Senate immigration efforts 'nutso,' won't fly in House: Boehner

House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Thursday called Senate Democratic efforts to pass immigration reform "nutso" and said the measure has no chance of being taken up in the Republican-controlled House. "Instead of addressing the crisis at hand, Senate Democrats are talking up some nutso scheme to jam through the Senate immigration bill, even though they know it will never happen," Boehner said at a press conference. "The House will not take up the Senate reform bill or accept it back from the Senate in any fashion." (Reporting By Mark Felsenthal;



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US advises against non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday issued a travel advisory against non-essential travel to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in an effort to curb the spread of the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that has so far claimed more than 700 lives. Dr Thomas Frieden, director of the CDC, said his agency is stepping up its response to the outbreak and will send an additional 50 health experts to assist with efforts to control the outbreak. (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by James Dalgleish)



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U.S. doctor battling Ebola takes slight turn for worse

WINSTON-SALEM N.C. (Reuters) - The health of a U.S. doctor who contracted Ebola in Liberia while helping fight an unprecedented outbreak of the deadly disease has worsened slightly, a relief organization said on Thursday. Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol, an American missionary also infected with the virus, both are in "stable but grave condition," according to Samaritan's Purse, a North Carolina-based Christian relief group. The organization, led by evangelist Franklin Graham, said it was aiming to have all nonessential personnel evacuated from Liberia by this weekend as conditions worsened. On Wednesday, the U.S. Peace Corps said it was pulling all 340 volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea because of the spreading Ebola virus.

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US warns against traveling to Ebola-hit countries

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials are warning Americans not to travel to the three African countries hit by an outbreak of Ebola.



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Sierra Leone declares emergency as Ebola death toll hits 729

By Umaru Fofana FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency and called in troops to quarantine Ebola victims on Thursday, joining neighbouring Liberia in imposing tough controls as the death toll from the worst-ever outbreak of the virus hit 729 in West Africa. The World Health Organisation said it was in urgent talks with donors and international agencies to deploy more medical staff and resources to one of the world's poorest regions. The WHO reported 57 new deaths between July 24 and July 27 in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. Authorities in Nigeria, which recorded its first Ebola case last week when a U.S. citizen died after arriving on a flight from Liberia, said all passengers travelling from areas at risk would be temperature-screened for the virus.

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US warns against traveling to Ebola-hit countries

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials are warning Americans not to travel to the three African countries hit by an outbreak of Ebola.



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FDA panel: Benefit of Baxter's immune therapy outweighs risk

(Reuters) - The benefits associated with Baxter International Inc's experimental treatment for certain diseases of the immune system outweigh the risks, an advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Thursday, paving the way for approval of the therapy. These are genetic disorders in which certain cells of the immune system are missing, leading to a infections, recurrent pneumonia and abscesses of the organs. The FDA is not obliged to follow the advice of its advisory panels but typically does so.



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Australia urged to come clean on asylum-seekers' mental health

Australia's human rights commissioner said Thursday the government must come clean about conditions at offshore asylum-seeker camps after an inquiry heard of an alleged cover-up of mental health problems. The facilities have been under the spotlight in recent weeks following reports that up to a dozen mothers had attempted suicide at a detention centre on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean. The women did so under the belief that their babies would have a better chance of being settled in Australia if they were orphans, reports said. A leading psychiatrist alleged at a national inquiry into the mandatory detention of children seeking asylum that figures showing the extent of mental health issues had been covered up by the immigration department.

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Watchdog files IRS complaint against Koch-connected 60 Plus Association

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is asking the IRS to investigate the 60 Plus Association.



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Next Obamacare enrollment period faces bumps: U.S. official

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumers who purchase private health coverage through the federal Obamacare website HealthCare.gov are likely to find only modestly higher premiums but may still have technical problems signing up, a top health official said on Thursday. "It won't be perfect," Andrew Slavitt, a newly appointed principal deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), told lawmakers at hearing before a House of Representatives oversight committee. Despite claims by Obamacare's foes that consumers would face double-digit cost increases for 2015, Slavitt said early indications from several states, including Rhode Island, Delaware and Washington, point to premium hikes in the mid-single digits. Slavitt was previously an executive at a government contractor working on the site and a leader of the rescue team that turned around HealthCare.gov in time to allow more than 5 million people in 36 states to obtain coverage.

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Probe exposes flaws behind HealthCare.gov rollout

Officials tell The Associated Press that a nonpartisan investigative report concludes that management failures by the Obama administration set the stage for the computer problems that paralyzed the HealthCare.gov website last fall.

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U.S. hospitals get lift from surge in Medicaid sign-ups

By Susan Kelly CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. hospitals are getting a stronger-than-expected benefit from a new influx of low-income patients whose bills are paid by the government's Medicaid program, raising their profit forecasts as a result. The growing numbers of Medicaid patients helped hospital operator HCA Holdings Inc, the largest for-profit chain, post stronger earnings in the second quarter than initially forecast. Notably fewer uninsured patients came through its doors, HCA said, as millions of Americans signed up for private health insurance under President Barack Obama's healthcare law. "In general, Medicaid is the real driver of increases in insured populations," said Snow Capital Management analyst Jessica Bemer.



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Next Obamacare enrollment period faces bumps: U.S. official

By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumers who purchase private health coverage through the federal Obamacare website HealthCare.gov are likely to find only modestly higher premiums but may still have technical problems signing up, a top health official said on Thursday. "It won't be perfect," Andrew Slavitt, a newly appointed principal deputy administrator at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), told lawmakers at hearing before a House of Representatives oversight committee. Despite claims by Obamacare's foes that consumers would face double-digit cost increases for 2015, Slavitt said early indications from several states, including Rhode Island, Delaware and Washington, point to premium hikes in the mid-single digits. Slavitt was previously an executive at a government contractor working on the site and a leader of the rescue team that turned around HealthCare.gov in time to allow more than 5 million people in 36 states to obtain coverage.



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WHO launching $100 million plan to combat Ebola

The World Health Organisation is launching a $100 million response plan to combat an "unprecedented" outbreak of Ebola in West Africa that has killed 729 people out of 1,323 infected since February, the U.N. agency said on Thursday. WHO Director-General Margaret Chan will meet in Conakry, Guinea on Friday with the presidents of affected West African nations, it said in a statement. "The scale of the Ebola outbreak, and the persistent threat it poses, requires WHO and Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone to take the response to a new level and this will require increased resources, in-country medical expertise, regional preparedness and coordination," said Chan. Sierra Leone declared a state of emergency and called in troops to quarantine Ebola victims on Thursday, joining neighboring Liberia in imposing tough controls as the death toll from the worst-ever outbreak of the virus hit 729 in West Africa.



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'Breathless and Burdened' wins Heywood Broun Award

The Newspaper Guild has honored a CPI/ABC investigation of the federal black lung benefits system with the 2014 Heywood Broun Award.



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Ebola to be discussed at Washington summit next week: U.S. official

The spread of the deadly Ebola virus and assistance for affected countries will be discussed during an African summit in Washington next week, a senior State Department official said on Thursday. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Africa Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the issue will be discussed in detail during side meetings. It is unclear whether the president of Guinea, Alpha Conde, still plans to travel to Washington.



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Beat the Annual Yo-Yo Dieting Cycle

There is a common yearly weight loss, weight gain cycle: In my nearly three decades working in the weight loss industry, I've seen that August is second to December in the rate of weight gain, with September being second to January in weight loss. Why is this, and how can you change and benefit by recognizing this yo-yo cycle?December is the...

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How to protect yourself from Ebola

West Africa is grappling with the largest outbreak of Ebola virus in history, and concerns are mounting that the hemorrhagic fever could spill across international borders. Here is some advice from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how people can protect themselves against Ebola. "Transmission is through direct contact with bodily fluids of an infected person, or exposure to objects such as needles that have been contaminated with infected secretions," said Stephan Monroe, deputy director of the CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. The Ebola virus can be spread though mucus, semen, saliva, sweat, vomit, stool or blood.

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Automatic Vision-Correcting Displays Could Let You Ditch The Reading Glasses

MIT’s research department working with the University of California at Berkeley has created digital display tech that can automatically compensate for vision problems, eliminating the need for glasses or contacts for specific uses like reading or viewing GPS navigation devices for far-sighted folks, among other potential uses.The new display...

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Whooping cough vaccine safe for pregnant women

By Madeline Kennedy NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Pregnant women in their third trimester can safely receive the whooping cough vaccine to prevent infections in newborns, a recent study from the UK suggests. Whooping cough, or pertussis, is a highly contagious disease. Recent increases in whooping cough infections, some resulting in deaths of newborns, prompted the UK to develop a new vaccine program in 2012. The program offered combined vaccines against diphtheria, pertussis and polio to over 700,000 women in the third trimester of pregnancy.



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Sierra Leone buries 'hero' Ebola medic

Sierra Leone on Thursday buried a doctor it hailed as a "national hero" for saving the lives of more than 100 Ebola patients before succumbing himself to the killer tropical disease. Umar Khan, 43, the west African nation's sole virologist, was at the forefront of his country's fight against the epidemic, which has seen more than 700 deaths in Sierra Leone and its west African neighbours. He was laid to rest in the eastern town of Kenema, where he had spent much of his working life, in a Muslim ceremony attended by family, friends, local dignitaries, aid workers and health officials. Local media in Kenema described a "grief-laden" atmosphere weighing heavily on the town, with offices closed and markets empty.

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Justice Department wants workers to carry heroin antidote

U.S. law enforcement agents who deal with heroin addicts may begin carrying the drug naloxone to reverse overdoses, the Justice Department said on Thursday, responding to a surge in heroin use in the United States. Attorney General Eric Holder said he urged federal law enforcement agencies to identify those workers and determine whether they should be trained in how to administer the medication. The move will "pave the way for certain federal agents - such as emergency medical personnel - to begin carrying the potentially life-saving drug," the Justice Department said in a statement. Naloxone is a drug that stops opioids such as heroin from reaching receptors in the brain, which may reverse an overdose.



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Nigeria starts airport Ebola screening

Nigeria's civil aviation authority (NCAA) said on Thursday it had started temperature screening passengers arriving from places at risk from Ebola and had suspended pan-African airline Asky for bringing the first case to Lagos. Ebola has been blamed for 729 deaths in Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, according to the World Health Organization. It entails checking passengers' temperatures with a hand-held machine," NCAA spokesman Sam Adurogboye said, adding this meant for any journey that passed through Liberia, Guinea or Sierra Leone.



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Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds state's registry for same-sex couples

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 2009 law that establishes a registry for same-sex couples, saying it does not violate an amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage. The registry gives registered same-sex couples the right to hospital visits, family medical leave to care for a stricken partner, health benefits under a partner's insurance and the right to inherit assets when a partner dies. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz and Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Bill Trott)



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Russia may restrict Greek fruit, U.S. poultry imports: reports

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia may impose new food import restrictions next week, reports said on Thursday, in what could be responses to new Western sanctions over Moscow's support of rebels in Ukraine. The country has already announced several food import bans following Western sanctions. Russia's Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) may restrict fruit imports from Greece next week, RIA news agency reported, citing the watchdog agency. VPSS may also suspend U.S. poultry imports next week, Interfax news agency said, citing the same service. ...



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Cigna to sell individual exchange plans in three more U.S. states

(Reuters) - Insurer Cigna Corp Chief Executive Officer David Cordani said on Thursday that it plans to sell individual exchange health plans in three additional U.S. states in 2015, for a total of eight states. The exchanges were created under U.S. President Barack Obama's national healthcare reform law and allow individuals to buy insurance with access to government subsidies. (Reporting by Caroline Humer in New York; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)



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Cigna says Obamacare customer costs were higher than expected

(Reuters) - Cigna Corp Chief Financial Officer Thomas McCarthy said on Thursday that medical claims were higher than expected from its new individual customers who signed up through the exchanges created by President Barack Obama's national healthcare reform law. McCarthy, speaking during a conference call with investors, said the medical costs overall "continue to reflect the recent low medical utilization trend." Insurers typically benefit from low medical use by its customers as they pay fewer claims. (Reporting by Caroline Humer, Editing by Franklin Paul)



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Death toll from Ebola outbreak rises to 729: WHO

DAKAR (Reuters) - The death toll from an outbreak of Ebola in West Africa has risen to 729, the World Health Organisation said on Thursday, after 57 deaths were reported between July 24 and 27 in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The WHO also said Nigerian authorities had so far identified 59 people who had come into contact with a U.S. citizen who died in Lagos last week after traveling from Liberia, via Togo and Ghana. (Reporting by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Bate Felix)



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House approves VA health care overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House overwhelmingly approved a landmark bill Wednesday to help veterans avoid long waits for health care that have plagued the Veterans Affairs Department for years.

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Ebola death toll rises to 729: WHO

Geneva (AFP) - Fifty-seven more deaths from the Ebola epidemic spreading alarm in west Africa have pushed the overall fatality toll from the outbreak to 729, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

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AstraZeneca steps up push into cancer immunotherapy

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca is accelerating its push into cancer immunotherapy, with plans to test a key experimental drug in new tumor types. The company is seen as No. 4 in a race to develop the first drug in a new class that fights cancer by unleashing the body's immune system, behind rivals Roche, Merck & Co and Bristol-Myers Squibb. AstraZeneca said on Thursday it would launch a pivotal clinical trial program with MEDI4736 in head and neck cancer this year, in addition to ongoing tests in lung cancer, and was also looking at expanding tests into other cancer types.

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Under fire and out of cash, U.N. overwhelmed by Gaza crisis

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Noah Browning GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The United Nations in Gaza is struggling to withstand a flood of almost a quarter of a million refugees into shelters that have repeatedly come under Israeli fire. Out of cash, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main U.N. body in the impoverished enclave of 1.8 million Palestinians, says it can barely handle the humanitarian crisis unleashed by more than three weeks of fighting between militants and Israel. Asked to explain the scale of the civilian suffering to an Arab news station, an UNRWA spokesman simply burst into tears. Mine pale into insignificance compared with Gaza's," Chris Gunness said.



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Runtastic’s $120 Orbit Fitness Tracker Prizes Function And Features Over Fashion

Runtastic is doing the reverse of what many startups are doing these days: it’s going from being a software platform provider to becoming a hardware maker with the Runtastic Orbit fitness tracker. The Orbit is similar in concept and execution to the various trackers from Fitbit, Jawbone and Nike already available, but with a number of...

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Hungarian scientists aim for prototype of cancer surgery device

By Krisztina Than BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian scientists are aiming for the first prototype of a new device in two years that will help surgeons distinguish between healthy tissue and tumors in a split-second as they operate and remove cancerous tissue precisely. Hungarian chemist Zoltan Takats started to work on the technology in 2002 in the United States and from 2004 onwards at the Budapest Semmelweis Medical University in cooperation with the Imperial College London, where he works now. Last week, U.S.-based Waters Corporation acquired the technology - called Rapid Evaporative Ionization Mass Spectrometry (REIMS) - from Hungarian start-up firm MediMass Ltd. Waters said in a July 22 statement on its website that the technology could be used to create the "Intelligent Knife" or "iKnife," a device "in the conceptual stages of development that could potentially be used for real-time diagnostics in surgery".

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UK border staff unprepared for Ebola outbreak: union

British border staff are not ready to deal with possible Ebola cases arriving in the country and there are no containment facilities for suspected victims, a union leader said Thursday. Fears that the outbreak of the virus in west Africa could spread to other continents have grown in recent days, putting border staff across Europe and Asia on high alert. Lucy Moreton, general secretary of the union that represents border forces in Britain, said that her members are "very concerned" abut the situation. The warning comes a day after the British government's crisis response committee met on Wednesday to discuss its preparations to cope with any possible outbreak in Britain.

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FDA raises concern over drug production process at India's Cadila

By Abhishek Vishnoi and Zeba Siddiqui MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Cadila Healthcare Ltd is responding to certain observations the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made after conducting a "product specific" inspection of its Moraiya manufacturing plant, a company spokeswoman said on Thursday. Sources with direct knowledge told Reuters earlier that the FDA expressed concerns over the manufacturing process of at least one product at Cadila's Moraiya facility in the western Indian state of Gujarat. ANDA is an application drugmakers file with the FDA seeking approval to launch a new generic drug. There is no business impact from the FDA action and Cadila has not received any observations on the standard manufacturing practices at the Moraiya plant, the spokeswoman said.

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Peace Corps pulls volunteers from West Africa due to Ebola

By Lesley Wroughton WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Peace Corps said on Wednesday it was pulling all 340 volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea because of the spreading Ebola virus that has killed 672 people in the three countries since February. A Peace Corps spokesperson said two volunteers were isolated and under observation after being exposed to a person who later died of Ebola. "These volunteers are not symptomatic and are currently isolated and under observation," the spokesperson said in a statement. The Peace Corps, citing privacy concerns, declined to say where the two volunteers had come into contact with the Ebola victim.

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China seizes 12 tonnes of melamine tainted yoghurt candy

Police in the southern province of Guangdong made the discovery during a sweep of food producers and have detained the manager of the factory that produced it, the official Xinhua news agency reported.



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Taxis, planes and viruses: How deadly Ebola can spread

For scientists tracking the deadly Ebola virus in West Africa, it's not about complex virology and genotyping, but about how contagious microbes - like humans - use planes, bikes and taxis to spread. So far, authorities have taken no action to limit international travel in the region. The airlines association IATA said on Thursday that the World Health Organisation is not recommending any such restrictions or frontier closures. The West Africa outbreak, which began in Guinea in February, has already spread to Liberia and Sierra Leone.



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India's battle against unneeded medical care finds World Bank support

By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India needs to curtail excessive medical care that leads to patient overspending as more people get health insurance, the World Bank said on Thursday, adding voice to a growing chorus against overtreatment in the country. Practices such as "defensive medicine" and aggressive marketing by hospitals, which cost the United States an estimated $250 billion to $300 billion annually, are emerging as a serious problem in India, the Washington-based institution warned. The comments come as India's new government has vowed to crack down on unethical practices that plague India's $74 billion healthcare industry, where doctors say getting kickbacks for referring patients or passing inflated hospital bills to insurers is widespread. The World Bank warned that as more people are able to afford healthcare and the government ramps up insurance coverage, the risk of excessive care may increase, in notes released from an April meeting with policymakers and insurers.

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Rolls-Royce says 2014 on track, to return to growth next year

By Sarah Young LONDON (Reuters) - Aero-engine maker Rolls-Royce said it was on track to return to growth next year, after profits fell as expected in the first half due to shrinking defense spending, a strong pound and a struggling marine business. The company kept its guidance for profit excluding foreign exchange movements to be flat this year, reassuring investors who were fearing an unpleasant surprise. Rolls-Royce alarmed markets in February by announcing there would be a pause in profit growth in 2014, ending a decade of continuous rises as the company absorbed the impact of declining U.S. and European military budgets. Rolls-Royce, which has said that this year's profits would be two-thirds weighted to the second half, is scheduled to provide its next update to the market in October.

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$1,000 Sovaldi now hepatitis treatment of choice

WASHINGTON (AP) — The price is sky-high, but so is demand. A new $1,000-per-pill drug has become the treatment of choice for Americans with hepatitis C, a liver-wasting disease that affects more than 3 million.

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S. Leone declares health emergency amid Ebola

FREETOWN, Sierra Leone (AP) — The president of Sierra Leone has declared a public health emergency as the Ebola crisis deepens across West Africa.

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Novartis apologizes for not disclosing side-effects of leukemia drugs sooner

The Japanese unit of Novartis AG apologized on Thursday for failing to report to authorities in a timely manner side-effects of its leukemia drugs, in the company's latest scandal in the country. Novartis Pharma KK, the Swiss drugmaker's wholly owned local subsidiary, said Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare ordered the company to improve its practices after the company did not report side-effects of its Gleevec and Tasigna leukemia treatments until around April. The ministry said serious side-effects must be reported within a month of discovery. Media reports said such side-effects had been known between April 2013 and January 2014.

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Sanofi lifts profit forecast as second quarter beats expectations

By Natalie Huet PARIS (Reuters) - French drugmaker Sanofi raised its full-year profit forecast on Thursday as it posted stronger than expected quarterly earnings, driven by its rare disease and diabetes businesses and higher sales in emerging markets. Shares in Sanofi, which have underperformed the rest of the European pharmaceutical industry after a string of disappointing results last year, rose as much as 4 percent. Sanofi has sought in recent years to shake off the impact of patent losses on big-selling drugs, such as blood thinners Plavix and Lovenox, by betting on diabetes, rare diseases and over-the-counter treatments. One of these, cholesterol drug alirocumab, could reach the U.S market in the second half of next year, at the same time or ahead of U.S. rival Amgen, Chief Executive Chris Viehbacher told reporters on a conference call.



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China diners test McDonald's, Yum says food scare hurts KFC, Pizza Hut sales

A food safety scare in China is testing local consumers' loyalty to foreign fast-food brands, including McDonald's Corp and Yum Brands Inc, which owns the KFC and Pizza Hut chains. Yum said on Wednesday that the scare, triggered by a TV report earlier this month showing improper meat handling by a supplier, Shanghai Husi Food, caused "significant, negative" damage to sales at KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants over the past 10 days. "If the significant sales impact is sustained, it will have a material effect on full-year earnings per share," Yum said in a regulatory filing. Shares in Yum, which counts China as its No. 1 market, tumbled more than 6 percent in extended trading.

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WHO advises no flight restrictions, low risk from Ebola: IATA

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization is not recommending any travel restrictions or border closures due to the Ebola outbreak and there would be a low risk to other passengers if an Ebola patient flew, the airlines association IATA said on Thursday. The International Air Transport Association issued the statement after several days of consultation with the WHO and the U.N. aviation agency ICAO, following the case of a man who died of Ebola after taking an international flight from Liberia to Nigeria with a stopover at Lomé. (Reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Toby Chopra)



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Sierra Leone president declares public health emergency over Ebola

Sierra Leone has declared a public health emergency to tackle the worst ever outbreak of Ebola and will call in security forces to quarantine epicenters of the deadly virus, President Ernest Bai Koroma said in a statement. The measures resembled a tough anti-Ebola package announced by neighboring Liberia on Wednesday evening.

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WHO advises no flight restrictions, low risk from Ebola: IATA

GENEVA (Reuters) - The World Health Organization is not recommending any travel restrictions or border closures due to the Ebola outbreak and there would be a low risk to other passengers if an Ebola patient flew, the airlines association IATA said on Thursday. The International Air Transport Association issued the statement after several days of consultation with the WHO and the U.N. aviation agency ICAO, following the case of a man who died of Ebola after taking an international flight from Liberia to Nigeria with a stopover at Lomé.



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Sierra Leone president declares state of emergency over Ebola

By Umaru Fofana FREETOWN (Reuters) - Sierra Leone has declared a state of public emergency to tackle the worst ever outbreak of Ebola and will call in security forces to quarantine epicenters of the deadly virus, President Ernest Bai Koroma said in a statement. "I hereby proclaim a State of Public Emergency to enable us take a more robust approach to deal with the Ebola outbreak," he said in a speech late on Wednesday, adding that the measures would initially last between 60 and 90 days. "All epicenters of the disease will be quarantined." Koroma said that the police and the military would restrict movements to and from epicenters, and would provide support to health officers and NGOs to do their work unhindered, following a number of attacks on healthworkers by local communities.

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How the US Government Could Evacuate Americans With Ebola

See the "plastic tent" in a plane that could fly infected Americans out of Africa.



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Changes I am Making to Enjoy Life and Redefine Success

Saying no even when yes is a good option, or perhaps even the better option, is my personal motto. This inspiration came from a book written by Pastor Doug Fields, entitled What Matters Most: When No Is Better Than Yes. I have begun to employ my motto in phases, which means instead of agreeing to do something or go somewhere right away, I'll...

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UK holds emergency meeting over Ebola outbreak in Africa

Britain on Wednesday held a top-level government meeting to discuss the spread of the highly-contagious Ebola virus in West Africa, saying the outbreak was a threat it needed to respond to. International concern has risen about the virus, which has killed 672 people in West Africa since February, after the first recorded case of the disease in Africa's most populous country, Nigeria. "In terms of the UK the issue is about the possibility of somebody who has contracted the disease in Africa getting sick here," he said after the meeting, which health experts, scientists and other ministers attended. "It is not about the disease spreading in the UK because frankly we have different standards of infection control procedure that would make that most unlikely." He said that ministers had discussed what additional measures Britain could take to contain the outbreak in West Africa, and what steps needed to be taken in case a British national in the area contracted the disease.



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Most kids will use shade if provided at outdoor sports camps: study

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Without any encouragement from coaches, more than two-thirds of kids at an outdoor soccer camp used nearby tents for shade during rest periods, a new study found. “Outdoor sports and being active are important for kids to be healthy globally, but we need to balance that with taking reasonable steps to prevent skin cancers,” Dr. Ian A. Maher told Reuters Health. Maher worked on the pilot study at Saint Louis University in Missouri. Sunscreen, sun protective clothing and finding shade can all help reduce sun exposure, he said.



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Depression linked to faster cognitive decline in old age

By Kathryn Doyle NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Among older adults with dementia, those who are also depressed tend to have more rapid cognitive decline, according to a new study. “Many studies have found that older people with some depression are more likely to develop cognitive decline or dementia,” Robert S. Wilson said. Each year doctors evaluated participants’ depression symptoms and tested their thinking and memory skills. About half of the original group developed mild cognitive impairment, which often comes before dementia, and 18 percent were diagnosed with dementia.



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U.S. Peace Corps says withdrawing volunteers due to Ebola virus

The U.S. Peace Corps said on Wednesday it was withdrawing 340 volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea due to the spreading Ebola virus across West Africa. "The Peace Corps today announced that it is temporarily removing its volunteers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea due to the increasing spread of the Ebola virus," the group said in a statement. The Peace Corps currently has 102 volunteers in Guinea, 108 in Liberia and 130 in Sierra Leone.



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Pacific islanders battle the bulge as obesity toll grows

The new chairman of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) said Wednesday that he was determined to change the unhealthy lifestyle choices that have made his region the fattest in the world. Palau President Tommy Remengesau said that junk food had become a blight on Pacific island communities, leading to epidemic rates of heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure among an increasingly obese population. In a region that was once legendary for its muscular warriors and lithe womenfolk, Remengesau said he feared a generation of Pacific islanders had already been lost to such non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Remengesau took over chairmanship of the PIF at a ceremony in Palau on Tuesday night, and was out and about in the capital Koror before dawn Wednesday morning spreading his healthy lifestyle message.

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$1,000 Sovaldi now hepatitis treatment of choice

WASHINGTON (AP) — The price is sky-high, but so is demand. A new $1,000-per-pill drug has become the treatment of choice for Americans with hepatitis C, a liver-wasting disease that affects more than 3 million.

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At least 34 killed in stampede at Guinea beach concert

By Saliou Samb CONAKRY (Reuters) - At least 34 people, including several children, were killed in a stampede at a beachside rap concert celebrating the end of Ramadan in Guinea's capital Conakry, medical sources said on Wednesday. Hundreds of people gathered at the Donka hospital in predominantly Muslim Guinea's capital to visit the injured and identify the dead.



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House takes up VA health care overhaul

WASHINGTON (AP) — With a new Veterans Affairs secretary in place and an August recess looming, Congress is moving quickly to approve a compromise bill to refurbish the VA and improve veterans' health care.

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House set to take up VA overhaul bill

WASHINGTON (AP) — With a new Veterans Affairs secretary in place and an August recess looming, Congress is likely to move quickly to approve a compromise bill to refurbish the VA and improve veterans' health care.

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Watch: 25 New Cases of Chikungunya in New Jersey

New Jersey residents who just returned from travel in the Caribbean reportedly have brought back the mosquito-carried virus.



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New York man faces drug charges tied to 'Electric Zoo' death

A New York man has been charged with selling the potent party drug "molly" to a 23-year-old concertgoer who died of an overdose at a massive electronic music festival last summer, prosecutors said on Wednesday. Patrick Morgan, 23, is accused of selling dozens of pills at the three-day concert on New York City's Randall's Island, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. Morgan, of Buffalo, New York, has been tied to the MDMA pills linked to the death of Jeffrey Russ, Bharara said. "As alleged, Patrick Morgan sold drugs that, far from enabling a good time, resulted in tragedy with the death of Jeffrey Russ," Bharara said.



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The Hot Zones: A Year in Review of Travel Illness

No one likes to think about getting sick on a vacation, and the fact is that most of us never will. However, 2014 has thrown up some very lurid headlines about just such a subject. Sadly, they weren't exactly hype. This year and last, some very serious outbreaks hit the globe, many with treatment, but no cure. For those packing their bags...



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Fruit and veg: five-a-day is OK, says study

British nutritionists threw down the gauntlet to dietary guidelines in April by declaring seven daily portions of fresh fruit and vegetables, rather than the recommended five, were the key to health. Every additional daily serving of fruit and vegetables reduced the average risk of premature death from all causes by five percent, the scientists found. "We found a threshold of around five servings a day of fruit and vegetables, after which the risk of death did not reduce further," said the investigators, led by Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to advising patients about the virtues of healthy eating, doctors should also push home the message about risks from obesity, inactivity, smoking and excessive drinking, said the paper.

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Insanity plea mulled for Connecticut teen in prom stabbing case

By Richard Weizel MILFORD Conn. (Reuters) - Lawyers for a Connecticut high school student accused of murdering a female classmate hours before their junior court began talks on Wednesday on whether to amend his plea to not guilty based on insanity or on related grounds. Christopher Plaskon, 17, pleaded not guilty in June to the fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Maren Sanchez. At a pretrial hearing at Connecticut Superior Court in Milford on Wednesday, his attorney, Richard Meehan, began discussions with Superior Court Judge Frank Iannotti on which variant of the plea to enter. Plaskon has been charged with stabbing Sanchez in the chest, neck and face with a kitchen knife in a stairwell at Jonathan Law High School on April 25, the day of the school prom.



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Doctors deny cutting off Alabama man’s penis

(Reuters) - An Alabama man's claim that his penis was amputated recently in a circumcision gone wrong is entirely without merit, an attorney representing the doctors being sued said on Wednesday. Attorney Michael Florie said the plaintiff, 56-year-old Johnny Lee Banks Jr., has had both legs amputated due to severe diabetes, suffers from end-stage kidney failure and the hospital named in the lawsuit has labored to keep him alive. "Every allegation in the lawsuit is false," Florie said. It's an outrage." Florie, along with attorneys for Princeton Baptist Medical Center in Birmingham, Alabama, where the operation allegedly took place, has moved to dismiss the case and sanction the plaintiff's lawyer for suing before seeing the medical records.



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The truth about your BMI

What does your body mass index really mean?The body mass index, or BMI, is an equation that uses your height and weight to create one solid number. Using this number, dieters and those looking to lose weight are supposedly able to see whether or not they are in good health. Some fitness experts are saying otherwise -- that the body mass index...

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5 food writers subpoenaed in 'pink slime' lawsuit

Several food writers, including a New York Times reporter, have been subpoenaed by a meat producer as part of its $1.2 billion defamation lawsuit against ABC in regards to the network's coverage of a beef product dubbed "pink slime" by critics.

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Liberia shuts schools, quarantines communities in bid to halt Ebola

Liberia announced on Wednesday the closure of all schools across the country and the quarantine of a number of communities in a bid to halt the worst Ebola outbreak on record spreading across West Africa. As of July 23, Liberia had recorded 129 of the 672 deaths blamed on Ebola across Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, according figures released by the World Health Organisation.



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Lorillard e-cigarette sales slip as competition rises

Lorillard Inc. on Wednesday reported significant declines in its electronic cigarettes sales, raising questions about the strength of the nascent market. Sales of its electronic devices dropped 35 percent to $37 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014 compared to $57 million for the same period last year. Lorillard blamed much of the decline on greater competition from rivals Altria Group Inc and Reynolds American Inc, which are rolling out this summer their own e-cigarettes brands - Vuse and MarkTen - nationwide. "The eCig category possesses none of the wide moat characteristics of cigarettes, and we are concerned that today's market leader could be usurped by one of the emerging technologies," said Morningstar analyst Philip Gorham.

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Aid Group Evacuates Workers From West Africa Amid Ebola Outbreak

The aid group Samaritan's Purse is pulling nonessential personnel out of West Africa after two workers contracted Ebola.



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5 Foods That Stain Your Teeth

After my morning cup of coffee, leftover pasta with tomato sauce for lunch, and snacking on some fresh cherries, I combed over my finalized list of foods that stain your teeth and realized how many foods on that list that I had just eaten. On a daily basis, we consume an array of foods that really do have an effect on color of our teeth. From...



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Probe exposes flaws behind HealthCare.gov rollout

WASHINGTON (AP) — Officials tell The Associated Press that a nonpartisan investigative report concludes that management failures by the Obama administration set the stage for the computer problems that paralyzed the HealthCare.gov website last fall.



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More in New York, New Jersey infected with chikungunya: CDC

Cases of chikungunya virus, a painful, mosquito-borne disease that has spread rapidly through the Caribbean in recent months, spiked higher in New York and New Jersey in the past week, according to new federal data. The number of cases in New Jersey more than doubled to 25, while New York has recorded 44 cases, the highest number outside Florida, where the disease first established a toehold in the United States, according to data released late Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Officials in New Jersey and New York do not believe any of the cases originated in their state. Small children and the elderly are more likely to develop severe cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control.



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Suspected Ebola cases sent home as Liberian isolation unit fills up

By David Lewis DAKAR (Reuters) - An isolation unit for Ebola victims in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, is overrun with cases and health workers are being forced to treat up to 20 new patients in their homes, government officials said on Wednesday. Protests by the local community against the construction of a new isolation unit at Elwa Hospital have ended, said Tolbert Nyenswah, an assistant minister of health, but patients with Ebola symptoms will have to wait at home until work is finished. West Africa is battling the worst Ebola outbreak on record, with 672 people believed to have died in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra since the epidemic began in February, according to the World Health Organisation.



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Boston Scientific wins first trial over transvaginal mesh device

A Massachusetts jury has cleared Boston Scientific Corp of selling dangerous and defective transvaginal mesh devices, in the first out of more than 20,000 lawsuits waiting to go to trial. The verdict came Tuesday in a suit brought by Diane Albright, who in 2012 claimed that the Pinnacle device she was implanted with was faulty, causing complications that included pain, bleeding and incontinence. Following a trial of almost three weeks, jurors found that Boston Scientific was not liable for Albright's injuries. "While we were disappointed with the verdict, it was a privilege to represent Mrs. Albright and to give a voice to her story," said her lawyer, Fidelma Fitzpatrick of Motley Rice.



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Ebola fears grow with Europe and Asia on alert

Fears that the west African Ebola outbreak could spread to other continents grew on Wednesday with European and Asian countries on alert and a leading medical charity warning the epidemic was out of control. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said the crisis gripping Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone would only get worse and warned there was no overarching strategy to handle the world's worst-ever outbreak of the disease. Hong Kong announced quarantine measures for suspected cases, although one woman arriving from Africa with possible symptoms tested negative, while the EU said it was ready to deal with the threat. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has held talks with global health officials on potential measures to halt the spread of the disease.



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U.S. relief worker 'fighting through' Ebola virus: son

WINSTON-SALEM N.C. (Reuters) - An American aid worker infected with Ebola while responding to the outbreak of the deadly virus in Liberia and neighboring African countries is "fighting through it," her son said on Wednesday. Jeremy Writebol told NBC's "Today" show that his mother, missionary Nancy Writebol, is moving around on her own and receiving a lot of fluids as she is treated in isolation. Nancy Writebol and another U.S. colleague who contracted Ebola in Liberia, Dr. Kent Brantly, have both been described as stable but suffering from some symptoms of the contagious disease, for which there is no known cure. Writebol and Brantly were part of a team from two North Carolina-based relief organizations, Samaritan’s Purse and SIM, which on Tuesday said they would evacuate all nonessential personnel from Liberia as Ebola cases there mount.



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Police charge man with raping woman at raucous Massachusetts concert

By Elizabeth Barber BOSTON (Reuters) - Prosecutors have charged a Massachusetts man with raping a woman at a raucous country music concert south of Boston on Saturday where dozens of people received treatment for alcohol-related medical problems. Police in Mansfield, Massachusetts, the site of the concert by Australian singer Keith Urban, charged Sean Murphy, 18, with raping a woman on the outdoor venue's lawn during the performance while dozens of concert-goers looked on, some taking photos of the incident. "Mr. Murphy deeply regrets this incident and I am sure the young woman does as well." Police in Mansfield, about 25 miles (40 km) south of Boston, said in a statement that a female witness "pushed Murphy off the victim" and a male witness reported the incident to a police officer. Some 22 concert-goers were taken to hospitals during the show and about 50 people were taken into protective custody.



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U.S. relief worker 'fighting through' Ebola virus: son

WINSTON-SALEM N.C. (Reuters) - An American aid worker infected with Ebola while responding to the outbreak of the deadly virus in Liberia and neighboring African countries is "fighting through it," her son said on Wednesday. Jeremy Writebol told NBC's "Today" show that his mother, missionary Nancy Writebol, is moving around on her own and receiving a lot of fluids as she is treated in isolation. Nancy Writebol and another U.S. colleague who contracted Ebola in Liberia, Dr. Kent Brantly, have both been described as stable but suffering from some symptoms of the contagious disease, for which there is no known cure. Writebol and Brantly were part of a team from two North Carolina-based relief organizations, Samaritan’s Purse and SIM, which on Tuesday said they would evacuate all nonessential personnel from Liberia as Ebola cases there mount.

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Smartphone app promises medical pot delivery

Startup Eaze on Tuesday released a smartphone application promising prompt, professional delivery of medical marijuana the doors of patients in San Francisco. Eaze said that drivers referred to as "caregivers" will get medicinal doses to their intended recipients in an average of 10 minutes in most cases. Eaze checks the medical eligibility of those who register at eazeup.com for the "on-demand healthcare delivery service" where users place orders using smartphones or tablet computers.

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Workout Wednesday: Fresh fitness

9NEWS.comWorkout Wednesday: Fresh fitness9NEWS.comKUSA- Traditional workouts can be boring and predictable, but they don't have to be. 9NEWS trainer Jamie Atlas has new workout moves you can try at the gym. Exercise 1: Curtsy Lunge. Step back into a curtsy and keep your arms in front as you drop.

Humana CFO says later Obamacare customers were younger, healthier

(Reuters) - Humana Inc Chief Financial Officer Brian Kane said on Wednesday that customers who signed up later in the year for new individual health plans created under President Barack Obama's national healthcare reform law were healthier and younger. The plans went on sale on Jan. 1 and enrollment continued into April. Humana still expects to receive risk-related payments from the government of $575 million to $775 million in 2014 for reinsurance. ...



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Israeli shelling causes carnage in Gaza school: U.N.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - United Nations officials had told the Israeli military 17 times that a school in Gaza's biggest refugee camp was a shelter for Palestinian civilians fleeing fighting in the teeming coastal strip, but it was not enough to save them from deadly shelling. Blown to pieces as they huddled asleep on mattresses on classroom floors, at least 15 men, women and children were killed and more than 100 wounded when Israeli artillery fire struck Jabalya Girls Elementary School on Wednesday, U.N. officials said. The victims had fled their homes in other battle zones hoping they would be safe under the blue-and-white U.N. flag. Abdel-Karim al-Masamha, 27, said he and his family had come to the school after fleeing fighting near their home in the northern Gaza Strip.



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Kids are accepting healthier school lunches: survey

By Shereen Lehman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A recent study suggests that most elementary age students are okay with eating the healthier school lunches required by the USDA. Despite early complaints from kids when the new menus were introduced in the fall of 2012, researchers found that by the second half of the school year, sales of school meals were up among disadvantaged kids, an important target audience for the healthier fare. “At 70 percent of elementary schools across the country, school leaders perceived that students liked the new lunches,” Lindsey Turner, coauthor of the study, told Reuters Health. “This is great news, as it suggests that students generally have been quite accepting of the standards, which have substantially improved the nutritional quality of school meals,” said Turner, a researcher at Boise State University in Idaho.

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7 Odd Reasons You Bruise Easily

There are plenty of reasons for easy bruising, the discoloration caused by a trauma that ruptured blood vessels just under the skin. Check out the surprising explanations behind your sore spots and learn which ones are harmless and which ones need attention.



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Ireland has too much to lose to deter U.S. companies re-homing

By Padraic Halpin DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland is in the firing line from Washington again for luring U.S. companies to its shores for tax benefits, but despite contrite noises coming from Dublin, it has too much to lose to discourage U.S. firms bent on shifting their tax domiciles. Ireland's low corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent is a natural lure for U.S. companies looking to set up an overseas hub, and for Dublin the pay-off is new jobs, but in so-called inversion deals the company then switches its overall tax domicile from the United States, where the rate is 35 percent, to its new home. The surge in such deals, which are typically effected by purchasing an overseas company - which does not then necessarily create any new jobs - drew the ire of President Barack Obama last week, who singled out Ireland for criticism. Ireland's government has responded by saying it is looking at ways of stopping the transactions, but lawyers and tax advisors who work for multinationals such as Intel , Pfizer and Google say little can be done without putting at risk a model specifically designed to lure foreign companies.

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Appeals court rules Mississippi abortion law unconstitutional

By Emily Le Coz JACKSON Miss. (Reuters) - A Mississippi law that would shut down the state's only abortion clinic, forcing women to go outside the state for the procedure, is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. Upholding a lower court's preliminary injunction against the law, a three-judge panel from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in a 2-1 decision that the law would place an undue burden on a woman's right to seek an abortion. The law, passed in 2012, required doctors at the state's sole abortion clinic to have admitting privileges at local hospitals, a standard the clinic could not meet. Backers of the law argued that it would not stop women from seeking an abortion in a neighboring state, but the judges ruled that Mississippi couldn't rely on other states to uphold its constitutional duties.



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Generation of tanners see spike in deadly melanoma

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stop sunbathing and using indoor tanning beds, the acting U.S. surgeon general warned in a report released Tuesday that cites an alarming 200 percent jump in deadly melanoma cases since 1973.

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Pfizer to buy two Baxter vaccines for $635 million

(Reuters) - Pfizer Inc agreed to buy two of Baxter International Inc's vaccines and a part of a facility involved in their production for $635 million. The deal will give Pfizer access to Baxter's NeisVac-C, a meningitis vaccine, and FSME-IMMUN, an encephalitis vaccine. Both vaccines are already being sold in the United States. (Reporting by Anand Basu; Editing by Simon Jennings)

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US Ebola doctor 'weak and quite ill,' says colleague

An American doctor who has contracted the dangerous Ebola virus in Liberia is "weak and quite ill," a colleague of his told AFP on Tuesday. Kent Brantly, 33, became infected with Ebola while working with patients in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, as he helped treat victims of the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Brantly and another American healthcare worker are among the more than 1,200 people who have become infected with Ebola in West Africa since March. He is still in the early stages of the Ebola infection but having some daily struggles," David Mcray, a family medicine doctor in Fort Worth, Texas, told AFP by phone.

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Sanofi, Regeneron drug cuts cholesterol in nine late-stage trials

By Natalie Huet PARIS (Reuters) - A new drug being developed by French drugmaker Sanofi and U.S. partner Regeneron cut "bad" LDL cholesterol more than placebo and existing treatments in nine late-stage clinical trials, the companies said on Wednesday. The injectable drug, called alirocumab, is from a promising new class of medicines, called PCSK9 inhibitors, also being developed by Amgen Inc and other drugmakers. The Phase III ODYSSEY trials showed that after 24 weeks, the mean percentage reduction in LDL cholesterol with alirocumab was consistent with results seen in previous trials, the companies said in a statement. The trials involved patients whose high LDL cholesterol levels are not sufficiently controlled by existing treatments such as statins, who cannot tolerate these or who present a high or very high cardiovascular risk.

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Humana says quarterly profit fell on health reform, drug costs

(Reuters) - U.S. health insurer Humana Inc said on Wednesday that second-quarter profit fell due to investments in the insurance exchanges created under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law as well as costly new hepatitis C drug treatments. Humana said membership growth and share buybacks had helped offset some of the new costs. The company said net income fell to $344 million, or $2.19 per share, from $420 million, or $2.63 a share, a year earlier. That was in line with analysts' estimates. (Reporting by Caroline Humer; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)



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AstraZeneca buys Almirall lung drugs for up to $2.1 billion

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca took a major step to build up its respiratory medicine business on Wednesday by striking a deal worth up to $2.1 billion for the rights to Spanish group Almirall's lung drugs. The British drugmaker, which resisted a $118 billion takeover attempt by Pfizer in May, said it would pay an initial $875 million and up to $1.22 billion more if the drugs meet development and sales targets. The tie-up boosts a key therapeutic area for AstraZeneca, whose Chief Executive Pascal Soriot is determined to show his company has a strong independent future. Soriot also struck a clinical trial collaboration with Japan's Kyowa Hakko Kirin for a study that will evaluate a combination of the two companies' drugs in cancer - another important field for AstraZeneca.

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Koch-backed seniors group low-balling election spending?

The 60 Plus Association tells the IRS it barely spends money on politics — despite funding millions in candidate attack ads.



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Minnesota woman who lost husband to Ebola urges aid to fight virus

By Fiona Ortiz CHICAGO (Reuters) - The Minnesota wife of a Liberian-American man who died last week in Nigeria from the Ebola virus said on Tuesday she wants to use his memory to spur efforts to fight the disease, which has also infected two U.S. relief workers in Liberia. Decontee Sawyer, a 34-year-old counselor for sexual assault victims and mother of three small girls, said Minneapolis' large and tight-knit Liberian community has woken up to the problem of Ebola after her husband's death. Patrick Sawyer, 40, who died on Friday in Lagos, was the first recorded case of Ebola in Nigeria. "We want to encourage all Liberians and friends of Liberians to donate money or protective gear and send it to these groups that are already at the forefront in fighting Ebola," Sawyer told Reuters in a telephone interview.

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UK Foreign Secretary says Ebola outbreak "a threat" to Britain

LONDON (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he would hold a top-level government meeting to discuss the outbreak of the highly-infectious Ebola virus across West Africa which he warned posed a threat to Britain. "It is a threat. It is something we need to respond to," Hammond told BBC TV. Ebola is believed to have killed 672 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since the outbreak began in February, according to the World Health Organisation. ...

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AstraZeneca buys Almirall lung drugs for up to $2.1 billion

By Ben Hirschler LONDON (Reuters) - AstraZeneca took a major step to build up its respiratory medicine business on Wednesday by striking a deal worth up to $2.1 billion for the rights to Spanish group Almirall's lung drugs. The British drugmaker, which resisted a $118 billion takeover attempt by Pfizer in May, said it would pay an initial $875 million and up to $1.22 billion more if the drugs meet development and sales targets. The tie-up boosts a key therapeutic area for AstraZeneca, whose Chief Executive Pascal Soriot is determined to show his company has a strong independent future. Soriot also struck a clinical trial collaboration with Japan's Kyowa Hakko Kirin for a study that will evaluate a combination of the two companies' drugs in cancer - another important field for AstraZeneca.

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UK Foreign Secretary says Ebola outbreak "a threat" to Britain

LONDON (Reuters) - British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said he would hold a top-level government meeting to discuss the outbreak of the highly-infectious Ebola virus across West Africa which he warned posed a threat to Britain. "It is a threat. It is something we need to respond to," Hammond told BBC TV. Ebola is believed to have killed 672 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since the outbreak began in February, according to the World Health Organisation. ...



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Federal panel rules Mississippi abortion law unconstitutional

JACKSON Miss (Reuters) - A federal appeals panel struck down a Mississippi law on Tuesday that would shut down the state's only abortion clinic, saying the law was unconstitutional. Upholding a lower court's preliminary injunction against the law, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled it would place an undue burden on a woman's right to seek an abortion. (Reporting By Emily Le Coz; Editing by Jonathan Kaminsky)



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Generation of tanners see spike in deadly melanoma

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stop sunbathing and using indoor tanning beds, the acting U.S. surgeon general warned in a report released Tuesday that cites an alarming 200 percent jump in deadly melanoma cases since 1973.



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US Ebola doctor 'weak and quite ill,' says colleague

An American doctor who has contracted the dangerous Ebola virus in Liberia is "weak and quite ill," a colleague of his told AFP on Tuesday. Kent Brantly, 33, became infected with Ebola while working with patients in the Liberian capital of Monrovia as he helped treat victims of the worst Ebola outbreak in history. Brantly and another American healthcare worker, Nancy Writebol, are among the more than 1,200 people who have become infected with Ebola in West Africa since March. More than 670 people have died, including Omar Khan, a leading Ebola doctor in Sierra Leone, who passed away on Tuesday after being hospitalized with the virus last week.

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Top Sierra Leone Doctor Dies of Ebola

Dr. Shek Umar contracted the virus while helping others.



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Osram to cut almost 8,000 jobs in switch to LED

German lighting maker Osram Licht AG announced late on Tuesday plans for a new savings program that will include almost 8,000 job cuts, or around 23 percent of its staff, as it seeks to keep up with a shift in technology. It said that the extra measures would cost around 450 million euros and could result in it missing its long-term target for a reported operating profit margin of more than 8 percent in the fiscal year to the end of September, 2015. Osram also announced third quarter results a day earlier than planned, with sales of 1.2 billion euros ($1.61 billion) and better than expected adjusted earnings before tax and interest of 104 million euros. "While earnings continue to develop nicely, the growing market acceptance of LED technology is, as already announced, causing a significantly faster decline of the traditional business," said Chief Executive Officer Wolfgang Dehen.

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