Lifestyle

For the past ten years, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been overseeing the asbestos clean-up in the small town of Libby, Montana, which has been on the EPA’s Superfund National Priorities List since 2002. On Wednesday, the Obama administration declared Libby and the immediate area a "public health emergency". Under this state of emergency the EPA is increasing clean-up assistance and medical care. According to federal prosecutors, asbestos has taken 200 lives and is the root cause of at least 1,000 illnesses in t

According to a survey conducted by Teachers TV, almost half of teachers believe that safety measures in UK schools are over the top and curb children's learning. The survey, which consisted of 585 school staff, found that 44.3% believe safety regulations currently in place at schools negatively affect learning. About the same percentage, however, believed that the rules were not overtly restrictive. Those who were questioned were also asked to provide examples of the most restrictive health measures in their school. Among them were: banning r

The first deaths from swine flu in Argentina have been reported. To-date there have been a total of four deaths tied to the disease. The first was a baby girl aged three months. According to a report from the government's health ministry, she died in a Buenos Aires hospital, having been there since earlier in June. The Argentinian health ministry announced an additional 89 cases confirmed on Monday, bringing the total in the country to 733. As winter begins in the southern hemisphere, health officials believe that the virus will spread in the

Yesterday, the first fatality in the UK caused by swine flu was announced. Jacqueline Fleming, who was 38, from Glasgow, Scotland, died at the Royal Alexandria Hospital in Paisley. She had been admitted to hospital two weeks earlier after the premature birth of her baby son, Jack. Reports suggest that she was admitted having suffered a stroke and suffered further complications, in part related to the birth of Jack. Professor Hugh Pennington, a bacteriologist at Aberdeen University was quoted as saying that underlying health problems were li

Militants in Pakistan launched a truck bomb attack on the Peshawar Pearl Continental hotel, killing 18 and wounding at least 55. Among the dead were two foreign United Nations officials working for the World Food Programme. According to the BBC, Fidayeen-e-Islam, a relatively obscure Pakistani militant group, claimed responsibility for the blast. The attack follows a threat from the Taliban made on May 27, warning of "major attacks" in Pakistan. The bombing occurred despite the property being heavily guarded and secure. The militants gained e

After an explosion Tuesday at a ConAgra Food plant in Garner, North Carolina in the United States, three employees were unaccounted for as search teams carefully worked through the rubble. The search was hampered by stormy weather, darkness of night, and the instability of the partially collapsed building. The bodies of all three have now been recovered. They were Rachel Mae Poston Pulley, Lewis Watson, and Barbara Spears. The latest estimate is that 41 people were transported to area hospitals, including seven to the North Carolina Jaycee Bur

After holding an emergency meeting, the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially declared a worldwide swine flu pandemic on Thursday. The agency increased its pandemic alert level to the sixth level, its highest. "On the basis of available evidence, and these expert assessments of the evidence, the scientific criteria for an influenza pandemic have been met. I have therefore decided to raise the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 5 to phase 6," said the the WHO's director Margaret Chan in a press conference earlier today. Accordin

An explosion has caused catastrophic damage to a ConAgra Foods plant on Jones Sausage Road in Garner, North Carolina in the United States. At least 300 people were at work in the plant at the time of the incident, 11:27 a.m. EDT (3:27 UTC) on June 9. Estimates indicate that up to 46 people were sent to area hospitals, and, as of 4:00 p.m. EDT, three people are still unaccounted for. The plant was formerly owned by Raleigh, North Carolina based Goodmark Foods, but was purchased by ConAgra Foods seven years ago. The plant makes Slim Jim brand me

__NOTOC__ The H1N1 swine flu virus has now spread to 66 different countries throughout the globe, with at least 19,273 confirmed cases and 117 deaths having been reported according to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) tally. A majority of the cases were reported by the United States, which now has at least 10,053 confirmed infections from the disease. Egypt, Bulgaria, and Nicaragua each reported their first case, while Lebanon reported three. The WHO's pandemic alert level is at the fifth level, on a scale of one to six. In order for

The Brazilian Air Force has located bodies and wreckage of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean. At least two bodies have been recovered so far. Brazilian Air Force Colonel Jorge Amaral confirmed that search teams had recovered 2 male bodies and wreckage including a seat, briefcase, oxygen mask, laptop computer and a ticket stub issued to a passenger from the flight. He added that experts on human remains were traveling to the recovery site to examine the findings. The 228 people on board the aircraft are presumed dead. Previously re

The fourth annual Maker Faire took place this past weekend at the San Mateo Fairground in San Mateo, California located in the United States. The first Maker Faire, which took place in 2006, had approximately 20,000 people in attendance. This year, more than 80,000 people were expected to attend; quadruple the attendance of just four years prior. On Saturday night, it was reported that attendance was up considerably over last year's event. Maker Faire, the self-declared "World's Largest DIY Festival", offers a forum where hundreds of makers an

Wikinews has learned that Argentine media reported on May 27 that an Air France flight traveling from Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina to Paris, France, was delayed after the airline reportedly received a bomb threat, just days before Air France Flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. According to momento24, on May 27, authorities boarded Air France Flight 415, a Boeing 777 en route to Paris and searched the plane for a bomb, but found nothing. They were acting on a threat that had been phoned in. The search lasted for nearly two