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| U.S. cancer doctors urge payment fix as cases set to rise Monday, Mar 10, 2014 09:05 PM PDT  U.S. cancer doctors are worried about their ability to handle an expected surge in cancer cases in the coming years as they face cuts to government health plans and efforts to reduce payments to physicians. The influential American Society of Clinical Oncology, in a report released on Tuesday, cited estimates that cancer will become the leading killer in the United States by 2030 as the population ages, while treatment costs reach new heights. The group is calling on the U.S. Congress to help stabilize payments to doctors under the Medicare insurance program for the elderly. "What you are seeing from Medicare as well as others is they continue to constrain the revenues to practices. Full Story | Top |
| The dawning of the age of genomic medicine, finally Monday, Mar 10, 2014 06:20 PM PDT  (This March 6 story has been corrected to fix spelling of test to verifi from Verify in paragraph 33) By Julie Steenhuysen LA JOLLA, California (Reuters) - When President Bill Clinton announced in 2000 that Craig Venter and Dr. Francis Collins of the National Human Genome Research Institute had succeeded in mapping the human genome, he solemnly declared that the discovery would "revolutionize" the treatment of virtually all human disease. The expectation was that this single reference map of the 3 billion base pairs of DNA -- the human genetic code -- would quickly unlock the secrets of Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer and other scourges of human health. As it turns out, Clinton's forecast was not unlike President George Bush's "mission accomplished" speech in the early days of the Iraq war, said Dr. Eric Topol of Scripps Translational Science Institute, which is running a meeting On the Future of Genomic Medicine here March 6-7. Full Story | Top |
| Two workers at Tesoro's Golden Eagle refinery sprayed by acid Monday, Mar 10, 2014 05:59 PM PDT (Reuters) - Two workers were sprayed by sulfuric acid at Tesoro Corp's Golden Eagle refinery in Martinez, California, on Monday, the second such incident in less than a month, according to state regulators. A Tesoro spokeswoman, however, would not identify the chemical which the two contract workers were exposed to while carrying out maintenance on a unit at the Martinez refinery. "They were decontaminated in a shower and have been transported to a local medical facility." Lacey Friedman, a Contra Costa County hazardous materials specialist, said in a telephone interview that one of the workers has been released while the second remains in a hospital under observation. An initial description of the accident released by the Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Program said one of the workers was "saturated" by the acid. Full Story | Top |
| Two Russian cosmonauts, U.S. astronaut head back to Earth Monday, Mar 10, 2014 05:54 PM PDT  By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - A pair of Russian cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut sealed themselves inside a Russian Soyuz capsule on Monday and left the International Space Station, ending a six-month mission, officials said. With former station commander Oleg Kotov at the controls, the Soyuz slipped away from its berthing port at 8:02 a.m. EDT/0002 GMT. Strapped inside the Soyuz with Kotov are station flight engineers Sergei Ryazansky and NASA's Michael Hopkins. "It was a really good increment," Kotov said during a change-of-command ceremony broadcast on NASA Television on Sunday. Full Story | Top |
| Libya says halts tanker outside rebel port, plans military offensive Monday, Mar 10, 2014 05:25 PM PDT  By Ulf Laessing and Feras Bosalum TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya on Monday stopped a North Korean-flagged tanker that had loaded oil from a rebel-held port, after naval forces briefly exchanged fire with the rebels, officials said. They also said the government will assemble forces to "liberate" all occupied ports, raising the stakes over a blockage that has cut off vital oil revenue. The conflict over oil wealth is increasing fears that the OPEC producer may slide deeper into chaos or even splinter as the fragile government fails to rein in dozens of militias that helped oust Muammar Gaddafi in 2011 but now defy state authority. The rebels, who have seized three ports and partly control a fourth in the North African country, said they had dispatched forces to central Libya to deal with any government attack. Full Story | Top |
| Elephants can gauge threat from human voices, study finds Monday, Mar 10, 2014 04:46 PM PDT  Researchers from the University of Sussex and the Amboseli Trust for Elephants played recordings of human voices to wild elephants in Kenya and watched how they reacted. "Our results demonstrate that elephants can reliably discriminate between two different ethnic groups that differ in the level of threat they represent," the authors said in an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers said the findings provided the first proof elephants can distinguish between human voices, and suggested that other animals seeking to avoid hunters may also have developed this skill. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. Senate Democrats pulling all-nighter on climate change Monday, Mar 10, 2014 04:37 PM PDT  By Thomas Ferraro and Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than two dozen U.S. Senate Democrats joined forces to speak through the night on Monday, hoping to "wake up" Congress to what is seen as the threat of climate change. "Despite overwhelming scientific evidence and overwhelming public opinion, climate change deniers still exist," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said. "They exist in this country and in this Congress." The Nevada Democrat made the comments in kicking off the marathon gabfest at 6:27 p.m. on Monday. Thirty of the Senate's 53 Democrats, plus the two independents who caucus with them, have signed up to participate. Full Story | Top |
| U.S. stocks dip after China, Boeing data Monday, Mar 10, 2014 04:20 PM PDT  By Rodrigo Campos NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks dipped on Monday, weighed down by soft data out of China and Boeing's latest production setback. Merger and acquisition announcements, however, as well as company-specific news including on Facebook and Alexion Pharma, helped keep the S&P 500 and Nasdaq from bigger losses. China's exports unexpectedly tumbled 18.1 percent in February, against expectations for a 6.8 percent rise, swinging the trade balance into deficit and adding to fears of a slowdown in the world's second-largest economy. There's a little bit of profit-taking," said Paul Zemsky, head of asset allocation at ING Investment Management in New York. Full Story | Top |
| La Jolla Pharma's drug improves kidney function in trial, shares soar Monday, Mar 10, 2014 03:40 PM PDT La Jolla Pharmaceutical Co said its lead experimental drug to treat chronic kidney disease met the main goal of improving kidney function in a mid-stage study, sending the company's shares up about 40 percent in extended trading. La Jolla said the lower dose also reduced the levels galectin-3, a protein associated with tissue scarring. "There's a biologic feedback at the higher doses that neutralized the effect of the drug," Chief Executive George Tidmarsh said at an investor conference. La Jolla was likely to conduct another mid-stage study to test doses below the higher dose level to determine the drug's response, Moussatos said. Full Story | Top |
| Tanker seized at Libyan rebel port not yet in government harbor: PM Monday, Mar 10, 2014 03:19 PM PDT A tanker that loaded oil from a rebel-held port in eastern Libya has been halted by government forces but it has not yet reached a port controlled by government forces, Prime Minister Ali Zeidan told Reuters on Monday. Oil officials said earlier navy forces had seized the North Korea-flagged tanker outside the rebel-held Es Sider port to escort it to a government-controlled port in western Libya. Giving the first details of the operation, Prime Minister Zeidan said the tanker was not yet in western Libya. Tomorrow it will move." Authorities would unload the crude from the tanker once it reached a western port and then launch legal measures against the potential buyers. Full Story | Top |
| Investors prefer business pitches from handsome men, U.S. study finds Monday, Mar 10, 2014 02:45 PM PDT  Investors are more likely to put money into a business idea pitched by a man than a woman, and even more so if the man is good looking, according to a new study. The research, published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and authored by researchers from MIT, Harvard and the Wharton School, reveals that a good idea and an experienced presenter are not always enough to win the financial backing required for a successful start-up. "Our research (...) documents other critical criteria that investors use to make these decisions: the gender and physical attractiveness of the entrepreneurs themselves," it said. It found investors "prefer pitches presented by male entrepreneurs compared with pitches made by female entrepreneurs, even when the content of the pitch is the same." It added that "attractive males were particularly persuasive, whereas physical attractiveness did not matter among female entrepreneurs." The authors said the study was significant because of the important role that entrepreneurship plays in U.S. economic growth and prosperity and because the survival of a start-up depends heavily on finding investors. Full Story | Top |
| Libya key source for illicit arms, fueling conflicts: U.N. envoy Monday, Mar 10, 2014 02:27 PM PDT  By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. experts say Libya has become a primary source of illicit weapons, including shoulder-fired missiles, which have been trafficked to at least 14 countries and are fueling conflicts on several continents, Rwanda's U.N. envoy said on Monday. Rwandan Ambassador Eugene Gasana, chair of the U.N. Security Council's Libya sanctions committee, briefed the 15-member council on the final report of the independent panel of experts who monitor violations of the world body's sanctions regime. A U.N. arms embargo was imposed on Libya at the start of an uprising in 2011 that ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi. Full Story | Top |
| TSX steady as rising banks offset dip in miners Monday, Mar 10, 2014 02:08 PM PDT  By John Tilak TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index ended little changed on Monday as a gain in financial shares helped offset weakness in the materials sector after data showing a sluggish Chinese economy weighed on the prices of some commodities. The resource-sensitive Toronto market appeared to shrug off news of the weakness in China, a major importer of commodities. "Investors seem to be taking the news from China in their stride," said Elvis Picardo, strategist at Global Securities in Vancouver. "You've seen commodity prices back off a little, but overall there's no big, negative reaction on the TSX." "Investors are hoping that U.S. strength offsets any lingering weakness in China or anywhere else," he added. Full Story | Top |
| World Bank to provide Ukraine up to $3 billion this year Monday, Mar 10, 2014 01:45 PM PDT The World Bank said on Monday it plans to provide Ukraine with up to $3 billion in 2014 to support the country's new government in the midst of its current crisis, though only part of the money would be new. The bank, a Washington-based lender that focuses on ending poverty, already has several projects in Ukraine. Officials from the International Monetary Fund are in Kiev this week to discuss a possible lending program for Ukraine, where the government says it is nearing bankruptcy. IMF support would be conditioned on the government undertaking reforms such as floating the hryvnia currency and raising domestic gas prices, which are now heavily subsidized. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Germany OKs Northwest Bio brain cancer drug, shares soar Monday, Mar 10, 2014 01:36 PM PDT  Germany has granted Northwest Biotherapeutics Inc special permission to sell its experimental brain cancer drug in the country, the company said, and its stock jumped as much as 36 percent. The tiny U.S. biotech received a special "hospital exemption" in Germany, allowing Northwest to sell the injectable drug for five years even though it has not completed its late-stage trial of the immunotherapy, Chief Executive Officer Linda Powers said in an interview. She said the company, which would also have the right to seek renewal of the exemption after five years, has not yet requested or received formal marketing approval for its product. Even before Monday's announcement, Northwest Biotherapeutics shares had surged 60 percent in 2014. Full Story | Top |
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