India's Rajasthan state bars entry of foreign supermarkets

The government of India's western state of Rajasthan has barred foreign direct investment in the multi-brand retail sector, newspapers said, becoming the second state to block foreign supermarkets from setting up shop. Last month, the newly-elected Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party government in the capital, New Delhi barred foreign supermarkets, opposing the efforts of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to attract overseas investment and revive the economy. Singh had thrown open the country's $500-billion retail industry to foreign investors late in 2012, allowing companies such as Wal-Mart Stores and TESCO Plc to own majority stakes in Indian chains for the first time. So far, fewer than half of India's 28 states have agreed to roll out the policy.

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Republicans, eyeing elections, paper over divisions

By Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan CAMBRIDGE, Maryland (Reuters) - Republican lawmakers, hoping to ride the disastrous rollout of President Barack Obama's healthcare law to victory in the November congressional elections, are trying to put internal fights behind them and unify around a proposed Obamacare replacement. During a two-day retreat on Maryland's frozen eastern shore, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives also sought to shed the image they acquired during last October's government shutdown as a cantankerous opposition party. The smaller-government Tea Party faction and more moderate "establishment" House Republicans are linking arms around a strategy for the first time since they took control of the chamber in early 2011 - if all goes according to plans hatched during the closed-door retreat 85 miles east of Washington. Republicans have seized on "Obamacare" as a way of turning around their image.

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Lawyers to renew push for reporter's sources in Colorado shooting case

By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - An attorney for accused Colorado movie theater gunman James Holmes said on Friday that the defense will petition the U.S. Supreme Court to force a reporter to divulge confidential sources she used for a story about the massacre. The move comes in response to a ruling in December by the New York State Court of Appeals that a state shield law for journalists protected the New York-based reporter for Fox News, Jana Winter, from revealing her confidential sources. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted. Days after the massacre, Fox News published an online story from Winter that said a notebook Holmes sent to a psychiatrist contained his plans to commit mass murder.

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California sees high rate of flu deaths in unusually severe season

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - An unusually severe flu season has claimed the lives of at least 147 young and middle-aged people in California - 10 times the number killed by influenza viruses by the same time last year, public health officials said on Friday. The California deaths were caused by a strain of the influenza virus that is sending sufferers across the nation to the doctor for flu-like symptoms at rates that are 50 percent higher than normal, said Lyn Finelli, head of the influenza surveillance and outbreak response team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "That's way above the norm for flu," Finelli said. "It tells us we're still in the middle of flu season, and in the Northeast and California it's going up, up, up." The flu strain responsible for the California deaths, H1N1, also predominates nationwide this year.



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Syria talks end first round, government not committed to return

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - A contentious week-long first round of Syrian peace talks ended on Friday with no progress towards ending the civil war and the government delegation unable to say whether it will return for the next round in 10 days. Darkening the atmosphere further, the United States and Russia clashed over the pace of Syria's handover of chemical arms for destruction. Washington accused Damascus of foot-dragging that put the plan weeks behind schedule, and Moscow - President Bashar al-Assad's big power ally - rejected this. The Obama administration said it was working with partners to ratchet up pressure on Syria to accelerate the process, but stopped short of threatening any action if Damascus did not get the chemical weapons deliveries back on track.



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California college to offer non-approved meningitis vaccine

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - Students at a California public university where meningococcal disease broke out in the fall will be offered a vaccine not approved for use in the United States, public health officials said on Friday. The outbreak, which resulted in a student having his feet amputated, is similar to the one that struck eight students at Princeton University in New Jersey, where students won approval to use the same foreign vaccine in the fall. Bexsero, made by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG, is the only vaccine to protect against serotype B of the meningococcal bacteria, which can attack the nervous system as meningitis or cause a deadly blood condition. California health officials sought access to the vaccine for the Santa Barbara students in December amid renewed concern about meningococcal disease, which is highly contagious among people who live in close quarters, such as college students.



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Two Obamacare exchanges see more health insurer competition

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least two U.S. states running their own Obamacare health insurance exchanges expect new insurers to enter their marketplaces and bolster competition in 2015, officials said on Friday. Kynect, which is Kentucky's marketplace, and the Rhode Island Health Benefits Exchange have had separate talks about 2015 with health insurers that could opt to join the online marketplaces set up under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law. Kentucky also expects an expansion of physician networks available within current plans. Increased competition would increase consumer choices and tend to put downward pressure on health insurance cost trends.

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Bieber friend rapper Lil Za charged with drug possession

A friend of Justin Bieber's has been charged with drug crimes in connection with a raid on the teen pop star's home this month, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said on Friday. Xavier Smith, 20, better known as rapper Lil Za, was charged with possession of MDMA and oxycodone and vandalizing the Los Angeles County Sheriff's jail where he was held, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the district attorney. Smith was arrested on January 14 during a Sheriff's Department raid on Bieber's home in Calabasas, about 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles. He is due to be arraigned in Los Angeles on February 4.



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Ill cruise passengers 'felt like prisoners' ahead of Texas docking

By Andrea Lorenz HOUSTON (Reuters) - Several ill passengers who disembarked from a Princess Cruises ship in Houston on Friday said they felt like prisoners forced to their cabins for days when the vessel suffered the second outbreak of a stomach illness to hit a cruise ship in a week. It was terrible," passenger Steve Juneau told local ABC broadcaster KTRK. Julie Benson, a spokeswoman for the cruise line, said it is policy to ask passengers suffering from stomach and digestive problems to stay in their rooms to prevent problems from becoming worse. Those in cabins are provided with room service.



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FDA reviews safety of testosterone therapy for men

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it is reviewing the safety of popular testosterone drugs for men in light of recent studies suggesting they can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke and death.



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All alcohol, even wine, raises risk of gout flare-ups: study

By Ronnie Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Bad news for gout sufferers who enjoy drinking the fruit of the vine - new research finds that all types of alcohol, even previously exempt wine, can bring on attacks of the painful condition. "I don't want to sound too dogmatic and say, 'You must stop drinking,'" lead author Dr. Tuhina Neogi told Reuters Health. Gout is a potentially debilitating form of arthritis that afflicts more than 8 million American adults, and the number is rising, Neogi's team writes in The American Journal of Medicine. A link between intoxicating beverages and gout has been suspected since ancient times.



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Goodell confident concussion settlement will be approved

By Steve Keating NEW YORK (Reuters) - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on Friday he is confident the proposed concussion settlement between the league and players will be approved despite a U.S. judge's hesitation to sign off on the deal. The $760 million settlement between the National Football League and thousands of former players, who contend the league downplayed the risk of concussions, was rejected earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Anita Brody who was worried it might not be enough to pay all of the affected players. Brody called on the NFL and plaintiffs to submit documentation that they believed showed the money set aside was adequate to meet the potential need. "She (Brody) is taking her time making sure the settlement that was agreed to between the plaintiffs and our attorneys...is going to work the way we intend it to work," Goodell told a large group of reporters during his annual state of the league address ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks.



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NFL-Goodell confident concussion settlement will be approved

By Steve Keating NEW YORK, Jan 31 (Reuters) - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on Friday he is confident the proposed concussion settlement between the league and players will be approved despite a U.S. judge's hesitation to sign off on the deal. The $760 million settlement between the National Football League and thousands of former players, who contend the league downplayed the risk of concussions, was rejected earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Anita Brody who was worried it might not be enough to pay all of the affected players. Brody called on the NFL and plaintiffs to submit documentation that they believed showed the money set aside was adequate to meet the potential need. "She (Brody) is taking her time making sure the settlement that was agreed to between the plaintiffs and our attorneys...is going to work the way we intend it to work," Goodell told a large group of reporters during his annual state of the league address ahead of Sunday's Super Bowl between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks.



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Two Obamacare exchanges see more health insurer competition

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - At least two U.S. states running their own Obamacare health insurance exchanges expect new insurers to enter their marketplaces and bolster competition in 2015, officials said on Friday. Kynect, which is Kentucky's marketplace, and the Rhode Island Health Benefits Exchange have had separate talks about 2015 with health insurers that could opt to join the online marketplaces set up under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law. Kentucky also expects an expansion of physician networks available within current plans. Increased competition would increase consumer choices and tend to put downward pressure on health insurance cost trends.

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FDA clears first drug for blindness sleep disorder

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health regulators have approved a first-of-a-kind drug to treat a sleep disorder that mainly afflicts the blind.



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Home blood pressure monitoring may find hidden risk

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with normal blood pressure at the doctor's office but high blood pressure at other times may have a doubled risk of heart attacks and strokes, according to new research reviews. In two analyses covering four industrialized countries and more than 5,000 people, researchers also found that home blood pressure monitoring frequently picks up that so-called masked hypertension. If that leads to more people with hidden high blood pressure getting treatment, it would be affordable and worthwhile to expand home monitoring, they say. "We know that a lot of cardiovascular complications occur in people who are normotensive if you measure the blood pressure in the regular way in the office," Dr. Jan Staessen told Reuters Health in an email.



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Anti-VEGF drugs making a difference in vision, longterm care

Two Duke University economists looked at Medicare beneficiaries with so-called "wet" macular degeneration and found those diagnosed after the introduction of anti-VEGF drugs were less likely to go blind and less likely to move into long-term care. "At last we have found a way of managing this horrible and very common disease among the oldest of the old," said Frank Sloan, who led the new study. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the number one cause of blindness in the U.S. affecting older adults, usually after age 65. Most AMD patients have the dry form of the disease, but about 10 percent have wet AMD, which progresses more quickly than the dry form.



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Massachusetts licenses its first medical marijuana dispensaries

By Richard Valdmanis BOSTON (Reuters) - Massachusetts has licensed 20 dispensaries to start growing and selling marijuana for medical use, the Department of Health said on Friday in the latest U.S. step to boost access to the widely outlawed drug. Massachusetts is among 20 states in the country that have passed laws allowing people to use marijuana as a medical treatment. Most of those states, like Massachusetts, are still setting up distribution networks. State regulators received 100 applications to open dispensaries under a 2012 medical marijuana law, and were permitted to give out as many as 35 licenses.

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U.S. FDA approves Vanda's circadian rhythm drug Hetlioz

(Reuters) - Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Friday that U.S. health regulators have approved its experimental drug to regulate the internal body clocks of blind patients and help normalize sleep patterns. The drug, Hetlioz, is designed to treat Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder, or Non-24, a condition that is common among the totally blind, which can cause disrupted nighttime sleep patterns and excessive daytime sleepiness. Vanda's shares rose 8.1 percent to $14.15 in afternoon trading after initially rising as high as $15.59 on the news. ...



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Princess Cruises ship docks in Texas with ill passengers aboard

Dozens of passengers who fell ill on a Princess Cruises ship arrived in Houston a day early on Friday and were met by U.S. health officials investigating the second outbreak of a stomach illness on a cruise ship in a week. The seven-day cruise was cut short by reports of fog in Houston at around the time of its planned arrival, the company said. About 175 passengers and crew on the Caribbean Princess were affected, and the ship, with more than 4,000 on board, will be sanitized before its next scheduled departure on February 1, said the cruise line, owned by Carnival Corp. Some passengers were skeptical, saying the ship docked early to head off a health crisis. "I wanted to get out," passenger Robert Fisher told Houston broadcaster KTRK.



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For companies, a rocky road ahead in emerging markets

And many warn that if China suffers a credit crisis as some fear, then things could get a whole lot worse. The sudden onslaught of market volatility in Turkey, Argentina, South Africa and Brazil, along with worries about an abrupt slowdown in China, means companies are now bracing for deeper reversals in demand for their products in emerging economies. Automakers Ford Motor Co. and Fiat SpA , home appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corp and liquor giant Diageo all cited weakness and a more sober outlook in once-roaring emerging markets in earnings reports this week. "We've been in the Brazilian market for over 60 years and we've managed hyper inflationary periods, busts, booms, and we've never had a loss-making year in Brazil." Fettig said the appliance maker was not overly concerned that the downturn in emerging markets would significantly affect the company financially, since the most troubled economies account for less than 3 percent of overall revenue.

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Competing Attack Ads in Florida Miss Mark

Competing attack ads ask what voters "really know" about Florida congressional candidates Alex Sink and David Jolly. But don't count on the ads to clear things up, as both rely on misleading claims.



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NFL, players see progress in tackling concussions

They should not see a player lying prone on the field after the sickening crack of a helmet-to-helmet hit, thanks to an NFL effort to reduce player concussions. With a growing body of research showing that hits to the head over years on the football field can lead to early dementia, violent behavior and other mental problems later in life, league officials, former players and medical experts have been working to reduce the number of concussions on the field. Medical officials with the National Football League said changes including banning helmet-to-helmet hits and more aggressively monitoring players' condition on the sidelines have paid off: the number of concussions suffered by players dropped 13 percent in the 2013 season from 2012. The latest data was encouraging to Shawn Wooden, 40, a retired defensive back who spent most of his career with the Miami Dolphins and is one of 4,500 former players suing the NFL, saying the league knowing downplayed the risk of concussions to player health.

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NFL, players see progress in tackling concussions

They should not see a player lying prone on the field after the sickening crack of a helmet-to-helmet hit, thanks to an NFL effort to reduce player concussions. With a growing body of research showing that hits to the head over years on the football field can lead to early dementia, violent behavior and other mental problems later in life, league officials, former players and medical experts have been working to reduce the number of concussions on the field. Medical officials with the National Football League said changes including banning helmet-to-helmet hits and more aggressively monitoring players' condition on the sidelines have paid off: the number of concussions suffered by players dropped 13 percent in the 2013 season from 2012. The latest data was encouraging to Shawn Wooden, 40, a retired defensive back who spent most of his career with the Miami Dolphins and is one of 4,500 former players suing the NFL, saying the league knowing downplayed the risk of concussions to player health.



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FDA proposes rule to prevent food contamination during transport

(Reuters) - Food transportation companies will be required to adhere to certain sanitation standards to prevent food from becoming contaminated during transit under a new rule proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The rule would require shippers and carriers to properly refrigerate food, clean vehicles between loads and protect food during transportation. The rule is the seventh and final plank of the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act, a sweeping initiative designed to reduce food-borne illnesses by giving the FDA greater powers to intervene before an outbreak occurs. It would establish standards for vehicles and transportation equipment, transportation operations, information exchange, training and records.

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Sleep’s Best-Kept Secret: A Treatment for Insomnia That’s Not a Pill

That’s despite the fact that the gold standard for treating sleep disturbances, recommended by the National Institutes of Health and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBTI). Even if you’re willing to seek out a sleep experts who is qualified to give CBTI, you may not find one near you. Despite the epidemic of sleep disorders and their impact on health, there are only a few hundred sleep experts in the whole country.



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Indoor tanning common in Western countries: study

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - More than a third of adults in Western countries have been exposed to indoor tanning at some point, according to an analysis of past research. Based on those exposures, the study authors calculate the number of skin cancers that can be blamed on indoor tanning each year exceeds the number of lung cancers attributed to smoking for the countries studied. "What we knew is that indoor tanning is linked to skin cancer," Dr. Eleni Linos said. The World Health Organization (WHO), the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Dermatology have come out against indoor tanning in recent years.



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AbbVie sees 2014 approval of hepatitis drugs, shares rise

AbbVie Inc issued a cautious 2014 profit forecast, but said it expects U.S. approval this year for its potentially lucrative new all-oral treatment for hepatitis C, sending its shares up 3.4 percent. The company, before releasing fourth quarter earnings on Friday, released favorable data from four additional Phase III studies of its experimental treatment for the liver disease. "The excellent hepatitis C safety and efficacy data published today is positive for the shares" of AbbVie, Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Holford said. AbbVie's treatment is a combination of five oral medications that has been shown to knock out the hepatitis C virus in as soon as eight or 12 weeks of treatment, without serious safety issues.



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HPV at-home tests have a future, researchers say

However, the research team stops short of recommending at-home test kits as a cancer screening method for women infected with the sexually-transmitted human papillomavirus (HPV). Some strains of HPV are directly linked to cervical cancer risk, while others appear to have no negative effect on a woman's health. "We want the current screening programs to continue to run," said Marc Arbyn. HPV tests, and not Pap smears, are "the new standard of cervical cancer detection," Arbyn said.



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EU says Russia's blocking of pork imports 'disproportionate'

The European Union on Friday called on Russia to stop blocking pork exports from the bloc, saying Moscow's reaction to an outbreak of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Lithuania was "disproportionate". Although Moscow has not formally announced a full ban, Russia has stopped Danish, Dutch and German trucks carrying pork at its borders since the outbreak was confirmed on January 24, EU officials said. "Our Russian partners are effectively banning exports even from EU Member States that are clearly not affected by the incident," EU Health Commissioner Tonio Borg said in a statement. "Such a ban is disproportionate." Russia and Belarus banned Lithuania pork imports shortly after the ASF case was confirmed in two hunted wild boars in the Baltic state last Friday.

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Daiichi Sankyo pledges bold action on Ranbaxy production problems

Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd said it would step up support of Indian drugmaking arm Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd and send personnel to help resolve problems at a factory that U.S. regulators have banned from supplying pharmaceutical ingredients. "We have already put a lot of effort into our support but that has not been enough," Manabu Sakai, senior executive officer at Daiichi Sankyo, told an earnings briefing on Friday. "We want to go back and prepare a more aggressive, more drastic response." Sakai said it was inevitable the incident would affect Daiichi Sankyo's earnings but was unable to give concrete numbers. The company is not thinking about reducing its stake in Ranbaxy, he added, although financial support would be among the actions it will look at.

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U.S. board allows gynecologists to treat more men

(Reuters) - A U.S. professional group that certifies obstetricians and gynecologists has loosened a decades-old restriction on its board-certified members treating male patients, after mounting pressure from doctors and researchers. The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) had previously said members could not treat male patients except in specific circumstances, such as circumcising babies, treating transgendered patients, and helping couples overcome infertility. However, opposition had mounted from gynecologists and others who said the policy interfered with medical research and prevented them treating male patients with chronic pelvic pain. Some obstetricians and gynecologists had also been treating men for cancer, problems such as low testosterone, and cosmetic procedures including liposuction.



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Shared moment of silence but little headway at Syria talks

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Opposing sides in Syria's civil war stood together in silence to honor victims of the three year conflict on Thursday, but week-old peace talks were still stuck on the question of how to proceed with just one day left before they head home. The United States said on Thursday it was concerned that Syria was falling behind in a schedule to ship out its chemical weapons stockpiles to be destroyed. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Syria had given up less than 5 percent of its chemical weapons arsenal and will miss a deadline next week to send all toxic agents abroad for destruction. The first talks between President Bashar al-Assad's government and his foes have been mired in rhetoric since they began a week ago in Geneva.

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Vodka to blame for high death risk in Russian men

LONDON (AP) — Russian men who down large amounts of vodka — and too many do — have an "extraordinarily" high risk of an early death, a new study says.

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JPMorgan hires new co-head for healthcare in EMEA

By Anjuli Davies LONDON (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co has hired private equity industry veteran Cathrin Petty to co-head its healthcare group in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), anticipating a pick up in activity in the sector. Petty, who joins from British private equity firm Vitruvian Partners where she was a partner, will work alongside current head Rakesh Patel when she starts next week, according to a memo seen by Reuters. A JPMorgan spokeswoman confirmed the contents of the memo. "Our EMEA investment banking healthcare team has become increasingly active over the last year with a number of major transactions," Vis Raghavan, head of EMEA banking at JPMorgan said in the memo." "To build on this momentum, I am pleased to announce that Cathrin Petty has joined the firm." Globally deals in the healthcare sector totaled $203 billion dollars in 2013, a five percent decline on a year earlier.

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Lawyers return to court to argue evidence in Colorado massacre case

By Keith Coffman DENVER (Reuters) - Public defenders representing accused Colorado theater shooter James Holmes will return to court on Friday to challenge evidence based on the crime scene analysis from the cineplex where 12 moviegoers were killed. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and prosecutors said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted. The hearing in Arapahoe County District Court on Friday centers on proposed testimony by crime scene experts who prosecutors intend to call at trial.

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S.Africa's Adcock, Chile's CFR to discuss fate of $1.2 bln deal

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Adcock Ingram is to hold talks with its suitor CFR Pharmaceutical about the fate of the Chilean firm's $1.2 billion takeover offer, the South African drugmaker said on Friday. The talks between the two firms follows on the heels of an announcement by Bidvest - which is also trying to buy Adcock - that it is now in a position to derail the rare Chile-South Africa tie-up.



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Sanofi sues Eli Lilly over challenge to top diabetes drug Lantus

By Bill Berkrot and Natalie Huet NEW YORK/PARIS (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi is suing Eli Lilly and Co for alleged patent infringements concerning its top-selling Lantus diabetes treatment, delaying the U.S. firm's plans to produce a copycat version of Lantus. Lantus is the world's most prescribed insulin product, with annual worldwide sales of about $7 billion, but is set to lose patent protection in the United States, the world's largest pharmaceutical market, in February 2015. Sanofi's lawsuit, filed on Thursday, triggers an automatic 30-month stay of approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), keeping Lilly's biosimilar drug off the U.S. market until mid-2016, more than a year later than its previously expected launch date. Sanofi's shares were up 0.7 percent at 73.87 euros by 0947 GMT.



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Cases may mean more than legal woes for Bieber

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Justin Bieber's court cases on both sides of the U.S.-Canadian border might not just lead to more scrutiny by judges and prosecutors, but could also complicate the pop star's jet-setting ways.

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Factbox - Britain's Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant

British nuclear reprocessing plant Sellafield said it had detected elevated levels of radioactivity at one of its on-site monitors and was operating at reduced staffing levels on Friday. PLANT Since 2005, the plant has been owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and operated by Sellafield Ltd. In 2008, the NDA contracted the management of Sellafield Ltd to Nuclear Management Partners, a consortium of U.S. company URS, British company AMEC, and France's Areva. Facilities at the site include THORP (thermal oxide reprocessing plant) and the Magnox nuclear fuel reprocessing plant.



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Sellafield plant detects elevated levels of radioactivity

British nuclear reprocessing plant Sellafield said it had detected raised levels of radioactivity at one of its on-site monitors and was operating at reduced staffing levels on Friday. "As a result of a conservative and prudent decision, the Sellafield site is operating normally but with reduced manning levels today," it said in a statement. It said the levels of radioactivity detected were above naturally occurring radiation, but well below that which would call for any actions to be taken by the workforce on or off the site. Sellafield only processes spent fuel and no longer produces power from nuclear.

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UK's Sellafield says detects elevated levels of radioactivity

British nuclear reprocessing plant Sellafield said it had detected high levels of radioactivity at one of its on-site monitors and was operating at reduced staffing levels on Friday. "As a result of a conservative and prudent decision, the Sellafield site is operating normally but with reduced manning levels today," it said in a statement. It said the levels of radioactivity detected were above naturally occurring radiation, but well below that which would call for any actions to be taken by the workforce on or off the site.

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Ship where nearly 700 fell ill being sanitized

BAYONNE, N.J. (AP) — Kim Waite was especially disappointed to fall ill while treating herself to a Caribbean cruise after completing cancer treatment. The London woman thought she was the only sick one as her husband wheeled her to the infirmary — until the elevator doors opened to reveal hundreds of people vomiting into bags, buckets or on the floor, whatever was closest.

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Scientists hail breakthrough in embryonic-like stem cells

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - In experiments that could open a new era in stem cell biology, scientists have found a simple way to reprogram mature animal cells back into an embryonic-like state that allows them to generate many types of tissue. Chris Mason, chair of regenerative medicine bioprocessing at University College London, who was not involved in the work, said its approach in mice was "the most simple, lowest-cost and quickest method" to generate so-called pluripotent cells - able to develop into many different cell types - from mature cells. The researchers took skin and blood cells, let them multiply, then subjected them to stress "almost to the point of death", they explained, by exposing them to various events including trauma, low oxygen levels and acidic environments. Within days, the scientists found that the cells had not only survived but had also recovered by naturally reverting into a state similar to that of an embryonic stem cell.

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S.Africa's Adcock shares fall 2 pct after Bidvest buying spree

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Shares in Adcock Ingram fell more than 2 percent in early trade on Friday, a day after a source told Reuters South Africa's Bidvest had bought most of a record 39 million shares traded on that day. Adcock fell as much as 2.11 percent before recouping some of the losses to trade 1.9 percent lower at 68.66 rand. The buying frenzy is likely to have raised Bidvest's stake in the drugmaker to about 30 percent, putting the conglomerate close to a 34.5 percent ownership target stated in a 4 billion rand takeover offer launched in December.

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Merck joins companies ending chimpanzee research

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Drugmaker Merck & Co. is joining two dozen other pharmaceutical companies and contract laboratories in committing to not use chimpanzees for research.



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Analysis: White House hopes for fast-track trade hit political tangle

By Krista Hughes and Thomas Ferraro WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's push for authority to fast-track trade deals has hit a big setback in the form of opposition from his top fellow Democrat in Congress, but it is far from dead. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's warning to policymakers on Wednesday "just to not push this right now" reflects concern about the domestic political agenda ahead of November's congressional elections, when free trade could be a damaging issue for many Democrats. The White House called Reid's office shortly after his comments to voice displeasure, a top Democratic party aide said. But the aide said the White House did not try to get Reid to shift his position.

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Study: Kids' obesity risk starts before school age

Those efforts to fight obesity in schools? Think younger. A new study finds that much of a child's "weight fate" is set by age 5, and that nearly half of kids who became obese by the eighth grade were already overweight when they started kindergarten.

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Princess Cruises ship returns early for fog, ill passengers aboard

A Princess Cruises ship, owned by Carnival Corp, will be met by a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention team that will investigate an outbreak of a virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea when it rolls into the port of Houston on Friday, a day early after the trip was cut short by fog, the company said. The Caribbean Princess, with about 3,100 passengers and 1,150 crew members will be sanitized before its next scheduled departure on February 1, the company said. "Approximately three passengers have current active symptoms of norovirus, and over the course of the cruise 165 passengers reported ill to the medical center," it said in a statement. The outbreak comes after a Royal Caribbean cruise ship this week cut short its Caribbean cruise after more than 600 people became sick with a gastrointestinal illness.



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Seeing ultrasound rarely changes abortion plans: study

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Nearly 99 percent of women went ahead with an abortion after voluntarily viewing an ultrasound image of the fetus beforehand, according to a large new U.S. study. Based on medical records for more than 15,000 women seeking abortion at Los Angeles Planned Parenthood clinics, researchers found that only a small fraction of the women changed their minds after seeing the image. "This study was motivated in large part by the current political and popular interest in what role ultrasound viewing plays in women's decisions about abortion," said one of the authors, Katrina Kimport at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. Ten states have enacted laws that require doctors to perform ultrasounds before abortions, and three of those require the woman to view the image during the ultrasound.



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New treatment could reduce kids' peanut allergies

LONDON (AP) — An experimental therapy that fed children with peanut allergies small amounts of peanut flour has helped more than 80 percent of them safely eat a handful of the previously worrisome nuts.



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NY City officials bust drug, prostitution ring ahead of Super Bowl

By Chris Francescani NEW YORK (Reuters) - A multimillion-dollar drug and prostitution ring has been busted, New York City law enforcement officials said on Thursday, as they warned Super Bowl fans to steer clear of the city's sex and narcotics underworld. Ring leaders offered high-flyer clients "party packs" of drugs and prostitutes in three separate operations aggressively pushing both sex and cocaine, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told a news conference. "Once the "john" (customer) was high or impaired on drugs, they would call in other prostitutes and repeatedly charge the john's credit cards, in excess of $10,000, in some cases, for one evening," Schneiderman said. The 11-month probe by Schneiderman's organized crime task force, in coordination with the New York Police Department's vice squad, netted more than $3 million in credit card charges alone over the past year, he said.

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Passion for vodka kills Russian men in their thousands

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - A quarter of all Russian men die before they reach their mid-fifties and their passion for alcohol - particularly vodka - is largely to blame, according to research published on Friday. A study of more than 150,000 people found extraordinarily high premature death rates among male Russians, some of whom reported drinking three or more bottles a week of the potent clear spirit. Perhaps unsurprisingly, deaths among heavy drinkers were mainly due to alcohol poisoning, accidents, violence and suicide, as well as diseases such as throat and liver cancer, tuberculosis, pneumonia, pancreatitis and liver disease. "Russian death rates have fluctuated wildly over the past 30 years as alcohol restrictions and social stability varied under presidents Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin, and the main thing driving these wild fluctuations..was vodka," said Richard Peto of Britain's Oxford University, who worked on the study.

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Syria peace talks take a break as rivals dig in

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - A first round of peace talks on Syria wraps up Friday with both sides in entrenched positions and the U.N. mediator expressing frustration that it had not even been possible to get agreement for an aid convoy to enter the besieged city of Homs. After a week of talks at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, the opposing sides in Syria's civil war were still stuck on the question of how to proceed. "I hope that in the next session, when we come back, we will be able to have a more structured discussion," mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said. He was "very, very disappointed" that a U.N. aid convoy was still waiting fruitlessly to enter the rebel-held Old City of Homs, where the United States says civilians are starving.

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Heroin abuse at 'epidemic' level in South Florida -drug report

By Zachary Fagenson MIAMI (Reuters) - A high-profile law enforcement crackdown on prescription painkiller abuse in Florida has addicts turning increasingly to heroin, resulting in the highest number of overdose deaths and hospitalizations in recent years, a report on drug abuse said. Deaths from heroin - now more potent and widely available than ever - rose 89 percent statewide from 62 in 2011 to 117 in 2012, with the problem reaching epidemic proportions in South Florida, according to a report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institute of Health. "We're talking here about the mother of addictions," said James N. Hall, an epidemiologist at Nova Southeastern University who authored the report with 20 NIDA researchers nationwide who have met biannually since 1976 to track drug use trends. "The crossover from the prescription products to illicit heroin complicates that and will fuel the continued epidemic," he added.



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Sanofi sues Eli Lilly over patents for top-selling insulin drug

(Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi sued Eli Lilly and Co on Thursday, alleging that the U.S. pharmaceutical company infringed patents on its top-selling diabetes treatment, the insulin product Lantus. The lawsuit, filed in United States District Court for the District of Delaware, was triggered by notification from Lilly last month that it applied with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seeking permission to sell a generic version of Lantus, known chemically as insulin glargine. Lilly, in its submission, challenged the validity of several patents on Lantus held by Sanofi. Indianapolis-based Lilly had said it will not launch its generic product before the February 2015 expiration of Sanofi's patent on the active ingredient in Lantus.

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Mexico leftists to propose raising marijuana allowance in capital

By Julia Symmes Cobb MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The opposition party governing Mexico City said on Thursday it would propose raising the amount of marijuana residents of the capital can possess to seven times the current limit to help speed up drug liberalization in Mexico. Since former President Felipe Calderon launched a military crackdown on drug cartels seven years ago, Mexico has been wracked by gang-related violence, and there is growing pressure to explore regulation as a way of tackling the problem. The leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) has led the drive to liberalize Mexico's drug laws, and aims to use the capital, which it has governed since 1997, as starting ground. Vidal Llerenas, a PRD member of the Mexico City assembly, said the initiative that is due to be presented in the next two weeks would increase the amount of marijuana local residents are allowed for personal consumption to 35 grams from 5 grams.

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Amgen's cholesterol fighter succeeds in fifth late-stage study

(Reuters) - Amgen Inc said its experimental drug from a promising new class of injectable medicines succeeded in treating patients with genetically high cholesterol levels, marking the fifth successful clinical study of the drug. Evolocumab met the main goal of a late-stage trial titled RUTHERFORD-2 by lowering "bad" LDL cholesterol levels when tested against a placebo on 329 patients. Amgen, the world's biggest biotechnology company, is testing evolocumab widely on a variety of subpopulations. The RUTHERFORD-2 study included patients with familial hypercholesterolemia, an inherited condition that causes high levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol starting at birth.



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NYC officials bust drug and prostitution ring ahead of Super Bowl

By Chris Francescani NEW YORK, Jan 30 (Reuters) - A multimillion-dollar New York City drug and prostitution ring has been busted, law enforcement officials said on Thursday, as they warned Super Bowl fans to steer clear of the city's sex and narcotics underworld. Ring leaders offered high-flyer clients "party packs" of drugs and prostitutes in three separate operations aggressively pushing both sex and cocaine, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told a news conference. "Once the "john" (customer) was high or impaired on drugs, they would call in other prostitutes and repeatedly charge the john's credit cards, in excess of $10,000, in some cases, for one evening," Schneiderman said. The 11-month probe by Schneiderman's organized crime task force, in coordination with the New York Police Department's vice squad, netted more than $3 million in credit card charges over the past year, he said.



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U.S. launches clemency effort for low-level drug offenders

By David Ingram and Bernard Vaughan WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday urged lawyers to help identify incarcerated low-level drug offenders who might be eligible for presidential clemency. Citing a "crushing" prison population, Deputy Attorney General James Cole made the unusual announcement in a speech to the New York State Bar Association. Candidates for clemency would include non-violent inmates who have clean prison records, do not present a threat to public safety, are facing excessive sentences and do not have "significant ties" to gangs or cartels, Cole said. In a sign of changing U.S. views about long prison sentences, Obama in December commuted the sentences of eight people after deciding their crack cocaine offenses did not justify their long prison terms.

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Yoga may reduce fatigue after breast cancer

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Participating in yoga classes after treatment for breast cancer was linked to reduced fatigue and inflammation and increased vitality among women in a new study. Researchers found that breast cancer survivors who took 12 weeks of yoga classes ended up with reduced inflammation and felt less tired after six months, compared to a similar group of women who didn't take yoga classes. "This may be a way to provide a good activity that also has other benefits," Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, the study's lead author, told Reuters Health. She and her colleagues write in the Journal of Clinical Oncology that cancer survivors are twice as likely to have poor health and more disability, compared to people without a history of cancer.



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As U.S. waistlines expand, seatbelt use falls

By Ronnie Cohen NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obese drivers may be at a strikingly higher risk of dying in car crashes than normal-weight drivers because they frequently fail to buckle up, a new study finds. Based on analysis of a U.S. database of nearly 200,000 fatal passenger vehicle crashes, researchers found that normal-weight Americans involved in those accidents were 66 percent more likely to have been wearing a seatbelt than those who were severely obese. "Cars should be designed so it's easier to put a seatbelt on if you're obese," the study's lead author, Dr. ...



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U.S. says results encouraging for healthcare delivery reforms

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Thursday reported what it called encouraging results from efforts to reduce healthcare costs and improve the quality of care for more than 5 million Medicare beneficiaries under Obamacare As part of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, the efforts center around more than 360 accountable care organizations (ACOs), which are networks of doctors, hospitals and other providers specially organized to help move Medicare away from traditional fee-for-service medicine. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said preliminary data show that the ACOs produced $380 million in savings vis-a-vis traditional Medicare in 2012 by giving doctors and other healthcare providers the incentive to focus on improved outcomes for patients instead of fees from tests and services. Medicare, the $575 billion government healthcare system for 51 million elderly and disabled beneficiaries, faces growing financial pressures as a result of America's aging population.

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NYC officials bust drug and prostitution ring ahead of Super Bowl

By Chris Francescani NEW YORK (Reuters) - A multimillion-dollar New York City drug and prostitution ring has been busted, law enforcement officials said on Thursday, as they warned Super Bowl fans to steer clear of the city's sex and narcotics underworld. Ring leaders offered high-flyer clients "party packs" of drugs and prostitutes in three separate operations aggressively pushing both sex and cocaine, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told a news conference. "Once the "john" (customer) was high or impaired on drugs, they would call in other prostitutes and repeatedly charge the john's credit cards, in excess of $10,000, in some cases, for one evening," Schneiderman said. The 11-month probe by Schneiderman's organized crime task force, in coordination with the New York Police Department's vice squad, netted more than $3 million in credit card charges over the past year, he said.



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Seeing ultrasound rarely changes abortion plans: study

By Shereen Jegtvig NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Nearly 99 percent of women went ahead with an abortion after voluntarily viewing an ultrasound image of the fetus beforehand, according to a large new U.S. study. Based on medical records for more than 15,000 women seeking abortion at Los Angeles Planned Parenthood clinics, researchers found that only a small fraction of the women changed their minds after seeing the image. "This study was motivated in large part by the current political and popular interest in what role ultrasound viewing plays in women's decisions about abortion," said one of the authors, Katrina Kimport at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine. Ten states have enacted laws that require doctors to perform ultrasounds before abortions, and three of those require the woman to view the image during the ultrasound.



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Bieber took pot, prescription meds before Miami arrest: authorities

By Zachary Fagenson MIAMI BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - Teen pop star Justin Bieber had marijuana and prescription medication for anxiety in his system at the time of his arrest last week in Miami Beach, the state attorney's office said on Thursday. Bieber, who is Canadian, was charged with driving under influence, resisting arrest without violence and driving on an expired license. The affidavit was posted online by the CBS television affiliate in Miami, WFOR-TV, and its authenticity was confirmed by Miami Beach police detective Vivian Hernandez. Bieber, whose private life has taken a tumultuous turn in the past year, was also charged on Wednesday with assaulting a limousine driver in Toronto in December.

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Scientists Map What Your Brain Looks Like on English

Researchers may now be closer to understanding how the brain processes sounds, or at least those made in English. Taking advantage of a group of hospitalized epilepsy patients who had electrodes hooked directly to their brains to monitor for seizures, Dr. Edward Chang and his colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco, and University of California, Berkeley, were able to listen in on the brain as it listened to 500 English sentences spoken by 400 different people.



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Using peanuts to cure allergy

Doctors said Thursday they could treat peanut allergy by feeding children the very thing their bodies reject, so building tolerance that could save a life in case of accidential ingestion.

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Toronto mayor defends Bieber after new charge, but not his music

Justin Bieber has run afoul of police in both Canada and the United States in just one week, but the teenage pop star has at least one defender who knows something about negative attention: fellow Canadian and Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Ford, who has become a staple of late-night punch lines since he admitted in November that he had smoked crack cocaine while in a "drunken stupor", defended Bieber on Thursday during an interview on a Washington, D.C., radio show called Sports Junkies. Think back to when you were 19." Ford made the comment after one of the hosts call Bieber "Canada's worst export." Asked if he was a fan of Bieber's music, Ford said his tastes leaned more toward classic rock acts such as Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and the Eagles. Bieber was charged on Wednesday with assaulting a limousine driver in Toronto in December.

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U.S. pig virus cases see biggest weekly rise since PEDv found

Confirmed cases of a deadly pig virus spreading across the U.S. Hog Belt jumped by 215, its highest weekly increase since it was discovered in the United States in April 2013, according to the USDA's National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN). Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv), which causes diarrhea, vomiting and severe dehydration is transmitted orally and through pig faeces. The total number of confirmed cases has increased to 2,692 in 23 states as of the week ended January 25. As defined by the USDA, each diagnostic case could represent multiple animals at either a single farm site or several locations.



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S.Africa's Bidvest lifts Adcock stake with massive buying spree -source

South Africa's Bidvest has bought the bulk of drugmaker Adcock Ingram's shares that traded on Thursday, a person familiar with the matter said, substantially lifting its stake in the company. Nearly 40 million Adcock shares, representing about 22 percent of the drugmaker, changed hands during session with most of them trading at Bidvest's offer price of 70 rand a share, according to exchange and Thomson Reuters data. "The majority of the 39 million shares that traded today were bought by Bidvest," the person said, adding that he was not sure where that takes Bidvest stake in the nation's No.2 drugmaker.

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Representative Waxman, senior Democrat, to retire

Democratic U.S. Representative Henry Waxman of California, a leading liberal who helped craft President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare overhaul, said on Thursday he will retire from Congress at the end of this year. "In 1974, I announced my first campaign for Congress," Waxman, 74, said in a statement. I will not seek re-election to the Congress and will leave after 40 years in office at the end of this year." As chairman of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee in Obama's first term, Waxman helped the president develop and enact a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system in a bid to provide insurance to millions of Americans without coverage. Waxman is the second key ally of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to announce plans this month to retire, following Representative George Miller, who is also from California.

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The Famous No-Memory Brain That Is Getting Plugged In Online

Experimental Brain Surgery Removed Short-Term Memory

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Lilly's quarterly sales largely offset Cymbalta slide

Drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co's quarterly revenue fell far less than expected, it reported on Thursday, as plunging sales of its Cymbalta depression treatment were largely offset by higher revenues for most of its other prescription drugs. That compared with $827 million, or 74 cents per share, in the year-earlier quarter, when Lilly took charges for asset impairments and restructuring. "Company sales were stronger than thought, but a lot of that upside came from drugs that are already off patent or about to lose patent protection," said Edward Jones analyst Judson Clark. Sales of Cymbalta, which lost U.S. patent protection last month, fell 38 percent to $883 million.



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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford named in jailhouse beating lawsuit

By Allison Martell TORONTO (Reuters) - Toronto Mayor Rob Ford faced fresh controversy on Thursday from a lawsuit filed by his sister's former boyfriend alleging Ford conspired to have him threatened and beaten while in prison. Ford's lawyer called the allegations filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and released late Wednesday false and irresponsible. The plaintiff in the lawsuit is Scott MacIntyre, the former common-law spouse of Ford's sister, Kathy Ford. MacIntyre was charged after a January 2012 altercation with the mayor, and later pleaded guilty to threatening him.

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Mozart museum seeks to debunk evil Salieri poison myth

By Michael Shields VIENNA (Reuters) - It's one of the great mysteries of music - did composer Antonio Salieri poison his onetime protege Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with arsenic? The famous 1984 Milos Forman film "Amadeus", based on Peter Shaffer's play, leaves little doubt he did. But now the Vienna museum dedicated to Mozart's legacy has launched a campaign to burnish Salieri's reputation as a supporter of the younger Austrian genius - and not a jealous villain. A new exhibit at the Mozarthaus where Mozart lived and worked in the late 18th century portrays Salieri as a good-humored, talented and generous man who praised and honored pupils including Ludwig von Beethoven and Franz Schubert.

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Many chronically ill Americans unable to afford food, medicine

By Allison Bond NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - One in three Americans with a chronic disease such as diabetes, arthritis or high blood pressure has difficulty paying for food, medications or both, according to a new study. People who had trouble affording food were four times more likely to skip some of their medications due to cost than those who got plenty to eat, researchers found. "If you have a fixed income, should you treat or should you eat?" The findings are based on data collected by the 2011 National Health Interview Survey, a questionnaire that offers a snapshot of the U.S. population as a whole. Among those participants, 23 percent took their medication less often than prescribed because of the cost, 19 percent reported difficulty affording food and 11 percent said they were having trouble paying for both food and medications.



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New British biotech firm to tap gene therapy for blindness

Oxford scientists have set up a biotechnology company to develop the use of gene therapy in treating blindness, and the Wellcome Trust medical charity has invested 12 million pounds ($20 million) in the start-up. NightstaRx plans to develop and sell therapies for retinal dystrophies - degenerative conditions affecting vision - by building on work carried out at the University of Oxford's Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, it said on Thursday. Oxford-based researchers reported two weeks ago that an early-stage clinical trial using gene therapy had shown promise in a handful of patients with a progressive form of blindness called choroideremia. The company has an exclusive licence to the intellectual property underpinning the Oxford gene therapy programme.



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New British biotech firm to tap gene therapy for blindness

Oxford scientists have set up a biotechnology company to develop the use of gene therapy in treating blindness, and the Wellcome Trust medical charity has invested 12 million pounds ($20 million) in the start-up. NightstaRx plans to develop and sell therapies for retinal dystrophies - degenerative conditions affecting vision - by building on work carried out at the University of Oxford's Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, it said on Thursday. Oxford-based researchers reported two weeks ago that an early-stage clinical trial using gene therapy had shown promise in a handful of patients with a progressive form of blindness called choroideremia. The company has an exclusive license to the intellectual property underpinning the Oxford gene therapy programme.



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Health-tracking clothing to match your smartphone

Called Hitoe, the smart fabric can monitor a host of health and vital signs, from heart rate to electrocardiographic waveform. Developed in partnership between Japanese telecoms operator NTT Docomo and Toray Industries, Hitoe uses specially coated nanofibers that are highly conductive and are able to capture data and transmit it to a mobile device such as a smartphone. Hitoe means "one layer" in Japanese and is part of a larger push by NTT Docomo into digital health.

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Doctors to start waking ex-Formula One champion Schumacher

(Adds details) PARIS, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Doctors treating seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher for injuries suffered during a skiing accident have started lowering his sedation level to wake him up from an artificial coma, his agent said on Thursday. Schumacher slammed his head on a rock while skiing off-piste in the French Alps resort of Meribel on Dec. 29. A spokeswoman for the hospital declined to make any further comment on Schumacher's condition on Thursday. Investigators have been trying to determine how fast Schumacher was skiing when he hit the rock.



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Brahimi says no substantive progress on Syria but hopeful

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Mariam Karouny GENEVA (Reuters) - International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday that he does not expect to achieve anything substantive in the first round of Syria talks ending on Friday, but hoped for a more productive second round starting about a week later. "We talked about the TGB (Transitional Governing Body), but of course it is a very, very preliminary discussion and more generally of what each side expects," Brahimi told reporters. Opposition and government sides said they agreed to use the "Geneva communiqué", a document endorsed by world powers at a conference in June 2012, and which sets out the stages needed to end the fighting and agree on a political transition. "We have agreed that Geneva 1 is the basis of the talks," opposition spokesman Louay al-Safi told reporters.

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Colgate-Palmolive profit beats estimates due to cost cuts

(Reuters) - Colgate-Palmolive Co , the world's largest toothpaste maker, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit as cost cuts helped the company offset the negative impact of a stronger dollar. The company gets about 80 percent of its revenue from outside the United States. Colgate's gross margins rose in the quarter ended December 31 as the company cut costs by negotiating better lease terms with suppliers, using cheaper raw material and reducing packaging material in products. Analysts on average are expecting earnings of $3.08 per share in 2014, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Colgate's net profit fell to $564 million, or 60 cents per share, in the fourth quarter from $598 million, or 63 cents per share, a year earlier.

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Ice breaks in Syrian peace talks as two sides observe minute of silence

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - Opposing sides in Syria's civil war stood together to observe a minute of silence on Thursday in honor of the tens of thousands killed in the three-year conflict, a rare symbol of harmony a week into peace talks that have so far yielded no compromise. The first talks between President Bashar al-Assad's government and his foes have been mired in rhetoric since they began last Friday. U.N. mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Wednesday he does not expect to achieve anything substantive in the first round which ends on Friday, but hopes for more progress in a second round starting about a week later. Opposition delegate Ahmad Jakal said his delegation's head, Hadi al-Bahra, proposed the minute of silence and all sides stood up, including Assad's delegation and Brahimi's team.

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Aveo Oncology to end breast cancer study due to low enrollment

(Reuters) - Aveo Oncology said it would end a mid-stage trial testing its lead drug as a treatment for breast cancer, as the company did not have enough patients enrolled in the study. Aveo, which was developing the drug with Japan's Astellas Pharma Inc, said enrollment in the study had been slower than expected and did not improve despite efforts to recruit more patients. The company, which cut 62 percent of its workforce last year to focus on developing the drug as a treatment for breast and colon cancers, said in December that it was not likely to succeed in a mid-stage colon cancer study. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected the drug, tivozanib, as a treatment for kidney cancer in June, saying that study results were inconsistent.



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Doctors to start waking up ex-Formula One champion Schumacher

Doctors treating seven-times Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher will begin lowering his sedation level in order to start the process to wake him up, his agent said on Thursday. Schumacher has been in an artificial coma in a hospital in the eastern French city of Grenoble for more than four weeks following an accident in late December when he slammed his head on a rock while skiing off-piste in the resort of Meribel.

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Israeli weed smokers choked by border fence with Egypt

By Maayan Lubell ISRAEL-EGYPT BORDER (Reuters) - Israel's newly fortified Egyptian border has delivered a severe blow to drug smugglers, forcing its hashish and marijuana smokers to deal with a new kind of high - soaring prices. The ravines that snake past rocky red mountains once provided a popular, low-risk route for traffickers to run drugs, women and African migrants into Israel over the southern frontier along Egypt's Sinai desert. And as workers weld the few remaining patches of the metal barrier, drug supply in Israel is down and prices are up. That's millions of shekels," said a senior Israeli military officer in the area.



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Denmark's Novo Nordisk sees copycat drugs hitting sales

By Teis Jensen and Shida Chayesteh COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk, the world's largest insulin producer, raised its 2014 outlook by less than investors had hoped for saying it expected sales to be hit by contract losses in the United States and competition from cheaper generic drugs. The Danish company also promoted head of sales and production Kaare Schultz to chief operating officer, a role that puts him in the running to succeed 59-year-old Chief Executive Lars Rebien Sorensen whose contract ends in 2019. Novo Nordisk said on Thursday that it now expected sales to grow by 8-11 percent, below its average 13 percent growth rate over the last ten years. Chief Financial Officer Jesper Brandgaard said 2014 sales would be hit by competition from copycat versions of its Prandin diabetes drug and the loss of two contracts with U.S. pharmacy group Express Scripts Holding Co, which was announced in September.

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Israel's Oramed says oral insulin capsule trial a success

Oramed, an Israeli developer of oral drug delivery systems, said on Thursday a mid-stage trial for its oral insulin capsule for the treatment of type 2 diabetes met all primary and secondary endpoints. During the Phase 2a trial, conducted under a U.S. Food and Drug Administration new drug protocol, 30 patients with type 2 diabetes took part in an in-patient setting for one week. "We are extremely pleased with the results, which give a solid validation for Oramed's platform technology in general and our oral insulin programme in particular," said Nadav Kidron, Oramed's chief executive.

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Indonesia to face opportunity, risk as population grows by a third

By Kanupriya Kapoor JAKARTA (Reuters) - Family planning efforts have stagnated in Indonesia over a decade of democratic rule and the world's fourth most populous country risks squandering a so-called demographic dividend that a youthful, productive population should deliver. Indonesia has failed to meet its target for bringing down the birth rate and its population is set to grow by nearly a third, to 305 million people, by 2035 from 240 million now, the statistics agency said on Wednesday. But without improvements in education and job prospects, the growing population could become a burden, threatening the growth and development of Southeast Asia's largest economy. "Indonesia has a window of opportunity between now and 2030, when there will be an explosion in the working age group," said Wendy Hartono, deputy head of the national family planning agency.

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Ship where nearly 700 fell ill being sanitized

BAYONNE, N.J. (AP) — Kim Waite was disappointed to fall ill while treating herself to a Caribbean cruise after completing cancer treatment. The London woman thought she was the only sick one as her husband wheeled her to the infirmary — until the elevator doors opened to reveal hundreds of people vomiting into bags, buckets or on the floor, whatever was closest.

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Scientists hail breakthrough in embryonic-like stem cells

By Kate Kelland, Health and Science Correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - In experiments that could open a new era in stem cell biology, scientists have found a simple way to reprogram mature animal cells back into an embryonic-like state that allows them to generate many types of tissue. Chris Mason, chair of regenerative medicine bioprocessing at University College London, who was not involved in the work, said its approach in mice was "the most simple, lowest-cost and quickest method" to generate so-called pluripotent cells - able to develop into many different cell types - from mature cells. The researchers took skin and blood cells, let them multiply, then subjected them to stress "almost to the point of death", they explained, by exposing them to various events including trauma, low oxygen levels and acidic environments. Within days, the scientists found that the cells had not only survived but had also recovered by naturally reverting into a state similar to that of an embryonic stem cell.

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15 people on twitter fitness enthusiasts should follow!

India.Com Health15 people on twitter fitness enthusiasts should follow!India.Com HealthWhen it comes to the oh-so-difficult journey of transforming yourself into a well-oiled working machine, you are not the only one. And what better way to connect with like-minded people than Twitter? Out of the 700-odd million users, there are a few ...

Planned Parenthood in Alaska sues state official over abortion

By Chris Francescani NEW YORK (Reuters) - Planned Parenthood in Alaska sued the state health commissioner on Wednesday over new regulations that prevent state Medicaid from covering elective abortions. The new regulations, set to go into effect on Sunday, require abortion doctors who receive Medicaid payments to certify that a procedure is "medically necessary" to prevent serious risk to the woman's health, or that the patient is a victim of rape and incest. The group, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, is seeking to have the regulations struck down as an unconstitutional violation of equal protection, said Planned Parenthood spokesman Joshua Decker.



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Supreme Court denies convicted Missouri killer's appeals

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted a temporary stay of execution for a Missouri man convicted of killing a jewelry store owner during a 1991 robbery, denying last-minute appeals that in part challenged the drug to be used. But there was no immediate word on whether Herbert Smulls, 56, would be executed before a death warrant expires at midnight, thanks to another stay his lawyer said remained in effect at the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Smulls was convicted of shooting jewelry-store owner Stephen Honickman to death while robbing his store in July 1991. Honickman's wife, Florence Honickman, was also shot during the attack and sustained permanent injuries.

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Study: Kids' obesity risk starts before school age

Those efforts to fight obesity in schools? Think younger. A new study finds that much of a child's "weight fate" is set by age 5, and that nearly half of kids who became obese by the eighth grade were already overweight when they started kindergarten.

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