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One million Africans a year catch malaria from dam mosquitoes: study

By Katy Migiro NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – One million Africans will catch malaria this year because they live near a large dam and, at a time of booming dam construction on the continent, greater efforts must be made to protect people from the killer disease, a study said on Friday. Almost 80 major new dams are due to be built in sub-Saharan Africa over the next few years, leading to an additional 56,000 malaria cases a year, the study in Malaria Journal predicted. “While dams clearly bring many benefits — contributing to economic growth, poverty alleviation and food security — adverse malaria impacts need to be addressed or they will undermine the sustainability of Africa’s drive for development,” the paper's lead author, Solomon Kibret of Australia's University of New England, said in a statement.

Expert group says embryo genetic modification should be allowed

Research involving genetic modification of human embryos, though controversial, is essential to gain basic understanding of the biology of early embryos and should be permitted, an international group of experts said on Wednesday. The statement was issued by members of the so-called Hinxton Group, a global network of stem cell researchers, bioethicists and policy experts who met in Britain last week. “However, we acknowledge that when all safety, efficacy and governance needs are met, there may be morally acceptable uses of this technology in human reproduction, though further substantial discussion and debate will be required,” the group said in a statement.

GE wins EU approval to buy Alstom’s power unit

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) – General Electric won European Union antitrust clearance on Tuesday to buy Alstom's power unit after agreeing to sell some of the French company's assets to Italian competitor Ansaldo Energia. The European Commission said the concessions allayed its earlier concerns that the 12.4-billion-euro ($13.9 billion) deal would reduce competition to two major players, namely the merged company and Germany's Siemens . GE will divest Alstom's large turbine product line and the technology it is developing for very large turbines to Ansaldo, which is 40 percent owned by Italian state-backed investment fund Fondo Strategico Italiano and another 40 percent by China's Shanghai Electric .

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Pfizer’s quit-smoking drug not linked to depression or heart risks

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) – Pfizer's stop-smoking drug Chantix does not raise risks of heart attack or depression, contrary to previous reports, and should be recommended to more smokers wanting to quit, scientists said on Monday. In a study tracking 150,000 smokers in England for 6 months, researchers found that patients who took Chantix, known generically as varenicline and marketed as Champix in Europe, were no more likely to suffer a heart attack than those using nicotine replacement therapy or another quit-smoking drug.

Indian government approves pricey plan to equalize veterans’ pensions

By Nigam Prusty NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Indian government approved a long-awaited program to equalize pension payments for retired military personnel despite it being a “huge fiscal burden,” defense minister Manohar Parrikar said on Saturday. The program, known as “One Rank One Pension”, or OROP, will ensure uniform pension payments to ex-servicemen who served at the same rank and for the same amount of time, regardless of the year they retired, among other measures. Veterans in India have been fighting for reforms to their pension packages for years.

Sanofi’s Genzyme pays $32.59 million in criminal Seprafilm case

The biotechnology unit of French drug company Sanofi SA was accused of two misdemeanor counts of violating the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act from 2005 to 2010 by allowing Seprafilm to be adulterated and misbranded while being sold. Sanofi bought Genzyme in 2011. Seprafilm is a clear film used to reduce abnormal internal scarring that can cause organs and tissues to stick together following pelvic and abdominal surgeries known as laparotomies.

Our blind spots can be shrunk with training: study

While the smudge in our visual field won't change in size, the blind spot may be able to be minimized, according to a recent study with implications for age-related macular degeneration, which can lead to blindness. “We did not confidently expect to see much reduction in functional blindness, as you can never develop photosensitivity within the blind spot itself,” says Paul Miller of The University of Queensland in Australia.