British medical journal slams Roche on Tamiflu

LONDON (AP) — A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu.

The drug has been stockpiled by dozens of governments worldwide in case of a global flu outbreak and was widely used during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

On Monday, one of the researchers linked to the BMJ journal called for European governments to sue Roche.

"I suggest we boycott Roche's products until they publish missing Tamiflu data," wrote Peter Gotzsche, leader of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen. He said governments should take legal action against Roche to get the money back that was "needlessly" spent on stockpiling Tamiflu.

Last year, Tamiflu was included in a list of "essential medicines" by the World Health Organization, a list that often prompts governments or donor agencies to buy the drug.

Tamiflu is used to treat both seasonal flu and new flu viruses like bird flu or swine flu. WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said the agency had enough proof to warrant its use for unusual influenza viruses, like bird flu.

"We do have substantive evidence it can stop or hinder progression to severe disease like pneumonia," he said.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Tamiflu as one of two medications for treating regular flu. The other is GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza. The CDC says such antivirals can shorten the duration of symptoms and reduce the risk of complications and hospitalization.

In 2009, the BMJ and researchers at the Nordic Cochrane Centre asked Roche to make all its Tamiflu data available. At the time, Cochrane Centre scientists were commissioned by Britain to evaluate flu drugs. They found no proof that Tamiflu reduced the number of complications in people with influenza.

"Despite a public promise to release (internal company reports) for each (Tamiflu) trial...Roche has stonewalled," BMJ editor Fiona Godlee wrote in an editorial last month.

In a statement, Roche said it had complied with all legal requirements on publishing data and provided Gotzsche and his colleagues with 3,200 pages of information to answer their questions.

"Roche has made full clinical study data ... available to national health authorities according to their various requirements, so they can conduct their own analyses," the company said.

Roche says it doesn't usually release patient-level data available due to legal or confidentiality constraints. It said it did not provide the requested data to the scientists because they refused to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Roche is also being investigated by the European Medicines Agency for not properly reporting side effects, including possible deaths, for 19 drugs including Tamiflu that were used in about 80,000 patients in the U.S.

____

Online:

www.bmj.com.tamiflu/

Read More..

S&P 500 and Nasdaq inch higher, fiscal cliff a concern

'},"otherParams":{"t_e":1,".intl":"US"},"events":{"fetch":{lv:2,"sp":"2022398630","ps":"LREC,MON","npv":true,"bg":"#FFFFFF","em":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'e6e29ef8-0927-3a7c-86b2-5c8f23e9ef8d\' sensitivity=\'0\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' ctopid=\'1499989;1550500;1507989;1506989;1542500;1550000;1507489;1577000\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}'),"em_orig":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'e6e29ef8-0927-3a7c-86b2-5c8f23e9ef8d\' sensitivity=\'0\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' ctopid=\'1499989;1550500;1507989;1506989;1542500;1550000;1507489;1577000\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}')}}};var _createNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);var nodeHTML;if(center && !node){nodeHTML=_conf.nodes[nId];center.insert(nodeHTML);};};};var _prepareNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-ad-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);if(center && node){center.set("innerHTML","");center.insert(node);node.setStyle("display","block");};};};var _darla;var _config=function(){if(YAHOO.ads.darla){_darla = YAHOO.ads.darla;_createNodes();};};var _fetch=function(spaceid,adssa,ps){
if (typeof(ps)!='undefined')
_conf.events.fetch.ps = ps;if(typeof spaceid != "undefined") _conf.events.fetch.sp=spaceid;adssa = (typeof adssa != "undefined" && adssa != null) ? escape(adssa.replace(/\"/g, "'")) : "";_conf.events.fetch.em=_conf.events.fetch.em_orig.replace("ADSSA", adssa);if(_darla){_prepareNodes();_darla.setConfig(_conf);_darla.event("fetch");};};Y.on("domready", function(){_config();});;var that={"fetch":_fetch,"getNodes":_conf.nodes,"getConf":_conf};return that;}();/* Backwards compatibility - Assigning the latest instance to the main fetch function */YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.fetch=YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.photoslightboxdarla.fetch;
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {YAHOO.namespace('Media.Social').Lightbox = {};
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.Media.Article.init();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.AuthorBadge();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.Branding();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.on("load", function () {
YUI.namespace("Media.SocialButtons");

var instances = YUI.Media.SocialButtons.instances || [],
globalConf = YAHOO.Media.SocialButtons.conf || {},
vplContainers = [];

Y.all(".ymsb").each(function (node) {
var id = node.get("id"),
conf = YAHOO.Media.SocialButtons.configs[id],
instance;

if (conf) {
instance = new Y.SocialButtons({
srcNode: node,
config: Y.merge(globalConf, conf.config || {}),
contentMetadata: conf.content || {},
tracking: conf.tracking || {}
});
vplContainers.push(
{
selector: "#" + id,
callback: function(node) { instance.render(); instance = conf = id = null; }
});

if (conf.config && conf.config.dynamic) {
instances.push(instance);
}
}
});

Y.Global.Media.ViewportLoader.addContainers(vplContainers);
YUI.Media.SocialButtons.instances = instances;
});
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {if (!Y.Media) {

return;

}

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_whitelist = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_whitelist || {};


Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets['lightbox90840d88d62683b9b008d52b399a46a0'] = {"lightboxId":"9744616df41711503bc1ecb310e3fc26","pivotId":"3b0068e8-b6c7-348a-85db-85b9a59e4c4c"};


Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset['9744616df41711503bc1ecb310e3fc26'] = {"spaceid":"2022398630","total":1,"photoby":"Photo By","xhrtype":"slideshow","videoconf":{"autoplay":true,"continuousPlay":true,"mute":false,"volume":"1.00","lang":"en-US","site":"news","region":"US","jurisdiction":"US","YVAP":{"accountId":"145","playContext":"default"},"pageSpaceId":"2022398630","comscoreC4":"US News","comscoreC6":"","showEmbedCode":true,"showShareUrl":true,"expName":"MediaArticleRelatedLightbox","expType":"inline","apiEnv":"prod"},"slideshow_id":null,"slideshow_title":null,"slideshow_title_baked_html":null,"slideshow_desc":null,"slideshow_rev":null,"slideshow_plink_vita":null,"photos":[{"type":"image","url":"http:\/\/l3.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/fOiVQ0xc2qNDkxM_Px80dQ--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zMjY7cT03OTt3PTQ1MA--\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/Reuters\/2012-11-12T133500Z_3_CBRE8AB0UHT00_RTROPTP_2_MARKETS-STOCKS.JPG","width":450,"height":326,"uuid":"3b0068e8-b6c7-348a-85db-85b9a59e4c4c","caption":"Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, November 9, 2012. REUTERS\/Brendan McDermid","captionBakedHtml":"

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, November 9, 2012. REUTERS\/Brendan McDermid","date":"Mon, Nov 12, 2012 8:36 AM EST","credit":"Reuters","byline":"BRENDAN MCDERMID","provider":"Reuters","photo_title":"Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange","pivot_alias_id":"traders-floor-york-stock-exchange-photo-120353119--finance","plink":"\/photos\/traders-floor-york-stock-exchange-photo-120353119--finance.html","plink_vita":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/photos\/traders-floor-york-stock-exchange-photo-120353119--finance.html","srchtrm":"Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange","revsp":"","rev":"e9e08720-2ccd-11e2-9df8-38c8ece5d272","surl":"http:\/\/l2.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/AdxoPpi3PHdwxQo4EIOB5w--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD01NjtxPTc5O3c9Nzc-\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/Reuters\/2012-11-12T133500Z_3_CBRE8AB0UHT00_RTROPTP_2_MARKETS-STOCKS.JPG","swidth":77,"sheight":56}]};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs['9744616df41711503bc1ecb310e3fc26'] = {"spaceid":"2022398630","ult_pt":"story-lightbox","darla_id":"","images_total":0,"xhr_url":"\/_xhr\/related-article\/lightbox\/?id=e6e29ef8-0927-3a7c-86b2-5c8f23e9ef8d","xhr_count":20,"autoplay_if_first_item_is_video":true};
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.RelatedArticle({count:"2",start:"1",
mod_total:"10", total:"0",
content_id:"e6e29ef8-0927-3a7c-86b2-5c8f23e9ef8d",
spaceid:"2022398630",
related_count:"-1"
});
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {(function(d){
d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(d.createElement('script')).src='http://d.yimg.com/oq/js/csc_news-en-US-core.js';
})(document);
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {
if(!("Media" in YAHOO)){YAHOO.Media = {};}
if(!("ugcrate" in YAHOO.Media)){YAHOO.Media.ugcrate = {};}
if(!("Media" in Y)){Y.namespace("Media");}
YAHOO.Media.ugcrate.ratings_0435e795bd059fdc45ffe81be016112d = new Y.Media.UgcRate({"context_id":"1b1f38ea-85f3-4829-9e56-8f8a5d659d43","sCrumb":"","containerId":"yom-sentimentrate-0435e795bd059fdc45ffe81be016112d","rateDimensions":"d1","appLang":"en-US","sUltSId":"2022398630","sUltProperty":"news-en-US","sUltCampaign":"","sUltPlatform":"ugcwidgets","sUltIntl":"US","sUltLang":"en-US","selfPageUrl":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/stock-futures-rise-china-fiscal-cliff-concern-120353571--finance.html?_esi=0","artContentId":"e6e29ef8-0927-3a7c-86b2-5c8f23e9ef8d","sUltQstnTxt":"Who do you think won the second debate?","artContentTitle":"S&P 500 and Nasdaq inch higher, fiscal cliff a concern","artContentDesc":"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks mostly ticked higher on Monday, but persistent concerns about the upcoming debate on the fiscal cliff limited gains even after last week\\'s steep sell-off. Barclays cut its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 1,325, citing fiscal cliff issues. The S&P 500 dropped 2.4 percent last week, the worst week for the benchmark index since June. It closed below its 200-day moving average for the first time in five months, and an extended run under that level could signal further losses ahead. Trading volume is expected to be light, with the U.S. ...","sUltBucketId":"test1","sUltSection":"sentirating","sUltBeaconUrl":"","sUltRecordPageviews":"1","sUltBeaconEnable":"1","serviceUrl":"\/_xhr","publisherContextId":"","propertyId":"2fcd79b5-b3a3-333e-b98e-722536a6698f","configurationId":"435db9ee-c55e-3766-b20d-c8ad3ff889d1","graphId":"","labelLeft":"Barack Obama","labelRight":"Mitt Romney","labelMiddle":"","itemimg":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/a\/i\/ww\/met\/yahoo_logo_us_061509.png","selfURI":"","aggregateRatingCount":"766954","aggregateReviewCount":"0","leftBlocksNum":"467325","rightBlocksNum":"299644","leftBlocksPerCent":"61","rightBlocksPerCent":"39","ugcrate_apihost":"api01-us.ugcl.yahoo.com:4080","publisher_id":"news-en-US","yca_cert":"yahoo.ugccloud.app.trusted_proxies","timeout_write":"5000","through_proxy":"false","optionStats":"{\"s1\":403498,\"s2\":14205,\"s3\":14695,\"s4\":20785,\"s5\":14142,\"s6\":299644,\"s7\":0,\"s8\":0,\"s9\":0,\"s10\":0}","l10N":"{\"FIRST_TO_READ\":\"You are first to read this. Share your feelings and start a conversation.\",\"SHARE_YOUR_FEELINGS\":\"You too can share your feelings and start a conversation!\",\"HOW_YOUR_FRIENDS_THINK\":\"Thank you for sharing your feeling on this article!\",\"PRE_SHARE_MSG\":\"Your Facebook friends on Yahoo! can see how you responded. To share your response on Facebook, click on the Facebook share option.\",\"START_THE_CONVERSATION\":\"Start the Conversation\",\"THANKS_FOR_SHARING\":\"Sure, that's how you feel... But what do your friends think?\",\"POLL_HEADER\":\"SOCIAL SENTIMENT\",\"SERVER_ERROR\":\"Oops there seems to be some error, please try again later\",\"LOADING\":\"Loading...\",\"SHARE_AFTER_COMMENT\":\"Your response has been shared on Facebook.\",\"UNDO\":\"Undo\",\"UNIT_PEOPLE\":\"People\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_DISAGREE\":\"disagree with your opinion.\",\"READ_MORE_TEXT\":\"Read what they have to say.\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"WHAT DO YOU THINK?\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_VERB_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"DRAG\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_THANKS_VOTING\":\"Thanks for voting\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 766,954 people have responded\",\"ONE_PERSON_ANSWERED\":\" 1 person has responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"TWO_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 2 people have responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED_AND_SHARED\":\" 766,954 people have responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s1\":403498,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s2\":14205,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s3\":14695,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s4\":20785,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s5\":14142,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s6\":299644,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s7\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s8\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s9\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s10\":0}","fbconfig":"{\"message\":\"undefined\",\"name\":\"undefined\",\"link\":\"\",\"source\":\"\",\"picture\":\"http:\\\/\\\/l.yimg.com\\\/a\\\/i\\\/ww\\\/news\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/27\\\/yahoo-tc.jpg\",\"description\":\"\",\"captionLeft\":\"undefined\",\"captionRight\":\"undefined\",\"app_id\":\"196660913708276\",\"redirect_uri\":\"\\\/_xhr\\\/ugcratefbredirect\\\/\"}","template_id":"LONG_SLIDER_SOUTH","obj_id":"ratings_0435e795bd059fdc45ffe81be016112d","opt_count":"6","opt_color1":"","opt_color2":"","template_html":"

Read More..

Violence flares in Golan even as Syria's opposition seeks recognition

DOHA (Reuters) - Syria's new opposition leadership, painfully forged under Arab and Western pressure, set out on Monday to gather recognition and wider backing for the struggle to take over the country from President Bashar al-Assad.

Violence flared again on the Turkish border and the line separating Syria from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, underscoring how the conflict is spilling into the region.

Reformist Damascus cleric Mouaz Alkhatib flew to Cairo to seek the Arab League's blessing for the new assembly that unanimously elected him as its leader the day before.

Alkhatib, 50, jailed several times for criticizing Assad, fled into exile this year. He has long promoted a liberal Islam tolerant of Syria's Christian, Alawite and other minorities.

"The first step towards recognition will take place at the Arab League," he told a news conference in Doha. The body would then seek endorsement from Assad's Arab and Western foes in the "Friends of Syria" group and from the U.N. General Assembly.

Russia, which with China has foiled U.N. action on Syria and views Assad's opponents as pawns of the West, urged the new body to negotiate and to reject outside meddling.

Asked if China recognized the new coalition, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei called on all parties to initiate "a political transition process guided by the Syrian people".

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and most Arab League members want Assad removed, although some, such as Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria, take a more neutral stance on Syria, where violence raged on.

BORDER BOMBING

Israeli tanks fired shells into Syria and scored "direct hits" in response to a Syrian mortar round that struck the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said.

It was the second time in two days that Israel has responded to what it said was errant Syrian fire. On Sunday the military said it had a fired a "warning shot" across the disengagement line, while on Monday it said it had fired back at "the source".

Syria and Israel have not fought over the Golan since the 1973 Middle East conflict, but are still formally at war.

At the northern end of the country, Syrian jets and helicopters attacked the rebel-held town of Ras al-Ain, with some bombs landing just meters (yards) from the Turkish border, sending scores of civilians fleeing into Turkey.

A Reuters reporter on the border said one warplane flew right along the border and appeared to stray across it at one point, as bombs sent up plumes of black smoke.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 people, including seven Islamist militants, had been killed in the air strikes on Ras al-Ain, which fell to rebels on Thursday during an advance into Syria's mixed Arab and Kurdish northeast.

Another opposition group put the Ras al-Ain death toll at 16. The pro-opposition Observatory, which tracks the violence from Britain, said 140 people were killed in Syria on Sunday. More than 38,000 people have been killed since March last year.

Turkey, whose border security worries were heightened by a sudden influx of 9,000 refugees within 24 hours last week, has consulted its NATO allies about possibly deploying Patriot surface-to-air missiles to deter Syria's air force.

Such a move could be a prelude to enforcing a no-fly zone in Syria, although Western powers have fought shy of this.

Riad Seif, a respected Syrian dissident who proposed the new opposition body, said no such military intervention was needed.

"We will protect ourselves by owning developed weapons and networks of defence missiles," he said, citing what he said was a promise by the Friends of Syria to provide "methods" to counter shelling and air strikes by Assad's forces.

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in Prague that the alliance would "do what it takes to defend Turkey", without referring specifically to Patriot missiles.

After days of wrangling in Qatar, Syrian politicians, rebels and representatives of ethnic and religious minorities finally laid aside their disputes and, under U.S. and Qatari pressure, agreed to form the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces, as a prelude to a government-in-exile.

INCLUSIVE APPROACH

Alkhatib, the former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, called on Syrian soldiers to desert and all sects to unite.

"We demand freedom for every Sunni, Alawi, Ismaili, Christian, Druze, Assyrian ... and rights for all parts of the harmonious Syrian people," the soft-spoken preacher said.

It is unclear whether the Coalition can succeed where the exile Syrian National Council (SNC) failed in overcoming the mutual suspicions and in-fighting that have weakened the nearly 20-month-old drive to end four decades of Assad family rule.

"This is a significant step forward, because they finally seem to be forging a more broadly-based platform that includes the SNC but without the SNC taking the lion's share," said Salman Shaikh, director of the Doha Brookings Center.

He said military councils fighting inside Syria should be plugged into the new political structure as a way of encouraging coordinated international support for the uprising.

"We need a unified channel of support," he said. "The United States still seems hesitant about training and arming the opposition, and I believe this is a mistake, because the U.S. has the capacity to do it more so than anyone else."

Qatar said recognition for a temporary Syrian government would allow it to seek weapons from abroad.

Washington, which promoted the Doha unity talks, hailed the outcome, promising to support the Syrian National Coalition "as it charts a course toward the end of Assad's bloody rule and the start of the peaceful, just, democratic future...".

Assad, whose Alawite minority is rooted in Shi'ite Islam, has support from Shi'ite Iran and its Lebanese Shi'ite allies, but has few friends among the region's Sunni-led nations.

With Syria enduring a bloody military stalemate almost 20 months after peaceful protests first erupted, Assad's opponents hope a more cohesive opposition can turn the tide, winning more military and diplomatic support from allies wary of the growing role of Islamist militants, some of them linked to al Qaeda.

"For the first time, there are credible multinational pledges to support the Syrian revolution, politically and logistically," said London-based Syria analyst Rima Allaf.

"With the promise of real weapons, the different groups of the Free Syrian Army are more likely to regroup under a unified opposition and command, as it is to their benefit."

She said success for the new opposition body could make the position of Russia and China irrelevant. "Their direct support of Assad may continue, perhaps until the stakes change and they see no more benefit to holding on to a losing side."

(Additional reporting by Andrew Hammond in Doha, Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman, Jonathon Burch in Ceylanpinar, Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem, Arshad Mohammed in Washington, Michael Martina in Beijing and Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Read More..

Dutch teenagers sentenced in “Facebook murder”

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Two Dutch teenagers were sentenced to two years in juvenile detention and three years of compulsory therapy on Monday for ordering the death of a girl after an argument on Facebook.

The case, known in the Netherlands as the “Facebook murder”, has caused widespread debate about the role of social media in violent crime.

The victim, identified only as 15-year old Winsie, was fatally stabbed in January at the request of the boy and girl, who were aged 17 and 16 respectively at the time.

Winsie had argued for weeks with the girl, and they had swapped insults on the social networking site.

“The defendants are guilty of a particularly serious criminal offence. The fact that a friendship between two young girls can turn into deep hate and ultimately into murder being incited is shocking and hard to comprehend,” a court in the city of Arnhem said in a statement.

The killer, who Dutch media named only as Jinhua and who was 14 when he committed the crime, was sentenced in September to one year in juvenile detention.

(Reporting Gilbert Kreijger; Editing by Anthony Deutsch and Pravin Char)

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Die-Hard 'Twilight' Fans Camp Out for Last Premiere

Super-dedicated Twilight fans are currently camped out for tonight's last premiere of the super-successful saga, where stars Peter Facinelli and Jackson Rathbone showed their appreciation Sunday by making appearances for all the "Twihards" that have made the franchise a worldwide phenomenon.

"After four years and five movies, it's more like a family now -- I'm gonna miss these guys not only on-set, but off-camera," Peter tells ET about the estimated 2,000 screaming fans. "All these fans camping out every year -- they really made this franchise what it was. It's a two way street, this relationship. We love them just as much as they love these movies."

Pics: A Look Back at the 'Breaking Dawn' Premiere

"The craziness just keeps escalating," Jackson smiles. "Year after year, we've been showing up to these events and there's just been a lot of screaming, a lot of hollering going on, and people having a good time."

Summit Entertainment organized a "camp" for Twilight fans, where according to Andrea Newkirk, who's been camped out since Thursday, the overall vibe has been fantastic (despite the cold) due to events such as a meet and greet with author Stephenie Meyer as well as screenings of the last four Twilight films.

"We are all here for the same thing -- to be able to sit together and to watch the movies together, it's a lot of fun. It's just a big camp out, that's really what it is," she explains.

Video: Rob, Kristen and Taylor on the End of 'Twilight'

Check out the video for an interview with a rare male Twilight fan camped out with his wife (who he calls "his Bella"), and Jackson Rathbone on the craziest fan request ever.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2's highly anticipated premiere happens tonight at Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre, with the film hitting theaters this Friday.

Read More..

British medical journal slams Roche on Tamiflu

LONDON (AP) — A leading British medical journal is asking the drug maker Roche to release all its data on Tamiflu, claiming there is no evidence the drug can actually stop the flu.

The drug has been stockpiled by dozens of governments worldwide in case of a global flu outbreak and was widely used during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.

On Monday, one of the researchers linked to the BMJ journal called for European governments to sue Roche.

"I suggest we boycott Roche's products until they publish missing Tamiflu data," wrote Peter Gotzsche, leader of the Nordic Cochrane Centre in Copenhagen. He said governments should take legal action against Roche to get the money back that was "needlessly" spent on stockpiling Tamiflu.

Last year, Tamiflu was included in a list of "essential medicines" by the World Health Organization, a list that often prompts governments or donor agencies to buy the drug.

Tamiflu is used to treat both seasonal flu and new flu viruses like bird flu or swine flu. WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said the agency had enough proof to warrant its use for unusual influenza viruses, like bird flu.

"We do have substantive evidence it can stop or hinder progression to severe disease like pneumonia," he said.

In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Tamiflu as one of two medications for treating regular flu. The other is GlaxoSmithKline's Relenza. The CDC says such antivirals can shorten the duration of symptoms and reduce the risk of complications and hospitalization.

In 2009, the BMJ and researchers at the Nordic Cochrane Centre asked Roche to make all its Tamiflu data available. At the time, Cochrane Centre scientists were commissioned by Britain to evaluate flu drugs. They found no proof that Tamiflu reduced the number of complications in people with influenza.

"Despite a public promise to release (internal company reports) for each (Tamiflu) trial...Roche has stonewalled," BMJ editor Fiona Godlee wrote in an editorial last month.

In a statement, Roche said it had complied with all legal requirements on publishing data and provided Gotzsche and his colleagues with 3,200 pages of information to answer their questions.

"Roche has made full clinical study data ... available to national health authorities according to their various requirements, so they can conduct their own analyses," the company said.

Roche says it doesn't usually release patient-level data available due to legal or confidentiality constraints. It said it did not provide the requested data to the scientists because they refused to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Roche is also being investigated by the European Medicines Agency for not properly reporting side effects, including possible deaths, for 19 drugs including Tamiflu that were used in about 80,000 patients in the U.S.

____

Online:

www.bmj.com.tamiflu/

Read More..

Wall Street Week Ahead: "Fiscal cliff" blues may lead to correction

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street's post-election sell-off may gather steam in the coming weeks as worries mount about the looming "fiscal cliff" and technical weakness suggests a possible correction ahead.

The benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 <.spx> closed below its 200-day moving average - a measure of the market's long-term trend - on Thursday for the first time in five months, and ended below it again on Friday. More than half of the Dow components are trading below key technical levels.

"I don't think you have to panic here, but I think you really want to be looking for the market to move lower for the next couple of months," said Frank Gretz, market analyst and technician for Wellington Shields & Co., a brokerage in New York. "I think the next rally is the rally you want to sell."

At the heart of the market's worry is whether U.S. leaders can come to agreement on some $600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases that are due to kick in early next year. Some fear dramatic cutbacks could send the U.S. economy into another recession.

The prospect of higher tax rates in 2013 is driving investors to sell shares as they seek to decrease the tax impact from their positions this year and next.

"You would have thought the fiscal cliff scenarios would have been already mulled over and priced in, but they weren't. It's almost like the market has ADD and can only focus on one thing at a time," said Natalie Trunow, chief investment officer of equities at Calvert Investment Management in Bethesda, Maryland, whose firm manages about $13 billion in assets.

The S&P 500 fell 2.4 percent for the week, its worst weekly percentage drop since June. The index is now down 6.4 percent from its intraday high for the year of 1,474.51 reached on September 14. That drop puts the benchmark index below its 50-day moving average, but not yet into correction territory, defined as a 10 percent drop from a peak.

READING THE TECHNICAL SIGNS

The S&P 500 has been trading in a range between the 50-day moving average of 1,433.50 and the 200-day moving average of 1,380.98 for about two weeks. A significant break below that lower level could be a precursor to further weakness, analysts said.

"There's a technical breakdown in the market that indicates further losses," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York. "A 10 percent drop is the next big line in the sand."

The primary driver of stock prices in coming weeks looks likely to be investor concern about the U.S. fiscal situation.

In a sign of the risks involved, comments by President Barack Obama on Friday about the upcoming negotiations caused stocks to sharply cut their gains.

The president, who defeated Republican candidate Mitt Romney in Tuesday's U.S. election, outlined a position for the fiscal issues on Friday that is far apart from that of his political opponents, suggesting a long battle is to come.

"If the market anticipates a resolution to the fiscal cliff or Europe or any of the other bricks in the wall of worry, we could easily take off," Sarhan said.

Seventeen of the Dow's 30 components are trading below both their 50-day and 200-day moving averages, while another eight are under their 50-day levels, but not their 200. Only five components - Bank of America , JPMorgan Chase & Co , Home Depot Inc , Johnson & Johnson and Travelers Cos - are above both support levels.

Another big negative for the market has been heavy selling of Apple shares. The stock of the world's biggest company, ranked by market capitalization, lost 5.2 percent this week, weighing heavily on both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq <.ixic>. The stock is down 22.4 percent from its September 21 all-time intraday high of $705.07.

BIG RETAILERS' REPORT CARDS

The election and fiscal cliff concerns, which came on the heels of Superstorm Sandy and its devastating effects on many parts of the U.S. Northeast, have captured so much attention that they've overshadowed weakness coming from third-quarter earnings.

With results in from 449 of the S&P 500 companies, third-quarter earnings now are estimated to have declined 0.3 percent from a year ago, which is slightly better than the forecast at the start of the reporting period. Results have been especially weak on the revenue side, however, with just 38 percent of companies beating on sales, Thomson Reuters data showed.

But recent stronger economic data, including a report on Friday showing consumer sentiment at more than a five-year high in early November, suggests that retailers, many of which have yet to report, could be among the stronger performers this earnings period.

Next week, results are expected from such big names as Target , Wal-Mart and Home Depot.

Consumer discretionary companies have outperformed the broader S&P 500 in earnings, with 72 percent of the companies in that sector beating analysts' expectations, compared with 63 percent for the S&P 500 as a whole.

Investors will be paying close attention to those results with the holiday shopping period around the corner, said Rick Meckler, president of LibertyView Capital Management in Jersey City, New Jersey, which oversees about $1 billion in assets.

"It's really the beginning of the Christmas sell season, and I think there's going to be a lot of interest with the outlook for that season and how promotional companies are going to be," Meckler said.

(Wall St Week Ahead runs every Friday. Questions or comments on this column can be emailed to: caroline.valetkevitch(at)thomsonreuters.com )

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch and Ryan Vlastelica; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Read More..

Israel says may escalate as Hamas joins Gaza clashes

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said it was poised to escalate attacks on the Gaza Strip on Sunday following a surge of rocket and mortar salvoes by Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

A missile strike wounded four Israeli troops on jeep patrol along the Gaza boundary on Saturday, triggering army shelling that killed four Palestinian civilians and, in turn, dozens of short-range rocket launches out of Gaza that paralyzed Israel's southern border towns.

Two Gaza militants died in the ensuing Israeli air strikes. Two workers were wounded later when a plastics factory in northern Gaza Strip caught fire after it was hit by an Israeli tank shell, emergency workers said.

Israel's Iron Dome defense system knocked out a longer-range "Grad" rocket that was aimed at the southern city of Beersheba, the army said.

Thousands of Palestinians marching in the funerals of six people killed in the past 24 hours cried: "Revenge, revenge". One man said an Israeli tank fired at children then fired on adults who rushed to the scene.

The Israeli military said the tank had shot back at the spot where shortly before militants had fired an anti-tank missile at the army patrol. "It is very unfortunate that these terrorists use their own people as human shields," said Major Arye Shalicar, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Israel went to war against Hamas in the winter of 2008-2009 but has shown little appetite for a new round that could strain fraught relations with the new Islamist-rooted government in neighboring Egypt, which made peace with Israel in 1979.

But conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be reluctant to seem weak ahead of a January 22 general election that opinion polls currently predict he will win.

"The world needs to understand that Israel will not sit with arms crossed when faced by attempts to hurt us. And we are prepared to harshen the response," Netanyahu told his cabinet in remarks aired by Israeli broadcasters.

After not openly taking part in Saturday's fighting, which included the firing of dozens of Palestinian short-range rockets and mortar bombs, Hamas issued a joint statement with five other factions claiming responsibility for Sunday's fresh salvoes.

ON THE FENCE

Though hostile to the Jewish state, Islamist Hamas has in the past avoided clashes as it consolidates its Gaza rule and convince Egypt's new rulers it can be a stabilizing force.

Israeli officials have at times noted Hamas's efforts to impose calm in Gaza, which it has governed since 2007, and maintain a policy of holding it solely responsible for any violence from the coastal territory, whoever is firing.

Four Israelis were wounded by rockets on Sunday, a military spokeswoman said. Southern Israeli municipalities ordered residents to shelters and shuttered some schools.

Islamic Jihad, a smaller faction than Hamas which often operates independently, said one rocket crewman was killed by an Israeli air strike on Sunday, after another member was killed on Saturday while photographing the fighting.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak, a centrist in Israel's coalition government, played down speculation that the upcoming election was affecting Gaza policy.

"I don't think the election should be a consideration in how we respond. It is not meant to make us avoid action ... nor is it meant to provoke us into grabbing some kind of opportunity for an operation," Barak told Israel's Army Radio.

The 2008-2009 Gaza coincided with an election campaign and some Israeli analysts see the same dynamics building.

Barak described Saturday's jeep ambush as part of a Palestinian strategy of raising the cost of Israel's countermeasures against cross-border infiltration. Israeli forces often mount hunts for tunnels and landmines on the inside of the Gaza boundary, creating a no-go zone for Palestinians.

"Of course we don't accept their attempt to change the rules," Barak said. "The essence of the struggle is over the fence. We intend to enable the IDF to work not just on our side but on the other side as well."

Palestinians said four of Saturday's dead were civilians hit by a tank shell while paying respects at a mourning tent in Gaza's Shijaia neighborhood. Israel denies targeting civilians.

(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Crispian Balmer, Douglas Hamilton and Jason Webb)

Read More..

Ohio teen sentenced to life in Craigslist murders

AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) – Seventeen-year-old Brogan Rafferty was sentenced to life in prison without parole on Friday for his role in the killing of three men and the attempted murder of another, some of whom were lured by a Craigslist ad promising work on an Ohio farm.

Rafferty was 16 when he was arrested in November 2011, but was tried as an adult. He was convicted late last month in the murders of David Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Virginia; Ralph Geiger, 56, of Akron, Ohio; and Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, Ohio.

Prosecutors called the teen an apt pupil to the alleged trigger-man, Richard Beasley, 53, who is also charged in the murders.

Rafferty testified that he was terrified of the man he had considered a father figure and spiritual advisor after he saw Beasley shoot Geiger in the head execution-style.

During the trial, jurors heard testimony that the teen helped dig the graves for three of the men and was found in possession of guns and knives stolen from them after Beasley shot them.

Beasley’s trial is scheduled in the same courtroom for January 7. He faces the death penalty if convicted. Both Rafferty and Beasley’s attorneys are under a gag order and are not permitted to talk to the media.

In other incidents involving Craigslist and other social media, people advertising goods for sale or responding to ads have been attacked and killed.

In 2009, a former medical student was accused of killing a masseuse he met through Craigslist. In February, two men in Tennessee were accused of killing a man and a woman for “unfriending” the daughter of one of the suspects on Facebook.

(Reporting by Kim Palmer; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and David Brunnstrom)

Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Buzzmakers: Brooke's Cancer Fight & World War Z

What had ET readers buzzing this week?

1. It's Brad vs. Zombies in World War Z

Zombie attack!!! Brad Pitt plays a family man and United Nations employee who faces a deadly zombie pandemic in World War Z -- we gave you an exclusive first look and now we've got the intense trailer!

Just when you thought that the zombie genre may be starting to generate less screams and more Zzzz's, World War Z arrives with an adrenaline shot in the arm for the genre -- complete with insane special effects and a claustrophobic urgency and realism not seen since the introduction of those "speed zombies" in 28 Days Later.

Directed by Marc Forster (Quantum of Solace), World War Z invades theaters June 21, 2013.

2. Oprah Reveals Her 2012 'Favorite Things'

It's officially the holiday season!

Oprah just revealed her "Favorite Things" for 2012, which includes such items as a $1,800 Jetson E-Bike, a $192 hand-picked Tom Ford lipstick palette and a $238 Lafco soap set.

"This luxuriously oversize, deliciously scented soap is my new go-to gift. I even brought a set to Mr. and Mrs. Colbert when I interviewed Stephen for Next Chapter," she says about the pricey soap set.

But of course if you don't have the income of Oprah, you can pick up O's December issue to learn how you can win all 49 of Oprah's favorite things, which hits newsstands November 6.

"Oprah's Favorite Things" is also getting its own two-hour, prime time special airing Nov. 18 on OWN. The special will surprise unsuspecting military spouses with items from the media mogul's exclusive must-have gift selections for the holiday season, and for the first time, viewers of Oprah's Favorite Things: 2012 will have the opportunity to watch and win select items featured in each segment of the show.

3. Brooke Burke-Charvet Reveals Cancer Diagnosis

Brooke Burke-Charvet released a video online Thursday to announce that she was recently diagnosed with a cancerous growth on her thyroid gland. In the video posted on her Modern Mom blog, the 41-year-old actress and TV host explained that a nodule was discovered on her thyroid and after a series of tests over the last few months, it was eventually determined to be cancerous and her thyroid will have to be removed.

"Which means that I'm going to have a nice big scar right her across my neck," Brooke said. "And I don't get to just walk around and pretend like nothing happened or not follow up or not share it, because it's going to be pretty much dead center."

Brooke said the discovery -- which originated from a regular physical -- came as a complete shock because she's otherwise healthy. "As crazy as it is, my head is in the right place, and it's going to be good," she said, adding that the doctors consider this a form of "good cancer" compared to many others and the prognosis is good. "I'm just going to make a positive out of this negative thing."

She said the surgery has been scheduled and she promised to keep her fans updated through her blog. "Now I'm ready to deal with it and I'm going to be fine. And I feel really, really strong."

Speaking on Thursday's episode of The Talk, Brooke's co-host on Dancing with the Stars, Tom Bergeron, commented on her cancer diagnosis. "My love and support are with you -- we are all there with her," he said. Bergeron added that he personally has a very positive outlook. "I've known about this for a few months. I have had experience with this in my family. You never want to hear the word cancer. But thyroid cancer is one of the most treatable cancers. It has an incredibly high success rate."

4. Kirstie on Secret Relationship with Swayze

Kirstie Alley reveals to ET's Chris Jacobs intimate details about what she says was a powerful attraction and hidden relationship with her North and South co-star, Patrick Swayze. Although both stars were married during filming of the mini-series, Alley tells Jacobs when she first saw Swayze, they had an intense attraction and she tried to avoid "going down that road," but they ultimately fell in love.

"Both of us were married. We did not have an affair. But again, I think what I did was worse. Because I think when you fall in love with someone when you're married, you jeopardize your own marriage and their marriage. It's doubly bad," said Alley.

Alley goes on to say that although she's friends with Patrick's wife, Lisa Niemi, who asked Alley to speak at Swayze's funeral, she is uncertain if Lisa is aware of their relationship.

5. One Direction & Drew Brees Play Catch - Exclusive

One Direction and Drew Brees teamed up last month to film an adorable Pepsi spot and during Thursday night's episode of The X Factor, the band will not only perform their newest singles, Live While We're Young and Little Things, but also reveal an alternate ending to the ad!

For those who missed the spot, the original ended with Drew Brees sacrificing his last can of Pepsi in order to become an unofficial member of One Direction. But, according to Angelique Krembs, VP Marketing for Pepsi, they also wanted to show fans what would happen if Drew won the last can of Pepsi. "Our latest Live For Now spot has received an enormous amount of buzz and online excitement," Krembs said. "And of course everyone wants to see the boys from 1D suit up in football gear and have some fun."

While you have to wait until Thursday to see the entire surprise ending to Pepsi's Live For Now television commercial, ETonline scored an exclusive sneak peek of One Direction tossing the pigskin around with Brees!

Tune in to The X Factor on November 8 at 8 p.m. to see the alternate ending!

Read More..