Free Republic

Federal health regulators have approved an attention deficit disorder drug for a new use: A first-of-its kind treatment for binge-eating disorder. […] The Food and Drug Administration originally approved Vyvanse in 2007 as a once-a-day pill for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. On Friday, the agency cleared the drug for adults who compulsively overeat. Vyvanse, known chemically as lisdexamfetamine dimesylate, is part of a family of drugs that stimulate the central nervous system. The drug’s prescribing label warns that Vyvanse has a “high potential for abuse and dependence,” and doctors should monitor patients for signs of dependence. …

Germany’s defense minister Ursula von der Leyen said Friday that her government planned to make the military one of the most sought after employers in the country. Von der Leyen was presenting a proposal for a more attractive Bundeswehr at the German parliament, the Bundestag. “This isn’t a sprint; rather, we have a marathon ahead of us,” the minister said. Von der Leyen, who belongs to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), proposed more part-time work, better promotion opportunities and legally-stipulated working hours—a first in the German military. …

The African Union’s rotating post of chairman has gone to Robert Mugabe. Zimbabwe’s veteran president enjoys respect across the continent, but faces travel bans from both the US and EU for harassing opponents. Mugabe assumed the largely ceremonial role on Friday at an African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa as it leaders and UN chief Ban Ki-moon called for global action against Boko Haram in Nigeria. […] Western nations accuse Mugabe, a former guerrilla leader who fought against white-minority rule in former British-ruled Rhodesia, of crushing political dissent and ruining Zimbabwe’s rural-based economy. For many in Africa, however, he...

Biomaterial experts at Germany’s Bayreuth and Würzburg universities claimed a breakthrough in cultivating living cells while holding them in place with liquified spider silk. The research method mixed spider silk with connective fibroblast cells from mice to generate a so-called “bio ink” or gel. Fibroblasts typically begin wound repairs. When extruded from a 3-D printer, the silk molecules quickly wrapped those cells, giving them a porous matrix in which to flourish, the team said. …

… Recent years have seen a rise in the number of French Jews leaving for Israel, with fear of attacks being the most important reason for making the so-called “Aliyah,” as the “return” to Israel is referred. And the list of attacks is long. In 2006, young mobile-phone salesman Ilan Halimi was kidnapped by a youth gang and tortured to death. Two years ago, gunman Mohamed Merah shot and killed children and a teacher at a Jewish school in Toulouse. Just two months ago, a couple was robbed in the Créteil district on the outskirts of Paris and the woman...

Canada will introduce new anti-terror laws that will make it a crime to promote terrorism against Canadians online or elsewhere, a senior government official said Friday. The laws will also allow anyone suspected of being involved in a terror plot to be detained without charge for up to seven days, and empower Canada’s spy agency to thwart attacks directly in a significant expansion of their mandate. The official provided details to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak ahead of Friday’s announcement. …

The European Union’s counterterrorism chief says member states need to have common laws against Europeans traveling to Syria and Iraq to join jihadist groups. […] Gilles de Kerchove told reporters in Riga on Friday that “it’s important to have the same definition of what is it when you go abroad for training purposes to fight.” …

An aggravated assault case against George Zimmerman that was opened when his ex-girlfriend said he threw a wine bottle at her has been dropped because she recanted her story and stopped cooperating with investigators, a prosecutor said Friday. State Attorney Phil Archer said he wouldn’t file a formal charge against Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watch leader who was acquitted of killing Trayvon Martin. The killing of the unarmed black teen touched off protests across the country.The ex-girlfriend had made it clear she didn’t want to cooperate with Lake Mary Police officers, and there were no other eyewitnesses to what happened...

When it comes to war crimes and crimes against humanity, the German government is unyielding—particularly when it comes to finding excuses for why it should do nothing when it comes to potential German perpetrators. For more than 16 months, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government has been in possession of a list containing the names of German companies thought to have helped Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and his father Hafis build up Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal over the course of several decades. Ultimately, it became one of the largest such arsenals in the world. […] Berlin immediately classified the list and has...

Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND) collects 220 million pieces of information about foreign phone calls and SMS every day, Zeit Online reported on Friday. According to BND documents seen by journalists, five locations around Germany are used to collect the millions of so-called “metadata” about foreigners’ phone calls. It is not yet clear where the BND obtains this much data. But the parliamentary committee at the Bundestag (German parliament) investigating surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA) has established that the BND taps satellite communications and internet cables. …

In a decision announced on Wednesday, a Frankfurt court upheld the dismissal of a man from his job at Frankfurt airport over his close friendship with a foreign citizen with ties to terrorist group ISIS. Judges found that the man, who was in regular contact with the terrorism suspect on a mobile number known only to his close friends, and had lent the suspect €2,000, was too much of a security risk to work in sensitive areas at the airport. The man had first come to police attention after being fined for a minor traffic offense, which was flagged up...

The Islamist terror group, Jabhat al-Nusra—the Al Qaeda affilate in Syria—executed a woman in the main square of the village of Ma'arrat Misrin after accusing her of adultery. In a video made of the execution (see below), the woman appears to be in her forties. Before being executed by a gunshot wound to the head, a man stands near the executioner reading out the sentence. He quotes the Quran (Surah 5:33) as the source for the punishment: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth [to cause] corruption is none but...

The national airline of Cyprus has ceased operations after the European Commission ordered that it must repay €65 million in illegal state aid. The Commission ruled that the airline, which has been losing money for some time and is 94% government-owned, must pay back €65 million of the €103 million that it received in state aid in 2012 and 2013. The airline has been receiving money from the government since 2007. …

A Greek politician who claimed that Jews “don’t pay taxes” has been elected as Defense Minister, Greek media reported Thursday night, amid already-high concerns over rising anti-Semitism in the country that is only expected to worsen following recent elections. Panos Kammenos of the Syriza party made the comments during an interview with Greek Ant-1 TV, according to New Greek TV, on December 18—just days after the drive-by shooting at the Israeli Embassy in Athens. Local Jewish leaders were outraged at the comments. “It is a disgrace that a leader of a party in Parliament does not know that Greek Jews...

The eurozone experienced negative inflation for the second month in a row, according to a flash estimate published today (30 January) by Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office. Inflation is expected to be at −0.6%, with consumer prices falling further than economists had forecast. The fall represents the biggest decline in prices in the history of the euro. […] The drop was driven by the fall in energy prices (−8.9%, compared with −6.3% in December). […] The deflationary spiral comes as Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), is trying to tackle deflation with a policy of...

John Kerry has many titles—secretary of state, former senator, one-time Democratic candidate for president. The globe-spanning diplomat can add one more: snow shoveling scofflaw. […] On Thursday, (Boston) officials tagged Kerry with a $50 fine at 9:45 a.m. for failing to clear the snow from the side of his Beacon Hill mansion. Kerry was in Saudi Arabia attending the funeral of King Abdullah with President Obama. …

A-Treat Beverages has shut down operations after nearly a century of business in the Lehigh Valley. The company, headquartered at 2001 Union Boulevard in Allentown, notified its customers Friday afternoon that it had ceased operations, according to Eric White, a spokesman for Redner’s Warehouse Markets. A-Treat, a Lehigh Valley staple, had notified Redner’s chief operating officer, and White said he learned of the closing about 3:30 p.m. The A-Treat products currently on store shelves will be the only ones available to retailers, White said. A-Treat self-distributes, meaning each Redner’s branch was on its own delivery schedule, so White couldn’t say...

Declaring an end to “mindless austerity,” President Barack Obama called for a surge in government spending Thursday, and asked Congress to throw out the sweeping budget cuts both parties agreed to four years ago when deficits were spiraling out of control. Obama’s proposed $74 billion in added spending—about 7 percent—would be split about evenly between defense programs and the domestic side of the budget. Although he’s sought before to reverse the “sequester” spending cuts, Obama’s pitch in this year’s budget comes with the added oomph of an improving economy and big recent declines in federal deficits. Taking a defiant tone,...

The House will vote next week to repeal the health care law Republicans have vowed to undo. They’ll also direct work to start on a replacement bill the GOP promised more than four years ago. …

Senate Democrats threatened Thursday to block action on legislation funding the Homeland Security Department until Republicans jettison House-passed provisions that reverse President Barack Obama’s key immigration policies. […] Republicans have vowed since last fall they would use the funding measure to reverse Obama’s recent shifts in immigration policies, and the House-passed bill is due on the Senate floor in the next few days. But Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Democrats are not willing to go along, and blasted Republicans in unusually strong terms. “They seem to dislike the idea of supporting homeland security. They dislike dreamers more than they dislike...