As the World Health Organization marks World Malaria Day, April 25, Malawi has launched the pilot phase of Africa’s first malaria vaccine. The WHO chose Malawi, alongside Ghana and Kenya, because of the high numbers of malaria cases and treatment facilities. The pilot phase aims to vaccinate 360,000 children per year, 120,000 of them in Malawi. But, as Lameck Masina reports from Lilongwe, while the vaccine is expected to save thousands of lives, its effectiveness is limited. … From: MeNeedIt

As the World Health Organization marks World Malaria Day, April 25, Malawi has launched the pilot phase of Africa’s first malaria vaccine. The WHO chose Malawi, alongside Ghana and Kenya, because of the high numbers of malaria cases and treatment facilities. The pilot phase aims to vaccinate 360,000 children per year, 120,000 of them in Malawi. But, as Lameck Masina reports from Lilongwe, while the vaccine is expected to save thousands of lives, its effectiveness is limited. … From: MeNeedIt

Despondent, Akon Mathiong points to two small mounds of dirt where she buried her grandsons, 4 and 5 years old, last month. They died after contracting measles in one of the worst-hit areas of South Sudan’s latest outbreak. “Every time I see the graves I feel like crying,” Mathiong said. The family said the boys had been vaccinated against the highly infectious disease. Similar infections are prompting questions about whether some vaccines have been compromised in a country largely devastated by conflict. As South Sudan emerges from a five-year civil …

Despondent, Akon Mathiong points to two small mounds of dirt where she buried her grandsons, 4 and 5 years old, last month. They died after contracting measles in one of the worst-hit areas of South Sudan’s latest outbreak. “Every time I see the graves I feel like crying,” Mathiong said. The family said the boys had been vaccinated against the highly infectious disease. Similar infections are prompting questions about whether some vaccines have been compromised in a country largely devastated by conflict. As South Sudan emerges from a five-year civil …

Despondent, Akon Mathiong points to two small mounds of dirt where she buried her grandsons, 4 and 5 years old, last month. They died after contracting measles in one of the worst-hit areas of South Sudan’s latest outbreak. “Every time I see the graves I feel like crying,” Mathiong said. The family said the boys had been vaccinated against the highly infectious disease. Similar infections are prompting questions about whether some vaccines have been compromised in a country largely devastated by conflict. As South Sudan emerges from a five-year civil …

Despondent, Akon Mathiong points to two small mounds of dirt where she buried her grandsons, 4 and 5 years old, last month. They died after contracting measles in one of the worst-hit areas of South Sudan’s latest outbreak. “Every time I see the graves I feel like crying,” Mathiong said. The family said the boys had been vaccinated against the highly infectious disease. Similar infections are prompting questions about whether some vaccines have been compromised in a country largely devastated by conflict. As South Sudan emerges from a five-year civil …

The White House says two senior economic officials will travel to China next week to continue negotiations aimed at resolving the two economic giants ongoing trade war. A statement issued Tuesday says Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will meet with Vice Premier Liu He in Beijing on April 30. The two sides will discuss such issues as intellectual property, forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers and agriculture.  The White House says Vice Premier Liu will lead a Chinese delegation to Washington for additional talks the following …

The White House says two senior economic officials will travel to China next week to continue negotiations aimed at resolving the two economic giants ongoing trade war. A statement issued Tuesday says Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will meet with Vice Premier Liu He in Beijing on April 30. The two sides will discuss such issues as intellectual property, forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers and agriculture.  The White House says Vice Premier Liu will lead a Chinese delegation to Washington for additional talks the following …

The White House says two senior economic officials will travel to China next week to continue negotiations aimed at resolving the two economic giants ongoing trade war. A statement issued Tuesday says Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will meet with Vice Premier Liu He in Beijing on April 30. The two sides will discuss such issues as intellectual property, forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers and agriculture.  The White House says Vice Premier Liu will lead a Chinese delegation to Washington for additional talks the following …

The White House says two senior economic officials will travel to China next week to continue negotiations aimed at resolving the two economic giants ongoing trade war. A statement issued Tuesday says Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer will meet with Vice Premier Liu He in Beijing on April 30. The two sides will discuss such issues as intellectual property, forced technology transfer, non-tariff barriers and agriculture.  The White House says Vice Premier Liu will lead a Chinese delegation to Washington for additional talks the following …

In the wake of the Christchurch attack, New Zealand said on Wednesday that it would work with France in an effort to stop social media from being used to promote terrorism and violent extremism. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement that she will co-chair a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on May 15 that will seek to have world leaders and CEOs of tech companies agree to a pledge, called the Christchurch Call, to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. A lone gunman killed …

In the wake of the Christchurch attack, New Zealand said on Wednesday that it would work with France in an effort to stop social media from being used to promote terrorism and violent extremism. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a statement that she will co-chair a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on May 15 that will seek to have world leaders and CEOs of tech companies agree to a pledge, called the Christchurch Call, to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. A lone gunman killed …

Oil prices reached a six-month high Tuesday after the Trump administration announced it would no longer exempt countries from U.S. sanctions, if they continue to buy Iranian crude oil, a move aimed at imposing a complete oil embargo on Iran. Waivers granted to eight countries, including big Iranian crude importers China, India, Japan, Turkey and South Korea, are due to expire on May 2. RBC Capital Markets, a global investment bank, has told clients it anticipates a loss of 700,000 to 800,000 barrels of oil a day from markets as …

Oil prices reached a six-month high Tuesday after the Trump administration announced it would no longer exempt countries from U.S. sanctions, if they continue to buy Iranian crude oil, a move aimed at imposing a complete oil embargo on Iran. Waivers granted to eight countries, including big Iranian crude importers China, India, Japan, Turkey and South Korea, are due to expire on May 2. RBC Capital Markets, a global investment bank, has told clients it anticipates a loss of 700,000 to 800,000 barrels of oil a day from markets as …

Americans are becoming increasingly sedentary, spending almost a third of their waking hours sitting down, and computer use is partly to blame, a new study found.   Over almost a decade, average daily sitting time increased by roughly an hour, to about eight hours for U.S. teens and almost 6 1/2 hours for adults, according to the researchers. That includes school and work hours, but leisure-time computer use among all ages increased too.   By 2016, at least half of American kids and adults spent an hour or more of …

A fee dispute between actor Bill Cosby and one in a string of law firms hired to address his legal problems shows the firm was billing Cosby $1 million a month in the run-up to his first sex assault trial. The imprisoned Cosby is challenging a California arbitration award that trims the $9 million bill from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to below $7 million. Cosby, 81, accuses the firm of elder abuse and “egregious” billing practices, and of fraud for representing both him and the insurance company he was …

A new study shows that many teenagers who use e-cigarettes do not understand the amount of addictive nicotine they are inhaling.  The study, published in the American Academy of Pediatrics, found that 40 percent of adolescents who believed they were only using nicotine-free products were actually vaping significant amounts of the substance.  The research involved 517 adolescents, aged 12 to 21, who were questioned about their use of e-cigarettes, traditional cigarettes and marijuana.  Researchers from Stony Brook University in New York state compared adolescents’ responses about their use of such …

A new study shows that many teenagers who use e-cigarettes do not understand the amount of addictive nicotine they are inhaling.  The study, published in the American Academy of Pediatrics, found that 40 percent of adolescents who believed they were only using nicotine-free products were actually vaping significant amounts of the substance.  The research involved 517 adolescents, aged 12 to 21, who were questioned about their use of e-cigarettes, traditional cigarettes and marijuana.  Researchers from Stony Brook University in New York state compared adolescents’ responses about their use of such …

The endangered killer whales of the Pacific Northwest live very different lives from orcas in captivity. They swim up to 100 miles (161 kilometers) a day in pursuit of salmon, instead of being fed a steady diet of baitfish and multivitamins. Their playful splashing awes and entertains kayakers and passengers on Washington state ferries instead of paying theme park customers. But the captive whales are nevertheless providing a boon to researchers urgently trying to save wild whales in the Northwest. SeaWorld, which displays orcas at its parks in California, Texas …

The endangered killer whales of the Pacific Northwest live very different lives from orcas in captivity. They swim up to 100 miles (161 kilometers) a day in pursuit of salmon, instead of being fed a steady diet of baitfish and multivitamins. Their playful splashing awes and entertains kayakers and passengers on Washington state ferries instead of paying theme park customers. But the captive whales are nevertheless providing a boon to researchers urgently trying to save wild whales in the Northwest. SeaWorld, which displays orcas at its parks in California, Texas …

Sasha Joseph Neulinger knew that if he was going to work through the traumas of his childhood, he was going to have to watch the home movies.    Growing up, Neulinger’s father was an avid videographer whose boxes of tapes took on a more chilling quality after it was uncovered that Neulinger, between the ages of three and seven, was sexually abused by not just one relative but several family members. In “Rewind,” which will premiere at the 18th annual Tribeca Film Festival , Neulinger, now 29, sifts through those …

Nigeria’s women’s football [soccer] team, the Super Falcons, has dominated the African Women’s Championship, winning nine titles since 1991. But the players have complained of low salaries, delayed paychecks, and being treated as second-class players to the men’s team. Thirty-one-year-old Toochukwu Oluehi is the Number One goalkeeper on the Nigerian women’s national team – the Super Falcons.  The team has won almost every African Women’s Championship since 1991, taking nine out of 11 recognized titles.  But despite their record, Oluehi and her teammates say they are too often overlooked and …

Nigeria’s women’s football [soccer] team, the Super Falcons, has dominated the African Women’s Championship, winning nine titles since 1991. But the players have complained of low salaries, delayed paychecks, and being treated as second-class players to the men’s team. Thirty-one-year-old Toochukwu Oluehi is the Number One goalkeeper on the Nigerian women’s national team – the Super Falcons.  The team has won almost every African Women’s Championship since 1991, taking nine out of 11 recognized titles.  But despite their record, Oluehi and her teammates say they are too often overlooked and …

Nigeria’s women’s football [soccer] team, the Super Falcons, has dominated the African Women’s Championship, winning nine titles since 1991. But the players have complained of low salaries, delayed paychecks, and being treated as second-class players to the men’s team. Thirty-one-year-old Toochukwu Oluehi is the Number One goalkeeper on the Nigerian women’s national team – the Super Falcons.  The team has won almost every African Women’s Championship since 1991, taking nine out of 11 recognized titles.  But despite their record, Oluehi and her teammates say they are too often overlooked and …

Nigeria’s women’s football [soccer] team, the Super Falcons, has dominated the African Women’s Championship, winning nine titles since 1991. But the players have complained of low salaries, delayed paychecks, and being treated as second-class players to the men’s team. Thirty-one-year-old Toochukwu Oluehi is the Number One goalkeeper on the Nigerian women’s national team – the Super Falcons.  The team has won almost every African Women’s Championship since 1991, taking nine out of 11 recognized titles.  But despite their record, Oluehi and her teammates say they are too often overlooked and …

Measles is a disease that is only found in humans so it could be completely wiped off the face of the earth. But despite a highly effective and safe vaccine, measles is making a comeback.  In the first three months of this year, the World Health Organization reports that the number of measles cases has tripled over what it was last year. In Africa, the situation is worse. Africa saw a 700-percent increase compared to last year. Dr. Anthony Fauci heads the research on infectious diseases at the National Institutes …