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FDA okays new flu shot as vaccine season nears

WASHINGTON - Mindful of last year's flu vaccine shortage, the Food and Drug Administration approved a new shot on Wednesday in an attempt to ensure adequate supplies during the upcoming flu season.

It remained uncertain whether there would be enough shots for all who wanted them.

The FDA approved the vaccine Fluarix for people 18 years and older. The shots, made in Germany by a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline, have been available in other countries for years.

A spokesman said the company expects to supply 8 million doses to the U.S. market this flu season, at a price comparable to other flu shots. Flu vaccine typically costs less than $20 a dose.

The government hasn't yet predicted just how much flu vaccine the nation will have this fall.

LOS ANGELES - The head of a radical Islamic prison gang and three others were indicted Wednesday on federal charges of planning terrorist attacks against U.S. military facilities, the Israeli Consulate and other Los Angeles-area targets.

The four conspired to wage war against the U.S. government through terrorism, kill armed service members and murder foreign officials, among other charges, according to the indictment.

Named in the indictment were Levar Haley Washington, 25, Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21, Hammad Riaz Samana, 21 and Kevin James, 29.

The attacks were to be carried out with firearms and other weapons at synagogues during Jewish holidays "to maximize the number of casualties," authorities said. Patterson allegedly bought a .223-caliber rifle in July.

NILAND, Calif. - Dozens of small earthquakes - some as powerful as magnitude 4.6 - shook the desert of southeast California on Wednesday.

The most significant quake occurred at 3:50 p.m. and was centered 7 miles southwest of Niland in Imperial County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

A dispatcher with the county sheriff's department said there were no reports of damage.

Numerous smaller tremors occurred throughout the day.

The temblors were located in the Brawley seismic zone, which is known for having many quakes bunched together, officials said.

RALEIGH, N.C. - The lottery is now law in North Carolina.

Gov. Mike Easley waited just a day after the Senate approved the lottery bill to make it law. His signature capped two decades of effort to bring a lottery to North Carolina, the only state on the East Coast without a game. Easley had pushed lawmakers since his first campaign for governor in 2000 to relent so the state could generate money for its education needs.

It likely will be months before the lottery begins operating, officials said.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A federal grand jury indicted three businesses and 11 people Wednesday in an alleged conspiracy to sell $42-million worth of counterfeit, stolen and illegally imported prescription drugs, including the popular cholesterol drug Lipitor.

The indictment named Kansas City-based Albers Medical Distributors Inc., Nebraska-based Med-Pro Inc., and Springfield, Ill.-based H.D. Smith Wholesale Drug Co.