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World should provide funding for peacekeeping troops to ensure humanitarian aid routes in Somalia

With the retreat of the Islamist extremist group al-Shabab out of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, where famine is threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, "the U.N.-backed peacekeeping force can and should be quickly expanded," according to Somalia's prime minister and the U.N. envoy to the nation, in order to "allow the force to move out from the capital to secure routes for aid," a Washington Post editorial states.

17 Sep 2011

Dr. Oz and apple juice – FDA and experts fume at arsenic false alarm

Television's Dr. Mehmet Oz is being questioned by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and others for sounding what they say is a false alarm about the dangers of apple juice.

16 Sep 2011

Horn of Africa: Fighting food insecurity with forests and trees

Restoring and preserving dryland forests and planting more trees to provide food, fodder and fertilizer on small farms are critical steps toward preventing the recurrence of the famine now threatening millions of people in the Horn of Africa, according to forestry experts from the CGIAR Consortium.

16 Sep 2011

UN report on illicit drug use worldwide

According to a new United Nations report the use of stimulant drugs of abuse like amphetamine, ecstasy and meth is increasing worldwide. The report adds that the growing trade in these illegal drugs and the high profits they bring to criminals are posing an increasing threat to health and security.

14 Sep 2011

Gay blood donations to be allowed soon in UK

Soon the lifetime ban on blood donations by homosexual and bisexual men will be lifted in England, Scotland and Wales. Ministers have agreed to let men who have not had sex with another man in the past 12 months to donate from November.

12 Sep 2011

National forests might provide health benefits for public

Each year, more than 170 million people visit national forests for recreation. And the physical activity associated with these visits burns 290 billion food calories. That equals enough french fries laid end to end to reach the Moon and back-twice-according to a recent study in the Journal of Forestry.

9 Sep 2011

Devoting work time to physical activity can lead to higher productivity

Devoting work time to physical activity can lead to higher productivity. This is shown in a study performed by researchers at Stockholm University and Karolinska Institutet that is being published in Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

7 Sep 2011

U.S. smoking rates on slow decline: CDC report

Roughly 45 million adult Americans smoke and this is much lesser than the figures a few years back. Even those who still smoke have cut back on the number of cigarettes they smoke, but the rate of decline has begun to slow, U.S. health experts said on Tuesday. Smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing an estimated 443,000 Americans each year.

6 Sep 2011

McDonald’s menus to include calorie counts in Britain

In an advancement against rising rates of obesity nearly 1,200 McDonald's restaurants in the U.K. will this week begin displaying the calorie count of each food and drink item on their wall-mounted menu boards.

5 Sep 2011

Study sheds new light on the ways in which languages ensure efficient communication of information

A recent study of the speech information rate of seven languages concludes that there is considerable variation in the speed at which languages are spoken, but much less variation in how efficiently languages communicate the same information.

3 Sep 2011

Tobacco industry goes after confidential smoking data from UK’s Department of Health

The tobacco giants are urging the UK’s Department of Health to extract information about meetings between government officials and researchers who are investigating the public-health implications of new smoking policies.

2 Sep 2011

Governor Perry attacked for choosing new medical treatment

Recently, the governor of Texas and presidential hopeful had a bad back treated by injecting some of his very own fat cells, after they had been cultured and treated in a laboratory. The innovative use of a patient’s own adult stem cells is showing great promise in many conditions, including damaged joints.

29 Aug 2011

FDA acts to prevent distribution of food from rodent-infested facility

At the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Marshals seized all FDA-regulated food susceptible to rodent and pest contamination or other filth held at the Durham, North Carolina, warehouse of CFSD, Inc., which does business as Chan's Food Service.

29 Aug 2011

Male gay couples, single parents face significant discrimination in rental housing market

A new University of British Columbia study finds single parents and male gay couples face significant discrimination in the Metro Vancouver rental housing market, compared to straight couples.

29 Aug 2011

Australia steps closer to plain cigarette packaging

This week, the parliament's lower house passed two bills aimed at banning tobacco company product branding. The legislation, which dictates that cigarette packets must be a uniform olive green with the name of the brand in small, standard type, is expected to pass the upper house in the coming weeks.

26 Aug 2011

Flooding in Pakistan kills at least 16, affects 'dozens' of homes

"In what appears to be a repeat -- on a limited scale -- of the 2010 flood disaster in Pakistan with northern areas affected mainly by flash floods sweeping down from the mountains after heavy rain, at least 16 people have died in the remote Kohistan District of Khyber Pakhtookhwa Province (KP)," IRIN reports.

26 Aug 2011

Rising numbers of assisted suicides, coroners turning a blind eye: Study

At least 10% of suicides in England are by someone with a chronic or terminal illness, found researchers who tried to obtain information on the subject from local health authorities.

24 Aug 2011

Texas Gov. Rick Perry tries experimental stem cell therapy

Texas Gov. Rick Perry last month underwent a procedure where stem cells, made from fat taken from his body, were put into his bloodstream to see if they might find their way to help heal the bones in his back.

22 Aug 2011

Stable communities see no influence of alcohol outlets on neighborhood violence

The density of businesses that sell alcohol in a community has been tied to local levels of violence, but new research has found that the influence depends on the nature of the community. More stable communities can see little to no influence but more disorganized communities are not so fortunate.

22 Aug 2011

Bill Clinton on being ‘vegan’

Former President Bill Clinton has revealed that his diet is turning plant-based and heart-healthy. He said he believes the vegan regimen is helping to reverse the damage to his heart and blood vessels caused by cardiovascular disease.

18 Aug 2011