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| Ancient rheumatism drug reduces recurring inflammation around heart Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 12:49 PM PDT A drug that was used in the time of the pharaohs for rheumatism has proven highly effective in treating recurrent bouts of pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac surrounding the heart, according to findings of a new clinical trial. The ancient medicine, colchicine, which has also been used for centuries as an anti-inflammatory agent for acute gout, was tested against placebo in a 240-patient pericarditis trial. The rate of recurring pericarditis was nearly halved for those taking colchicine compared with placebo, according to data presented on Sunday at the annual scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology in Washington. The condition, which causes sharp chest pain, recurred in 42.5 percent of those taking dummy pills, compared with 21.6 percent of those who got colchicine. Full Story | Top |
| Libyan parliament passes law to organize new elections Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 12:02 PM PDT  Last month, the General National Congress (GNC) assembly agreed to hold early elections, in an apparent effort to assuage ordinary Libyans angry over political chaos in the country nearly three years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi. It is now up to the elections commission to set a date. Full Story | Top |
| Saudi dynasty moves to forestall succession crisis Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 09:29 AM PDT  By Angus McDowall RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's appointment of Prince Muqrin as deputy crown prince is a first step towards addressing its biggest dynastic challenge for 50 years and forestalling a possible succession crisis in the world's top oil exporter. The ruling al-Saud family is fast approaching the moment when it must decide how to jump down a generation from a line of brothers born to the country's founder King Abdulaziz to their sons and nephews, a process fraught with difficulty. There should be clarity and there should be a correct approach to succession," said Khaled al-Maeena, editor at large of Saudi Gazette, an English-language daily. Although any jostling for power among the 40-odd branches of King Abdulaziz's descendents is kept carefully hidden behind the ornate doors of royal palaces, Saudis with royal connections say some members of the family worry about being sidelined. Full Story | Top |
| Glaxo heart drug that failed trial shows potential benefit Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 08:34 AM PDT  By Bill Berkrot and Ransdell Pierson WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A new type of heart drug being developed by GlaxoSmithKline, which failed the main goal of a Phase III study of patients with chronic but well-treated heart disease, showed signs of potential benefit, the trial's co-leader said. "I'm convinced there is a signal here of efficacy and the drug is safe," said Dr. Harvey White, co-chair of the large, Glaxo-sponsored international study, who presented the findings. The real test of darapladib is likely to come from a second, late-stage study in far less stable patients who received the medicine within 30 days of a heart attack. Glaxo had previously said darapladib did no better than a placebo in decreasing the risk of a combination of cardiovascular death, heart attack and stroke in the trial called Stability. Full Story | Top |
| Minister says Egypt energy subsidy bill to rise by 10-12 percent next year Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 08:03 AM PDT  Egypt's Finance Minister said on Sunday spending on energy subsidies next year will be 10-12 percent above the 130 billion Egyptian pounds ($18.66 billion) budgeted for the current fiscal year, unless immediate reforms are made. Successive governments have stressed the importance of reducing energy subsidies, which account for more than 20 percent of state spending, but none have taken concrete steps to do so. Finance Minister Hany Kadry Dimian did not say whether any reforms would be implemented during the next fiscal year that begins in July, according to state news agency MENA. Full Story | Top |
| Chad economy to grow over 10 pct in 2014: finance minister Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 07:55 AM PDT By Tim Cocks ABUJA (Reuters) - Chad's economy will grow more than 10 percent in 2014, driven by crude exports and agriculture, its finance minister said, insisting a Chinese oil firm fined locally for environmental violations would have to pay up. A decline in production and lower crude prices in 2013 cut Chad's GDP growth by more than half to 3.6 percent. But Finance Minister Mariam Nour said 2014 would see a fast recovery on the back of higher oil receipts and advances in agriculture. "Chad is creating the conditions necessary for becoming an emerging market," she told Reuters on the sidelines of an economic conference in Abuja late on Saturday. Full Story | Top |
| British experts say they have found London's lost Black Death graves Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 06:23 AM PDT By Andrew Osborn LONDON (Reuters) - Archaeologists in Britain said on Sunday they had solved a 660-year-old mystery, citing DNA tests which they said proved they had found a lost burial site for tens of thousands of people killed in medieval London by the "Black Death" plague. The breakthrough follows the discovery last year of 13 skeletons wrapped in shrouds laid out in neat rows during excavations for London's new Crossrail rail line, Europe's biggest infrastructure project. Archaeologists, who say the find sheds new light on medieval England and its inhabitants, later found 12 more skeletons taking the total to 25. Limited records suggest up to 50,000 victims were buried in the cemetery in London's Farringdon district, one of two emergency burial sites. Full Story | Top |
| Kraft challenged by "healthier" macaroni and cheese brands Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 06:05 AM PDT  By Lisa Baertlein LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Kraft Macaroni & Cheese has been a favorite meal for generations of American children, but smaller brands made with more natural ingredients are starting to nibble at its market share, part of a trend that is biting into growth at large U.S. food companies. Zenobia Godschalk, an Atlanta mother of two young boys, stopped buying Kraft's "mac and cheese" after reading its complicated ingredient list. Now she buys Annie's organic version in bulk at Costco Wholesale Corp . "I'm fully aware that it is not a health food," said Godschalk, of Annie's macaroni and cheese product. Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: China seizes $14.5 billion assets from family, associates of ex-security chief: sources Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 05:31 AM PDT  By Benjamin Kang Lim and Ben Blanchard BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have seized assets worth at least 90 billion yuan ($14.5 billion) from family members and associates of retired domestic security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who is at the centre of China's biggest corruption scandal in more than six decades, two sources said. The sheer size of the asset seizures and the scale of the investigations into the people around Zhou - both unreported until now - make the corruption probe unprecedented in modern China and would appear to show that President Xi Jinping is tackling graft at the highest levels. But it may also be driven partly by political payback after Zhou angered leaders such as Xi by opposing the ouster of former high-flying politician Bo Xilai, who was jailed for life in September for corruption and abuse of power. He is the most senior Chinese politician to be ensnared in a corruption investigation since the Communist Party swept to power in 1949. Full Story | Top |
| Armed militias hold Libya hostage Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 04:34 AM PDT  By Patrick Markey and Ulf Laessing TRIPOLI (Reuters) - When a militia holding Libya's eastern ports loaded a North Korean-flagged tanker with oil earlier this month, the Libyan parliament sacked its own prime minister and turned to U.S. commandos to bring its cargo back. When it sailed off, pro-government militiamen even gave chase on boats carrying jeeps mounted with anti-aircraft and cannons. But that failed, and when the tanker reached international waters Libya's parliament fired Prime Minister Ali Zeidan, who fled to Europe. A few days later, U.S. Navy SEALS boarded the tanker to end the debacle. The Morning Glory affair is one of the starkest symbols yet of how weak Libya's central authority is. Three years after a NATO-supported revolt toppled Muammar Gaddafi, Libya is at the mercy of rival brigades of heavily armed former rebel fighters who openly and regularly defy the new state. Libya's parliament agrees on little, its interim government has no army to enforce security let alone impose its will, and a new constitution meant to forge a sense of nation remains undrafted. In the vacuum, ex-fighters have briefly abducted Zeidan from his Tripoli hotel room, stormed the foreign ministry, and taken over the interior ministry, even before the renegades made their failed attempt to export oil. Lawmakers joke that they may need to use the secret tunnels Gaddafi built under the capital so they can escape the marauding gunmen. "Really there is no army, I thought there was one, but then I realized there really isn't any," ousted premier Zeidan said from Germany where he fled. For many Libyans, the joy of freedom after decades under Gaddafi has given way to confusion. Full Story | Top |
| Obama-Saudi king talks may ease friction but no breakthrough seen Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 02:02 AM PDT  By William Maclean and Angus McDowall DUBAI/RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's leaders hope U.S. President Barack Obama and their King Abdullah understand each other better after talks and can stabilize a close regional security alliance after months of rockiness over Middle East policy, diplomats said. Friday's two-hour exchange at Abdullah's desert camp did not yield a shared statement or any evidence of policy changes, leading some Saudis to question whether differences over Syria's war or Iran's nuclear programme were closer to being resolved. But diplomats said the mere fact Obama made the effort to visit and discuss issues "frankly" - in a U.S. official's words - with the king should reduce the margin for public spats and counter an impression that both sides value the alliance less. Obama visited the world's top oil-exporter and birthplace of Islam aiming to soothe Saudi fears that the United States was retreating from its commitment to the security of Middle East allies and allowing Riyadh's rival Iran more influence. Full Story | Top |
| Senegal shuts land border with Guinea to prevent Ebola spreading Sunday, Mar 30, 2014 01:24 AM PDT By Daniel Flynn and Saliou Samb DAKAR/CONAKRY (Reuters) - Senegal closed its land border with Guinea on Saturday to try to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, which Guinean authorities say is suspected of killing 70 people in the deadliest outbreak in seven years. The discovery of 11 people suspected to have died of Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia in recent days has stirred concern that one of the most lethal infectious diseases known to man could spread in a poor corner of West Africa, where health systems are ill-equipped to cope. Senegal's Interior Ministry said in a statement it had closed the land border with Guinea in the southern region of Kolda and the southeastern region of Kedougou. Full Story | Top |
| Analysis: Russia sell-off spurs hunt for bargains Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 10:11 PM PDT  By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss and Daniel Bases NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rising tension between Russia and the West has rattled the country's stock and bond markets, but some big money managers see the turbulence as an opportunity. Russia's equity market has plummeted 18 percent so far this year. Foreigners dumped the country's stocks, bonds and the ruble following the early March invasion of Crimea, a territory of Ukraine. "Russia's stock market right now is one of the cheapest in the world, and probably one of the most hated," said investor and commodities guru Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, in Singapore. Full Story | Top |
| China's Xi turns to panda diplomacy to seek EU trade deal Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 05:26 PM PDT  By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping will use two pandas to break the ice and soften European opposition to a free-trade deal with China during a visit to Belgium which starts on Sunday. As the first Chinese leader to visit the European Union's headquarters since Brussels established ties with Beijing four decades ago, Xi will also seek to send a message that China is a less confrontational partner, ready to resolve trade disputes. "Our common interests far outweigh our differences," said China's ambassador to the EU, Yang Yanyi. "We need to explore ways to deepen our partnership." Xi will say hello to China's two ursine envoys Xing Hui and Hao Hao, loaned to Belgium last month, at a wildlife park near Brussels - part of a Chinese tradition of using pandas to foster better relations around the world. Full Story | Top |
| Another earthquake rattles southern California following 5.1 quake Saturday, Mar 29, 2014 03:46 PM PDT Residents of southern California were rattled by a 4.1 magnitude earthquake Saturday afternoon, the largest of more than 100 aftershocks following Friday's 5.1 rumbler that caused light scattered damage around the Los Angeles area. Saturday's quake rippled through an area near Rowland Heights, California, about 2:32 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor was considered relatively shallow with a depth of 5.6 miles, the USGS said. Aftershocks are expected following earthquakes, according to the USGS. Full Story | Top |
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