* Rafael and Giggs on target for United * Cazorla double gives Arsenal victory * Wigan beat Reading in relegation battle (Adds details, quotes) LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Leaders Manchester United moved closer to a 20th title and pushed Queens Park Rangers nearer to relegation when goals from Rafael and Ryan Giggs gave them a 2-0 win at the bottom side in the Premier League on Saturday. The victory put United 15 points clear of champions Manchester City who face third-placed Chelsea at home on Sunday. ...
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Nevada legalizes first interstate online poker
Label: Technology(Reuters) – Nevada has become the first U.S. state to legalize interstate online poker and allow state-to-state gaming agreements, beating New Jersey to the punch and putting in place a potential nationwide framework for Internet wagering.
Republican Governor Brian Sandoval signed the landmark bipartisan bill into law on Thursday, authorizing his office to enter into agreements with other states that will in effect allow Nevada-based companies to host interactive gambling for residents of other states.
A number of companies have already been granted Nevada licenses for online poker, but were prepared to be limited to serving Nevada residents. Applicants include social gaming leader Zynga Inc. Shares in Zynga leapt as much as 7.4 percent on Friday.
With the bill, Nevada – home to Las Vegas, the world’s second-largest gambling hub – wants to pave the way for national Internet wagering even though efforts at federal regulation have stalled. Established companies including MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts hope they can add new customers and pitch online players to come to Vegas.
“This bill is critical to our state’s economy and ensures that we will continue to be the gold standard for gaming regulation,” Sandoval said in a statement after signing the bill on Thursday.
The bill removes a provision requiring federal legislation or Department of Justice approval before online gaming licenses are made active, according to Nevada’s statement.
Nevada Assembly Majority Leader William Horne, a Democrat from Las Vegas, told Reuters that he expects online poker to be the first of multiple online gambling offerings to residents of other states.
“Initially it’ll be starting with online poker, but certainly the infrastructure is set up for various interactive gaming,” Horne said.
“There are approximately a half-dozen companies already licensed to do this in our state,” Horne added. “We anticipate that to grow significantly.”
Horne said it is too early to say how much Nevada, which relies heavily on tourists spending money at its resorts and in its casinos, will see in the way of revenue from its initiative, which relies on compacts with other states.
“We recognize that online gaming worldwide has generated in excess of $ 5 billion,” Horne said. “Going forward we anticipate being competitive in this area.”
Nevada’s legislation comes as New Jersey – home to Atlantic City – considers a similar move to legalize online gambling. Republican Governor Chris Christie rejected a measure earlier this month that would have allowed Internet gambling, but has said he would consider approving such a law if it was framed properly.
A RISING TIDE
Many industry players hope that a tide of such proposed legislation will sweep through states across the country, opening a massive new online market.
The bills follow a 2011 declaration by the U.S. Justice Department that only online betting on sporting contests broke federal law. That opened the door for states to legalize some forms of online gambling.
Although widespread legalization appears years away at the minimum, obtaining a license in Nevada would be a meaningful start for the nationwide aspirations of entrants such as Zynga, especially if they can offer games to those in other states.
Zynga, which runs one of the world’s largest online communities of poker players, is hoping that a lucrative real-money market could make up for a steep slide in revenue from games like “FarmVille” that are losing players but still generate the bulk of its sales.
The Nevada signing came after a joint Judiciary committee hearing on Thursday morning and approval by the legislature in the afternoon.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington, D.C. and Jim Christie in San Francisco; Editing by Joseph Menn, Paul Thomasch and Phil Berlowitz)
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Josh Duhamel: Seeing Fergie's Ultrasound Makes Pregnancy Real
Label: Lifestyle
Mom & Babies
Celebrity Baby Blog
02/22/2013 at 11:00 AM ET
Stefanie Keenan/Wireimage
Josh Duhamel is ready for fatherhood, but says seeing wife Fergie‘s ultrasound makes the precious expectation of having his own child ever so real.
“It’s very exciting. Seeing that ultrasound is unlike anything you’ve ever seen. You’re like, ‘Wow, it’s mine,’” the actor tells Yahoo! omg! during a press junket for his new film Safe Haven.
The couple, who married in January 2009, announced their happy news via simultaneous Tweets on Monday.
Duhamel, 40, plays a father in his new film, but says time spent with family and friends’ children have opened his eyes to the joys of parenting — even though he knows he has a learning curve ahead.
“I think that I’ve always had an affinity for kids. There’s something about me and kids that just clicks,” explains Duhamel, who is anticipating learning the daddy ropes on the job once the Black Eyed Peas frontwoman delivers their baby.
“I don’t know if it’s because I am a kid, but it does prepare you whenever you’re around them,” he adds. ”I’ve got nieces and nephews and all my friends have kids. All that stuff is a learning experience for when it actually happens, but I don’t think you’re ever truly prepared until it’s your own.”
– Andrea Billups
FDA approves new targeted breast cancer drug
Label: HealthWASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a first-of-a-kind breast cancer medication that targets tumor cells while sparing healthy ones.
The drug Kadcyla from Roche combines the established drug Herceptin with a powerful chemotherapy drug and a third chemical linking the medicines together. The chemical keeps the cocktail intact until it binds to a cancer cell, delivering a potent dose of anti-tumor poison.
Cancer researchers say the drug is an important step forward because it delivers more medication while reducing the unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy.
"This antibody goes seeking out the tumor cells, gets internalized and then explodes them from within. So it's very kind and gentle on the patients — there's no hair loss, no nausea, no vomiting," said Dr. Melody Cobleigh of Rush University Medical Center. "It's a revolutionary way of treating cancer."
Cobleigh helped conduct the key studies of the drug at the Chicago facility.
The FDA approved the new treatment for about 20 percent of breast cancer patients with a form of the disease that is typically more aggressive and less responsive to hormone therapy. These patients have tumors that overproduce a protein known as HER-2. Breast cancer is the second most deadly form of cancer in U.S. women, and is expected to kill more than 39,000 Americans this year, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The approval will help Roche's Genentech unit build on the blockbuster success of Herceptin, which has long dominated the breast cancer marketplace. The drug had sales of roughly $6 billion last year.
Genentech said Friday that Kadcyla will cost $9,800 per month, compared to $4,500 per month for regular Herceptin. The company estimates a full course of Kadcyla, about nine months of medicine, will cost $94,000.
FDA scientists said they approved the drug based on company studies showing Kadcyla delayed the progression of breast cancer by several months. Researchers reported last year that patients treated with the drug lived 9.6 months before death or the spread of their disease, compared with a little more than six months for patients treated with two other standard drugs, Tykerb and Xeloda.
Overall, patients taking Kadcyla lived about 2.6 years, compared with 2 years for patients taking the other drugs.
FDA specifically approved the drug for patients with advanced breast cancer who have already been treated with Herceptin and taxane, a widely used chemotherapy drug.
Kadcyla will carry a boxed warning, the most severe type, alerting doctors and patients that the drug can cause liver toxicity, heart problems and potentially death. The drug can also cause severe birth defects and should not be used by pregnant women.
Kadcyla was co-developed by South San Francisco-based Genentech and ImmunoGen Inc., of Waltham, Mass. ImmunoGen developed the technology that binds the drug ingredients together and is scheduled to receive a $10.5 million payment from Genentech on the FDA decision. The company will also receive additional royalties on the drug's sales.
Shares of ImmunoGen Inc. slipped 8 cents to $14.22 in afternoon trading. They have traded in a 52-wek range of $10.85 to $18.10.
HP lifts Wall Street, S&P on pace for first weekly loss of year
Label: BusinessNEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Friday, rebounding off two days of losses as Dow component Hewlett-Packard surged on strong results, but the S&P 500 was on track to end a seven-week-long streak of gains.
The S&P shed 1.9 percent over the previous two sessions, its worst two-day drop since early November, putting the index on pace for its first weekly decline of the year. The retreat was triggered when the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes for January suggested stimulus measures may be halted sooner than thought.
Still, the index is up nearly 6 percent for the year and held the 1,500 support level despite the recent declines, a sign of a positive bias in the market.
"The market is addicted to Fed stimulus and gets withdrawal shakes every time that's threatened, but now we're resuming our course and remain much more attractively valued than other asset classes," said Rex Macey, chief investment officer at Wilmington Trust in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hewlett-Packard Co
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 69.41 points, or 0.50 percent, at 13,950.03. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 7.74 points, or 0.52 percent, at 1,510.16. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 18.26 points, or 0.58 percent, at 3,149.75.
For the week, the Dow is off 0.2 percent in its third straight week of slight losses, the S&P is off 0.6 percent and the Nasdaq is off 1.3 percent.
Also buoying tech stocks were gains in semiconductor companies after Marvell Technology Group Ltd
In addition, Texas Instruments Inc
"Dividends growing are another way the market's level is justified, if not especially attractive at these levels," said Macey, who manages about $20 billion in assets.
On the downside, Abercrombie & Fitch dropped 7.6 percent to $45.34 after the clothing retailer reported a drop in fourth-quarter comparable sales, even as its latest quarterly earnings topped estimates.
Insurer American International Group Inc posted fourth-quarter results that beat analysts' expectations. Shares advanced 3 percent to $38.43.
According to Thomson Reuters data through Friday morning, of 439 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results, 70 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters.
Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 6 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry)
South Africa's Pistorius goes free on $113,000 bail
Label: WorldPRETORIA (Reuters) - A South African court granted bail on Friday to Oscar Pistorius, charged with the murder of his girlfriend on Valentine's Day, after his lawyers successfully argued the "Blade Runner" was too famous to flee justice.
The decision by Magistrate Desmond Nair drew cheers from the Paralympics star's family and supporters. Pistorius himself was unmoved, in marked contrast to the week-long hearing, when he repeatedly broke down in tears.
Nair set bail at 1 million rand ($113,000) and postponed the case until June 4. Pistorius would be released only when the court received 100,000 rand in cash, he added.
Less than an hour later, a silver Land Rover left the court compound, Pistorius visible through the tinted windows sitting in the back seat in the dark suit and tie he wore in court.
The car then sped off through the streets of the capital, pursued by members of the media on motorcycles, before it entered his uncle Arnold's home in the plush Pretoria suburb of Waterkloof.
At least five private security guards stood outside the concrete walls, keeping reporters at bay.
Under the terms of his bail, Pistorius, 26, was also ordered to hand over firearms and his two South African passports, avoid his home and all witnesses, report to a police station twice a week and abstain from drinking alcohol.
The decision followed a week of dramatic testimony about how the athlete shot dead model and law graduate Reeva Steenkamp at his luxury home near Pretoria in the early hours of February 14.
Prosecutors said Pistorius committed premeditated murder when he fired four shots into a locked toilet door, hitting his girlfriend cowering on the other side. Steenkamp, 29, suffered gunshot wounds to her head, hip and arm.
Pistorius said the killing was a tragic mistake, saying he had mistaken Steenkamp for an intruder - a possibility in crime-ridden South Africa - and opened fire in a blind panic.
However, in delivering his nearly two-hour bail ruling, Nair said there were a number of "improbabilities" in Pistorius's version of events, read out to the court in an affidavit by his lawyer, Barry Roux.
"I have difficulty in appreciating why the accused would not seek to ascertain who exactly was in the toilet," Nair said. "I also have difficulty in appreciating why the deceased would not have screamed back from the toilet."
By local standards, the bail conditions are onerous but it remains to be seen if they appease opposition to the decision from groups campaigning against the violence against women that is endemic in South Africa.
"We are saddened because women are being killed in this country," said Jacqui Mofokeng, a spokeswoman for the ruling African National Congress' Women's League, whose members stood outside the court this week with banners saying "Rot in jail".
TOO FAMOUS TO RUN
However, Nair said he made his decision in the "interests of justice" and argued that the prosecution, who suffered a setback when the lead investigator withered under cross-examination by Roux, failed to show Pistorius was either a flight risk or a threat to the public.
Roux stressed the Olympic and Paralympics runner's global fame made it impossible for him to evade justice by skipping bail and leaving the country.
"He can never go anywhere unnoticed," Roux told the court.
Pistorius, whose lower legs were amputated in infancy forcing him to race on carbon fiber "blades", faces life in prison if convicted of premeditated murder.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a cold-blooded killer and said they were confident that their case, which will have to rely heavily on forensics and witnesses who said they heard shouting before the shots, would stand up to scrutiny at trial.
"We are going to make sure that we get enough evidence to get through this case during trial time," a spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority told reporters.
In court, lead prosecutor Gerrie Nel was scornful of Pistorius's inability to contain his emotions. "I shoot and I think my career is over and I cry. I come to court and I cry because I feel sorry for myself," Nel said.
"DEEPLY IN LOVE"
In his affidavit, Pistorius said he was "deeply in love" with Steenkamp, leading Roux to stress his client had no motive for the killing.
Pistorius contends he reached for a 9-mm pistol under his bed because he felt particularly vulnerable without his prosthetic limbs.
According to police, witnesses heard shouting, gunshots and screams from the athlete's home, which sits in the heart of a gated community surrounded by 3-m- (yard-) high stone walls topped with an electric fence.
In a magazine interview a week before her death, published on Friday, Steenkamp spoke about her three-month relationship with the runner, who won global fame last year when he reached the semi-final of the 400 meters in the London Olympics despite having no lower legs.
"I absolutely adore Oscar. I respect and admire him so much," she told celebrity gossip magazine Heat. "I don't want anything to come in the way of his career."
Police pulled their lead detective off the case on Thursday after it was revealed he himself faces attempted murder charges for shooting at a minibus. He has been replaced by South Africa's top detective.
Pistorius's arrest stunned the millions around the world who saw him as an inspiring example of triumph over adversity.
But the impact was greatest in South Africa, where he was seen as a rare hero for both blacks and whites, transcending the racial divides that persist 19 years after the end of apartheid.
(Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by Michael Roddy)
HTC settles FTC charges that it fails to secure software
Label: TechnologyWASHINGTON (Reuters) – HTC America, a maker of cell phones that use Android and Windows software, has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it failed to take adequate steps to eliminate security flaws that put smartphone and tablet users’ data at risk, the agency said on Friday.
HTC America, a subsidiary of HTC Corp in Taiwan, made millions of phones with programming flaws that allowed third-party applications to evade Android’s permission-based security model, the FTC said in a release.
The settlement requires HTC to establish a comprehensive security program and patch the software holes, the FTC said.
(Reporting By Diane Bartz)
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Scott and Lauren Sterling Adopt Five Peruvian Siblings
Label: Lifestyle
Heroes Among Us
Left to right: Gershon, 15; Joel, 11; Lauren, 30; Scott, 43; Sibila, 9; Yhonson, 17; Betsi, 12; Laney, 3; and Logan, 19
Courtesy The Sterling Family
Two years ago, Scott and Lauren Sterling were sitting in their Blue Springs, Mo., home when an email landed in their inbox with an eye-catching subject line: "Hi, we need a daddy and mommy."
That email, sent a world away from a small orphanage in Pacasmayo, Peru – and written by a fellow member of the couple's church where Scott, 43, is an associate pastor – introduced them to five siblings, then ages 7 to 15, who had lost both parents to tuberculosis about eight years ago. Because the children refused to be split up, the kids' chances of finding new parents were slim.
"Our first thought was, someone rich ought to adopt these beautiful kids," says Lauren, 30, a job recruiter who was already a mom to daughter Laney, now 3, and stepmom to Logan, 19, Scott's daughter from a previous marriage. "But over the next few months, we realized, why not us?"
The Sterlings began a year-long process to legally adopt the five siblings, which involved Skype chats with the kids, reams of paperwork, and $20,000 raised by the Sterlings' church to help with adoption fees. "It's very unusual to find a family willing to take in so many siblings," says Pat Baldwin, director of international programs at Villa Hope, which oversaw the adoption. "What the Sterlings have done is a true act of love.
In Nov. 2012, the Sterlings flew down to the orphanage to meet Yhonson, now 17, Gerson, 15, Betsi, 12, Joel, 11, and Sibila, 9, in person for the first time and to bring them back to the States.
"The girls came running to us from a distance and jumped into Scott's arms," recalls Lauren. Adds Yhonson, who speaks limited English: "We were so happy. It was very emotional. We waited so long to be together."
The new family returned to Missouri just a few days after Christmas and were greeted by friends and neighbors who had stocked the Sterlings' kitchen with food, repainted their bedrooms, and set up a Christmas tree loaded with presents for the kids.
"Our home is now a mixture of Spanish, English and Spanglish thrown in and we use Google Translate a lot," says Lauren. "People say these kids are lucky to have us, but we're the ones who're lucky to have them."
Know a hero? Send suggestions to heroesamongus@peoplemag.com. For more inspiring stories, read the latest issue of PEOPLE magazine
Flu shot did poor job against worst bug in seniors
Label: HealthATLANTA (AP) — For those 65 and older, this season's flu shot is only 9 percent effective against the most common and dangerous flu bug, according to a startling new government report.
Flu vaccine tends to protect younger people better than older ones and never works as well as other kinds of vaccines. But experts say the preliminary results for seniors are disappointing and highlight the need for a better vaccine.
For all age groups, the vaccine's effectiveness is moderate at 56 percent, which is nearly as well as other flu seasons, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
For those 65 and older, it is 27 percent effective against the three strains in the vaccine, the lowest in about a decade but not far below from what's expected. But the vaccine did a particularly poor job of protecting older people against the harshest flu strain, which is causing most of the illnesses this year. CDC officials say it's not clear why.
Vaccinations are now recommended for anyone over 6 months, and health officials stress that some vaccine protection is better than none at all. While it's likely that older people who were vaccinated are still getting sick, many of them may be getting less severe symptoms.
"Year in and year out, the vaccine is the best protection we have," said CDC flu expert Dr. Joseph Bresee.
To be sure, the preliminary data for seniors is less than definitive. It is based on fewer than 300 people scattered among five states.
But it will no doubt surprise many people that the effectiveness is that low, said Michael Osterholm, a University of Minnesota infectious disease expert who has tried to draw attention to the need for a more effective flu vaccine.
Among infectious diseases, flu is considered one of the nation's leading killers. On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.
This flu season started in early December, a month earlier than usual, and peaked by the end of year. Older people are most vulnerable to flu and its complications, and the nation has seen some of the highest hospitalization rates for people 65 and older in a decade.
Flu viruses tend to mutate more quickly than others, and it's not unusual for multiple strains to be spreading at the same time. A new vaccine is formulated each year targeting the three strains expected to be the major threats. But that involves guesswork.
Because of these challenges, scientists tend to set a lower bar for flu vaccine. While childhood vaccines against diseases like measles are expected to be 90 or 95 percent effective, a flu vaccine that's 60 to 70 percent effective in the U.S. is considered pretty good.
By that standard, this year's vaccine is OK. The 56 percent effectiveness figure means people have a 56 percent lower chance of winding up at the doctor for treatment of flu symptoms.
For seniors, a flu vaccine is considered pretty good if it's in the 30 to 40 percent range, said Dr. Arnold Monto, a University of Michigan flu expert.
Older people have weaker immune systems that don't respond as well to flu shots. That's why a high-dose version was recently made available for those 65 and older. The new study was too small to show whether that made a difference this year.
The CDC estimates are based on about 2,700 people who got sick in December and January. The researchers traced back to see who had gotten flu shots and who hadn't. An earlier study put the vaccine's overall effectiveness slightly higher, at 62 percent.
The CDC's Bresee said there's a danger in providing preliminary results because it may result in people doubting — or skipping — flu shots. But the data was released to warn older people who got shots that they may still get sick and shouldn't ignore any serious flu-like symptoms, he said.
The new data highlights an evolution in how experts are evaluating flu vaccine effectiveness. For years, it was believed that if the viruses in the vaccine matched the ones spreading around the country, then the vaccine would be effective. This year's shot was a good match to the bugs going around this winter, including the harsher H3N2 that tends to make people sicker.
But the season proved to be a moderately severe one, with many illnesses occurring in people who'd been vaccinated.
____
Online:
CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr
Wall Street drops again, data raises growth concerns
Label: BusinessNEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Thursday and were on track for their biggest two-day decline since November as weak data suggested expectations for economic growth were overly optimistic.
The two-day decline marked the U.S. stock market's first sustained pullback this year. The Standard & Poor's 500 is up 5.2 percent so far this year. The benchmark index has climbed for seven straight weeks, putting it near five-year highs.
In the latest economic data, initial claims for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week while the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its index of business conditions in the U.S. mid-Atlantic region fell in February to minus 12.5, the lowest in eight months.
"The Philly Fed report was troublingly weak, and adds to concerns about whether growth will remain up," said Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector analysis at Charles Schwab in Denver. "The only growth we're seeing is sluggish."
On Wednesday, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq posted their worst daily declines of the year after the minutes from the Federal Reserve's most recent meeting sparked concerns that the central bank may rein in its economic stimulus measures.
"The upside momentum in markets appears to be coming to an end as we consolidate recent gains," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive at Sarhan Capital in New York. "If the S&P breaks under its 50-day moving average, something more serious could be in store."
The S&P 500 would need to fall 1.9 percent to reach that level of 1,473.58.
Other reports showed consumer prices were flat in January while existing-home sales edged higher and left the inventory of homes at the lowest level in 13 years.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was down 70.03 points, or 0.50 percent, at 13,857.51. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was down 11.23 points, or 0.74 percent, at 1,500.72. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was down 36.50 points, or 1.15 percent, at 3,127.92.
The benchmark S&P 500 index has dropped 1.9 percent over the past two sessions, the biggest two-day decline since November.
Wall Street will soon face another test with the upcoming debate in Washington over the automatic across-the-board spending cuts put in place as part of a larger congressional budget fight. Those cuts, set to kick in on March 1 unless lawmakers agree on an alternative, are expected to depress economic growth.
Semiconductor stocks ranked among the weakest of the day, pressuring the Nasdaq as the Philadelphia Semiconductor index <.sox> fell 1.8 percent. Intel Corp
The semiconductor sector has performed well so far in 2013, rising 8.4 percent.
In company news, shares of supermarket operator Safeway Inc
In contrast, shares of VeriFone Systems Inc
Of the 427 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported results so far, 69.3 percent have exceeded analysts' expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters, according to Thomson Reuters data through Thursday morning.
Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 5.9 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.
Berry Petroleum Co
(Editing by Kenneth Barry and Jan Paschal)
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