Bayer’s Nexavar meets goal in thyroid cancer trial

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German drugmaker Bayer said its drug Nexavar reached a goal of improving the survival of patients with a certain type of thyroid cancer in a late-stage trial.It said on Thursday it plans to submit data from the trial as the basis for marketing approval of Nexavar to treat radioactive iodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.(Reporting by Maria Sheahan)Health News Headlines...

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World stocks jump as US staves off ‘fiscal cliff’

BANGKOK (AP) — World markets registered relief Wednesday over the U.S. congressional vote to stop hundreds of billions of dollars in automatic tax increases and spending cuts that risked plunging the world’s biggest economy into recession.Benchmarks in Australia and Hong Kong boomeranged on the first trading day of the year, just before Congress passed an emergency measure to avert much of the impact...

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Israeli-Palestinian clashes erupt in West Bank

TAMOUN, West Bank (AP) — An arrest raid by undercover Israeli soldiers disguised as vegetable vendors ignited rare clashes in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, residents said, leaving at 10 Palestinians wounded.Israeli army raids into Palestinian areas to seize activists and militants are fairly common. The raids are normally coordinated with Palestinian security forces, and suspects are usually...

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All of 2012 in One 4-Minute Video

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:  RELATED: ‘Roseanne’ Predicted Internet Addiction; A Weather Alert from HellFilmmaker Ryan James Yezak...

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LA photographer killed while shooting Bieber’s car

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Police say a paparazzo was hit by a car and killed after taking photos of Justin Bieber‘s white Ferrari on a Los Angeles street.Los Angeles police Officer James Stoughton says the photographer, who was not identified, died at a hospital shortly after the crash Tuesday evening. Stoughton says Bieber was not in the Ferrari at the time.The sports car was parked on the side of Sepulveda...

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Analysis: In era of gridlock, Congress “created a monster”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Setting a looming deadline to avert self-created calamity has become a frequent device for the U.S. Congress to get things done in recent years. When all else fails, as it often does, it’s supposed to frighten members into action.That was the idea when Congress created the “fiscal cliff” in August, 2011 to resolve a partisan struggle, also with a deadline and also self-created,...

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Insight: How Colombian drug traffickers used HSBC to launder money

(Reuters) – When several Colombian men were indicted in January 2010 on money-laundering charges, the case in Brooklyn federal court drew little attention.It looked like a bust of another nexus of drug traffickers and money launderers, with mainly small-time operatives paying the price for their crimes.One of the men was Julio Chaparro, a 48-year-old father of four who owned three factories that made...

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20 WTF New Year’s Resolutions

Ringing in 2013 properly requires a few things: bottom-shelf champagne, “I survived the apocalypse” t-shirts, excessive sequins and — most importantly — New Year’s resolutions that may or may not last beyond February.[More from Mashable: These Are the Worst Case Scenarios for New Year’s Eve]You promise to lose weight or quit smoking or stop stalking your ex on Facebook, but what about those people...

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DiDonato a luminous Mary Stuart at Met

NEW YORK (AP) — The Metropolitan Opera may have pretty much turned opening night over to the glamorous Anna Netrebko, but New Year’s Eve belongs to a very different diva — Joyce DiDonato.Last year the Kansas-born mezzo-soprano headlined a starry lineup in the baroque pastiche “The Enchanted Island.” On Monday night she brought a gala audience to its feet with a luminous performance in the title role...

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Obama calls on House to pass fiscal deal “without delay”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama called on Tuesday for the House of Representatives to follow the Senate‘s lead and pass a “fiscal cliff” deal to extend tax cuts for middle-class Americans and raise tax rates on top earners.“While neither Democrats nor Republicans got everything they wanted, this agreement is the right thing to do for our country and the House should pass it without...

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