■ United States
Legislator wants "fat tax"
Citing evidence that fatty foods are health hazards, a New York state legislator wants to make junk food junkies pay. Representative Felix Ortiz, a Democrat from the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, said on Wednesday he plans to introduce legislation imposing a one-percent sales tax on fatty foods. He said he believes government should use taxes to discourage the eating of "junk food," just as it does with cigarettes because of the growing cost of health problems related to obesity. "I'm trying to make everyone part of the solution," Ortiz said."
■ Canada
The elderly tested for SARS
Nearly two dozen people from two facilities for the elderly in Ontario were being tested for possible SARS symptoms, while hundreds more were quarantined as a precaution. Officials on Wednesday reported 63 probable cases of SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, down one from the previous day. More than 100 people were being monitored due to SARS symptoms. That included 23 people moved from a nursing home and a retirement home in Whitby, Ontario, 70km east of Toronto, to other hospitals to undergo tests for SARS. "None are critical, they are not suggestive of SARS, but we're checking to make sure," said Dr. Donna Reynolds, a regional health official.
■ United States
Pox vaccine available
US officials said they would distribute the smallpox vaccine to people exposed to the monkeypox virus, as the number of suspected victims of the deadly virus rose to 54. Officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia said the vaccine would be released to veterinarians and health workers involved in the investigation to help them fight off the virus. The Department of Health and Human Services also banned the importation of rodents from Africa and the movement of prairie dogs within the US. With 54 suspected cases in four states, the US is doing everything it can to contain the source of the outbreak.
■ United Kingdom
"Bastards" pester Blix
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said the Bush administration criticized UN inspections -- but he denied that it pressured him or that he called US officials "bastards." Blix, who oversaw a fruitless search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction for three months, was quizzed about an interview published in London's Guardian newspaper. "I have my detractors in Washington. There are bastards who spread things around, of course, who planted nasty things in the media," Blix was quoted as telling the newspaper. Asked Wednesday whether he used the word "bastards" referring to the Bush administration, Blix replied: "No, no, absolutely not. I was talking about private individuals."
Agencies
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