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Midday Friday, both Wellmont Health System and Mountain States Health Alliance announced cutbacks at local healthcare facilities that will leave about 30 local people without jobs.

The online release of the 1911 England and Wales census last Tuesday led 700,000 people to log on that morning to learn about their ancestors, writes John Lloyd

China has invited Zhang Yimou, the film director who designed the opening ceremony at the Olympics, to organise the festivities for the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China, a sign the economic slump has not damped Beijing's appetite for spectacle

Britons will get £6,500 to make their homes more energy efficient under plans by the Conservatives to build a green economy in the UK. The plans are part of the opposition party's move to claim the environmental lead from Labour following the outroar form green groups at Thursday's announcement of a third runway at Heathrow.Other measures announced include maximising the potential of untapped renewable energy sources such as waves, tides and biogas. Yesterday, the Guardian revealed Tory plans to build an 'internet' for electricity using smart grids that would allow demand and supply to be managed in an intelligent and environmentally friendly way.The Tories say that their proposals would create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the green technology sector by 2020. The Conservative party leader, David Cameron, said that despite the economic downturn, it was not time to drop the environment as a concern.'The stuff in this paper will help employ people and bring jobs. We have got to do th

Carry a plastic bag in Delhi and you could be imprisoned for five years. Officials in India's capital have decided that the only way to stem the rising tide of poly­thene is to outlaw the plastic shopping bag.According to the official note, the 'use, storage and sale' of plastic bags of any kind or thickness will be banned. The new guideline means that customers, shopkeepers, hoteliers and hospital staff face a 100,000 rupee fine (£1,370) and a possible jail sentence for using non-biodegradable bags.Delhi has been quietly filling up with plastic bags in recent years as the economy boomed and western-style shopping malls sprang up in the city. There are no reliable figures for bag use but environmentalists say more than 10m a day are used in the capital every day. Not only are the streets littered with them, but polythene takes hundreds of years to decompose and creates demand for oil, which is used to make plastics.At first the ban will be lightly implemented, giving people time to swi

Communications minister Lord Carter's proposals for a digital Britain appear to amount to a straight-sets win for the main state broadcaster over all its rivals, people who have read it say

Most people would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between Chinook and coho salmon or even between young and old fish. But not the denizens of the Columbia River Basin (particularly in Washington State, Oregon and Idaho): they not only know their salmon, but their ability to distinguish between species is key to preserving the fast-disappearing fish. [More]

Some gay rights supporters are angry at African-american voters for their support of California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. But a new study takes a closer look at voters who supported the provision and raises questions about whether the backlash directed at blacks is warranted.

A small camera mounted on a finger could provide blind and partially sighted people a new way to interact with the world, says a new patent application

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The rv/rv Syracuse Orange looks to get back on track in grand fashion as the SU travels to Hartford, Conn. to face the No. 1/1 ranked Connecticut Huskies on Saturday afternoon at the XL Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. The game can be seen on Channel 76 for Time Warner in Syracuse or it can be viewed on ESPN360.com. It is free to any student on campus (in fact, to any student on any U.S. college campus -- nearly 18 million people). The Syracuse-UConn bout can also be heard on SUAthletics.com via Orange All Access, WTLA AM 1200 and WJPZ FM 89. Live stats will also be available here. Game Notes | Listen Live | Live Stats