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| Exclusive: Specter of SARS weighs on CDC as MERS virus lands in U.S. Sunday, May 04, 2014 07:04 PM PDT By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - When the SARS outbreak arrived in Toronto on Feb. 23, 2003, carried by a woman traveling from Hong Kong, the disease quickly spread to hospital workers and patients in area hospitals, ultimately infecting 257 individuals and killing 33 people. It's a memory that hangs fresh in the mind of Dr Michael Bell, deputy director of the division of healthcare quality promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Atlanta-based federal agency last week sent a team of infectious disease experts to Community Hospital in Munster, Indiana, to attend to the first confirmed U.S. case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS. "In a worst-case scenario, this could spread rapidly." MERS is caused by a coronavirus, a family of viruses that includes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS, which emerged in China in 2002-2003 and killed some 800 people. Full Story | Top |
| Maiteeq installed as Libya's new premier but dismissed by speaker Sunday, May 04, 2014 05:30 PM PDT  By Feras Bosalum and Ulf Laessing TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Businessman Ahmed Maiteeq was sworn in as Libya's new prime minister on Sunday after chaotic voting in parliament, but hours later the deputy speaker declared the election invalid as a power struggle erupted in the assembly. The divisions in the assembly showcase growing turmoil in the North African country awash with arms and militias from the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi, where government and parliament are unable to assert authority. Officials gave contradicting versions of the parliamentary election outcome, with First Deputy Speaker Ezzedin al-Awami initially saying Maiteeq had failed to obtain the necessary quorum even through he had emerged as front-runner in prior votes. But a power struggle over who controls the assembly broke out when Saleh Makhzoum, second deputy speaker, rejected Awami's assertion and said Maiteeq had won the necessary support. Full Story | Top |
| Nobel-winning economist Gary Becker dies at 83: university Sunday, May 04, 2014 03:30 PM PDT  (Reuters) - Gary Becker, whose work applying the principles of economics to a wide range of human behavior won the Nobel Prize in 1992, has died at age 83, the University of Chicago said on Sunday. Becker, a student of free-market economist Milton Friedman, died on Saturday after a long illness, the university said on its website. "Gary was a transformational thinker of truly remarkable impact on the world and an extraordinary individual," University of Chicago President Robert Zimmer said in a statement. Becker got his doctorate in economics at the University of Chicago in 1955 and published the book "The Economics of Discrimination" two years later. Full Story | Top |
| Factbox: China's reform tally since November policy meeting Sunday, May 04, 2014 03:22 PM PDT (Reuters) - China's leadership unveiled some of the most comprehensive economic and social reforms in nearly 30 years in November 2013. Implementation since then has been slow but steady. China has eschewed riskier, game-changing reform but the incremental steps promise to reach enough critical mass to sustain momentum and help the world's second-largest economy shift down fairly smoothly after decades of red-hot investment-fuelled growth. ... Full Story | Top |
| Maiteeq installed as Libya's new PM but dismissed by speaker Sunday, May 04, 2014 02:55 PM PDT By Feras Bosalum and Ulf Laessing TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Businessman Ahmed Maiteeq was sworn in as Libya's new prime minister on Sunday after chaotic voting but parliament's deputy speaker hours later declared the election invalid as a power struggle erupted in the assembly. The divisions in the assembly showcase growing turmoil in the North African country where government and parliament are unable to assert authority in a country awash with arms and militias from the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi. Officials gave contradicting versions of the parliamentary election outcome, with First Deputy Speaker Ezzedin al-Awami initially saying Maiteeq had failed to obtain the necessary quorum even through he emerged as front runner in prior votes. But a power struggle over who controls the assembly broke out when second deputy speaker Saleh Makhzoum rejected Awami's claims and said Maiteeq had won the necessary support. Full Story | Top |
| Man treated for deadly MERS virus in Indiana improving: state Sunday, May 04, 2014 10:18 AM PDT  (Reuters) - A healthcare worker being treated in Indiana with the first U.S. case of the often fatal Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is in good condition and improving daily, the state health department said on Sunday. State and federal health officials confirmed on Friday that the man had been diagnosed with the virus after traveling to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and exhibiting symptoms upon his return to the United States. "We are very pleased the patient is improving and no other cases have been identified at this time," said Dr. William VanNess II, Indiana's state health commissioner. MERS symptoms can take up to 14 days to occur, and the virus has no known treatments. Full Story | Top |
| Young blood rejuvenates brains and muscles of old mice Sunday, May 04, 2014 10:12 AM PDT By Sharon Begley NEW YORK (Reuters) - If three discoveries in mice reported on Sunday are applicable to people, making old brains and old muscles perform like young ones may require simply a blood transfusion. In two of the studies, giving the blood of young mice to old ones undid age-related impairments in the brain, reversing declines in learning and memory and boosting the creation of new neurons and the ability of the brain to change its structure in response to experience. The third study found that a protein in the blood of young mice improved the ability of old ones (comparable to a 70-year-old person) to exercise. Previous studies had shown that giving young mice blood from old mice impaired their cognitive function. Full Story | Top |
| East Antarctica more at risk than thought to long-term thaw: study Sunday, May 04, 2014 10:10 AM PDT By Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - Part of East Antarctica is more vulnerable than expected to a thaw that could trigger an unstoppable slide of ice into the ocean and raise world sea levels for thousands of years, a study showed on Sunday. The Wilkes Basin in East Antarctica, stretching more than 1,000 km (600 miles) inland, has enough ice to raise sea levels by 3 to 4 meters (10-13 feet) if it were to melt as an effect of global warming, the report said. The Wilkes is vulnerable because it is held in place by a small rim of ice, resting on bedrock below sea level by the coast of the frozen continent. That "ice plug" might melt away in coming centuries if ocean waters warm up. Full Story | Top |
| Germany calls for second Geneva meeting on Ukraine Sunday, May 04, 2014 09:19 AM PDT German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Sunday called for a second international conference to put an end to the crisis in Ukraine. He said he made the proposal in telephone conversations on Sunday with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). "In the many discussions I've had in the last couple of hours, I've been campaigning ... to hold a second meeting in Geneva to follow up on the first one," he told ARD television, according to a text of an interview to be aired later. On April 17, the United States, Russia, Ukraine and the European Union struck a deal in Geneva that outlined steps to defuse the crisis, including the disarmament of militants and a national dialogue on constitutional reform. Full Story | Top |
| Alstom battle to upstage Siemens chief's grand strategy launch Sunday, May 04, 2014 08:05 AM PDT  By Noah Barkin and Irene Preisinger BERLIN (Reuters) - When Joe Kaeser took the reins of German engineering giant Siemens last summer after a boardroom coup, he made clear his priority was closing a yawning profitability gap with rivals such as General Electric . On Wednesday the 56-year-old Bavarian presents his grand strategy, but it is likely to be overshadowed by something that investors and even some Siemens executives fear could undermine his profit drive: a politically-charged battle with the U.S. group for France's Alstom . Siemens announced last week that it would make a formal offer for Alstom - most likely in the form of a swap of power and rail assets - after being encouraged by the French and German governments to step in. Hours later, Alstom's board chose to accept a $16.9 billion GE bid for the French firm's energy unit. Full Story | Top |
| Libyan parliament fails to agree on new prime minister Sunday, May 04, 2014 06:52 AM PDT  Libya's parliament failed on Sunday to elect a new prime minister after several inconclusive votes, lawmakers in the North African country said, adding to turmoil in the oil producer. Businessman Ahmed Maiteeq had emerged as front runner in the final vote but he failed to obtain a quorum in a separate confidence vote needed to confirm his appointment, lawmakers said. It was not immediately clear what the General National Congress (GNC) assembly would do next. Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni resigned three weeks ago, citing an attack by gunmen on his family. Full Story | Top |
| Big Pharma stands to profit by cleaning out its medicine chests Sunday, May 04, 2014 05:13 AM PDT  By Ransdell Pierson NEW YORK (Reuters) - Leading global pharmaceutical companies have started to view their vast portfolios of older, established prescription drugs as vehicles for raising large sums of cash to fuel development of new medicines with far higher profit margins. France's Sanofi and U.S. drugmakers Merck & Co and Abbott Laboratories are exploring selling off their mature drugs that have lost patent protection, Reuters reported this week, citing people familiar with the plans. The divestments could bring in more than $7 billion for Sanofi, north of $15 billion for Merck and over $5 billion for Abbott, the sources said, giving them considerable firepower to develop, or buy, promising experimental medicines. "It makes sense to sell your low-growth assets that drag down profit margins and to redeploy that cash to higher-value innovative biotech assets," said John Boris, an analyst with SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. Full Story | Top |
| Funds pile into rail car maker Trinity as new safety rules seen Sunday, May 04, 2014 05:11 AM PDT By David Randall NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rail car makers, little-known winners of the North American energy boom, are capturing the attention of fund managers and regulators alike. A string of derailments, some of them deadly, of trains carrying crude oil have prompted U.S. and Canadian authorities to look into stricter safety rules for tank cars carrying crude oil and other volatile materials. While sweeping regulations have yet to be announced in the United States, fund managers look to be already picking a winner among rail car manufacturers. Thirty five funds initiated a position in Dallas-based Trinity Industries Inc in the most recent quarter, increasing the total fund ownership in the company by 20.6 percent, according to data from fund tracker Morningstar. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. e-cigarette experiment inspires new medical device Sunday, May 04, 2014 05:09 AM PDT  When Noah Minskoff's mother died of lung cancer in 2007, e-cigarettes were just entering the U.S. market. Minskoff, who had just started medical school in Utah, wondered whether the devices might have saved his mother's life by helping her quit smoking. Later, he sent some samples to his boyhood friend Nathan Terry, a mechanical engineer, and asked for his opinion. Terry, who was working in Germany for the French industrial firm Areva, took apart the products to see how they were made. Full Story | Top |
| UK's Labour call for inquiry into Pfizer's AstraZeneca bid Sunday, May 04, 2014 05:01 AM PDT  By William James LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's opposition Labour party called on Sunday for an inquiry into a potential takeover of British firm AstraZeneca by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer, accusing the government of "cheerleading" for a deal. AstraZeneca on Friday rejected a 63 billion pound ($106 billion) bid from Pfizer, but the U.S. firm is expected to pursue its efforts to acquire Britain's second largest pharmaceutical company. "We need a more substantive assessment of whether this takeover is in the national economic interest before the UK government allows itself to be seen to be supporting it," Labour leader Ed Miliband said in a letter to Prime Minister David Cameron. While the government has talked with both AstraZeneca and Pfizer, it has said it has no intention of intervening in the deal and considers it a matter for the companies' boards and shareholders. Full Story | Top |
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