Month: July 2023

Climate change is a "universal threat" that should be handled separately from broader diplomatic issues, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng on Wednesday after two days of what he called constructive but complex talks.  Acknowledging the diplomatic difficulties between the two…

As global warming intensifies and deadly heatwaves spread across the world, becoming the “new normal,” the World Meteorological Organization is calling on governments to adopt heat action plans to protect “hundreds of thousands of people dying from preventable heat-related causes each year.” WMO’s protective policies…

The heatwave engulfing the northern hemisphere is set to intensify this week, causing overnight temperatures to surge and leading to an increased risk of heart attacks and deaths, the World Meteorological Organization said Tuesday. "Temperatures in North America, Asia, and across North Africa and the…

The United Nations said Tuesday vaccinations for children have generally rebounded since a drop during the COVID-19 pandemic but warned that vaccination rates in many smaller and poorer countries are not experiencing the same progress. The U.N. said 20.5 million children missed one or more…

The excavator tore into the remnants of the damaged building in southeast Turkey, bringing it crashing down into a cloud of dust -- the latest menace facing survivors of the deadly February quake that ravaged the region. Extending to the horizon, a cocoon of fine…

A review of the status of a vanishing species of whale found that the mammal’s population is in worse shape than previously thought, federal ocean regulators said Monday. The North Atlantic right whale numbers less than 350, and it has been declining in population for…

In the predominantly Roman Catholic Philippines, a debate is raging over whether to teach teenagers about contraceptives. Comprehensive sex education is required in public schools but not all schools are following through. Dave Grunebaum has the story. ...

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency posted air quality alerts Sunday for several states stretching from Montana to Ohio because of smoke blowing in from Canadian wildfires. "Air Quality alerts are in place for much of the Great Lakes, Midwest, and northern High Plains," the National…

As much of the world swelters in record temperatures, spare a thought for Issam Genedi, who ekes out a living washing cars in one of the planet's hottest regions, the Gulf. Pausing from his work at an outdoor carpark in Dubai, the Egyptian migrant says…

The U.K.'s oldest medical union Saturday hit out at government plans to increase the amount migrant workers pay to use the state health care service, to cover public-sector wage increases.   Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government this week approved recommendations to boost wages of teachers, doctors…

United Nations agencies said Friday that millions of Sudanese cannot obtain treatment for emergency and chronic health conditions because fighting has brought the country’s fragile health system to near total collapse.    The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement violence…

Visitors to Las Vegas on Friday stepped out momentarily to snap photos and were hit by blast-furnace air. But most will spend their vacations in a vastly different climate — at casinos where the chilly air conditioning might require a light sweater. Meanwhile, emergency room…

Countries at this year's U.N. climate summit must face up to how far behind they are on climate change targets and agree to a plan to get on track, the United Arab Emirates' incoming president of the event said on Thursday.  In a speech laying…

Health care providers in Zimbabwe are leaving the country in droves for better work abroad. The government is scrambling to fill the gaps by better equipping hospitals, as Columbus Mavhunga reports from Harare, Zimbabwe. ...

An Indian rocket hurtled into space Friday to land a robotic rover on an unexplored area of the moon – a challenging feat India was unable to accomplish on a mission four years ago.    Only three countries, the U.S., China and Russia, have made…

Leading global health agencies report consumers who limit their intake of aspartame and other artificial sweeteners are at little risk of getting cancer. “The occasional level of exposure, which is far from the acceptable daily intake, is safe and is not producing appreciable health risk,”…

HIV/AIDS can end as a public health threat by 2030 if nations can muster the political will and critical financial support to completely defeat it, a new report published Thursday says. The deadly disease has killed 40.4 million people since the start of the epidemic…

The World Health Organization's cancer agency has deemed the sweetener aspartame — found in diet soda and countless other foods — as a possible cause of cancer, while a separate expert group looking at the same evidence said it still considers the sugar substitute safe…

U.S. officials have approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, which will let American women and girls buy contraceptive medication from the same aisle as aspirin and eyedrops. The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it cleared Perrigo's once-a-day Opill to be sold without a…