Speaking at a health conference in Norway on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the United States would provide $75 million a new private-public effort, dubbed "Saving Mothers, Giving Life," which aims "to improve the health of mothers and their babies in developing countries," Agence France-Presse reports (Mannion, 6/2). "At the same conference, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr said Norway would devote up to about $80 million to the effort, whose partners include drug maker Merck & Co. and nonprofit Every Mother Counts," Reuters writes (Mohammed, 6/1). "The aim of 'Saving Mothers' is to reduce maternal deaths by 50 percent in 12 months -- by June 2013," GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog notes (Fleischman, 6/1).