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/ 5 May 2008

Child-killing virus no threat to Olympics

A virus that has killed 25 children and infected thousands across China will not threaten Beijing’s Olympic Games in August, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in comments published on Monday. Health authorities in China have been battling to contain outbreaks of EV71, a sometimes fatal intestinal virus.

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/ 2 January 2008

Portugal anti-smoking chief breaks ban on first day

The head of the Portuguese agency responsible for enforcing a new ban on smoking in public was seen lighting up at a New Year party, breaking the law on the first day it came into effect. Antonio Nunes, president of Portugal’s food standards agency, was photographed by the daily, Diario de Noticias, smoking a cigar at a casino on the outskirts of Lisbon.

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/ 7 October 2007

Malawi health service ailing from brain drain

For Malawian nurse Hilda Maganga, the financial pull of a spell in a ward in Britain is close to overwhelming her desire to tend to patients in her Aids-stricken and impoverished homeland. ”I would like to do a two-year stint in the United Kingdom, make my money and come back to retire for good,” says the 54-year-old.