President-elect Barack Obama got a glimpse of the challenges his administration would be facing at his first top-secret intelligence briefing Thursday, from the two of the country’s top intelligence officers - National Intelligence Director, Mike McConnell, and CIA Director, Michael Hayden - and a team of briefers.

A new study conducted by researchers at the University of Virginia Health System revealed that intake of an investigational drug, MK-677, on a daily basis increased muscle mass in the arms and legs of healthy older adults.

The study discovered that MK-677 increases the levels of growth hormone (GH) and of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) in aged, to the levels found in healthy youngsters.

Rahm Emanuel – Democratic Congressman from Illinois, and a veteran of the Clinton administration - has accepted the President-elect Barack Obama’s offer to become the new White House chief of staff. Informing Obama of his decision on Thursday, Emanuel said he would step down as the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives to help guide the Obama administration.

Even though reports of agitation between the McCain and Palin camps bubbled up in the final weeks of the campaign, as Barack Obama began pulling away and the GOP duo was unable to regain the momentum, when the defeated team of McCain and Palin split up in Arizona on Wednesday, the personal differences were starkly visible.  

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the salmonella infections from contaminated dry pet food that sickened at least 79 people could be dangerous. The suspected salmonella infection from a pet food plant in Pennsylvania has prompted the closure of the plant and a recall of the affected brands.

The salmonella outbreak is of a rare strain known as Salmonella enterica serotype Schwarzengrund, the CDC said, which causes bloody diarrhea and can make pet food handlers, especially the very young and very old sick.

Scorching knocks of 88 and 51 by Nicky Boje and Stuart Binny helped Hyderabad Heroes to defeat Mumbai Champs by 79-runs in the ICL 20s Indian Championship match at Tau Devi Lal Stadium.

Batting first, Heroes piled 214 runs, the highest score in the tournament. Chasing this imposing total, Champs could manage only 135 runs losing six wickets in their allotted 20 overs.