Fast food linked to child asthma: study

PARIS: Children who frequently eat fast food are far more likely to have severe asthma compared to counterparts who tuck into fruit, a large international study published on Monday said.

Researchers asked nearly half a million teenagers aged 13-14 and children aged six and seven about their eating habits and whether in the previous year they had experienced wheezing, eczema or an itchy, blocked nose when they did not have cold or flu.

The questionnaires -- completed by a parent or guardian for the younger children -- were distributed in scores of countries.

It marks the latest phase in a long-running collaborative programme, the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC), which was launched in 1991.

The investigators filtered out factors that could skew results, such as maternal smoking during pregnancy, sedentary lifestyle and body-mass index, in order to focus purely on diet.

They found that fast food was the only food type that could be clearly linked to asthma severity.

Three or more weekly servings of fast food were associated with a 39-per cent increase in the risk of severe asthma among teens and a 27-per cent increase among younger children.

It also added to the risk of eczema and severe rhinitis.

In contrast, eating three or more weekly portions of fruit led to a reduction in symptom severity of between 11 and 14 per cent, respectively.

The study, which appears in the British Medical Association journal Thorax, noted that to prove an association is not to prove a cause -- but argued that a further inquiry was clearly needed.

"If the associations (are) causal, then the findings have major public health significance, owing to the rising consumption of fast foods globally," the authors said.

Previous research has found that the saturated and "trans" fatty acids trigger an inflammatory response from the immune system, the paper noted.

- AFP/xq

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Savour the Sankranti goodies

After all these years of having grandmas scream down our ears that seasonal, local produce is good for the body, new age nutritionists and food specialists telling are now telling us that how ghee, carbs and natural sugars will, eventually, do us good and that food miles are important. As it turns out, however, we need more than a little motherly arm twisting to eat sensibly.

A decade or so ago, people around me were turning up their noses at traditional foods — too rich, too fattening. And although I am far from fit to make such remarks, I join their club every Diwali, eyeing every little syrup-drenched, ghee-laden morsel with disdain.

But there's something about Sankranti goodies — jaggery-based laddoos and chikkis, North Indian rewris and gajak — that make me go weak in the knees.

Come January, my mum and grandmother get together to plan the elaborate, almost scared ritual of making gulachipoli. They're only made once a year, and entire afternoons are spent in the kitchen, slaving away. These are super thin, short yet chewy chapattis filled with the season's fresh jaggery, bruised sesame seeds, and a hint of cardamom. They are roasted to a golden brown, folded, and stored until Sankranti day, when they are eaten with a generous dollop of good, homemade ghee. On a cold January day, these polis are perfect to warm your soul and your body.

Apart from those, there are the usual sankranti suspects — hard and chewy sesame seed and jaggery laddoos with roasted gram and peanuts, and soft, crumbly sesame and coconut squares or vadis. The Punjabi g
rocery supplies store in town brings back rewris, tilpaapdi, and various kinds of gajak from the North every winter, and these delectable gems disappear just as suddenly as they appear. This is the stuff I have grown up on.

People my age (or a few decades younger), however, haven't a clue how full of warmth these are — and I am not just talking about their medicinal properties. While they stuff their pockets (and their faces) with ene rgy bars, I want to thrust a square of nutty, crisp sesame seed chikki under their noses and tell them how the tiny seeds will not just satisfy temporary hunger but also take care of their bones and their digestive systems in the long run; that they'll make their skins smoother and their hair glossier without having to slather unpronounceable chemicals on. And Indian grandmas aren't the only ones who think so! Sesame seeds are also used extensively in Oriental and middle-eastern cuisines as well as in bakery and confectionery.

Although the humble til is an oil seed, it contributes mono unsaturated fatty acids which help in the regulation of cholesterol by lowering the bad and increasing the good cholesterol. Sesame seeds are also rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and are an excellent source of dietary fibre — that checks all the boxes in our current vocabulary. Now if only we'd accept the little bit of jaggery that comes with it and allow ourselves a bit of seasonal indulgence.

Perhaps, the way to change mindsets is to repackage — that standard, new-age solution to everything.

I make these cookies using unpolished sesame seeds, and the nuttiness of the sesame seeds is balanced well with the depth of the jaggery-like brown or raw sugar. The vanilla and lemon zest make the cookie appealing to palates of all ages (my 2-year-old wolfs them down with much enthusiasm) and they make for excellent gifts and handbag snacks. They're quite versatile, too — add a little cocoa and coffee powder for an adult variation or decorate with a little icing for the kiddie lunchbox. The cookie dough freezes well up to a month, so you can wrap the leftover dough in plastic wrap and slice off cookie roundelswhenever you feel like a hot, freshly baked cookie.

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Flu more widespread in US; eases off in some areas

NEW YORK (AP) — Flu is now widespread in all but three states as the nation grapples with an earlier-than-normal season. But there was one bit of good news Friday: The number of hard-hit areas declined.

The flu season in the U.S. got under way a month early, in December, driven by a strain that tends to make people sicker. That led to worries that it might be a bad season, following one of the mildest flu seasons in recent memory.

The latest numbers do show that the flu surpassed an "epidemic" threshold last week. That is based on deaths from pneumonia and influenza in 122 U.S. cities. However, it's not unusual — the epidemic level varies at different times of the year, and it was breached earlier this flu season, in October and November.

And there's a hint that the flu season may already have peaked in some spots, like in the South. Still, officials there and elsewhere are bracing for more sickness

In Ohio, administrators at Miami University are anxious that a bug that hit employees will spread to students when they return to the Oxford campus next week.

"Everybody's been sick. It's miserable," said Ritter Hoy, a spokeswoman for the 17,000-student school.

Despite the early start, health officials say it's not too late to get a flu shot. The vaccine is considered a good — though not perfect — protection against getting really sick from the flu.

Flu was widespread in 47 states last week, up from 41 the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The only states without widespread flu were California, Mississippi and Hawaii.

The number of hard-hit states fell to 24 from 29, where larger numbers of people were treated for flu-like illness. Now off that list: Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina in the South, the first region hit this flu season.

Recent flu reports included holiday weeks when some doctor's offices were closed, so it will probably take a couple more weeks to get a better picture, CDC officials said Friday. Experts say so far say the season looks moderate.

"Only time will tell how moderate or severe this flu season will be," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said Friday in a teleconference with reporters.

The government doesn't keep a running tally of adult deaths from the flu, but estimates that it kills about 24,000 people in an average year. Nationally, 20 children have died from the flu this season.

Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older. Since the swine flu epidemic in 2009, vaccination rates have increased in the U.S., but more than half of Americans haven't gotten this year's vaccine.

Nearly 130 million doses of flu vaccine were distributed this year, and at least 112 million have been used. Vaccine is still available, but supplies may have run low in some locations, officials said.

To find a shot, "you may have to call a couple places," said Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, who tracks the flu in Iowa.

In midtown Manhattan, Hyrmete Sciuto got a flu shot Friday at a drugstore. She skipped it in recent years, but news reports about the flu this week worried her.

During her commute from Edgewater, N.J., by ferry and bus, "I have people coughing in my face," she said. "I didn't want to risk it this year."

The vaccine is no guarantee, though, that you won't get sick. On Friday, CDC officials said a recent study of more than 1,100 people has concluded the current flu vaccine is 62 percent effective. That means the average vaccinated person is 62 percent less likely to get a case of flu that sends them to the doctor, compared to people who don't get the vaccine. That's in line with other years.

The vaccine is reformulated annually, and this year's is a good match to the viruses going around.

The flu's early arrival coincided with spikes in flu-like illnesses caused by other bugs, including a new norovirus that causes vomiting and diarrhea, or what is commonly known as "stomach flu." Those illnesses likely are part of the heavy traffic in hospital and clinic waiting rooms, CDC officials said.

Europeans also are suffering an early flu season, though a milder strain predominates there. China, Japan, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Algeria and the Republic of Congo have also reported increasing flu.

Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.

Most people with flu have a mild illness. But people with severe symptoms should see a doctor. They may be given antiviral drugs or other medications to ease symptoms.

Some shortages have been reported for children's liquid Tamiflu, a prescription medicine used to treat flu. But health officials say adult Tamiflu pills are available, and pharmacists can convert those to doses for children.

___

Associated Press writers Dan Sewell in Cincinnati, Catherine Lucey in Des Moines, and Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this report.

___

Online:

CDC flu: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/index.htm

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Golden Globe Moments: A Night of Laughs, Surprises

Let's finally bury this idea that women can't be funny once and for all. Fey and Poehler were undeniably hilarious throughout the Globes, so much so that many fans on Twitter demanded more of them during the ceremony. From their opening bit -- Poehler: "Meryl Streep is not here tonight, she has the flu. And I hear she's amazing in it." -- to their pseudo drunk heckling of best TV comedy actress winner Lena Dunham, they were radiant, energetic, and above all, funny. More please.

Foster made her acceptance of the Cecil B. DeMille lifetime achievement award a coming out, of sorts. She first shocked the audience by leading them to think that she was about to make a huge public statement about her sexuality. Instead, she said she was single, adding "I already did my coming out in the stone age."

"Now, apparently, I'm told that every celebrity is expected to honor the details of their private life with a press conference ... You guys might be surprised, but I'm not Honey Boo Boo child," she said, to a flurry of laughter and applause.

"If you had been a public figure from the time that you were a toddler ... then maybe you too might value privacy above all else," she said. "Privacy."

But Foster did specifically thank her ex-partner Cydney Bernard, with whom she has two kids. Both boys gestured to her from the audience.

She also implied that she was retiring from acting when she said she would not be returning to the Globes stage or any stage. "It's just that from now on, I may be holding a different talking stick," Foster said, bringing many in the audience to tears.

But backstage, Foster clarified to reporters that she was not retiring from acting. "Oh that's so funny," she responded to reporters. "You couldn't drag me away. And I'd like to be directing tomorrow."

It takes a lot to make Hollywood star struck. Bill Clinton did it when he strutted on stage to introduce a clip of "Lincoln," which was up for best drama. He brought the crowd of A-listers to its feet and commended the 16th president. "We're all here tonight because he did it," he said of Lincoln's battle to end slavery.

If there was any doubt that Lena Dunham wasn't Hollywood's next big thing, it was obliterated Sunday night. The star and creator of HBO's "Girls" went home with two awards, best actress in a TV comedy and best TV comedy. Her heartfelt acceptance speech for best actress struck a chord: "This award is for everyone who feels like there wasn't a place for her," she said. "This show made a space for me."

Jessica Chastain won the Globe for best actress in a drama for "Zero Dark Thirty." She offered a moving tribute to director Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win a best director Oscar who failed to get a nomination for that award this year, though "ZDT" was up for a slew of other awards, including best picture. "I can't help but compare my character of Maya to you," Chastain said to Bigelow. "When you make a film that allows your character to disobey the conventions of Hollywood, you've done more for women in cinema than you take credit for."

Blame it on nerves, the spirit of spontaneity, or the a-a-a-a-alcohol (apologies to Jamie Foxx), but Jennifer Lawrence's acceptance speech was a tad insulting to a Hollywood icon, if totally hilarious. "Oh what does it say?" she asked, looking at her trophy. "I beat Meryl." She meant Meryl Streep, who was also up for the award.

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France bombs Mali rebels as more troops arrive in Bamako

BAMAKO/PARIS (Reuters) - French fighter jets bombed Islamist rebels in Mali for a third day on Sunday as Paris poured more troops into the capital Bamako, awaiting the arrival of a West African force to dislodge al Qaeda-linked insurgents from the country's north.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France's dramatic intervention on Friday to bomb a convoy of heavily armed Islamist fighters sweeping southwards had stopped them from seizing Mali's capital Bamako within days.

Western countries fear Islamists could use Mali as a base for attacks on the West, forming a link with al Qaeda militants in Yemen, Somalia and North Africa.

Le Drian said former colonial power France was carrying out continuous bombing raids against the alliance of rebel groups, which seized the country's vast desert north in April.

"There are raids going on now: there were some last night, and there will be more tomorrow," Le Drian told French television. "The president is totally determined that we must eradicate these terrorists who threaten the security of Mali, our own country and Europe."

Residents said French aircraft bombed the northern town of Gao, and a Malian rebel spokesman said they bombed targets in the towns of Lere and Douentza.

Le Drian said France was deploying a further contingent of 80 soldiers to Mali on Sunday, bring the total to 550 soldiers , split between Bamako and the town of Mopti, some 500 km (300 miles) north. State-of-the-art Rafale fighter jets would be dispatched to reinforce the operation on Sunday, he said.

A Reuters cameraman reported seeing on Sunday more than 100 French troops disembarking from a military cargo plane at Bamako airport, just on the outskirts of the capital.

Bamako itself was calm on Sunday, with the sun streaking through the dust enveloping the city as the seasonal Harmattan wind blew from the Sahara. Some cars drove around with French flags draped from the windows to celebrate Paris's intervention.

Hours after opening one front against al Qaeda-linked Islamists, France mounted a commando raid to free a French hostage in Somalia held by al Shabaab militants allied to al Qaeda, but failed to stop him being killed along with a French commando.

A French pilot was killed on Friday when rebels in Mali shot down his helicopter.

President Francois Hollande has made it clear that France's aim in Mali is to support the deployment of a West African mission to retake the north, endorsed by the United Nations, the European Union and the United States.

The 15-nation West African bloc ECOWAS convened a summit for Saturday in Ivory Coast to discuss the military campaign.

With Paris pressing West African nations to deploy troops quickly, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara, who holds the rotating ECOWAS chairmanship, has kick-started the operation to deploy some 3,300 African soldiers.

Ouattara was himself installed in power with French military backing in 2011 after a brief civil war triggered by former president Laurent Gbagbo's refusal to step aside after losing a late 2010 election.

"The troops will start arriving in Bamako today and tomorrow," Ali Coulibaly, Ivory Coast's African Integration Minister, said. "They will be convoyed to the front at Sevare."

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE SEARCHES

Under cover from French fighter planes and attack helicopters on Friday, Malian troops drove the Islamists out of the strategic central town of Konna, which they had seized a day earlier. A senior Malian army official said more than 100 rebel fighters had been killed.

Military analysts expressed doubt, however, that this was the start of a swift operation to retake the whole of northern Mali - a harsh, sparsely populated terrain the size of France - as neither equipment nor ground troops were ready.

In Nigeria, which will lead the ECOWAS force, a military official who asked not to be identified said it would take time to train and equip the troops.

In Konna, calm returned after three nights of combat.

"Soldiers are patrolling the streets and have encircled the town," one resident, Madame Coulibaly, told Reuters by phone. "They are searching houses for arms or hidden Islamists."

Another inhabitant said the army set up roadblocks along the route north from Sevare to Konna and was checking for rebels. President Diouncounda Traore declared a state of emergency on Friday giving the military sweeping powers to carry out searches and shut down parts of the country.

"The army is in Konna ... securing the town and to make sure it is safe," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Diarran Kone said.

A resident in the northern city of Gao, one of the Islamists' strongholds, had reported scores of rebel fighters were retreating northward in pickup trucks on Saturday. In Bamako, some civilians tried to contribute to the war effort.

"We are very proud and relieved that the army was able to drive the jihadists out of Konna. We hope it will not end there that is why I'm helping in my own way," said civil servant Ibrahima Kalossi, 32, one of over 40 people who queued to donate blood for wounded soldiers.

Concerned about reprisals on French soil, Hollande instructed Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault to tighten security in France at public buildings and on public transport.

France advised its 6,000 citizens in Mali to leave. Thousands more French live across West Africa, particularly in Senegal and Ivory Coast.

Hollande's intervention in Mali could endanger eight French nationals being held by Islamists in the Sahara. A spokesman for one of Mali's rebel groups, Ansar Dine, said on Saturday there would be repercussions.

"There are consequences, not only for French hostages, but also for all French citizens, wherever they find themselves in the Muslim world," Sanda Ould Boumama told Reuters. "The hostages are facing death."

(Additional reporting Adama Diarra, Tiemoko Diallo and Rainer Schwenzfeier in Bamako, Joe Bavier in Abidjan and Leila Aboud in Paris; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Alison Williams)

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S'pore's productivity well below most developed countries: DPM Tharman

SINGAPORE: Singapore's productivity is well below that of the most developed countries, according to Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, he noted that restaurants here are experiencing difficulties finding employees.

Mr Tharman said some restaurants have raised pay to attract part-timers during the peak Lunar New Year season.

But most still have difficulty finding people, because the overall labour market is close to full employment.

DPM Tharman said these are real problems for businesses, but the solution is not to ease up on foreign worker policies.

He said the solution has to be more fundamental.

Using restaurants in the US, Europe, Japan, and Hong Kong as examples, he noted that they have fewer workers, but are still able to do well.

The same employee handles more duties, and serves more tables.

The employees are well-paid, both full-time and part-time.

They know their stuff, including details of the dishes on the menu, and are well trained.

The restaurants also employ older workers, give them good jobs with some adjustments where required, and customers treat them with respect.

Mr Tharman said productivity then becomes key to upgrading incomes and standards of living - and transforming jobs is the only 'fundamental and sustainable' solution.

Higher productivity will also mean price increments can be minimised - even if wages go up.

He said everyone has to play his or her part.

Employers have to transform the way businesses are run and share productivity gains with their employees through higher pay.

Employees need to pick up skills and keep learning on the job.

Mr Tharman said the government has to keep the foreign worker policy tight, but at the same time lend strong support to help this upgrading and upskilling in every sector.

And customers too have to play their part by treating workers in ordinary jobs with respect.

- CNA/fa

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Fresh firing in Poonch as Pak troops target Indian posts

NEW DELHI: A day before the flag meeting between Indian and Pakistani commanders, there are reports of fresh exchange of fire in Poonch sector on Sunday.

According to TV reports, several Indian posts have been targeted by Pakistani troops.

The Indian Army retaliated leading to exchange of fire between the two sides along the LoC.

Earlier today Pakistan agreed to hold a flag meeting to defuse tension at the border after the brutal killing of two jawans.

The Indian Army had sent a hotline message to the Pakistan Army on January 11 and asked for a flag meeting to discuss the issue of brutal killing of two jawans by Pakistani troops, reportedly belonging to 29 Baloch Regiment, and increasing incidents of firing and ceasefire violations in the Poonch sector.

(With inputs from PTI)

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Flu more widespread in US; eases off in some areas

NEW YORK (AP) — Flu is now widespread in all but three states as the nation grapples with an earlier-than-normal season. But there was one bit of good news Friday: The number of hard-hit areas declined.

The flu season in the U.S. got under way a month early, in December, driven by a strain that tends to make people sicker. That led to worries that it might be a bad season, following one of the mildest flu seasons in recent memory.

The latest numbers do show that the flu surpassed an "epidemic" threshold last week. That is based on deaths from pneumonia and influenza in 122 U.S. cities. However, it's not unusual — the epidemic level varies at different times of the year, and it was breached earlier this flu season, in October and November.

And there's a hint that the flu season may already have peaked in some spots, like in the South. Still, officials there and elsewhere are bracing for more sickness

In Ohio, administrators at Miami University are anxious that a bug that hit employees will spread to students when they return to the Oxford campus next week.

"Everybody's been sick. It's miserable," said Ritter Hoy, a spokeswoman for the 17,000-student school.

Despite the early start, health officials say it's not too late to get a flu shot. The vaccine is considered a good — though not perfect — protection against getting really sick from the flu.

Flu was widespread in 47 states last week, up from 41 the week before, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Friday. The only states without widespread flu were California, Mississippi and Hawaii.

The number of hard-hit states fell to 24 from 29, where larger numbers of people were treated for flu-like illness. Now off that list: Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina in the South, the first region hit this flu season.

Recent flu reports included holiday weeks when some doctor's offices were closed, so it will probably take a couple more weeks to get a better picture, CDC officials said Friday. Experts say so far say the season looks moderate.

"Only time will tell how moderate or severe this flu season will be," CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said Friday in a teleconference with reporters.

The government doesn't keep a running tally of adult deaths from the flu, but estimates that it kills about 24,000 people in an average year. Nationally, 20 children have died from the flu this season.

Flu vaccinations are recommended for everyone 6 months or older. Since the swine flu epidemic in 2009, vaccination rates have increased in the U.S., but more than half of Americans haven't gotten this year's vaccine.

Nearly 130 million doses of flu vaccine were distributed this year, and at least 112 million have been used. Vaccine is still available, but supplies may have run low in some locations, officials said.

To find a shot, "you may have to call a couple places," said Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, who tracks the flu in Iowa.

In midtown Manhattan, Hyrmete Sciuto got a flu shot Friday at a drugstore. She skipped it in recent years, but news reports about the flu this week worried her.

During her commute from Edgewater, N.J., by ferry and bus, "I have people coughing in my face," she said. "I didn't want to risk it this year."

The vaccine is no guarantee, though, that you won't get sick. On Friday, CDC officials said a recent study of more than 1,100 people has concluded the current flu vaccine is 62 percent effective. That means the average vaccinated person is 62 percent less likely to get a case of flu that sends them to the doctor, compared to people who don't get the vaccine. That's in line with other years.

The vaccine is reformulated annually, and this year's is a good match to the viruses going around.

The flu's early arrival coincided with spikes in flu-like illnesses caused by other bugs, including a new norovirus that causes vomiting and diarrhea, or what is commonly known as "stomach flu." Those illnesses likely are part of the heavy traffic in hospital and clinic waiting rooms, CDC officials said.

Europeans also are suffering an early flu season, though a milder strain predominates there. China, Japan, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, Algeria and the Republic of Congo have also reported increasing flu.

Flu usually peaks in midwinter. Symptoms can include fever, cough, runny nose, head and body aches and fatigue. Some people also suffer vomiting and diarrhea, and some develop pneumonia or other severe complications.

Most people with flu have a mild illness. But people with severe symptoms should see a doctor. They may be given antiviral drugs or other medications to ease symptoms.

Some shortages have been reported for children's liquid Tamiflu, a prescription medicine used to treat flu. But health officials say adult Tamiflu pills are available, and pharmacists can convert those to doses for children.

___

Associated Press writers Dan Sewell in Cincinnati, Catherine Lucey in Des Moines, and Malcolm Ritter in New York contributed to this report.

___

Online:

CDC flu: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/index.htm

Read More..

Poisoned Lottery Winner's Kin Were Suspicious

Urooj Khan had just brought home his $425,000 lottery check when he unexpectedly died the following day. Now, certain members of Khan's family are speaking publicly about the mystery -- and his nephew told ABC News they knew something was not right.

"He was a healthy guy, you know?" said the nephew, Minhaj Khan. "He worked so hard. He was always going about his business and, the thing is: After he won the lottery and the next day later he passes away -- it's awkward. It raises some eyebrows."

The medical examiner initially ruled Urooj Khan, 46, an immigrant from India who owned dry-cleaning businesses in Chicago, died July 20, 2012, of natural causes. But after a family member demanded more tests, authorities in November found a lethal amount of cyanide in his blood, turning the case into a homicide investigation.

"When we found out there was cyanide in his blood after the extensive toxicology reports, we had to believe that ... somebody had to kill him," Minhaj Khan said. "It had to happen, because where can you get cyanide?"

In Photos: Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners

Authorities could be one step closer to learning what happened to Urooj Khan. A judge Friday approved an order to exhume his body at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago as early as Thursday to perform further tests.

Lottery Winner Murdered: Widow Questioned By Police Watch Video

Moments after the court hearing, Urooj Khan's sister, Meraj Khan, remembered her brother as the kind of person who would've shared his jackpot with anyone. Speaking at the Cook County Courthouse, she hoped the exhumation would help the investigation.

"It's very hard because I wanted my brother to rest in peace, but then we have to have justice served," she said, according to ABC News station WLS in Chicago. "So if that's what it takes for him to bring justice and peace, then that's what needs to be done."

Khan reportedly did not have a will. With the investigation moving forward, his family is waging a legal fight against his widow, Shabana Ansari, 32, over more than $1 million, including Urooj Khan's lottery winnings, as well as his business and real estate holdings.

Khan's brother filed a petition Wednesday to a judge asking Citibank to release information about Khan's assets to "ultimately ensure" that [Khan's] minor daughter from a prior marriage "receives her proper share."

Ansari may have tried to cash the jackpot check after Khan's death, according to court documents, which also showed Urooj Khan's family is questioning if the couple was ever even legally married.

Ansari, Urooj Khan's second wife, who still works at the couple's dry cleaning business, has insisted they were married legally.

She has told reporters the night before her husband died, she cooked a traditional Indian meal for him and their family, including Khan's daughter and Ansari's father. Not feeling well, Khan retired early, Ansari told the Chicago Sun-Times, falling asleep in a chair, waking up in agony, then collapsing in the middle of the night. She said she called 911.

"It has been an incredibly hard time," she told ABC News earlier this week. "We went from being the happiest the day we got the check. It was the best sleep I've had. And then the next day, everything was gone.

"I am cooperating with the investigation," Ansari told ABC News. "I want the truth to come out."

Ansari has not been named a suspect, but her attorney, Steven Kozicki, said investigators did question her for more than four hours.

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Obama, Karzai accelerate end of U.S. combat role in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed on Friday to speed up the handover of combat operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces, raising the prospect of an accelerated U.S. withdrawal from the country and underscoring Obama's determination to wind down a long, unpopular war.

Signaling a narrowing of differences, Karzai appeared to give ground in talks at the White House on U.S. demands for immunity from prosecution for any American troops who stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014, a concession that could allow Obama to keep at least a small residual force there.

Both leaders also threw their support behind tentative Afghan reconciliation efforts with Taliban insurgents, endorsing the establishment of a Taliban political office in Qatar in hopes of bringing insurgents to inter-Afghan talks.

Outwardly, at least, the meeting appeared to be something of a success for both men, who need to show their vastly different publics they are making progress in their goals for Afghanistan. There were no signs of the friction that has frequently marked Obama's relations with Karzai.

Karzai's visit came amid stepped-up deliberations in Washington over the size and scope of the U.S. military role in Afghanistan once the NATO-led combat mission concludes at the end of 2014.

"By the end of next year, 2014, the transition will be complete," Obama said at a news conference with Karzai standing at his side. "Afghans will have full responsibility for their security, and this war will come to a responsible end."

The Obama administration has been considering a residual force of between 3,000 and 9,000 troops - far fewer than some U.S. commanders propose - to conduct counterterrorism operations and to train and assist Afghan forces.

A top Obama aide said this week that the administration does not rule out a complete withdrawal after 2014, a move that some experts say would be disastrous for the weak Afghan central government and its fledgling security apparatus.

Obama on Friday left open the possibility of that so-called "zero option" when he several times used the word "if" to suggest that a post-2014 U.S. presence was far from guaranteed.

Insisting that Afghan forces were "stepping up" faster than expected, Obama said Afghan troops would take over the lead in combat missions across the country this spring, rather than waiting until the summer as originally planned. NATO troops will then assume a "support role," he said.

"It will be a historic moment and another step toward full Afghan sovereignty," Obama said.

Obama said final decisions on this year's troop cuts and the post-2014 U.S. military role were still months away, but his comments suggested he favors a stepped-up withdrawal timetable.

There are some 66,000 U.S. troops currently in Afghanistan. Washington's NATO allies have been steadily reducing their troop numbers as well despite doubts about the ability of Afghan forces to shoulder full responsibility for security.

'WAR OF NECESSITY'

Karzai voiced satisfaction over Obama's agreement to turn over control of detention centers to Afghan authorities, a source of dispute between their countries, although the White House released no details of the accord on that subject.

Obama once called Afghanistan a "war of necessity." But he is heading into a second term looking for an orderly way out of the conflict, which was sparked by the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by an al Qaeda network harbored by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers.

He faces the challenge of pressing ahead with his re-election pledge to continue winding down the war while preparing the Afghan government to prevent a slide into chaos and a Taliban resurgence once most NATO forces are gone.

Former Senator Chuck Hagel, Obama's nominee to become defense secretary, is likely to favor a sizable troop reduction.

Karzai, meanwhile, is eager to show he is working to ensure Afghans regain full control of their territory after a foreign military presence of more than 11 years.

Asked whether the cost of the war in lives and money was worth it, Obama said: "We achieved our central goal ... or have come very close to achieving our central goal, which is to de-capacitate al Qaeda, to dismantle them, to make sure that they can't attack us again."

He added: "Have we achieved everything that some might have imagined us achieving in the best of scenarios? Probably not. This is a human enterprise, and you fall short of the ideal."

Obama made clear that unless the Afghan government agrees to legal immunity for U.S. troops, he would withdraw them all after 2014 - as happened in Iraq at the end of 2011.

Karzai, who criticized NATO over civilian deaths, said that with Obama's agreement to transfer detention centers and the planned withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghan villages, "I can go to the Afghan people and argue for immunity" in a bilateral security pact being negotiated.

Addressing students at Georgetown University later in the day, the Afghan leader predicted with certainty that the United States would keep a limited number of troops in Afghanistan after 2014, in part to battle al Qaeda and its affiliates.

"One of the reasons the United States will continue a limited presence in Afghanistan after 2014 in certain facilities in Afghanistan is because we have decided together to continue to fight against al Qaeda," Karzai said. "So there will be no respite in that."

Many of Obama's Republican opponents have criticized him for setting a withdrawal timetable and accuse him of undercutting the U.S. mission by reducing troop numbers too quickly.

Karzai and his U.S. partners have not always seen eye to eye, even though the American military has been crucial to preventing insurgent attempts to oust him.

In October, Karzai accused Washington of playing a double game by fighting the war in Afghan villages instead of going after insurgents who cross the border from neighboring Pakistan.

In Friday's news conference, Karzai did not back down from his previous comments that foreigners were responsible for some of the official corruption critics say is rampant in Afghanistan. But he acknowledged: "There is corruption in the Afghan government that we are fighting against."

Adding to tensions has been a rash of deadly "insider" attacks by Afghan soldiers and police against NATO-led troops training or working with them. U.S. forces have also been involved in a series of incidents that enraged Afghans, including burning Korans, which touched off days of rioting.

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton, Mark Felsenthal, Jeff Mason, Phil Stewart, Tabassum Zakaria, David Alexander; Editing by Warren Strobel and Will Dunham)

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