Britain's former prime minister Margaret Thatcher was in hospital for a fifth day on Monday as she recovers from bladder surgery, a spokeswoman said.

There was no change in Thatcher's condition from Sunday when the 87-year-old was said to be "in good spirits", the spokeswoman added.

Ailing icon Nelson Mandela will spend Christmas Day in hospital, the South African government said Monday, dashing hopes for a festive end to his longest stay in care since being released from prison in 1990.

"Former president Nelson Mandela will spend Christmas Day in hospital, his doctors have confirmed today, on 24 December 2012," the presidency said in a statement.

A 40-day-old baby has died of the cold in Morocco's Atlas mountains, witnesses said Monday, after a winter freeze and reports that four other infants had earlier perished in similar circumstances.

Habiba Amelou died on Friday morning in the village of Anifgou after suffering from a severe cough, according to two witnesses.

Scientist in the United States on Sunday offered a molecular-level explanation for how a Chinese herbal medicine used for more than 2,000 years tackles fever and eases malaria.

The herb is an extract of the root of a flowering plant called blue evergreen hydrangea, known in Chinese as chang shan and in Latin as Dichroa febrifuga Lour.

One of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's daughters took to social media to demand a halt to "lies" about her father's health after rumors circulated the cancer-embattled leader had died.

"Respect for the family and especially fully respect for my people. Enough of the lies! We are next to papa. LIVING, struggling and recovering his health. WITH GOD," Maria Gabriela Chavez wrote in a Twitter message Friday.

The newly appointed deputy chief of the United Nations HIV-fighting program, Brazilian Luiz Loures, hailed his own country's achievements in the fight against the deadly global epidemic in an interview published Saturday.

"We are beginning to talk of the end of the epidemic. Scientific progress makes it possible," Loures told the daily Folha de Sao Paulo, estimating the milestone could come within the next 15 years.

A pharmacy connected to a deadly nationwide meningitis outbreak filed for bankruptcy protection and said it was seeking to set up a fund to pay victims.

Contaminated steroid injections from the New England Compounding Center have been blamed for 39 deaths and 620 illnesses since the outbreak began over the summer. The Chapter 11 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Friday shields the company from the threat of creditor lawsuits while it establishes the fund.

Britain's former prime minister Margaret Thatcher was in hospital Saturday recovering from a minor operation to remove a growth in her bladder and may remain there over Christmas, friends said.

The 87-year-old "Iron Lady", Britain's first and only female premier, was doing "absolutely fine" having been admitted to hospital on Thursday feeling unwell, her spokesman said.

A British judge ruled Friday that a seven-year-old boy with cancer can have radiotherapy treatment despite his mother's opposition.

New Zealander Sally Roberts, 37, had refused to give consent for her son Neon to receive radiotherapy to treat a brain tumor, fearing that it would cause him long-term harm and arguing that "credible" alternative treatment was available.

A U.S. court put on hold Friday a new Californian law banning a form of therapy designed to change the sexual orientation of minors, pending a further appeal.

The law barring doctors from performing so-called "reparative therapy" was signed by California governor Jerry Brown in October, and was due to go into force on Jan 4.