Sat Nov 10, 2012 1:13pm EST (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc on Saturday reported a 100 percent cure rate using a combination of drugs in a small number of patients with the most common and hardest to treat form of hepatitis C. Rival Abbott Laboratories Inc, meanwhile, said a trio of its oral medicines to treat hepatitis C produced unprecedented cure rates in a la...

By Ransdell Pierson Sat Nov 10, 2012 12:31pm EST (Reuters) - A trio of oral medicines from Abbott Laboratories Inc to treat hepatitis C produced unprecedented cure rates in patients who had failed to benefit from standard treatment, as well as very high cure rates for newly treated patients, Abbott said on Saturday. Detailed data from the mid-stage trial,...

PARIS | Sat Nov 10, 2012 12:03pm EST PARIS (Reuters) - The makers of the renowned Nutella food spread say they will not change the lucrative recipe even if France, its biggest market, endorses proposals to quadruple tax on a key ingredient of the gooey mix, palm oil. Senators in France, where a left-wing government is hiking tax generally to help slash a...

By Basil Katz Sat Nov 10, 2012 11:16am EST (Reuters) - The United States has refused a request from Russia that convicted arms dealer Viktor Bout be returned to his home country to spend the remainder of his 25-year prison term, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said on Saturday. Bout, 54, was sentenced in April after a Manhattan federal court trial jur...

By Toni Clarke BOSTON | Sat Nov 10, 2012 10:00am EST BOSTON (Reuters) - Boehringer Ingelheim said on Saturday it plans to initiate a late-stage clinical trial of its experimental hepatitis C treatment following promising results from earlier studies. The company announced final data from a mid-stage trial of its treatment regimen which showed tha...

VATICAN CITY | Sat Nov 10, 2012 8:10am EST VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - A Vatican court on Saturday found Claudio Sciarpelletti, a computer expert, guilty of obstruction of justice in the investigation of leaks of sensitive papal documents to the media by Pope Benedict's former butler. The same court which last month convicted Paolo Gabriele, the Pope's form...

DIYARBAKIR | Sat Nov 10, 2012 7:57am EST DIYARBAKIR (Reuters) - Seventeen Turkish soldiers were killed on Saturday when their helicopter crashed in southeastern Turkey due to bad weather conditions including fog, the area's governor said. The Sikorsky helicopter crashed on Herekol mountain, in the Pervari area of Siirt province, Siirt Governor Ahmet Aydi...

BERLIN | Sat Nov 10, 2012 7:06am EST BERLIN (Reuters) - Europe's politicians seem to have already decided to continue funding Greece, European Central Bank policymaker Jens Weidmann was quoted as saying on Saturday. The ECB Governing Council member and Bundesbank chief said international lenders must still make an "unembellished and honest" assessment of...

MUMBAI | Sat Nov 10, 2012 7:05am EST MUMBAI (Reuters) - Afghanistan is "ripe and ready" for Indian investments in mining and other sectors, President Hamid Karzai told business leaders in Mumbai on Saturday at the start of a trip to woo investors for his war-ravaged country. "We'd like to welcome you with a red carpet, but you need to arrive at the red c...

By Kevin Yao BEIJING | Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:47am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - China announced on Saturday that it is effectively turning the corner on the economy and likely to meet its growth target for the year, more good news for Communist Party policy makers meeting in Beijing to anoint new leaders for the next decade. The world's second-biggest eco...

MOSCOW | Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:37am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Prominent Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny said on Saturday the jail sentence handed to a protester against President Vladimir Putin highlighted the government's harsh approach to dissent. Fitness club manager Maxim Luzyanin, the first of 17 people arrested during a protest on the eve of P...

By Ranga Sirilal COLOMBO | Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:34am EST COLOMBO (Reuters) - At least 27 people were killed and a senior police officer seriously wounded in a gunfight in Sri Lanka's biggest prison that began when police came under fire from inmates, officials and police said on Saturday. The army brought the violence under control before dawn and ...

BEIRUT | Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:34am EST BEIRUT (Reuters) - Dozens of Syrian security men were killed when two explosives-laden cars drove into a military camp in the southern town of Deraa on Saturday, an opposition watchdog said, in what appeared to be a double suicide attack. The first car drove into the camp and exploded, followed by the second vehicle, ...

YANGON | Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:33am EST YANGON (Reuters) - A train in Myanmar carrying petrol derailed and burst into flames, killing 25 people and injuring 62, most of them villagers trying to collect fuel spilled in the accident, state television said. MRTV said The fire started after three cars loaded with petrol turned over near a village in Kanbalu tow...

By Bill Rigby TACOMA, Washington | Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:22am EST TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - An Afghan villager and two of his sons, who survived a night-time shooting rampage in March, testified on Saturday that they saw only one U.S. soldier attacking their compound, backing the U.S. government's account. Military prosecutors are seeking the d...

Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:01am EST MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Banco Popular (POP.MC) offered a steeper-than-expected discount on a 2.5-billion-euro ($3.2 billion) new share issue in a last-ditch attempt to avoid the need for European aid to shore up its finances. Popular, the country's sixth-biggest bank, unveiled plans for the share issue after an independent stress te...

BUDAPEST | Sat Nov 10, 2012 5:43am EST BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Saturday struck an optimistic tone that a financing deal with foreign lenders was within reach, at odds with signals from his negotiating partners that the year-old talks were at a stalemate. Central Europe's most indebted nation signaled a year ago its p...

By Kevin Yao BEIJING | Sat Nov 10, 2012 5:17am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - China announced on Saturday that it is effectively turning the corner on the economy and likely to meet its growth target for the year, more good news for Communist Party policy makers meeting in Beijing to anoint new leaders for the next decade. The world's second-biggest eco...

Sat Nov 10, 2012 2:40am EST (Reuters) - The Los Angeles Lakers responded to the axing of coach Mike Brown by belting the Golden State Warriors 101-77 at the Staples Center on Friday for their second win of the season. After a close first quarter, the Lakers went on a tear with Kobe Bryant scoring 27 points, much to the delight of the home crowd.Having fired Brown...

By Lucy Hornby BEIJING | Sat Nov 10, 2012 2:17am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - The U.S. decision to approve steep duties on Chinese-made solar panels could cost American exporters a growing market, Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Saturday, adding that he didn't want to see a trade war. The U.S. International Trade Commission voted last we...

By Lucy Hornby BEIJING | Sat Nov 10, 2012 2:15am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States is exhibiting a "Cold War mentality" with its fears that Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer Huawei poses a security risk because of its ties to the Communist Party, China's commerce minister said on Saturday. The U.S. House of Representatives...

Sat Nov 10, 2012 1:33am EST (Reuters) - Spotify is in the middle of a $100 million financing round that could value the music streaming company at just over $3 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported citing sources. The Journal said Spotify would raise the fresh capital from multiple investors including Goldman Sachs. The WSJ report did not name any other inves...

Sat Nov 10, 2012 1:16am EST (Reuters) - Negotiations appeared to have soured on Friday as National Hockey League (NHL) owners and locked out players completed a fourth consecutive day of talks to resolve their bitter labor dispute. "We thought we were much closer together on a structure of a deal than suggestions were," NHL Players Association (NHLPA) executive d...

Sat Nov 10, 2012 12:44am EST (Reuters) - The New York Knicks remain the only unbeaten team in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after an impressive 104-94 win over the in-form Dallas Mavericks at Madison Square Garden on Friday. The Knicks were led by five-time all-star Carmelo Anthony who top scored with 31 points and bench man J.R. Smith who added 22, n...

NEW YORK | Fri Nov 9, 2012 10:18pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (MS.N) is suing a former employee who was convicted of insider trading in order to recover $33 million it said it paid U.S. regulators to settle civil claims relating to the crimes, court papers showed. In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court on October 31, Morgan Stanley ...

By David Henry Fri Nov 9, 2012 9:47pm EST (Reuters) - Citigroup said it will pay $15.5 million to Vikram Pandit, its former chief executive who resigned from company last month, as well as to his top deputy. The bank said on Friday the payments to Pandit and former Chief Operating Officer John Havens reflect the progress the bank made in 2012 and work the...

LOS ANGELES | Fri Nov 9, 2012 9:23pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Country-pop star Taylor Swift will ring in the New Year in the United States as the headline act on TV special "New Year's Rockin' Eve," which will feature a two-hour tribute to late host Dick Clark, organizers said on Friday. Swift, whose new album "Red" racked up more than 1 million copie...

SAN ANTONIO | Fri Nov 9, 2012 9:17pm EST SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - The will of the late actor Sherman Hemsley was ruled valid on Friday in Texas, clearing the way for the star of "The Jeffersons" to be buried more than three months after his death, the lawyer who prepared the will said. Hemsley, 74, died of lung cancer in Texas in July. His body has been h...

Fri Nov 9, 2012 7:51pm EST (Reuters) - Telus Corp reported a stronger third-quarter profit on Friday, as increased smartphone adoption boosted earnings from its wireless business and spurred the Canadian telecom company to raise its quarterly dividend. Wireless data revenue jumped 23 percent in the third quarter ended September 30 as the proportion of postpaid su...

By Caroline Valetkevitch and Ryan Vlastelica NEW YORK | Fri Nov 9, 2012 7:44pm EST 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 i...

Fri Nov 9, 2012 7:33pm EST (Reuters) - Celgene Corp said on Friday that a clinical trial of Abraxane, its drug to treat breast and lung cancer, improved survival in patients with pancreatic cancer. The company did not give details of the extent of the improvement, saying it would do so at a medical meeting in January, but said the results were statistically signi...

Fri Nov 9, 2012 7:31pm EST (Reuters) - Love letters written by Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger to American singer Marsha Hunt, discussing poetry and his personal turmoil, will hit the auction block next month. Hunt, with whom Jagger had his first child, Karis, told Britain's Guardian newspaper she was selling the letters, written in July and August 1969, beca...

By Jessica Toonkel and Rick Rothacker NEW YORK | Fri Nov 9, 2012 6:56pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ally Financial Inc is nearing a deal to sell its auto financing operations in Europe and Latin America for around $4 billion, with General Motors Co emerging as the lead bidder if the company decides to sell those operations as a whole, two sources fa...

Fri Nov 9, 2012 6:15pm EST (Reuters) - Seminal American author Philip Roth, whose novels explored modern Jewish-American life, has told a French magazine that he will write no more books because he has lost his passion for it. The author of such novels as "American Pastoral", for which he won a Pulitzer Prize, and "Portnoy's Complaint" slipped his retirement anno...

LOS ANGELES | Fri Nov 9, 2012 6:10pm EST LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "The Hunger Games" star Jennifer Lawrence will not be dieting for a role any time soon. Lawrence, 22, who plays the famished Katniss Everdeen in the life-or-death thriller series, told Elle magazine in an interview to be published on November 13 that dropping a few pounds will not be part o...

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK | Fri Nov 9, 2012 5:59pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Smoking has long been linked with slower recovery in general from injuries and surgeries, and now a new study finds that smokers face more complications and higher chances of death following major surgery for colorectal cancers and other diseases. "We wanted to ...

By Steven C. Johnson and Angela Moon NEW YORK | Fri Nov 9, 2012 5:33pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors are looking for a compromise to keep the U.S. economy from sailing over the fiscal cliff. It's just not clear that the politicians in Washington are ready to deliver one. With $600 billion in tax increases and automatic spending cuts due to t...

By Mark Hosenball WASHINGTON | Fri Nov 9, 2012 5:27pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The stalled nomination of William Baer to be chief of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division may move forward in the coming weeks, a person with knowledge of the situation said on Friday. Baer's nomination was ap...

By Mark Felsenthal and David Lawder WASHINGTON | Fri Nov 9, 2012 5:23pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Friday he was prepared to compromise with Republicans to avert a looming U.S. fiscal calamity, but insisted a tax increase for the rich must be part of any bargain. Obama, who was re-elected on Tuesday, reminded Republ...

By Jonathon Burch and Rania El Gamal ANKARA/DOHA | Fri Nov 9, 2012 5:06pm EST ANKARA/DOHA (Reuters) - Thousands of Syrians fled their country on Friday in one of the biggest refugee exoduses of the 20-month civil war after rebels seized a border town, and the United Nations warned that millions more still in Syria will need help as winter sets in...