Health

EDMONTON — A group representing Canada's doctors is challenging the constitutionality of Alberta's legislation limiting access to medical treatment for transgender youth, arguing it violates their Charter right to freedom of conscience.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday the rise in cases is primarily in the eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia and western Pacific regions.

CAIRO (AP) — A fast-spreading cholera outbreak has hit Sudan , killing 172 people, with more than 2,500 others becoming ill in the past week.

BEIJING (AP) — Rescuers searched Wednesday for six people still missing after an explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China shook nearby buildings, killing at least five people and injuring 19.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan said Tuesday it plans to use some slightly radioactive soil stored near the tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant on flower beds at Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s office to show it is safe to reuse.

OTTAWA — Minor heart surgery forced former prime minister Jean Chrétien to miss today's throne speech delivered by King Charles in the Senate.

PARIS (AP) — France’s lower house of parliament adopted a bill Tuesday to allow adults with incurable illness to take lethal medication, as public demands grow across Europe for legal end-of-life options .

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Planned Parenthood halted abortions in Missouri on Tuesday after the state’s top court ordered new rulings in the tumultuous legal saga over a ban that voters struck down last November.

FREDERICTON — The premier of Prince Edward Island is asking the federal government for an update on the timeline to reduce the tolls for the Confederation Bridge and Northumberland Ferries to improve interprovincial trade to and from the mainland.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday announced that COVID-19 vaccines are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women — a move immediately questioned by several public health experts.