1. White House sets November deadline for ObamaCare fixes
The Obama administration on Friday announced it would have the health care exchange website fully functional for the "vast majority" of users by the end of November. The massive structural flaws with the site, Healthcare.gov, have been an embarrassment for the White House, sparking a political backlash and threatening to undermine the law should the problems take too long to fix. The uninsured have until the end of March to obtain coverage or face the individual mandate's penalty. [Los Angeles Times]
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2. Saudi women protest driving ban
Women in Saudi Arabia will get behind the wheel on Saturday to protest the nation's de facto prohibition on female drivers. Though there is technically no law against women driving there, the government does not issue driver's licenses to women. The protest is the latest in a series of demonstrations aimed at drawing attention to and ultimately ending the ban. [Washington Post]
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3. New documents released in JonBenet Ramsey case
A grand jury considered indicting the parents of JonBenet Ramsey back in 1999 for the murder of the child beauty queen, according to newly released court documents. The documents, totaling just four pages, were released at the behest of a reporter and open information group. DNA testing has cleared Ramsey's parents, and the nearly two-decade-old case remains unsolved. [CNN]
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4. FDA proposes new regulations for animal food
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed new rules that would for the first time regulate animal feed and pet food. The announcement comes days after the FDA announced nearly 600 pets had mysteriously died since 2007 after consuming tainted Chinese jerky treats. [New York Times]
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5. Massive earthquake strikes off Japanese coast
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck east of the Fukushima region of Japan Friday, raising the specter of the deadly disaster that devastated the country in 2011, killing nearly 16,000 people and crippling a nuclear plant. The Japan Meteorological Agency initially issued a tsunami alert for the area, though that was later lifted, and no major damage was reported. [BBC]
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6. Study shows marijuana compounds can fight cancer
New research into the medical benefits of marijuana has found that a handful of cannabinoids can have a "profound" impact on killing and inhibiting the growth of cancer cells. The findings, published in the journal Anticancer Research, showed that six non-psychoactive ingredients in marijuana — meaning compounds other than the well-known THC — were able to reduce the viability of leukaemic cells. The study's author, Wai Liu, said he hoped to turn his findings into medication that could be available within the next year and a half. [Seattle Post Intelligencer]
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7. Firefox releases new privacy tool
Mozilla on Friday unveiled a new privacy extension for its popular Firefox web browser that allows users to see who's tracking their online activity. By enabling the free extension, called Lightbeam, users can see which third-party companies are tracking their movements, a service the company said it hopes will "illuminate the inner workings of the web." [Mashable]
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8. NBA Hall of Famer Bill Sharman dies at 87
Basketball great Bill Sharman died Friday at the age of 87, one week after suffering a stroke. Sharman won four championships as a player with the Boston Celtics, and another as the coach of Los Angeles Lakers. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. [Sports Illustrated]
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9. S&P 500 closes Friday at another record high
Buoyed by strong earnings reports from both Microsoft and Amazon, the Standard & Poor's 500 index ended Friday at an all-time high of 1,760. It was the third-straight week of gains for the index. Microsoft shares rose by 6.6 percent on the day after a better-than-expected earnings report, while shares of Amazon leapt nearly 10 percent. [Reuters]
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10. MTV pre-releases entire series via mobile app
Embracing the "binge-watching" movement, MTV on Friday released the full season of an upcoming series through a free proprietary app one week before the show is to air on television. The program, a docu-drama about a high school football team, is named, somewhat ironically, "Wait 'Till Next Year." [Associated Press]
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