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WASHINGTON _ The odds of having a premature baby are lowest in Vermont and highest in Mississippi.The March of Dimes mapped the stark state-by-state disparities in what it called a "report card" on prematurity Wednesday — to track progress toward meeting a federal goal of lowering preterm births.There's not much chance of meeting that goal by the original 2010 deadline, if the "D'' grade the charity bestowed on the nation is any indication.More than half a million U.S. babies — one in every eight — are born premature each year, a toll that's risen steadily for two decades. The government's goal: No more than 7.6 percent of babies born before completion of the 37th week of pregnancy. Preterm birth can affect any mother-to-be, stressed a recent U.S. Surgeon General's meeting on the problem. Scientists don't understand all the complex causes.But Wednesday's report highlights big geographic differences that March of Dimes president Dr. Jennif...

LONDON: The Sugababes have switched on Oxford Street's Christmas lights in front of 50,000 screaming fans. The 49th annual event took place at House of Fraser in the busy London Street.Thousands of small energy-efficient lightbulbs have been used to design the lights, which are based on the theme of stars.The tradition of switching on the Christmas lights dates back to 1954 and previous guests invited to turn them on include Diana, Princess of Wales, pop star Kylie Minogue and jockey Frankie Dettori.

MUMBAI: She is the original 'bubbly' girl who can even give effervescence an inferiority complex, with her most endearing smile. She is none other than Juhi Chawla, today's Birthday Girl. This cutie made her dream debut with the smash hit ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’, and with this very film itself, she became the dream of every cinegoer! During her heydays, her mere name in the film was good enough for the theater owners to laugh all the way till the bank. Even though she has bid adieu to Bollywood after marriage to the suave business magnate Jay Mehta, the cine goers just do not seem to be in a mood to see her off Bollywood. Maybe that explains the reasons why she was recently seen in films like ‘Bhootnath’, ‘Kismat Konnection’, ‘Krazzy 4’ etc.

KATHMANDU: The 20-year-old Nepali woman, who became the cynosure of all eyes this year with the news that she had become engaged to Charles Sobhraj, whose criminal career in the 70s inspired books, documentaries and films, is now seeking her “conjugal rights” after being denied visiting rights to the 64-year-old for nearly a month. Shakuntala Thapa, Sobhraj’s lawyer as well as mother of Nihita Biswas, his fiancée who also claims they were married according to the Nepali tradition last month, told TNN that she and the other lawyers engaged by the French citizen to get him acquitted in a three-decade-old murder case have begun consultations to move Supreme Court against the authorities of Kathmandu’s Central Prison, where Sobhraj is serving a 20-year jail term. Last month, when Nepal was celebrating its biggest Hindu festival Dashain and prisoners were allowed to come out of their cells to meet their families, the intrepid Nihita says she exchanged wedding vows with Sobhraj and is now h...