Tag: brazil
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Brazilian mines produce world’s priciest gems under fire
By Adriana Brasileiro SÃO JOSÉ DA BATALHA, Brazil (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Rare neon blue Paraiba tourmalines have adorned jewelry worn on the red carpet by Hollywood actresses Emily Blunt and Salma Hayek and U.S. singer Taylor Swift. Tourmaline miners toil deep in miles of haphazardly built, unsafe tunnels at risk of collapse, breathing dust that can…
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Factbox: Why the Zika virus is causing alarm
Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and…
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Factbox: Why the Zika virus is causing alarm
Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas. Zika is transmitted to people through the bite of infected female mosquitoes, primarily the Aedes aegypti mosquito, the same type that spreads dengue, chikungunya and…
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Leprosy sufferers step up fight against stigma at Vatican
Former leprosy sufferers testified Friday at a Vatican conference about the stigma linked to the disease which still persists in some societies, and about their attempts to fight exclusion. Although it has been eradicated almost globally through treatments developed in the 1980s, leprosy still affects 200,000 people a year, particularly in India, Indonesia and Brazil.…
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Pregnant NBC ‘Today’ anchor Guthrie skipping Olympics due to Zika
Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor of NBC's “Today” show, said on Tuesday she is pregnant and will not travel to Brazil to cover the Olympics in August for the network due to concerns over the Zika virus, which has been linked to the birth defect microcephaly. “I'm not going to be able to go to Rio,” Guthrie…
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Judge makes no ruling on timing of Sumner Redstone competence trial
The battle over control of Sumner Redstone’s $40 billion media empire moved to a Massachusetts courtroom on Tuesday, where a state judge is mulling whether to move up the date of a trial questioning the 93-year-old’s mental competence. Probate and Family Court Judge George Phelan did not set a date for a trial over Redstone's…
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Baltimore’s Big Soda Moment: Why Access to Sugary Drink Information is a Civil Rights Issue
Baltimore's corners are often associated with the public health threat presented by illicit drug dealing and use but there is another, more unassuming, danger lurking inside corner stores and supermarkets: sugar-sweetened beverages. The Baltimore City Council will consider a bill next week to include a warning label on sugary drinks similar to…
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Delaying Rio Games would give ‘false security’ on Zika: WHO panel head
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – Postponing the Rio Olympics due to fears that the event could speed the spread of the Zika virus would give a “false” sense of security because travelers are constantly going in and out of Brazil, the head of the World Health Organization's emergency committee said. More than 100 medical…
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Delaying Rio Games would give ‘false security’ on Zika: WHO panel head
By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – Postponing the Rio Olympics due to fears that the event could speed the spread of the Zika virus would give a “false” sense of security because travelers are constantly going in and out of Brazil, the head of the World Health Organization's emergency committee said. More than 100 medical…
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WHO rejects calls to move Olympics over Zika fears
The World Health Organization has ruled out any change in timing or the location of the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, shunning a call by doctors and scientists to shift the event over the Zika virus. An open letter addressed to the global health body signed by 150 international doctors, scientists and researchers…