GlaxoSmithKline completes sale of Aspen shares, raising $694 million [ BeritaTerkini ]

LONDON (Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline said on Wednesday it had completed the sale of 28.2 million shares in Aspen Pharmacare at 250 rand each, raising gross proceeds of 7.059 billion rand ($ 694 million).

Shares in the South African drug maker closed at 267.40 rand on Tuesday.

GSK had previously said it planned to reduce its investment in the South African drug maker by one third, while remaining committed to working closely with Aspen. It now has a reduced stake of 12.4 percent.

($ 1 = 10.1738 South African rand)

(Reporting by Ben Hirschler)

• Investment & Company Information
• GlaxoSmithKline

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SLIDESHOW: Barking mad? St Ives firm Woof and Brew launch herbal tea range … – Cambridge News [ BeritaTerkini ]

Charis makes the tea for Waffle to try, using Woof Brew herbal tea bags for dogs

6 Images

What do you get for the dog that has everything this Christmas? How about herbal tea?

Customers of a new St Ives firm are literally lapping up the range.

But the people behind Woof and Brew are not barking mad, they have set their sights on a piece of the lucrative pet food market which is worth £2.7 billion a year in the UK alone.

And behind the fun idea of herbals tea bags for dogs there is a serious message that the drinks contain anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals designed to keep pets in the peak of health.

Having sampled a glass of Posh Pooch – which gives your dog substance and style – I can assure readers that it tastes perfectly pleasant to humans too.

It contains devil’s claw, skullcap, astragalus, lime flowers, orange flowers, lavender and rose petals and tastes not unlike a cup of camomile.

I did not sample Ha-Pee Lawns, which is designed to prevent urine burns in your grass.

Woof and Brew was set up by Steve Bennett, whose job title is sales dog, Lisa Morton, whose title is brand bitch, Nick Gandon and Tony Kinch.

Steve, who had previously worked for a tea shop, made the jump between the health-giving effects of herbal teas on humans to the potential for dogs.

The drinks are sourced from a top tea firm and use high-quality herbal ingredients which are left intact for maximum benefit and are not ground up in the way some herbal teas for humans are. They also have biodegradable bags.

Lisa said: “We launched at Crufts in March this year to see how it would be received and it went down pretty well and it has just gone on from there.

“As well as an impressive response from the UK market we also now have stockists in Holland, Jersey, Singapore and have supplied to America, Spain and Germany and have had inquiries from Canada, Australia and Japan.”

The firm, at The Dog House, Free Church Passage, launched with five products for adult dogs, senior dogs, skin and coat, performance and fresh breath and has since added Posh Pooch and Ha-Pee Lawns. There are even Christmas gift boxes.

Lisa said: “It is a fun thing, but underneath that there is the serious point that it is all about getting goodness into dogs.”

She said the tea was made in the normal way with 250ml of boiling water, left to infuse for four minutes and a further 750ml of cold water added.

The drink could then be put in the dog’s bowl or poured over food.

Lisa said it had also been made into ice cubes and jellies.

Woof and Brew has joined the Movember campaign – which highlights male cancers with moustache-growing stunts – by adding moustaches to pictures of owners’ dogs photographically.

It raised £175 in its first three days.

Lisa said: “Movember is a good fit for us because it is a lot of fun but underneath there is a serious message and it is a very good cause.”

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Voters in Albuquerque, New Mexico, defeat measure to limit abortions [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Zelie Pollon

SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) – A municipal ballot measure that would outlaw most late-term abortions in New Mexico’s largest city appeared headed for defeat in a special election by Albuquerque voters, early returns showed on Tuesday.

The measure, were it approved, would bar doctors within city limits from performing abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, allowing for few of the exemptions permitted in most late-term abortion bans enacted in other states in recent years.

No exceptions are made for victims of rape or incest. The ban could be waived only to save a mother’s life or if continuing her pregnancy risked “substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function” for the mother.

A record number of city voters were reported to have cast early ballots in the special election. And an unusually high overall turnout was expected due to the controversial nature of the measure, which is believed to be the first proposed abortion restriction to be placed on a municipal ballot in the United States.

With results from more than half of the city’s voting centers tabulated, voters appeared on their way toward rejecting the measure, 55 percent to 45 percent, according to figures posted online by the city about 90 minutes after the polls closed.

Public opinion polls suggested sentiment had swung against the Albuquerque initiative since early September, when 54 percent of city voters said they backed the proposal.

Abortion rights advocates had vowed to challenge the measure in court should it pass.

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, but ruled that unless the mother’s health were at risk, states could place restrictions on abortion at the point when a fetus could potentially survive outside the womb, generally seen as starting at 22 to 24 weeks of gestation.

A full-term pregnancy typically is about 40 weeks, and abortions after 20 weeks are rare.

Still, abortion opponents have pushed the boundaries of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in recent years by seeking to curtail abortions at earlier stages of pregnancy.

The Albuquerque measure was patterned after restrictions enacted by a dozen states based on hotly debated medical research suggesting a fetus feels pain starting at 20 weeks of gestation.

Two of those states, North Dakota and Arkansas, went further by also recently banning abortion as early as six and 12 weeks, respectively. Those more restrictive bans have been put on hold by courts. Courts have likewise blocked 20-week abortion bans in Arizona, Georgia and Idaho.

Albuquerque is home to two of the few facilities in the region that perform late-term abortions – the Southwestern Women’s Options clinic and the University of New Mexico Center for Reproductive Health.

Their existence has led abortion foes to refer to Albuquerque as the “late-term abortion capital of the country” and to target the city for the municipal ban, said Elisa Martinez, executive director of the group Protect ABQ Women and Children, which supports the measure.

Julianna Koob, legislative advocate for Planned Parenthood of New Mexico, agreed that the two clinics had drawn patients from around the region because “access has been so severely impacted in other cities.”

The state attorney general, Gary King, has called the proposed measure “unconstitutional and unenforceable.”

Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, a law professor at the University of New Mexico, said abortion regulations as allowed under Roe v. Wade were regarded as a matter for the states, not local governments, to decide.

Patrick Davis, a spokesman for ProgressNow New Mexico, a non-profit group that supports abortion rights, said approval of the measure in Albuquerque could lead to similar proposals showing up on local ballots in municipalities across the country.

“Using cities to further the culture wars is definitely something we can expect to see in the future,” agreed Lonna Atkeson, director of the Center for the Study of Voting, Elections and Democracy at the University of New Mexico. “This is the first test case.”

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman, Peter Cooney, Andrew Hay and Lisa Shumaker)

• Pregnancy Termination Services
• Medical Specialties & Services
• Albuquerque
• New Mexico

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Measure to limit abortions appears headed for defeat in Albuquerque, New Mexico [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Zelie Pollon

SANTA FE, New Mexico (Reuters) – A municipal ballot measure that would outlaw most late-term abortions in New Mexico’s largest city appeared headed for defeat in a special election by Albuquerque voters, early returns showed on Tuesday.

The measure, were it approved, would bar doctors within city limits from performing abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, allowing for few of the exemptions permitted in most late-term abortion bans enacted in other states in recent years.

No exceptions are made for victims of rape or incest. The ban could be waived only to save a mother’s life or if continuing her pregnancy risked “substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function” for the mother.

A record number of city voters were reported to have cast early ballots in the special election. And an unusually high overall turnout was expected due to the controversial nature of the measure, which is believed to be the first proposed abortion restriction to be placed on a municipal ballot in the United States.

With results from more than half of the city’s voting centers tabulated, voters appeared on their way toward rejecting the measure, 55 percent to 45 percent, according to figures posted online by the city about 90 minutes after the polls closed.

Public opinion polls suggested sentiment had swung against the Albuquerque initiative since early September, when 54 percent of city voters said they backed the proposal.

Abortion rights advocates had vowed to challenge the measure in court should it pass.

The U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, but ruled that unless the mother’s health were at risk, states could place restrictions on abortion at the point when a fetus could potentially survive outside the womb, generally seen as starting at 22 to 24 weeks of gestation.

A full-term pregnancy typically is about 40 weeks, and abortions after 20 weeks are rare.

Still, abortion opponents have pushed the boundaries of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision in recent years by seeking to curtail abortions at earlier stages of pregnancy.

The Albuquerque measure was patterned after restrictions enacted by a dozen states based on hotly debated medical research suggesting a fetus feels pain starting at 20 weeks of gestation.

Two of those states, North Dakota and Arkansas, went further by also recently banning abortion as early as six and 12 weeks, respectively. Those more restrictive bans have been put on hold by courts. Courts have likewise blocked 20-week abortion bans in Arizona, Georgia and Idaho.

Albuquerque is home to two of the few facilities in the region that perform late-term abortions – the Southwestern Women’s Options clinic and the University of New Mexico Center for Reproductive Health.

Their existence has led abortion foes to refer to Albuquerque as the “late-term abortion capital of the country” and to target the city for the municipal ban, said Elisa Martinez, executive director of the group Protect ABQ Women and Children, which supports the measure.

Julianna Koob, legislative advocate for Planned Parenthood of New Mexico, agreed that the two clinics had drawn patients from around the region because “access has been so severely impacted in other cities.”

The state attorney general, Gary King, has called the proposed measure “unconstitutional and unenforceable.”

Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, a law professor at the University of New Mexico, said abortion regulations as allowed under Roe v. Wade were regarded as a matter for the states, not local governments, to decide.

Patrick Davis, a spokesman for ProgressNow New Mexico, a non-profit group that supports abortion rights, said approval of the measure in Albuquerque could lead to similar proposals showing up on local ballots in municipalities across the country.

“Using cities to further the culture wars is definitely something we can expect to see in the future,” agreed Lonna Atkeson, director of the Center for the Study of Voting, Elections and Democracy at the University of New Mexico. “This is the first test case.”

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Steve Gorman, Peter Cooney, Andrew Hay and Lisa Shumaker)

• Pregnancy Termination Services
• Medical Specialties & Services
• Albuquerque
• New Mexico

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David Blaine’s ‘Real or Magic’: Ranking the Celebrity Reactions [ BeritaTerkini ]

From the bored to the astonished, see who was the most fun to watch

Thankfully, David Blaine: Real or Magic, the latest TV special from the magician and endurance artist, stayed away from entombing, freezing, or electrocuting Blaine in favor of letting him show off his impressive magic skills. Some of Blaine’s audiences were impromptu street crowds, but many were celebrities: their presence both demonstrates the circles he travels in and serves as implicit validation that what we’re seeing isn’t the product of camera trickery — surely Lenny Kravitz and Will Arnett have better things to do with their time than serve as David Blaine’s stooges? The parade of stars is one of the best things about the special: they made it feel like a variety show where famous people come on to demonstrate their talent at gaping wide-eyed.

Without spoiling the impressive feats Blaine pulled off with decks of cards and ice picks, we ranked the entertainment value of twenty of the celebrities who appeared in Real or Magic, from lowest to highest. Who responds to Blaine’s tricks with genuine shock or spontaneous wit?

20. Psy 
Had the attitude of a man with a plane to catch before his novelty hit falls off the charts.

19. Stephen Hawking
Of all the disadvantages that come with his motor neuron disease, the inability to be expressive in response to a David Blaine card trick probably doesn’t rank high on his list.

18. George W. Bush
The former president seemed a little too excited about participating, like a tourist hitting a comedy club for the first time.

17. Macklemore
Needed to work on his groaning and wincing.

16. Kanye West
You can tell he’s impressed, because for once in his life, he’s not saying much. But it wasn’t much fun to watch him sit and look uncomfortable.

15. Emmy Rossum
A great loud laugh. “That is ridiculous.”

14. Jason Sudeikis
Extra credit for his mustache, and for carrying a Sharpie in his pocket.

13. Olivia Wilde
Standing next to her fiancé Sudeikis, sometimes wearing a bikini top, she had a constant air of delighted amazement.

12. Jamie Foxx
Had a charming rapport with his daughter, Corinne Bishop.

11. Robert DeNiro
Looked more bored than he did in Little Fockers, but got off a good line after Blaine demonstrates fire-breathing: “You want an Alka-Seltzer?”

10. Woody Harrelson 
Seemed genuinely worried: “Man, I lost my erection entirely.”

9. Jaden Smith
He covered his mouth and hopped up and down. “I’m trying to think how that’s physically possible.”

8. Katy Perry
She started off snarky, but ended up flabbergasted, asking Blaine about a trick, “Do people ever cry sometimes because it’s so strange?”

7. Will Smith
Walked the tightrope between being amazed and being cool.

6. Harrison Ford
He looked like your grandfather, about to have a cardiac episode. “Get the fuck out of my house, okay?”

5. Woody Allen
So disturbed by Blaine, he had to avert his eyes. But afterwards, he made the magician a malted!

4. Jada Pinkett Smith
Her jaw dropped so low you thought she was going to dislocate it.

3. Jon Stewart
He started off confrontational — “Is this just a chance to throw cards at my balls?” — and ended up with his mind obviously blown.

2. Aaron Paul
The most enthusiastic person in the whole special. “That’s the craziest thing I’ve seen in my entire life, obviously.”

1. Ricky Gervais
Once his jaded veneer cracked, there was a gooey center of astonishment: “It’s one of the best illusions I’ve ever seen, or you’re a maniac. Either way, well done.”

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First batch of Chinese aid arrives in typhoon-struck Philippines [ BeritaTerkini ]

MANILA (Reuters) – The first batch of Chinese relief supplies has arrived in the Philippines, Chinese state television said, days after Beijing drew criticism for not doing more to help victims of one of the world’s biggest typhoons.

The Philippines and international armed forces and aid agencies are struggling to get help to devastated areas due to the extent of the destruction from Typhoon Haiyan, which has left more than 4,000 dead and 4 million people displaced.

A cargo plane carrying tents and blankets landed in the central Philippine city of Cebu on Tuesday, CCTV said.

“The Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development head has said the Chinese relief goods are very useful,” Chinese embassy official Wu Zhenping told the station.

“They will distribute some goods to evacuated victims in Cebu and the rest to victims in the worst-hit area Tacloban.”

Tension between China and the Philippines has risen in recent months over disputed claims in the South China Sea and Beijing’s response to the disaster raised eyebrows.

China, with the world’s second-largest economy, initially announced it was giving $ 200,000 and then raised that by $ 1.64 million. On Sunday, it said it was ready to send rescue and medical teams.

In contrast, the United States has mobilized about 50 ships and aircraft in the disaster zone with helicopters delivering supplies from an aircraft carrier. It has announced more than $ 37 million in humanitarian aid.

(Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Matt Driskill)

• Disasters & Accidents
• Society & Culture

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Coco Rocha Debuts Burgundy Justin Bieber-Inspired Haircut—All the Details! [ BeritaTerkini ]

von






Jennifer Chan






| Übersetzt von Jennifer Chan

19. November 2013 – 16:52

Coco Rocha is ready to rock the holiday season!

Just this afternoon, the gorgeous model stopped into Ramirez Tran salon in Los Angeles for a bold new update to her pretty pixie cut.

The redhead debuted her cropped ‘do back in August, and this time around she went even shorter!

Her stylist, Anh Co Tran, who is responsible for her shorter locks, gave us the exclusive details directly after Rocha stepped out of the salon and dished on her beauty services of the day.

NEWS: Coco Rocha cuts a pixie for Allure magazine

“She came in with an idea, but it was a group decision in the end. She wanted to do something different and shorter. We wanted a bang, so I put a lot more texture throughout the cut to give it a lot of movement and make it more playful and versatile,” he explained, emphasizing that he wanted to make sure the cut felt feminine and soft, as well.

From the looks of things on her Instagram posts, he achieved just that!

In fact, Coco’s cool cut looks an awful like (you guessed it!)  Justin Bieber‘s signature ‘do, and the model even posted a fun video of her singing  the teen heartthrob’s hit song, “Baby”, while showing off her freshly groomed hair.

Too cute!

NEWS: Celebrity hair transformations

“The Justin Bieber reference is just kind of funny…we were joking about it in the salon! Coco’s hair is actually a bit longer than his,” Tran commented. “And the shorter the hair, the more maintenance, actually.”

Additionally, Tran made sure that Coco could do a lot with her locks, despite  its short length.

“I left one side a little longer than the other, so she can push it around and it will always look good. She loves to play with her hair back and forth and back and forth,” the hair guru, who used Oribe Fiber Groom and hairspray on her, explained.

“She is a very down-to-earth girl. She’s very normal and fun and short hair just works on her. She has an amazing angular face and great cheekbones, so this cut just enhances that.”

As for her color, Tran’s business partner, Johnny Ramirez, worked his magic and deepened her shade to a rich burgundy for winter. 

WATCH: Coco Rocha loves her pixie cut

“She came in with her color a bit washed out, so he deepened it and made it richer. It looks a lot more natural now than her previous red,” he explained to us.

We love it!

But don’t expect this to be the last hair update we see on the leggy lady. Tran tells us that there’s something unexpected coming soon.

“We already talked about it…but I can’t say yet!” he teased.

We’ll be waiting with bated breath. 

PHOTOS: Celebs with pixie cuts

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Warning over tablet storage costs [ BeritaTerkini ]

Press Association – 

Some manufacturers are charging more than a 1,000% mark-up for extra storage space on tablet computers, according to a Which? investigation.

Consumers opting for a 32GB iPad Air will have to pay £80 more than they would for the 16GB version, despite it costing Apple less than £6 to buy the additional memory at market prices, the watchdog claims.

It said tablet manufacturers can buy Flash memory storage at a market price of £5.95 for 16GB, yet Google charges an extra £70 to increase the memory on its Nexus 10 from 16GB to 32GB and Amazon charges £40 for the same storage increase on its Kindle Fire HDX 8.9.

It described the mark-ups as “outrageous” and advised potential customers to buy a tablet with an SD or microSD slot and add a memory card for a fraction of the cost.

The report said: “The best thing about using a tablet is filling it with apps, songs and videos that you love. But all of this content gobbles up storage space fast, and tablets use Flash memory that’s limited in size.

“Unlike with PCs, tablet storage is difficult to upgrade after you’ve purchased your model. That’s because most tablet bodies are sealed and don’t let you install further hardware.”

Which? also found that the true amount of storage space is not the same as advertised because operating systems and built-in apps take up space.

It found just 10GB was left available for the customer’s songs, apps and photos on a 16GB Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.

Ben Miles of Chillbast, a UK-based computer manufacturer which buys its Flash memory from some of the same suppliers who make the Flash storage components found in tablets, told Which?: “16GB of Flash memory is mind-numbingly cheap now.

“As a general rule, for manufacturers like ourselves, Flash costs less than 40p per GB, so for companies to charge so much for an extra 16GB seems scandalous.

“The difference in cost between manufacturing a product with 16GB and 32GB of memory would probably equate to less than 10 US dollars (£6).”

Which? editor Richard Headland said: “With tablets in demand this Christmas, buyers will be shocked to discover what a raw deal they’re getting on built-in memory.

“If you want the best value storage, then buy a tablet with a SD or microSD slot and add a memory card for a fraction of the cost.”

Apple and Google declined to comment on the Which? report.

Samsung told Which?: “It is Samsung policy to provide the most reasonable market price to customers.”

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Warning over tablet storage costs [ BeritaTerkini ]

Press Association – 

Some manufacturers are charging more than a 1,000% mark-up for extra storage space on tablet computers, according to a Which? investigation.

Consumers opting for a 32GB iPad Air will have to pay £80 more than they would for the 16GB version, despite it costing Apple less than £6 to buy the additional memory at market prices, the watchdog claims.

It said tablet manufacturers can buy Flash memory storage at a market price of £5.95 for 16GB, yet Google charges an extra £70 to increase the memory on its Nexus 10 from 16GB to 32GB and Amazon charges £40 for the same storage increase on its Kindle Fire HDX 8.9.

It described the mark-ups as “outrageous” and advised potential customers to buy a tablet with an SD or microSD slot and add a memory card for a fraction of the cost.

The report said: “The best thing about using a tablet is filling it with apps, songs and videos that you love. But all of this content gobbles up storage space fast, and tablets use Flash memory that’s limited in size.

“Unlike with PCs, tablet storage is difficult to upgrade after you’ve purchased your model. That’s because most tablet bodies are sealed and don’t let you install further hardware.”

Which? also found that the true amount of storage space is not the same as advertised because operating systems and built-in apps take up space.

It found just 10GB was left available for the customer’s songs, apps and photos on a 16GB Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.

Ben Miles of Chillbast, a UK-based computer manufacturer which buys its Flash memory from some of the same suppliers who make the Flash storage components found in tablets, told Which?: “16GB of Flash memory is mind-numbingly cheap now.

“As a general rule, for manufacturers like ourselves, Flash costs less than 40p per GB, so for companies to charge so much for an extra 16GB seems scandalous.

“The difference in cost between manufacturing a product with 16GB and 32GB of memory would probably equate to less than 10 US dollars (£6).”

Which? editor Richard Headland said: “With tablets in demand this Christmas, buyers will be shocked to discover what a raw deal they’re getting on built-in memory.

“If you want the best value storage, then buy a tablet with a SD or microSD slot and add a memory card for a fraction of the cost.”

Apple and Google declined to comment on the Which? report.

Samsung told Which?: “It is Samsung policy to provide the most reasonable market price to customers.”

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Signs of ‘sudden’ cardiac death may come weeks before: study [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot

(Reuters) – Signs of approaching “sudden” cardiac arrest, an electrical malfunction that stops the heart, usually appear at least a month ahead of time, according to a study of middle-age men in Portland, Oregon.

“We’re looking at how to identify the Tim Russerts and Jim Gandolfinis – middle aged men in their 50s who drop dead and we don’t have enough information why,” said Sumeet Chugh, senior author of the study and associate director for genomic cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los Angeles.

Some 360,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur each year in the United States, largely involving middle-aged men, with only 9.5 percent surviving, according to the American Heart Association.

Patients can survive if they are given cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) immediately and their hearts are jolted back into normal rhythm with a defibrillator.

Earlier clinical trials have focused only on symptoms or warnings signs within an hour of such attacks. But Chugh’s study set out to determine whether signs and symptoms occurred as much as a month before sudden cardiac arrests.

Researchers went back and examined medical records of men 35 to 65 years old after they had out-of-hospital attacks. In addition, paramedics reaching the scene of fatal attacks asked family members what signs and symptoms the patient may have had in preceding weeks.

Among 567 men who had “sudden” arrests, researchers determined 53 percent had symptoms beforehand. Among those with symptoms, 56 had chest pain, 13 percent had shortness of breath and 4 percent had dizziness, fainting or palpitations.

About 80 percent of symptoms happened between four weeks and one hour before the cardiac arrest, researchers said. And although most men had coronary artery disease, just half had been tested for it before their attacks.

“The findings were entirely unexpected,” Chugh said. “We never thought more than half of these middle-aged men would have had warning signs so long before their cardiac arrests. Previously we thought most people don’t have symptoms so we can’t do anything about it.”

Chugh said most people who have the same kinds of symptoms don’t go on to have cardiac arrests.

“Even so, they should seek medical care,” he said. “The message here is, if you have these signs or symptoms, please don’t ignore them: seek healthcare.”

Chugh said he and his colleagues are also attempting to identify people at risk by comparing biologies of those that have had sudden cardiac arrests with sample populations in Portland that have never had cardiac arrests.

The new findings, from the 11-year-old “Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study,” were presented on Tuesday at the annual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association being held in Dallas.

The researchers are conducting similar studies among women. The ongoing study is being funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AHA and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson and Bill Berkrot; Editing by Bernard Orr)

• Health
• Disease & Medical Conditions
• cardiac arrest
• American Heart Association

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U.S. FDA panel backs BioMarin’s Morquio A Syndrome drug [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Toni Clarke

(Reuters) – An experimental drug to treat Morquio A Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that causes skeletal malformation and a variety of related lung, eye, ear and heart problems, should be approved, an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Tuesday.

The 21-member panel voted overwhelmingly in favor of approval, saying the benefits of the drug, Vimizim, which is made by BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc, outweigh its risks. The FDA is not obliged to follow the recommendations of its advisory panels but typically does so.

Morquio A Syndrome is characterized by a deficiency of an enzyme known as N-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulfatase, which causes excessive storage in the body of long chains of sugars known as glycosaminoglycans.

This build-up can lead to short stature and joint abnormalities that limit mobility and endurance. The disease can also cause hearing loss, eye problems and heart disease. Symptoms often appear before the age of five.

Children who took the drug during clinical testing saw an improvement in energy and endurance, allowing them to better socialize, learn and function independently, families who testified before the panel said.

The main goal of the trial was to improve symptoms as measured by a six-minute walk test. A secondary goal was change measured by a three-minute stair climb test.

After 24 weeks of treatment with the drug, Vimizim increased patients’ six-minute walk distance by 22.5 meters compared with a placebo, a benefit the FDA reviewers called “modest.” There was no statistically meaningful improvement in the stair climb test.

Nonetheless, the panel decided that the walk test probably captured only a portion of the benefits conferred by the drugs, though the exact nature of the additional benefits and their magnitude remain unclear.

Vimizim, also known as elosulfase alfa, is expected to generate sales of $ 532 million by 2018 if approved, according to the average estimate of eight analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Morquio A Syndrome is one of a group of lysosomal storage disorders known as mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS). Lysosomal storage disorders are typically chronic and progressive, and involve multiple organs of the body.

Vimizim has been given “orphan drug” status by the FDA, which means it will receive seven years of market exclusivity if approved. An orphan drug treats diseases that affect fewer than 200,000 patients.

The main safety concerns of the drug relate to anaphylaxis and allergic reactions. The panel said such side effects are consistent with other enzyme replacement therapies and that the benefits outweigh the risks.

(Reporting by Toni Clarke; Editing by Gary Hill, Bernard Orr)

• Health
• Pharmaceuticals & Drug Trials
• FDA
• experimental drug

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U.S. Justice Department rape statistics understate problem: study [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Susan Heavey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice should change how it counts the number of sexual assaults that occur in the United States because its tally understates the numbers by possibly as much as seven-fold, an outside advisory panel said on Tuesday.

Instead of relying on the National Crime Victimization Survey, which looks at all crimes, Justice officials should instead design a separate survey that measures only rape and sexual assault, it recommended.

In a report requested by the department, the National Research Council’s outside advisers said the department’s main crime survey uses ambiguous wording that can make victims less likely to report violations.

The Justice Department’s National Crime Victimization Survey estimated 188,380 people were raped in 2010 while the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s survey for the same year counted nearly 1.3 million incidents, according to the panel’s review.

Accurate reporting of rape and sexual assault is critical for lawmakers, health providers and others to address the issue and help prevent future attacks, the advisers said.

A spokeswoman for the department had no immediate comment while several women’s groups welcomed the recommendations.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; additional reporting by David Ingram; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

• Society & Culture
• Crime & Justice
• sexual assaults

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Some babies born very small do just fine as adults [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Kathryn Doyle

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Although babies who are born weighing less than 3.3 pounds face challenges early on, by adulthood many report doing well, according to a new study.

Growing up, those kids have an increased risk of physical and mental health problems, past studies have shown. They also tend to do worse in school than their peers and have a harder time socially.

But by the time they reach adulthood, many seem to have left those problems behind.

“It looks to us as if, despite many challenges early on and some functional issues, like myopia (nearsightedness), they do catch up,” Dr. Brian A. Darlow said.

He led the study at the University of Otago, Christchurch in New Zealand.

Darlow and his coauthors checked in with 230 adults, age 22 or 23, who were born in New Zealand in 1986 at a very low birth weight – defined as less than 3.3 pounds.

Compared to a group of 69 adults who were born at healthy weights, the formerly small babies were still about 12 pounds lighter and 1.7 inches shorter.

They were also slightly less likely to have finished college or advanced training. More formerly small babies had lived on welfare at some point and more reported wheezing in the past year.

Babies born very small are usually premature or have growth restriction complications, so it makes sense that they would be prone to breathing issues. Lungs are the last organ system to fully develop in the womb.

But people in each group rated their self-esteem and satisfaction with life fairly equally. The formerly small babies were no more likely to have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder, according to results published in Pediatrics.

Those participants also scored similarly on measures of behavioral problems and were no more likely to have had depression or an anxiety disorder.

People in both groups smoked the same amount of tobacco and marijuana, on average, and fewer participants from the low birth weight group had used other illicit drugs.

“For me the most important message is that despite differences where they existed, these young people rated their own life functioning and quality of life no different from their peers,” Darlow told Reuters Health. “They think they are doing okay so we should respect that.”

One in ten very low birth weight babies had a moderate or severe disability of some kind at age seven or eight. That was a good predictor of which children would still be lagging behind as adults, he said.

Darlow said he would have liked the study to include more formerly normal-weight babies for comparison.

“What I personally find perhaps most alarming, and probably many of my colleagues would agree, is that a larger proportion of very low birth weight adults report having few or no friends,” which fits with previous studies, Eero Kajantie told Reuters Health.

Kajantie studies premature birth and long-term health at the University of Helsinki in Finland.

About half of study participants born at a very low weight said they had few or no friends, compared to one-third of the healthy birth weight comparisons.

Only one or two percent of babies are born at a very low birth weight, but they make up half the population of neonatal intensive care units, according to the study.

“It is very rewarding to see that despite earlier difficulties, the majority of premature children have completed the basic educational requirements,” Dr. Saroj Saigal said.

Saigal studies very low birth weight infants as they grow and age into adulthood at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. She was not involved with the New Zealand study.

A significantly higher proportion of premature babies require special assistance at school, she said. If this assistance isn’t available it can hamper their development.

But the new findings add to a growing body of evidence that once these babies reach adulthood, they do well.

“There is light at the end of the tunnel,” Saigal told Reuters Health. “Parents and siblings can be reassured that the majority of very low birth weight young adults will be able to live independently.”

“Realistic expectations and encouragement, family support and availability of resources at school can be helpful,” she said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1fS46kL Pediatrics, online November 18, 2013.

• Health
• Family Health

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Three Czech operators win 4G auction, newcomers miss out [ BeritaTerkini ]

Reuters – 

PRAGUE (Reuters) – Telefonica Czech Republic, T-Mobile and Vodafone won an auction of radio spectrum for 4G high-speed mobile data networks, the telecoms regulator said on Tuesday.

The regulator, CTU, said two newcomers that had taken part in the sale, which raised 8.5 billion crowns (261 million pounds) for the country, did not gain licences.

(Reporting by Jason Hovet; editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

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Travel Industry News & International Travel News [ BeritaTerkini ]

404

Oh no! We were unable to find a pulse.

We can’t imagine what you’re going through right now. You must be feeling an extreme sense of loss and confusion.
Something you needed that was supposed to be here, but isn’t.

You might try one of the following to find something meaningful and try to move on:

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Yellow Dogs Benefit Concert Features Nada Surf, Kyp Malone and More [ BeritaTerkini ]

Musicians pay tribute to slain members of Iranian band at Brooklyn Bowl

“Usually I have too much to say, and now I don’t have enough,” said Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws last night at the Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg. There, a host of local musicians held a benefit for the Yellow Dogs, an Iranian-American dance-punk band that lost two of its members and a frequent collaborator and close friend in a tragic shooting last week. It was a fitting statement for an evening that felt more like a memorial service than a fundraiser, one in which the most important sentiments were expressed through music rather than words. “Moments like this make you realize how hollow words are,” added Johnny Azari, an Iranian-born musician, poet and activist who opened the evening with the solemn “Freedom Glory Be Our Name,” a song he had written with one of the slain musicians, singer-songwriter Ali Eskandarian. 

The Yellow Dogs Open Up About Their Nightmare in Brooklyn

The night began with a candlelit vigil walk from Cameo Gallery, where the Yellow Dogs played their first show in Brooklyn earlier this year, to Brooklyn Bowl, where they played their last. Members of the processional carried pink roses, daisies and white chrysanthemums, which they gave to concert attendees as they entered the Bowl. Inside, memorial boards had been set up for the dead – Yellow Dogs drummer Arash Farazmand, guitarist Soroush Farazmand and Eskandarian – plastered with photographs of the band with family and friends (and a few cats) and accompanied by tea candles from the walk and black Sharpies for the audience, who wrote messages like “Thank you for inspiring us with your life” and “I wish I had half your courage” (not to mention some unfinished business: “I still have your scarf”). A giant screen overhead projected more pictures of the band and clips from music videos for the frenetic, angular “This City” and  jittery “Dance Floor.” 

Habibi perform during the Yellow Dogs Benefit at Brooklyn Bowl in New York City.

Caitlin McCann

Onstage, the music swung from Ecuadorean synth-smith Helado Negro’s softly meditative quaver, accompanied by just an upright bass, to the raging rock & roll of local punk outfit Dirty Beaches and singer Mitra Sumara’s stirring pop and funk from pre-revolutionary Iran. “It’s an honor to have such an incredible cast of bands and artists,” said Rahill Jamalifard, singer for the five-piece Habibi, who also curated the night’s lineup. Even David Byrne made a cameo of sorts: though he couldn’t attend, the idiosyncratic musician gave a note New York-based Iranian visual artist Shirin Neshat, who read it during a short speech before Here We Go Magic frontman Luke Temple’s understated electric solo set. “It can’t be easy to go on,” Byrne wrote. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re going through, but if you can keep making great music, we will be all so grateful.” 

TV On the Radio’s Kyp Malone, no stranger to loss himself (two years ago, TVOTR bassist Gerard Smith died after a battle with lung cancer), gave one of the most moving performances of the night. The vocalist audibly choked up onstage before he started playing, and once he did, the wrenching walls of guitar feedback sounded as anguished as he must have felt. By the time Nada Surf took the stage to end the night and landed on the gentle chorus of Let Go track “Blonde on Blonde,” more than a few members of the crowd had clustered into group hugs, holding hands and kissing foreheads. But before anyone could get too down, Caws pulled a switch the Yellow Dogs probably would have approved of, closing with “The Blankest Year” – “Fuck it, I’m having a party” – celebrating the lives that were lost instead of mourning death. 

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Which is the cheapest budget airline? [ BeritaTerkini ]

Pegasus airlines offers an average one-way ticket price, including fees, of €63.19. Photograph: Alamy

A cheap flight is rarely as cheap as you think it’s going to be – once the various fees have been added – but some budget airlines are cheaper than others.

According to a recent report by flight comparison website WhichAirline, the cheapest lowcost carrier in Europe is Pegasus, a relatively unknown Turkish airline. After comparing 20 airlines, Pegasus came out top with an average total price of €63.19 one-way (including 20kg baggage allowance and a transaction fee). The airline flies to 31 destinations within Turkey and 45 in the rest of the world, including London Gatwick and Stansted, through Turkish hubs.

In second and third place were Hungarian Wizz Air at €75,74, which flies from Luton and Liverpool to various European destinations, and BlueAir which flies from Luton to Romania, at €82.45. Average prices of all flights within Europe were calculated by surveying more than 300,000 prices in October/November 2013.

Ryanair, which is cheapest on basic fares, drops down to fourth place when fees are factored in, with an average price of €83.45.

The report says: “Low-cost airlines make a lot of money on the various fees, and their creativity seems to be endless. For example, when booking your flights with Ryanair, be very careful in every step of the booking procedure. Ryanair hides some of the fees very smartly (eg travel insurance). When adding checked baggage to your booking, think twice before you choose whether you want to carry 15kg or 20kg. If you buy the smaller one and bring five excess kilos to the airport, it will cost you €100! And of course, do not forget to print out and bring your boarding pass, otherwise you will have to pay €70 boarding card re-issue fee.”

EasyJet which has just posted a 50% surge in profits and announced 10 new routes for summer 2014, is in fifth place at an average of €89.97 while the most expensive is FlyThomasCook at €206.76.

Pegasus Airlines: 63.19
Wizz Air: 75.74
Blue Air: 82.45
Ryanair: 83.45
easyJet: 89.97
Air One: 91.00
Eurolot: 97.05
Volotea: 103.75
Vueling: 108.01
flybe: 111.84
Meridiana: 121.27
germanwings: 123.68
Transavia: 132.05
airBaltic: 140.23
HOP!: 140.62
Norwegian Air Shuttle: 142.70
Monarch Airlines: 159.48
Jet2: 165.45
WOW air: 189.39
FlyThomasCook: 206.76

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Wife of jailed Chinese Nobel Laureate appeals for his retrial [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Sui-Lee Wee

BEIJING (Reuters) – The wife of jailed Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo has filed an extraordinary appeal for his retrial, his lawyer said on Tuesday, in a move that could renew the focus on China’s human rights record.

The news comes two weeks ahead of a visit to China by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, during which human rights will likely be raised amid a broader crackdown on dissent and freedom of speech and assembly.

Liu, a veteran dissident involved in the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests crushed by the Chinese army, was jailed in 2009 for 11 years, on subversion charges for organizing a petition urging the overthrow of one-party rule.

He was the organizer of “Charter 08″, a manifesto for political reform.

His wife Liu Xia, who has been under effective house arrest since he won the Nobel Prize in 2010, met Liu in October in prison in northeastern Liaoning province and got his approval for the appeal, prominent human rights lawyer Mo Shaoping told Reuters.

“Whether Liu Xiaobo’s viewpoints in his articles are correct or wrong, whether he drafted “Charter 08″ and whether those views are wrong or right, this is a citizen’s right to freedom of speech and expression,” Mo said.

“This is the constitutional right granted to every citizen and does not constitute a crime, so we are requesting that the courts hear this case again and find Liu Xiaobo not guilty.”

Liu Xiaobo’s imprisonment has drawn the condemnation of Western governments and fellow Nobel Laureates, who have been lobbying for his release.

Mo said his colleague, Shang Baojun, another prominent human rights lawyer, traveled last week to Jinzhou prison, where Liu Xiaobo is jailed, to request a meeting with him.

Prison officials said they could not decide in such an “extremely sensitive” case, and would consult with higher-ranked leaders, Mo said, but he has not heard back from authorities.

Prison officials at Jinzhou could not be reached for comment.

Mo said Liu Xia chose to file the appeal at this time because of the treatment suffered by her brother, Liu Hui, whose appeal was rejected in August by a Chinese court that upheld his 11-year sentence on fraud charges. The case is seen as another example of official retribution inflicted on the Liu family.

China has denounced the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, calling it a “political farce” that did not represent the majority of the world, and especially not developing nations.

China called the award an “obscenity” that should not have gone to a man it calls a criminal, and exerted diplomatic pressure on countries not to attend the award ceremony in Oslo.

Liu Xia is rarely allowed out of her home, except for occasional visits to her husband and family, and is almost never permitted visitors. She has not been convicted of any crime.

(Reporting by Sui-Lee Wee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

• Human Rights
• Politics & Government
• Liu Xiaobo
• Nobel Peace Prize
• Nobel Prize

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LED smartbulb ‘nourishes’ your circadian rhythms [ BeritaTerkini ]

If you have trouble falling asleep or wake up groggy, you can now purchase a light-emitting diode (LED) smartbulb that reportedly can be programmed to tweak your circadian rhythms throughout the day.

Circadian disruptions, and the anxiety, insomnia and fatigue that they can cause, can decidedly be linked to the modern era, with people working late into the evenings in offices dominated by artificial light or looking at computer screens before bedtime, which research has found can leave people in an almost permanent state of jet lag.

British LED lighting company PhotonStar Technology Ltd. has announced its new consumer Smart Bulb system Halcyon, to be available to the general market in early 2014 but with a small pre-production run to go to Kickstarter backers. Early adopters can purchase three lightbulbs for £94 (about US$ 150), with delivery expected in April.

An obvious contender against the Philips Hue sold in Apple stores and the upcoming LIFX Wi-Fi enabled, multi-color LED light bulb, the new Halcyon system is focused more on a multi-user solution for the whole home and family than its rivals, the company says.

The company claims that Halcyon is also the first smart lighting system to provide automatic circadian lighting, similar to the system commissioned by NASA to improve health and well-being by simulating changes in natural light, and preventing jet lag type effects.

To use, set your system to help you wake up in the morning with bright alertness-boosting light. “Design and select a scene to cook, whilst your partner takes a relaxing bath,” the website says. “As your guests arrive, change the mood to something more relaxing.”

“Any light that you turn on will be at the correct color and spectrum for the time of day, mimicking daylight, nourishing your circadian rhythm,” the company says.

• circadian rhythms

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U.N. disaster chief stresses long-term needs for Philippines [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Stuart McDill

GUIUAN, Philippines (Reuters) – The head of U.N. disaster relief visited the heart of the Philippine disaster zone on Tuesday and stressed the need for long-term planning as well as emergency relief to ensure farmers and fishermen can resume their livelihoods.

Valerie Amos toured the devastated coastal town of Guiuan in Eastern Samar, where Super Typhoon Haiyan made landfall on November 8 wiping out just about everything in its path, as a government official estimated the reconstruction bill would reach $ 5.8 billion.

“We’ve had people here for a couple of days and I hope that by tomorrow we will be reaching a number of those coastal communities where they still have their boats but we haven’t been able to get to them with food so we urgently want to get to them with food,” Amos told Reuters.

“But, in addition to that, we have to link it up to our colleagues who are going to help people to plant so that they don’t go hungry next year, help to make sure that people have fishing nets so that they can continue with their fishing and of course, immediately, we have to start to do the assessment so that we know what the longer-term damage is and the cost and how that money will be raised.”

The Philippines and international armed forces and aid agencies are struggling to get help to devastated areas due to the extent of the destruction, which has left four million people displaced, threatening Aquino’s reforms that have helped transform the country into one of Asia’s fastest-growing emerging economies.

In another blow, the Supreme Court ruled that a widely misused fund for legislators’ pet projects was unconstitutional and ordered the money be returned to the Treasury.

The scandal over lawmakers’ misuse of “pork barrel” funds has become the biggest crisis of Aquino’s three-year rule, tainting his image as a corruption fighter and undermining his ability to push economic reforms.

Congressman Ben Evardone, who is from Eastern Samar, said the ruling would make it difficult to raise funds for post-typhoon reconstruction.

“While all sectors of society in the national and international community are in a frenzied mood to look for resources to support the typhoon victims, the Supreme Court appears to be insensitive to our situation,” he told reporters.

The cost of rebuilding houses, schools, roads and bridges could reach 250 billion pesos ($ 5.8 billion), making it likely that the government will seek cheap loans from development agencies, a senior official said.

SYMBOLIC SIGN

If the government is successful in deploying resources for reconstruction, the economy may even grow faster, said Arsenio Balisacan, economic planning secretary, adding the country’s strong economic fundamentals remained intact.

Most analysts don’t see the economy taking a long-term hit. The central bank raised its inflation forecasts for this year and next, but said the faster pace of price increases was not expected to force a rise in interest rates just yet.

Aquino is personally overseeing relief operations in the worst-hit city of Tacloban in one of Asia’s biggest humanitarian efforts which could last months, if not years. An ATM opened under tight security in the city on Tuesday in a symbolic sign of progress.

Authorities estimate more than 3,900 people were killed when Haiyan made landfall. Estimates of the death toll have varied widely, and the governor of worst-hit Leyte province said more than 4,000 people could have been killed on the island of Leyte alone.

The relief effort is key to the fortunes of Aquino, 53, who got off to a bad start when the disaster struck, playing down the extent of the crisis and appearing aloof.

Last week, his popularity was under threat, but – until the Supreme Court ruling anyway – he appeared more confident, rationalizing the extent of the damage.

“There’s been some improvement in the government’s relief efforts,” said Peter Wallace, president of the Manila-based Wallace Business Forum consultancy. “Being able to move to Manila a number of displaced people, provide them with sustenance, we see that happening now. Clearing of the roads have been done, which is also extremely important.”

Tecson John Lim, city administrator of Tacloban, said the central government was trying its best.

“The president has been through a lot. Perhaps some of the things he mentioned might not have been exactly prudent,” he said. “I think he has seen and is learning to put this aside, whatever biases he might have had.”

(Additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco, Eric dela Cruz, Manuel Mogato and Karen Lema in Manila and Nathan Layfne in Tacloban; Writing by Nick Macfie)

• Politics & Government
• Society & Culture

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About 70 taken ill after California chemical plant leak [ BeritaTerkini ]

(Reuters) – About 70 people were taken ill after a sulphuric acid leak at a chemical company in California late on Monday, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said.

People in the Carson area complained of throat and nose irritation and vomiting after being exposed to an “apparent sulphuric acid release in the air from a neighboring business,” Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman Robert Diaz said.

Thirteen people were treated at local hospitals and later released, Fire Department official Phil Ulloa said. Others were treated at the scene.

Ulloa said the leak was caused by a scrubber machine malfunctioning at the Solvay chemical plant.

It was not immediately clear if there were any workers at the Solvay plant at the time of the leak.

Diaz said any threat to public safety “had been mitigated.” Carson is a city of about 92,000 in Los Angeles County, California.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

• Politics & Government

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Macau Grand Prix quenches thirst for speed, danger [ BeritaTerkini ]

By Mark Dreyer

MACAU (Reuters) – Lewis Hamilton calls it the world’s “coolest street circuit” and some of the greatest names in motorsport such as Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher have savoured its super-fast straights and treacherous corners, but for many the Macau Grand Prix is all about the danger.

Each year fans flock to the southern Chinese territory to see motorcycles and cars flirt with barriers at breakneck speeds as they hurtle around the 6.2-kilometre Guia street circuit.

The racing festival marked its diamond jubilee this month, with 13 races spread out over two weekends, and while there were plenty of spectacular spills on both two wheels and four, there were no fatalities.

It was a different story last year, however.

Hong Kong driver Phillip Yau crashed and died on the frighteningly fast Mandarin Bend, and Portuguese motorcycle rider Luis Filipe de Sousa Carreira was killed when he smashed into a wall at high speed during qualifying.

Adderly Fong, who clinched the 2013 Audi R8 LMS Cup title this year, was good friends with Yau.

“I was speaking to him on the Monday, told him I was going to go see him on Thursday, then decided to not go and watched from the hotel instead,” the 23-year-old told Reuters.

“It happened right underneath the hotel.”

Fong said thinking about the danger would hold drivers back.

“It’s like stepping into a coliseum with walls and grandstands. It’s a gamble each time, like walking into a casino – you’re taking chances and you don’t know what the consequences will be.

“When you step into a racing car everyone should be prepared for the worst, but you have to put it in the back of your mind, because death is the only thing that causes fear and when you have fear, you can’t drive fast.”

Fong’s father said his son’s fate was out of his hands.

“God gave us our son and God will decide when to take him away,” he said.

Prior to last year, the last two fatalities on the track were in 1994 and 2005, while a spectator died in 2000 after a car left the track, prompting the installation of more safety fences, a far cry from the bamboo barriers used in the early days.

Macau Grand Prix race coordinator Joao Manuel Costa Antunes said the safety of drivers, riders and fans was paramount and that last year’s incidents could have happened anywhere.

“We cannot say the accidents happened because of the track or because of the safety of the track,” he said in a news conference ahead of the festival.

“The two accidents could happen either in Macau or anywhere in the world,” he said, adding that safety “is always our first priority.”

BROKEN NECK

Since its humble beginnings as a motorized treasure hunt in 1954, the festival has attracted some of the sport’s biggest names, with Formula 1 champions Senna, Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button among those drawn to the race.

Racers talk about the importance of track knowledge on the challenging circuit, with its unique undulations, narrow, twisting turns and high-speed straights.

Carreira and Yau did not lack for experience, however.

Portuguese rider Carreira was taking part in his seventh race in Macau, while Yau had previously notched two wins on the track.

Even drivers used to Formula 1 speeds struggle on the circuit. Malaysian Alex Yoong hit the wall hard in qualifying this year and a video of his dramatic crash went viral.

For those on two wheels, the barriers come uncomfortably close.

British rider Dean Harrison’s bike and body sustained damage when he highsided during the Motorcycle Grand Prix. Harrison said he had experienced far worse.

“I broke my neck at Brands (Hatch) last year. I rode the next day. I didn’t know I’d done it until the Monday,” he told Reuters.

When he was finally diagnosed with a cracked C7 vertebra, his time on the sidelines lasted just three weeks before he was racing once again.

German driver Maro Engel, who was leading this year’s GT Cup race until a puncture from debris on the track forced his retirement, said there was no question what made the race so appealing.

“The danger absolutely makes it more exciting. That’s why we’re here,” he said. “It’s the greatest track in the world.” (Editing by Peter Rutherford)

• Sports & Recreation
• Motor Racing
• Michael Schumacher
• Macau Grand Prix
• Ayrton Senna

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NYC to ban tobacco sales to anyone under age 21 [ BeritaTerkini ]

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg planned to sign landmark legislation banning the sale of tobacco products to anyone under age 21, making the Big Apple the first large city or state in the country to prohibit sales to young adults.

City health officials hope that raising the legal purchase age from 18 to 21 will lead to a big decline in smoking rates in a critical age group. A majority of smokers get addicted to cigarettes before age 21, and then have trouble quitting, even if they want to do so.

The ban has limitations, in terms of its ability to stop young people from picking up the deadly habit. Teenagers can still possess tobacco legally. Kids will still be able to steal cigarettes from their parents, bum them from friends or buy them from the black-market dealers who are common in many neighborhoods.

But City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said the idea is to make it more inconvenient for young people to get started, especially young teens who had previously had easy access to cigarettes through slightly older peers.

“Right now, an 18-year-old can buy for a 16-year-old,” he said. Once the law takes effect, in 180 days, Farley said, that 16-year-old would “have to find someone in college or out in the workforce.”

Tobacco companies and some retailers had opposed the age increase, saying it would simply drive teenagers to the city’s thriving black market.

“What are you really accomplishing? It’s not like they are going to quit smoking. Why? Because there are so many other places they can buy cigarettes,” said Jim Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores. “Every 18-year-old who walks out of a convenience store is just going to go to the guy in the white van on the corner.”

Bloomberg also was to sign legislation Tuesday that will seek to keep the price of tobacco high by prohibiting coupons and other discounts and setting a minimum cigarette price of $ 10.50 per pack.

Large cigarette companies now commonly offer merchants incentives to run price promotions to bring in new customers.

“For someone who might be trying to quit smoking, it makes it easy for them to buy on impulse,” said Farley.

Calvin said the elimination of discounts would just further feed the drift away from legal cigarettes, and toward illicit supplies brought into the city by dealers who buy them at greatly reduced prices in other states, where tobacco taxes are low.

Both bills were passed by the City Council late last month. The legislation also prohibits the sale of small cigars in packages of less than 20 and increases penalties for retailers that violate sales regulations.

• Health
• Politics & Government
• tobacco products

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