Other News

More lawsuits filed against Honda, Takata over air bags

(Reuters) – The recall crisis involving Takata-made air bags exploding with too much force and spraying vehicle occupants with metal shrapnel is growing, with two more lawsuits filed over accidents in older Honda cars. News of the lawsuits came a day after Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) on Monday recalled 247,000 vehicles in the United States because of potentially defective air bags made by Takata Corp (7312.T). Also on Monday, U.S. safety regulators urged consumers affected […]

Sweden gets two new sightings, as hunt for undersea intruder goes on

(Reuters) – Sweden’s military is working on two new observations that could be evidence of suspected “foreign underwater activity” near the country’s capital, a senior naval officer said on Tuesday. Swedish forces have been scouring the sea off Stockholm since Friday, after what the military called three credible reports of activity by foreign submarines or divers using an underwater vehicle. The vessels were unidentified, but during the 1980s the Swedish navy from time to time […]

Ebola nurse’s status upgraded to good from fair

(Reuters) – The medical status of nurse Nina Pham, who contracted Ebola when she helped treat the first patient to be diagnosed with the disease on U.S. soil, was upgraded to good from fair on Tuesday, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced. Pham was admitted to the NIH Clinical Center Special Clinical Studies Unit in Bethesda, Maryland, on Oct. 16.

DOH declares RITM ready for Ebola, sets training for healthcare professionals

MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News Service) — The Department of Health (DOH) has declared that the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), the country’s National Reference Center for Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases, is now more prepared to respond to the threat of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) but still needed upgrading to better handle a possible Ebola entry in the country. Health Secretary Enrique Ona said that the existing facilities of RITM still need to be upgraded […]

U.S. to funnel travelers from Ebola-hit region through five airports

(Reuters) – The United States ratcheted up its safeguards against Ebola on Tuesday, requiring travelers from three countries at the center of an epidemic in West Africa to fly into one of five major airports conducting enhanced screening for the virus. The restrictions on passengers whose trips originated in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Guinea were announced by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and were set to go into effect on Wednesday. The precautions stop […]

Fashion designer Oscar de la Renta dead at 82

(Reuters) – Oscar de la Renta, one of the most sought-after fashion designers of the last half century, dressing American first ladies and Hollywood stars in his classic silhouettes, died on Monday at the age of 82. An individual taking calls at the designer’s residence in Connecticut on Monday night confirmed his death, first reported by ABC News. The New York Times said de la Renta died of complications from cancer. De la Renta was born to […]

Consumed by Islamic State, Iraq’s Anbar province a key battleground again

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – In recent weeks, the world has watched the battle to save Syria’s border town of Kobani from Islamic State. But the radical jihadists have for longer been engulfing another strategically more vital target – Iraq’s western Anbar province and its road to Baghdad. The vast desert region – where Sunni tribes rose up in 2006 and 2007 to drive out al-Qaeda with the Americans – has throughout 2014 been parcelled up, city by […]

Hong Kong students put their case to government, but no breakthrough

(Reuters) – Thousands of Hong Kong protesters listened raptly from the streets on Tuesday as student leaders debated their call for full democracy for the Chinese-run city with government leaders to try end a weeks-long occupation of major traffic arteries. But, as had been widely expected, there was no breakthrough. Student leaders had yet to decide whether or not to hold a second round. Beijing-backed city leader Leung Chun-ying had earlier hinted at a procedural […]

Pistorius starts five-year term for killing Reeva Steenkamp

(Reuters) – Olympic and Paralympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius started his five-year jail sentence on Tuesday for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, marking the end of a trial that has gripped South Africa and millions around the world. His uncle, Arnold Pistorius, indicated he would not appeal. As judge Thokozile Masipa gave her decision on the 27-year-old’s culpable homicide conviction, Pistorius, whose downfall has been likened to that of American football star O.J. Simpson, stood resolutely […]