Tuesday 12 August 2014

Ebola: Sample doses of the experimental drug ZMapp are on their way to Liberia

WHO said it believes the virus has infected 1,848 people and killed 1,013 -- making this the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.

The desperation has pushed Liberia's government to ask for scarce quantities of an untested drug from a U.S.-based company.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Liberia's request for access to ZMapp, and sample doses of the medicine will be sent to Liberia this week to treat doctors who have contracted the virus, the Liberian government said.

WHO panel says untested drugs are ethical as Ebola death toll tops 1,000

(CNN) -- As the death toll from the Ebola epidemic soars over 1,000, a team of medical experts say it is ethical to offer medications to fight the virus even if a drug's effectiveness or its adverse effects are unknown.

"The large number of people affected by the 2014 west Africa outbreak, and the high case-fatality rate, have prompted calls to use investigational medical interventions to try to save the lives of patients and to curb the epidemic," the World Health Organization said Tuesday.

‘That’s my boy!': Dad’s boast as his seven-year-old holds severed head

A boy aged seven has been pictured holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier – to the delight of his proud father, who posted the macabre photograph online.

The youngster – the son of Australian jihadi fighter and former drug addict Khaled Sharrouf – posed with the head in the northern Syrian city of Raqqa.

Sharrouf, 33 – one of Australia’s most-wanted terrorists and a suspected war criminal – tweeted the image along with the caption: ‘That’s my boy!’

US mourns Robin Williams

PRESIDENT Barack Obama and the US first family have joined a national outpouring of grief to pay tribute to the deceased actor and comedian Robin Williams.

"ROBIN Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a bangarang Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind," Obama said.

Parents must learn technology

PARENTS recognise the benefits of using technology in the classroom, but many struggle to understand the devices themselves.

THAT'S the findings of British research carried out by retailer John Lewis, which has held technology clinics with parents and teachers to bridge the digital divide between the younger generation who have grown up with smartphones and tablets, and those who didn't.

Debate over who gets Ebola drug

WHO to meet to thrash out the ethical dilemma of who gets access to experimental Ebola drugs. Source: AAP

NOW it's not just two Americans, but a Spaniard as well: the three non-Africans known to have Ebola have got some of the very few doses that exist of an experimental drug aimed at treating the deadly disease.

NONE of the more than 1700 Africans sick with Ebola have received this treatment.