Mpox is down, but US cities could be at risk for summertime outbreaks

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The mpox health emergency has ended, but U.S. health officials are aiming to prevent a repeat of last year’s outbreaks. Mpox infections exploded early in the summer of 2022 in the wake of Pride gatherings. More than 30,000 U.S. cases were reported last year,...

Takeaways from AP's report on secretive networks helping women circumvent Honduras' abortion ban

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — In remote mountain villages, urban neighborhoods, along the Caribbean coast — despite Honduras’ national abortion ban and amid suffocating social and religious opposition, women are terminating pregnancies with the help of clandestine networks seeking to make the...

Burner phones, aliases, code words: How secret networks help women circumvent Honduras' abortion ban

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Inside a little wooden house among the pine and oak forests of western Honduras’ coffee-growing mountains, a woman opened a tiny package of pills, delivered to a nearby town. She didn’t know it, but the medication had more than likely entered the country hidden in...

Mpox no longer a global emergency, WHO says

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization said Thursday that the global outbreak of mpox, which initially baffled experts when the smallpox-related disease spread to more than 100 countries last year, is no longer an international emergency, after a dramatic drop in cases in recent months. ...

South Korea to lift quarantine mandate for COVID-19 and end testing recommendation for travelers

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea will drop its COVID-19 quarantine requirements and end testing recommendations for international arrivals starting next month after the World Health Organization declared the end of the global health emergency. In lowering the coronavirus alert...

Sudan's death toll rises as warring sides continue talks

CAIRO (AP) — The death toll from the ongoing clashes in Sudan has risen to 604 people, including civilians, the U.N. health agency said on Tuesday. The new figures come as representatives of the warring parties are holding talks in Saudi Arabia. More than 5,100 people were also...

WHO downgrades COVID pandemic, says it's no longer emergency

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization said Friday that COVID-19 no longer qualifies as a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to the devastating coronavirus pandemic that triggered once-unthinkable lockdowns, upended economies and killed millions of people worldwide. The...

WHO says COVID emergency is over. So what does that mean?

LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization downgraded its assessment of the coronavirus pandemic on Friday, saying it no longer qualifies as a global emergency. The action reverses a declaration that was first made on January 30, 2020, when the disease had not even been named COVID-19 and when...

World Health Organization downgrades COVID-19 pandemic, says it's no longer a global emergency

WHO fires scientist who led COVID search over sex misconduct

GENEVA (AP) — The World Health Organization says it has fired the scientist who led a high-profile delegation from the U.N. health agency to China two years ago to jointly look into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, citing sexual misconduct. Peter Ben Embarek, who led the...