In what Australian researchers say is a world-first clinical trial, surgical masks have been found to be a cheap and effective front-line weapon against epidemics such as swine and avian flu. A team at the University of New South Wales says masks ha...
The World Health Organization has raised its pandemic alert level from three to four, as health officials around the world take steps to prevent the spread of the swine flu that has caused at least 149 deaths in Mexico and illnesses in several other...
New Zealand has confirmed three people have tested positive for swine flu - the first in the Asia-Pacific region. Eight more patients are awaiting test results and officials expect they too have contracted the virus, which is thought to have killed...
President Barack Obama is going through a rite of political passage this week - he is marking his first 100 days in office. The significance of the 100 days marker goes back to the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt, who assumed power at the height of...
Veteran U.S. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania stunned the Washington establishment by announcing he is leaving the Republican Party to become a Democrat. The move will bring Democrats closer to the 60-vote majority they need to overcome potenti...
Sunday's mayoral election in Sochi, Russia, host of the 2014 Winter Olympics, has resulted in charges of fraud against the Kremlin favorite who is reported winning the contest in a crushing landslide. In an election seen as a test of President Dmitr...
U.S. health officials are increasing surveillance measures at doctors' offices and international borders to guard against the spread of swine flu. Washington also has begun dispersing medicine from a federal stockpile. Secretary of State Hillary Rod...
South Africans are celebrating the 15th anniversary of the end of apartheid, as well as the conclusion of successful national elections, which were swept by the ruling African National Congress. A group of traditional clad Zulu women participate in...
Australian forces in Afghanistan are urging the government in Canberra to send more combat advisers to the troubled country despite waning public support for the war. The International Security Assistance Force wants more Australian personnel to tra...
Thousands of people in northwest Pakistan are fleeing a renewed offensive by Pakistani forces against Taliban militants. With the army saying it has killed more than 45 militants since the operation began Sunday, the fighting casts further doubt on...
