Year: 2014

BEIJING (AP) — The major city of Guangzhou in southern China closed its live poultry markets on Saturday for two weeks to halt the spread of the H7N9 strain of bird flu.

BEIJING (AP) — The major city of Guangzhou in southern China has closed its live poultry markets for two weeks as part of efforts to halt the spread of bird flu.

By David Ingram and Jason Lange WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Friday issued new law-enforcement guidelines aimed at encouraging banks to start doing business with state-licensed marijuana suppliers, like those in Colorado, even though such enterprises remain illegal under federal law. Administration officials said the policy shift seeks to address problems faced by newly licensed recreational marijuana retailers in Colorado, and medical cannabis dispensaries in other states, that must operate on a cash-only basis, without access to financial services or credit. It remained to be seen whether many banks would feel sufficiently assured by the new policy, which the Justice and Treasury departments outlined in writing to federal prosecutors and financial institutions nationwide. The guidance stopped short of promising immunity for banks.

By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Jennifer Ablan (Reuters) – Top U.S. hedge fund managers in the fourth quarter focused on the consumer sector, with investment plays ranging from high-end auction house Sotheby's to big retailers Target Corp and Walgreen Co General Motors also became the flavor of the quarter with many hedge funds as the U.S. government exited its position. Soros Fund Management LLC, founded by billionaire investor George Soros, purchased new stakes in banking giants J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup in the fourth quarter. Soros also boosted holdings in GM.

(Reuters) – Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc eliminated its stake in Dish Network Corp in the fourth quarter and added a stake in financial giant Goldman Sachs, according to a regulatory filing on Friday. Berkshire had taken the Dish position in the second quarter. The regulatory filing does not disclose exactly when in the fourth quarter that Berkshire sold its 547,312 shares in the satellite TV company. The changes were disclosed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing made public on Friday, which detailed Berkshire equity investments as of December 31.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen claims the Affordable Care Act “has resulted in significantly reducing the per capita cost of health care.” To be clear, the per capita cost of health care is rising. Van Hollen’s office says he meant that the ACA has significantly reduced the growth in health care costs.

In recent years, the prevalence of developmental disorders such as autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and dyslexia have soared. In 2006, scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai identified five industrial chemicals responsible for causing harm to the brain – lead, methylmercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (found in electric transformers, motors and capacitors), arsenic (found in soil and water as well as in wood preservatives and pesticides), and toluene (used in processing gasoline as well as in paint thinner, fingernail polish, and leather tanning). Exposure to these neurotoxins was associated with changes in neuron development in the fetus as well as among infants, and with lower school performance, delinquent behavior, neurological abnormalities, and reduced IQ in school-aged children. Now the same researchers have reviewed the literature and found six additional industrial chemicals that can hamper normal brain development.