WASHINGTON — Baby boomers wired to their iPads and smart phones are giving U.S. health experts some new ideas about ways to cut the soaring costs of medical care in graying America.

Some of the ideas might sound like “Robo-Granny”. An astronautical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has made a skin-tight undersuit equipped with sensors that can constantly monitor the vital signs of its elderly wearer and feed the data into a computer that fires off health alerts. It was first designed for a landing on Mars.

Millions of children in America are denied the opportunity to receive a fair and high quality education. In March, the U.S. Department of Education released new information showing that children of color face harsher discipline, have less access to rigorous course offerings, and are more often taught by lower paid and less experienced teachers.

Inequities in funding and educational resources place poor children in low-performing schools with inadequate facilities and often ineffective teachers. Practices such as tracking, grade retention, out-of-school suspensions, expulsions, and one-size-fits-all zero tolerance policies continue to contribute to the discouragement, disengagement, and eventual dropout of countless children in America to their detriment and to all of us who need a competitive future workforce.

The US Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday warned consumers not to take a product called “Japan Rapid Weight Loss Diet Pills” because they contain a suspected cancer-causing agent.

The pills, advertised as promoting weight loss, are distributed by a company called Xiushentang and sold on popular web sites including Amazon.com, said the FDA.

Consumers are advised to stop using the pills — which are packaged in three colors: green, yellow and blue — and discard them. They should also see a doctor if they have experienced any side effects, the agency said.

A neurosurgeon from Peru who performed emergency surgery on an Immigration Services Officer became a U.S. citizen Wednesday in Tampa, Florida. 48-year-old Gabriel Gonzales-Portillo says he’s “very happy” and “very excited.”..

(CNN) — Amanda Clayton hit it big playing the Michigan Lottery. Like many winners, she used her $1 million prize to buy a new house.

But the Lincoln Park, Michigan, resident is receiving money in another form — $200 a month in state food assistance, according to CNN Detroit affiliate WDIV.

“I thought that they would cut me off, but since they didn’t, I thought, maybe, it was OK because I’m not working,” Clayton, 24, told WDIV when it asked whether it was appropriate for her to receive the money.

Now a state lawmaker is trying to stop such assistance, which is not illegal. He says the food assistance should not go to those who have found riches through the lottery.

EAST BERNSTADT, Ky. (AP) — The stories from tornado survivors across the South and Midwest were remarkable: schoolchildren took cover under desks, people hunkered down in a church basement or hid out in a bank vault. One family even piled on top of one another for protection.

One of the most remarkable survivors was a toddler found alive and alone in a field near her Indiana home. Her four immediate family members were among at least 38 people killed by tornadoes that scarred communities scattered across hundreds of miles of the nation’s midsection from Alabama to Indiana.

(CNN) — The moment 18-year-old Army Pvt. Tim Josephs arrived at Edgewood Arsenal in 1968, he knew there was something different about the place.

“It just did not look like a military base, more like a hospital,” recalled Josephs, a Pittsburgh native. Josephs had volunteered for a two-month assignment at Edgewood, in Maryland, lured by three-day weekends closer to home.

“It was like a plum assignment,” Josephs said. “The idea was they would test new Army field jackets, clothing, weapons and things of that nature, but no mention of drugs or chemicals.”

Updated at 3:03 a.m. ET — LONG BEACH, Calif. — Two immigration agents were involved in a shootout at a federal building in Long Beach Thursday, leaving one dead and another wounded, the FBI said.

The injured officer was taken to a nearby hospital and was listed in stable condition, according to a statement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The suspected gunman, who was also an ICE agent, was killed by a colleague, the FBI’s Steven Martinez told reporters.

Martinez characterized the incident as a case of workplace violence. He said one agent fired several rounds at the other agent, wounding him. At that point, a third agent intervened and additional rounds were fired, resulting in the death of the alleged shooter.

Is the end of the Afghanistan war near? While another story is the top topic of political conversation — Romney’s “I’m not concerned about the very poor” — there’s a more impactful story that’s in the news today: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s announcement that the U.S. will end its combat operations in Afghanistan by the middle of next year. The Washington Post: “The United States hopes to end its combat mission in Afghanistan by the middle of next year, more than a year earlier than scheduled, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said Wednesday. His remarks reflected a growing sentiment within the Obama administration that its approach to Iraq, where the official end of U.S. combat operations came 16 months before the final U.S. troop withdrawal in December, may provide a useful model for winding down operations in Afghanistan.”

WASHINGTON — In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News.

American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group.
According to the U.S. officials, two teams of Navy SEALs landed by helicopter near the compound where the two hostages were being held. As the SEALS approached the compound on foot gunfire broke out, the U.S. officials said, and several of the militants were reportedly killed. There is no word that any of the Americans were wounded.