A drug used to treat advanced breast and colorectal cancers has been linked to sometimes fatal skin reactions in patients, its Swiss manufacturer and Canadian health officials said Wednesday.

Xeloda, which treats advanced cancer after complete surgical removal, can cause "severe skin reactions," Health Canada said in a statement.

Moroccan lawmakers hosted an unprecedented debate on Wednesday on legalizing cannabis for medical and industrial purposes in a country where tens of thousands depend on growing it for a living.

There have been growing calls among politicians and civil society groups for the crop to be legalized, to boost development in the northern Rif region where it is cultivated, and MPs invited experts to parliament to discuss the possible benefits.

Surgeons in Spain successfully removed a giant benign tumor weighing 25 kilograms (55 pounds) from the womb of a 47-year-old woman, the hospital treating her said on Wednesday.

The head of obstetrics and gynecology at Torrevieja Hospital in eastern Spain, Eduardo Cazorla, "said that in his 20-year career he had never treated such a case", the hospital said in a statement.

Federal health regulators are warning the public that certain cardiac defibrillators recalled by Philips Healthcare may fail to deliver a needed shock in an emergency.

Defibrillators are used by emergency responders and others to restore normal heart function in people suffering a heart attack. The FDA says an electrical problem with recalled Philips' HeartStart devices could cause them to fail to deliver a life-saving shock.

For decades China has been a top destination for Americans seeking to adopt a child from abroad, but now its own citizens are making the reverse trek across the Pacific to fulfill their parental dreams -- through surrogacy.

After cancer left her unable to bear her own children three years ago, one Chinese woman in her late 30s -- who asked for anonymity -- decided to research her options.

Hong Kong will quarantine 17 people after the city confirmed its first human case of the deadly H7N9 bird flu, officials said Tuesday.

The 17 are mostly relatives of the employer of a 36-year-old Indonesian domestic helper, who is in critical condition in a Hong Kong hospital after a visit to mainland China.

Turkish police have launched an investigation into online adverts posted by people allegedly so desperate for money they are offering to sell their kidneys, local media reported Monday.

The adverts were apparently linked to an organ trafficking ring which had been carrying out illegal kidney removals and transplants in Turkey as well as Egypt, India, Iran and Iraq and was busted by police in October.

Hong Kong on Monday confirmed its first human case of the deadly H7N9 bird flu, according to a report, in the latest sign of the virus spreading beyond mainland China.

A 36-year-old Indonesian domestic helper with a history of travelling to the mainland city of Shenzhen and coming into contact with live poultry has been infected and is in critical condition, Health Secretary Ko Wing-man said, according to the broadcaster RTHK.

A contraceptive pill for men has moved one step closer after Australian researchers successfully made male mice infertile, according to a study published Tuesday.

Monash University scientists genetically modified mice to block two proteins found on the smooth muscle cells which are essential for sperm to travel through the animal's reproductive organs.

A least a million Syrians are going hungry, as fighting and checkpoints prevent aid deliveries, the international Red Cross warned on Monday.

"A conservative estimate is a million people without food," said Simon Eccleshall, crisis management chief at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).