In an Arab world rife with social stigma, government inaction and often limited access to education and medical care, experts warn that an HIV epidemic is on the rise.

"In the Middle East and North Africa, the HIV epidemic has been on the rise for the past decade," said Aleksandar Sasha Bodiroza, HIV/AIDS adviser at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

U.S. fast food giant McDonald's has been fined $1.8 million in Brazil over its "Happy Meal" toys, which consumer advocates say encourage bad eating habits in children, state media has reported.

The Foundation for the Protection and Defense of the Consumer in Sao Paulo imposed the fine after a consumer group filed a complaint with it against the global fast food chain.

Babies born as early as 23 weeks showed better survival rates and less brain damage if their mothers were given steroids in the days preceding their birth, a U.S. study said Tuesday.

The research in the December 7 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that preterm babies may benefit sooner than thought from the boost in lung power and organ growth they get from exposure to steroids.

British women are being offered free supplies of the emergency "morning-after" contraceptive pill over the Christmas and New Year holidays, the country's leading abortion agency said Tuesday.

The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said it saw more women with unplanned pregnancies in January than any other time, and hoped the project would reduce numbers.

Radiation contamination has been found in a leading brand of Japanese baby formula, most likely fallout from the country's crippled nuclear plant, its manufacturer said Tuesday.

Meiji, a major producer of milk, confectionery and pharmaceuticals, said it was recalling some 400,000 cans of "Meiji Step" formula that contained a small amount of radioactive caesium-134 and ceasium-137.

Local authorities in northeast China said Tuesday drinks made by U.S. giant Coca-Cola that left one child dead and three others ill last week were deliberately poisoned.

In an incident that caused nationwide concern, a boy who drank a Pulpy Milky yoghurt drink made by Coca-Cola subsidiary Minute Maid died on November 28 in Jilin province, prompting a mass recall of the products.

Millions of Chinese went online Tuesday to vent their anger over the thick smog that has blanketed Beijing in recent days, raising health fears and causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled.

Sales of face masks were reported to have surged as residents of China's heavily polluted capital sought to protect themselves from the air, which U.S. embassy figures ranked "very unhealthy".

A United Nations-appointed expert is urging Vietnam's government to close down rehabilitation centers for drug users and sex workers following criticism of abuses by an international rights group, calling them "counterproductive."

Anand Grover, a special rapporteur for the U.N. Human Rights Council, said Monday at the end of a 10-day visit to Vietnam that the centers violate drug users' rights and are ineffective. He said the government should instead expand alternative treatments for drug users.

Four years after transforming Paris's two-wheeled transport habits with an easy-to-rent bicycle system, officials on Monday launched a similar project for the electric car.

Regional and business officials unveiled "Autolib," an electric car rental service they hope will yield big benefits for the city's often-clogged streets.

Prime Minister David Cameron was Monday to unveil plans which could allow patient records held by Britain's nationalized health service to be shared with private firms in a bid to boost its ailing economy.

Cameron was set to make a speech outlining the government's strategy for the life-science industry, in which he was to insist on "opening up" the National Health Service (NHS) in order to make health a "huge magnet" for economic growth.