Here are two sentences:

A panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California 's assault weapons ban in a 2-1 ruling last December .

The December decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld California 's law banning certain assault weapons and revived the national gun-ownership debate .

no

Here are two sentences:

Sir Wilfred Thesiger , traveller , writer , and one of the last solitary explorers of a shrinking planet , has died aged 93 .

Sir Wilfred Thesiger , writer , explorer and chronicler of the world 's vanishing ways of life , has died at age 93 .

yes

Here are two sentences:

Variable annuity sales were $ 4.2 billion , 82 percent higher than a year ago .

Variable annuity sales surged 82 percent to $ 4.2 billion .
no