Yahoo! News: Health News

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• In battle of the S&P, can bulls gain the edge?
• Exclusive: Chesapeake board member lent money to CEO McClendon
• Big isn't bad, banks tell Fed
• Geithner: U.S. can withstand any Europe stresses
• U.S. Court rules Merck's Zetia patent valid
• Siemens CEO says to float 50 to 75 percent of Osram: paper
• Union pact with U.S. Air touts job savings vs. AMR plan
• Belgium to appoint ex-Fortis CEO as new Dexia head: paper
• U.S. Court rules Merck's Zetia patent valid
• Rosneft to increase 2011 dividend by 25 percent
• Apple courts EPIX for upcoming TV: sources
• Union pact with US Air touts job savings vs. AMR plan
• Rogue trader Kerviel accuses SocGen of forgery
• Exclusive: Chesapeake board member lent money to CEO McClendon
• Wal-Mart employee starts petition for CEO's ouster
• Simon Property earnings blows past estimates
• Newmont may shift spending from costly Peru mine
• European Union to shine light on shadow banking
• Gas drilling job-training programs pop up in NY
• German opposition says EU treaty likely delayed
• China and Russia sign contracts worth $15 billion
• Obama flashing executive power in election year
• Dubai spends $250M to get full control of Atlantis
• US raises hope of sale of new fighters to Taiwan
• Regulators close 5 banks in 4 states
• Ex-Yahoo CEO got $16.4M package in final year
• Delta CEO sees pay package rise 10 percent
• Regulators close 4 banks in 3 states

In battle of the S&P, can bulls gain the edge? Posted: NEW YORK (Reuters) - It will be another battleground for S&P 500 index next week. Will the bears finally give up and let the bulls have their way? The S&P 500, the market's broadest measure, managed to close out the week above the psychologically important 1,400 mark for the first time since early April. But the index is still down 0.4 percent for the month so far even after gaining 1.8 percent for the week, with only one trading day left in April. ...

Exclusive: Chesapeake board member lent money to CEO McClendon Posted: (Reuters) - As Chesapeake Energy Corp.'s board of directors moves to distance itself from loans taken by CEO Aubrey McClendon, documents reviewed by Reuters show that at least one former board member had undisclosed personal financial ties to him in the past. Now-retired board member Frederick Whittemore lent money to McClendon in the late 1990s, the documents show, even as Whittemore helped determine how much the CEO should be paid to run Chesapeake. This week, the energy giant reversed an earlier statement that its board was "fully aware" of up to $1. ...

Big isn't bad, banks tell Fed Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The largest U.S. banks are accusing the Federal Reserve of attempting to misuse its new regulatory powers to shrink financial giants under the misguided belief that "big is bad." Lobbying groups representing the big banks are pushing back against a set of proposed rules the Fed issued in December to more closely scrutinize the firms and rein in their risk taking after the 2007-2009 financial crisis. ...

Geithner: U.S. can withstand any Europe stresses Posted: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday that if Europe mismanages its crisis it could slow U.S. growth but said the U.S. financial system could handle any resulting pressures. "The U.S. financial system is in a very strong position to withstand the foreseeable pressures we might face from Europe," he said in an interview on American Public Media's Marketplace program. Geithner said that, on balance, Europe was making headway in efforts to deal with its sovereign debt crisis. ...

U.S. Court rules Merck's Zetia patent valid Posted: (Reuters) - A U.S. court on Friday ruled that the patent on Merck & Co's cholesterol fighter Zetia and a related drug Vytorin was valid and issued an injunction blocking approval of a generic version by Mylan Inc until the patent expires. Mylan had admitted that its product would infringe the patent, which run until April of 2017, Merck said. Merck earlier on Friday said first-quarter sales of Zetia, known chemically as ezetimibe, rose 6 percent to $614 million, while Vytorin, which combines Zetia with Merck's older cholesterol drug Zocor, saw sales slip 8 percent to $444 million. ...

Siemens CEO says to float 50 to 75 percent of Osram: paper Posted: FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Siemens is eyeing a flotation of roughly 50 to 75 percent of its light bulb unit Osram on the stock exchange in the European autumn, the German engineering conglomerate's chief executive told a newspaper. "We want to become a minority shareholder but hold a stake of more than 25 percent," Peter Loescher told German weekly Welt am Sonntag. "Autumn could be a good time (for an initial public offering or IPO)", Loescher told the paper, adding: "We are under no pressure, we want an IPO timing that is right also for our shareholders. ...

Union pact with U.S. Air touts job savings vs. AMR plan Posted: (Reuters) - An agreement between US Airways Group and the union representing seven work groups at bankrupt American Airlines calls for fewer job cuts should a merger materialize between the two carriers than an American bankruptcy plan, according to documents being distributed to union members on Friday. The US Airways pact would save thousands more jobs held by members of the Transport Workers Union and provide better severance and medical benefits than terms that American would impose should it get permission in U.S. ...

Belgium to appoint ex-Fortis CEO as new Dexia head: paper Posted: BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium will appoint the former chief executive of financial group Fortis, now known as Ageas , as the new CEO of bailed-out bank Dexia , Belgian daily De Morgen reported on Saturday. Karel De Boeck, who took over as the head of Fortis at the height of the credit crunch in late 2008, after the group was split up and partially sold to France's BNP Paribas , will be appointed to the board of directors as early as next week, De Morgen said, citing government sources. ...

U.S. Court rules Merck's Zetia patent valid Posted: (Reuters) - A U.S. court on Friday ruled that the patent on Merck & Co's cholesterol fighter Zetia and a related drug Vytorin was valid and issued an injunction blocking approval of a generic version by Mylan Inc until the patent expires. Mylan had admitted that its product would infringe the patent, which run until April of 2017, Merck said. Merck earlier on Friday said first-quarter sales of Zetia, known chemically as ezetimibe, rose 6 percent to $614 million, while Vytorin, which combines Zetia with Merck's older cholesterol drug Zocor, saw sales slip 8 percent to $444 million. ...

Rosneft to increase 2011 dividend by 25 percent Posted: MOSCOW (Reuters) - The board of Russia's top crude producer Rosneft on Saturday recommended the company pays out 3.45 roubles ($0.12) per share in dividends for 2011, up 25 percent from the 2.30 roubles it paid the previous year. That would take the total value of the payout to 36.564 billion roubles ($1.25 billion) and increase dividend yield to 1.65 percent, still one of the lowest among the Russian peers. Analysts said that the average dividend yield in Russian oil and gas sector is expected to come at between 4 and 5 percent. (Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Lidia Kelly)

Apple courts EPIX for upcoming TV: sources Posted: LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Apple Inc began talks earlier this year to stream films owned by EPIX, which is backed by three major movie studios, on devices including a long-anticipated TV, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations. Apple, which now sells a $99 set-top box that hooks up to a television set and lets users stream online content from Netflix and the MLB channel, opened discussions with three-year-old EPIX, created by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp, MGM and Viacom's Paramount Pictures. ...

Union pact with US Air touts job savings vs. AMR plan Posted: (Reuters) - An agreement between US Airways Group and the union representing seven work groups at bankrupt American Airlines calls for fewer job cuts should a merger materialize between the two carriers than an American bankruptcy plan, according to documents being distributed to union members on Friday. The US Airways pact would save thousands more jobs held by members of the Transport Workers Union and provide better severance and medical benefits than terms that American would impose should it get permission in U.S. ...

Rogue trader Kerviel accuses SocGen of forgery Posted: PARIS (Reuters) - Former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel, who is appealing a three-year prison sentence for his role in France's biggest rogue trading scandal, plans to sue his former employer for forgery and manipulation of evidence. Kerviel, who told journalists on Friday he had gone through "hell" since the revelation in 2008 that SocGen had lost 4.9 billion euros ($6.5 billion) unwinding his risky bets, said that audio recordings used as evidence at his 2010 trial had been tampered with. ...

Exclusive: Chesapeake board member lent money to CEO McClendon Posted: (Reuters) - As Chesapeake Energy Corp.'s board of directors moves to distance itself from loans taken by CEO Aubrey McClendon, documents reviewed by Reuters show that at least one former board member had undisclosed personal financial ties to him in the past. Now-retired board member Frederick Whittemore lent money to McClendon in the late 1990s, the documents show, even as Whittemore helped determine how much the CEO should be paid to run Chesapeake. This week, the energy giant reversed an earlier statement that its board was "fully aware" of up to $1. ...

Wal-Mart employee starts petition for CEO's ouster Posted: (Reuters) - A deli manager at a Walmart store has started an online petition calling for the resignations of the retailer's chairman and chief executive officer in the wake of allegations that top management squelched an internal probe into bribery allegations. Venanzi Luna, who works at the Walmart in Pico Rivera, California, near Los Angeles, started the petition on Thursday and had more than 4,300 signatures as of Friday afternoon. Luna, who has worked at Walmart for seven years, said she wanted to get 10,000 online signatures or more. ...

Simon Property earnings blows past estimates Posted: (Reuters) - Simon Property Group Inc , the largest owner of U.S. malls and outlet centers, raised its full-year earnings forecast on Friday after breezing past Wall Street's expectations, sending its stock to a record high. "It was a blowout quarter," said Richard Imperiale, president of Uniplan Investment Counsel Inc. "It's no one or two things that really drove it. It was just solid improvement across most of the numbers." Simon shares peaked at $155.92, before closing up 2 percent at $155.33 on the New York Stock Exchange. During the first quarter, sales at its U.S. ...

Newmont may shift spending from costly Peru mine Posted: (Reuters) - Newmont Mining Corp will put its money into projects in other countries if environmental changes to its proposed $4.8 billion Conga gold mine in Peru prove economically unfeasible, the head of the U.S. company said on Friday. "We have other options if it is not favorable," Chief Executive Officer Richard O'Brien told Wall Street analysts on a conference call. Peru's previous government approved the Conga plan in October 2010. ...

European Union to shine light on shadow banking Posted: BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission pledged to tighten control of so-called shadow banking on Friday, answering central bank calls for stricter regulation of the sprawling 46 trillion euro ($61 trillion) sector which has been blamed for aggravating the financial crisis. Policymakers fear that as the regulatory net closes on banks, shadow banking will thrive, with activities traditionally carried out by banks escaping the watch of regulators. ...

Gas drilling job-training programs pop up in NY Posted: Rick Allen moved to upstate New York to escape the rat race and tension of Washington, D.C., but when he arrived in his hometown, the 49-year-old electronics technician couldn't find a job.

German opposition says EU treaty likely delayed Posted: German Chancellor Angela Merkel's refusal to amend a European treaty on fiscal discipline with measures to promote growth in struggling EU countries might delay the deal's ratification in Germany, an opposition leader said.

China and Russia sign contracts worth $15 billion Posted: Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang has announced the signing of contracts between China and Russia worth a total of $15 billion.

Obama flashing executive power in election year Posted: President Barack Obama, flashing his executive power in an election year, is promoting measures to safeguard veterans and members of the military against unscrupulous college recruiters.

Dubai spends $250M to get full control of Atlantis Posted: Dubai says it now has full control of the Atlantis resort hotel perched atop its palm-shaped island.

US raises hope of sale of new fighters to Taiwan Posted: The administration of President Barack Obama is raising the possibility that it could sell new jet fighter aircraft to Taiwan to help redress the island's air power deficit with China.

Regulators close 5 banks in 4 states Posted: Federal regulators have closed two banks in Maryland and one each in Minnesota, South Carolina and California, bringing to 22 the number of U.S. banks that have failed so far this year.

Ex-Yahoo CEO got $16.4M package in final year Posted: Former Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz received a compensation package valued at $16.4 million in her final year on the job, including a $3 million severance payment after the troubled Internet company abruptly fired her last September.

Delta CEO sees pay package rise 10 percent Posted: Delta Air Lines Inc.'s chief executive, Richard Anderson, received a 10 percent raise in his pay package in 2011, a year when the company's stock price fell by more than a third.

Regulators close 4 banks in 3 states Posted: Federal regulators have closed two banks in Maryland and one each in Minnesota and South Carolina, bringing to 21 the number of U.S. banks that have failed so far this year.

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