Western drug companies tested pharmaceuticals on more than 50,000 people in the former communist East Germany, often without the knowledge of patients, several of whom died, the Spiegel news weekly reported Sunday. More »Western drugs were tested on East Germans: media
By Simon Gardner and Gabriel Stargardter MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Left crumpled in the gutter after an ill-fated visit to a seedy club in a rough part of Mexico City, the grandson of murdered U.S. civil rights leader Malcolm X lay dying engulfed in the stench of sewage and a blaring cacophony of Mariachi music. He was beaten to death early on Thursday morning, police say, in an ignominious end to a short, tormented life flecked with tragedy. ... More »Sewage, strippers and Mariachis as Malcolm X's grandson lay dying
MADRID (Reuters) - Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane will have surgery on his right knee and will be out of action for four to six weeks, Spanish media reported on Sunday. The France international stumbled awkwardly while making a tackle during Real's 1-1 draw at Espanyol on Saturday and had to be substituted after 19 minutes. "I am sad! The tests today have revealed an injury to the meniscus. They are going to operate on me as soon as possible," the 20-year-old said on his official Twitter feed on Sunday. ... More »Real defender Varane to have surgery on knee injury
Fifteen people in Saudi Arabia have died from a SARS-like virus out of 24 people who contracted it since last August, Health Minister Abdullah al-Rabia said on Sunday. More »SARS-like virus in Saudi has killed 15: minister
CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's highest court will rule next month on the legality of the upper house of parliament, judicial sources said on Sunday, in a case that throws more legal doubt over a political transition repeatedly disrupted by lawsuits. A ruling against the Muslim Brotherhood-led upper house by the Supreme Constitutional Court on June 2 could lead to the dissolution of the chamber and result in legislative power being transferred to President Mohamed Mursi. The case, brought by an independent parliamentary candidate, stems from a similar challenge to the lower house last year. ... More »Egypt court to rule next month on challenge to upper house
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece has threatened high school teachers with arrest if they go ahead with a nationwide strike that would disrupt university entrance exams that start this week, the official government gazette said. It is the third time this year that Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's government has invoked emergency law to force strikers back to work to try to show foreign lenders who bailed out Greece that the country is sticking to unpopular reforms. ... More »Greece invokes emergency powers to block teachers' strike
The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has defended testing pregnant women for smoking. More »Midwives defend smoking test move
Pope Francis on Sunday created the first saints of his reign, canonising some 800 Italian martyrs who refused to convert to Islam in the 15th century, as well as a Colombian and a Mexican who founded congregations. More »Pope Francis canonises first saints of his reign
International development charity Save the Children is linking up with British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline in what both sides say is a unique collaboration to save children's lives in Africa. More »Save the Children in Africa link with pharma giant GSK
A man who contracted a deadly new SARS-like virus after sharing a hospital ward with France's first victim was moved to intensive care on Sunday following a deterioration in his condition, hospital officials said. More »French victim of SARS-like virus in intensive care
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Benjamin Netanyahu is changing his mid-air sleeping arrangements after a public flap over a $127,000 (82,650 pounds) custom-built bedroom for the Israeli prime minister and his wife on a flight to London last month. Israel's Channel 10 television reported the sum was tagged onto the $300,000 cost of chartering an El Al Boeing 767 that flew the couple and Netanyahu's entourage of aides and bodyguards to former British leader Margaret Thatcher's funeral. ... More »Netanyahu takes flak over bed on a plane
By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - To mark the Cinco de Mayo holiday this year, Domino's Pizza festooned its Facebook page with a string of posts, including an image of a Mexican-themed guacamole pizza that garnered over 2,000 "likes". But visitors to Domino's companion Google+ page on that day found less festive fare: The most recent post was from October 2012. Two years after introducing its social network, Google Inc is struggling to win over the brands and businesses that have been its most loyal customers in the Internet search market. ... More »Analysis - Google+ struggles to attract brands, some neglect to update
A teenager who died after being stabbed in east London has been formally identified by police. More »Champion Ganda Named As London Stab Victim
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's ruling Communist Party has appointed for the first time a U.S.-educated official to its powerful politburo, a landmark decision as pressure mounts to reform an economy stagnating after years of boom growth. The top decision-making body of the party that has ruled Vietnam since 1975 voted to increase its membership and bring in Nguyen Thien Nhan, a deputy prime minister overseeing education, health and technology, it said on its website (dangcongsan.vn). ... More »Vietnam politburo selects its first U.S.-educated member
RIYADH (Reuters) - Two more people have died from novel coronavirus, a new strain of the virus similar to the one that caused SARS, in an outbreak in al-Ahsa region of Saudi Arabia, the deputy health minister for public health said on Sunday. Ziad Memish said that in the latest cluster of infections, 15 cases had been confirmed, and nine of those patients had died. (Reporting By Angus McDowall; Editing by Kevin Liffey) More »Two more people die of novel coronavirus in Saudi Arabia
PARIS (Reuters) - A second diagnosis of the new SARS-like coronavirus has been confirmed in France, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, in what appeared to be a case of human-to-human transmission. The new infection was found in a 50-year-old man who had shared a hospital room with France's only other known sufferer, the ministry said in a statement. Health experts are concerned about clusters of the new coronavirus strain, nCoV, which was first spotted in the Gulf and has spread to France, Britain and Germany. ... More »Second French coronavirus case confirmed
Bangladesh has set up a panel to raise the minimum wage for millions of garment workers, a minister said Sunday, as tens of thousands protested over poor conditions highlighted by a series of disasters. More »Bangladesh to raise garment workers' minimum wages
An eight-year-old boy has died after he was knocked down at a rugby club as an awards ceremony was taking place. More »Boy dies in rugby club car accident
Pakistani politician Imran Khan on Sunday welcomed the high turnout in the country's elections as a step forward for democracy, but said his party would submit a report on alleged vote-rigging. More »Imran welcomes Pakistan vote but alleges rigging
Nurse staffing levels on many English hospital wards are dangerously unsafe, a group of senior nurses have said in an unprecedented warning. More »Plea on 'unsafe' nurse staff levels
By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Sunday proclaimed as saints some 800 Italians killed in the 15th century for refusing to convert to Islam, and said many Christians were still being persecuted for their faith. The Vatican seemed at pains not to allow the first canonisations of Francis' two-month-old papacy to be interpreted as anti-Islamic, saying the deaths of the 'Otranto Marytrs' must be understood in their historical context. ... More »Pope proclaims first saints, says Christians still persecuted
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladeshi security forces arrested on Sunday the leader of the country's biggest Islamist party on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, a senior police official said. AKM Yusuf, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, was arrested in the capital Dhaka and charged with offences dating back to Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence with Pakistan. His arrest comes after the sentencing to death last week of another Islamist party leader for wartime atrocities. ... More »Bangladesh arrests top Islamist leader on war crimes charges
AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian rebels on Sunday freed four Filipino U.N. peacekeepers whom they had captured on the ceasefire line between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights last week. The rebels from the Yarmouk Martyrs' Brigade had said they were holding the soldiers for their own safety after clashes with Syrian government forces had put them in danger. A rebel spokesman said the four were handed over on Sunday morning at a border checkpoint called Beit Ara, in an area where the Jordanian and Israeli borders join with the Golan Heights. ... More »Syrian rebels free U.N. peacekeepers held in Golan
Share rates are reflected on a window near the Australia Stock Exchange in Sydney on May 7, 2013. As China slows and Australia begins its painful transition away from a decade-long mining boom, Treasurer ... More »Australia budget blues in land of mining boom
Turkey was reeling Sunday from twin car bomb attacks which left at least 46 people dead in a town near the Syrian border, with Ankara blaming pro-Damascus groups and vowing to bring the perpetrators to justice. More »Dozens dead in Turkey car bombings blamed on Syria