Daily Archives: March 22, 2017


Ivory Coast Infant Separated From Parasitic Twin

Doctors at a Chicago-area hospital have successfully operated on a baby from Africa born with a parasitic twin and having four legs and two spines.The girl, known only as “Dominique” from Ivory Coast, is recovering well from the delicate and groundbreaking March 8 surgery and is expected to live a normal, fully-functional life. Advocate Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois, Tuesday announced that the 10-month-old, being cared for by a local foster family, underwent six hours of surgery involving dozens of healthcare providers and five surgeons, including pediatric specialist Dr. …


Inside a Nigerian Hospital Fighting to Reduce Maternal Death Rate

Twenty-three-year-old Radiya Ahmed Rufai is about to deliver her first child. But she has developed pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy disorder that leads to a sharp rise in blood pressure. The doctors at Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital in the central Nigerian state of Kaduna are racing to prevent Rufai from falling into eclampsia — that’s when the pre-eclampsia advances to a level that can induce seizures. “She was referred from another hospital to this place, with nothing to show that she was having those treatments [for pre-eclampsia]. It was here that we …


Oil Prices Fall on Bloated US Crude Storage

Oil prices dipped on Wednesday as rising crude stocks in the United States underscored an ongoing global fuel supply overhang despite an OPEC-led effort to cut output. Prices for front-month Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil, were at $50.79 per barrel at 0451 GMT, down 17 cents, or 0.3 percent, from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 18 cents, or 0.4 percent, at $48.08 a barrel. “Crude oil prices fell as concerns over rising U.S. inventories resurfaced,” ANZ bank said on Wednesday. …


Chuck Barris, ‘Gong Show’ Creator, Dies at 87

Chuck Barris, whose game show empire included The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game and that infamous factory of cheese, The Gong Show, died at 87. Barris died of natural causes Tuesday afternoon at his home in Palisades, New York, according to publicist Paul Shefrin, who announced the death on behalf of Barris’ family. Barris made game show history right off the bat, in 1966, with The Dating Game, hosted by Jim Lange. The gimmick: a young female questions three males, hidden from her view, to determine which would be the …


Report: Climate Outlook Improves as Fewer Coal Plants Built

Led by cutbacks in China and India, construction of new coal-fired power plants is falling worldwide, improving chances climate goals can be met despite earlier pessimism, three environmental groups said Wednesday. A joint report by the groups CoalSwarm, the Sierra Club and Greenpeace follows a warning this week by two international agencies that the world needs to shift quickly away from fossil fuels to curb global warming. Environmentalists were dismayed by President Donald Trump’s U.S. government budget proposal last week that would cut spending on renewable energy. Construction starts for …