U.S. emergency labs ready to work on Ebola drugs if asked

All three U.S. facilities established to quickly make vaccines and therapeutics in the event of a major public health threat say they are standing by to support any U.S. government effort to scale up a treatment for Ebola.

The facilities, called Centers for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing (ADM), were set up by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with private industry, to respond to pandemics or chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats.

They have the expertise to quickly switch production lines to manufacture, for example, a smallpox vaccine if that scourge were to re-emerge, or an anthrax vaccine, and other life-saving compounds against both natural outbreaks and bioterrorism.

Exclusive: Iraq says Islamic State killed 500 Yazidis, buried some victims alive

Displaced families from the minority Yazidi sect, fleeing the violence in the Iraqi town of Sinjarl west of Mosul, arrive at Dohuk province, August 8, 2014.

Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 members of Iraq's Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north, Iraq's human rights minister told Reuters on Sunday.

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the Sunni militants had also buried alive some of their victims, including women and children. Some 300 women were kidnapped as slaves, he added.

"We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic States have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar," Sudani said in a telephone interview, in his first remarks to the media on the issue.

Fruit and veg – how much is enough?

Researchers have more evidence linking a diet with lots of fruits and vegetables to better health outcomes.

The idea that fruits and veggies are good for you isn't new, of course. What's new in this study is that researchers saw a dose-response relationship: the more fruits and veggies people ate, the less likely they were to have heart problems or die while researchers were studying them.

Protective effects

The protective effects of fruits and veggies leveled out at five servings per day, which supports current dietary recommendations, senior author Dr. Frank B. Hu, of the departments of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, told Reuters Health by email.

The findings are from a fresh analysis of 16 existing studies that involved more than 800,000 people. The studies lasted at least four years, and sometimes up to 26 years. Around 56,000 participants died during the studies.

Six studies included data on vegetables in the diet over time, six examined fruits, and four included both. The studies were conducted in the U.S., Asia and Europe.

Pallo Jordan and his PhD still missing

                                                                      Pallo Jordan

 

Johannesburg - ANC stalwart Pallo Jordan appears to have gone to ground following revelations that he does not hold a PhD as claimed on his CV.

According to the Sunday Times, Jordan, who has long gone by the title "Dr", is nowhere to be found following revelations last Sunday that he does not hold any degree.

The newspaper reports that Business Day has also dropped him as a columnist after he failed to meet his deadline and that close friends, comrades and neighbours have not seen nor heard from him these past few days.

Spying, 'double-agents' part of Sars probe

Johannesburg - The SA Revenue Service (Sars) confirmed reports on Sunday that a Pretoria lawyer had laid a complaint against the revenue service's group executive Johann van Loggenberg after their relationship ended.

"Whenever Sars receives a complaint of unbecoming behaviour on the part of any of its officials, [it] always seeks to verify the facts surrounding the complaint to determine whether or not a complaint warrants further action," spokesperson Adrian Lackay said.

During the course of this year, advocate Belinda Walter had sent a series of emails to Sars officials complaining about Van Loggenberg. "To put it mildly her allegations were alarmist and possibly defamatory," Lackay said.