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| Budget deal headed to vote in U.S. House, passage predicted Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 08:05 PM PST  By David Lawder and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday were falling in line behind a bipartisan two-year budget deal, indicating that the normally rambunctious group of lawmakers is not spoiling for a year-end fiscal fight. Despite conservative groups' denunciation of the plan and public opposition from some members associated with the conservative Tea Party movement, the Republican-controlled House was planning to vote on Thursday to pass the deal, Representative Kevin McCarthy, the third-ranking Republican told Reuters. A key House panel, on a 9-3 vote, cleared the legislation for debate and votes in the full House. The Republican-controlled Rules Committee refused to allow Democrats to offer an amendment to extend federal unemployment benefits that expire later this month. Full Story | Top |
| Death Master File reform breathes life into U.S. budget deal Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 08:05 PM PST By Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thank the sinister-sounding Death Master File for helping breathe life into the bipartisan U.S. budget deal reached on Tuesday. Among provisions aimed at reversing the across-the-board "sequestration" government spending cuts and reducing federal deficits, lawmakers restricted access to an index the Social Security Administration keeps of people who have died. Better controls over such information will save an estimated $786 million in government payments to people who steal dead people's Social Security numbers and other information to fraudulently claim tax refunds and credits and Medicare payments, a Senate aide said. The accord, which came days ahead of a self-imposed deadline, was an unexpected break from a cycle of fiscal brinkmanship that caused a government shutdown in October and brought the country close to default and blemished its pristine credit rating in 2011. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. House panel clears budget deal for full House vote Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 08:05 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan budget deal aimed at avoiding future government shutdowns cleared a key U.S. House of Representatives panel on Wednesday, making way for a vote by the full chamber as early as Thursday. The House Rules Committee, by a 9-3 vote, approved the rules governing debate of the $85 billion, two-year budget deal. The Republican-controlled committee refused to allow Democrats to offer an amendment that would have extended federal jobless benefits that are set to expire at the end of December. (Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Paul Simao) Full Story | Top |
| Thai anti-government protesters briefly enter grounds of PM's office -witness Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 08:03 PM PST A small group of Thai anti-government protesters climbed over the walls into the grounds of the prime minister's office on Thursday but quickly left after they moved aside internal barricades, a Reuters reporter said. The protesters said they wanted the police to withdraw from Government House. On Monday, around 160,000 people massed around Government House and Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra called a snap election in a bid to end the unrest. Full Story | Top |
| All eyes on Thai military as protest leader calls for meeting to pick sides Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 08:03 PM PST  By Amy Sawitta Lefevre BANGKOK (Reuters) - Anti-government protesters in Thailand pinned their hopes on winning support from the powerful security forces on Thursday to take forward a campaign to oust Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and install an unelected administration. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, a firebrand veteran politician, has asked police and military chiefs to meet him by Thursday evening and choose their side in the latest crisis engulfing Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy. The politically powerful army has staged or attempted 18 coups in the past 80 years - including the ousting of Yingluck's brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, in 2006 - but it has said it does not want to get involved this time, although it may mediate. His opponents are Thailand's royalist elite and establishment who feel threatened by his rise. Full Story | Top |
| California man suspected of slaying wife, then sister in possible mercy killing Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 07:29 PM PST A California man killed his ailing wife in their home and later walked into a Los Angeles convalescent hospital on Wednesday and shot to death his 58-year-old invalid sister in a possible mercy killing, police said. Investigators were looking into the possibility that Lance Anderson, 60, shot his sister to relieve her suffering after she spent four years in the care home since coming out of a coma, said Los Angeles Police Detective Juan Santa. "Mr. Anderson made a unilateral, fateful decision to take two lives and forever alter his and so many others who loved his wife and his sister," Los Angeles Police Lieutenant Paul Vernon said in a statement. Police said Anderson shot his sister, Lisa Nave, as she lay in her bed at the Country Villa Sheraton Convalescent and Rehabilitation Hospital in the suburban North Hills section of Los Angeles. Full Story | Top |
| Washington's American University lifts lockdown, no arrest Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 07:10 PM PST (Reuters) - American University on Wednesday lifted a lockdown triggered by the report of a man with a gun on campus after an investigation found that the suspect was an off-duty police officer with a gun, according to D.C. Police. The campus in northwest Washington, D.C., was on lockdown for about two hours while D.C. Metropolitan Police and the university's public safety department investigated the report, according to the university's website and D.C. police. Full Story | Top |
| Ukraine tells U.S. it won't use troops against protesters: Pentagon Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 07:07 PM PST Ukraine assured the United States on Wednesday that it had a policy against using the armed forces against demonstrators, the Pentagon said, after Washington expressed alarm at Kiev's deployment of riot police against anti-government protests. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, in a call with his Ukrainian counterpart, called for restraint and warned of the "potential damage of any involvement by the military in breaking up the demonstrations," Pentagon spokesman Carl Woog said. Ukrainian Defence Minister Pavlo Lebedyev said he would pass along the messsage directly to President Viktor Yanukovich, who is facing calls for his resignation over his decision to scrap a trade deal with the European Union and steer Ukraine closer to Russia. Full Story | Top |
| Federal judge sets hearing for Texas same-sex marriage case Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 06:38 PM PST By Lisa Maria Garza DALLAS (Reuters) - A federal judge has agreed to hear a case filed by two same-sex couples in Texas seeking to overturn a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, their lawyer said on Wednesday. A San Antonio federal court will hear arguments in February in the case seeking to nullify a 2005 amendment that defines marriage as solely "the union of one man and one woman." The suit was filed on behalf of Cleopatra De Leon and Nicole Dimetman, a lesbian couple who were married in Massachusetts but live in Austin, and for Victor Holmes and Mark Phariss, who applied for a marriage license in San Antonio in October but were denied. The lawsuit comes at a time of increasing momentum for gay marriage in the courts, at the ballot box and in statehouses around the country that have brought to 16 the number of U.S. states that allow gay marriage. Full Story | Top |
| China tells pilots to improve landing skills to deal with Beijing smog Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 06:31 PM PST  Chinese authorities have told pilots who fly to Beijing they must be qualified to land their aircraft in the low visibility bought about by smog, state media said on Thursday, as the government tries to reduce flight delays due to pollution. Beginning January 1, pilots flying from the country's 10 busiest airports into the Chinese capital must be qualified to use an instrument landing system on days when smog reduces visibility to around 400 meters (1,315 feet), the official China Daily said, citing China's civil aviation regulator. Despite investing billions of dollars in new airports and advanced Western-built aircraft, China suffers a chronic problem with flight delays, partly because of the country's often wildly-fluctuating weather and partly because the military tightly controls most of China's airspace. Full Story | Top |
| Honeymoon over for gay couples after Australia overturns same-sex marriage law Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 06:29 PM PST The honeymoon was short-lived for Australia's gay couples who married in the past five days after the High Court overturned new same-sex marriage laws on Thursday, invalidating wedding ceremonies performed since Saturday. "This is devastating for those couples who married this week and for their families," Australian Marriage Equality National Director Rodney Croome said in a statement. Around 20 gay couples had tied the knot since December 7, when Australia's first same-sex marriage laws came into force in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). "I don't want to be unmarried this afternoon," Ivan Hinton, who married his partner Chris Teoh in the national capital Canberra, told Australian media outside the High Court. Full Story | Top |
| California given two-month extension to reduce prison crowding Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 06:19 PM PST  By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - California will have an extra two months to reduce crowding in its prison system, a panel of three federal judges ruled on Wednesday, in the latest twist in a decades-long dispute over conditions and medical care for inmates. California prisons have been in the national spotlight for the past year as officials wrestled with crowding and concerns about the state's use of long-term solitary confinement for prisoners with suspected gang ties, which led to a hunger strike this year. The state has been under court orders to reduce inmate numbers since 2009, when the same panel ordered it to relieve overcrowding that several courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have said was to blame for inadequate medical and mental-health care. California Governor Jerry Brown has repeatedly said he believes that the state has fixed its problem. Full Story | Top |
| Apple scores legal victory over Samsung in South Korea Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 06:00 PM PST  Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Thursday lost its bid to ban sales of Apple Inc's older iPhone and iPad in South Korea, as a court dismissed a lawsuit claiming the U.S. firm had infringed three of Samsung's mobile patents. The lawsuit was part of the tech giants' global courtroom battle dating back to 2011, when Apple first sued Samsung for copying the look and feel of its iconic iPhone and iPad. A judge at the Seoul Central District Court said Apple products such as the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and iPad2 did not violate Samsung patents on short message display methods and messaging grouping features. In a separate ruling in August last year, the same court ordered Apple to pay Samsung 40 million won in damages for infringing two of the South Korean firm's wireless technology patents. Full Story | Top |
| Centerbridge Partners offers to buy LightSquared for $3.3 billion: WSJ Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 05:53 PM PST (Reuters) - Private equity firm Centerbridge Partners LP has reached a tentative deal to buy bankrupt telecommunications firm LightSquared Inc for $3.3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, quoting people familiar with the matter. LightSquared, backed by hedge fund manager Philip Falconer, has been in bankruptcy since 2012 and is fighting to keep control of its valuable spectrum amid a takeover push by Dish Network Corp . Reuters could not reach Centerbridge or LightSquared for comment outside regular business hours. Centerbridge has offered to pay about $3.3 billion for LightSquared and assume about $1.7 billion in various liabilities, the Journal quoted the people as saying. Full Story | Top |
| As U.S. gov't cuts back on biofuel, some rue 'collateral damage' Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 05:38 PM PST By Cezary Podkul NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ben Wootton was just getting ready to bring his company out of bankruptcy last month when word from Washington stopped him in his tracks. Instead of an expected pick-up in sales for the biofuel-based diesel that he makes from recycled cooking oil at a suburban Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, plant, demand is likely to drop due to a proposed freeze on U.S. consumption mandates. "I won't be alive, for sure," said Wootton, who runs the 1.5 million gallon per year Keystone Biofuels plant. Wootton and others like him are venting their frustrations at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which they say is penalizing makers of so-called advanced biofuels like biodiesel in rules proposed last month that are primarily directed at curbing consumption quotas for ethanol in 2014. Full Story | Top |
| Special Report: In the land of the holy cow, fury over beef exports Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 05:33 PM PST  By Jo Winterbottom and Meenakshi Sharma DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) - Symbols of India's emergence as an economic powerhouse line the four-lane highway to Jaipur out of New Delhi: a factory owned by the world's biggest motorbike maker, glass towers housing global call centers, shopping malls for India's burgeoning middle class. One night in August here, an angry mob ran amok, burning trucks and government property and forcing traffic to halt and factories to shut. The rioters were incensed over an issue arguably as old as India itself: the eating of beef, which the country's majority Hindus have considered sacrilegious for at least a thousand years. Perhaps surprisingly in a country where so many people view cows as sacred, India could soon become the world's biggest beef exporter, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Full Story | Top |
| Competitive hunting of wolves, coyotes in Idaho sparks outcry Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 05:13 PM PST By Laura Zuckerman SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - The first statewide competition in decades to hunt wolves and coyotes in Idaho has sparked outrage among wildlife conservationists, who condemned it as "an organized killing contest." The so-called coyote and wolf derby is slated for the weekend of December 28-29 in the mountain town of Salmon, Idaho, where ranchers and hunting guides contend wolves and coyotes threaten livestock and game animals prized by sportsmen. The tournament offers cash and trophies to two-person teams for such hunting objectives as killing the largest wolf and the most female coyotes. Idaho opened wolves to licensed hunting more than two years ago after assuming regulation of its wolf population from the federal government. But Idaho Department of Fish and Game wolf manager Jason Husseman said the upcoming event is believed to be the first competitive wolf shoot to be held in the continental United States since 1974, when wolves across the country came under federal Endangered Species Act protections. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico energy bill near approval as lower house fast-tracks debate Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 05:12 PM PST  By Miguel Gutierrez and Dave Graham MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico's lower house of Congress on Wednesday fast-tracked debate of an energy reform that would permit the biggest oil industry opening in 75 years, putting the bill closer to final approval after the Senate signed off on it earlier in the day. Lawmakers in the lower house voted to bypass committees for energy and constitutional matters after leftists, who are railing against the bill in the world's No. 10 oil producer, padlocked doors to the chamber to prevent a debate. The stalling tactics by leftists are unlikely to block the bill, which passed the Senate with the backing of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, and the opposition conservative National Action Party (PAN). The overhaul is designed to entice private oil companies to either operate independently in Mexico, or partner with state oil giant Pemex through production- and profit-sharing, service contracts and licenses. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. FDA panel backs use of Boston Scientific anti-stroke device Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 04:53 PM PST (Reuters) - An advisory panel of medical experts voted on Wednesday to recommend that U.S. health regulators approve an experimental stroke-prevention device made by Boston Scientific Corp The panel voted 13 to 1 that the benefits outweigh the risks of the Watchman device. The committee advised the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the Watchman for the prevention of ischemic stroke and systemic embolism in patients with a dangerous cardiac rhythm known as atrial fibrillation. People with atrial fibrillation, the most common type of arrhythmia, are five times more likely to suffer a stroke than those without the condition. The FDA typically follows the recommendations of its expert advisory panels, but is not obligated to do so. Full Story | Top |
| Pro-sanctions U.S. lawmakers will introduce new Iran bill soon Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 04:36 PM PST  By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. senators will introduce legislation to impose new sanctions on Iran as soon as this week, Senate aides said on Wednesday, despite the Obama administration's insistence that such a measure would violate terms of an interim agreement to curb Tehran's nuclear program. Iran's foreign minister has also said a new sanctions law would kill the agreement. In the interim agreement, Tehran agreed to limit uranium enrichment in return for an easing of international sanctions. Robert Menendez, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Senator Mark Kirk are finishing legislation that would target Iran's remaining oil exports and foreign exchange and seek to limit President Barack Obama's ability to waive sanctions. Full Story | Top |
| Firms will need cyber "badge" to win some British government business Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 04:22 PM PST By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will announce on Thursday that firms wishing to bid for certain areas of government procurement will have to meet a new standard demonstrating basic levels of cyber security. The scheme forms part of the latest plank of Britain's attempt to counter a growth in hostile cyber assaults, which has been earmarked as a top national security issue but whose progress has come in for severe criticism from lawmakers. "The cyber attack will remain a serious threat to our national security," said Francis Maude, the minister responsible for cyber security. Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said in September cyber defences had blocked around 400,000 attacks on the government's secure internet alone last year. Full Story | Top |
| New U.S. rules aim to cut antibiotic use in farm animals Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 04:17 PM PST  U.S. regulators announced new guidelines on Wednesday to phase out the use of antibiotics as a growth enhancer in livestock, in an effort to stem a surge in human resistance to these drugs. The Food and Drug Administration said the antibiotics could still be used to treat illnesses in animals raised for meat, but should otherwise be pared back over the next three years under a program to keep them out of the human food supply. It said two of the biggest purveyors of these antibiotics, Eli Lilly & Co and Zoetis Inc, had agreed to narrow their use. Doctors and hospitals have become increasingly worried by new strains of bacteria that cannot be controlled by a wide range of current antibiotics. Full Story | Top |
| Mexico lower house sends energy bill to floor for debate Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 04:16 PM PST Mexico's lower house of Congress on Wednesday sent an energy reform bill directly to the floor for debate, bypassing house committees, after leftist opponents blocked access to the main chamber with chairs and padlocks. Earlier in the day, the Senate passed the constitutional reform, which aims to open Mexico's energy sector to private investment, moving it to the lower house for approval. Full Story | Top |
| Former President George H.W. Bush joins Twitter Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 04:14 PM PST  (Reuters) - George H.W. Bush has joined Twitter and in his first tweet the former U.S. president said he wished he could have attended the memorial service for Nelson Mandela in South Africa. Bush, 89, who had a health scare a year ago, was the only one of the four former American presidents still living who did not attend Tuesday's memorial service in Johannesburg. "Barbara and I wish we could have joined the U.S. delegation honoring President Mandela today. President Barack Obama led a delegation that included former presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush, Bush's son. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: U.S. antibiotic phase-out may have minimal impact on livestock Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 04:11 PM PST  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's planned phase-out over the next three years of some antibiotics used in animal production could have a minimal immediate impact on cattle, pork and chicken production, said economists and traders. FDA on Wednesday outlined a proposal that would help reduce the use of some antibiotics in animal production to counter bacterial resistance to those drugs when they are prescribed for humans. In its statement on Wednesday, the agency did not specify which antibiotics would be targeted. * It appears FDA aims to halt or curtail the use of antibiotics for weight gain, Chicago-based Daniels Trading commodities broker Craig Turner told Reuters. Full Story | Top |
| UK economy set for fastest growth in seven years in 2014 - BCC Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 04:10 PM PST  By Freya Berry LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's economy will expand at its fastest rate in seven years in 2014, thanks to strengthening household consumption, but high household debt will slow growth in 2015, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said on Thursday. The group also raised its estimate of 2013 growth to 1.4 percent from 1.3 percent but reduced the 2015 forecast by 0.1 percentage point to 2.4 percent, saying high household debt would limit consumption. BCC Director General John Longworth warned that recovery could not come from households and an accelerating housing market alone, echoing comments earlier this week from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney. "We have to find ways of boosting business investment and exports, as rebalancing our economy is critical to our long-term economic future," Longworth said. Full Story | Top |
| Amount of dirty money leaving developing world jumped 14 percent in 2011: report Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 04:08 PM PST  By Stella Dawson WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Developing countries lost nearly $1 trillion to fraud, corruption and shady business transactions in 2011, vastly outpacing the foreign aid they received and the pace of dirty money leaving emerging nations is accelerating, a new report found. Illicit finance leaving the 150 developing countries totaled $946.7 billion in 2011, up 13.7 percent from the prior year and the largest amount in a decade, according to Global Financial Integrity, the Washington-based group that exposes financial corruption. This means that for every $1 in economic development assistance going into a developing country, $10 are lost via these illicit outflows. "As the world economy sputters along in the wake of the global financial crisis, the illicit underworld is thriving - siphoning more and more money from developing countries each year," said GFI President Raymond Baker. Full Story | Top |
| Michigan legislature approves extra insurance fee for abortions Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 04:00 PM PST (Reuters) - The Michigan legislature on Wednesday approved a proposal that would make it the ninth state to prohibit insurance companies from offering abortions unless women pay a fee in addition to the premium. The proposal, which was brought before the legislature as an initiative petition organized by Right to Life of Michigan, an anti-abortion group, was approved in the House and Senate, both of which have Republican majorities. Under Michigan's constitution, such voter initiatives become law 90 days after the current session ends, without the need for Governor Rick Snyder's signature. Snyder said in a letter to constituents the bill went too far because it treated situations involving rape and incest as elective abortions, and interfered with the private insurance market. Full Story | Top |
| Egyptian forces arrest Qataris at Al Jazeera office in Cairo: report Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:58 PM PST Egyptian security forces raided an office of Qatar's Al Jazeera television channel late Wednesday night and arrested 11 Qatari citizens, state newspaper Al-Ahram reported. Four Qatari police officers were among those arrested, Al-Ahram said. Al Jazeera's offices in Cairo have been closed since July 3, when they were raided by security forces hours after Mursi was toppled, although the channel, broadcast from Qatar, can still be seen in Egypt. Al-Ahram quoted security officials saying that they searched the office after receiving reports that firearms were inside. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. says firms helped Iranian airline skirt sanctions Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:55 PM PST  By Anna Yukhananov WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nineteen people and companies in Europe and Asia acted as middlemen for Iranian airline Mahan Air, helping it procure supplies from the United States in violation of U.S. sanctions, the U.S. Commerce Department said on Wednesday. The regulatory notice from the department posted online provided further insight into the operations of Mahan Air, a commercial airline that the United States has accused of providing funds and transport for Iran's elite forces and flying weapons to Syria. The notice charged that the middlemen "engaged in the development and operation of an illicit aviation procurement network designed to evade the U.S. government's sanctions against Iran." A majority of the companies and people are based in Turkey, and others are in Armenia, Greece, Iran, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates. Full Story | Top |
| Israel's Fischer picked to be next Fed vice chair: source Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:48 PM PST  Stanley Fischer, who led the Bank of Israel for eight years until he stepped down in June, has been asked to be the Federal Reserve's next vice chair once Janet Yellen takes over as chief of the U.S. central bank, a source familiar with the issue said on Wednesday. Fischer, 70, is widely respected as one of the world's top monetary economists. He is seen as a pragmatic policymaker and has praised the Fed's extraordinary steps to boost the U.S. economy. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he once taught current Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Mario Draghi, the European Central Bank president. Full Story | Top |
| California granted two-month extension for reducing prison crowding Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:43 PM PST (Reuters) - California will have an extra two months to reduce crowding in its mammoth and troubled prison system, a panel of federal judges ruled on Wednesday. The three-judge panel gave the state permission to continue negotiating with lawyers for inmates over poor medical care and crowded conditions, saying California could have until April 18 to reach a settlement with the inmates or be forced to reduce crowding, even if that means releasing some inmates early. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Cynthia Johnston) Full Story | Top |
| Russian gay-rights groups seek more pressure on Olympic Committee Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:38 PM PST  By Curtis Skinner NEW YORK (Reuters) - Russian gay rights advocates called for increased pressure on the International Olympic Committee ahead of the 2014 winter games in Sochi in light of Russia's anti-gay laws, telling a gathering on Wednesday that anti-gay violence is increasing. Russia has come under mounting human rights criticism internationally since passing an anti-gay propaganda law earlier this year that opponents contend curtails the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in the country. Panelists at a Human Rights Watch-sponsored event at New York's Empire State Building cited what they said is a disturbing trend in which homophobes lure gay men through online dating sites into videotaped humiliation and beatings. "It's a green light for nationalistic groups to make violence against LGBT people," Maria Kozlovskaya, a program manager at the Russian LGBT Network, said of the Russian law. Full Story | Top |
| FDA advisory panel partially backs drug for rare fat disorder Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:29 PM PST (Reuters) - An advisory panel of medical experts convened by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday said that Bristol-Myers Squibb Co had provided adequate evidence of the benefits of an experimental drug to treat rare and potentially fatal disorders involving loss of body fat. The panel voted 11-1 that the benefits of the drug metreleptin outweigh the risks for the treatment of children and adults suffering from a condition known as generalized lipodystrophy. Only a few thousand people worldwide are believed to have the disorders, in which fat builds up in the blood and organs such as liver and muscle, and can lead to diabetes, pancreatitis and fatty liver disease. However, by a 10-2 vote, the panel felt the risks of the medicine were too high to recommend it for metabolic disorders associated with partial lipodystrophy, such as diabetes and high triglycerides inadequately controlled by a current therapy. Full Story | Top |
| Pope Francis named Time's Person of the Year Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:25 PM PST  Time magazine named Pope Francis its Person of the Year on Wednesday, crediting him with shifting the message of the Catholic Church while capturing the imagination of millions of people who had become disillusioned with the Vatican. Time gave that honor to Pope John Paul II in 1994 and to Pope John XXIII in 1963. The Argentine pontiff - who, as archbishop of Buenos Aires was known as the slum cardinal for his visits to the poor and penchant for subway travel - beat former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and gay rights activist Edith Windsor for the award. "In a matter of months, Francis has elevated the healing mission of the church — the church as servant and comforter of hurting people in an often harsh world — above the doctrinal police work so important to his recent predecessors." Time said the final selection was made by its editors, who had considered suggestions from the magazine's more than 2 million Twitter followers. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. senator's top aide arrested on child porn allegations Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:20 PM PST  A top aide of Republican Senator Lamar Alexander was arrested on Wednesday in connection with child pornography allegations, the U.S. Justice Department said. "Jesse Ryan Loskarn, 35, of Washington, D.C., was arrested this afternoon by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service based on probable cause for possession and distribution of child pornography charges," said Peter Carr, a Justice Department spokesman. The senator named longtime aide David Cleary to be his new chief of staff. Full Story | Top |
| Google executives' planes saved millions in costs due to error - NASA Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:18 PM PST  By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The company that manages a fleet of airplanes owned and leased by Google Inc executives Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Eric Schmidt improperly bought fuel from the government at below-market rates, for a savings of up to $5.3 million according to a report released by the NASA Inspector General on Wednesday. The 10-page report said the discounted fuel purchases were the result of a "misunderstanding" between a Defense Department fuel provider and the NASA Ames Research Center, which manages the California airfield where a Boeing 767, a military-type Alpha Jet and several other aircraft are stored. The report found that overall, NASA benefited from leasing 70,000 square feet of space to H211, the private company that manages the Google executives' aircraft. The $1.4 million a year that H211 paid NASA was at a fair market value. Full Story | Top |
| White House: deadline for Afghan security pact could slip into January Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:11 PM PST  The White House would like Afghan President Hamid Karzai to sign a bilateral security agreement by the end of the year, but the deadline could slip into early January, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The deal would permit the United States to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond the end of 2014 to support Afghan forces and conduct limited counterterrorism activities. "If you're asking, 'Does that mean that if they sign it on January 10th, that's going to be a huge problem?' Probably not," said Josh Earnest, a deputy spokesman for the White House. The United States says it gave Afghanistan a year-end deadline to sign the agreement because it needs time to plan its troop presence after 2014. Full Story | Top |
| Five years later, aide recalls Madoff's arrest on witness stand Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:06 PM PST  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - Exactly five years ago, Frank DiPascali was awakened in his New Jersey home by an early call from his boss, Bernard Madoff. "He said, 'Frank, the FBI is in the office with my brother,'" DiPascali said in federal court in New York on Wednesday. "I said, 'Why are you calling me?' And I threw my phone across the room." The longtime Madoff deputy was speaking on the fifth anniversary of Madoff's arrest on December 11, 2008, which marked the collapse of his decades-long Ponzi scheme. DiPascali, who has pleaded guilty to his part in the scheme, was testifying at the trial of five former Madoff employees who are charged with helping the financier conceal his fraud from customers, government regulators and Wall Street. Full Story | Top |
| Russia seeks trade talks with Washington: Russian official Wednesday, Dec 11, 2013 03:04 PM PST  By Timothy Ahmann WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday proposed a series of bilateral trade negotiations with the United States under the umbrella of a hoped-for new trade agenda between the two countries, a senior Russian official said. He said Russia, in a meeting with top U.S. trade officials on Wednesday, had floated the idea of establishing a framework for talks that could lead to up to five separate deals, beginning with a pact on investment. "Maybe we won't call it free trade agreement negotiations, but maybe comprehensive approach and comprehensive trade agenda, which would mean that we could divide the whole agenda into different agreements," the official told a group of reporters. The proposal was made in a meeting between Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, according to the official. Full Story | Top |
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