| | |
| Sebelius says she told Obama staying 'wasn't an option' Sunday, Apr 13, 2014 07:24 PM PDT  U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, who resigned last week, says she made the decision to leave and told President Barack Obama last month that staying on "wasn't an option". In her first interview since the White House announced her resignation as the president's top healthcare adviser, Sebelius told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that she and Obama first spoke about her future after Obamacare enrollment began to show signs of recovering from its disastrous October 1 launch. "The president and I began to talk after the first of the year, and I went back to him in early March," Sebelius said. "I made it pretty clear that it really wasn't an option to stay on." Sebelius was responding to speculation that the White House may have forced her resignation in a bid to open a new chapter for Obama's signature domestic policy achievement ahead of November's election battle for control of Congress during the final years of the Obama presidency. Full Story | Top |
| South Korea's state health insurer sues Philip Morris, BAT for smoking damages Sunday, Apr 13, 2014 07:13 PM PDT  South Korea's state health insurer said on Monday it was seeking an initial 53.7 billion won ($51.9 million) from three tobacco companies, including the local units of Philip Morris and British American Tobacco, to offset treatment costs for diseases linked to smoking. The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) said it was suing the two global cigarette makers, as well as local market leader KT&G Corp, in a South Korean court. Only four tobacco lawsuits have ever been heard in South Korea, all by individuals or families, and there is no precedent of a successful action against a tobacco company. "We believe the NHIS, as it takes responsibility for the health of the public and oversees the insurance budget, has a natural duty to bring this tobacco lawsuit," NHIS lawyer An Sun-young told reporters. Full Story | Top |
| GSK faces bribery investigation in Poland: BBC Sunday, Apr 13, 2014 05:00 PM PDT (Reuters) - GlaxoSmithKline Plc is facing a criminal investigation in Poland for allegedly bribing doctors to promote its asthma drug Seretide, BBC Panorama reported on Sunday. The BBC reported that 11 doctors and a GSK regional manager have been charged over alleged corruption between 2010 and 2012. "The investigation found evidence of inappropriate communication in contravention of GSK policy by a single employee. GSK, Britain's biggest drugmaker, was accused by Chinese authorities in July of funnelling up to 3 billion yuan ($483 million) to doctors and officials to encourage them to use its medicines in a case that rocked the pharmaceuticals industry. Full Story | Top |
| In post-Fukushima policy test, Japan town rallies for nuclear re-start Sunday, Apr 13, 2014 02:07 PM PDT By Mari Saito SATSUMASENDAI, Japan (Reuters) - On the main road leading from the Sendai nuclear plant in southern Japan, a construction crew is laying down asphalt to widen the evacuation route in the event of a future disaster. It means they are edging closer to re-starting two nuclear reactors that have been an economic engine for nearly three decades in a remote coastal town that has few other options. Satsumasendai never felt the earthquake that triggered the Fukushima nuclear disaster some 1,600 kms (994 miles) to the north in March 2011. But residents saw their friends lose jobs and felt their future was threatened when the Sendai nuclear plant run by Kyushu Electric Power was idled along with the rest of Japan's reactors for a more stringent round of safety checks after Fukushima. Full Story | Top |
| Obama's new health secretary nominee draws early Republican fire Sunday, Apr 13, 2014 10:30 AM PDT  By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's new nominee for health secretary drew some early political fire from Republicans on Sunday in what could foreshadow a stormy election-year confirmation debate in the U.S. Senate over the future of the law known as Obamacare. Two days after Obama nominated his budget director, Sylvia Mathews Burwell, to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Republican lawmakers alleged the new nominee could help the White House exert political control over Obamacare enrollment numbers and other data showing how well the reforms are working. The results present a challenge for Republicans, who claim Obamacare is a failure that Americans should reject. Full Story | Top |
| Stocks face earnings blues after tech slide Sunday, Apr 13, 2014 07:07 AM PDT  By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) - The wrenching selloff in U.S. high-growth technology and biotech shares could leave investors braced for more than a minor pullback when earnings pick up speed this week. "There's skepticism among investors about the outlook, and we're getting into the first-quarter earnings season, so you're going to see some positioning," said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Profit growth for Standard & Poor's 500 companies now is projected at just 0.9 percent in the first quarter from a year ago, down from a January 1 forecast for 6.5 percent growth, Thomson Reuters data showed. Wall Street will face this flurry of numbers during a four-day week. Full Story | Top |
| China's tap water cleared of benzene in some areas: Xinhua Sunday, Apr 13, 2014 04:53 AM PDT  The Chinese city of Lanzhou has cancelled emergency measures in two districts after tests of water samples there found no more cancer-inducing benzene, the state news agency Xinhua reported. Residents in the northwestern city of Lanzhou, Gansu province, rushed to buy bottled drinks on Friday after authorities said benzene had been found in tapwater at 20 times above national safety levels. The city government rolled out an emergency supply of free drinking water for the two districts after turning off water taps there. But by Saturday morning, the environmental monitoring department found no more benzene in four tests of samples taken from Chengguan and Qilihe districts, Xinhua said. Full Story | Top |
| Mudslide menaces fabled Pacific Northwest salmon, trout river Sunday, Apr 13, 2014 04:06 AM PDT  By Eric M. Johnson OSO, Washington (Reuters) - Watching the now murky river from his kitchen window, Bill Best speaks in low tones of neighbors buried by a massive mudslide, where damage to salmon and steelhead trout spawning beds only adds to the grief in a rural Washington state community with deep ties to the land. "The river's extremely important. We just thoroughly love this relatively natural, unspoiled river environment. It's why we are here," the 73-year-old avid fly fisherman said. "Hopefully in 20 to 30 years, it will be back to what it sort of used to be. ... Full Story | Top |
| Yemen reports first case of deadly MERS-coronavirus Sunday, Apr 13, 2014 01:35 AM PDT Yemen reported its first case of the deadly MERS coronavirus on Sunday in a further spread of the deadly strain in the Middle East two years after its outbreak in neighboring Saudi Arabia. "Medical personnel have recorded one case of the coronavirus in Sanaa and the victim is a Yemeni man who works as an aeronautics engineer," the semi-official al-Thawra newspaper quoted Public Health Minister Ahmed al-Ansi as saying. "The ministry is working in effective cooperation with the World Health Organisation to confront this virus and is in direct and constant communication with all hospitals to receive information on any other suspected cases," Ansi said. MERS, which emerged in the Middle East in 2012, is from the same family as the SARS virus and can cause coughing, fever and pneumonia. Full Story | Top |
| Japan confirms first bird flu case since 2011 Saturday, Apr 12, 2014 10:52 PM PDT Two chickens have tested positive for avian influenza at a farm in Japan where more than 1,000 chickens have died, marking the country's first case of bird flu in three years, the Agricultural Ministry said on Sunday. The highly pathogenic H5 virus was detected through genetic testing of chickens at a farm in Kumamoto prefecture in the south, the ministry said on its Website. A total of 1,100 chickens have died and about 112,000 would be culled, media said. There is believed to be no risk of the virus spreading to humans through consumption of chicken eggs or meat, said Tomoyuki Takehisa, an Agricultural Ministry official. Full Story | Top |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment