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Liberia Postpones Elections again Because of Ebola

Officials in Ebola-stricken Liberia have postponed senatorial elections elections until the end of the week, while some urged calling off the vote for fear the results would not be credible.

Ebola has killed nearly 3,200 people this year in Liberia, and many question whether elections can be held at all under such circumstances.

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Ebola in 2015 - End of the Line for a Killer?

After decades making brief, murderous forays from central Africa's forests, Ebola erupted into a global emergency in 2014, yet its success could spell its downfall as scientists scramble to relegate it to a footnote of medical history.

From a single infection in impoverished west Africa, the epidemic swept into bustling cities, killed thousands and unleashed a wave of fear in far-off Europe and America.

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Cancer Patients Testing Drugs on Mouse 'Avatars'

Scientists often test drugs in mice. Now some cancer patients are doing the same — with the hope of curing their own disease.

They are paying a private lab to breed mice that carry bits of their own tumors so treatments can be tried first on the customized rodents. The idea is to see which drugs might work best on a specific person's specific cancer.

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France Wants to Legalize Terminal Sedation

France's president wants to allow doctors to keep terminally ill patients sedated until death comes, amid a national debate about whether to legalize euthanasia.

Francois Hollande stopped short of recommending lethal injections and avoided the terms euthanasia and assisted suicide, highly sensitive issues in this majority-Catholic country.

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Food Insecurity Rising Despite Record Cereal Output

World cereal output is expected to hit record highs this year but food insecurity is worsening across the globe thanks to Ebola and civil conflicts, the UN's food agency said Thursday.

The Food and Agriculture Organization said 2014 was heading to be a bumper year for cereals, with "an all-time record of more than 2.5 billion tonnes".

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WHO: Ebola Vaccine Trial Interruption 'Not a Setback'

The suspension of trials in Switzerland of an experimental Ebola vaccine over unexpected side-effects is not a setback in the fight against the deadly virus, the World Health Organization insisted Thursday.

The Geneva University Hospital (HUG) announced Thursday it was suspending trials of one of two experimental vaccines being tested on humans in several countries, after several volunteers experienced unexpected joint pains.

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Bird Flu Outbreak Spreads in Canada

Canada expanded its quarantine of poultry farms in westernmost British Columbia province Thursday after learning that an outbreak of avian influenza has spread.

Both farms are close to one of the original two that were first to be quarantined on December 2 after they tested positive for bird flu, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a statement.

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Sacrifice of Dying Cancer Mother Sparks Debate in China

The fate of a Chinese television presenter who died of cancer after refusing chemotherapy to save her unborn son sparked intense online debate Friday.

Qiu Yuanyuan died on Wednesday aged 26, 100 days after giving birth to her child -- a special occasion in Chinese culture.

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Alliance Set to Buy Millions of Ebola Vaccine Doses

A major vaccine alliance said Thursday it planned to purchase millions of Ebola vaccine doses as soon as a safe and effective one is found.

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, which helps make vaccines available to developing countries, said it would be ready to act as soon as the World Health Organization recommends a safe vaccine against the virus, that has so far killed nearly 6,400 people.

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Lower IQ Seen after Exposure to Plastic Chemicals

Pregnant women who were exposed to high levels of common household chemicals found in plastics, cosmetics and air fresheners had children whose intelligence suffered years later, a U.S. study said Wednesday.

Kids whose moms had elevated traces of di-n-butyl phthalate (DnBP) and di-isobutyl phthalate (DiBP) had an average IQ that was around six points below their peers whose mothers had lower levels of chemical exposure.

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