South Korea says will continue to allow U.S. beef imports

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea will continue to allow U.S. beef imports after a cow was discovered with mad cow disease in California, the Korean agriculture ministry said on Wednesday. It said it will strengthen its quarantine inspections of imported U.S. beef until the U.S. authorities provide details of the outbreak situation, but stopped short of suspending inspections, which would have effectively prevented imports. “We have requested details from the U.S. side, as we need to determine which necessary measures should be taken,” a ministry official told reporters. U.S. …

Amgen to buy Turkish drugmaker for $700 million

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. biotech company Amgen is to buy Turkey’s Mustafa Nevzat Pharmaceuticals, a maker of injectable generic drugs, for around $700 million in a deal underscoring Western drugmakers’ thirst for emerging markets sales. The purchase, announced by both companies on Wednesday, is the latest in a string of acquisitions by international drug companies – both at home and abroad – as they try to buy growth to offset patent expiries and price cuts. …

Malaria infections surge in Congo: MSF

DAKAR (Reuters) – Malaria cases treated by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) more than tripled to 155,000 last year from two years previous, the aid agency said on Tuesday. The increase shows an upsurge in the prevalence of the deadly mosquito-borne parasitic disease, but it was still unclear what was behind the increase in the number, MSF said ahead of world malaria day on Wednesday. “It’s very difficult to give a scientific answer … …

Still in the frame, the camera defies smartphone onslaught

A member of the media uses a Canon SLR camera to record video as congressman and boxer Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines is interviewed during a media workout at Wild Card Boxing Club in Los AngelesSINGAPORE (Reuters) – While most attention in the gadget world is on the breakneck pace of innovation in mobile phones, tablets and computers, another device has resolutely refused to die: the camera. Despite the onslaught of camera phones — the iPhone 4 has this year become the most popular device for posting snaps to the photo-sharing website Flickr — cameras are still being sold. Japan, the world’s largest manufacturer, shipped nearly three times as many cameras in January as it did in the same month of 2003, when the camera phone was still in its infancy. …

Japan says no impact on TPP talks from mad cow case

TOKYO (Reuters) – The United States’ first reported mad cow disease case in six years will not affect negotiations about Japan’s possible membership in a U.S.-led Pacific trade pact, the government said on Wednesday. For Washington, Japan’s curbs on beef imports from countries hit by the disease are one the sticking points and U.S. exporters have been counting on Tokyo to relax the curbs following a review initiated in December. The curbs, which in 2005 replaced a total ban put in place after the first mad cow case in 2003, have capped U.S. …

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