Health & Science

• Saturday, March 22nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Military helps Rio State tackle dengue

  Brazil's Defence Minister Nelson Jobim says the military is ready to help the city of Rio de Janeiro deal with rising numbers of dengue fever cases.

• Saturday, March 22nd 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  March 22: World Water Day

  The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

• Friday, March 21st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Rio do Janeiro faces “dengue epidemic”, claim doctors

  

  Rio do Janeiro faces a dengue epidemic claims the physicians association of the Brazilian state which anticipated that next Monday they will make a formal claim against municipal, state and federal authorities for neglecting the spread of the disease that so far this year has caused 30 deaths.

• Friday, March 21st 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Claims of illegal trade of polar bear hides in Russia

  

  Illegal trade in hides of polar bears, a species in steady decline throughout the Arctic is on the rise in Russia, the World Wildlife Fund said on Thursday.

• Wednesday, March 19th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Dengue panic in Brazil: 19.169 cases and 30 deaths in 2008

  

  Six children have died of the mosquito transmitted disease in the last 24 hours reported Brazilian health authorities from Rio do Janeiro, totaling 30 fatal cases so far this year which is almost the 31registered in the twelve months of 2007.

• Thursday, March 13th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  US tightens smog forming ozone pollution controls

  

  The United States Environmental Protection Agency announced this week it was tightening the amount of smog-forming ozone that will be allowed, declaring that the air in hundreds of U.S. counties is too dirty to breathe. But the new lower level, 75 parts per billion (from 80 parts per billion), still is significantly higher than what the agency's scientific advisers had urged.

• Wednesday, March 12th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  UK battered again as storms return

  

  Areas of Britain that escaped the worst of the storms earlier this week woke up to a battering on Wednesday.

• Wednesday, March 12th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Yellow fever: first possible death reported in Argentina

  

  A logger is suspected to be the first fatal case of yellow fever in Argentina since the 2007 outbreak in neighboring Paraguay. The man, 39, together with a crew was logging in the northern province of Misiones and according to local sanitary officials had all the symptoms of the mosquito transmitted viral disease.

• Monday, March 10th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  More powerful storms forecasted along west-south England

  

  A powerful storm has hit the western and southern coasts of England and Wales over the weekend, with forecasters warning of more to come. There has been widespread disruption to roads, rail and air travel, while almost 12,000 homes are without power.

• Friday, March 7th 2008 - 21:00 UTC

  Andean Indians coca leaves chewing habit in UN controversy

  Bolivia and Peru have defended the continued, traditional use of coca leaves which have been chewed by indigenous populations for centuries, after they were criticized by a UN drugs agency report.