WELLINGTON: New Zealand health authorities have admitted on Monday, they overreacted to an influenza scare on a flight from Japan by quarantining the plane on the tarmac at Auckland airport for several hours. The Air New Zealand flight from Tokyo was isolated after it landed Monday morning when the airline informed health officials that about 60 Japanese students were displaying flu-like symptoms. The Auckland Regional Public Health Service put local hospitals on standby for mass patient admissions, as medical teams in biohazard suits entered the Boeing 777-200 to examine the sick passengers. They were eventually allowed to disembark after about three hours when it was determined that, while some had colds, they had been immunised against flu and did not have the virus. "In hindsight we overreacted to this but that's better than underreacting. We needed to make it safe until we were sure," health service medical officer Richard Hoskins said. He said authorities had ...

  WASHINGTON: A senior executive of the breast cancer charity Susan G. Komen for the Cure has resigned after a public outcry over the group's decision to cut funding to women's health organization Planned Parenthood. Karen Handel, a Republican who once ran for governor of Georgia on a platform calling for defunding of Planned Parenthood, stepped down from her role as the top US breast cancer charity's senior vice president for public policy and chief lobbyist, the organization said on Tuesday. "I have known Karen for many years, and we both share a common commitment to our organization's lifelong mission, which must always remain our sole focus," Komen founder Nancy Brinker said in a statement. "I wish her the best in future endeavors." Komen's move last week caused uproar among supporters who also back Planned Parenthood, a provider of birth control, abortion and other health services. Komen reversed the decision on Friday. Many had accused ...