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Migrant flow from Turkey to Greece picking up again: IOM

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) – The numbers of migrants landing in Greece from Turkey is starting to creep up again, showing efforts to close off the route are coming under strain, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday. Around 150 people a day had arrived over the last three days, still way off the numbers seen a month ago, the organization added, but showing an increase since an EU deal with Turkey deal to stem the flow. “The arrivals in Greece which were down to literally zero some days this month, are beginning to creep back up,” IOM spokesman Joel Millman told a Geneva news briefing.

Hospitals to pay U.S. $28 million to settle false spinal treatment claims

A group of 32 hospitals will pay a total of $28 million to settle allegations that they submitted false claims to Medicare for a type of spinal fracture treatment, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday. The hospitals, located in 15 states, frequently billed Medicare for inpatient stays following a procedure known as kyphoplasty, a treatment for certain spinal fractures caused by osteoporosis, the Justice Department said. Hospitals that agreed to some of the largest penalties in the settlement include Citrus Memorial Health System in Inverness, Florida ($2.6 million), Martin Memorial Medical Center in Stuart, Florida ($2 million), and the Ohio-based Cleveland Clinic ($1.74 million).

Coca-Cola India says may have to shut factories if new sin tax passed

The Indian subsidiary of Coca-Cola Co said on Friday it may have to close some bottling plants if the government pushes through a proposal that would subject fizzy drinks to a 40 percent “sin” tax, as part of a broader fiscal overhaul. The beverage maker, which operates 57 factories and bottling plants across India, said a proposal to group sugary sodas with higher-taxed luxury cars and tobacco would hurt demand for its drinks. “It will lead to a sharp decline in consumer purchase,” Coca-Cola India said in a statement.

India’s Dr Reddy’s gets FDA warning on three drug plants

By Zeba Siddiqui MUMBAI (Reuters) – Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd, India’s second-largest drugmaker by sales, said on Friday it has received a “warning letter” from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over what the regulator has deemed inadequate quality control procedures at three manufacturing plants in southern India. The warning letter means Dr Reddy’s will not receive FDA approvals to sell drugs manufactured at the plants for now, a blow for business at a company which relies on the United States for a majority of its sales. The plants make a significant contribution to company sales, with one alone accounting for 10-12 percent, Dr Reddy’s said.

Indonesia prepares warships to evacuate ‘haze’ refugees

Indonesia is preparing warships as a last resort to evacuate children and others suffering from smoke inhalation from slash-and-burn fires, a minister said on Friday, as the country struggles to contain fires expected to continue for weeks. Southeast Asia has suffered for years from annual “haze” caused by forest and peat clearing across Indonesia, which has come under increasing political pressure to stop the problem, but so far to no avail. Fires this year have been helped by drier weather brought by the El Nino weather phenomenon and have pushed air pollution to hazardous levels across Southeast Asia, forcing schools to close and disrupting flights.

S.African doctors perform world’s first penis transplant

South African doctors have successfully performed the world's first penis transplant on a young man who had his organ amputated after a botched circumcision ritual, a hospital said on Friday. The nine-hour transplant, which occurred in December last year, was part of a pilot study by Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town and the University of Stellenbosch to help scores of initiates who either die or lose their penises in botched circumcisions each year. For a young man of 18 or 19 years the loss of his penis can be deeply traumatic,” said Andre van der Merwe, head of the university's urology unit and who led the operation said in a statement. “There is a greater need in South Africa for this type of procedure than elsewhere in the world, as many young men lose their penises every year due to complications from traditional circumcision,” Van der Merwe said.

Fears over abandoned Ebola orphans allayed: UNICEF

Almost every child who has lost parents to Ebola is being cared for in their community, UNICEF said on Friday — allaying fears that thousands would be shunned by relatives and neighbours. “Since overcoming their initial fears and misconceptions about Ebola, families have been showing incredible support, providing care and protection for children whose parents have died,” UNICEF regional director Manuel Fontaine said in a statement. UNICEF said the outlook was particularly good in Guinea, where all 773 children who lost both parents had been placed with their extended families. The outbreak has claimed almost 9,000 lives in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, leaving a similar number of children with just a single parent and some 3,600 orphaned.

UK’s first private NHS hospital provider Circle throws in towel

(Reuters) – Circle Holdings Plc, the first private company to run a general hospital for Britain’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS), said on Friday it was pulling out of Hinchingbrooke hospital in eastern England because it was no longer sustainable. Shares in the company were down 17.6 percent in early trade. Its decision, triggered by a crisis in the provision of emergency care across the NHS in recent months, is a blow to government plans to increase the role of private companies in British healthcare. …

Mali traces over 200 contacts in second Ebola wave

BAMAKO/GENEVA (Reuters) – Mali is tracing at least 200 contacts linked to confirmed and probable Ebola victims as it seeks to control its second Ebola outbreak, health officials said on Friday. An initial batch of contacts linked to a 2-year-old from Guinea who died of Ebola last month were close to finishing their 21-day quarantine period when Mali confirmed its second case this week. At least four more suspected Ebola deaths have occurred, all linked to an imam who entered Mali from neighbouring Guinea and died late last month with Ebola-like symptoms that were not recognised. …