The last region of Sierra Leone to be affected by Ebola, Koinadugu, in the north-east of the country, has seen 50 people die from the virus in recent weeks, according to the Red Cross.

"Fifty people have died since mid-October," the head of the Red Cross in Sierra Leone, John Marah, told Agence France Presse.

Laundry detergent pods could be dangerous for young children, researchers warned Monday, as reports grow of kids under six swallowing the capsules in the United States.

The detergent pods -- on U.S. shelves since 2010 -- are just the right size for a single load of laundry, eliminating the need to measure out a liquid or powder.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a new challenge to President Barack Obama's health care law — a case that threatens subsidies that help millions of low- and middle-income people afford their health insurance premiums.

The justices said they will review a federal appeals court ruling that upheld IRS regulations that allow health-insurance tax credits under the Affordable Care Act for consumers in all 50 states. Opponents argue that most of the subsidies are illegal.

The deadliest Ebola outbreak ever is finally slowing in Liberia, the worst-hit country, but still wreaking havoc in two neighboring west African states amid warnings of thousands of unreported deaths.

As the initially lacklustre global response to the crisis centered in Liberia and adjoining Sierra Leone and Guinea gathered some pace following repeated and impassioned appeals from top UN officials and world leaders, the good news from Liberia was tempered by warnings that the global toll is likely vastly underestimated.

Japan will provide up to $100 million in fresh aid to Ebola-hit West Africa, the government said Friday, after the United States called for further global efforts to combat the deadly virus.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the aid would come on top of $40 million assistance announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September.

An 18-meter (60-foot) bright pink condom raised eyebrows in Sydney on Friday after it was erected over a Sydney landmark as part of a new awareness campaign about HIV.

The giant sheath was placed over a heritage-listed obelisk at Hyde Park in the center of the city.

The explosion in the world's ageing population presents herculean challenges for health systems, especially in poorer countries, the U.N.'s World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Thursday.

As people live longer, the need to care for long-term, age-related health problems will grow, it said.

Colon cancer among people under 34 may nearly double over the next 15 years, raising new concerns about how to fight one of the most common and deadly cancers, researchers said Wednesday.

The rise in incidence in the younger population -- blamed on lifestyle choices -- goes against a long-running decline in colon cancer among people over 50.

A French health watchdog recommended Thursday that children under six be denied access to 3D films, computers and video games, and that those up to 13 have "moderate" access.

The advice is based on a "pioneering" analysis of scientific research into the possible impacts of 3D imaging on the developing eye, the agency ANSES said.

A new private sector initiative announced Wednesday will provide at least $450 million in commercial financing to the three West African countries hardest hit by Ebola to promote trade, investment and employment.

The International Finance Corporation, which is part of the World Bank Group, announced that the package will include $250 million in rapid response projects and at least $200 million in investment projects to support the economic recovery of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea after the Ebola outbreak is controlled.