Gold inched down on Tuesday as investors waited for cues from a two-day US Federal Reserve meeting beginning later in the day and a June 23-referendum that will decide whether Britain will exit the European Union. 
 
Spot gold was down 0.4 per cent at $1,279.16 an ounce as of 0648 GMT, but has gained more than 5 per cent this month, hitting a peak of $1,287 on Monday, its highest since May 16. 
 
US gold fell 0.4 per cent to $1,282.30. 
 
&quot;I think investors have decided to take profits and some of them are staying on the sidelines before taking a decision on what to do next until the Fed makes an announcement,&quot; said Brian Lan, managing director at Singapore-based gold dealer GoldSilver Central. 
 
Bullion, which is often perceived as a hedge against economic and financial uncertainty, has been driven by rising investor risk aversion before key central bank meetings this week. 
 
Apart from the Fed, the Bank of England, Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan will meet this week, and are expected to hold monetary policies steady against a backdrop of caution about the global economic outlook. 
 
The safe-haven appeal of gold, which is near a four-week high hit in the previous session, could get a further boost if a vote by Britain to leave the 28-member group, dubbed &quot;Brexit&quot;, pushes Europe back into a recession. 
 
The British pound remained fragile near a two-month low against the dollar, while Asian stocks slipped on Tuesday on concerns ahead of the referendum. 
 
Britain&#39;s &quot;Out&quot; campaign widened its lead over the &quot;In&quot; camp ahead of the referendum according to two opinion polls published by ICM on Monday. 
 
&quot;We think that the risk of Britain leaving has now increased substantially and the Fed will therefore signal its willingness in no uncertain terms to &#39;stay the course&#39; in light of this potential &#39;Black Swan&#39; event,&quot; INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note. 
 
&quot;This will likely enable gold to push even higher over the next few days, at least until the polls start to swing the other way.&quot; 
 
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd is aiming to launch its planned physically-delivered gold futures contract in September, said&nbsp;its head on Tuesday. 
 
Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world&#39;s largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.27 per cent to 896.30 tonnes on Monday, the highest since October 2013. 
 
Spot silver fell 0.8 percent to $17.29 per ounce, after touching a one-month high of $17.45 on Monday.

Gold is likely to get a further boost if a vote by Britain to leave the 28-member group dubbed "Brexit," pushes Europe back into a recession

Gold inched down on Tuesday as investors waited for cues from a two-day US Federal Reserve meeting beginning later in the day and a June 23-referendum that will decide whether Britain will exit the European Union. Spot gold was down 0.4 per cent at $1,279.16 an ounce as of 0648 GMT, but has gained more than 5 per cent this month, hitting a peak of $1,287 on Monday, its highest since May 16. US gold fell 0.4 per cent to $1,282.30. "I think investors have decided to take profits and some of them are staying on the sidelines before taking a decision on what to do next until the Fed makes an announcement," said Brian Lan, managing director at Singapore-based gold dealer GoldSilver Central. Bullion, which is often perceived as a hedge against economic and financial uncertainty, has been driven by rising investor risk aversion before key central bank meetings this week. Apart from the Fed, the Bank of England, Swiss National Bank and the Bank of Japan will meet this week, and are expected to hold monetary policies steady against a backdrop of caution about the global economic outlook. The safe-haven appeal of gold, which is near a four-week high hit in the previous session, could get a further boost if a vote by Britain to leave the 28-member group, dubbed "Brexit", pushes Europe back into a recession. The British pound remained fragile near a two-month low against the dollar, while Asian stocks slipped on Tuesday on concerns ahead of the referendum. Britain's "Out" campaign widened its lead over the "In" camp ahead of the referendum according to two opinion polls published by ICM on Monday. "We think that the risk of Britain leaving has now increased substantially and the Fed will therefore signal its willingness in no uncertain terms to 'stay the course' in light of this potential 'Black Swan' event," INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said in a note. "This will likely enable gold to push even higher over the next few days, at least until the polls start to swing the other way." Meanwhile, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd is aiming to launch its planned physically-delivered gold futures contract in September, said its head on Tuesday. Holdings in SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.27 per cent to 896.30 tonnes on Monday, the highest since October 2013. Spot silver fell 0.8 percent to $17.29 per ounce, after touching a one-month high of $17.45 on Monday.

Gold dips, but lingers near four-week high ahead of Fed meeting

New hepatitis C drugs that can cure the liver-destroying disease are revolutionising treatment, but their high price is a huge burden in some countries, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a new study.

An analysis of prices for two Gilead&nbsp;drugs by World&nbsp;Health&nbsp;Organization (WHO) experts, published on Tuesday, found that while US&nbsp;prices were higher in dollar terms, parts of Europe paid considerably more in &quot;purchasing-power parity&quot; terms.

Purchasing-power parity, or PPP, is used to normalise price comparisons between different economies by taking into account the price of similar baskets of goods instead of market foreign exchange rates.

The PPP-adjusted price in Poland of a treatment course with Gilead&#39;s Harvoni was $118,754, against $72,765 in the U.S., the study found, and it would cost 190.5 percent of the country&#39;s total drugs budget to treat all Polish patients.

Another Gilead drug, Sovaldi, had a similar nominal price in both Norway and Slovakia, but on a PPP basis the price was more than twice as much in Slovakia.

&quot;If you want to treat all patients with hepatitis C, then the prices countries are being asked to pay - even after price negotiations - are still way too high,&quot; said study author Suzanne Hill, the WHO&#39;s director of essential medicines.

The study, which took account of probable confidential discounts on prices, was published in the journal PLOS Medicine.

The cost of Gilead&#39;s hepatitis C drugs has been contentious since the U.S. approval of Sovaldi in 2013, although the company has taken several steps to offer discounts and provide access programmes.

This includes allowing Indian drug companies to manufacture much lower-cost versions of the medicines for sale in developing countries.

Gilead says the price of its treatments reflect their clinical, economic and public&nbsp;health&nbsp;value, arguing that they are cost-effective over the long term.

Hill and colleagues don&#39;t question the value of the drugs but argue that without lower prices, countries will not be able to roll them out on a sufficient scale to minimise the burden of hepatitis C.

&quot;Current prices of these medicines are variable and unaffordable globally,&quot; they concluded.

New hepatitis C drugs that can cure the liver-destroying disease are revolutionising treatment, but their high price is a huge burden in Central and Eastern Europe

New hepatitis C drugs that can cure the liver-destroying disease are revolutionising treatment, but their high price is a huge burden in some countries, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a new study. An analysis of prices for two Gilead drugs by World Health Organization (WHO) experts, published on Tuesday, found that while US prices were higher in dollar terms, parts of Europe paid considerably more in "purchasing-power parity" terms. Purchasing-power parity, or PPP, is used to normalise price comparisons between different economies by taking into account the price of similar baskets of goods instead of market foreign exchange rates. The PPP-adjusted price in Poland of a treatment course with Gilead's Harvoni was $118,754, against $72,765 in the U.S., the study found, and it would cost 190.5 percent of the country's total drugs budget to treat all Polish patients. Another Gilead drug, Sovaldi, had a similar nominal price in both Norway and Slovakia, but on a PPP basis the price was more than twice as much in Slovakia. "If you want to treat all patients with hepatitis C, then the prices countries are being asked to pay - even after price negotiations - are still way too high," said study author Suzanne Hill, the WHO's director of essential medicines. The study, which took account of probable confidential discounts on prices, was published in the journal PLOS Medicine. The cost of Gilead's hepatitis C drugs has been contentious since the U.S. approval of Sovaldi in 2013, although the company has taken several steps to offer discounts and provide access programmes. This includes allowing Indian drug companies to manufacture much lower-cost versions of the medicines for sale in developing countries. Gilead says the price of its treatments reflect their clinical, economic and public health value, arguing that they are cost-effective over the long term. Hill and colleagues don't question the value of the drugs but argue that without lower prices, countries will not be able to roll them out on a sufficient scale to minimise the burden of hepatitis C. "Current prices of these medicines are variable and unaffordable globally," they concluded.

Burden of pricey hepatitis C drugs heaviest in Eastern Europe

Actor Mark Salling, who had a supporting role as a high school athlete-turned-singer in the TV series &quot;Glee,&quot; was indicted on Friday on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, officials said.

The 33-year-old Salling agreed to turn himself in on June 3 to face the charges filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney&#39;s Office for the region said in a statement.

Representatives for Salling, a Los Angeles resident, and his attorney, did not immediately return calls.

The federal charges against the Texas-born Salling for receipt and possession of child pornography stem from his arrest by Los Angeles police and federal agents on Dec. 29, 2015. He was released on bail of $20,000 and was initially expected to be charged in Los Angeles County court.

But after investigators realized the &quot;scope of the collection&quot; of child porn they had uncovered, the case was handed over to federal prosecutors, the U.S. Attorney&#39;s Office said.

&quot;The traditional stereotype about the kinds of people who commit child sexual exploitation crimes simply doesn&#39;t dovetail with reality,&quot; Joseph Macias, a special agent in charge for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement on the filing of the charges.

Macias added that child pornography suspects can be of &quot;all ages and from all walks of life.&quot;

Salling&#39;s arrest came after investigators received a tip that he was in possession of child porn, Los Angeles police said in a statement at the time.

A laptop, a hard drive and a mobile flash drive from Salling&#39;s home contained thousands of images and videos of child pornography, and investigators continue to review the material, federal prosecutors said.

In the meantime, the charges against the actor center on a still image and three videos of child pornography depicting young girls, the statement said. The two charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

Salling on the Fox television show &quot;Glee,&quot; which ran from 2009 to 2015, played Puck, a bully and a football player who shows a softer side when he joins the glee club at his high school.

Before that show, Salling had a number of smaller roles, including a part in 1996 horror film &quot;Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering.&quot;

Actor Mark Salling, who had a supporting role as a high school athlete-turned-singer in the TV series "Glee," was indicted on Friday on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, officials said. The 33-year-old Salling agreed to turn himself in on June 3 to face the charges filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the region said in a statement.

Actor Mark Salling, who had a supporting role as a high school athlete-turned-singer in the TV series "Glee," was indicted on Friday on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography, officials said. The 33-year-old Salling agreed to turn himself in on June 3 to face the charges filed in federal court in Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the region said in a statement. Representatives for Salling, a Los Angeles resident, and his attorney, did not immediately return calls. The federal charges against the Texas-born Salling for receipt and possession of child pornography stem from his arrest by Los Angeles police and federal agents on Dec. 29, 2015. He was released on bail of $20,000 and was initially expected to be charged in Los Angeles County court. But after investigators realized the "scope of the collection" of child porn they had uncovered, the case was handed over to federal prosecutors, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "The traditional stereotype about the kinds of people who commit child sexual exploitation crimes simply doesn't dovetail with reality," Joseph Macias, a special agent in charge for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement on the filing of the charges. Macias added that child pornography suspects can be of "all ages and from all walks of life." Salling's arrest came after investigators received a tip that he was in possession of child porn, Los Angeles police said in a statement at the time. A laptop, a hard drive and a mobile flash drive from Salling's home contained thousands of images and videos of child pornography, and investigators continue to review the material, federal prosecutors said. In the meantime, the charges against the actor center on a still image and three videos of child pornography depicting young girls, the statement said. The two charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. Salling on the Fox television show "Glee," which ran from 2009 to 2015, played Puck, a bully and a football player who shows a softer side when he joins the glee club at his high school. Before that show, Salling had a number of smaller roles, including a part in 1996 horror film "Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering."

'Glee' star Mark Salling indicted on federal child porn charges

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