A fisherman has died of swine flu in the Western Sahara region, where 11 others have been tested H1N1 positive, the Moroccan health ministry said on Sunday.

The victim, a 40-year-old, had been suffering from a "chronic disease" but the other 11 fishermen are not in serious condition, the ministry said in a statement.

The camera zooms in on a stubble-bearded hunk dragging on a cigarette and blowing out a thick cloud of smoke with what seems to be great satisfaction.

It resembles the TV smoking ads of yesteryear, now banned in most of the world, yet this modern-day offering is approved for American television viewers.

A genetically-engineered virus tested in 30 terminally-ill liver cancer patients significantly prolonged their lives, killing tumors and inhibiting the growth of new ones, scientists reported on Sunday.

Sixteen patients given a high dose of the therapy survived for 14.1 months on average, compared to 6.7 months for the 14 who got the low dose.

French frozen food supplier Comigel told the Findus brand that "the contamination" of processed beef products with horsemeat could date back to August 2012, Findus said in a statement Saturday.

"Findus want to be absolutely explicit that they were not aware of any issue of contamination with horsemeat last year," it said in a statement.

Spanghero, the French supplier of meat for Findus lasagna products, said Saturday it was ready to sue the Romanian source of its meat.

"We bought European origin beef and we resold it. If it really is horsemeat, we are going to go after the Romanian supplier," Spanghero President Barthelemy Aguerre told Agence France Presse by telephone.

Britain's Food Standards Agency (FSA) said criminal activity was likely to blame as consumers grappled with an escalating horsemeat scandal that Prime Minister David Cameron called "completely unacceptable".

Swedish food giant Findus has withdrawn all of its frozen beef lasagne products from British shelves, after 11 out of 18 samples were found to contain between 60 and 100 percent horsemeat, the FSA said.

A genetic variation doubles the risk of developing calcium deposits in the heart, a common condition that, in severe cases, can narrow or block the aorta, according to a study published Wednesday.

The genetic variation, found in seven percent of the population, provides important clues about how to treat the disease, researchers said in the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A Mexican girl said to have given birth last month at the age of nine has disappeared with her baby, and authorities now suspect she may be older, a top prosecutor said Thursday.

Hospital officials and prosecutors said this week that a nine-year-old girl named Dafne gave birth to a baby girl by C-section on January 27 in the western state of Jalisco.

A five-year-old Cambodian girl has died from bird flu, bringing the country's toll from the deadly virus to five so far this year, the World Health Organization said on Friday.

The girl, from the southern province of Takeo, died on Thursday in hospital and tests confirmed that she had contracted the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, the WHO said in a joint statement with the Cambodian health ministry.

Artificially sweetened sodas have been linked to a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes for women than sodas sweetened with ordinary sugar, a French study unveiled on Thursday found.

"Contrary to conventional thinking, the risk of diabetes is higher with 'light' beverages compared with 'regular' sweetened drinks," the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) said.