Christina Ricci Is Engaged to James Heerdegen

02/02/2013 at 12:05 PM EST

Christina Ricci

Noel Vasquez/Getty. Inset:Splash News Online

Christina Ricci's happy secret has been confirmed – she's engaged!

The actress, 32, who has been wearing ring finger bling since October, is headed to the altar with James Heerdegen.

Heerdegen, is a camera technician and met Ricci when the two were working on ABC's former TV series Pan-Am. Their relationship was first public last February.

Ricci most recently stepped out (and showed off her ring!) Friday to join luxury beauty brand, Make Up For Ever, in Los Angeles to introduce a limited edition bag she helped to design.

– Julie Jordan

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New rules aim to get rid of junk foods in schools

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most candy, high-calorie drinks and greasy meals could soon be on a food blacklist in the nation's schools.

For the first time, the government is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful.

Under the new rules the Agriculture Department proposed Friday, foods like fatty chips, snack cakes, nachos and mozzarella sticks would be taken out of lunch lines and vending machines. In their place would be foods like baked chips, trail mix, diet sodas, lower-calorie sports drinks and low-fat hamburgers.

The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress in 2010, are part of the government's effort to combat childhood obesity. While many schools already have improved their lunch menus and vending machine choices, others still are selling high-fat, high-calorie foods.

Under the proposal, the Agriculture Department would set fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits on almost all foods sold in schools. Current standards already regulate the nutritional content of school breakfasts and lunches that are subsidized by the federal government, but most lunchrooms also have "a la carte" lines that sell other foods. Food sold through vending machines and in other ways outside the lunchroom has never before been federally regulated.

"Parents and teachers work hard to instill healthy eating habits in our kids, and these efforts should be supported when kids walk through the schoolhouse door," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

Most snacks sold in school would have to have less than 200 calories. Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, low-fat milk or 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice. High schools could sell some sports drinks, diet sodas and iced teas, but the calories would be limited. Drinks would be limited to 12-ounce portions in middle schools and to 8-ounce portions in elementary schools.

The standards will cover vending machines, the "a la carte" lunch lines, snack bars and any other foods regularly sold around school. They would not apply to in-school fundraisers or bake sales, though states have the power to regulate them. The new guidelines also would not apply to after-school concessions at school games or theater events, goodies brought from home for classroom celebrations, or anything students bring for their own personal consumption.

The new rules are the latest in a long list of changes designed to make foods served in schools more healthful and accessible. Nutritional guidelines for the subsidized lunches were revised last year and put in place last fall. The 2010 child nutrition law also provided more money for schools to serve free and reduced-cost lunches and required more meals to be served to hungry kids.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has been working for two decades to take junk foods out of schools. He calls the availability of unhealthful foods around campus a "loophole" that undermines the taxpayer money that helps pay for the healthier subsidized lunches.

"USDA's proposed nutrition standards are a critical step in closing that loophole and in ensuring that our schools are places that nurture not just the minds of American children but their bodies as well," Harkin said.

Last year's rules faced criticism from some conservatives, including some Republicans in Congress, who said the government shouldn't be telling kids what to eat. Mindful of that backlash, the Agriculture Department exempted in-school fundraisers from federal regulation and proposed different options for some parts of the rule, including the calorie limits for drinks in high schools, which would be limited to either 60 calories or 75 calories in a 12-ounce portion.

The department also has shown a willingness to work with schools to resolve complaints that some new requirements are hard to meet. Last year, for example, the government relaxed some limits on meats and grains in subsidized lunches after school nutritionists said they weren't working.

Schools, the food industry, interest groups and other critics or supporters of the new proposal will have 60 days to comment and suggest changes. A final rule could be in place as soon as the 2014 school year.

Margo Wootan, a nutrition lobbyist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said surveys by her organization show that most parents want changes in the lunchroom.

"Parents aren't going to have to worry that kids are using their lunch money to buy candy bars and a Gatorade instead of a healthy school lunch," she said.

The food industry has been onboard with many of the changes, and several companies worked with Congress on the child nutrition law two years ago. Major beverage companies have already agreed to take the most caloric sodas out of schools. But those same companies, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, also sell many of the non-soda options, like sports drinks, and have lobbied to keep them in vending machines.

A spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, which represents the soda companies, says they already have greatly reduced the number of calories that kids are consuming at school by pulling out the high-calorie sodas.

___

Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick

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"Great Rotation"- A Wall Street fairy tale?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street's current jubilant narrative is that a rush into stocks by small investors has sparked a "great rotation" out of bonds and into equities that will power the bull market to new heights.

That sounds good, but there's a snag: The evidence for this is a few weeks of bullish fund flows that are hardly unusual for January.

Late-stage bull markets are typically marked by an influx of small investors coming late to the party - such as when your waiter starts giving you stock tips. For that to happen you need a good story. The "great rotation," with its monumental tone, is the perfect narrative to make you feel like you're missing out.

Even if something approaching a "great rotation" has begun, it is not necessarily bullish for markets. Those who think they are coming early to the party may actually be arriving late.

Investors pumped $20.7 billion into stocks in the first four weeks of the year, the strongest four-week run since April 2000, according to Lipper. But that pales in comparison with the $410 billion yanked from those funds since the start of 2008.

"I'm not sure you want to take a couple of weeks and extrapolate it into whatever trend you want," said Tobias Levkovich, chief U.S. equity strategist at Citigroup. "We have had instances where equity flows have picked up in the last two, three, four years when markets have picked up. They've generally not been signals of a continuation of that trend."

The S&P 500 rose 5 percent in January, its best month since October 2011 and its best January since 1997, driving speculation that retail investors were flooding back into the stock market.

Heading into another busy week of earnings, the equity market is knocking on the door of all-time highs due to positive sentiment in stocks, and that can't be ignored entirely. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> ended the week about 4 percent from an all-time high touched in October 2007.

Next week will bring results from insurers Allstate and The Hartford , as well as from Walt Disney , Coca-Cola Enterprises and Visa .

But a comparison of flows in January, a seasonal strong month for the stock market, shows that this January, while strong, is not that unusual. In January 2011 investors moved $23.9 billion into stock funds and $28.6 billion in 2006, but neither foreshadowed massive inflows the rest of that year. Furthermore, in 2006 the market gained more than 13 percent while in 2011 it was flat.

Strong inflows in January can happen for a number of reasons. There were a lot of special dividends issued in December that need reinvesting, and some of the funds raised in December tax-selling also find their way back into the market.

During the height of the tech bubble in 2000, when retail investors were really embracing stocks, a staggering $42.7 billion flowed into equities in January of that year, double the amount that flowed in this January. That didn't end well, as stocks peaked in March of that year before dropping over the next two-plus years.

MOM AND POP STILL WARY

Arguing against a 'great rotation' is not necessarily a bearish argument against stocks. The stock market has done well since the crisis. Despite the huge outflows, the S&P 500 has risen more than 120 percent since March 2009 on a slowly improving economy and corporate earnings.

This earnings season, a majority of S&P 500 companies are beating earnings forecast. That's also the case for revenue, which is a departure from the previous two reporting periods where less than 50 percent of companies beat revenue expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Meanwhile, those on the front lines say mom and pop investors are still wary of equities after the financial crisis.

"A lot of people I talk to are very reluctant to make an emotional commitment to the stock market and regardless of income activity in January, I think that's still the case," said David Joy, chief market strategist at Columbia Management Advisors in Boston, where he helps oversee $571 billion.

Joy, speaking from a conference in Phoenix, says most of the people asking him about the "great rotation" are fund management industry insiders who are interested in the extra business a flood of stock investors would bring.

He also pointed out that flows into bond funds were positive in the month of January, hardly an indication of a rotation.

Citi's Levkovich also argues that bond investors are unlikely to give up a 30-year rally in bonds so quickly. He said stocks only began to see consistent outflows 26 months after the tech bubble burst in March 2000. By that reading it could be another year before a serious rotation begins.

On top of that, substantial flows continue to make their way into bonds, even if it isn't low-yielding government debt. January 2013 was the second best January on record for the issuance of U.S. high-grade debt, with $111.725 billion issued during the month, according to International Finance Review.

Bill Gross, who runs the $285 billion Pimco Total Return Fund, the world's largest bond fund, commented on Twitter on Thursday that "January flows at Pimco show few signs of bond/stock rotation," adding that cash and money markets may be the source of inflows into stocks.

Indeed, the evidence suggests some of the money that went into stock funds in January came from money markets after a period in December when investors, worried about the budget uncertainty in Washington, started parking money in late 2012.

Data from iMoneyNet shows investors placed $123 billion in money market funds in the last two months of the year. In two weeks in January investors withdrew $31.45 billion of that, the most since March 2012. But later in the month money actually started flowing back.

(Additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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The Lede Blog: Video Shows Aftermath of U.S. Embassy Bombing in Turkey

Associated Press video showing the damage to the perimeter of the United States Embassy in Turkey after a suicide bombing in Ankara on Friday.

As my colleagues Sebnem Arsu and Rick Gladstone report, a suicide bomber attacked the American Embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara on Friday, in a blast that officials said killed at least one Turkish citizen and wounded another at a side entrance to the compound.

A cameraman for the Turkish news agency Ihlas Haber Ajansı rushed to the scene, capturing raw video of the damage to the embassy’s perimeter and a brief glimpse of what appeared to be human flesh on the pavement. Some of that I.H.A. footage was used in a video report broadcast on Turkish television, showing a wounded person being loaded into an ambulance as police officers tried to cordon off the area.

Video broadcast on Turkish television on Friday showed the aftermath of a bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Ankara. (Via Telegraph TV)

As the blogger Serhatcan Yurdam reports, a woman named EsmaDinmezer posted a collection of photographs uploaded to Facebook showing first responders, officials and reporters outside the embassy later.

Photos from US Embassy after the explosion… http://t.co/hc5YvoDZ

— Serhatcan Yurdam (@syurdam) 1 Feb 13

Another Turkish channel, TRT Haber, broadcast remarks by the United States ambassador, Francis J. Ricciardone Jr., as he stood in front of the building beside Alaattin Yuksel, the governor of Ankara. (Readers can click ahead to about the 1:30 mark of the TRT report to hear the ambassador’s remarks, in Turkish and English.)

Speaking after the governor, the American ambassador thanked the authorities for their prompt response, expressed sorrow at the death of a Turkish security guard and said his prayers were with the Turkish employee who was being treated for his wounds.

In his remarks, the Turkish official told reporters the explosion “happened inside the American Embassy.”

Tulin Daloglu, a Turkish columnist for the news site Al Monitor, reported on Twitter and Vine that a large number of reporters and officers were still gathered outside the embassy hours after the bombing.

Hours after the suicide bombing at #US Embassy #Ankara, the scene is packed by police…Chilling day in Ankara!

— Turkey Pulse (@TurkeyPulse) 1 Feb 13

[VIDEO] Tulin Daloglu on the scene at the US Embassy in #Ankara RT @TurkeyPulse http://t.co/xxSflDr6

— cale salih (@callysally) 1 Feb 13

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Google moves closer to resolving EU investigation

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Google has offered to take specific steps to allay competition regulators’ concerns about its business practices, in a major move towards ending a two-year investigation and avoiding billions of dollars in fines.

The European Commission said on Friday it had received detailed proposals from the world’s most popular search engine, which has been under investigation following complaints from more than a dozen companies, including Microsoft, that Google has used its market power to block rivals.

If the commission accepts the proposals under its settlement procedure, it would mean no fine and no finding of wrongdoing against Google.

Companies found to be in breach of EU rules can be fined as much as 10 percent of global turnover, which could mean up to $ 4 billion if there is no satisfactory resolution in Google’s case.

EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told Reuters he had received Google’s submission, but declined to give details of the proposal.

“We are analyzing it,” he said.

Google spokesman Al Verney said the group continues to work cooperatively with the commission.

The company ranks first in Internet searching in Europe, with an 82 percent market share, versus 67 percent in the United States, according to research firm comScore.

Lobbying group ICOMP, whose members include complainants Microsoft, Foundem, Hot-map, Streetmap and Nextag, said any solution should include measures ensuring that rivals could compete on a level playing field with Google.

The FairSearch coalition, whose members include online travel agencies and complainants Expedia and TripAdvisor, said a third-party monitor should be appointed to ensure that Google lives up to any promises.

The commission, which acts as competition regulator in the 27-member European Union, is now expected to seek feedback from Google’s rivals and other interested parties, before launching an official market test.

Last month, Google won a major victory when U.S. antitrust regulators ended their investigation, saying the company had not manipulated its web search results to block rivals.

The commission has said Google may have favored its own search services over those of rivals, and copied travel and restaurant reviews from competing sites without permission.

The EU executive is also concerned the company may have put restrictions on advertisers and advertising to prevent them from moving their online campaigns to competing search engines.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Rex Merrifield and Hans-Juergen Peters)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Jennifer Lawrence: 'My Pants Fell Off' at the SAG Awards!

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02/01/2013 at 12:00 PM ET

She’s been picking up Best Actress statues left and right for the few weeks, but we’re giving Jennifer Lawrence an award that really counts: Best Narration of a Wardrobe Malfunction.

“My pants fell off!” Lawrence exclaimed on Piers Morgan Tonight as he played her a video of her Dior Haute Couture gown “ripping” when she climbed the stairs at the SAG Awards to accept her win. Though the dress didn’t actually tear (it was the way it was designed) she still flashed a whole lotta leg.

Since the actress hadn’t seen the incident in action yet, we get to watch her cringe at the moment that set Twitter aflame. “Somebody trips me on the way I remember that,” she says during her play-by-play of the video. “I’m keepin’ it together, keepin’ it together … and then my pants fall off! Yep! Oh, god.”

Suggestion to the Academy Awards committee: Get this girl to narrate the entire telecast next year. We guarantee it’ll get you epic ratings. To see what we mean, check out her reaction to SAGs moment from the 2:30 mark in the video below.

–Jennifer Cress

PHOTOS: SEE THE BEST AWARD SHOW DRESSES SO FAR!

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Hedgehog Alert! Prickly pets can carry salmonella

NEW YORK (AP) — Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.

In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died in January. The illnesses were linked to contact with hedgehogs kept as pets, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials on Thursday say such cases seem to be increasing.

The CDC recommends thoroughly washing your hands after handling hedgehogs and cleaning pet cages and other equipment outside.

Other pets that carry the salmonella bug are frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, lizards, chicks and ducklings.

Seven of the hedgehog illnesses were in Washington state, including the death — an elderly man from Spokane County who died in January. The other cases were in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon.

In years past, only one or two illnesses from this salmonella strain have been reported annually, but the numbers rose to 14 in 2011, 18 last year, and two so far this year.

Children younger than five and the elderly are considered at highest risk for severe illness, CDC officials said.

Hedgehogs are small, insect-eating mammals with a coat of stiff quills. In nature, they sometimes live under hedges and defend themselves by rolling up into a spiky ball.

The critters linked to recent illnesses were purchased from various breeders, many of them licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CDC officials said. Hedgehogs are native to Western Europe, New Zealand and some other parts of the world, but are bred in the United States.

___

Online:

CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr

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S&P 500 rises one percent as Wall Street rallies

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks hit five-year highs with each of the three major indexes up at least 1 percent on Friday, after jobs and manufacturing data showed the economy's sluggish recovery is still on track.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 139.22 points, or 1.00 percent, to 13,999.80. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 15.04 points, or 1.00 percent, to 1,513.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> advanced 35.47 points, or 1.13 percent, to 3,177.60.

(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

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Hagel Offers Endorsement of U.S. Military Might

Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times

Chuck Hagel arrived for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

WASHINGTON — Chuck Hagel, President Obama’s nominee to be secretary of defense, engaged in a sharp exchange with his old friend, Senator John McCain, at the opening of his confirmation hearing on Thursday when Mr. McCain, Republican of Arizona, pressed him on his opposition to the escalation, or surge, of American forces in Iraq in 2007.

Mr. Hagel dodged a direct answer as Mr. McCain asked him repeatedly if history would judge whether Mr. Hagel was right or wrong to oppose the surge in forces when he was a Republican senator from Nebraska. The escalation, along with other major factors, is credited in helping quell the violence in Iraq at the time. When Mr. Hagel said he wanted to explain, Mr. McCain bore in.

“Are you going to answer the question, Senator Hagel, the question is whether you were right or wrong,” Mr. McCain said.

“I’m not going to give you a yes or no answer,” Mr. Hagel replied.

Mr. McCain did not let up.

"I think history has already made a judgment about the surge sir, and you’re on the wrong side of it,” Mr. McCain said, then seemed to threaten that he would not vote for Mr. Hagel if he did not answer the question.

It took the next questioner, Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, to draw out Mr. Hagel out on the subject. “I did question the surge,” Mr. Hagel said. “I always asked the question, is this going to be worth the sacrifice?” He said 1,200 American men and women lost their lives in the surge. “I’m not certain it was required,” Mr. Hagel said. “Now, it doesn’t mean I was right.”

Mr. McCain, like many Republicans, was furious at Mr. Hagel’s skepticism about the Iraq War. It led to a falling-out between the two men, both Vietnam veterans, that appeared to have been patched up when the two met last week after Mr. Hagel was nominated for the Pentagon job. Mr. McCain described their discussion as a “frank and candid” exchange between two “old friends.”

But Mr. McCain was only one of the Republicans who pressed Mr. Hagel at hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Before he even made his opening statement, Mr. Hagel faced a blast of objections from the ranking Republican on the committee, Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, who told Mr. Hagel that he would not vote for him because of his position of “appeasing” America’s adversaries.

“His record demonstrates what I view as a steadfast opposition to policies that diminish U.S. power and influence throughout the world, as well as a recent trend of policy reversals that seem based on political expediency rather than on core beliefs,” Mr. Inhofe said.

But even a reliable yes vote, Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who serves as the committee’s chairman, said in his opening statement that Mr. Hagel had made “troubling” statements about Israel and had expressed a willingness to negotiate on Iran on issues that Mr. Levin viewed as nonnegotiable. Mr. Levin said he expected Mr. Hagel to address those issues during the hearing.

Under aggressive but at times disjointed questioning from Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Hagel was asked why he thought the Iranian Foreign Ministry so strongly supported his nomination as defense secretary. Mr. Hagel swiftly replied, “I have a difficult time enough with American politics.” He then said, “I have no idea.”

Under more gentle but persistent questioning from Mr. Levin, Mr. Hagel said that he had voted against some unilateral American sanctions against Iran in 2001 and 2002 because it was a different era. “We were at a different place with Iran at that time,” he said.

Mr. Hagel faltered at one point, saying shortly before noon that he strongly supported the president’s policy on “containment” of Iran. He was quickly handed a note, which he read and then said to correct himself, “Obviously, we don’t have a position on containment.”

At that point Mr. Levin interjected, “We do have a position on containment, which is we do not favor containment.” The Obama administration’s policy on Iran remains prevention of its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

In his opening statement, Mr. Hagel said that the United States must lead other nations in confronting threats, use all tools of American power in protecting its people and “maintain the strongest military in the world.”

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The 7 most dedicated employees

You probably don’t want to forward this roster of tireless go-getters to your boss

Some people probably feel they deserve a medal for merely getting up and going to work every day, but only a few actually merit one. Take Deborah Ford, for example. This 64-year-old Detroit postal worker, who recently retired, didn’t use a single sick day in all of her 44 years on the job. Not a single one! For doctor’s appointments, she would take vacation days, and when she was feeling lousy she says she would just “shake it off.” At the end of her dedicated career, Ford had amassed a sick-leave balance of 4,508 hours. But before you give her the award for most dedicated employee, check out this lot:

1. Going the distance
Unless you work from home, chances are you endure a less-than-pleasant commute. But none is likely as arduous as that of Dave Givens. In 2006 the Mariposa, Calif., resident earned the unenviable award for “America’s Longest Commute” when tire company Midas set out to find the employee who trekked the most miles to work. From his ranch home in Mariposa, Givens drives 186 miles to his job at Cisco Systems, Inc., in San Jose. The electrical engineer has been making this 372-mile round trip, which equals a total of seven hours of driving, for 17 years. “I have a great job and my family loves the ranch where we live,” Givens said. “So this is the only solution.” His dedication to the horrendous commute earned Givens the grand prize of $ 10,000 and some much-needed gas money as well as an array of Midas maintenance services and products.

SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know

2. A life’s work
Rose Syracuse Richardone “just loves to work,” says Macy’s senior vice president Robin Hall of the 92-year-old employee. Richardone retired from Macy’s in September 2012 after working in a range of positions from her first job at the age of 17 in the accounts department — back when there weren’t credit cards and customers would set aside money in the in-store bank to pay for items — to her final position within the parade and entertainment group. To honor her 70th year with the company a few years ago, Macy’s management arranged for Richardone to cut the red ribbon that launched the iconic Thanksgiving parade. Had it not been for a broken hip, the diminutive employee might still be working today. “Life is good,” she said of her longevity. “You go on each day, you’re happy where you’re at. And people — bosses, supervisors, they appreciate you. And you stay.”

3. Hardest working unemployed man
You may not know Justin Knapp, but you’re likely familiar with his work. Knapp is a voluntary editor of the Wikipedia, and last April the 30-year-old became the first person to complete 1 million edits on the massive online, open-source encyclopedia. After coming across Wikipedia in 2003, Knapp registered as an editor in 2005 and now spends several hours per day combing, editing, and adding to Wikipedia articles. His edits can be as small as ensuring em dashes and en dashes are used properly or as substantial as building the most comprehensive George Orwell entry, which reportedly took about 100 hours. But Knapp relishes the work. “Editing these projects is relaxing and rewarding,” Knapp told Gizmodo. Knapp doesn’t get paid for his work, however plentiful, but he manages to get by financially with odd jobs while he pursues his nursing degree at Indiana University. Ultimately he feels his diligence is for the greater good. “Far be it for me to say that it’s an act of love to edit Wikipedia,” he said. “But I really do feel like that it helps other human beings. That makes me feel good — knowing that somehow I can be a small part of helping someone who I’ll never know.”

SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know

4. Dedicated volunteer
Don Moss is the “Energizer Bunny of volunteers.” As of 2010, the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center volunteer has clocked in more than 47,000 hours, setting a Guinness World Record for his time. For the last 28 years, Moss has worked at Wake Forest Monday through Thursday, 48 hours per week. The 63-year-old’s dedication is a personal one. In 1980, Moss was in a freak accident that landed him at Wake Forest Baptist where he spent three months in a coma with a major head injury. Doctors didn’t think he would make it and, after he woke up, specialists said he would never walk again. But Moss defied all expectations and now, after being encouraged to volunteer during his rehabilitation stint, he’s rarely idle. While working, Moss delivers letters to patients, helps out at the gift shop, and guides lost visitors to their destinations. And those free Fridays? Those are for his wife, he says: “That’s my honey-do list day.”

5. Hardest working mom
Dr. Helen Wright felt like she had it all — she loved her job as a headmistress at an exclusive British all-girls school, and she had time to enjoy her beautiful growing family. On February morning in 2010, when Wright was pregnant with her third child, she went into labor. Within an hour she had given birth to the baby, a girl named Jessica, and by lunchtime, Wright was back at work, her newborn in tow. This was nothing new for her. She had never taken maternity leave with any of her children. Her second child was born on a Friday; Wright was back at work by Monday. Given the ongoing can-women-have-it-all debate, Wright says she wants to be a role model for her students to show them that they too can have a career and a family, quite literally, in the same space. The rarely trodden path of bringing your baby to work is, Wright says, the option more women should consider. “Most women have a choice of taking maternity leave or going back to work and having their babies looked after. Why can’t there be a third way?”

SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know

6. Hardest working country
Do you feel like you work long hours? Well, here’s some food for thought: Employees in Asian countries have the highest proportion of employees who work more than 48 hours per week, which is considered “excessive.” Of those Asian countries, South Korea is the most overworked: According to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, South Koreans work a whopping 2,193 hours per year. Chile comes in second with 2,068 hours, which far exceeds the average for most developing countries, which is 1,718 hours annually. The United States is just below the average with 1,695 hours. Germany and the Netherlands remain on the low end of the scale with 1,408 hours and 1,377 hours per year, respectively. Tighter labor laws in developed countries, particularly Europe, have contributed to reduced working hours, so, you know, don’t feel too bad about it, you’re just playing by the rules.

7. Hardest working American town
Columbia, Mo., managed to keep its unemployment rate of 6.0 percent throughout the worst economic downturn since the Depression with the help of its robust health-care and education sectors. The town has six hospitals and the second highest number of hospital beds per capita in the country. It’s also home to the University of Missouri-Columbia, which employs some 8,000 people, as well as six other institutions of higher education. More than 80 percent of households are dual-income, and the city ranked second on likelihood to work on the weekends, according to data compiled by Parade magazine in 2012. 

SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know

Sources: BBC, Daily Mail, Gizmodo, Parade, The Stir, Yahoo

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