Merck recalls all US Liptruzet stock

Merck recalls all US Liptruzet stock

TRENTON, N.J.

Drugmaker Merck & Co. said Tuesday that it’s recalling a combination cholesterol drug, wiping out the entire U.S. stock, due to packaging defects that could reduce effectiveness.

Merck said the recall covers all four dose strengths and every batch distributed since Liptruzet was launched last May. Both active ingredients in the drug remain available separately, though.

Merck, the world’s third-biggest drugmaker, said some of the foil pouches holding the pills may allow air and moisture inside. The company said there’s a remote chance that could decrease the drug’s effectiveness or otherwise change its properties but that the recall is not due to any reports of patients’ being harmed.

Voting in Egypt

CAIRO

A referendum on a new constitution laid bare the sharp divisions in Egypt six months after the military removed the elected Islamist president, with pro-army voters lining up Tuesday outside polling stations, singing patriotic songs, kissing images of Egypt’s top officer and sharing upbeat hopes for their troubled nation.

Sporadic violence flared across much of the country, leaving 11 dead, with protesters burning tires and pelting police with rocks and firebombs creating just enough tension to keep many voters at home.

Still, the first of two days of voting yielded telling signs that the national sentiment was overwhelmingly behind military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, whose possible presidential run later this year has grown more likely by the day.

Spy court opposes privacy advocate

WASHINGTON

The U.S. judiciary told Congress on Tuesday it opposes the idea of having an independent privacy advocate on the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, while members of Congress lauded the idea at a Capitol Hill hearing.

Speaking for the entire U.S. judiciary, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates sent a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee saying that appointing an independent advocate to the secret surveillance court is unnecessary and possibly counterproductive, and he slammed other key reforms as adding too heavy a caseload to the secret court’s work. In FISA court hearings, judges only hear from the government seeking a spy warrant.

Israeli comments spark spat with US

JERUSALEM

Israel’s defense minister was quoted Tuesday as deriding U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s Mideast peace efforts as naive and foolhardy, triggering an angry response from Washington and rekindling simmering tensions with Israel’s closest and most-important ally.

The quotes appeared ahead of another visit by Kerry, who is expected in the region in the coming weeks to deliver his ideas on a framework for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Kerry already has submitted to Israel a series of proposals for ensuring Israel’s security as part of a future peace deal.

In the comments published by the Yediot Ahronot daily, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon called Kerry “obsessive” and “messianic” and dismissed Kerry’s security plan as worthless.

Zoo euthanizes hippo believed to be 59

CLEVELAND

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo says its Nile hippopotamus, believed to be the oldest in North America, has died.

The zoo says the male hippo, named Blackie, was euthanized Monday due to “advanced age-related ailments.” The zoo says he was about 59.

The zoo says hippos typically live 30 to 40 years in the wild and can live longer in captivity.

Associated Press