Japan's government on Friday gave itself new powers aimed at curbing the outbreak of infectious diseases, as the country nervously watches the spread of deadly H7N9 bird flu in China.

Under a new law, if the virus mutates and becomes transmissible between humans, the government would set up an emergency headquarters, strengthen quarantine activities at airports, and vaccinate doctors and government officials.

A doctor removes a kidney for a transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland last June. The number of people in Britain donating their organs after death has surged 50% in the …more

The number of people in Britain donating their organs after death has surged 50 percent in the past five years, says the NHS Blood and Transplant service (NHSBT).

Salt and lime with tequila. Salt with your iced "michelada" beer. Salt and chili on fruit and even candy. Mexicans love salt, so much so that some estimates show them eating nearly three times the recommended amount and significantly more than what Americans put down.

Add this to rising obesity and a hypertension epidemic, and you have a potential health nightmare that has spurred Mexico's massive capital city to try to get residents to shun the salt shaker.

A tiny magnetic bracelet implanted at the base of the throat is greatly improving life for some people with chronic heartburn who get limited relief from medicines. It's a novel way to treat severe acid reflux, which plagues millions of Americans and can raise their risk for more serious health problems.

It happens when a weak muscle doesn't close after swallowing as it should. That lets stomach juices splash back into the throat. Drugs like Nexium and Prilosec reduce acid. But they don't fix the underlying problem, called GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease.

Strands from baby's first haircut. The first tooth. Tiny footprints sunk into clay. Some parents even tuck away the dried stump of the umbilical cord or the stick pregnancy test as a touching memento marking the milestones of their kids.

The latest? Breast milk jewelry.

The Nobel Prize won by Francis Crick in 1962 for his discovery of DNA was sold Thursday at auction for more than $2 million.

Heritage Auctions identified the buyer as Jack Wang, CEO of Biomobie, a regenerative medicine technology company located in Silicon Valley and Shanghai. The price surpassed the pre-sale estimate of $500,000.

Some never-before-seen artifacts from the minutes and hours following President John F. Kennedy's assassination are going on display in Washington.

The Newseum, a museum devoted to journalism and the U.S. Constitutional amendment on a free press, is marking the 50th anniversary of the assassination with a yearlong commemoration including two new exhibitions and a new film about Kennedy.

From vintage sardine tins and embroidered napkins to artisanal soaps - Portugal's retro products are winning new fans as a handful of companies introduce their old-school aesthetic to the international market.

"The Americans have McDonald's -- we've got tinned fish", jokes Tiago Cabral Ferreira at the Conserveira de Lisboa shop which has sold sardines, mackerel and other canned fish from the heart of Lisbon's old town for the past 83 years.

The U.S. is blacklisting an Iranian businessman, a Malaysian bank and a string of companies for allegedly attempting to evade economic sanctions against Iran.

The Treasury Department said Thursday that Babak Morteza Zanjani operated a network of front companies to help Iran access oil revenues in violation of U.S. sanctions. The department said the network moved billions of dollars, including tens of millions to a company controlled by Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard force.

"Django Unchained" became "Django Unscreened" on Thursday as Quentin Tarantino's violent slave-revenge saga was pulled from Chinese theaters on its opening day, with the importer blaming an unspecified technical problem.

The rare suspension order by China Film Group Corp. was confirmed by theater employees throughout China, and has led to speculation that the Hollywood film could have run afoul of Chinese censors despite weeks of promotion in the country.