A 69-year-old man has died in Jordan after being infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, a health ministry official said on Sunday.

"The man, who suffered from diabetes and high blood pressure, died in hospital on Wednesday," Sultan Kasrawi of the ministry's communicable disease department, told AFP.

Algeria reported its first two cases of the deadly MERS virus on Saturday, both among pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia, where most cases and deaths from the disease have been reported.

The two Algerian men, aged 66 and 59, had gone on a pilgrimage to Muslim holy sites in Saudi Arabia, Algeria's health ministry said without giving further details about their condition.

Divorce rates, family quarrels and the habit to eat out influence child obesity rates, new studies presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Sofia suggested on Friday.

In one study, Norwegian researchers found that changes to family structure can affect a child's weight.

The Food and Drug Administration is updating its advice for pregnant women on the appropriate levels of mercury in seafood but Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said Friday that it won't require mercury labels on seafood packages.

In a wide-ranging interview Friday with The Associated Press, Hamburg said the agency will update guidance on mercury in different varieties of seafood and what that means, a long-awaited move aimed at helping women better understand what to eat when they're pregnant.

The Brazilian city where Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Nigeria's John Mikel Obi will train for the World Cup is in the grip of a crippling dengue fever epidemic.

Workers in Campinas have embarked on a huge operation to eradicate mosquitos, which spread the disease, before the Portuguese and Nigerian teams arrive.

Doctors may have found a way to help young breast cancer patients avoid infertility caused by chemotherapy. Giving a drug to shut down the ovaries temporarily seems to boost the odds they will work after treatment ends, and it might even improve survival, a study found.

"They're really exciting findings" that could help thousands of women each year in the United States alone, said the study's leader, Dr. Halle Moore of the Cleveland Clinic.

Tanning beds and sun lamps will carry new warnings that they should not be used by anyone under age 18, part of a government action announced Thursday aimed at reducing skin cancer linked to the radiation-emitting devices.

The Food and Drug Administration has regulated tanning machines for over 30 years, but the agency is now requiring more prominent warnings about the cancer risks of indoor tanning.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted early Friday in favor of blocking the federal government from interfering with states that permit the use of medical marijuana.

The somewhat surprising 219-189 vote came as the House, which is controlled by the Republican Party, debated a bill funding the Justice Department's budget.

An international team of scientists say they have identified a compound that can fight coronaviruses, responsible for the SARS and MERS outbreaks, which currently have no cure. 

Coronaviruses affected the upper and lower respiratory tracts in humans. They are the reason for up to a third of common colds. 

Tough new anti-smoking legislation that comes into force on Sunday in Russia has dismayed cigarette companies as they face the prospect of declining sales and tighter regulation of their industry.

Russia was once seen as a key emerging market for the tobacco industry with its high number of heavy smokers keen to switch to Western brands, but from June 1 there will be a blanket ban on smoking in restaurants, cafes and hotels.