NATION & WORLD || Jack Hanna urges strict rules on exotic pets

Hanna urges strict rules on exotic pets

COLUMBUS

Jack Hanna has urged a state panel to draw up strict rules for owning exotic animals in Ohio, where a man set loose more than 50 beasts last week and then killed himself — but the TV personality has stopped short of advocating a complete ban.

Hanna, the former Columbus Zoo director, said he told a working committee during its closed-door meeting Monday that Ohio must make sure that what just happened never happens again. Police killed dozens of the released animals while schools closed and motorists were warned to stay in their vehicles.

US reaches out to Iranians online

WASHINGTON

The Obama administration is setting up an Internet-based embassy to reach out to Iranians hoping to broaden their understanding of the United States, while at the same time studying new sanctions to raise the pressure on Iran’s government over its disputed nuclear program and alleged ties to terrorism. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in interviews Wednesday with Persian-language media that the U.S. wanted to affirm its friendship to the Iranian people even at a time of rising tensions with the regime in Tehran. As part of that effort, she said a “virtual embassy in Tehran” will be online by the end of the year, helping Iranians wishing to travel or study in the United States.

Flat tax renews ‘trickle-down’ debate

WASHINGTON

The flat tax is making a comeback among Republican presidential candidates. But it faces tough opposition in Congress because it tends to favor the rich at the expense of other taxpayers, renewing an old debate about “trickle-down economics.” Most of the top GOP contenders — Mitt Romney’s an exception — offer a variation of the tax plan in which everyone pays the same rate. Businessman Herman Cain has his 9-9-9 proposal, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry unveiled a 20 percent flat tax on income this week. Even Romney foresees a flatter tax system in the future, though he favors something closer to the current setup in the short term.

Study to look at DNA of centenarians

NEW YORK

George Eberhardt turned 107 last month, and scientists would love to know how he and other older folks like him made it that far. So he’s going to hand over some of his DNA. He’s one of 100 centenarians taking part in a project announced Wednesday that will examine some of the oldest citizens with one of the newest scientific tools: whole-genome sequencing, the deciphering of a person’s complete collection of DNA. Scientists think DNA from very old, healthy people could offer clues to how they lived so long. And that could one day lead to medicines to help the rest of us stay disease-free longer.

Study: Hormones lead to weight regain

As if people needed a reminder that losing weight is hard and maintaining weight loss is even harder, a study has found that for at least a year, subjects who shed weight on a low-calorie diet were hungrier than when they started and had higher levels of hormones that tell the body to eat more, conserve energy and store away fuel as fat.

The report, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, helps explain why roughly 80 percent of dieters regain lost pounds within a year or two of losing them — and, sometimes, regain more.

After weight loss, “multiple compensatory mechanisms” spring to life, the study shows, and work together to ensure that weight loss is reversed quickly and efficiently.

Combined dispatches