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Comcast Close To Buying NBC

“General Electric Co. and Comcast Corp have agreed on a valuation of around $30 billion for a joint venture between NBC Universal and Comcast, ironing out what has been a key obstacle in talks so far, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday.” Link

Hurricane Ida Targets US Gulf Coast

“The storm has already wreaked havoc in El Salvador, where the government reported 42 people were killed in flooding and mudslides resulting from heavy rain. Ida also drenched Nicaragua after making landfall last week as a Category 1 hurricane, then weakening to a tropical storm. It regained hurricane strength overnight Saturday.” Link

Health Care Reform Passes House Of Representatives

“In a victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House narrowly passed landmark health care legislation Saturday night to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry. Republican opposition was nearly unanimous.” Link

Obama Pushes For Yes On Health Care Reform In House

“President Obama is calling on Representatives to pass the sweeping health care reform bill scheduled for a floor vote tonight. ‘This is our moment to live up to the trust that the American people have put in us,’ he said in a public address on the grounds of the White House just now. ” Link

Watchdog Wants To Know Why Wall Street Firms Got Flu Shots

“A Washington, D.C., nonprofit group wants to know why Wall Street bankers are getting vaccines against the new H1N1 flu strain when many Americans are being told to wait.

The nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, is urging U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to begin an immediate investigation into the matter. In a letter Thursday to Sebelius, the group questioned why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control approved distribution of scarce vaccines to firms such as Citigroup Inc. (C), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and JPMorganChase & Co. (JPM).” Link

Unemployment Over 10%

US unemployment hit over 10% Friday, with 16 million Americans out of work even as the recession is ending: “The Labor Department said Friday that jobless rate rose to 10.2 percent, the highest since April 1983, from 9.8 percent in September. The economy shed a net total of 190,000 jobs in October, less than the downwardly revised 219,000 lost in September, but more than economists expected.”

Link

Swiss Officials Deny Release For Rapist Roman Polanski

“Already locked in a Zurich cell for the last dozen days, Polanski learned he will remain incarcerated for an extended period as the Swiss Justice Ministry rejected his plea to be released from custody.” Link

Paul Kirk Appointed As Interim Massachusetts Senator

Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick has appointed Paul Kirk to serve in Ted Kennedy’s senate seat until the state holds a special election in January.

AIDS Vaccine? Treatment Cuts Infection 31% In Study (ALVAC, AIDSVAX)

“The vaccine cut the risk of becoming infected with HIV by more than 31 percent in the world’s largest AIDS vaccine trial of more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand, researchers announced Thursday in Bangkok. Even though the benefit is modest, “it’s the first evidence that we could have a safe and effective preventive vaccine,” Col. Jerome Kim said in a telephone interview.” Link

Sen. Robert Byrd Falls, Taken To Hospital

“Spokesman Jesse Jacobs says the 91-year-old West Virginia Democrat apparently stood up too fast and fell and that his caregiver called an ambulance ‘out of an abundance of caution.’ He said that Byrd is being examined but that at this point there is no indication that he will be admitted.” Link