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The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday tightened the regulatory limit on airborne lead for the first time in 30 years, lowering the legal maximum to a tenth of what it was on the grounds that it poses a more serious threat to young children than officials had realized.

The Environmental Protection Agency and Occupational Safety and health Administration have among the most restrictive policies in the federal government on releasing scientific information to the press and public, according to a "report card" being issued today by the Union of Concerned Scientists.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Women must be more involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS, a disease increasingly being spread through sex, and men must also be encouraged to respect women more, a senior U.N. official said Friday.

Two senators looking into potential conflict of interests have sent inquiries to the Cardiovascular Research Foundation concerning its ties to device makers and drug producers.

Hong Kong - Broadcasting authorities in Hong Kong were preparing Friday to lift a ban on the advertising of anti-smoking nicotine patches and gum. The proposed lifting of the prohibition, which must be approved by the government, would end a 30-year ...

Women should not need the permission of two doctors to have an abortion, top medical law and ethics specialists say.

SPENDING hours with your mobile phone stuck to the side of your head could cause an allergic reaction, experts have warned.

AP - "Stayin' Alive" might be more true to its name than the Bee Gees ever could have guessed: At 103 beats per minute, the old disco song has almost the perfect rhythm to help jump-start a stopped heart.

AP - Drink a milkshake and the pleasure center in your brain gets a hit of happy ? unless you're overweight. It sounds counterintuitive. But scientists who watched young women savor milkshakes inside a brain scanner concluded that when the brain doesn't sense enough gratification from food, people may overeat to compensate.

AP - As flu season approaches, many New Jersey parents are furious over a first-in-the-nation requirement that children get a flu shot in order to attend preschools and day-care centers. The decision should be the parents', not the state's, they contend.