Undermining China: towns sink after mines close

By David Stanway HELIN, China (Reuters) - Deep in the coal heartlands of northern Shanxi province, people in Helin village are fighting a losing battle as the ground beneath them crumbles: patching up cracks, rebuilding walls and filling in sinkholes caused by decades of coal mining. Around 100 pits in Helin - buried in the hilly rural outskirts of the city of Xiaoyi - have been exhausted, and cluttered hamlets totter precariously on the brittle slopes of mines. It's scary, but what can we do?" Mines that burrowed under villages and towns during China's three-decade coal boom have left the authorities with the need to evacuate hundreds of communities in danger of sinking.

McDonald's pressured to serve up global antibiotics ban

A new online campaign is putting pressure on fast food giant McDonald's to impose a global ban on products from animals treated with antibiotics.

More than a third of female students 'have mental health problems'

A survey suggests one in three female students has a mental health problem.

Doctors at top Indian hospital charged in kidney harvesting racket

By Nita Bhalla NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - The chief executive, medical director and three other doctors at a prestigious Indian hospital have been charged with offences related to illegal organ transplants after a kidney trafficking racket was uncovered, a police spokesman said. Operating out of the private L.H. Hiranandani Hospital in Mumbai, the organ harvesting ring was busted by police in July following a tip-off that poor villagers were being paid to sell their kidneys to recipients via a network of agents. Mumbai Deputy Police Commissioner Ashok Dudhe said the five doctors were arrested late on Tuesday after police had examined the findings of a government inquiry into the case.

Zika will not be issue at Olympics: Rio health official

The risk of Zika virus infections at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is low and has been overcome, health officials in Brazil said on Sunday, five days before South America's first Games are due to begin. Rio de Janeiro's health secretary, Daniel Soranz, said Zika should not deter travelers from coming to the Games, as cases of the virus had dipped significantly in recent months. The mosquito-borne virus has been linked to microcephaly, a birth defect among babies of pregnant mothers infected by Zika, and its discovery in Brazil last year led to concern over the Games, which are expected to attract some 500,000 visitors.

Florida Zika cases prompt UK advice for pregnant travellers

Public Health England advises pregnant women to consider postponing any non-essential trips to Florida amid concerns over the Zika virus.

Obama signs opioid addiction bill into law -White House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday signed a bill passed by Congress aimed at combating a nationwide epidemic of heroin and other opioid addictions, the White House said. The measure aims to help communities develop treatment and overdose programs at a time when fewer than half the estimated 2.2 million Americans who need help for opioid abuse are receiving it, according to U.S. health officials. (Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Eric Beech)