Health & Science

Sunday, January 25th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Low-oxygen areas in oceans linked to global warming

Unchecked global warming would leave ocean dwellers gasping for breath according to an article in the latest edition of Nature Geoscience. Dead zones are low-oxygen areas in the ocean where higher life forms such as fish, crabs and clams are not able to live. In shallow coastal regions, these zones can be caused by runoff of excess fertilizers from farming.
Thursday, January 22nd 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Dengue emergency in Bolivia with 1.000 reported cases

Bolivian officials have declared a health emergency after three deaths attributed to dengue hemorrhagic fever, the often-lethal form of a mosquito-borne disease that more than 1,000 Bolivians are thought to have contracted since November.
Wednesday, January 21st 2009 - 20:00 UTC
UN meeting to address danger to global water supplies

Water supplies for over a billion people around the world are under threat from increasing populations, expanding cities, industrialization, climate change and even the rising demand for food, warned the United Nations, as delegates from more than 60 countries kicked off a meeting today in preparation for the upcoming World Water Forum.
Wednesday, January 14th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
More evidence that Asians first marched into the Americas

A study has revealed genetic links between people who inhabited northern Peru more than 1,000 years ago and the Japanese, according to reports from El Comercio from Lima, one of the country leading newspapers.
Wednesday, January 14th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Dengue emergency in Bolivia's most populated provinces

Bolivia declared this week a state of sanitary emergency in four of the country's provinces following a bout of 250 reported cases of dengue, a disease transmitted by the “Aedes Aegypti” and which can be deadly in its haemorrhagic strain.
Tuesday, January 13th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Pesticides and chemicals ban controversy in the EU

The European Parliament has voted to tighten rules on pesticide use and ban at least 22 chemicals deemed harmful to human health. The UK government, the Conservatives and the National Farmers' Union all oppose the new rules, saying they could hit yields and increase food prices. The rules have not yet been approved by the 27 member states' governments.
Tuesday, January 13th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
First 2009 (mild) dengue case reported in Paraguay

Paraguayan health officials confirmed the first case of dengue fever here so far this year and announced a health blockade along the border with Argentina after the deaths of two men from yellow fever in the neighbouring country.
Saturday, January 10th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Lipotimia bout forces Cristina Kirchner to postpone trip to Cuba

Argentina's president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, suffering from an acute bout of low blood pressure has been forced to postpone for a week her planned visits to Cuba and Venezuela that should have begun this Sunday, according to reliable government sources reports the Buenos Aires media
Monday, January 5th 2009 - 20:00 UTC
Yellow fever re-emerges in triple border area

Dead monkeys have been found in the jungle of northeast Argentina, next to Brazil and Paraguay, probably caused by yellow fever, according to local sanitary authorities. The discovery follows the confirmed yellow fever deaths of two jungle workers in the neighbouring province of Misiones.
Monday, December 29th 2008 - 20:00 UTC
Warning of fake Colgate toothpaste in UK main chain stores

Thousands of tubes of fake Colgate toothpaste have been recalled by Britain's main chain stores Sainsbury's and Boots. Both stores have contacted customers directly and put up notices in shops concerning the counterfeit product sold between 28 November and 5 December.