The deadly MERS coronavirus which has emerged in Saudi Arabia poses a threat to hospitals because it spreads rapidly and carries a high mortality rate, according to a study out Thursday.

An international team of researchers studied 23 cases at four hospitals in Saudi Arabia, which included 15 fatalities, a mortality rate of 65 percent, the New England Journal of Medicine reported.

The European Union has fined Danish pharmaceuticals multinational Lundbeck and several other producers a combined 146 million euros ($195 million) for delaying the market entry of cheaper generic alternatives to a major antidepressant.

The EU claimed that the companies sought to capitalize profit at the expense of patients.

New York unveiled a giant vegetable garden Wednesday in the Brooklyn borough's largest public housing development, in a bid to fight a growing obesity epidemic among the poor.

The one-acre (4,000-square-meter) plot at Red Hook Houses "will provide residents with access to a healthy source of produce, while also providing young people with a pathway to education and employment," Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs said in a statement.

"Look me straight in the eye. Your mind is emptying, your body is relaxing," says the fireman, using the calming words of hypnosis to help a trauma victim -- a technique being pioneered by fire crews in the eastern French region of Alsace.

At the Haguenau fire station, 120 firemen have been trained in basic medical hypnosis which they can use to soothe someone trapped under rubble or in a car following an accident, or even a person suffering an asthma attack.

People in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province have again started greeting friends with the traditional kiss on the cheek, and face masks in public are becoming rarer, as panic subsides over the outbreak of a deadly respiratory disease that hit the country last year.

"We continue to kiss each other when we meet relatives and friends, and we organise evenings without wearing masks or taking any precautionary measures," said Badr Abdullah, as he bought groceries at a shopping centre in Al-Hufuf, the main city in Al-Ahsa governorate.

Pregnant women who take an iron supplement twice a week receive the same health benefits as expectant mothers who take a daily dose of the essential mineral, new research showed Tuesday.

The study, carried out by a team from the University of Melbourne, found that taking a daily dose of iron during pregnancy did not provide any additional benefits in terms of birth weight or improved infant growth compared to bi-weekly supplementation.

Fitness wristband maker Jawbone on Tuesday teamed with Alliance for a Healthier Generation to promote healthier lifestyles in children.

Jawbone introduced an orange edition of its UP band, with $20 of price to be routed to the Alliance, which was founded by the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation to slim the ranks of overweight and obese children.

A sinewy man covered in thick soot stands in a grey cloud of smoke, watching over a slow-burning pile of wood that sustains his life but may also eventually kill him.

Nearby, emaciated children with their bones visible through their skin bet over a game of dice using charcoal instead of money.

Cancer-causing radioactive substances have been found in groundwater at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, its Japanese operator said Wednesday, as it pledged to prevent it getting into the sea.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said tests showed the highly toxic strontium, a chemical that can cause bone cancer if ingested, was present at levels 30 times the permitted rate.

This month somewhere in sub-Saharan Africa the one millionth baby will be born without HIV to a mother who suffers from the disease, thanks in large part to a decade-old U.S. aid program.

It is yet another remarkable step in the long fight against HIV and AIDS, as the United States and its global partners work towards what they call an AIDS-free generation, which just a decade ago would have been unimaginable.