Lifestyle

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement that all seven Indonesian individuals infected with the deadly H5N1 Avian Flu (Bird Flu) virus, six of whom have died, contracted the disease through "close and prolonged exposure to a patient during a phase of severe illness." All victims were part of the same family. A 10-year old boy is believed to have contracted the disease through his aunt and then spread the virus to his father. This is the first report of the virus spreading through a three-person chain. According to the WHO, expe

Two Christchurch hospitals, Christchurch Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital, have had an outbreak of norovirus. A special isolation ward in the Christchurch Hospital has been setup for 20 patients and 12 staff, who have contracted the disease. Princess Margaret Hospital has also setup similar conditions. Norovirus causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea. People who get this disease usually recover within 48 hours. It is possible to get this disease from infected's vomit or feaces, contact with the sick, eating infected food, or touching in

According to psychologists in Leipzig, Germany, apes and some birds are able to plan their actions ahead of time. Psychologists Nicholas Mulcahy and Josep Call at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology say that apes are able to save tools to use at a later time, that will assist them in retrieving food. The results of the testing are "groundbreaking" and is "a starting point from which we can begin to reconstruct the evolution of the human mind. Apes and jays can also anticipate future needs by remembering past events, contradict

A cholera epidemic in Angola has killed over 1,200 people in the past three months. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) says about 35,000 people have fallen ill, half the victims in the capital of Luanda, where the first cases were detected in February. The UN say the epidemic is Angola’s worst cholera outbreak in almost two decades continues to rage on with 546 new cases and 31 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. A third of the victims are children under 5. The medical charity Mangola, Medecines Sans Frontieres and the World Health Org

Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, is witnessing a heavy fighting over the past four days. Almost 100 people have died and 200 have been wounded in the clashes, as health officials said yesterday. The battle between the Islamic Court Union and the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism has centered on the northern neighborhood of Sii-Sii. Many of the casualties are civilians caught in the crossfire. There was a temporary truce, but that did not last long. Islamic militia leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed called a unilateral truce on T

A report by the British Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into the Buncefield oil depot fire of December 2005 has suggested that an oil tank at the site was overflowing for 40 minutes before the first explosion took place. A fire soon spread throughout the depot and some of the surrounding area, sending huge plumes of smoke into the air, and the fire took several days to be extinguished. The HSE report, the third progress report into the disaster, explains with 'reasonable confidence' that Tank 912 in bund A of the site started receiving unlea

The aid agency Save the Children says an alarming number of girls in Liberia, as young as eight, were having sex with UN peacekeepers, policemen, teachers and humanitarian aid workers in exchange for money, food or favours. "People don't really accept it but because of the financial constraints, people just have to do so. Most of them are in households headed by only the mother, catering for children. Their fathers got killed in the war, or some fathers are living but can't afford to care for their children; they have to accept the situation,

California high school students’ consumption of alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs is headed up, according to a nationwide study of teen substance abuse released in April. The report, released by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, compared substance abuse statistics from their latest survey, in 2004, with statistics collected in 2002. It was based on interviews of more than 135,000 people. Nationwide, the rate of underaged drinking remained basically unchanged, but in California, it rose from 15.28 percent of

An Indian engineer working in Afghanistan was kidnapped on Friday evening while travelling from Kalat, the capital of Zabul province, to Ghazni. A. Suryanarayana works for a Bahraini telecommunications and construction firm, Al Mayyad. According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, Yosuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Taliban, has claimed responsibility. Later, another spokesman for the Taliban, Qari Mohammad Yousuf threatened to kill Suryanarayana within hours if their demand that all Indian citizens leave Afghanistan within 24 hours is not met

Australia's federal cabinet has approved plans for a universal smartcard, which would be required to access health and welfare services from 2010. The card will be introduced from 2008. The face of the card will contain its owner's name, a photograph, a number and the cardholder's signature. The card will also have a chip that will store a second photograph, address, date of birth, and details of children. Cardholders will be able to optionally include details of their next of kin, medical information and organ-donor status. Australian Prime

Tropical Cyclone Monica has missed Darwin, dissipating into a category one cyclone at 1030 AEST (0030 UTC). The cyclone was originally expected to hit Darwin as a category five, but lost power as it traveled across the Northern Territory, moving further south than anticipated. While this may bring relief to many residents fearing a return of the infamous Cyclone Tracy, authorities have warned that Monica still packs a punch and will bring 90 kph winds to the region. Northern Territory police commander, Bert Hofer, has advised residents to "stay

Today, in Khartoum and Al Jazirah in Sudan, one farmer and about 100,000 chickens were diagnosed with the first appearance of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu. The samples will be sent abroad to the World Health Organization for further testing. Most of the infected poultry has already been disposed of. H5N1, which has spread throughout Europe, northern Africa (including neighboring Egypt), central Asia, and the Middle East, has already killed about 100 people. There is no word yet on the man's identity or condition.