Health & Science

Friday, May 31st 2019 - 09:39 UTC
World No Tobacco Day: the damage tobacco causes to lung health

On World No Tobacco Day (31 May), the World Health Organization is highlighting the damage tobacco causes to lung health: over 40% of all tobacco-related deaths are from lung diseases like cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and tuberculosis. WHO is calling on countries and partners to increase action to protect people from exposure to tobacco.
Friday, May 31st 2019 - 09:20 UTC
Brazil 's Attorney General sues Philips Morris and British American Tobacco

Brazil is following the U.S. and Canada in taking on Big Tobacco, becoming the first country in Latin America to sue cigarette makers over the financial toll of smoking. Brazil’s attorney general’s office, known as the AGU, last week sued the two largest cigarette manufacturers in the country, Phillip Morris International and British American Tobacco, to cover the costs of treating patients with 26 tobacco-related diseases over the past five years.
Thursday, May 30th 2019 - 09:29 UTC
The world's smallest baby ever to survive, 245 grams (a large apple) discharged from California hospital

A California hospital on Wednesday disclosed the birth of the world's smallest baby ever to survive, weighing a mere 245g - the same as a large apple - when she was born.
Wednesday, May 29th 2019 - 08:52 UTC
Johnson & Johnson on trial in Oklahoma over the so called “opioid epidemic”

Johnson & Johnson, one of the world's largest drug manufacturers, has gone on trial in a multi-billion dollar lawsuit by the US state of Oklahoma. Prosecutors accuse the firm of deceptively marketing painkillers and downplaying addiction risks, fuelling a so-called “opioid epidemic.”
Monday, May 27th 2019 - 05:39 UTC
Hazardous radioactive material stolen in Uruguay

Uruguay's Ministry of the Interior Saturday issued a nationwide alert for the theft of a tub containing radioactive material. According to the communiqué, 100 millilitres of radioactive iodine (iodine 131) contained in a tub of 3 kg of lead (lead is used as shielding material to prevent the spread of radioactivity) were stolen.
Thursday, May 23rd 2019 - 09:43 UTC
Brazil's Prosecutor suing major tobacco companies for health costs derived from smoking

Brazil's solicitor general's office is suing the world's largest cigarette makers British American Tobacco Plc and Philip Morris International to recover the public health treatment costs of tobacco-related diseases over the last five years. The office, known as the AGU, announced the landmark lawsuit late on Tuesday against the two multinational companies and their Brazilian subsidiaries.
Tuesday, May 21st 2019 - 09:35 UTC
Polish woman gives birth to sextuplets: four girls and two boys

A woman has given birth to Poland's first sextuplets with each newborn weighing about 1kg (2.2 pounds), physicians at the University Hospital in the city of Krakow announced on Monday.
Tuesday, May 21st 2019 - 07:53 UTC
World's biggest salmon farming company investigated for possible misreporting on chemicals

The world's biggest salmon farming company is one of a number of firms under investigation for possible misreporting of chemical use. The BBC can reveal Mowi, formerly known as Marine Harvest, is among those being investigated by Scottish regulators.
Saturday, May 18th 2019 - 07:59 UTC
Smog disaster in Mexico City, all residents “smoking” half a pack of cigarettes a day

Scientists say breathing the heavily polluted air in Mexico City these days is like smoking somewhere between a quarter-and a half-pack of cigarettes a day.
Friday, May 17th 2019 - 09:57 UTC
Falkland Islands Land Mines, how they are cleared and blown up

British Forces Network reports how a specialist de-mining team is clearing and exploding a hoard of land mines from the Falkland Islands landscape – out of more than 30,000 laid the Argentine forces during the 1982 conflict.