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Severe reactions to swine flu vaccine in Canada

A person receives a A(H1N1) flu vaccine in Paris. The WHO says an unusual number of severe allergic reactions to swine flu vaccinations have been recorded in Canada, where a batch of the vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline has been recalled.
AFP - Wednesday, November 25

GENEVA (AFP) - - An unusual number of severe allergic reactions to swine flu vaccinations have been recorded in Canada, where a batch of the vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has been recalled, the WHO said on Tuesday. More »

  • A NASA image shows Planet Earth in one of the most up-to-date images of the world to date. Humanity would need five Earths to produce the resources needed if everyone lived as profligately as Americans, according to a report issued Tuesday.

    Mankind using Earth's resources at alarming rate

    AFP - Tuesday, November 24

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - - Humanity would need five Earths to produce the resources needed if everyone lived as profligately as Americans, according to a report issued Tuesday.

  • A Cadillac is mirrored in Saab signage at a dealership in Pasadena California. Swedish luxury carmaker Koenigsegg said Tuesday it was giving up its bid to acquire Saab Automobile from its US parent company General Motors, saying costly delays made the deal too uncertain.

    Swedish firm gives up bid for Saab

    AFP - Wednesday, November 25

    STOCKHOLM (AFP) - - Swedish luxury carmaker Koenigsegg said Tuesday it was giving up its bid to buy Saab Automobile from its US parent General Motors due to costly delays, plunging Saab's future into doubt.

  • Pakistani HIV patient Rubina Naz at a rehabilitation centre in Karachi. Almost 60 million people have been infected by HIV and 25 million people killed by causes related to the virus since the epidemic started, according to new data published by UNAIDS.

    HIV kills 25 million, infects 60 million: UNAIDS

    AFP - Wednesday, November 25

    GENEVA (AFP) - - Almost 60 million people have been infected by HIV and 25 million people killed by causes related to the virus since the epidemic started, according to new data published by UNAIDS on Tuesday.

  • The KLM airplane which runs on biokerosene is seen at Schiphol airport, near Amsterdam. A Boeing 747, one of four engines powered by a 50-percent biokerosene mix, circled the Netherlands for an hour on Monday for what airline KLM called the world's first passenger flight using biofuel.

    KLM flies world's first "passenger flight on biofuel"

    AFP - Tuesday, November 24

    THE HAGUE (AFP) - - A Boeing 747, one of four engines powered by a 50-percent biokerosene mix, circled the Netherlands for an hour on Monday for what airline KLM called the world's first passenger flight using biofuel.

  • Belgian patient Rom Houben is helped by an assistant as he uses a specially-adapted computer to type messages and communicate, at the Weyerke institute in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.

    Conscious but paralysed; patient's case not unique

    AFP - Wednesday, November 25

    BRUSSELS (AFP) - - The story of a Belgian patient wrongly diagnosed as comatose for 23 years revives the debate on care for those considered in a vegetative state, with the astonishing case far from unique according to a recent study.

  • A box of doughnuts at the Snapple Theatre Rehearsal Studio in New York City. A high-fat, high-sugar diet could have the same effect on brain chemistry as mood-altering drugs, giving scientific support to the craving for

    'Comfort food' relieves stress: Australian study

    AFP - Wednesday, November 25

    SYDNEY (AFP) - - A high-fat, high-sugar diet could have the same effect on brain chemistry as mood-altering drugs, giving scientific support to the craving for "comfort food", Australian researchers said on Tuesday.

  • Scientists react as they stand in front of a screen at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) control center of the ATLAS detectors during the restart of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva. Two circulating beams produced the first particle collisions in the world's biggest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider, three days after it was restarted, scientists announced.

    Success for Large Hadron Collider as first atom smashed

    AFP - Tuesday, November 24

    GENEVA (AFP) - - Two circulating beams on Monday produced the first particle collisions in the world's biggest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), three days after its restart, scientists announced.

  • The US Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve on Tuesday raised its outlook for US economic growth in 2010 to a range of 2.5 to 3.5 percent, and said unemployment appeared to be near a peak.

    Fed lifts 2010 growth outlook, sees unemployment easing

    AFP - Wednesday, November 25

    WASHINGTON (AFP) - - The Federal Reserve on Tuesday raised its outlook for US economic growth in 2010 to a range of 2.5 to 3.5 percent, and said the troubles in unemployment appeared to be near a peak.

  • Gold hits record high 1,174 dollars

    AFP - Tuesday, November 24

    LONDON (AFP) - - Gold prices soared to a record 1,174 dollars an ounce here on Monday as a sliding US currency and worries about a possible spike to inflation increased demand for the "safe-haven" metal, traders said.

  • Workers leave the Opel plant in the western German city of Bochum on November 4. General Motors has repaid the 1.5 billion euros (2.2 billion dollars) in bridging loans it received from Germany to keep its troubled European unit Opel afloat, Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

    GM has paid back Opel loans to Germany: Merkel

    AFP - Wednesday, November 25

    BERLIN (AFP) - - General Motors has repaid the 1.5 billion euros (2.2 billion dollars) in bridging loans it received from Germany to keep its troubled European unit Opel afloat, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

  • Congolese militiaman Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui -- who is accused of seeking to wipe out a village blocking a strategic route in an ethnic war -- went on trial on warcrimes charges at the International Criminal Court.

    DR Congo war crimes trial begins at The Hague

    AFP - Wednesday, November 25

    THE HAGUE (AFP) - - Two Congolese militiamen accused of seeking to wipe out a village blocking a strategic route in an ethnic war pleaded not guilty to war crimes in the International Criminal Court on Tuesday.

  • Firemen hold placards in Dublin, Ireland, as up to 250,000 public sector workers take part in a national strike. Recession-hit Ireland was severely disrupted by a one-day strike Tuesday as about 250,000 public sector workers protested at planned austerity cuts in next month's budget.

    Ireland hit by public sector strike against cuts

    AFP - Wednesday, November 25

    DUBLIN (AFP) - - Recession-hit Ireland was severely disrupted by a one-day strike Tuesday as about 250,000 public sector workers protested at planned austerity cuts in next month's budget.

  • Japanese Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii said Tuesday that monetary policy is key to tackling deflation and urged the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to take on a more aggressive role in staving off falling prices.

    Japan finance minister urges BoJ on deflation

    AFP - Tuesday, November 24

    TOKYO (AFP) - - Japan's finance minister said Tuesday that monetary policy is key to tackling deflation and urged the Bank of Japan (BoJ) to take on a more aggressive role in staving off falling prices.

  • The shore of Deception Island in Antarctica, in 2008. The East Antarctic icesheet, once seen as largely unaffected by global warming, has lost billions of tonnes of ice since 2006 and could boost sea levels in the future, according to a new study.

    Antarctic ice loss vaster, faster than thought: study

    AFP - Monday, November 23

    PARIS (AFP) - - The East Antarctic icesheet, once seen as largely unaffected by global warming, has lost billions of tonnes of ice since 2006 and could boost sea levels in the future, according to a new study.

  • Profile of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, also known as Duch, on trial in Phnom Penh for his part in killings during the hardline communist regime 30 years ago.

    KRouge trial prosecutors want Duch jailed

    AFP - Tuesday, November 24

    PHNOM PENH (AFP) - - Prosecutors called Tuesday for the former Khmer Rouge prison chief to receive a long jail term for his role in the "Killing Fields" atrocities as they delivered final arguments in his trial.

  • Mustafa Haji Abdinur (R) accepts an award from Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, at the 2009 Annual International Press Freedom Awards Dinner in New York. Abdinur, a correspondent for Agence France-Presse and editor-in-chief of the independent radio station Radio Simba, is among the small number of independent journalists working in Mogadishu.

    AFP Somalia journalist wins key press award

    AFP - Wednesday, November 25

    NEW YORK (AFP) - - An AFP journalist who is among the few independent reporters still working in war-torn Mogadishu received Tuesday a key press award for his work, along with three other correspondents.