US health officials call for expanded bird flu testing for farm workers
Federal health officials on Thursday called for more testing of employees on farms with bird flu after a new study showed that some dairy workers had signs of infection, even when they didn’t report feeling sick. Farmworkers in close contact…
Mpox spread slows slightly in Africa
KINSHASA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO — The spread of mpox has slowed down slightly across Africa, but the epidemic is not over, the African Union’s health watchdog said Thursday. Fifteen countries across Africa recorded 11,453 mpox cases in the last…
19,000 tons of Ukrainian grain arrives in drought-hit Malawi
Malawi, with help from the World Food Program, has received its first shipment of more than 19,000 tons of maize from Ukraine. The food aid will help feed millions of Malawians currently dealing with food shortages exacerbated by El Nino-induced…
Can honeybees and dogs detect cancer earlier than technology?
Washington — Researchers at Michigan State University recently discovered that honeybees, with their keen sense of smell, can sniff out lung cancer on a patient’s breath. “Our world is visual. Insects’ world is all based on smell, so their sense…
Looming famine in Rakhine signals wider crisis in Myanmar
In a report released on Thursday, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) described the situation in the poverty-struck province as an “unprecedented disaster”. “A perfect storm is brewing,” it said, citing a combination of interlinked issues – restrictions on domestic and…
Ukraine’s nuclear security situation ‘highly challenging’, warns UN atomic watchdog
Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) – which is also Europe’s biggest nuclear energy facility – has been under Russian control since shortly after it launched a full-scale military campaign in February 2022. In recent days, an IAEA expert team crossed…
South Sudan: Postponing long-awaited elections ‘a regrettable development’
Nicholas Haysom updated ambassadors on developments in the world’s youngest country, which was due to hold its first-ever general elections next month. Since his last briefing in August, the transitional period was extended until February 2027, pushing back the timetable…
Suffering continues for civilians in Gaza and Lebanon
Aid workers are being forced to work in unsafe conditions, as insecurity and restrictions by Israeli forces prevent them from reaching people in need, Stephanie Tremblay, UN Associate Spokesperson, told journalists at the regular news briefing in New York, citing…
Canada orders TikTok’s Canadian business to be dissolved but won’t block app
Canada announced Wednesday it won’t block access to the popular video-sharing app TikTok but is ordering the dissolution of its Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind it. Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said it is…
European climate agency says this will likely be the hottest year on record — again
CHICAGO — For the second year in a row, Earth will almost certainly be the hottest it’s ever been. And for the first time, the globe this year reached more than 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming compared to the pre-industrial…