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Rugby league-Welsh player dies after cardiac arrest at match

Welsh rugby league player Danny Jones died on Sunday after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest during an English third-tier match. The Keighley Cougars player, 29, collapsed after being replaced early in the game and was treated by the match doctor and paramedics at the ground before being taken to hospital, where he later passed away. Rugby Football League Chief Operating Officer Ralph Rimmer said in a statement: “It is always devastating when someone so young dies in these circumstances. “Danny was a popular and talented Rugby League player, having played at the highest level with the Wales National team and playing over 12 seasons for Keighley Cougars and Halifax.” The match was abandoned after 16 minutes.

Soul-searching over quake ends Everest climbing season

By Frank Jack Daniel and Andrew R.C. Marshall LUKLA, Nepal/KATHMANDU (Reuters) – As rescuers lose hope of finding more survivors in Nepal's earthquake disaster zone, a separate drama has unfolded high above them on Mount Everest where the hopes of a few rich climbers and some of their sherpas have also vanished. After six days of high emotion and harsh words at Everest Base Camp, climbing firm Himalayan Experience finally decided on Friday to abandon its ascent of the world's highest peak, becoming the last big team to do so. For one of its clients, millionaire Texas realtor David McGrain, it should never have taken that long to call off the climb, given thousands of people had been killed in the valleys below as well as 18 in an avalanche at base camp itself. “All they could think about was their goddamn climb, when hours before we were holding crushed skulls in our hands.” McGrain, a former weightlifter and self-styled “adrenaline philanthropist” who has a tattooed chest and wears a gold nose-ring, was in a minority of one when he quit his party of at least 10 climbers, all clients of Himalayan Experience.

Gilead first-quarter profit doubles on strong hepatitis C drug sales

By Deena Beasley LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Gilead Sciences Inc on Thursday said its quarterly profit nearly doubled, driven by strong sales of its hepatitis C drugs, as it topped Wall Street estimates. Gilead signaled that, with its hepatitis C franchise established, it is a good time for the company to consider business development opportunities. “We want to stick very closely to therapeutic areas we are in today,” Gilead Chief Operating Officer John Milligan said on a conference call. Excluding items, Gilead earned $2.94 per share in the first quarter, beating the average Wall Street estimate of $2.32, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company’s shares, which fell 1.8 percent in regular trading, rose 2 percent to $102.52 after hours.

GN Store Nord earnings below forecast on weak headset division

GN Store Nord reported first-quarter core profit a touch below forecasts on Wednesday and its shares fell as its headset division disappointed despite a strong performance by the larger hearing aid segment. The Danish company said earnings before interest, taxation and amortization rose to 291 million Danish crowns ($43 million) from 253 million crowns a year earlier, below an average estimate of 303 million crowns in a Reuters poll. “The hearing aid division is performing really well, with new product launches helping from March and the lift in earnings. “But the headset division is struggling with weak markets, just as we saw with main competitor, Plantronics,” he said.

Chipotle takes genetically modified foods off menus

US fast-food chain Chipotle said Monday it had crossed off food made with genetically modified organisms (GMO) from its menus, saying they haven't been proven safe for consumption and the environment. “There is a lot of debate about genetically modified foods,” said Steve Ells, Chipotle's founder, chairman and co-chief executive, in a statement. The fast-growing Chipotle Mexican Grill, which has built its brand on “food with integrity”, began disclosing the presence of controversial GMO ingredients in its food in March 2013, and promised to eliminate all of them. The company said government data shows that 94 percent of corn and 93 percent of soybeans grown in the US came from GMO strains in 2014, making it difficult for consumers to avoid consuming genetically engineered foods in restaurants or buying them at the grocery store.

Get Off the Scale!

It’s seems that once again, the public conversation about health has been degraded to weight and appearance.As usual, celebrity women have become the prime targets of jabbing and sometimes devastating comments. This collective social behavior always trickles into the day-to-day lives and consciousness of so many women, fueling insecurity,…

California bill ending ‘beliefs’ exemption for childhood vaccines advances

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) – California’s senate education committee approved a bill making it mandatory for children to be vaccinated before starting school despite opposition from “ant-vaxxer” parents who have packed public hearings and flooded lawmakers with calls. The bill, which has already passed the senate health committee, has several more hurdles to clear before becoming law. It next goes to the senate judiciary committee, before going to the state senate, and finally the assembly. Under the bill, only children with medical waivers to opt out of vaccinations would be exempted.

Teva Pharmaceutical offers to buy Mylan for $31 bn

Teva Pharmaceutical Tuesday launched an unsolicited bid to buy Mylan for $31 billion in a transaction that would create a behemoth in generic drugs. Teva's cash-and-stock bid would quash an unsolicited bid by Mylan earlier this month to acquire Perrigo for $28.9 billion. Teva said its bid amounted to superior value for Mylan shareholders compared with Mylan's approach to Perrigo.

Rugby-Australian club player dies after head knock

An Australian rugby player has died from a head injury sustained in a tackle during a club match in New South Wales at the weekend, local media reported on Monday. Nicholas Tooth was visiting his home town in the New England region of the state for the weekend and accepted an offer to turn out for the Quirindi Lions on Saturday.