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| New York City 1980s 'Subway Vigilante' arrested in marijuana bust Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 03:40 PM PDT Bernhard Goetz, who became known as New York City's "Subway Vigilante" in the 1980s after he shot and wounded four black teenagers he considered threatening on a subway, was arrested on Friday after he attempted to sell marijuana to an undercover officer, police said. Goetz, who is now 65, became a notorious figure during a period when New York City was plagued by high crime and persistent racial tension. Full Story | Top |
| Man awaiting execution for Tennessee fast-food murders dies in hospital Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 02:49 PM PDT  By Tim Ghianni NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Death row inmate Paul Dennis Reid, who killed seven young people in a series of attacks at Tennessee fast-food restaurants in 1997, died on Friday in a Nashville hospital, a prison official said. The cause of death will be determined by the State Medical Examiner's office, where the body was taken after Reid was pronounced dead, said Dorinda Carter, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Department of Correction. Reid was taken from Nashville's Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, where he was awaiting execution, to the city's General Hospital at Meharry about two weeks ago, Carter said. Reid, who was sometimes referred to as The Fast-Food Killer, had come to Nashville from Texas to pursue his dreams of being a country music singer. Full Story | Top |
| Rousseff urges Cabinet to speed up Brazil works projects before election Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 01:56 PM PDT  Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who is expected to seek re-election in 2014, urged Cabinet ministers on Saturday to speed up major infrastructure and public services projects, amid concerns about delays with much-needed road, hospital and port improvements. Rousseff met in Brasilia with 15 Cabinet ministers, all of them presiding over ministries related to infrastructure and social policy matters. She asked the ministers to agree on a common timetable for completing the projects, the president's chief of staff, Gleisi Hoffmann, told a news conference. Brazil is scrambling to lift anemic investment levels that have kept its economy stagnant. Full Story | Top |
| Obamacare website to be down again for maintenance late Saturday Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 09:50 AM PDT  The glitch-ridden website used to sign up for insurance under President Barack Obama's healthcare law will be down for "extended maintenance" overnight on Saturday, the Department of Health and Human Services said. "The HealthCare.gov tech team is performing extended maintenance this weekend to improve network infrastructure and make enhancements to the online application and enrollment tools," said Joanne Peters, the spokeswoman. The administration has said it will fix the site by the end of this month. The government hopes that about 7 million people enroll for insurance by the end of March under the law passed in Obama's first term to expand access to health insurance and require that people have coverage or pay a fine. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. aligns beef rules with global mad cow standards Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 08:58 AM PDT The United States on Friday issued new import rules for cattle and beef that will comply with international standards for the prevention of mad cow disease, saying the step could ultimately boost U.S. beef exports. The European Union said the U.S. move would bring a welcome re-opening of a market closed to its beef since January 1998. Lawmakers and industry groups also welcomed the news, saying it would help the United States regain access to markets that have been closed for decades. World trade in beef was jolted in the 1980s by the discovery of mad cow disease, a fatal brain-wasting disease in cattle, formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy. Full Story | Top |
| Bristol seeks Japan approval of all-oral hepatitis C treatment Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 06:38 AM PDT Bristol-Myers Squibb Co has filed with Japanese health regulators seeking approval of its experimental all-oral combination of hepatitis C treatments, the U.S. drugmaker said on Saturday. The submission with Japan's Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency marks the first time that any drugmaker has filed for approval of a hepatitis C treatment regimen that does not include either of the standard older treatments - the injected, difficult-to-tolerate interferon, or ribavirin, a pill. Gilead Sciences Inc, widely seen as the leader in a crowded race to develop highly effective, interferon-free treatments for the serious liver disease, has sought U.S. approval of its highly regarded anti-viral drug sofosbuvir in combination with ribavirin. A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel last week voted unanimously to recommend its approval. Full Story | Top |
| High cure rates seen with Merck oral hepatitis drugs: study Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 06:37 AM PDT A combination of two oral hepatitis C treatments developed by Merck & Co led to high cure rates in previously untreated patients, indicating the company is a contender in the race to find new treatments for the liver destroying virus. The treatments tested with and without the older drug ribavirin led to cure rates of 96 percent to 100 percent, according to interim data from a small midstage clinical trial. The results appear to confirm Merck will be competitive in the crowded race to develop interferon-free treatments for hepatitis C, assuming they are repeated in larger studies that include more difficult to treat patient populations, such as those not helped by prior therapy. Full Story | Top |
| China to end use of prisoners' organs for transplants in mid-2014 Saturday, Nov 02, 2013 01:58 AM PDT  By Li Hui and Ben Blanchard HANGZHOU, China (Reuters) - China, the only country that still systematically takes organs from executed prisoners for use in transplant operations, plans to end the controversial practice by the middle of next year, a senior official said on Saturday. By mid-2014, all hospitals licensed for organ transplants will be required to stop using organs from executed prisoners and only use those voluntarily donated and allocated through a fledging national system, said Huang Jiefu, a former deputy health minister who heads the organ transplant reform. The supply of human organs falls far short of demand in China due in part to a traditional belief that bodies should be buried or cremated intact. Full Story | Top |
| Obama says 'concerned' about Los Angeles airport shooting Friday, Nov 01, 2013 11:59 PM PDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday that he is concerned about a shooting at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday that killed one person and wounded at least six other people. "We're concerned about it, but I'll let law enforcement folks talk about it directly," Obama told reporters in the Oval Office after meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. (Reporting by Steve Holland and Roberta Rampton; editing by Jackie Frank) Full Story | Top |
| Obamacare woes frustrating Democrats' 2014 prospects Friday, Nov 01, 2013 10:04 PM PDT  By Richard Cowan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chaotic launch of President Barack Obama's healthcare law has Democrats in Congress increasingly anxious about its potential impact on them in the 2014 elections and scrambling to protect themselves if the program's problems persist. Particularly nervous is a group of 16 Senate Democrats who are defending their seats next year, as Republicans will seek a net gain of six seats to try to take over the 100-seat chamber. Some of the Democrats, such as New Hampshire's Jeanne Shaheen, represent states where enthusiasm has been high for the Affordable Care Act. Among other things, the law aims to provide inexpensive health insurance to many of the estimated 15 million Americans with little or no coverage. Full Story | Top |
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