No new cases of malaria originated in Europe, Central Asia or the Caucasus in 2015, the first year without a transmission for almost 30 years, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

Between 1995 and 2015, the number of "indigenous" -- or locally transmitted -- malaria cases, fell from 90,712 to zero in countries located in the WHO's European region.

South Africa plans a new "fat tax" on sugary drinks to combat an obesity epidemic -- but sweet-toothed consumers say its chances are slim of making them cut down.

Ranked as one of the most obese nations on the continent, South Africa is joining a growing list of countries around the world, such as Britain and Mexico, trying to put a cap on fizzy drinks.

Peru has suffered its first case of sexually transmitted, locally contracted Zika virus, authorities said Saturday.

Health Minister Anibal Velasquez said that after a woman tested positive for Zika officials went to see if she could have been bitten by a transmitter mosquito at her home.

Three Canadian families are suing a sperm bank and its distributor alleging they were given sperm from a convicted felon diagnosed with multiple mental disorders -- but told he was a genius.

At least 36 women in Britain, Canada and the United States are believed to have been inseminated with the donor's sperm over the past decade, resulting in pregnancies.

Around 450 Vietnamese drug addicts have escaped from a rehabilitation center where many were held for compulsory treatment, an official said Thursday.

The detainees attacked guards, climbed walls, and broke down the main gate at the center in the Vietnam's southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau late Wednesday.

Tech billionaire Sean Parker announced a $250 million grant on Wednesday to fund research aimed at breakthroughs in cancer treatment through immunotherapy.

Parker, the founder of music-sharing service Napster and an early investor and executive at Facebook, will create a center for immunotherapy -- which aims to use the body's immune system to fight the disease -- collaborating with six U.S.-based cancer research institutions.

As Poland's Catholic Church prepares to celebrate 1,050 years as the national faith, a call by its bishops for a total ban on abortion has embroiled the church in a divisive and potentially harmful debate.

The church that was crucial in preserving the nation's spirit and identity in World War II and under decades of communism has now provoked massive street protests and even a walkout from one church.

A project to speed development of cancer-fighting drugs that harness the immune system has academic and drug industry researchers collaborating and sharing their findings like never before.

The newly created Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy is being funded by a $250 million grant from Sean Parker, the co-founder of the file-sharing site Napster and Facebook's first president. It brings together partners at six top academic cancer centers, dozens of drugmakers and other groups.

Police in Tehran arrested 2,900 drunk drivers last year, a top official said Tuesday, describing the figures, which come despite the Islamic republic's official prohibition of alcohol, as "alarming".

The offenders were detained in the 12 months up to March 2016, the Iranian capital's prosecutor general Abbas Jafarabadi said, according to the judiciary's official news service.

With summer approaching, Zika may find its way into virus-carrying mosquitoes in Europe or the United States, disease experts have warned, but any outbreaks are likely to be small and short-lived.