Record number of reporters jailed globally: Report

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The Committee to Protect Journalists says more journalists around the world are sitting in prisons than ever before.The U.S.-based group on Tuesday said Turkey, Iran and China have imprisoned the most journalists. The journalists' group says that such states are using stepped-up anti-terror and anti-state charges to silence critical reporters.The Committee to Protect...

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The CIA Agent Who Found Bin Laden Is Having Trouble at Work

If you're not already aware of the bull-headed CIA agent whose persistent pressure to track Al Qaeda couriers helped lead the way to bin Laden's compound, you're about to be. The main character of Zero Dark Thirty, the soon-to-be released Oscar bait that portrays the story of the Bin Laden raid, is based on said agent, "is based on a real person" whose identity remains classified as she's still working...

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Life imitates art: Man strips at Austrian exhibition of paintings and sculptures of naked men

VIENNA - An Austrian museum says a man took the concept of life imitating art to an extreme when he suddenly stripped at an exhibition of pictures and sculptures portraying nude men through the ages.Vienna's Leopold Museum says that after taking his clothes off, the man calmly sauntered through the exhibition, dressing again only after a security guard asked him to do so.Museum spokesman Klaus Pokorny...

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S. Africa, Vietnam sign rhino protection agreement

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa says its diplomats have signed an agreement with Vietnam to try and halt the trade of horns taken from poached rhinoceros. South Africa's Department of Environmental Affairs announced Monday that the deal had been signed. The department said the agreement included conservation and protection provisions, as well as a promise to increase law enforcement efforts...

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Smart Cups Detect Date Rape Drugs

Drink Savvy, a Boston-based company, has created a material that changes color when it comes in contact with a drug-spiked drink.Founder Mike Abramson said he plans to use the discovery to create a set of products, including cups, glassware, stirrers and straws, that he hopes will be used to help reduce date rape."Within the past three years, three of my very close friends and myself have been the...

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Lilly tests therapy to rid brain plaques in mice with Alzheimer's

(Reuters) - Drugmaker Eli Lilly  & Co said it may have found a way to remove plaque from the brains of forgetful, old mice using an experimental therapy it hopes someday will be used to treat Alzheimer's disease in humans.Previous animal studies have demonstrated that it is possible to prevent the formation of brain plaques, which are thought to be a hallmark of the progressive memory-robbing...

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U.S. House Democrats introduce new meningitis legislation

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced legislation on Wednesday aimed at bolstering federal oversight of compounded drugs like the tainted steroid injections blamed for a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak.But the legislation is not likely to move forward in the Republican-controlled chamber. In fact, aides from both parties said neither the...

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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,...

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Dueling Fiscal Cliff Deceptions

A fog of misinformation has settled on the fiscal cliff, as both House Speaker John Boehner and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner have traded conflicting, misleading and false statements in recent days on the president’s deficit-reduction plan:    * Geithner falsely claimed on “Fox News Sunday” that the president’s proposals to slow Medicare growth are “not shifting costs to seniors.”...

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Longer tamoxifen use cuts breast cancer deaths

Breast cancer  patients taking the drug tamoxifen can cut their chances of having the disease come back or kill them if they stay on the pills for 10 years instead of five years as doctors recommend now, a major study finds.The results could change treatment, especially for younger women. The findings are a surprise because earlier research suggested that taking the hormone-blocking drug for...

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