According to a survey published on Tuesday about 5.6 million people in the U. S. have some form of paralysis and nearly a quarter of them have suffered spinal cord injuries.

The survey by Anthony Cahill of the University of New Mexico and colleagues reported that the largest group of 29 % were paralyzed or partly paralyzed by stroke and spinal cord injuries affected 23 %.

The study was funded by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which was set up by the actor who was paralyzed in a horse-riding accident in 1995 and died in
2004 while Dana Reeve died from lung cancer in 2006.

Washington - Banks and other lenders around the world must face up to more than 4 trillion dollars in losses related to the ongoing financial crisis, which has spread well beyond its origins in the United States, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday.

Released as part of a semi-annual financial forecast, the estimate is nearly double what the IMF predicted in January and for the first time includes financial firms' exposure to troubled assets that did not originate in the United States.

Washington, April 21 : Miss USA runner-up Carrie Prejean believes ‘God was testing her faith’ after she answered a question about gay marriage.

Miss California, during the recent Miss USA telecast, had picked Perez Hilton''s question and replied she was against the legalisation of gay marriage in California.

And when asked how was she feeling after missing out on the crown, religious Prejean said it was another test.

Washington, April 21 : Nearly one in 10 kids and teens who play video games show behavioral signs that may indicate addiction, a new study has found.

The findings are based on a Harris Poll survey of 1,178 American youths (ages 8-18).

Researchers at Iowa State University (ISU) and the National Institute on Media and the Family found that some gamers show at least six symptoms of gambling addiction such as lying to family and friends about how much they play games, using the games to escape their problems and becoming restless or irritable when they stop playing.

Washington, Apr 21 : Hollywood actress Kristen Bell has revealed that she was attracted to British comic Russell Brand when she first saw him - but was soon put off when she found out he had a colourful past with ladies.

"I did a screen test with Russell before we shot Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I took one look at him and thought, ‘He looks great’. His trousers were tighter than mine and his jewellery was clanking all over the place, but he did his lines and just blew us all away,” Contactmusic quoted Bell, as saying.

New York, Apr 21 : Getting a pet dog was an easy task for the Obamas, but animal experts have said that puppy-proofing the White House for Bo will be an even bigger task.

Bo the First Dog is six months old, which is equivalent to the human “terrible twos,” and in the canine world it means testing authority, and chewing.

“The hardest thing will be getting [Bo] to understand what''s acceptable and what''s not because he will be constantly distracted,” the New York Daily News quoted Dr. Phillip Raclyn, a veterinarian at the Riverside Animal Hospital in Manhattan, as saying.