BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police on Monday accused British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline Plc of channeling bribes to Chinese officials and doctors through travel agencies for six years to illegally boost sales and to raise the price of its medicines in the country.

Since 2007, the company had transferred as much as 3 billion yuan ($489 million) to more than 700 travel agencies and consultancies, said Gao Feng, head of the economic crimes investigation unit at the Ministry of Public Security. He did not make clear how much of this money was allegedly spent on bribes.

Four senior Chinese executives from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) had been detained, Gao added, speaking at a news conference.

Last week the Ministry of Public Security said GSK executives in China had confessed to bribery and tax violations.

GSK officials were not immediately available for comment. The company has previously said it had found no evidence of bribery or corruption in China, but added it would cooperate with the authorities. It has said it was only told about the investigation in early July.

Until Monday, Chinese authorities had released few details on the probe into Britain's biggest drug maker, one of a string of investigations into foreign firms and their pricing practices in the world's second-biggest economy.

"We have sufficient reason to suspect that these transfers were conducted illegally," Gao said at the ministry's imposing headquarters in Beijing, which is usually off limits to foreign reporters.

"You could say the travel agencies and GSK were criminal partners. Among the partners, GSK was mainly responsible. In a criminal organization there is always a leader."

Gao said police had uncovered information during their investigation that pointed to similar money transfers made by other multinational pharmaceutical companies in China.

"Whether they were engaged in illegal behavior, you can go interview them ... You just need to ask them one question: Are you sleeping well at night?" said Gao.

He did not name any other foreign companies.

KEY MARKET FOR DRUGMAKERS

China is an increasingly important country for international drug makers, which are relying on growth in emerging markets to offset slower sales in Western markets where many former top-selling medicines have lost patent protection.

IMS Health, which tracks pharmaceutical industry trends, expects China to overtake Japan as the world's second-biggest drugs market behind the United States by 2016.

The charges of bribery make the GSK case the highest profile corporate investigation in China since four executives from mining giant Rio Tinto Plc were jailed in March 2010 for taking bribes and stealing commercial secrets.

The detained GSK executives include Liang Hong, vice president and operations manager of GSK (China) Investment Co Ltd and Zhang Guowei, the company's vice president and human resources director, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

It was not immediately clear if the executives had legal representation.

Gao gave no specific examples of how the bribery involving the GSK executives worked in practice. He said there were also instances of "sexual bribery", although he did not elaborate.

The official People's Daily newspaper said GSK collaborated with travel agencies to funnel bribes to doctors and officials by creating fake "conference services" as expenditure for GSK in order to misappropriate funds, some of which would then be spent on bribes.

Xinhua said it was given access to one detained travel agent who said he did business with Liang. The agent told Xinhua he sometimes arranged the money for the bribes and delivered it to the recipient. The agent also paid kickbacks to Liang, Xinhua reported.

GSK supplies key products such as vaccines in China, as well as drugs for lung disease and cancer.

Xinhua, given access to Liang by the authorities, quoted the detained executive as saying medicine which cost 30 yuan to make could end up being sold to patients for 300 yuan. It did not specifically say Liang was referring to GSK drugs.

The police last Thursday said the case against GSK involved many staff, with bribes offered to Chinese government officials, medical associations, hospitals and doctors.

China accounts for around 3.5 percent of GSK's overall pharmaceuticals sales. Its shares in London were up 0.3 percent in morning trade, after rising nearly 5 percent since July 1, when Xinhua first reported the police investigation.

UNUSUAL FOR POLICE TO GIVE SUCH DETAIL

Legal experts said the fact the police had disclosed so much information during its investigation suggested the executives would be charged.

Under China's legal system, formal charges would only be announced after preliminary investigations are completed.

"The police would not usually reveal the details of cases they are handling ... they usually wouldn't reveal so much information before a final judgment is handed down," said Yang Zhaodong, partner at Chinese law firm King & Capital, while declining to comment specifically on the GSK case.

"If they are already revealing such information, it means that they feel they have a fairly complete set of evidence."

In the Rio Tinto case, the four executives - one a China-born Australian citizen and three Chinese nationals - received jail terms of between seven and 14 years after being found guilty of getting information from confidential strategy meetings of the body representing China's steel industry in negotiations with iron ore suppliers.

Police said they had taken no action against any British nationals in the GSK case. No information had been received from GSK's UK headquarters, they added.

China has targeted foreign firms on multiple fronts in recent months, including alleged price-fixing, quality controls and consumer rights, forcing companies to defend their reputations in a country where international brands often have a valuable edge over local competitors in terms of public trust.

European food groups Nestle and Danone recently said they would cut the price of infant milk formula in China after Beijing launched an investigation into the industry.

Units of GSK, Merck & Co Inc, Astellas Pharma Inc and other foreign and domestic drug makers are also being investigated by China's top economic planning agency on cost and pricing issues.

It is not clear if there is any link between the planning agency's investigation and the probe by the police into GSK.

(Writing by Kazunori Takada and Paul Carsten. Editing by Dean Yates)

round 20 of matches (home team in CAPS):

CANTERBURY CRUSADERS 25 Wellington Hurricanes 17

MELBOURNE REBELS 38 Otago Highlanders 37

Waikato Chiefs 26 AUCKLAND BLUES 16

Queensland Reds 14 NSW WARATAHS 12

WESTERN FORCE 21 ACT Brumbies 15

SHARKS 58 Southern Kings 13

STORMERS 30 Bulls 13

- -

Overall standings P W D L B F A BPs Pts

Waikato Chiefs (NZ) 16 12 0 4 2 458 364 10 66

Bulls (SA) 16 12 0 4 2 448 330 7 63

ACT Brumbies (AU) 16 10 2 4 2 430 295 8 60

- -

Canterbury Crusaders (NZ) 16 11 0 5 2 446 307 8 60

Queensland Reds (AU) 16 10 2 4 2 321 296 6 58

Cheetahs (SA) 16 10 0 6 2 382 358 6 54

- -

Stormers (SA) 16 9 0 7 2 346 292 6 50

Sharks (SA) 16 8 0 8 2 384 305 8 48

NSW Waratahs (AU) 16 8 0 8 2 411 371 5 45

Auckland Blues (NZ) 16 6 0 10 2 347 364 12 44

Wellington Hurricanes (NZ) 16 6 0 10 2 386 457 9 41

Melbourne Rebels (AU) 16 5 0 11 2 382 515 9 37

Western Force (AU) 16 4 1 11 2 267 366 5 31

Otago Highlanders (NZ) 16 3 0 13 2 374 496 9 29

Southern Kings (SA) 16 3 1 12 2 298 564 2 24

- -

* Points allocation: four for a win, four for a bye, two for

draw, one for scoring four or more tries in a match or losing

by seven or fewer points

* The top team from each country are ranked 1-3 and qualify

for the finals stage along with the three teams with the next

best overall records.

Each team has two byes throughout competition AU=Australia,

NZ=New Zealand, SA=South Africa

(Compiled by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town and Greg Stutchbury in

Wellington; Editing by Toby Davis;

mark.gleeson@thomsonreuters.com +27828257807 Messaging

mark.gleeson.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)

The name is a nod to Seattle's historical ties to the development of jets in aviation. It's also a sign of growing demand for more and more original comics and graphic novels that has seen established authors develop their own titles to slake fan demand.

Jet City issues will publish on Kindle as stand-alone comics, serialized comics released over multiple episodes, and bundled graphic novels, with print editions available at Amazon.com and other comic retailers.

The first issue of "Symposium," the first original Foreworld comic, was released Tuesday.

"Comics and graphic novels, especially in digital format, represent a unique area for innovation," said Jeff Belle, vice president of Amazon Publishing. "Our focus will be on adapting great books for this medium as a means of expanding the audience for our authors, pushing boundaries with new ideas that combine visual and narrative storytelling, and creating compelling new experiences for readers."

More titles are due in October, including George R.R. Martin's "Meathouse Man" and Hugh Howey's "Wool."

"We're working with an incredible, hand-picked team of comics professionals, writers, artists and translators, who have done an amazing job developing and expanding these inventive stories. I'm looking forward to the response from comics readers and fans," said Alex Carr, Jet City's senior editor.

___

Online:

Jet City Comics: http://bit.ly/12ps5Db

(Reuters) - The refusal of some foreign buyers to purchase U.S. wheat after an unapproved genetically modified strain was discovered growing in a farm field in Oregon is the latest demonstration that the issue of biotech food safety is far from settled.

Japan and South Korea canceled purchases of U.S. wheat after the discovery of the experimental wheat developed by Monsanto Co. The furor erupted just days after a May 25 protest in cities around the world targeting Monsanto, the leading developer of crops with transgenic DNA.

At the crux of the concerns is the question of safety. While crop developers and U.S. regulators say that biotech crops on the market are safe, there are widespread fears that gene-altered crops, carrying DNA from other species, are harmful to humans and animals that consume them.

Both sides of the debate say scientific studies buttress their points.

"I think there is a strong international consensus that the current crops grown in the U.S. are safe to eat," said Greg Jaffe, director of biotechnology at Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health and food safety advocacy group.

Not so says Dave Schubert, who heads the cellular neurobiology laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego, California.

"There is no evidence that any GM plant is safe to eat and there are solid data showing that necessary components of the GM technology, like herbicides, are toxic and carcinogenic," Schubert said. "Almost daily there are more problems coming to light."

CONFLICTING STUDIES

It has been 17 years since Monsanto and rivals including DuPont and Dow Chemical rolled out genetically altered crops, and they say their tests show no safety concerns. Also, the chief U.S. authority for food safety, the Food and Drug Administration, says there is no need for either mandatory safety testing or labeling of foods made with GMOs.

FDA officials also say no credible independent research has found harm from GMOs, and many independent studies show genetically altered crops are as safe as conventional ones.

There are many studies to back them up. A group of seven scientists from Europe reviewing 24 animal-feeding studies in 2011 found that none of the studies showed evidence of health hazards, according to their article in the peer-reviewed Food and Chemical Toxicology journal.

An older 2003 Society of Toxicology position paper said potential adverse health impacts from biotech foods appeared no different from other foods.

But other studies indicate potential dangers. Some see a risk of new toxins or allergens stemming from new combinations of genes that would not occur naturally. Others say people or animals could be hurt by residues of the weed-killing chemicals that might linger in food made from biotech crops.

A report published in April by a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said health problems could be linked to herbicides lingering in food. A study last year by French scientist Gilles-Eric Seralini and seven other researchers showed organ damage and increased tumor rates on rats fed Roundup Ready corn with trace amounts of herbicide.

Research published in 2008 by a group of Italian scientists found biotech corn appeared to harm the gut and immune systems of mice. Another mouse study in 2008 found liver problems after ingestion of GMO soy.

And a pair of Greek scientists in 2009 said they found enough evidence of harm from GMO foods to warrant extensive testing.

"Since these GM foods are going to be consumed by every human being they should be tested even more thoroughly than drugs, and more experiments are required in order to study the possible toxicity and make any conclusions," said the 2009 paper by Artemis Dona of the University of Athens Medical School, and Ioannis Arvanitoyannis of the University of Thessaly School of Agricultural Sciences. "Results indicate that many GM food have some common toxic effects."

The Biotechnology Industry Organization, which represents the interests of biotech developers, disagrees.

"The safety of biotech-derived food products has been thoroughly addressed by the international scientific community," said Colleen Lerro, a spokeswoman for the industry lobby.

RELYING ON COMPANIES

GM crop manufacturers use DNA from other species, including types of bacteria, to splice into crops to alter the way they function in the fields. Popular crops not only survive treatments of toxic weedkiller; they manufacture their own toxins to kill insects.

When new biotech crops are developed, companies are not required to apply for FDA approval, but are encouraged to share testing data with FDA scientists. The agency signs off on such a "voluntary consultation" with a letter reminding the biotech company it is responsible for ensuring its GM food is safe.

In an October 2011 letter to Monsanto regarding a new genetically altered soybean, the FDA wrote that Monsanto's testing concluded the soybean "is not materially different in any respect relevant to food or feed safety" from other soybeans. The FDA added that: "It is Monsanto's continuing responsibility to ensure that foods marketed by the firm are safe, wholesome and in compliance" with regulations.

Jason Dietz, a policy analyst in the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said the FDA is exerting responsible oversight. "We think our process is actually quite, quite good and protects public health," said Dietz.

"Firms producing these crops do extensive safety testing before marketing," Dietz added. "It is a firm's responsibility to ensure the safety of the food it markets."

Some scientists are critical of the FDA approach.

"Our regulation ... largely leaves the companies in charge of the safety testing protocols," said Doug Gurian-Sherman, a senior scientist specializing in food at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a pressure group. "That does not strike me as in the best interest of the public."

(Reporting By Carey Gillam; Editing by David Gregorio)

LONDON (Reuters) - A Boeing 787 Dreamliner operated by Ethiopian Airlines caught fire at Britain's Heathrow airport on Friday, forcing the closure of both runways, in a blow for the U.S. planemaker that sent its New York shares down over 6 percent.

Television footage showed the Dreamliner surrounded by foam used by firefighters. Heathrow briefly closed both its runways to deal with the fire which broke out while the plane was parked at a remote stand.

There were no passengers aboard the plane.

"A Boeing 787 Dreamliner suffered an on board internal fire," a Heathrow spokeswoman said. "The plane is now parked at a remote parking stand several hundred meters away from any passenger terminals."

It was not clear if the fire was related to the battery, which was the cause of the previous fires on Dreamliner.

Boeing said it was aware of the fire and that had people on the ground working to understand the causes of it.

The Dreamliner, which was delivered to Ethiopian Airlines in November last year, arrived at Heathrow from Addis Ababa in the early hours of Friday, according to the Flightradar monitoring web site. The plane was due to make the return journey later on Friday.

Boeing's 787 Dreamliner was grounded by regulators in January after batteries burned on two of the jets within two weeks.

The new high-tech jet came under intense scrutiny and Boeing redesigned the battery system to add more layers of protection against fire. It resumed flying in April, with Ethiopian Airlines being the first to put it back into passenger service.

The innovative 787 uses a powerful 1.5 megawatt electrical system to drive air conditioning and hydraulic functions that are run from compressed air on traditional aircraft designs. The electrical system experienced fire during its development that also prompted changes in its electrical panels.

Asked whether the incident could lead to the renewed grounding of Dreamliner jets, a spokesman for Britain's Civil Aviation Authority said decisions on the airworthiness of particular models of plane were made by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliners are powered by General Electric GEnx engines.

Aircraft graphic: http://link.reuters.com/rax39t

(Reporting by Rhys Jones, Estelle Shirbon, Michael Holden in London; editing by Guy Faulconbridge Stephen Addison and Kate Holton and David Evans)

TAIPEI (Reuters) - A dark figure stands alone in the centre of a bleak, shadowy landscape in one painting, while an ethereal tree-like form claims attention in another.

The haunting black-and-white paintings are the work of Gao Xingjian, the first Chinese-born Nobel literature laureate, who traded pen for brush to explore a realm of mood and meditation in a rare exhibit in Taiwan's capital of Taipei.

The 20 works on display in "The Edge of Reality" exhibition, the 73-year-old Gao's first in Asia for three years, present stark landscapes of form, shade and shape that stand in sharp contrast to his detail-rich novels such as "Soul Mountain", for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2000.

"Painting and literature are two completely different languages," Gao, who lives in France, said at the show's recent opening. "Where literature reaches its limits of expressive power, that's where painting begins."

Gao's literary oeuvre, which also includes "One Man's Bible" and numerous stage plays, has won him global acclaim. In his native China, however, his works were banned in 1989 after a play, "Escape", explicitly addressed the Tiananmen Square crackdown.

He said his two artistic endeavors have been part of his life since he was a child, although as an adult he keeps a distance between them.

"For my tenth birthday my uncle gave me a notebook that was just white pages, no grid and no lines," Gao said. "At that time I used it for both writing and drawing.

"I strictly separate the two disciplines. When I'm painting, not only do I not write, I won't even read."

Gao's art began to garner public attention in the 1980s with a number of exhibits across Europe. Since then, his works have been showcased in group and solo exhibitions around the world, although only rarely in mainland China.

"His art used to be more imagistic, more concrete," said Thomas Lee, president of the Asia Art Center that hosted the exhibition. "These pieces are more abstract; he's opened up a more imaginative space for the viewer."

Attendees at the opening described a sense of emotion, particularly loneliness, from the barren scenes and dreamlike vistas on display.

"You really see inside his mind," said collector Henry Chow. "Even though we're standing outside the work, it draws you in completely."

Though Gao intends to keep on with his art, readers may be disappointed to find that he plans no more novels.

"It's too tiring," he said. "That kind of work is too intense."

"The Edge of Reality" continues until July 28.

(Reporting by Michael Gold; Editing by Elaine Lies)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Don't worry about Paula Abdul; she's finding work. At least for one night.

Abdul, who exited Fox's "American Idol" and "The X Factor" amid shakeups to those show's judges' panels, has picked up a little temporary work via a one-night stand on yet another Fox competition series, "So You Think You Can Dance."

Abdul will guest-judge the series on Tuesday night, Fox said on Monday. Abdul will help critique the Top 18 finalists, a group that includes Jasmine Mason, Alan Bersten and Mariah Spears.(The latter, by the way, is not a human mash-up of former "American Idol" judge Mariah Carey and former "The X Factor" judge Britney Spears.)

Fox Sports personality Erin Andrews will also guest-judge the episode.

A fourth woman has accused Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain of sexual harassment--this time in public. Sharon Bialek told reporters in a press conference Monday that Cain groped her and exhibited "sexually inappropriate" behavior toward her when he was head of the National Restaurant Association.

Bialek, a former NRA employee who worked for the association in between 1996 and 1997, said the encounter occurred shortly after she was laid off from the group's education fund in July 1997.

She said she had approached Cain for help in looking for a new job and had traveled to Washington, D.C., where she had dinner with the then-NRA head. She told reporters that upon her arrival in D.C. she discovered that Cain had secretly upgraded her hotel room to a suite.

After dinner, the two were sitting in his car when she claimed he "suddenly reached over and put his hand on my leg under my skirt and reached for my genitals" and moved her head toward his crotch.

"I was surprised and shocked, and I said, what are you doing? You know I have a boyfriend," Bialek recalled saying. "This is not what I came here for."

Bialak claimed that when she protested, Cain replied, "You want a job, right?

She told reporters Cain backed off after she asked him to stop, and he drove her back to her hotel.

Bialek, who identified herself as a stay-at-home single mom who lives in Chicago and is a registered Republican, said she didn't file a complaint with the NRA in part because she was no longer formally employed by the group--and also because she was "very embarrassed." She was joined at the press conference by her attorney, celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, who offered sworn affidavits from two friends to whom Bialek spoke shortly after the alleged encounter.

"I was very very surprised and very shocked," Bialek said, adding that she had come forward to be a "face" for women who had been harassed by Cain. "I want you, Mr. Cain, to come clean. Just admit what you did. Admit you were inappropriate to people ... I implore you. Make this right."

The Cain campaign issued a statement denying Bialek's claims.

"All allegations of harassment against Mr. Cain are completely false," the campaign said in a statement. " Mr. Cain has never harassed anyone."

Bialek is the fourth woman to accuse Cain of sexual harassment when he was head of the NRA, but she's the only accuser who has spoken publicly.

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Paul, who averaged 16.9 points, 9.7 assists and 3.7 rebounds last season leading the Clippers to a club record 56 wins, cannot officially sign the deal until July 10th because of NBA rules.

After the hiring Doc Rivers as the new head coach getting Paul's name on an extension was the top priority for the Clippers.

Taken with the fourth overall selection in the 2005 NBA draft by the New Orleans Hornets, Paul was traded to the Clippers in December 2011 for Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and a 2012 1st round draft pick (Austin Rivers).

A six-time All-Star, Paul is a double Olympic champion helping the United States to gold medals at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Summer Games.

Over eight NBA seasons Paul has averaged 18.6 points, 9.8 assists and 4.4 rebounds.

(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto, Editing by Simon Evans in Miami)

PILTON, England (Reuters) - The Rolling Stones lived up to their reputation as one of the greatest rock'n'roll bands when they played to more than 100,000 revelers on Saturday during their first performance at Glastonbury, the world's best-known music festival.

Despite an average age of 69, the four band members strutted, strummed and shrieked their way through a set lasting over two hours that began with "Jumping' Jack Flash" and ended with fireworks exploding off the stage during "Satisfaction".

The crowd cheered and sang along as the band that celebrated 50 years in the music business last year rocked through a playlist of old and new hits while security staff tried to block entry to the overcrowded field.

"It's great to be here doing this festival. After all these years they have finally gotten around to asking us," said rubber-lipped frontman Mick Jagger, who turns 70 next month.

Glastonbury began as a hippie retreat in 1970 and has become known for its megastars over the years with Beyonce, U2, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie among the headline acts. The Rolling Stones were the most notable absence from the lineup.

Festival founder Michael Eavis, who holds the festival on his 900-acre (365-hectare) farm in southwest England, has publicly delighted in finally persuading the band to play at the three-day event that drew 150,000-plus music fans by Saturday.

From the outset, the Rolling Stones showed there was no generation gap, as they got the crowd cheering to "Honky Tonk Woman" and then singing along to "Miss You".

Five songs into their set, Jagger introduced a new number, "Glastonbury Girl", that he said he wrote for a girl he met at the festival on Friday night when he joined the audience to watch the headline act Arctic Monkeys.

"HIGHLIGHT OF 43 YEARS OF GLASTONBURY"

As they played "Sympathy for the Devil", a metallic phoenix rose from the top of the stage, wings flapping and eyes flashing, amid shooting flames.

"I want to thank you for coming to our shows for 50 years," yelled Jagger, who bounded across the stage after introducing his band mates, drummer Charlie Watts and guitarists Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards.

"If this is the first time you have ever seen the band, do come again," joked Jagger, who earlier in the day said he would keep performing as long as his fans wanted him.

That could be a while, judging by the response of festival-goers who said the Rolling Stones more than met their expectations.

The average age of Glastonbury festival-goers has risen to 36 over the years but even younger fans were full of praise for the veteran rockers who have released more than two dozen studio albums and 100 singles over the past five decades.

"I thought it was epic. I thought they smashed it. I expected a dropped note here, a cracked voice there," said Mark Smalley, 27, an events manager from Plymouth on the south coast.

Speaking immediately after the band came off stage, Eavis told the BBC that the Rolling Stones were "the highlight of 43 years of Glastonbury".

The Rolling Stones ended the second of three days of music at the festival where the lineup also included Billy Bragg, Elvis Costello, psychedelic rockers Primal Scream and Laura Mvula as well as smaller acts on 58 stages across the sprawling site.

British folk rockers Mumford & Sons will close the 2013 festival on Sunday night.

(Editing by Kevin Liffey and Eric Walsh)