Migrant arrivals to Europe this year top 110,000, up sharply from 2015

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – The number of migrants and refugees arriving in Italy and Greece since the start of the year has risen sharply compared to the same period 2015 and hundreds are stranded at European borders due to rising restrictions, aid agencies said on Tuesday. At least 102,500 people have landed on Greek islands including Samos, Kos and Lesbos this year, and 7,500 in Italy, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a statement. “We’ve reached that figure in two months as opposed to last year when it was reached by the summer,” IOM spokesman Itayi Viriri told a news briefing.
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Cuba deploys army in effort to avoid Zika virus

An Aedes aegypti mosquitoe is seen inside the IAEA laboratory in SeibersdorfBy Marc Frank HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuban President Raul Castro called on the entire Cuban population to help eradicate the mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus on Monday and ordered 9,000 army troops to help stave off the disease. Cuba has yet to detect a case of Zika but the outbreak is affecting large parts of Latin America and the Caribbean and is likely to spread to all countries in the Americas except for Canada and Chile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said. "It&;s necessary for every single Cuban to take up this battle as a personal matter," Castro wrote in a national message sounding the alarm over Zika, which is carried by mosquitoes that transmit the virus to humans and which is suspected of causing birth defects after infecting pregnant women.

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China suspends Ali Health-run online drug monitoring platform

China’s food and drugs regulatory body said it had suspended its electronic drug monitoring system, a platform operated by Alibaba Health Information Technology Ltd, while it drafts amendments to regulations monitoring pharmaceutical sales. The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) said it will seek comments until March 23 on changes to the way pharmaceutical products are monitored, including online sales, according to statements posted on its website on Saturday. Ali Health said in a filing on Sunday it had not received notice from the CFDA over the operation of the platform.
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Mexican woman with Zika gives birth to healthy child

Zika, which is spread by mosquitos, has been linked to microcephaly -- a birth defect in which the infant is born with an abnormally small headA woman with a confirmed case of the Zika virus in the southern state of Chiapas gave birth to a "clinically healthy" baby boy, Mexico&;s health ministry said. After an evaluation, the hospital&039;s pediatric center "confirmed that [the infant] is clinically healthy," the health ministry said in a statement late Friday. Zika, which is spread by mosquitos, has been linked to microcephaly — a birth defect in which the infant is born with an abnormally small head.

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