After weeks of mixed signals from President Donald Trump about his administration’s plans to ban flavored vaping products, the White House convened a meeting Friday between proponents and opponents of the electronic cigarette industry.In a spirited discussion that the White House billed as a “listening session,” Trump heard from anti-vaping …

The World Health Organization warns escalating violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu and Ituri provinces is threatening to reverse major gains made in bringing the region’s Ebola epidemic to an end.  The agency reports 3,298 cases of Ebola, including 2195 deaths, resulting in an overall fatality rate …

A new report finds most adolescents around the world do not get enough physical activity on a daily basis to be healthy and to stay healthy as adults. This World Health Organization study presents the first-ever global estimates of insufficient physical activity among adolescents ages 11 to 17.Data for this …

Once a week, a horse track in Harare invites children born with cerebral palsy, a neuromuscular disorder, to visit. But the children don’t simply watch the horses.     Trish Lillie of the Healing with Horses Therapeutic Centre in Harare says her organization is helping kids who cannot afford the recommended speech and physical therapies. Nov. …

With Zimbabwe’s health sector and economy both struggling, some parents of children with disabilities have turned to Healing with Horses Therapeutic Centre.  The charity, supported by donations, provides horse rides and activities to children with cerebral palsy, a neuromuscular disorder, and other physical and mental challenges.  Columbus Mavhunga reports from …

In central Somalia’s Beledweyne district, families still reeling from food shortages and livestock deaths after another year of poor rains were surprised by a new disaster last month: brutal floods that completely submerged homes after the Shabelle River burst its banks.Across the district, 230,000 people were driven from their homes, …

Former Vice President Al Gore said that even though President Donald Trump wants to back out of the Paris Climate Agreement, the U.S. cannot legally pull out until the day after next year’s presidential election.“If there’s a new president — pardon me for a minute,” Gore said to laughs and …

With urban populations surging around the world, cities will struggle to keep residents safe from fast-growing heat risks turbo-charged by climate change, scientists and public health experts warned this week.Heat is already the leading cause of deaths from extreme weather in countries including the United States. The problem is particularly …

Around the world, national leaders and diplomats have expressed their hopes that the United States will reverse its decision to pull out of the Paris Agreement on fighting climate change. In Washington, some others have chosen to act in small ways rather than wait.    Ambassadors and aides from all …

Some soups may be good for more than just the soul.A new study suggests that certain homemade broths — made from chicken, beef or even just vegetables — might have properties that can help fight malaria.Researcher Jake Baum of Imperial College London asked children from diverse cultural backgrounds at state-funded …

Australian scientists say it could be another five years before a vaccine is developed to protect pigs from African swine fever.  It is estimated that a quarter of the world’s pig population has died this year, following the deadly outbreak of the virus in China. African swine fever, or ASF, has …

After a month of preparations and goodbyes, Bei Bei, the Washington National Zoo’s most eligible giant panda bachelor, was on his way to China on Tuesday, where scientists hope he will help increase the population of his species.The departure of 4-year-old Bei Bei to his parents’ homeland had been pre-arranged …

Baba Awolu reports for work at 5 a.m. each day at a local toilet and washroom facility he owns in the Jahi district of Abuja. The facility, known in the native Hausa language as “Gidan Wanka,” was built to serve poor people without access to bathrooms.Awolu says he has to …

BIR SALAH, TUNISIA — Samira Sghaier and a group of friends prune moringa trees under a searing sun, dropping fistfuls of leafy branches into plastic tubs. Prickly acacias edge the plot of land, protecting bone-dry soil from further erosion.Sghaier’s father once grew olive and fruit trees — varieties that mostly …

The federal government wants a judge to reject Nevada’s request for a court order to remove weapons-grade plutonium from a site north of Las Vegas, arguing that officials have already promised that no more will be shipped to the state.                     In documents filed Friday in U.S. District Court …

The U.S. research vessel Sikuliaq can break through ice as thick as 2.5 feet (0.76 meters). In the Chukchi Sea northwest of Alaska this month, which should be brimming with floes, its limits likely won’t be tested.University of Washington researchers left Nome on Nov. 7 on the 261-foot (79.5-meter) ship, …

Novel drugs may offer fresh ways to reduce heart risks beyond the usual medicines to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.One new study found that heart attack survivors benefited from a medicine long used to treat gout. Several experimental drugs also showed early promise for interfering with heart-harmful genes without modifying …

Heavy winds stirred dozens of fires across Australia’s east coast on Tuesday, blanketing Sydney in hazardous smoke and prompting health warnings for the country’s most populous city.Wildfires have destroyed about 2.5 million acres (1 million hectares) of farmland and bush over the past couple of weeks, fuelled by tinder-dry conditions …

The state of California on Monday sued e-cigarette maker Juul Labs, alleging the San Francisco company engaged in a “systematic” and “wildly successful” campaign to attract teenagers to its nicotine devices.The lawsuit draws on internal correspondence and other evidence, asserting the company did little to prevent sales to underage customers. …

California said on Monday it will halt all purchases of new vehicles for state government fleets from GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler and other automakers backing President Donald Trump in a battle to strip the state of authority to regulate tailpipe emissions.Between 2016 and 2018, California purchased $58.6 million in …

The African continent accounts for a whopping 90-percent of the world’s malaria cases.  Scientists in Burkina Faso recently deployed a new weapon in the war on malaria.  As VOA’s Arash Arabasadi reports, their battle faces bioethical blowback. …

New research has found that U.S. agriculture uses child workers without proper training and care for their safety. The report published last week in the American Journal of Industrial Medicine says 33 children are injured every day while working on U.S. farms, and more child workers die in agriculture than …

The World Health Organization is calling for stricter regulations on the marketing and sale of e-cigarettes as more information comes to light about the potentially harmful impact of these products.   Health officials are increasingly worried about the risks posed by e-cigarettes as reported cases of deaths and illnesses from these …

Samoa declared a state of emergency this weekend, closing all schools and cracking down on public gatherings, after several deaths linked to a measles outbreak that has spread across the Pacific islands.The island state of about 200,000, south of the equator and half way between Hawaii and New Zealand, declared …

People with severe but stable heart disease from clogged arteries may have less chest pain if they get a procedure to improve blood flow rather than just giving medicines a chance to help, but it won’t cut their risk of having a heart attack or dying over the following few …