Lawyers

• China Made Necessary Steps To Stop The Practice Of Taking Organs From Executed Prisoners

  UN confirmed China claims that they have reformed from the once-widespread practice of illegal harvest organs, but said that totally eliminating it in the country is not possible.

• Two gynecologists advocate for females' circumcision

  Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) will fight extreme forms of genital cutting rather than outright ban.

• China hikes cigarette tax in anti-smoking drive

  China is set to raise the wholesale tax rate for cigarettes to 11 percent from 5 percent, the Ministry of Finance said on Friday, in a move to deter smokers in the world's biggest maker and consumer of tobacco.

• Sierra Leone to reopen schools in March as Ebola infections slow

  Schools in Sierra Leone will reopen in March, the West African nation's government said on Wednesday, eight months after students were sent home and classes shuttered following the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus.

• Mali government declares country Ebola-free

  Mali's health minister declared the West African nation free of Ebola on Sunday following a 42-day period without a new case of the deadly virus.

• Hong Kong confirms first case of deadly bird flu this winter

  A woman is critically ill in Hong Kong with the deadly H7N9 strain of bird flu, the first confirmed case in the city this winter, the Hong Kong government said.

• Sierra Leone to ban Xmas parties, plans "surge" to curb Ebola spread

  Sierra Leone plans to ban parties and other festivities over the Christmas and New Year's holidays and to launch a "surge" to cut the risk of Ebola spreading further in the West African country now with the most infections, officials said on Friday.

• Sierra Leone doctor dies of Ebola at Nebraska hospital

  A surgeon who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone died early on Monday of the disease at a Nebraska hospital, medical officials said, the second death from the virus out of 10 known cases treated in the United States.

• Mauritania closes border with Mali over Ebola fears

  Mauritania has closed its border with Mali to prevent the spread of Ebola, officials said on Saturday, highlighting fears of further contagion in West Africa after a girl from Guinea died of the disease in Mali this week.

• African immigrants worry about backlash from U.S. Ebola case

  In Dallas and other cities home to large populations of African immigrants, worries are abounding among many that their standing in the United States has been tainted by one Liberian man infected with Ebola being treated in Texas.

• Scientists grapple with ethics in rush to release Ebola vaccines

  Normally it takes years to prove a new vaccine is both safe and effective before it can be used in the field. But with hundreds of people dying a day in the worst ever outbreak of Ebola, there is no time to wait.

• World leaders to gather at U.N. in shadow of Islamic State, Ebola crises

  World leaders gather in New York this week to tackle a host of crises: the violence Islamic State militants are wreaking in Iraq and Syria, the exponential spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Africa and deadlocked negotiations on Iran's nuclear program.

• U.S. pledges 3,000 troops to fight Ebola; experts say more needed

  The United States has pledged to send 3,000 troops West Africa, using its military muscle to battle the biggest ever outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus, with an unprecedented mission to build treatment clinics and train health workers.

• WHO urges stiff regulatory curbs on e-cigarettes

  The World Health Organization (WHO) stepped up its war on "Big Tobacco" on Tuesday, calling for stiff regulation of electronic cigarettes as well as bans on indoor use, advertising and sales to minors.

• Ebola outbreak forces Sierra Leone to declare state of emergency

  According to a Reuters report, the government has already called in its troops to quarantine the areas that post the highest number of Ebola infection on Thursday. Sierra Leone has now joined Liberia in employing more stringent initiatives in the hopes of curbing the worst virus outbreak in history.

• Study reveals decriminalization of sex work will reduce global HIV infections significantly

  Associate professor of medicine Kate Shannon at the University of British Columbia, who is the lead author of the study, said in the report, "Across all settings, decriminalization of sex work could have the largest impact on the HIV epidemic among sex workers over just 10 years. Governments and policymakers can no longer ignore the evidence."

• Chinese native sues government over worsening smog

  A local Chinese court has yet to accept the complaint lodged by Shijiazhuang local Li Guixin against the government over the air quality of the mainland, BBC News said in a report.