Health & Science

• Wednesday, December 2nd 2015 - 09:28 UTC

  China and Brazil agree on further cooperation and on climate change

  

  Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazil's Dilma Rousseff met in Paris on the sidelines of the ongoing climate talks, and agreed to strengthen cooperation in a number of areas including a common position regarding global warming.

• Tuesday, December 1st 2015 - 07:45 UTC

  Brazil on alert on possible link between Zika virus and micro-cephalic babies

  

  Brazilian health authorities, who alerted the nation Monday to the rapid spread of the Zika virus, confirmed that up to now it has caused one death and that another six victims are in critical condition and under medical examination.

• Sunday, November 29th 2015 - 09:51 UTC

  Brazil plans to sue mining companies US$ 7.2bn on toxic mud spill

  

  Brazil's federal and state governments plan to sue the owners of the Samarco iron ore-miner for 20 billion Reais ($7.2 billion) in damages caused by the burst of a tailings dam, Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira told reporters on Friday.

• Wednesday, November 18th 2015 - 07:53 UTC

  Tierra del Fuego ozone alert with 'UV radiation reaching extreme risk or harm'

  

  Tierra del Fuego in south Argentina has sent out a warning to residents in the province that the ozone layer hole as it expands to the north, over the tip of South America continent this week, it will be reaching its maximum size with UV radiation at 12, violet or extreme alert. The information was provided by Argentina's VAG Ushuaia Station.

• Monday, November 16th 2015 - 07:22 UTC

  Mosquito-spread dengue, chickungunya and now Zika threatens the Caribbean and tourism industry

  

  Jamaica's Ministry of Health is urging people to be more vigilant and to clean up their environment and destroy mosquito breeding sites, in light of the announcement by the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) that the Zika virus has been detected in a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) nation.

• Saturday, November 14th 2015 - 12:02 UTC

  World Diabetes Day, 14 November; 350 million people suffer the chronic disease

  

  The World Health Organization is marking World Diabetes Day on 14th November calling for greater action to turn the growing tide of the global diabetes epidemic and has announced that World Health Day, on 7 April will focus on the issue of diabetes.

• Friday, November 6th 2015 - 08:40 UTC

  Monsanto GM seeds blocked from two Mexican states; consultation with local communities mandatory

  

  Monsanto, the world's largest seed company, has been blocked from planting genetically modified soy seeds in the southern Mexican states of Campeche and Yucatan after the country's Supreme Court granted an injunction against the country’s agriculture ministry, teleSur reported.

• Friday, October 30th 2015 - 08:03 UTC

  WHO clarification: moderate consumption of meat, particularly preserved meat

  

  The World Health Organization, WHO, has received a number of queries, expressions of concern and requests for clarification following the publication of a report from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) relating to processed meat and colorectal cancer.

• Thursday, October 29th 2015 - 14:50 UTC

  Tuberculosis mortality nearly halved since 1990

  

  The fight against tuberculosis is paying off, with this year’s death rate nearly half of what it was in 1990. Nevertheless, 1.5 million people died from TB in 2014. Most of these deaths could have been prevented, according to the World Health Organization’s Global Tuberculosis Report 2015, which was released on Wednesday in Washington, DC.

• Tuesday, October 27th 2015 - 09:39 UTC

  Processed meats can cause colorectal cancer in humans, says WHO

  

  Eating processed meats like hot dogs, sausages and bacon can cause colorectal cancer in humans, and red meat is also a likely cause of the disease, World Health Organization (WHO) experts said.