Lady Gaga will hit the road solo

Lady Gaga isn't letting her ill-fated tour with Kanye West keep her from her fans.

A day after her joint tour with the rapper was canceled, the pop star said Friday she'll be hitting the road solo.

The West and Lady Gaga tour was supposed to kick off Nov. 10 in Phoenix. Lady Gaga said the two "mutually decided to cancel the tour." She said that West is "going to take some time off, but I'm not."

Gaga made the comments before accepting the Rising Star honor at Billboard's annual Women in Music event in New York, where Beyoncé was honored as woman of the year.

In announcing the cancellation of the Fame Kills tour Thursday, Live Nation offered no explanation. The tour was to have hit Anaheim on Nov. 15 and Los Angeles on Nov. 16. The company said that refunds would be available at the point of purchase and that tickets purchased online or over the phone "will be refunded automatically."

Gaga said her tour will start in mid-November, but there were no immediate details on dates and locations.

The Fame Kills tour had been problematic from the start, especially after West's appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 13, where he took the microphone from teenage singer Taylor Swift as she was about to begin an acceptance speech. He subsequently apologized and told Jay Leno the next day he planned to take some time off. Link...

Registration of 4,000 imported medicines cancelled

LAHORE: The Federal Health Ministry has cancelled the registration of 4,000 imported medicine, including those from China, after local industrialists objected to their sale in the country, a private TV channel reported on Saturday.

This was decided in a meeting of the Registration Board that was chaired by Health Minister Mir Ijaz Hussian Jakhrani, the channel reported.

It said the registration of the medicine was cancelled as they were being sold in Pakistan without a guarantee from the manufacturers.

The industrialists demanded the government cancel the registration of the imported medicine, as similar drugs were being produced in Pakistan as well and, therefore, there was no need to import them.

They told the channel that the government should ensure the use of the local medicine. Link...

Warning: Think before you pink

As tens of thousands of marchers take to Hub streets today to raise money for breast cancer research, advocates are warning big-hearted consumers that popular pink-ribbon purchases may contribute more to corporate marketing than to the fight against the disease.

“It must be really good for business because so many businesses are picking up on the pink ribbon thing - which is making money, but not making a huge difference in the breast cancer world,” said Kasha Ho, program director of California-based Breast Cancer Action, which operates the watchdog site thinkbeforeyoupink.org.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month is marked today by the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk, which raises money for the American Cancer Society, and by pink-ribboned products flooding the market.

“A lot of these pink promotion products make you jump through certain hoops or the amount of the donation is very little,” said Ho, who advises buyers to investigate before buying a pink product. For example:

• A national frozen-food company used to market its meals with pink ribbons, but no money from the purchase went to breast cancer research, Ho said. Customers had to visit the company Web site and buy a pink lunch tote. The company then donated $5 to Komen.
• For every Yoplait Yogurt lid mailed in before Dec. 31, Yoplait donates 10 cents to Susan G. Komen For the Cure. Ho pointed out if you sent three lids a day for four months, your donation would be only $36. However, the cumulative effect is impressive, a Yoplait spokeswoman said: During the past 11 years, the company has donated more than $22 million to breast cancer causes.
• Similarly, through Cook for the Cure, KitchenAid donates 10 percent of sales of its pink product line, which can be as little as $5 per item. A KitchenAid spokeswoman said the promotion has generated $8 million in donations from KitchenAid to Komen.

“The public wants to help,” said Margo Golden of Boston, who has breast cancer and is president of the board of directors of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition. “I’m grateful they want to help, but they are almost being taken advantage of.”

Experts suggest donating directly to cancer research organizations rather than through corporations.

“If you want to make a donation, choose your favorite breast cancer organization and it might be more effective,” Ho said.

Deborah Shields, executive director of the Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition, said she is “truly astounded” each October at the explosion of pink products. She warned customers to be aware of marketing, but acknowledged that the cause can benefit from more publicity.

“What’s good is it brings awareness and attention to the disease - but on the other hand there are ways to do it without pink ribbons everywhere,” she said.

There will be an estimated 192,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer diagnosed this year in the United States, and about 40,170 deaths from the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute. Link...