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Sierra Leone shut its borders to trade with Guinea and Liberia on Wednesday and closed schools, cinemas and nightclubs in a frontier region in a bid to halt the spread of the Ebola virus. _0"> Sixteen people have died of Ebola in Sierra Leone, a figure that has doubled in the last week, Ministry of Health figures showed. Authorities will also mount health checkpoints in the eastern Kailahun district and mandated that all deaths there be reported before burial. Anyone who dies of the virus must be buried under the supervision of health personnel, the Information Ministry said. The decision to close district schools came after a nine-year-old whose parents died of Ebola tested positive for the virus, Deputy Minister of Information Theo Nicol told Reuters.   true       "There is more contacts between school-going kids than adults hence the closure of schools in the most affected district," he said. The ban exempted churches and mosques but religious leaders should

The number of moles a woman has may be tied to her risk of developing breast cancer, according to two new studies. The studies don’t prove that moles cause breast cancer or that women with a lot of moles will definitely get breast cancer. Instead, they suggest there may be a small genetic or hormonal link between the two. “This shouldn’t be a concern for women with moles, because we don’t think the relationship is causal,” said Marina Kvaskoff, the lead author of one of the new studies. Kvaskoff is affiliated with INSERM - the French National Institute of Health and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Medical Research - and the University of Paris 11. Researchers suspected that moles, also known as nevi, and breast cancer might share links to certain hormones and genes. That would mean moles could be used to help predict a woman’s breast cancer risk. “We always need to discover more causes of cancer and breast cancer in particular,” Kvaskoff said. “If more studies wer

Under pressure to improve mental health treatment for inmates in California's massive prison system, officials plan to build a new psychiatric ward to provide inpatient mental health care for prisoners on death row, according to a court-ordered report. The new ward, set to open on Oct. 1, will serve severely mentally ill prisoners on death row at the San Quentin prison near San Francisco, said the report filed late Tuesday. Matthew Lopes, a special master overseeing mental health care in California's prisons, found that 37 severely mentally ill death row inmates at San Quentin prison near San Francisco were entitled to 24-hour inpatient care in a hospital but were not getting it. Lopes, assigned to develop the report by federal Judge Lawrence K. Karlton last December, said he had worked with state officials and lawyers representing inmates to draft plans for a new ward. "They were refusing to transfer them (to a mental hospital) because they said it was too dangerous

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is working to develop strong product standards for electronic cigarettes and other nicotine delivery devices that will protect public health and enable the agency to withstand legal challenges, its class="mandelbrot_refrag"> tobacco chief said on Wednesday. Mitchell Zeller, director of the FDA's Center for class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Tobacco Products, said the agency is exploring potential product standards in the areas of addiction, toxicity and product appeal as it prepares to gain regulatory authority over electronic cigarettes and other nicotine-delivery devices. The establishment of product standards is one of five priorities for the division over the next few years, Zeller said, outlining them publicly in the most comprehensive manner to date. They include putting in place regulations for approving new products and monitoring them after they reach the market, ensuring that the agency has in place a strong

When class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Saudi Arabia announced last week it had found 113 more cases of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), it didn't just force a rethink of the threat the virus poses, it exposed institutional failings.     Saudi health sources and international virologists said poor communication and a lack of accountability in government departments, inadequate state oversight and a failure to learn from past mistakes have all hindered Saudi Arabia's battle against the SARS-like virus.     They say it is too soon to tell if reforms introduced by a new acting health minister can overcome what they see as underlying problems.     Some top Saudi health officials say they accept that delays in reporting MERS cases were caused by poor communication between hospitals, laboratories and government departments, but they stress things have improved significantly since the appointment of the new minister in late April.     The health ministr

class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Geron Corp said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had lifted a partial clinical hold on a study testing its sole drug as a treatment for myelofibrosis, a rare form of blood cancer, sending the company's shares soaring in morning trading. Enrollment in the early-stage trial, sponsored by the Mayo Clinic, was halted in March over concerns about liver toxicity pending followup data from Mayo's investigator on the possible reversibility of the liver damage. Enrollment for the study ceased in January, and about 20 of the 79 patients dropped out. Geron, whose shares rose as much as 33 percent on Thursday, did not then disclose the reason behind the dropouts, but said the remaining enrolled patients would continue to receive the drug, imetelstat.   true       However, in March the FDA also imposed a halt on separate company-sponsored trials evaluating the use of the drug in thrombocythemia and multiple myeloma, citing similar concern

People who take antidepressants tend to put on a few pounds, a new study confirms, and some of the drugs are linked to more weight gain than others. Using health records from one New England healthcare system, researchers studied 19,244 adults treated with antidepressants, recording their weights over the course of a year. The results showed that people taking citalopram (Celexa), from a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, gained more than two and a half pounds, on average. Other SSRIs were associated with weight gain similar to citalopram, with people taking fluoxetine (Prozac) gaining on average a pound and a half and those taking sertraline (Zoloft) gaining nearly two pounds, the authors write in JAMA Psychiatry. On the other hand, people taking bupropion (Wellbutrin) lost on average nearly half a pound. The tricyclic antidepressants nortriptyline and amitriptyline were also linked with significantly less weight gain than th

Shire Plc SHP.L has agreed to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration request to study its stimulant Vyvanse in preschool children as concern rises over the diagnosis and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, the drugmaker said on Thursday. _0"> A report last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of children diagnosed with ADHD increased 41 percent from 2003 to 2011 and that 6.4 million children, or 11 percent of those aged 4 to 17, have been diagnosed with that condition. Drugs treatments include Ritalin, Adderall and Vyvanse. Only Adderall, which is also made by Shire, is approved to treat children under the age of 6. Yet children much younger are taking the drugs and the FDA wants additional information to ensure they are safe in this very young population.   true       Gwen Fisher, a spokeswoman for U.K.-based Shire, said the company is designing three clinical trials for children aged 4 to 5. One will examine how the

William Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management said it had filed a lawsuit seeking confirmation that its request to hold a special shareholder meeting of class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Allergan Inc would not trigger Allergan's poison pill takeover defense. _0"> Ackman, who owns nearly 10 percent of Allergan, last week filed documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission to call a shareholder meeting to elect new directors to the company's board. The Botox maker has rejected a $53 billion joint offer from Ackman and Canadian drugmaker class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Valeant Pharmaceuticals International . An Allergan spokeswoman declined to comment immediately. Allergan adopted the one-year shareholder rights plan on April 22, the day Valeant and Ackman made the offer, saying it needed time to consider takeover proposals.   true       Allergan's shareholder rights plan, or poison pill, will be triggered if a person or gro

A warming world could pose a risk of more frequent catastrophic flooding but also be a long-term boon for Vermont farmers and a shorter-lived thrill for its skiers, according to a state report released on Tuesday. The Vermont Climate Assessment found that higher rates of precipitation expected to come with climate change could bring heavier winter snows over the next 25 years, good news for ski resorts until the state becomes too warm to sustain significant amounts of snow. It was the first state report to follow the model of the National Climate Assessment released last month by the White House, which was intended to help U.S. states prepare for concrete ways a changing climate could affect agriculture, transportation and other aspects of life. The report, based on records from weather data to farmers' observations on when ice thaws on ponds and plants bloom, found that average temperatures in Vermont have risen by 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit (0.7 C) and average annual rainfall ha

A special Chilean ministerial committee on Tuesday canceled the massive HidroAysen hydro-power project's permit, after environmentalists protested it would wreck pristine valleys in Chile's wild south. While the decision is a big blow to the controversial project, it is not deadly. HidroAysen can still tweak the project or take its case to courts, suggesting more bitter legal wrangling over the fate of the 2,750 megawatt project may still be ahead. Still, the $8 billion-plus project faces a steep uphill battle if it decides to fight on in court. "Although the project isn't formally dead the litigation strategy has become a lot harder for the company now," said Luis Cordero, law professor at the Universidad de Chile, who estimated a fresh legal battle would yield a final decision in about a year. The HidroAysen joint venture, made up of leading generators Endesa Chile and partner Colbun, was not immediately available for comment. Some industry observers said

A U.S. federal judge has denied ExxonMobil Corp's bid to dismiss a government lawsuit and instead ordered the oil giant to hand over documents going back decades on a pipeline that ruptured last year and inundated an Arkansas town with oil. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker ruled on Tuesday the company must hand over requested information on the entire 850-mile (1,370-km) Pegasus pipeline, which spilled about 5,000 barrels of class="mandelbrot_refrag"> crude oil in a residential neighborhood in Mayflower, Arkansas, in March 2013. She also said ExxonMobil should speed up the handover of documents sought by the state's attorney general and the U.S. Department of Justice, which brought the case, and set a deadline of July 10.   true       The company had said it needed more time to go through millions of electronic and paper records to comply with requests from overlapping state and federal cases related to the spill. "The court understands the defenda

The European Union has agreed a new law to strengthen safety standards and improve supervision of nuclear facilities in response to lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Japan , the European Commission said on Wednesday. _0"> In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami caused the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years, spewing radiation over a swathe of Fukushima and forcing 160,000 people from their homes. The European Union, in response, carried out a series of stress tests to examine the resilience of  class="mandelbrot_refrag"> nuclear power stations and used the results to draft a response plan based on the latest international standards. "We need to put all our efforts into making sure that the highest safety standards are followed in every single class="mandelbrot_refrag"> nuclear power plant across the EU," Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said in a statement

The European Commission could lift its import ban on herring from the Faroe Islands within months after reaching a deal to protect fish class="mandelbrot_refrag"> stocks in the Atlantic, it said on Wednesday. EU authorities banned imports of herring and mackerel from the Faroe Islands in August in a row over alleged over-fishing, with the world's biggest fish importer saying it had to protect a fish stock referred to as the Atlanto-Scandian herring. The Faroe Islands, a self-governed territory within the Danish Realm and not part of the European Union, said at the time that the EU rules do not give it a sufficient share of the herring catch and that a higher quota is justified by an increase in the number of herring in its waters.   true       On Wednesday, the European Commission said the Faroe Islands had agreed to a new catch limit for Atlanto-Scandian herring. Once that limit is fixed, the EU would end the ban on Faroese herring imports. "After long an

Tropical storm Cristina strengthened into a category 1 hurricane on Wednesday as it moved away from Mexico's Pacific coast, prompting authorities to warn of heavy rains in the Latin American nation. _0"> Cristina was located about 265 miles (425 kilometers) south of the port of Manzanillo with maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour (120 kilometers per hour) and higher gusts, the National Hurricane Center said early Wednesday. The hurricane was expected to gain strength, as it moved at a speed of 6 miles per hour westward, unlikely to make landfall. Mexican authorities warned of rising rivers and mudslides caused in Southern and Western Mexican states including Oaxaca, Guerrero, Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco.   true       Cristina could cause waves of up to four meters high in coastal areas, the National Weather Service said in a statement. Guerrero, home of beach resort Acapulco, last year was severely affected by dual storms Ingrid and Manuel, whose unpreceden

Swathes of north class="mandelbrot_refrag"> India are sweltering under the longest heatwave on record, triggering widespread breakdowns in the supply of electricity and increasingly angry protests over the government's failure to provide people with basic services. The power crisis and heatwave, which some activists say has caused dozens of deaths, is one of the first major challenges for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was elected three weeks ago partly on promises to provide reliable electricity supplies. In Delhi, where temperatures have hit 45 Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) for six days straight, residents marched through the streets in protests organized by opposition parties on Thursday. In the north of the city, people enraged by night-long outages clashed with police and torched a bus, media reported.   true       Delhi is suffering staggered cuts as power companies ration spikes in demand as people crank up air coolers to fight the heat. Modi has inherited

A compromise deal to give European Union states the option of banning genetically modified crops won approval from EU environment ministers on Thursday, bringing the EU closer to ending years of deadlock over GM cultivation. Widely grown in the Americas and Asia, GM crops in Europe have divided opinion, with strong opposition in many countries, including class="mandelbrot_refrag"> France and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Germany , while Britain favors them. Thursday's compromise deal drew criticism from both opponents and supporters of growing GM food in Europe. Monsanto, maker of the only GM crop grown in the EU, said if the law were enacted as drafted, the company would continue to focus its investment in other parts of the world. The European Green Party, meanwhile, described the deal as "a Trojan horse" that would open the door to GM crops across Europe. At a meeting in Luxembourg, EU environment ministers from 26 of the 28 member state

Djibouti is suffering from a fourth straight year of drought, which has driven a huge exodus of people from rural areas to the capital and caused a surge in disease and malnutrition, the top U.N. official there said on Thursday. Robert Watkins, U.N. resident coordinator in Djibouti, was meeting officials from donor countries to seek funds for a U.N. appeal of $74 million for Djibouti this year, launched in May. The class="mandelbrot_refrag"> United Nations has received $9.5 million from donors so far. "The biggest issue facing Djibouti today is the lack of water. People depend on water for their livelihood, essentially their class="mandelbrot_refrag"> livestock ," Watkins told a news briefing in Geneva. Many cattle had perished from the water shortages, he said. "It's the reason why we are investing more and more and we trying to find longer-term alternatives for people - not solutions because we can't solve the drought problem

To grasp the difficulties Mexico faces in capitalizing on a North American shale boom, just wander into the dusty landscape due south of the U.S. border. On one side of the fence, thousands of wells work around the clock in Texas to produce record volumes of shale oil and gas, transforming towns like Carrizo Springs in a modern-day gold rush. On the other side, violent drug cartels roam above untapped shale riches, leaving behind a trail of blood. The relatively few conventional wells operated by state oil giant Pemex and its contractors close down overnight as a security precaution.   true       But surging crime, while dramatic, is just one of many obstacles thwarting a Mexican shale boom that is seen as years off at best. "Organized crime is an additional operating cost companies will be keeping a close eye on," said Alberto Islas, head of class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Mexico City-based consultancy firm Risk Evaluation. Bullet-riddled corpses are piling

More than a quarter of all companies covered by Beijing's municipal carbon laws ignored a key reporting deadline, local media reported Friday, with some powerful companies questioning the local government trading body's authority to regulate them. Beijing's carbon trading market, one of six set up in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China to rein in rapidly growing greenhouse gas emissions, caps carbon dioxide from nearly 500 local enterprises. Most of them must hand over permits to the government to cover for their emissions, while some must only report their CO2 levels. But 140 of them missed an April deadline to submit a verified report of their 2013 emissions, local newspapers reported on Friday, a key to determining how many permits each firm must hand over to the government to cover for CO2 output. Some of the firms implied that Beijing's Development and Reform Commission (DRC), which operates the scheme, did not have the authority to issue orders.

EU energy ministers agreed on Friday to limit production of biofuels made from food crops, responding to criticism they stoke inflation and do more environmental harm than good. The ministers' endorsement of a compromise deal overcomes a stalemate hit late last year, when European Union governments failed to agree on a proposed 5 percent cap on the use of biofuels based on crops such as maize or rapeseed. Friday's agreement would set a 7 percent limit on food-based biofuels in transport fuel. It still needs the approval of the newly-elected European Parliament, expected to begin considering it later this year.   true       "We think this proposal is much better than nothing," European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told the Luxembourg meeting of ministers. "We need to support research and development in advanced biofuels so we can move forward from generation one into generation two and generation three," he added, referring to more sophistica

More than 20,000 African elephants were killed for their ivory in 2013, driven by demand in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China and class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Thailand , and some local populations face an immediate threat of extinction, a U.N.-linked wildlife conservation agency said on Friday. Criminal gangs and rebel militias hunt dwindling herds for tusks that fetch many thousands of dollars per kilo, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species said. "Today we are confronting a situation of industrial-scale poaching and smuggling, the involvement of organized transnational criminal organizations, the involvement of rebel militia," CITES secretary-general John Scanlon told a briefing.   true       Fighters of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) were sanctioned by the Security Council this year for illegal hunting and ivory trade, particularly in central Africa, he said. The 2013 estimated figure is less than the peak of 25,00