Month: August 2014

(Reuters) – Private equity firms are mulling over a $10 billion plan to buy and merge older drug brands of Britain's GlaxoSmithKline and France's Sanofi , the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing sources. U.S.-based KKR and Warburg Pincus were among the firms considering making bids for assets owned by GSK and Sanofi, the newspaper quoted several people familiar with the matter as saying. According to an internal document seen by Reuters in July, Sanofi held talks with listed and private equity firms in relation to the sale of a 6.3 billion euro ($8.5 billion) portfolio of mature drugs. The FT quoted people close to the matter as saying that Blackstone , Advent, Apollo and Bain Capital were among the other private equity players to have shown interest in either or both of the portfolios.

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The toxins that contaminated the drinking water supply of 400,000 people in northwest Ohio didn't just suddenly appear.

The bodies of two men previously showing symptoms of Ebola lay in the streets of Monrovia for four days before being collected by health workers on Sunday, residents told Reuters. “They both gave up and dropped dead on the ground on the street of Clara Town,” said resident Nema Red, referring to a district of the Liberian capital.

FAIRFIELD, Texas (AP) — As murky water snakes through a man-made wetland between Dallas and Houston, its shallow ponds of lush vegetation slowly filter out phosphorous and nitrates until, a week later, the water runs clear as a creek into the area drinking supply.

A second American health worker suffering from Ebola is due to fly from Liberia’s capital Monrovia to the United States overnight on Monday, the country’s information minister said. “The airport authorities tell me it will be Monday night or very early on Tuesday at around 1 am,” Lewis Brown told Reuters by telephone on Sunday. Nancy Writebol, a missionary working for U.S. charity Samaritan’s Purse, is due to travel on the same plane that transported her colleague Dr. Kent Brantly from Liberia on Saturday, Brown added.

An Italian court is investigating the 2004 death of Marco Pantani after his mother presented evidence and analysis to the tribunal that she says shows he was murdered. The 34-year-old Pantani, who won the Tour de France in 1998, was found dead in a hotel suite in the beachside resort city of Rimini on Feb. 14 10 years ago, and the court later ruled that he had died accidentally of acute cocaine poisoning. Tonina Pantani, the rider's mother, has always said she believed her son was murdered. Through her lawyer, Antonio De Rensis, she presented a report to the court that says Pantani was beaten and then forced to drink a lethal dose of cocaine dissolved in liquid, Italian media reported on Sunday.

There’s only so much practical real estate on the human body for wearables — unless you’re willing to revive the over-accessorizing trend of the 1980s.So what if everyday objects that we interact with — whether it’s by resting against them or holding onto them — were to house the sensors that keep tabs on us? Anti-wearables,…

By Juarawee Kittsilpa BANGKOK (Reuters) – A Thai surrogate mother left with one twin by his Australian biological parents after the child was born with Down's Syndrome said on Sunday she was not informed of his condition until late in her pregnancy. Pattaramon Janbua said her doctors, the surrogacy agency and the baby's parents knew he was disabled at four months but did not inform her until the seventh month when the agency asked her – at the parents' request – to abort the disabled fetus. Pattaramon, 21, told Reuters Television she refused the abortion on religious grounds and carried both him and his twin sister to term six months ago. The parents, who have not been identified, took only the girl back with them to Australia.

For so many years, I learned to accept the knot in my stomach that came with anxiety. Of course, I never thought that I had a problem. I just accepted that "short of breath" feeling that came with my mile-long to-do list and bombarding my mind with the constant "what if" questions. Thoughts raced through my head such as, Oh boy, I wish I hadn't…

Saudi Arabia reported 10 confirmed new cases of a deadly respiratory disease during Islam’s fasting month of Ramadan, and subsequent Eid al-Fitra holiday, after fears that an influx of pilgrims over the period might spread the infection more widely. Notices of any new confirmed cases are published at the end of every day by the Health Ministry. Ramadan ended a week ago and the Eid al-Fitra holiday ran until late last week. Hundreds of people were infected by Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in the kingdom in April and May, raising concerns about the pilgrimage in Ramadan and during October’s Haj, when millions of people will travel to Mecca and Medina.

SPECIAL FROM Grandparents.comWherever you live, you have an amazing piece of spa equipment that you can use to stretch, relax, calm your mind, and focus your energy. It’s your bed. After all, this is where you start each day and end each evening. Why not make it work for you?“A morning routine gets your day going, while an evening ritual…