Month: February 2014

Israel on Thursday allowed the entry of some 35 Palestinian medical patients from the Gaza Strip after initially barring them because "State of Palestine" had appeared on the letterhead of their application. A Palestinian official said Israel relented and permitted their entry without any change to the logo. An Israeli official said the letterhead had been changed to the "Palestinian Authority". Israel does not recognize a Palestinian state, whose creation it says should stem from peace negotiations.

Comatose student may be sent home after his visa expires.        

Nestle will disclose details of a planned share buyback when the sale of an 8 percent share in L'Oreal closes, its chief financial officer told investors on Thursday. Nestle said on Tuesday it was reducing its stake in L'Oreal to 23 percent, adding it wanted to use part of the proceeds for a share buyback. "We'll give details when the transaction closes," Wan Ling Martello said. Nestle said it expects the deal to close before the end of June.

Australia's competition regulator said on Thursday it was taking legal action against the local division of Pfizer Inc over the way it marketed its cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor to pharmacies. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commision (AC) said Pfizer had, to deter competition, offered pharmacies "significant" discounts and rebates if they stocked at least a year's worth of the drug, which goes by the generic name atorvastatin and is prescribed to over one million Australians. The drug had generated annual sales exceeding A$700 million ($632.35 million) for Pfizer in Australia before the company's patent expired in there in May 2012, the ACCC said. Pfizer denied its methods were uncompetitive.

WASHINGTON (AP) — While states are having varying success getting people to sign up, January marked the first time since new health insurance markets opened last fall that a national monthly enrollment target was met.

WASHINGTON (AP) — January marked the first time since new health insurance markets opened last fall that a national monthly enrollment target was met, even though states are having varying success getting people to sign up.