The 35-year-old Froch, who lost to Kessler in Denmark three years ago, put on a typically gutsy performance to win with a scorecard that read 115-113, 116-112 and 118-110 in favor of the Nottingham fighter to the delight of the 20,000 crowd.

Froch's record is now 31-2, with his only other defeat coming at the hands of American Andre Ward in Atlantic City in 2011, compared to Kessler's 46-3 after an action-packed fight that saw the Dane hanging on near the end of the final round.

"It feels really, really good, only thing that feels bad is I have had to beat a real gentleman and a nice man, Mikkel Kessler," Froch told Sky Sports. "It's 1-1 now, who knows do you fancy a third one? Best of three maybe?

"I deserved to win, but he won't lie down for any man and massive respect to him," added Froch before turning his thoughts to a possible rematch with unbeaten WBA title holder Ward who was watching at ringside.

"The winner of this fight should be moving on to avenge their other loss and now I move on to the second best boxer in the world," said Froch. "Let's get Andre Ward over to the UK and fight him here."

The 34-year-old Kessler, whose only other defeats were against unbeaten Welshman Joe Calzaghe in 2007 and Ward in 2009, said: "I gave it my all but didn't have the energy and couldn't cope with Carl. It is nice to fight such a warrior."

(Writing by Ken Ferris; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

A publicist for the family reissued a statement Tuesday thanking fans, friends and family for their support and asked for continued prayers.

The 25-year-old was performing a flip Thursday when he clipped the top of a jump and went over the handlebars. The snowmobile rolled over him, but he walked off the course with help and went to a hospital with a concussion.

While there, he developed bleeding around his heart and was flown to Grand Junction for surgery Friday. His family said Sunday that Moore then had a secondary complication involving his brain. They didn't provide details.

Moore's younger brother, Colten, also crashed in the competition and suffered a separated pelvis.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is eliminating various types of advertisements on its website in an effort to simplify a system that it acknowledged was confusing marketers.

The world's No. 1 social network, which is seeking to revive revenue growth, will still display ads inside users' newsfeeds and on the right-hand side of its web pages. But it will sharply reduce the options marketers can choose for those so-called ad units.

"What we realized is that even though every ad product is really good on its own, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. It should really be simpler," Fidji Simo, a Facebook product manager for ads, said at an event at the company's Menlo Park, California headquarters on Thursday.

The changes will be rolled out over the coming weeks and months. Facebook said the streamlined system would not affect pricing on its ads, but would not comment when asked how the changes could affect overall revenue.

Advertising accounts for 85 percent of Facebook's revenue, and it is trying to reinvigorate revenue growth following a sharp slowdown early last year.

With consumers increasingly accessing Facebook on mobile devices such as smartphones, Facebook has scrambled to roll out new types of ad formats suited to small mobile screens. Facebook has also begun letting advertisers show ads based on users' Web browsing history and has introduced tools that allow marketers to better measure ad effectiveness.

The company is widely expected to introduce video ads this year, but it made no mention of them at the event on Thursday.

Facebook shares have fallen about 15 percent so far this year, compared with the Dow Jones industrial average's 14 percent rise.

As part of the changes, marketers will no longer be asked to choose from a list of 27 different ad units. Instead, marketers will pick from six or seven objectives, such as driving foot traffic to a real-world store or generating "likes" for a company's page.

"Offers" ads for product discount coupons, for example, will no longer be a separate category for online merchants. Instead, a general ad unit will include the link for a coupon.

Merchants with brick and mortar stores will still have a separate "offers" ad unit.

Facebook executives noted that marketers will still be able to select ads that run only on mobile devices or on personal computers.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Chang, Bernard Orr)

The order Wednesday was met with praise from advocates for girls' and women's rights and scorn from social conservatives and other opponents, who argue the drug's availability takes away the rights of parents of girls who could get it without their permission. It is the latest in a series of rulings in a complex back-and-forth over access to the drug.

The brief order issued by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan permitted two-pill versions of emergency contraception to immediately be sold without restrictions, but the court refused to allow unrestricted sales of the Plan B One-Step contraceptive until it decides the merits of the government's appeal. It did not specify why the two-pill versions were being allowed now, though it said the government failed to meet the requirements necessary to block the lower-court decision.

Department of Justice spokeswoman Allison Price said the government was reviewing the court's order.

Anna Higgins, director of the Family Research Council's Center for Human Dignity, where she focuses on issues including conception and end-of-life care, said the ease of access to the drug was a problem. She described the court's order Wednesday as "confounding."

"Our reaction in general is a concern for the safety of young girls and the rights of parents," she said.

Center for Reproductive Rights President Nancy Northup called the day of the court's order a "historic day for women's health."

"Finally, after more than a decade of politically motivated delays, women will no longer have to endure intrusive, onerous and medically unnecessary restrictions to get emergency contraception," she said in a statement.

The center's litigation director, Julie Rickelman, said the government has two weeks to decide whether to appeal the 2nd Circuit's decision on the stay to the full appeals court or the Supreme Court. Even if there is no appeal of the stay ruling, it was unclear how soon drugstores would move the two-pill emergency contraception from behind the counter. She said she hoped the pills would be available without restriction within a month.

"What it does mean is that generic two-pill products are going to be readily available to women without age restrictions, on any drugstore shelf," Rickelman said. "It'll be like buying Tylenol. You'll be able to go get it off the drugstore shelf, no ID, at the regular counter."

Dr. Georges Benjamin, of the American Public Health Association, said the court was right to allow women of child-bearing age to have access to emergency contraception, saying he was "hopeful that the full appeals court, when it finally decides, will have the same view."

The government has appealed U.S. District Judge Edward Korman's underlying April 5 ruling, which ordered emergency contraceptives based on the hormone levonorgestrel be made available without a prescription, over the counter and without point-of-sale or age restrictions.

The government asked the judge to suspend the effect of that ruling until the appeals court could decide the case, but the judge declined, saying the government's decision to restrict sales was "politically motivated, scientifically unjustified and contrary to agency precedent." He also said there was no basis to deny the request to make the drugs widely available.

The government had argued that "substantial market confusion" could result if the judge's ruling were enforced while appeals were pending, only to be later overturned.

The morning-after pill contains a higher dose of the female progestin hormone than is in regular birth control pills. Taking it within 72 hours of rape, condom failure or just forgetting regular contraception can cut the chances of pregnancy by up to 89 percent. But it works best within the first 24 hours. If a girl or woman already is pregnant, the pill has no effect. It prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg.

The Food and Drug Administration was preparing in 2011 to allow over-the-counter sales of the morning-after pill with no limits when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius overruled her own scientists in an unprecedented move.

The FDA announced in early May that Plan B One-Step could be sold without a prescription to those 15 and older. Its maker, Teva Women's Health, plans to begin those sales soon. Sales had previously been limited to those who were at least 17.

Korman, the judge, later ridiculed the FDA changes, saying they established "nonsensical rules" that favored sales of the Plan B One-Step morning-after pill and were made "to sugarcoat" the government's appeal.

He also said they place a disproportionate burden on blacks and the poor by requiring a prescription for less expensive generic versions of the drug bought by those under age 17 and by requiring those over age 17 to show proof-of-age identification at a pharmacy.

Plan B One-Step is the newer version of emergency contraception the same drug but combined into one pill instead of two.

___

Neergaard reported from Washington.

The politically volatile debate reflects a reality that's difficult for parents, including the president, to swallow: Quite a number of teenagers have sex. So how easily should they be able to get a pill that prevents pregnancy if taken soon enough after sex?

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration made it a little easier, saying anyone 15 or older could begin buying one brand, Plan B One-Step, without a prescription two years younger than the current age limit of 17 and that the pill no longer has to be locked behind pharmacy counters.

But it's far from clear whether that will happen. U.S. District Judge Edward Korman of New York had given the FDA until Monday to lift all age limits on Plan B and a cheaper generic, mandating that emergency contraception be sold just like aspirin. Instead, by requiring that buyers prove their age at the cash register, the FDA decided to treat it like beer.

The Justice Department hasn't said whether it will appeal Korman's order and thus back FDA's new approach, and that leaves the whole issue in limbo.

"This is a truly bizarre and unprecedented situation," said American University law professor Lewis A. Grossman, a specialist in food and drug law.

On Wednesday, doctors' groups, led by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, urged the Obama administration not to let the FDA action be the last word.

Any over-the-counter access marks a long-awaited change, but it's not enough, said Dr. Cora Breuner of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which supports nonprescription sale of the morning-after pill for all ages.

"We still have the major issue, which is our teen pregnancy rate is still too high," Breuner said.

Even though few young girls likely would use Plan B, which costs about $50 for a single pill, "we know that it is safe for those under 15," she said.

Most 17- to 19-year-olds are sexually active, and 30 percent of 15- and 16-year-olds have had sex, according to a study published last month by the journal Pediatrics. Sex is much rarer among younger teens. Likewise, older teens have a higher pregnancy rate, but that study also counted more than 110,000 pregnancies among 15- and 16-year-olds in 2008 alone.

The White House sought Wednesday to put much as much distance as possible between President Barack Obama and this political hot potato.

"The president, the White House, did not weigh in on this decision," White House spokesman Jay Carney said of the FDA's move.

Obama must balance his own instincts as the father of two school-age daughters with the wishes of numerous political constituencies, including women's groups whose influence runs deep within the Democratic Party. It was just last week that Obama became the first president to address Planned Parenthood in person, telling the abortion rights group that as long as women must fight to make their own health choices, "you've also got a president who's going to be right there with you fighting every step of the way."

Contraception advocates see a double standard. No one is carded when buying a condom, but under the FDA's decision they would have to prove their age when buying a pill to prevent pregnancy if that condom breaks.

"This isn't a compromise. This is wrong," said Cynthia Pearson of the National Women's Health Network.

Likewise, social conservatives were outraged by the FDA's move, saying it was important for parents and medical professionals to be involved in such decisions involving teens.

"This decision undermines the right of parents to make important health decisions for their young daughters," said Anna Higgins of the Family Research Council. She added that removing the prescription requirement meant "teens and women will avoid necessary medical screenings" that could detect serious problems.

The FDA had been poised to lift all age limits and let Plan B sell over the counter in late 2011, when Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in an unprecedented move, overruled her own scientists. Sebelius said some girls as young as 11 were physically capable of bearing children but shouldn't be able to buy the pregnancy-preventing pill on their own.

Ruling earlier this month in a lawsuit challenging that decision, Korman blasted the Obama administration for letting election-year politics trump science. The judge called the morning-after pill "among the safest drugs sold over the counter," and gave the government 30 days to lift all age limits.

Obama aides bristled at the suggestion that the FDA decision was an attempt at political compromise, insisting the FDA merely responded to an application filed by Plan B's manufacturer which sought the 15 age limit and over-the-counter sales.

At the same time, Carney signaled that a policy allowing 15-year-olds to buy the pill off the shelf would be more palatable to Obama than the prospect of 11-year-olds having unfettered access. Pointing to Obama's comments in support of Sebelius back in 2011, Carney said, "he referred to younger girls, and I believe so did Secretary Sebelius."

If a woman already is pregnant, the morning-after pill has no effect. It prevents ovulation or fertilization of an egg. According to the medical definition, pregnancy doesn't begin until a fertilized egg implants itself into the wall of the uterus. Still, some critics say Plan B is the equivalent of an abortion pill because it may also be able to prevent a fertilized egg from attaching to the uterus, a contention that many scientists and Korman, in his ruling said has been discredited.

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - A portrait of family life in a Palestinian refugee camp and the rites of an ethnic Russian group will show alongside 146 other movies at this year's edition of the world's longest continuously running film festival in the Scottish capital.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) on Wednesday promised to deliver a broad program of features from 53 countries during its 12-day run from June 19.

American film critic, author and lecturer Chris Fujiwara, who took over as artistic director last year after the festival's near collapse in 2011, told Reuters it remains a showcase for British cinema.

"It is also one of the key international film festivals where emerging filmmakers from around the world aspire to have their films shown," he said.

Films competing for the Michael Powell award for best British feature film include seven world premieres and the festival will open with a gala performance of U.S. family melodrama "Breathe In".

This year's international competition includes such diverse offerings as Mahdi Fleifel's "A World Not Ours", a portrait of family life in a Palestinian refugee camp; Mohammad Shirvani's dreamlike allegory "Fat Shaker" set in Tehran, and Aleksey Fedorchenko's "Celestial Wives Of The Meadow Mari" on the rites and customs of a Russian ethnic group.

Fujiwara said the festival's new "American Dreams" strand brought highlights from an exceptionally good year for independent U.S. cinema, while focuses on Korea and Sweden will recognize artistic vitality and social commitment.

The "New Realities" section of the festival will reaffirm support for documentary filmmaking, while a new section "And Not Another Teen Movie" is a program by 15-to-19-year-olds for their peers.

The EIFF is the world's longest continuously running film festival, now in its 67th year.

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Little known biotechnology company Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc has quietly built a large pipeline of experimental cancer treatments that it aims to deliver at a fraction of the cost spent by larger rivals.

That could translate into lower-cost treatments for large unmet needs, such as pancreatic cancer, at precisely the time when pressure is mounting to reduce runaway healthcare spending.

Despite six drugs in clinical development - one of them in late-stage trials - and two more about to advance to human testing, Merrimack is burning only about $20 million a quarter.

"For the size and scale of what we do, that's eye poppingly low," Merrimack Chief Executive Robert Mulroy told Reuters.

"Our cost structure is orders of magnitude lower than anybody to date in this business. Our cost from starting a discovery program to getting into the clinic is less than $20 million, and the industry average is close to half a billion per molecule," he said in an interview this week.

"Hopefully, we're going to get to less expensive drugs because our capital costs to be successful with them will be so much lower."

That would be music to the ears of payers and the overtaxed U.S. Medicare system contending with new cancer treatments that can exceed $100,000 per patient.

Started by six professors from Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000, Merrimack is nearing the finish line with what could be its first commercial product, a nanotherapeutic treatment for pancreatic cancer - a disease for which patients currently have few options.

Shares of Merrimack, which has a market value of about $500 million, are down nearly 16 percent this year, while the biotech sector overall has been on the rise.

Brean Capital analyst Gene Mack said investors have been wary about the prospects for the company's lead drug because the failure rate for pancreatic cancer drugs has been high and Merrimack is testing its drug in patients that have failed prior treatment - a population with a very poor prognosis.

"Investors don't realize how much progress has been made in the last year," Mack said. "Fundamentally, this is my favorite company (worth) under a billion dollars."

Late-stage trial data on the lead drug candidate, known as MM-398, is expected the second half of this year. If the study succeeds, the company could file for approval late this year or early in 2014.

MM-398 is designed to treat a particular type of tumor - hypoxic tumors - that tend to be resistant to standard therapies because of poor blood flow to the tumor.

"You don't have a lot of highways to the tumor so you don't get a lot of drug there," Mulroy explained.

The Merrimack technology is designed to deliver cancer-killing therapy directly into the tumor and have it work for far longer than other new medicines that directly target tumors.

"Our technology keeps the drug in the tumor for over a week as opposed to just a few hours," Mulroy said.

Hypoxic tumors are very common in pancreatic cancer, making it notoriously difficult to treat, but are also present in many other types of solid tumors.

Merrimack is developing a companion diagnostic test that uses a radioactive imaging agent to identify hypoxic tumors. If the test works as intended, MM-398 could also eventually treat lung, breast, colon and other cancers if patients are found to have the right type of tumor, giving it a huge potential market. The company plans to test MM-398 in combination with chemotherapies and targeted biotech medicines.

Merrimack also has a drug, MM-111, in Phase II testing for gastric cancer, for which there is an enormous unmet need, particularly in China and Asia.

The company has enough cash to fund its numerous clinical trials for the rest of this year and take MM-398 through to approval and commercialization, Mulroy said.

The company has full rights to seven of the eight drugs in clinical development and hopes to retain them for the U.S. and European markets while looking for partners to sell the medicines in other parts of the world, the CEO said.

French drugmaker Sanofi acquired global rights to the Merrimack drug MM-121, being tested in lung, breast and ovarian cancer. Merrimack, which will get milestone payments and royalties on future sales of the medicine, expects data from four Phase II trials of MM-121 later this year.

In another vote of confidence, Sanofi is the company's second-largest shareholder with more than a 5 percent stake, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Merrimack's share performance over the second half of the year will hinge on a steady flow of clinical data, with four Phase II studies and the pivotal Phase III on MM-398 expected to be reported in the coming months.

"There will be plenty of opportunities to show that the technology works," Mulroy said. "We're in a big transition year for us."

(Reporting by Bill Berkrot; editing by Ed Tobin and John Wallace)

The death of Waliur Rehman, wanted by the U.S. for a 2009 attack in Afghanistan that killed seven people working for the CIA, also focuses attention on the controversial U.S. drone program. Despite President Barack Obama's sweeping promise last week of new transparency, Wednesday's strike against a longtime American target shows that the CIA will still launch attacks on militants without having to explain them publicly.

The announcement by the Pakistani Taliban came amid conflicting reports about whether the Islamic militant movement had selected a replacement for Rehman, who was killed Wednesday in an attack that Pakistani officials said left at least four other militants dead.

Taliban spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan said the group is discussing whether Khan Sayed, Rehman's deputy, will succeed him as head of the militant group's most powerful branch in South Waziristan, which would effectively make him the second-in-command.

Two Taliban commanders said commanders voted in favor of Sayed at a meeting, but Ahsan said a vote had yet to be taken. The commanders both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Sayed is believed to be about 40 years old and is known mainly for coordinating attacks in Afghanistan, say intelligence and militant sources. He was responsible for organizing an assault on a prison in northwestern Pakistan in April 2012 in which close to 400 prisoners, including 20 who were considered dangerous insurgents, were freed.

Ahsan also told The Associated Press in a telephone call from an undisclosed location that the militants withdrew an offer to join peace talks because they believe the Pakistani government approves of the U.S. drone strikes, despite official statements to the contrary. He also formally confirmed that Rehman had been killed.

"We had made the offer for peace talks with the government with good intention but we think that these drone attacks are carried out with the approval of the government so we announce the end of the talks process," he said.

Three of the others killed were mid-level Pakistani aides to Rehman, two Pakistani intelligence officials said, also speaking on condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to release the information. They said they are still trying to confirm the nationality and identity of the fifth militant.

The Pakistani Taliban, formed in late 2007, aims to overthrow the Pakistani government, which it believes is too closely aligned with the United States. The militant group, formally called the Tehrik-e-Taliban or the TTP, has been responsible for hundreds of shootings and bombings across Pakistan that have resulted in thousands of deaths.

Earlier this year the group had indicated it was open to the idea of peace talks to end years of fighting if certain individuals, including Sharif, were involved.

The talks did not go anywhere at the time but the May 11 election victory of Sharif's party once again brought the issue to the forefront.

Days after the election Sharif, who is set to become prime minister for a third time, called for peace talks with the Taliban militants. Sharif said Taliban offers to talk should be taken seriously.

A spokesman for Sharif's party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, promised to continue to push for talks when they take office despite the Pakistani Taliban's announcement.

"There must be a formal contact between the TTP and our government when we come into power," said Sadiqul Farooq.

The new lawmakers are scheduled to be sworn into office on Saturday, and Sharif likely to take over as prime minister next week, then name his new Cabinet.

There may still be space for peace talks in the future if back channels through tribal elders and others remain open, said Mohammed Amir Rana, director of the Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies.

"This announcement by the TTP, they are showing their anger over the drone strikes because their high-profile leader was killed," he said.

If the group does return to the negotiating table, it would be out of necessity, said Rana. The group, which has been hurt by multiple Pakistani military operations in the tribal regions in recent years, may be looking for some breathing room.

In the past, the militant organization has used such negotiations as a time to regroup, and many critics say that they have no real interest in truly negotiating with the Pakistani government.

__

Santana reported from Islamabad. Associated Press reporters Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad contributed to this report.

The Spurs lead the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals 3-0 after the victory and can sweep into the title series for the first time since 2007 with another win on Monday.

The Grizzlies led 29-11 late in the first quarter but were worn down across the rest of the game, with the Spurs taking their first lead in the fourth quarter.

The two sides were locked at 86-86 in regulation after the Grizzlies could not score the winning basket in the final seconds.

The Spurs then kicked away again in overtime as Tony Parker led the way with 26 points, Tim Duncan scored 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds while Manu Ginobli chipped in with 19 points and seven rebounds to give the Spurs one foot in the finals.

Five Grizzlies scored in double figures with Mike Conley producing a team high 20 points, Marc Gasol posted 16 with 14 rebounds while Quincy Pondexter added 15 from the bench, but it was not enough as they lost at home for the first time in the playoffs. (Reporting by Ben Everill in Del Mar; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)

The case of the two politicians is part of a long struggle between the judiciary and Islamists, who claim that Egypt's courts are filled with loyalists of ousted leader Hosni Mubarak trying to derail Egypt's shift to democratic rule.

MENA said judges on Tuesday ordered the arrest of Essam Sultan of the Islamist Wasat party for questioning over insulting the judiciary in media interviews. They also asked the Justice Minister to cancel the immunity of lawmaker Sobhi Saleh of the Muslim Brotherhood, the powerful Islamist group from which President Mohammed Morsi hails.