■ United States
FDA approves implants use
A US government regulator on Friday approved the sale of silicone breast implants for cosmetic use, overturning a 14-year ban imposed due to safety concerns. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the implants' use for breast augmentation in women of 22 years and older, but said that safety tests would continue. The gel-based product supposedly has a more natural feel than saline-filled implants that had not been subjected to a ban. Analysts said that due to the ruling the sale of breast implants may double in the next few years.
■ Brazil
Collision pilots must stay
Two US pilots involved in a mid-air collision with a jetliner had their request to leave the country denied on Friday, pending the end of an investigation into the country's worst-ever plane crash. All 154 people onboard a Boeing 737-800 were killed when the plane crashed after colliding with a twin-engine Embraer Legacy. Joe Lepore and Jan Paladino had their passports confiscated shortly after the collision, and a request to retrieve them was denied by a regional judicial tribunal. Originally accused of causing the collision by flying at the wrong altitude and refusing to change their height, the two pilots were cleared earlier this month. But there remain some outstanding issues, including suggestions that the aircraft's anti-collision and communications systems were turned off.
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