NEW YORK: New York, where at least 20,000 teenagers in public high schools smoke, may become the first major city in the US to ban the sale of tobacco to anyone under the age of 21.

WASHINGTON: The costs linked to heart failure in the United States are expected to more than double within the next two decades as the population ages and treatments help patients with the disease live longer, a study released on Wednesday found.

TORONTO: A man accused of plotting with al-Qaida members in Iran to derail a train in Canada rejected the charges and said Tuesday that authorities were basing their conclusions on appearances. Law enforcement officials in the US said the target was a train that runs between New York City and Canada.

ISLAMABAD: Seven persons were killed and over 60 others injured in five bomb attacks in the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Karachi on Tuesday, including one that was carried out by a suicide bomber who was trying to target the minority Shia Hazara community.

TORONTO: Two men were arrested and charged with plotting a terrorist attack against a Canadian passenger train with support from al-Qaida "elements" in Iran, police said Monday.

In the worst case scenario section entitled 'first day in my new broadcasting job' the name A J Clemente will forever be present.

BEIJING: Apple and Samsung, battling for a larger share of the Chinese market, have come up with pledges of financial support for the victims of the earthquake that struck southwest China's Sichuan province. But there were no signs of Chinese electronic giants, Huawei and Lenovo, offering any significant donation.

WEST, Texas: Rescuers worked in cold rain on Thursday to find survivors amid the rubble of houses destroyed in a fiery explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant filled with hazardous chemical tanks.

LONDON: Students from London School of Economics have started receiving email threats from North Korea after it was revealed that a BBC crew came with them undercover filming from within the secretive state. The students now blame the LSE for "putting them at risk".

BEIJING: China's new President Xi Jinping reportedly travelled in a taxi as part of an attempt to cultivate the image of being a simple and easy going leader, but the report sent the Chinese media in a tizzy with official media retracting the story after initially confirming it. Xi, 59, took a ride in a car on March 1 and chatted with the taxi driver among other things about Beijing's worsening smog, Hong Kong-based newspaper Ta Kung Pao reported.