Nobel medicine laureate D. Carleton Gajdusek dies (AP via Yahoo! Singapore News) Nobel Prize-winning medical researcher Dr. [News Source]

Thousands of extra donors expected after over 70s blood donation ban lifted (Daily Mail: World News) The blanket ban on the over 70s donating blood was lifted last night in a bid to avert a national blood shortage. [News Source]

Ivy Offers Poolside Cabanas, Steaks: Sydney Dining (Update1) (Bloomberg) Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Don’t tell the crowd at Ivy there’s a recession coming. It’s Friday night, and hotelier Justin Hemmes’s A$150 million ($98 million) grownup’s playground in downtown Sydney is pumping. [News Source]

Deaths Elsewhere / Febres Cordero, former president of Ecuador (Pioneer Press) Former President Leon Febres Cordero, the colorful, right-wing leader who dominated Ecuadorean politics for decades and was dubbed the "owner" of the nation by his opponents, died Monday. He was 77. [News Source]