The Note's Must-Reads for Monday, December 31, 2012

The Note's Must-Reads are a round-up of today's political headlines and stories from ABC News and the top U.S. newspapers. Posted Monday through Friday right here at www.abcnews.comCompiled by ABC News' Jayce Henderson, Amanda VanAllen, and Carrie HalperinSECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON: New York Daily News' Edgar Sandoval and Bill Hutchinson: " Hillary Clinton admitted to hospital with blood clot...

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What to Watch in 2013 Politics

We had no time to catch our breath after the November election before plunging into imbroglios over Cabinet appointments and the fiscal cliff. But the chances of 2013 offering even a brief respite from politics are as unlikely as the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre ringing in the New Year with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Pass the eggnog quick!With the 24/7 news cycle came the 365-day-a-year...

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The top 6 political races to watch in 2013

Yes, the red and blue paint is still wet on the 2012 election map. But it's not too early to start gaming out the new yearFor anyone still suffering from election fatigue, here's some good news: In terms of momentous races, 2013 is no 2012. But the paucity of marquee contests doesn't mean there won't be any drama at the ballot box this year — in fact, quite the opposite. The nation's biggest cities...

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Weed Is Legal, but Prior Offenders Won’t Be Let Off the Hook

In the past 25 years, 210,000 marijuana-related arrests have been made in the state of Colorado alone. Of that number, more than 50,000 took place between 2006 and 2010. So now that Colorado has officially legalized the commercial sale and consumption of marijuana, how many of those people arrested for previous weed crimes will be let out of prison? Or, if they’ve already served their time, how many...

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The GOP's Failed 'Plan O': Inside the Fiscal-Cliff Saga

Last fall, as members of Congress were home campaigning and America’s attention was focused on the contest between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, top aides to House Speaker John Boehner huddled to devise a winning strategy for the looming fiscal cliff.Chief of Staff Mike Sommers, policy director Brett Loper, and communications chief Dave Schnittger gathered each week in H-128, the high-ceilinged “Board...

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Germany's Merck suffers setback with cancer drug

 German pharmaceutical company Merck KgaA says a late stage trial of a new lung cancer drug has failed to meet expectations.The company, based in Darmstadt, says the drug Stimuvax did not improve the overall survival of patients in the phase III study.Merck shares fell 3.1 percent to €98.20 ($129.41) after the announcement early Wednesday.The company is a separate entity from Merck & Co.,...

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Oncothyreon lung cancer drug fails in late-stage trial

Biopharmaceutical company Oncothyreon Inc said a late-stage trial of its experimental lung cancer drug did not meet the main study goal of improving overall survival.The drug, codenamed L-BLP25, is being tested in patients with unresectable, locally advanced stage IIIA or stage IIIB, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).The trial was conducted by Merck Serono, a division of Germany's Merck KGaA, under...

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Merck KGaA, Oncothyreon hit as cancer vaccine fails

An experimental lung cancer vaccine from Germany's Merck KGaA failed to improve survival in a pivotal study, dealing a blow to the company and the high-risk field of using vaccines to fight tumors.Stimuvax, which Merck licensed from U.S. biotech firm Oncothyreon, failed to increase overall survival in the Phase III clinical trial, the German chemicals and pharmaceuticals group said on Wednesday.The...

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Russia fund in consortium to back U.S. pharma firms

 Russian state technology firm Rusnano, alongside a group of investors, is investing $93 million in three U.S.-based pharmaceutical firms to develop drugs to treat illnesses such as epilepsy, the investors said on Wednesday.Rusnano is making the investment with U.S. venture capital fund Domain Associates and other investors. Rusnano partnered with Domain in March with plans to invest around $760...

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Texas governor asks cancer agency to halt grants

A $3 billion cancer-fighting effort that's already under criminal investigation received yet more humiliation Wednesday when Texas Gov. Rick Perry called for a moratorium on new grants until confidence is restored in a once-celebrated agency that has plunged into turmoil in just three years.Leaders of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas quickly embraced the request from Perry, who...

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How to find a good yoga teacher

Finding a yoga class is easy, but finding one that is a good fit is an altogether different matter. If you're new to yoga, or still searching for a class that strikes the right chord, here are a few tips to keep in mind.A good place to start is by talking: ask your friends or colleagues at work to recommend a teacher or studio or school. Even if you consider yourself in great shape but are new to...

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Top 10 Reasons to Hire Older People

In a world where traditional retirement makes less and less sense, the need and desire of older people to retain or find meaningful jobs depends in part on overcoming bogus attitudes about older employees. Smart and progressive employers get this. Sure, Google is probably not losing any sleep over failing to train septuagenarians about search-engine algorithms. But being uninterested in crowd-sourcing...

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Half of all cancers are preventable: study

Half of all cancers could be prevented if people just adopted healthier behaviors, US scientists argued on Wednesday. Smoking is blamed for a third of all US cancer cases and being overweight leads to another 20 percent of the deadly burden that costs the United States some $226 billion per year in health care expenses and lost productivity. For instance, up to three quarters of US lung cancer...

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Few US cities prepared for aging baby boomers

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Few communities have started to think long term about how to plan and redesign services for aging baby boomers as they move out of the workforce and into retirement.Even more troubling, dwindling budgets in a tight economy have pushed communities to cut spending on delivering meals to the homebound and shuttling folks who can no longer drive to grocery stores and doctor's offices.These...

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Stay happy by avoiding junk food, says study

Feeling blue? Drop the burger and donuts.While junk food and processed foods may provide a dose of instant gratification, Spanish researchers say they’ve found a direct link between the consumption of fast food and depression.After observing 8,964 participants over six months, scientists found that consumers of fast food were 51 percent more likely to develop depression. And the more they ate, the...

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