West African artists urge French-speaking nations to act on Ebola

Health workers put on protective gear outside a mosque before disinfecting it, in BamakoBy Misha Hussain DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – West African artists have urged heads of state holding a French-speaking nations' summit in Dakar this weekend to take action to stop the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in the region. The rare tropical disease has infected more than 15,000 people in West Africa since it was first recorded in Guinea in March. More than 5,000 people have died from the virus, which causes severe vomiting, diarrhoea and internal bleeding. …

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Gut check: how vultures dine on rotting flesh, and like it

File of vultures feasting on a road kill as commuters pass by real estate for sale in Great FallsBy Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) – They snack on danger and dine on death, merrily munching on rotting flesh that would certainly sicken or kill any person and most other animals. But how do vultures do it? These feathery scavengers have one of the toughest guts on the planet, that is how. Scientists said on Tuesday that their analysis of two species of North American vultures showed that the birds possess a ferociously acidic digestive system and intestines loaded with two fiendish kinds of bacteria. …

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Under pressure, U.S. EPA seeks tighter ozone standards

By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing more stringent air quality standards for ground-level ozone, the main culprit in smog, the agency’s chief said on Wednesday. Under deadline to release its proposal by Monday, the agency said it will seek a National Ambient Air Quality Standard between 65 and 70 parts per billion concentration of ozone, and take comment on standards within a 60-75 ppb range, EPA administrator Gina McCarthy said. Current standards, set under then-President George W. Bush in 2008, are set at 75 ppb. …
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