care bill contains a "hidden mandate" that would allow taxpayer dollars to be used to end pregnancies. It's the latest controversy to hit the health care overhaul in a week that has seen Republicans sharpen their attacks and some Democrats start to waver on President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.

June 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A program, at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, called College Bound Sisters is offering girls from 12- to 18-years a dollar a day to keep away from getting pregnant. Girls following the program attend 90-minute meetings every week at which they receive lessons in abstinence and the use of contraceptives, and they get 7 dollars every week if they do not get pregnant.

June 24th, 2009 NEW YORK - Newly released tapes on former President Richard Nixon have shown that he had mixed views about abortion. From the tapes, released on June 23, it sounded like Nixon saw abortion as a useful option for ending mixed-race pregnancies.

May 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Sarah Palin's eldest daughter Bristol has put out a word of caution for girls, asking them to "think before they have sex." The unwed teen, who became mum to baby Tripp last December, warned against giving into the impulse without realising the consequences. "Girls need to imagine and picture their life with a screaming newborn baby and then think before they have sex.

May 8th, 2009 Budget cuts abstinence education programWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama wants to eliminate more than $100 million in spending on abstinence-only education, directing the money instead to teen pregnancy-reduction programs that don't take the no-sex approach. The proposal in Obama's 2010 budget plan released Thursday could run into opposition from conservatives.

May 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The use of the military option against Iran to halt that country's nuclear program would only yield temporary and ineffective results, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday. Gates said a military attack on Iran would merely send the country's nuclear program further underground.

April 30th, 2009 Officials downplay military options vs IranWASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the military option for forcing Iran to halt its nuclear program would be just temporary and ineffective and that sanctions make more sense. Gates told Senate appropriators Thursday that a military attack on Iran would merely send that country's nuclear program further underground.

April 30th, 2009 Obama defends support for abortion rightsWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says abortion is both a moral and ethical issue, and abortion rights backers make a mistake when they consider it solely a matter of women's freedom. Obama told a prime-time news conference Wednesday that he supports abortion rights because he thinks a woman is in a better position to make a very personal choice than a member of Congress or the president.

April 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Jonas Brothers will host the Teen Choice Awards set to be aired on August 10 on Fox channel. The teen pop-rock band will also play their tunes to the crowd at the event that honours the year's most popular teen icons in film, television, music, sports and fashion.

April 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Hollywood actor Zac Efron, who acquired a huge fans base with the help of his stint in the High School Musical series, is keen to ditch his teen heart-throb status. In a bid to move away from his teen icon image, he opted out of remake of Kevin Bacon's Footloose for dark drama 'The Death and Life of Charlie St.

January 27th, 2009 LONDON - Health service officials, alarmed by the rising incidence of repeat teen pregnancies in Britain, are calling for prompt steps to improve contraceptive use. Britain has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies in western Europe.

January 10th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The teen birthrate in the US is nearly nine times higher than that of the Netherlands, and four times that of France and Germany, according to a study. Similarly, the US teen abortion rate is twice that of Germany and the Netherlands.