Stocks finished mixed as lacklustre economic reports offered Wall Street little incentive to place big bets ahead of a long weekend.

A promising new oral HIV test that uses fluid swabbed from the mouth to quickly and easily detect the virus that causes Aids incorrectly diagnosed a quarter of the people who tested positive in San Francisco, city health officials found.

HEART disease patient Charlotte Klimko was in and out of a critical care unit for much of last summer after lab results showed unusually high levels of a heart medication in her system.

A former nurse who claims to have killed 30 to 40 patients since 1987 has been charged with murder in the US.

A former nurse who claims to have killed 30 to 40 patients since 1987 was charged with murder today, prosecutors in the United States said.