In short, the two men may be inextricably bound together: in good times and in bad and, as Mr Berlusconi may have reflected this week, in sickness and in health.

ECONOMIST: Silvio Berlusconi's future

Haunted by a tragedy in her own past, fearful that if she doesn't help Gary he will leave her, she hauls logs out to Caribou Island in good weather and terrible storms, in sickness and in health, to patch up their marriage while building the kind of cabin that had brought them to Alaska in the first place.

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The report recommends that targets for sickness absence should be reintroduced in health trusts and should include specific targets for long-term sickness absence levels.

BBC: Sick leave in NI public sector costs economy ?149m

Trade surpluses and deficits have never been, in and of themselves, signs of an economys health or sickness.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

The International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization say 28 emergency workers died of radiation sickness in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

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