UPDATE 2-Baseball-MLB, players agree to expand drug testing

* HGH and testosterone testing to be used this season
* WADA-accredited lab hails toughness of new MLB testing (Adds USADA comment in paras 5-7)
Jan 10 (Reuters) - Major League Baseball and the players' union have agreed to expand their drug program to include random in-season blood testing for human growth hormone and a new test for testosterone, they said on Thursday.
The advanced testing will start this season, in what will be the sternest doping program in major North American professional sports.
"This agreement addresses critical drug issues and symbolizes Major League Baseball's continued vigilance against synthetic human growth hormone, testosterone and other performance-enhancing substances," MLB commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.
The new steps moved baseball well ahead of the National Football League (NFL), which does not test for HGH or have a similar test for testosterone.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) challenged the NFL Players' Association (NFLPA) to follow suit in agreeing to such tests.
"This is a strong statement by the players and the league not only confirming the scientific validity of the HGH blood test and the benefit of longitudinal testing, but also the importance of clean athletes' rights and the integrity of the game," USADA said in a statement.
"This agreement, following the recent Congressional hearings on testing in the NFL, leaves no reason for the NFLPA not to step up and implement the same to give its players an equal level of protection and confidence that they deserve a level, drug-free playing field in the NFL."
Michael Weiner, executive director of the MLB Players' Association, said Major League players supported the expanded program.
"Players want a program that is tough, scientifically accurate, backed by the latest proven scientific methods, and fair," said Weiner in a statement.
"I believe these changes firmly support the players' desires while protecting their legal rights."
The announcement came one day after the players' union criticised results of the balloting for the Baseball Hall of Fame, in which no one received enough votes for enshrinement in what appeared to be a referendum on widespread doping during what has become known as the game's 'Steroids Era'.
All-time home run king Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young winning pitcher Roger Clemens, have playing records that would have ordinarily made them certain Hall of Famers.
But both players have been linked to performance enhancing drugs and punished by voters, receiving about half the ballots required for election.
Major League Baseball, striving to remove the stain of doping, was the first major sport in the United States to test for HGH in an agreement with the union in November 2011.
MLB has been conducting random blood testing for the detection of HGH among minor league players since July 2010 and had previously been testing major leaguers during spring training and off-season.
To detect testosterone use, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited Montreal laboratory will establish a program in which a player's baseline testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio and other data will be maintained in order to enhance its ability to detect use of the drug and other banned substances.
Christiane Ayotte, the Director of the Montreal Laboratory, praised the steps baseball has taken.
"The addition of random blood testing and a longitudinal profiling program makes baseball's program second to none in detecting and deterring the use of synthetic HGH and testosterone," she said in a statement.
Doping in baseball has not disappeared.
In the last year, Melky Cabrera of the San Francisco Giants, who was leading the league in batting average, and Oakland A's pitcher Bartolo Colon tested positive for testosterone and were suspended.
"I am proud that our system allows us to adapt to the many evolving issues associated with the science and technology of drug testing," Selig said. "We will continue to do everything we can to maintain a leadership stature in anti-doping efforts in the years ahead."

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MLB, players agree to expand drug testing

(Reuters) - Major League Baseball and the players' union have agreed to expand their drug program to include random in-season blood testing for human growth hormone and a new test for testosterone, they said on Thursday.
The advanced testing will start this season, in what will be the sternest doping program in major North American professional sports.
"This agreement addresses critical drug issues and symbolizes Major League Baseball's continued vigilance against synthetic human growth hormone, testosterone and other performance-enhancing substances," MLB commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement.
The new steps moved baseball well ahead of the National Football League (NFL), which does not test for HGH or have a similar test for testosterone.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) challenged the NFL Players' Association (NFLPA) to follow suit in agreeing to such tests.
"This is a strong statement by the players and the league not only confirming the scientific validity of the HGH blood test and the benefit of longitudinal testing, but also the importance of clean athletes' rights and the integrity of the game," USADA said in a statement.
"This agreement, following the recent Congressional hearings on testing in the NFL, leaves no reason for the NFLPA not to step up and implement the same to give its players an equal level of protection and confidence that they deserve a level, drug-free playing field in the NFL."
Michael Weiner, executive director of the MLB Players' Association, said Major League players supported the expanded program.
"Players want a program that is tough, scientifically accurate, backed by the latest proven scientific methods, and fair," said Weiner in a statement.
"I believe these changes firmly support the players' desires while protecting their legal rights."
The announcement came one day after the players' union criticized results of the balloting for the Baseball Hall of Fame, in which no one received enough votes for enshrinement in what appeared to be a referendum on widespread doping during what has become known as the game's 'Steroids Era'.
All-time home run king Barry Bonds and seven-time Cy Young winning pitcher Roger Clemens, have playing records that would have ordinarily made them certain Hall of Famers.
But both players have been linked to performance enhancing drugs and punished by voters, receiving about half the ballots required for election.
Major League Baseball, striving to remove the stain of doping, was the first major sport in the United States to test for HGH in an agreement with the union in November 2011.
MLB has been conducting random blood testing for the detection of HGH among minor league players since July 2010 and had previously been testing major leaguers during spring training and off-season.
To detect testosterone use, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited Montreal laboratory will establish a program in which a player's baseline testosterone/epitestosterone (T/E) ratio and other data will be maintained in order to enhance its ability to detect use of the drug and other banned substances.
Christiane Ayotte, the Director of the Montreal Laboratory, praised the steps baseball has taken.
"The addition of random blood testing and a longitudinal profiling program makes baseball's program second to none in detecting and deterring the use of synthetic HGH and testosterone," she said in a statement.
Doping in baseball has not disappeared.
In the last year, Melky Cabrera of the San Francisco Giants, who was leading the league in batting average, and Oakland A's pitcher Bartolo Colon tested positive for testosterone and were suspended.
"I am proud that our system allows us to adapt to the many evolving issues associated with the science and technology of drug testing," Selig said. "We will continue to do everything we can to maintain a leadership stature in anti-doping efforts in the years ahead.

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NFL's Junior Seau had disease from hits to head - report

Jan 10 (Reuters) - NFL linebacker Junior Seau, who committed suicide last year, had a debilitating brain disease, likely from 20 years of hits to the head, ABC News and ESPN reported on Thursday, citing researchers and his family as sources.
Seau, 43, died in May after shooting himself in the chest. He had played for the San Diego Chargers and had a 20-year career in the National Football League.
A study of Seau's brain by a team of independent researchers found that he had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the report said. CTE can only be diagnosed after death.
Tissue from his brain was sent to the National Institutes of Health for analysis in July at the request of Seau's family amid growing concerns over the long-term effects of football-related head injuries.
The NIH was not immediately available for comment.

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Chinese police probe kickbacks by Foxconn managers

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) -- Hon Hai Precision, a leading maker of iPhones and other high-tech gadgets, has said it is working with Chinese police probing allegations that employees of its Foxconn unit solicited kickbacks from suppliers.
Hon Hai said in a statement late Wednesday that it will "thoroughly investigate" the alleged kickback case and also review its procurement procedures to close any possible loopholes.
It said its operations in China had not been affected by the case.
Foxconn produces iPhones and iPads for Apple and also assembles products for global firms including Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.
Taiwan's "Next" weekly reported earlier this week that a Foxconn manager had been detained by police in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen over bribery allegations.
The island's China Times newspaper quoted unidentified sources as saying Hon Hai is investigating a dozen other employees suspected of having taken bribes and that it has suspended its purchases from an equipment maker accused of offering bribes to the employees.
Hon Hai employs 1.2 million people in some 20 factories across China.
The company has previously come under scrutiny for labor policies that allegedly led a dozen workers to commit suicide.
The latest allegation has raised questions about the electronics giant's internal management problems amid its rapid expansion to keep up with growing demand for its components.

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Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile all confirm upcoming BlackBerry 10 launches

Research In Motion’s (RIMM) next-generation smartphone platform has received all-important nods from three of the four major nationwide carriers in the United States. Following official endorsements from some international carriers, executives at Verizon Wireless (VZ), AT&T (T) and T-Mobile have each confirmed to Reuters that they will carry BlackBerry 10 devices some time after the new operating system’s debut later this month.
[More from BGR: iPhone 5 now available with unlimited service, no contract on Walmart’s $45 Straight Talk plan]
The carriers didn’t sound terribly enthusiastic in all cases — ”We’re hopeful it’s going to be a good device,” was all Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam would offer Reuters — but RIM did get an exuberant thumbs-up from at least one chief executive. ”We’re extremely optimistic that it’s going to be a successful product and our business customers are extremely interested in it,” T-Mobile CEO John Legere said.

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Is BlackBerry back? Strong early BlackBerry 10 demand could signal RIM comeback

After hitting a rough patch that seemed to last for most of 2012, Research In Motion (RIMM) may finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. RIM plans to unveil the finished version of its next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform at a press conference on January 30th, and at least one new smartphone is expected to be revealed during the event. Generating interest in BlackBerry 10 within the crowded global smartphone market will be no easy task for the struggling vendor, but if demand at top Canadian carrier Rogers is any indication, RIM is off to a promising start.
[More from BGR: ‘Apple is done’ and Surface tablet is cool, according to teens]
In mid-December, Rogers began taking reservations for RIM’s first BlackBerry 10-powered handset. The carrier offered almost no information about the BlackBerry smartphone, which has not yet been announced, but asked subscribers interested in purchasing the device to register on the company’s website.
[More from BGR: iPhone 5 now available with unlimited service, no contract on Walmart’s $45 Straight Talk plan]
BGR approached Rogers on Thursday to see how subscriber response has been thus far.
“While we can’t release the total number of reservations we have received for the BlackBerry 10 all-touch device, we can say that customer interest is definitely strong and reservations continue daily,” a Rogers spokesperson told BGR via email.
The strong response from Rogers subscribers despite being provided only with the knowledge that the device will feature an all-touch form factor and will run the BlackBerry 10 OS is a good sign for RIM.
The vendor has a number of difficult challenges ahead, and convincing current BlackBerry users to upgrade en masse is near the top of the list. Strong early demand at Rogers for RIM’s first BlackBerry 10 handset is clearly a positive sign in this regard, as most early reservations likely came from current BlackBerry subscribers.

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Global shares, dollar down ahead of earnings, bonds rise

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global shares fell and bond prices rose on Tuesday, with investors cautious ahead of a U.S. earnings season expected to show sluggish growth in quarterly corporate profits.
The dollar and euro fell against the yen as investors booked profits in the aftermath of swift and significant gains, but looser Bank of Japan monetary policy should limit the yen's upside.
The dollar was last down 0.75 percent at 87.11 yen, well off a 2-1/2-year high hit last Friday. The euro fell 1.02 percent at 113.96 yen.
U.S. corporate profits are expected to be higher than the third quarter's lackluster results, but analysts' estimates are down sharply from where they were in October.
Quarterly earnings are expected to grow 2.8 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Alcoa Inc reported a fourth-quarter profit of $242 million as cost cuts helped offset a drop in aluminum prices, marking the unofficial start to the earnings season as the first Dow component to release results.
Alcoa shares rose 7 cents to $9.20 in after-hours trade after closing 0.33 percent higher at $9.13 from Monday's close.
Early reports have suggested some signs of improvement. Monsanto Co reported strong first-quarter results and raised its full-year outlook, sending its shares 2.67 percent higher to close at $98.50.
Sears Holding Corp reported sales for the holiday season that were not as weak as many had feared, but the stock sank as the company's chief executive stepped down unexpectedly. Shares fell 6.43 percent to $40.16.
If earnings growth appears to be "less bad" than expected, that would fuel a near-term uptick in the market, according to Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank Wealth Management in New York. "There are still ample areas for concern," he added, citing policy worries in Washington and uneven economic growth.
The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 55.44 points, or 0.41 percent, at 13,328.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index fell 4.74 points, or 0.32 percent, to 1,457.15. The Nasdaq Composite Index slid 7.01 points, or 0.23 percent, at 3,091.81.
Global shares measured by MSCI's all-country world index <.miwd00000pus> fell 0.33 percent to 345.73.
The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares closed down 0.1 percent at 1,160.20 as data showed the euro zone economy may be stabilizing, though at a weak level.
The euro slid 0.25 to 1.3082 against the dollar.
Euro zone business confidence improved again in December, but unemployment reached a record and households held back from spending in the run-up to Christmas, suggesting a recovery from recession will be slow. German industrial orders also fell more than forecast due to a sharp drop in demand from abroad.
"Things are bad. It is still consistent with recession, but at least they have stopped deteriorating," said Deutsche Bank economist Gilles Moec.
Prices for U.S. Treasuries rose as higher yields proved attractive and the first sale of coupon-bearing Treasury debt for the year drew strong non-dealer bidding.
The Treasury sold $32 billion of three-year notes on Tuesday at a high yield of 0.385 percent, just about where the market had expected.
The high direct takedown in this and the previous three-year auction could signal "a shift in investor bidding patterns at auctions, where buyers bypass dealers and go straight to the Treasury, while still able to clear the auction near the WI (when-issued) levels," wrote Nomura analysts after the sale.
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note was up 10/32 in price to yield 1.8656 percent.
In commodity and metals markets, Brent crude oil rose 54 cents to settle at $111.94 per barrel, while U.S. light crude settled down 4 cents at $93.15.
Brent's premium over the U.S. West Texas Intermediate benchmark widened by more than 50 cents, with traders citing the start of the annual reweighting of the S&P GSCI commodity index, one of two leading indices for investors.
Copper rose 0.1 percent and gold rose $12.26 to $1,658.90 ahead of data on Thursday from China and the monthly meeting of the European Central Bank.
"The market is underpinned by expectations that a cyclical rebounding out of China will be positive for industrial metals, and there is more positive sentiment now in the market," said Robin Bhar, analyst at Societe Generale.

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