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FDA approves Botox as migraine preventive
Federal health authorities on Friday approved Botox injections for the prevention of chronic migraines in adults.
In a statement, the Food and Drug Administration recommended Botox be injected approximately every three months around the head and neck to dull future headache symptoms.
The drug - whose generic name is onabotulinumtoxinA - has not been shown to work against migraines that occur 14 days or fewer per month, nor has it been shown to work for other forms of headache, said the statement.
Experiencing a migraine on most days "is one of the most disabling forms of headache," said Dr. Russell Katz, of the Division of Neurology Products in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "This condition can greatly affect family, work, and social life, so it is important to have a variety of effective treatment options available."
Migraines, an intense pulsing or throbbing pain in one area of the head, are often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and sensitivity to light and sound, doctors say. Chronic migraines are defined as those that occur on 15 days or more for more than four hours per day.
Feds bust major marijuana operation, agency says
Kareem "Biggs" Burke, a founder of rapper Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, was among those arrested.
Federal agents capped a two-year investigation Friday with dozens of arrests they say have broken open a marijuana smuggling operation that "dominated" the New York market for two decades, Immigrations and Customs Enforcement announced.
Among those arrested were Kareem "Biggs" Burke, a founder of rapper Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records, and High Times magazine ad salesman Matthew "Magazine Guy" Stang, ICE said.
"These criminal organizations have allegedly dominated the illegal marijuana market in New York City for almost 20 years," said Special Agent in Charge James T. Hayes, Jr. "The high profile stature of some of the alleged members of these organizations is especially troubling."
ICE said that the suspected leader of the organization, Manuel Geovanny Rodriguez-Perez, was also arrested. Rodriguez-Perez was heard discussing violent acts on intercepted telephone calls, including a threat to "hunt" a customer who was late paying for marijuana, the agency said.
Holder: Feds to enforce drug laws if state legalizes pot
The federal government will continue to enforce federal marijuana laws in California even if the state legalizes pot through a ballot initiative next month, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter obtained Friday by CNN.
Holder said the Justice Department would continue to "vigorously enforce" the federal Controlled Substances Act "against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture, or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law," in a letter to former administrators of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"Regardless of the passage of this or similar legislation, the Department of Justice will remain firmly committed to enforcing the Controlled Substances ACT ("CSA") in all states," said the letter, dated Wednesday.
California's Proposition 19, which will appear on next month's ballot, would legalize recreational marijuana use in the state. Supporters say it would raise revenue and cut the costs of enforcement.
Councilman's emotional plea about gay bullying goes viral
It started with an emotional 13-minute-long plea at a local council meeting in Fort Worth, Texas.
Councilman Joel Burns struggled to maintain his composure Wednesday as he shared his story about being gay and bullied as a child and how the recent rash of child suicides because of bullying has torn him apart.
That 13-minute plea caught national attention in part because of his brutal honesty. The video, which has gone viral on YouTube, has already amassed more than 540,000 page views and is being regarded on the web as one of the most emotional pleas about bullying children who are gay.
"I was cornered after school by some older kids who roughed me up," Burns said during the council meeting. "They said that I was a f**, and that I should die and go to Hell where I belonged."
Burns struggled to maintain his composure during that plea - his voice was quivering and at times he cried - but he continued on and in such a public forum, and in such a personal and blunt way continued to share his story. Burns told CNN in his first national interview Friday that he felt he had to say something because it was clear that not enough was being done to stem the crisis.
And as someone who dealt with the same issues, he wanted to share the advice he wished someone had told him as a child.
"The reality of it is, it gets better in ways you can never fathom as a 13- or 14-year-old. Times are dark, and you're either being harassed or bullied inside the school or outside the school. You have a household that may not accept you; there may be any kind of abuse around it," Burns told CNN. "There's just no hope that there's life after your adolescence and after your teenaged years. I have often thought, wouldn't it be wonderful if I could go back to the me that existed as a teenager that really didn't think that the future was all that bright at times, and show him just the amazing, wonderful things that have happened in the course of my adult life?"
Court-martial for soldier charged with killing Afghans
A U.S. soldier accused of killing civilians in Afghanistan will face a court-martial on murder and other charges, as recommended by an Army officer.
The document approving the recommendation for the court-martial of Spc. Jeremy Morlock was signed by the officer in charge Friday. It was obtained by CNN, along with other documents, that summarize last week's hearing at an Army-Air Force installation outside Tacoma, Washington, where prosecutors presented evidence against against Morlock.
Base officials would not confirm the authenticity of the document, which has not been publicly released.
Morlock is one of five member's of the Army's 5th Stryker Brigade who is accused of premeditated murder in a series of incidents between January and May.
Rapper T.I. heads back to prison
Rapper T.I. must serve another 11 months in a federal prison for
violating probation on a gun charges, a judge in Atlanta, Georgia, ruled
Friday.
T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, begged U.S. District Judge Charles Pannell Jr. for mercy, saying he needed help for his drug addiction, not more time in prison.
"I screwed up big time and I am sorry," Harris said during his probation revocation hearing Friday afternoon. "I am sincerely sorry. I am scared that you will send me to prison."
"Mr. Harris has had the limit of second chances," Pannell said as he imposed the sentence.
Harris must report to begin his sentence in two weeks, the judge said.
Indian Ocean volcano erupts for 2nd time this year
Lava flows from the Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion Island on Friday.
One of the world's most active volcanoes is at it again.
The Piton de la Fournaise volcano on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean erupted Thursday evening after several days of increased seismic activity, the island's government said.
The eruption is contained to one of the volcano's calderas, and the lava flow is stable, but public access to the volcano - a main tourist attraction - will be restricted, the local government said in a statement.
The volcano is about 30 miles southeast of the island's capital, Saint Denis. No one was reported to be in danger; a local newspaper, the Journal de l'Ile de la Reunion, reported that the last eruption happened over 10 days in January.
More than 150 eruptions of the volcano have recorded since the 17th century, according to the Smithsonian's Global Volcanism Program.
Reunion, a department of France, is home to about 784,000 people and lies more than 400 miles east of Madagascar.
Four trapped in Ecuador mine, government official says
Four miners have been trapped in an incident at a mine in southern
Ecuador, a government official said Friday.
Friday's intriguing people
Tommie Smith
The Olympic athlete known for symbolizing Black Power on the podium at the 1968 games in Mexico City, Mexico, has placed his gold medal up for auction. Tommie Smith, now a 66-year-old resident of Georgia, has hired M.I.T. Memorabilia to handle the auction, which will close November 4, according to KTLA-Los Angeles. The asking price is $250,000.
Smith, a former San Jose State University sprinter, won the gold for the 200 meters in Mexico City. Teammate John Carlos also placed. During the U.S. national anthem, the two raised black-gloved fists and bowed their heads. Though they were kicked out of the Olympic Village at the time, they eventually earned international acclaim.
KTLA: Olympian in '68 black power salute to sell medal FULL POST
ALCS kicks off; best sports calls in history
Cy Young candidate CC Sabathia will lead the Yankees tonight as they try to win the first game of the ALCS.
Gone are the unwatchable three-hour snoozers. Gone are the primetime battles between off-hour teams. Gone are the baseball games you can afford to miss.
Baseball’s final four commences this evening with Game 1 of the ALCS between the New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers. While the Yankees have the sluggers (Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira are former Rangers), Cy Young candidate CC Sabathia and history on their side, the Rangers have plenty to boast as well.
The AL West division champs own home-field advantage, a balanced line-up featuring AL MVP candidate Josh Hamilton and a literal ace-in-the-hole in Cliff Lee, who is slated to start Game 3 after dominating the ALDS..
But tonight, it will be Sabathia, who is pitching on nine days rest, versus C.J. Wilson, a first-year starter who won 15 games and posted a 3.35 ERA this year. The two teams split their regular-season showdowns 4-4 and this October matchup could go deep into the series if both teams play as expected. SI.com’s Tom Verudcci looks down the line and predicts both the ALCS and the NLCS coming down to critical pitching matchups in Game 4.
Here’s the action going on in the sporting world today (all times Eastern):
New York Yankees at Texas Rangers (8:00 p.m., TBS)
The Rangers look to carry momentum from their recent ALDS comeback over the Rays against a well-rested Yankees team. Look for some bats to silence the Year of the Pitcher.
Witness says he took, deleted video of Fort Hood shooting
[Updated at 5:19 p.m.] In response to a question about the telephone video, a Fort Hood official, who insisted on anonymity because of the ongoing criminal investigation related to the shooting, said: "Since this matter was raised during the Article 32 hearing, it is for the Article 32 hearing officer to decide whether to make further inquiries to the soldier's chain of command for additional information."
[Original post] The shooting at Fort Hood was captured on video by a soldier using his cell phone camera as he hid from the shooter, but he was ordered to erase it, the soldier said Friday.
Pfc. Lance Aviles spoke of the video as he testified on the third day of the Article 32 military hearing for Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is accused of killing 13 people and wounding 32 in the 2009 shooting.
Aviles said he was ordered by a noncommissioned officer to delete the video on the day of the shooting. He did not describe to the court what the video contained.
He said he saw the gunman stop to reload and considered rushing him. But by the time Aviles got up, he said, the shooter "had already loaded another magazine. So instead of running to him, I ran off to the right."
At least 10 freed Chilean miners will go home today
At least 10 rescued Chilean miners will be released Friday from the Copiapo Regional Hospital, officials said.
More men might be released, depending on how final checkups go, but none will require extensive medical treatment, they said.
Three of the miners arrived late Thursday to joyous homecomings following their release from the hospital, CNN Chile reported. Officials hope that all 33 will be home by Sunday.
CNN's sister network, CNN Chile, identified them as Juan Illanes, Edison Pena and Carlos Mamani. It aired video of several men and what appeared to be their families inside a red van departing the hospital grounds.
New fish species found deep below ocean surface
The ghostly white snailfish was found September 10 in the South Pacific.
Scientists have discovered a new species of fish living almost 4 1/2 miles below the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
The ghostly white snailfish was found September 10 in the Peru-Chile trench in the South Pacific by an international team of marine biologists led by Alan Jamieson of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. The scientists also found cusk-eels and crustaceans living in the trench off the west coast of South America. Those creatures had never before been observed at such depths, where sunlight never penetrates and water pressure is almost 10,000 pounds per square inch.
“Our findings, which revealed diverse and abundant species at depths previously thought to be void of fish, will prompt a rethink into marine populations at extreme depths,” said Jamieson, who led researchers from Japan and New Zealand in the project.
The researchers discovered the creatures during a three-week expedition during which they took more than 6,000 images at depths between 4,500 and 8,000 meters (15,000 to 26,000 feet).
Red Sox owner confirms he bought Liverpool club
Boston Red Sox Owner and Head of New England Sport Ventures, John Henry, has confirmed that he has bought Liverpool Football Club.
His confirmation came a day after a British High Court judge ruled against the American owners of Liverpool Football Club in their bid to stop the team's sale to the U.S. group. The judge said Tom Hicks and George Gillett have no right to veto the sale and refused their right to appeal.
Hicks and Gillett had gone to court Tuesday to fight the team's acquisition by New England Sports Ventures, the owners of baseball's Boston Red Sox. The club's board approved the deal last week without the consent of Hicks and Gillett as a way to rescue the club from its financial problems and put it back on a winning path.
Hicks and Gillett, however, said through their lawyers that superior offers had been on the table and were not chosen. They have said they
Evacuated residents allowed to return to Hungarian village
Residents who were evacuated from a Hungarian village because of last week's toxic sludge were allowed back home Friday, a government spokeswoman said.
The 500 inhabitants of Kolontar were able to move back home if they wanted, though the village remained closed to the media, said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be named because she was not authorized to speak to the media.
Construction crews finished work this week on an emergency dam meant to protect against a second possible toxic spill from the MAL aluminum plant, located about 100 miles west of Budapest, the government announced.
Officials had earlier said they were certain the plant's reservoir wall would break again, inundating communities with deadly red sludge for a second time, but the government said so far, there has been no structural movement on the endangered section of the wall.
Around 1 million cubic meters of sludge spilled October 4 from the plant's reservoir, according to the country's president. It covered Kolontar and two other towns, killing nine people and injuring more than 100.
On the Radar: Chile miners, T.I. in court, space tourism
Chilean miners - More miners are expected to be discharged Friday from a regional hospital in Chile following their rescue after 69 days underground, and officials said they hope that all 33 will be home by Sunday.
Three miners were discharged Thursday night, CNN Chile reported. CNN's sister network identified them as Juan Illanes, Edison Pena and Carlos Mamani. It aired video of several men and what appeared to be their families inside a red van departing the hospital grounds. We also heard for the first time from rescue workers - including the last man into the capsule - who says he was "just one link" in the chain.
T.I. hearing - Rapper T.I. may learn his fate at an Atlanta, Georgia, court hearing Friday, days after he helped a suicidal man who wanted to jump off a building.
Petraeus: 'Right strategy' in place in Afghanistan
The top U.S. military commander in Afghanistan said Friday he is confident that the tough fight in Afghanistan is headed in the right direction and he backs the president's peace moves.
"No one should have any illusions about how difficult the fight will continue to be as we and our Afghan partners strive to bring peace to a nation that has suffered through more than 30 years of continuous war," Petraeus said in a lecture at the Royal United Services Institute.
"Still, I believe that we now have the right strategy in place."
He cited military efforts to improve security in the southern Afghanistan's Kandahar and Helmand provinces and focused on the importance of increasing the size of the Afghan security forces.
Social Security benefits won't increase for second straight year
Social Security beneficiaries will see no increase in their benefit checks next year, the federal government said on Friday.
For more than 58 million seniors and other Social Security beneficiaries, 2011 will mark the second in a row without an inflation adjustment.
Inflation has been low in the past two years because of the recession. The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday morning reported prices were up only slightly over last year.
The last Social Security inflation adjustment was in 2009: Beneficiaries got a higher-than-normal 5.8% increase because of a temporary spike in energy prices in the third quarter of 2008.
Soon after, however, energy prices plummeted. Then the bottom fell out of the economy and by the third quarter of 2009 overall price levels had fallen 2.1% from the same period a year earlier. That meant no increase in 2010 Social Security benefit checks.
Friday's live video events
Ongoing coverage - Tropical Depression Paula tracker
1:30 pm ET - Obama campaigns in Delaware -Â President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden travel to Delaware to attend a fundraiser for Senate candidate Chris Coons.
Paula now a tropical depression
Paula has weakened to a tropical depression and is expected to drench central Cuba and the central Bahamas, forecasters said on Friday.
The Miami, Florida-based National Hurricane Center's 5 a.m. ET advisory  says the storm is expected to produce additional rain accumulations of one to two inches, but storm surge flooding along the coast of northern Cuba should subside.
The depression, which had been a tropical storm, was about 60 miles northwest of Caibarien, Cuba. Mxamimum sustained winds have decreased to near 35 miles per hour with higher gusts. The storm is expected to weaken over the next 48 hours and become a "remnant low pressure area."
There were no coastal watches or warnings.
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