Bill Gates opened a mock Ebola field hospital at the prestigious TED Conference on Wednesday as part of a call to be battle-ready for a deadly global epidemic.

The Microsoft software mogul and philanthropist called for "germ games not war games" to train response forces and reveal holes in defenses.

Taking aspirin or ibuprofen tends to reduce the risk of getting colon cancer for most people, but it does not work in a minority of people with certain genes, researchers said Tuesday.

The findings in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) are based on an analysis of 10 large studies in Australia, Canada, Germany and the United States. More than 16,000 people -- all of European descent -- were included.

About a thousand people still contract tuberculosis daily in Europe and Central Asia, despite an overall decline of the disease, a report by the Europe Centre for Disease Prevention and Control(ECDC) revealed Tuesday.

The report, co-authored with the World Health Organization (WHO), said the continent would not be free of the disease until the next century at the current low rate of eradication, particularly due to prevalence in countries to the east of the region.

France's national cancer institute said on Tuesday there was a "clearly established link" between a rare form of cancer and a certain type of breast implant, as the health minister sought to allay fears.

The national cancer institute (INCa) said there had been 18 cases of the rare disease -- anaplastic large cell lymphoma -- since 2011, linked to silicone breast implants.

The World Health Organization said Tuesday the situation in war-ravaged Syria is "very worrying", and warned its aid programme could be disrupted because of a shortage of donor funds.

"Ongoing developments have very negative effects on the public health, negatively affecting all health programs," the U.N. agency's Ala Alwan told Agence France Presse in Abu Dhabi.

People breastfed as infants have higher intelligence scores in adulthood, and higher earnings, according to a study published Wednesday that tracked the development of 3,500 newborns over 30 years.

And, critically, the socioeconomic status of mothers appeared to have little impact on breastfeeding results, according to a paper published by The Lancet medical journal.

French lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday in favor of a law allowing medics to place terminally ill patients into a deep sleep until they die.

The law, which has re-ignited the deeply divisive debate about euthanasia, also makes "living wills" -- drafted by people who do not want to be kept alive artificially if they are too ill to decide -- legally binding on doctors.

Coca-Cola is working with fitness and nutrition experts who suggest its soda as a treat at a time when the world's biggest beverage maker is being blamed for helping to fuel obesity rates.

In February, several of the experts wrote online posts for American Heart Month, with each including a mini-can of Coke or soda as a snack idea. The pieces — which appeared on nutrition blogs and other sites including those of major newspapers — offer a window into the many ways food companies work behind the scenes to cast their products in a positive light, often with the help of third parties who are seen as trusted authorities.

A measles outbreak in the United States that began at a Disney theme park in California was able to spread because not enough children are being vaccinated, U.S. researchers said Monday.

As few as 50 to 86 percent of kids were vaccinated against measles in the areas of California, Arizona and Illinois where cases clustered, far below the 96 to 99 percent needed to create what is known by researchers as "herd immunity." 

Nepal is adding more medical staff at Mount Everest's base camp and working to speed up rescue efforts, officials said Tuesday, in steps to boost safety after 16 local guides were killed by an avalanche last year in the deadliest disaster ever on the world's highest peak.

Four doctors, up from two or three in the past, will be stationed at the base camp's emergency room tent, which will be equipped to handle almost any medical need, said Devi Bahadur Koirala of the Himalayan Rescue Association Nepal.