Toronto mayor to stay in power pending appeal of ouster












TORONTO (Reuters) – Toronto Mayor Rob Ford can stay in power pending an appeal of a conflict of interest ruling that ordered him out of his job as leader of Canada’s biggest city, a court ruled on Wednesday.


Madam Justice Gladys Pardu of the Ontario Divisional Court suspended a previous court ruling that said Ford should be ousted. Ford’s appeal of that ruling is set to be heard on January 7, but a decision on the appeal could take months.












Justice Pardu stressed that if she had not suspended the ruling, Ford would have been out of office by next week. “Significant uncertainty would result and needless expenses may be incurred if a by-election is called,” she said.


If Ford wins his appeal, he will get to keep his job until his term ends at the end of 2014. If he loses, the city council will either appoint a successor or call a special election, in which Ford is likely to run again.


“I can’t wait for the appeal, and I’m going to carry on doing what the people elected me to do,” Ford told reporters at City Hall following the decision.


Ford, a larger-than-life character who took power on a promise to “stop the gravy train” at City Hall, has argued that he did nothing wrong when he voted to overturn an order that he repay money that lobbyists had given to a charity he runs.


Superior Court Justice Charles Hackland disagreed, ruling last week that Ford acted with “willful blindness” in the case, and must leave office by December 10.


Ford was elected mayor in a landslide in 2010, but slashing costs without cutting services proved harder than he expected, and his popularity has fallen steeply.


He grabbed unwelcome headlines for reading while driving on a city expressway, for calling the police when a comedian tried to film part of a popular TV show outside his home, and after reports that city resources were used to help administer the high-school football team he coaches.


The conflict-of-interest drama began in 2010 when Ford, then a city councillor, used government letterhead to solicit donations for the football charity created in his name for underprivileged children.


Toronto’s integrity commissioner ordered Ford to repay the C$ 3,150 ($ 3,173) the charity received from lobbyists and companies that do business with the city.


Ford refused to repay the money, and in February 2012 he took part in a city council debate on the matter and then voted to remove the sanctions against him – despite being warned by the council speaker that voting would break the rules.


He pleaded not guilty in September, stating that he believed there was no conflict of interest as there was no financial benefit for the city. The judge dismissed that argument.


In a rare apology after last week’s court ruling, he said the matter began “because I love to help kids play football”.


Ford faces separate charges in a C$ 6 million libel case about remarks he made about corruption at City Hall, and is being audited for his campaign finances. The penalty in the audit case could also include removal from office.


(Reporting by Claire Sibonney; Editing by Janet Guttsman, Russ Blinch, Nick Zieminski; and Peter Galloway)


Canada News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

Casio’s new G-Shock smartwatch can display alerts from your iPhone [video]












Since the Dick Tracy cartoon days, every gadget nerd’s dream has been to have a smartwatch. And while smartphones have largely made the need for wearing wristwatches unnecessary, companies continue to search for ways to connect watches and smartphones. Casio’s GB6900AA G-Shock is the latest smartwatch that connects to Apple (AAPL) iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. Using Bluetooth 4.0, the watch can provide a number of notifications such as alerting you when you have new calls, text messages and incoming email. The G-Shock also has a “Phone Finder” feature that’s similar to the Find My iPhone app that lets you locate your misplaced iPhone with the press of a button on your watch. To our disappointment, the G-Shock doesn’t have a built-in microphone for one-button Siri operation, but it does have an automatic time adjuster that changes time zones on the fly.


As with all G-Shocks, the GB6900AA is one tough watch. It has a two-year battery based on 12 hours of Bluetooth syncing per day and 200 meters of water resistance and shock absorption. Casio’s selling the watches for $ 180 at select U.S. department stores and its online website.












A video demonstration of Casio’s new Bluetooth G-Shock follows below.


Get more from BGR.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook


Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

Pfizer breast cancer drug delays progression 18 months












(Reuters) – An experimental drug showed impressive effectiveness and safety in a mid-stage trial against a common form of advanced breast cancer, lifting Pfizer Inc shares nearly 2 percent.


The favorable results prompted the drugmaker to plan large late-stage trials of the drug next year. If approved, the medicine could fetch multi-billion dollar sales, industry analysts said.












The drug, called PD-0332991, delayed by more than 18 months the worsening of symptoms for postmenopausal women with the most common form of breast cancer. Data from the study of the drug was presented on Wednesday at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.


The medicine, which blocks enzymes known as CDK4 and 6 kinases, was taken in combination with a standard drug called letrozole among women who were estrogen receptor positive – meaning tumors grow in response to estrogen – and HER2-negative, meaning that the HER2 protein is not causing the cancer. Such patients make up about 60 percent of breast cancer cases.


Patients had either locally advanced tumors or cancer that had spread to other parts of the body.


Those taking both drugs went an average of 26.1 months before tumors worsened. That compared with 7.5 months for those taking letrozole, but not PD-0332991. The 18.6 month difference was considered statistically significant.


“In a disease where a several-month improvement in progression-free survival is considered impressive, we view an 18.6-month improvement in PFS as remarkable,” said analyst Jon LeCroy of MKM Partners. He predicted Pfizer will introduce the medicine in 2017.


Letrozole is the chemical name of Femara, a Novartis drug that belongs to a class of treatments called aromatase inhibitors that block production of estrogen.


Side effects seen in patients taking the drug combination included anemia, fatigue and neutropenia – a decline in white blood cells called neutrophils that can put patients at higher risk of infection.


“If approved in a front-line breast cancer setting, this drug has the potential to generate $ 2 billion to $ 6 billion” in worldwide sales for these types of breast cancer patients, said Mark Schoenebaum, an analyst with ISI Group, of PD-0332991.


Schoenebaum, who had not previously predicted any revenue for the drug, said the medicine could provide considerable “upside” to Pfizer revenue if it is cleared by regulators.


He noted that researchers have not yet disclosed to what degree the Pfizer drug might have prolonged patient survival.


Pfizer had released some data from the trial in May, but released updated findings on Wednesday.


Shares of Pfizer closed up 46 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $ 25.64 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.


(Reporting By Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)


Diseases/Conditions News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

Working families ‘hit by changes’













Working families from poorer backgrounds will be hit hard by changes to tax and benefits announced in the Autumn Statement, Labour has said.












A working family with children on £20,000 a year would lose £279 a year from April, the party said.


Meanwhile, the Fitch agency has said the UK’s AAA rating is under threat after the chancellor said the coalition would miss its debt reduction target.


George Osborne told MPs “the road is hard but we’re making progress”.


Mr Osborne also announced a fresh squeeze on benefits, as he admitted the UK economy was performing less well than expected.


Most working age benefits, such as Jobseekers Allowance and Child Benefit, will go up by 1%, less than the rate of inflation, for the next three years.


A bill limiting benefit increases is expected to be introduced in the Commons this month, ministers have said.


BBC political correspondent Iain Watson said Labour has not yet said whether it will vote against the government, but Mr Balls is pointing out that many of those in receipt of benefits are not unemployed, but are in low-paid work, and that statutory maternity pay will also be limited to a 1% increase.


While austerity measures will be extended to 2018, Mr Osborne also announced more money for roads and schools and axed a planned 3p fuel duty rise.


He said “turning back now would be a disaster” for the UK. But Labour said his credibility was “in tatters”.


Continue reading the main story
  • One of the two major statements the chancellor has to make to Parliament every year

  • Since 1997 the main Budget – which contains the bulk of tax, benefit and duty changes – has been in the spring before the start of the tax year in April

  • The second statement has tended to focus on updating forecasts for government finances

  • Under the last Labour government it was called the pre-Budget report


Shadow chancellor Ed Balls, for Labour, accused Mr Osborne of breaking his own rules, on which his credibility depended.


“After two and a half years we can see, and people can feel in the country, the true scale of this government’s economic failure,” Mr Balls told MPs,


He said the average family with children on £20,000 a year would be “worse off” – even with the personal allowance changes.


Mr Balls claimed Mr Osborne’s plan to raise £1bn from pension tax relief on the well-off raised less than £1.6bn given away in Mr Osborne’s first Budget on the same reliefs.


But the chancellor said the measure proved “we are all in it together”.


Mr Osborne had said debt would start falling as a proportion of GDP by 2015/16 – the year of the next general election.


But he has been forced to delay that target by a year because of the worse than expected state of the economy, which is now expected to shrink this year by 0.1%.


The Office for Budgetary Responsibility says the UK has a “better than 50% chance of eliminating the structural current deficit in five years time”, said the chancellor – meaning his other key objective has been pushed back by a year to 2017/18.


But Fitch, which said in March that the UK’s AAA rating was under threat, has argued the Autumn Statement confirmed the scale of the challenge facing the government in reducing the public debt.


A cut to the credit rating would mean that the country is perceived as more risky to lend to, thereby raising the cost of borrowing from international investors.


Continue reading the main story


In other moves:


Income tax personal allowances will go up by £1,335 – £235 more than previously announced – so no tax will be paid on earnings under £9,440.


The threshold for the 40% rate of income tax is to rise by 1% in 2014 and 2015 from £41,450 to £41,865 and then £42,285.


The basic state pension will rise by 2.5% next year to £110.15 a week.


Mr Osborne announced a fresh crackdown on tax avoidance and a squeeze on Whitehall budgets to pay for a new road and school building programme.


A senior Liberal Democrat source described the Autumn Statement as a “good package” of measures in which the coalition had made “tough but fair” decisions.


BBC News – Business


Read More..

Death toll from Philippine typhoon nears 300












NEW BATAAN, Philippines (AP) — Stunned parents searching for missing children examined a row of mud-stained bodies covered with banana leaves while survivors dried their soaked belongings on roadsides Wednesday, a day after a powerful typhoon killed nearly 300 people in the southern Philippines.


Officials fear more bodies may be found as rescuers reach hard-hit areas that were isolated by landslides, floods and downed communications.












At least 151 people died in the worst-hit province of Compostela Valley when Typhoon Bopha lashed the region Tuesday, including 78 villagers and soldiers who perished in a flash flood that swamped two emergency shelters and a military camp, provincial spokeswoman Fe Maestre said.


Disaster-response agencies reported 284 dead in the region and 14 fatalities elsewhere from the typhoon, one of the strongest to hit the country this year.


About 80 people survived the deluge in New Bataan with injuries, and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, who visited the town, said 319 others remained missing.


“These were whole families among the registered missing,” Roxas told the ABS-CBN TV network. “Entire families may have been washed away.”


The farming town of 45,000 people was a muddy wasteland of collapsed houses and coconut and banana trees felled by Bopha’s ferocious winds.


Bodies of victims were laid on the ground for viewing by people searching for missing relatives. Some were badly mangled after being dragged by raging flood waters over rocks and other debris. A man sprayed insecticide on the remains to keep away swarms of flies.


A father wept when he found the body of his child after lifting a plastic cover. A mother, meanwhile, went away in tears, unable to find her missing children. “I have three children,” she said repeatedly, flashing three fingers before a TV cameraman.


Two men carried the mud-caked body of an unidentified girl that was covered with coconut leaves on a makeshift stretcher made from a blanket and wooden poles.


Dionisia Requinto, 43, felt lucky to have survived with her husband and their eight children after swirling flood waters surrounded their home. She said they escaped and made their way up a hill to safety, bracing themselves against boulders and fallen trees as they climbed.


“The water rose so fast,” she told AP. “It was horrible. I thought it was going to be our end.”


In nearby Davao Oriental, the coastal province first struck by the typhoon as it blew from the Pacific Ocean, at least 115 people perished, mostly in three towns that were so battered that it was hard to find any buildings with roofs remaining, provincial officer Freddie Bendulo and other officials said.


“We had a problem where to take the evacuees. All the evacuation centers have lost their roofs,” Davao Oriental Gov. Corazon Malanyaon said.


The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies issued an urgent appeal for $ 4.8 million to help people directly affected by the typhoon.


The sun was shining brightly for most of the day Wednesday, prompting residents to lay their soaked clothes, books and other belongings out on roadsides to dry and revealing the extent of the damage to farmland. Thousands of banana trees in one Compostela Valley plantation were toppled by the wind, the young bananas still wrapped in blue plastic covers.


But as night fell, however, rain started pouring again over New Bataan, triggering panic among some residents who feared a repeat of the previous day’s flash floods. Some carried whatever belongings they could as they hurried to nearby towns or higher ground.


After slamming into Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, Bopha roared quickly across the southern Mindanao and central regions, knocking out power in two entire provinces, triggering landslides and leaving houses and plantations damaged. More than 170,000 fled to evacuation centers.


As of Wednesday evening, the typhoon was over the South China Sea west of Palawan province. It was blowing northwestward and could be headed to Vietnam or southern China, according to government forecasters.


The deaths came despite efforts by President Benigno Aquino III’s government to force residents out of high-risk communities as the typhoon approached.


Some 20 typhoons and storms lash the northern and central Philippines each year, but they rarely hit the vast southern Mindanao region where sprawling export banana plantations have been planted over the decades because it seldom experiences strong winds that could blow down the trees.


A rare storm in the south last December killed more than 1,200 people and left many more homeless.


The United States extended its condolences and offered to help its Asian ally deal with the typhoon’s devastation. It praised government efforts to minimize the deaths and damage.


___


Associated Press writers Jim Gomez, Teresa Cerojano and Oliver Teves in Manila contributed to this report.


Asia News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

HTC, Apple ordered to show which patents were included in their settlement agreement












Read More..

Netflix to get Disney films in TV distribution deal












(Reuters) – Walt Disney gave a much needed boost to Netflix, becoming the first major Hollywood studio to use the video service to bypass premium channels like HBO that traditionally controlled the delivery of movies to TV subscribers.


News of the deal, which enables Netflix to stream Disney‘s first-run movies to its subscribers, boosted Netflix shares by 14 percent.












Liberty Media Corp, whose Starz group now distributes Disney movies on TV, fell almost 5 percent.


Investors saw the Netflix-Disney deal as an important endorsement of the DVD rental and streaming service, which has been struggling with slowing subscriber growth and higher costs for content distribution.


Disney movies will be available for streaming on Netflix starting in 2016, after its current deal with Liberty Media‘s pay-TV channel Starz expires. The deal is for both new Disney movies and library content such as “Dumbo” and “Alice in Wonderland.”


“An exclusive deal with Disney differentiates the Netflix content from Hulu Plus and Amazon Instant Video,” said Anthony DiClemente, an analyst with Barclays Capital.


But some analysts worried that Netflix paid too much to get Disney‘s movies. Tony Wible, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott, estimated in a report that Netflix paid more than $ 350 million a year for Disney‘s movies and said “we would not be surprised if (Netflix) would need to raise capital”.


By comparison, HBO agreed to pay an estimated $ 200 million annually in its so-called “output,” or movie licensing deal, with 20th Century Fox earlier this year, according to the Los Angeles Times.


The deal gives Netflix streaming rights to movies from Disney‘s live-action and animation studios, including those from Pixar, Marvel, and the recently acquired Lucasfilm. On October 30, Disney announced a $ 4 billion deal to purchase the famed studio founded by George Lucas, which will now make new episodes in the blockbuster “Star Wars” series.


“This deal brings to our subscribers some of the highest quality, most imaginative family films being made today,” Ted Sarandos, Netflix‘s chief content officer, said in a statement. “It’s a leap forward for Internet television.”


DREAMWORKS EXCLUDED


Movies from Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios are not included in the deal, as that studio distributes its movies through CBS’s Showtime on TV. Disney recently signed a deal to distribute DreamWorks’ films theatrically after the studio’s deal with Viacom’s Paramount Pictures expired.


The deal allows Netflix to stream Disney movies beginning seven to nine months after they appear in theaters, as Starz does now under Disney‘s prior agreement. The deal does not cover DVD rentals of Disney movies.


Disney said in November that it would shut down its own video streaming service, Disney Movies Online, which had failed to catch on with users. A message on the ‘Disney Movies Online’ website said it would shut down on December 31.


Netflix, which started its streaming business with mostly older films, has been moving to add more original programming and produces TV shows such as “Lilyhammer,” which stars “Sopranos” actor Steven Van Zandt as an American gangster who starts a new life in Norway. The company also struck a high-profile deal with actor Kevin Spacey for “House of Cards.”


The Disney pact follows similar deals Netflix has inked for new films with smaller studios, including Relativity Media, The Weinstein company and DreamWorks Animation.


The agreements have saddled Netflix with nearly $ 5 billion in contractual commitments over the next three years for deals its made for streaming content, the company said in a recent quarterly earnings report.


Netflix‘s struggles over the last year, which have included missed subscriber guidance, an ill-fated attempt to split the DVD and streaming operations, and a swooning stock price, recently attracted the attention of billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn.


Icahn disclosed in regulatory filings on October 31 that he had amassed a nearly 10 percent stake in the video company and suggested it should pursue a sale. Netflix responded by adopting a poison pill defense.


Losing Disney’s movies means Starz is left with only Sony Pictures for film content. The pay-TV channel cast the ending of its agreement with Disney as its decision, saying it preferred to use the money for original programming creation.


Liberty Media‘s shares will “rebound,” said Vijay Jayant, an analyst with International Strategy and Investment Group.


“We believe it was Starz‘ decision to remain prudent and walk away from the bidding for Disney content,” ISI said in a report, estimating that it might have cost Starz $ 400 million to keep the movies.


Without that expense, Starz can step up its production of original series such as “Spartacus” and “Magic City,” which ISI said have become more valuable to cable operators anyway.


Netflix shares jumped $ 10.6491, or 14 percent, to $ 86.6491. Liberty Media shares fell $ 5.49, or almost 5 percent, to $ 105.56.


(Reporting By Ronald Grover; Editing by David Gregorio; Editing by Peter Lauria, Tim Dobbyn, David Gregorio and Jeremy Laurence)


TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

Chelsea’s hypotension drug fails to prove efficacy past week one












(Reuters) – Chelsea Therapeutics Inc said its experimental hypotension drug met the main goal of a study by significantly reducing dizziness in patients at week one, but results beyond that period were not statistically significant.


The U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve the drug, Northera, in March, and asked for data that proved it was effective over two to three months.












The company’s shares, which have lost about two-thirds of its value so far this year, fell 22 percent to $ 1.40 in extended trading after closing at $ 1.79 on Tuesday on the Nasdaq.


Chelsea said in August that it would modify the main goal of the ongoing 306B study, though the FDA had said the study was unlikely to provide sufficient data for a marketing application and had suggested the company conduct an additional trial.


The drugmaker said on Tuesday that preliminary data showed that beyond week one, dizziness/lightheadedness and standing blood pressure predominantly favored Northera-treated patients over placebo, although the results were not statistically significant.


The drug, known generically as droxidopa, is designed to treat symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension — a chronic and often debilitating drop in blood pressure on standing up that is most often associated with Parkinson’s disease.


(Reporting by Vidya P L Nathan in Bangalore; Editing by Anthony Kurian)


Seniors/Aging News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

Pentagon opens rocket launches to competition












WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon has approved a plan that will allow the U.S. Air Force to buy up to 36 rocket launches for government satellites from a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co , while opening up to 14 launches to competition from other companies, the Air Force said on Tuesday.


The Pentagon has been moving aggressively to introduce more competition to defense procurement to help lower costs. Air Force officials have been particularly keen to introduce competition to the area of rocket launches — and adopt other reforms — given sharp increases in the cost of launches.












Under the new plan, the Air Force can buy as many as 14 launches over the next five years from possible bidders such as Space Exploration Technologies Corp, or SpaceX, and Orbital Sciences Corp .


The service may also buy as many as 36 launches from United Launch Alliance, the Lockheed-Boeing venture, with an option to purchase the other 14 launches if the competitors haven’t been certified to launch military and spy satellites that can cost up to $ 1 billion each.


Frank Kendall, the Pentagon’s chief weapons buyer, signed a memorandum approving the revamped acquisition approach on November 27, an Air Force spokesman said.


United Launch Alliance has been the sole supplier of medium- and heavy-lift rockets for military and spy satellites under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program since Boeing and Lockheed merged their rocket launch operations in 2005.


The program is estimated to cost $ 70 billion through 2030.


United Launch Alliance officials said the new approach would expand block-buying and help stabilize the industrial base and save money by allowing it to sign larger and longer-term contracts with its suppliers.


Without such action, Air Force officials say, the cost of one Atlas V rocket was expected to spike by 40 percent to over $ 250 million from around $ 180 million now.


The U.S. Air Force said on Monday it had selected SpaceX, Orbital Sciences and Lockheed to launch smaller military satellites on multiple missions through 2017 under a contract valued at up to $ 900 million.


(Reporting By Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Richard Pullin)


Business News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..

WestJet embraces tech to woo business travelers












TORONTO (Reuters) – WestJet Airlines Ltd will use technological innovation, including a new Internet ticket booking system, to help it transform from a no-frills carrier to a lower-cost full-service airline courting lucrative corporate travelers, its chief executive said on Monday.


Canada’s second-biggest airline plans to launch a series of technology systems, most notably the new online booking engine, which will sell three tiers of tickets, in the next two months.












“Companies evolve or they die,” Chief Executive Gregg Saretsky told Reuters in a phone interview from the company’s Calgary head office.


“We’re 16 and going on 17 years old and we can’t stay just as we were 17 years ago. The world has changed. And we are changing to be more relevant for a broader segment of guests.”


The new Internet booking system, which WestJet hopes to launch in late January, will sell economy, mid-tier and premium tickets. That is a major shift from its current system, which sells only the lowest-priced ticket available.


Economy tickets under the new system will continue to sell the lowest available fare, but the cancellation fee for them will jump to C$ 75 ($ 75.48) from C$ 50. Mid-tier tickets will have a C$ 50 cancellation fee.


Premium tickets, unavailable until late March when WestJet finishes reconfiguring its 100 Boeing 737 planes to allow more leg room, will include priority screening and boarding, free cancellations and flexibility on ticket changes.


Pricing for those tickets, which may include free meals and drinks and an extra baggage allowance, has not yet been determined. Fares will be well below half the price for business class at WestJet’s bigger competitor, Air Canada, Saretsky said.


“It’s time for us to be more serious with respect to going after business travelers because frankly, they’re the ones who are booking last-minute and are happy to pay for the conveniences,” Saretsky said.


WestJet will launch its premium economy service with 24 seats per plane, but will consider expansion if it proves “wildly successful,” he added.


POISED FOR CHANGE


WestJet, which has spent about C$ 40 million over the past two years on technology projects, is poised for major changes in 2013 as it readies to launch a new regional airline, Encore.


Saretsky hopes that WestJet’s switch in coming weeks to a new Internet phone system will allow ticket reservation agents to work from home and help make room for Encore staff.


Some 750 reservation agents work at WestJet’s Calgary offices, which house about 2,400 staff. Space will be needed for Encore employees over the next 18 months while their office, hangars and maintenance stores are constructed at the WestJet campus.


Encore will be launch in the second half of 2013, “probably closer to July than December,” Saretsky said, with seven Bombardier Q400 planes.


While WestJet won’t announce Encore’s schedule until Jan 21, the carrier will initially serve only “a handful” of new cities, with ticket prices up to 50 percent below Air Canada’s, he added.


Over the next two months, WestJet will also roll out a guest notification system that alerts travelers via email about their flights, allowing them to check in remotely.


Such self-service technology will be critical as WestJet faces increasing labor costs, Saretsky said.


Wage and benefit costs, which represent about a third of operating costs, have climbed 50 percent since WestJet was founded in 1996.


“You can see that creates a little bit of drag on earnings,” Saretsky said. “We’ve got to find ways of reducing our component costs.”


If WestJet can increase self service options for travelers, that could limit the need for new employees, Saretsky said. Management also wants to improve attendance management, so that fewer employees book off sick around long weekends, and more quickly clean and process planes between flights, he said.


(Reporting By Susan Taylor; Editing by Peter Galloway)


(This story was corrected to show that WestJet is replacing its Internet booking engine, not entire reservation system, in the first and second paragraphs)


Canada News Headlines – Yahoo! News


Read More..