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Oct132018 by adminNo Comments

How to make the most of Social Security's 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for 2019

The Social Security Administration has announced that the cost-of-living adjustment to benefits will be 2.8 percent next year. That is the biggest increase since 2012, when beneficiaries saw a 3.6 percent increase. But before you celebrate, there are some things you need to keep in mind. The average Social Security benefit in 2018 is $ 1,422. With the cost-of-living adjustment, that will be $ 1,461 per month in 2019. That extra $ 39 per month will amount to $ 468 per year, or $ 936 per year f...

Sep292018 by adminNo Comments

Officials push flu vaccine after most deadly season in four decades

Health

Sept. 27 (UPI) -- One year after a severe flu season, medical personnel are giving it their best shot to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by giving a boost to vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are aiming for significantly higher rates of flu vaccination for the 2018-2019 flu season following the most deadly season since 1976, the first year total seasonal flu deaths were reported. Last year there was an estimated 900,000 hospitalizations, and more than 80,000 deaths, according to new data released by the CDC on Thursday. The previous high for regular flu season deaths was 56,000. The number of people vaccinated dropped last year by 1.1 percentage point to 57.9 percent -- far below the goal of 80 percent. With the new vaccine now available, U.S. government officia...

Sep262018 by adminNo Comments

Report: Global trade war would hurt US the most

World

A fierce global trade war would hurt the United States economy significantly, making households poorer and destroying jobs, while China would not suffer as much, according to a simulation carried out by economists at the European Central Bank. In research published Wednesday, the economists said that stock and bond markets could be hurt by a general loss of confidence in the economy. "An escalation of trade tensions could have significant adverse global effects" on growth, the authors said. One particular conclusion was that the country starting the trade war would wind up worse off than before. While details could vary, "qualitatively the results are unambiguous: an economy imposing a tariff which prompts retaliation by other countries is clearly worse off. Its living standards fall and...

Sep242018 by adminNo Comments

Bodyguard most watched BBC drama since 2008

Entertainment

Hit BBC drama Bodyguard kept an average 10.4 million viewers on tenterhooks as the series drew to a close on Sunday.The audience reached its peak - 11 million - in its final five minutes.The overnight ratings make it the most watched drama of the year so far, overtaking the 9.5 million Call the Midwife drew earlier this year.In fact, it is the biggest overnight drama figure since 10.5 million saw Downton Abbey's series two finale in November 2011.No BBC drama has drawn a bigger audience since Doctor Who, whose Christmas Day episode in 2008 was seen by 11.7 million people.The most watched programme of 2018 so far is ITV's broadcast of England's World Cup semi-final against Croatia, which drew an average audience of 24.3 million.Th...

Jul122018 by adminNo Comments

Hubble, Gaia produce most precise measure of universe's expansion rate

Science

July 12 (UPI) -- By combining the observations of the two most powerful space telescopes in orbit, scientists have achieved the most precise measurement of the Hubble constant, the universe's expansion rate. The new measurement confirms the tension between explosion rate in the early and late universe, researchers report. Astronomers can measure the expansion of the universe by measuring a galaxy's redshift, a change in the wavelength of the light due to a change in the velocity of the object. By measuring the redshift of galaxies using the Hubble Telescope, scientists have established the Hubble constant. But investigations of the cosmic microwave background, the oldest radiation in the universe, can also be used to predict the universe's expansion rate. Maps of the microwave signature ...