World Health Organization

Police searched the home of Brazil's powerful ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and detained him for questioning on March 4 in a probe into a huge corruption scheme.

Agents searched his house in Sao Paulo, the offices of the Lula Institute, and houses of family members, Jose Chrispiniano, a spokesman for Lula and his institute, told AFP.

Doctors from around the world are set to discuss health issues in times of war and migration at a symposium in Turkey, as the country struggles to take care of more than 2 million migrants who have fled violence in war-torn Syria.

Turkey has said it has transferred $1.5 million to the WHO's Palestine Representation in order to assist health institutions in Gaza. The announcement comes a day after Turkish and Israeli officials met in Geneva to normalize ties. 

A statement issued late on Feb. 12 by the Foreign Ministry said the financial aid was made upon the request of the Palestinians. 

As Turkey tries to lower daily salt consumption, thousands of restaurants could be preparing to remove the much-maligned condiment from their tables.       

Istanbul-based All Restaurants and Suppliers' Association is planning to discuss this issue during an executive meeting at the end of this month, an industry source said on condition of anonymity.

Brazil is signing an agreement with the University of Texas to develop a vaccine against the Zika virus, the country's health minister said on Feb. 11, adding the goal is for the vaccine to be ready for clinical testing within 12 months.

The Serbian Ministry of Health is in daily contact with the World Health Organization and the relevant bodies when it comes to the Zika virus.

It is implementing all preventive measures, Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Loncar said in Belgrade on Wednesday.

Zika, the mosquito-borne virus spreading through the Americas that has been linked to thousands of babies born with underdeveloped brains (microcephaly), is just the latest new disease to spread panic around the world. And wait! News just in that it can be sexually transmitted too!

Ireland’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirmed that two people affected by Zika virus.

One case is in a man and the other in an older woman, but both have recovered from the infection, BBC reports.

They both have a history of travel to a Zika affected country, while the HSE has said the cases are unrelated.

A small Australian maker of bug sprays became an unlikely beneficiary of the mosquito-borne Zika virus outbreak this week when the country's Olympic team signed it up as its first official insect repellent sponsor. 

Brazil warned pregnant women on Feb. 1 to stay away from the Summer Olympics after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an international emergency over the Zika virus, blamed for causing a surge in brain-damaged babies.