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“Possible” Smoking ban inside homes: Cancer Council SA

The Cancer Council of South Australia is planning to ban smoking inside Australian apartments and calls this plan “entirely possible and even probable.” Earlier this month an eight-unit apartment block in western Sydney introduced a by-law making the premises, including balconies, completely smoke-free.

19 Apr 2011

FAO, WFP launch international global food security platform to improve coordination

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Food Program "have launched a new global food security platform" aimed at improving food security response coordination during natural disasters and other humanitarian situations, PTI/MSN India reports.

19 Apr 2011

G20 finance ministers' meeting concludes

G20 finance ministers "concluded three days of talks late Saturday with pledges of greater cooperation to avert another financial crisis, leaving uncertain how far they would go in changing their domestic policies in response to international pressures," the Associated Press/Christian Science Monitor reports.

19 Apr 2011

House passes FY12 budget resolution

The House on Friday passed "on a nearly party line vote of 235-193" an FY12 budget resolution, National Journal reports.

19 Apr 2011

Nerve disorder expert Jack Griffin passes away

Jack Griffin, an internationally acclaimed and admired expert on diseases of the peripheral nervous system, founding director of the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute, and former director of Hopkins School of Medicine's Department of Neurology, died Saturday, April 16, after a long battle with bladder cancer. He was 69.

18 Apr 2011

Human voice links us all together, helps define us as human beings: U-M Vocal Health Center director

In recognition of World Voice Day on April 16, Norman D. Hogikyan, M.D., professor of otolaryngology at the University of Michigan Medical School and director of the U-M Vocal Health Center, reminds us not only to think about vocal health, but the ways in which the human voice influences our lives and unites us.

16 Apr 2011

Crisis communication lessons from Japan's tsunami disaster

Adam Acar and Yuya Muraki of the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies surveyed and questioned Twitter users and tracked updates from people in the disaster-struck area on the social media site two weeks after the Tohoku earthquake and devastating tsunami of March 11. They hoped to determine what benefits such a system can bring to people involved in a disaster and to those hoping to hear news.

16 Apr 2011

World Bank President raises concerns about volatile world food prices' impact on poverty

"World Bank President Robert Zoellick on Thursday warned of rising food inflation and high oil prices resulting from political turmoil in the Middle East as risks to world growth, as they threaten to push more people into poverty," the Wall Street Journal's "Dispatch" blog reports.

16 Apr 2011

Economists urge G20 finance ministers to support Tobin tax to fund global development

One thousand economists have signed a letter calling on G20 finance ministers, who are meeting in Washington this week, to support the "so-called 'Robin Hood tax' or Tobin tax on transactions in financial markets," the Guardian reports.

15 Apr 2011

Great Place to Work Institute honors Genencor with prestigious award

Genencor, a division of Danisco A/S, announced today that the company was ranked #7 on the list of The Netherlands Great Places to Work 2011 in the category of "Large & Multinational Companies" by the Great Place to Work Institute.

15 Apr 2011

Genetically modified bacteria filters out toxic pesticide vapors

Genetically modified bacteria could be used in air filters to extract pesticide vapors from polluted air thanks to work by researchers in China published this month in the International Journal of Environment and Pollution.

15 Apr 2011

Experts suggest Fukushima clean-up workers store blood cells for future use

As Japan still reels with the after effects of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and radiation exposure, plant workers are working to control the radiation leakage from the Fukushima Daiichi complex. Experts note that the work there will take years, posing a risk of accidental exposure.

15 Apr 2011

Opinions: Traditional aid groups' roles; 'smart power' foreign policy; funding for MDGs

In a post on the Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog," Joel Charny, vice president for humanitarian policy and practice at InterAction, highlights the role traditional aid groups play in disasters around the world, refuting the idea that the 2010 earthquake in Haiti showed that established groups "were becoming irrelevant in the face of a vast array of new aid providers, including corporations, celebrities, citizens groups and the military."

15 Apr 2011

Northern Territory alcohol purchasing laws tighten

According to new laws nearly 11,000 people in Alice Springs and Katherine have to obtain other forms of identification to buy alcohol later this year. Some residents in the towns now use Tangentyere identification or other cards to meet a photo ID requirement. The Northern Territory Government is changing its ID scanner system and will only accept driving licenses, proof-of-age cards and passports.

13 Apr 2011

Active efforts towards happiness

Now the world's first membership organization dedicated to spreading happiness has been officially launched. It is called “Action for Happiness” and claims to have 4,500 members in more than 60 countries.

12 Apr 2011

UMMC Professor receives American College of Physicians' highest honor

Dr. Joe Files, professor of medicine and director of the Division of Hematology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, has received his mastership from the American College of Physicians, joining a select group of Mississippi physicians who have received the national organization’s highest recognition.

11 Apr 2011

Research looks at impact of life expectancy on religiosity

Churches will continue to attract older congregations as increasing life expectancy encourages people to put off involvement in religion, according to new research.

11 Apr 2011

Officials ask for U.S. to continue support for U.N. in Capitol Hill meetings

The U.N. needs the U.S. to continue providing strong financial support, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told U.S. lawmakers in Washington on Thursday, "as President Barack Obama and Congress negotiate federal budget cuts to try to avoid a government shutdown," Reuters reports. "We need to have robust financial support from the United States," Ban said.

11 Apr 2011

Best Buy's ROWE initiative can help improve work-family fit and time adequacy

New research from the University of Minnesota finds that a workplace environment that allows employees to change when and where they work, based on their individual needs and job responsibilities, positively affects the work-family interface and reduces turnover.

8 Apr 2011

House Budget Chair's FY12 budget proposal would significantly cut foreign affairs, foreign aid budgets

House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan's budget blueprint, which was released earlier this week, would significantly cut the international affairs and foreign aid budgets for FY12 and increase those cuts over the next four years, Foreign Policy's "The Cable" reports, noting that Ryan's budget also would increase "the defense budget by 14 percent over the same timeframe".

8 Apr 2011