Saudi Arabia has imposed a total ban on advertisements for energy drinks and prohibited their sale in educational and sports facilities and government buildings due to health concerns, local press reported Tuesday.

The decision was taken following an interior ministry study of the "adverse effects of energy drinks," English-language daily Arab News said, without naming any of the brands affected.

A medical group of epilepsy experts on Monday called on the U.S. government to reconsider classifying marijuana as a dangerous drug so its impact on seizures can be studied.

The American Epilepsy Society's statement comes as a British pharmaceutical company is scheduled to begin tests of an ant-epilepsy drug derived from cannabis, with the hallucinogenic ingredients removed, and parents are flocking to Colorado to try a strain of pot they say has helped some children with seizures.

Under a searing midday sun, a herd of cattle circles atop a pile of golden teff, thrashing the wheat-like grain, a method that has been practiced by Ethiopian farmers for centuries.

The crop, mostly grown in the Horn of Africa, is a key part of the country's heritage and a crucial food staple, but is also gaining increased interest abroad among health afficionados seeking a nutritious, gluten-free alternative to wheat.

Millions of children in the Middle East will be vaccinated against polio this month after the crippling disease resurfaced in conflict-hit Syria, the United Nations said Sunday.

Mass vaccinations have already been launched in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Syria, while a similar campaign in Lebanon will start on March 9, the U.N. Children's Fund Unicef said in a statement.

The Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture was unanimously elected on Friday to head the Food and Agriculture Organization's 33rd regional conference of the Near East and North Africa.

The conference will be held in Beirut in 2016.

Health officials say the Philippines has broken India's record of gathering the most number of organ donor pledges in an hour at a single site. The feat awaits the Guinness World Records' official confirmation.

Health Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag said Friday's campaign gathered 3,548 pledges, beating India's previous record of 2,755.

Cambodia has banned e-cigarettes and shisha pipes saying the increasingly popular products contain damaging levels of nicotine and are leading young people to take up smoking.

The National Authority for Combating Drugs (NACD) ordered authorities to immediately cease the import, use and sale of shisha tobacco and pipes and e-cigarettes across the country, according to a directive issued to local authorities on Wednesday.

A degenerative brain disease linked to repeated blows to the head has been found in a U.S. semi-professional football player who died last April, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Researchers at Boston University and VA Boston Healthcare System who have diagnosed many cases of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) said 29-year-old Patrick Grange showed damage on a level usually found in American football players.

A diet rich in calories and carbohydrates may slow progression of the lethal, degenerative Lou Gehrig's disease, according to a small-scale study reported in The Lancet on Friday.

Formally called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or motor neuron disease, the disorder affects nerve cells that control muscle movement.

A DNA test of a pregnant woman's blood is more accurate than current methods of screening for Down syndrome and other common disorders, new research finds. If other studies bear this out, it could transform prenatal care by giving a more reliable, non-invasive way to detect these problems very early in pregnancy.

That would let couples decide sooner whether to have an abortion or to prepare for a major medical problem. It also might cut down on the more invasive tests like amniocentesis to diagnose or rule out problems with a fetus.