Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 17 September 2026. These are the top five stories making headlines in the field of health.
Fiji has declared HIV a national crisis after new diagnoses climbed 27 per cent last year, intensifying concern that an epidemic once concentrated among people who inject drugs is spreading more widely through the Pacific island nation. The government said in a statement that 2,016 people were diagnosed with HIV in 2025 and estimated that one in 60 adults was living with the disease.
The World Health Organization said there were encouraging signs that measures to contain an Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo were gaining ground, though it warned the outbreak was “far from over.” Transmission was declining in the most affected parts of Ituri province, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Two-year-old Ethiopian twins born joined at the head have been successfully separated by doctors in St. Louis, Missouri, after six major surgeries over several months. The girls travelled to the U.S. in 2025 for treatment, with their final separation procedure lasting nearly 24 hours in February 2026.
The researchers said the human tissue replicated key features of brain development, including the formation of functional neural networks, after being transplanted into mice engineered to lack most of their own cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer. They said this is significant because living human brain tissue is essentially inaccessible for research purposes for ethical reasons.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 731 measles cases, up 38 from Monday's update, as the outbreak continued to spread in the state at the center of the nation's worst measles resurgence in decades.
Russian air strikes injured 13 and damaged buildings in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and in the Black Sea port ci...
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday she wanted to open the door to...
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he hoped the war against Iran was nearing its end and that Tehran wanted to reach a deal, but Iran di...
U.S. President Donald Trump has again said Iran is keen to reach a deal quickly, but a senior Iranian security official rejected the claim, saying Tehran will not negotiate until its conditions are met.
A Danish military helicopter came within “metres” of being struck by flares fired by a Russian warship, Denmark's Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus said on Tuesday. Russia accused Denmark of carrying out “dangerous manoeuvres” near its ship, and said it was investigating the incident.
Saudi Arabia said its air defences destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it could enter prohibited airspace over the holy city, as attacks by the Iran-aligned group deepen regional tensions.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine was carrying out tests on a new weapon to intercept drones and had recorded a successful hit overnight.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is outlining the EU's priorities in her annual State of the Union address, covering security, support for Ukraine, trade with China, migration, climate and artificial intelligence.
Doctors in St. Louis have successfully separated Ethiopian two-year-old twin girls who were born joined at the head after a months-long series of complex operations culminating in a nearly 25-hour final procedure, doctors said on Wednesday.
Tobacco use may significantly reduce fertility in both men and women, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) publication that highlights growing evidence linking smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke with reproductive health problems.
A record-breaking heatwave that swept across western Europe in late June has been linked to more than 10,000 excess deaths, according to newly released mortality data, highlighting the growing human toll of extreme temperatures across the continent.
Authorities in Nigeria's Ondo State have launched an investigation after 24 people died and several others were hospitalised following the consumption of a locally produced herbal drink in communities in the country's southwest.
A new study has found that baby girls exposed to paracetamol during pregnancy had, on average, smaller ovaries and uteruses and fewer ovarian follicles than those whose mothers did not take the painkiller.
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