Among the refugees arriving on Europe's shores seeking sanctuary from war, poverty or persecution, many are children -- often orphaned, alone and without official papers.

Once they get there, the older ones may be subjected to physical assessments to determine whether they are in fact still children who qualify for certain rights.

More than 180 people have died of swine flu in Ukraine since late September, the health ministry said on Monday, adding that three of the victims were children.

The war-scarred former Soviet country has been swept by a general flu epidemic that overall has claimed 220 lives since September 28, when the first illness was recorded, the ministry said.

More than two dozen Indonesians have died after drinking bootleg alcohol in central Java, police said Monday.

Investigators said a majority of the victims died after purchasing home-made liquor from a couple in Sleman, a town north of Yogyakarta city, local police said.

Armed with brooms, spades and hoes, Hondurans by the thousands took part in a day of national mobilization to try and eradicate mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus, the government said.

Some 200,000 residents of this Central American nation spent Saturday ridding homes and gardens of standing water and fumigating areas suspected of harboring larvae from the virus-carrying mosquito.

A growing Lassa fever outbreak in Nigeria has killed 101 people, as West Africa battles to contain a flare up of the virus, according to data from the nation's health authorities released Saturday. 

Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC) statistics show that reported cases of the hemorrhagic disease -- both confirmed and suspected -- stood at 175 with a total of 101 deaths since August.

Rio's Carnival -- a five day festival of dancing, bared flesh and wild costumes -- go underway in the face of warnings that the Zika virus might make even kissing dangerous.

Mayor Eduardo Paes handed a big golden key to the city to the Carnival's ceremonial King Momo, who promised a spectacular show. 

U.S. health authorities on Friday urged people to use condoms or refrain from sex if they live in or have traveled to areas where the Zika virus is circulating.

The new interim guidelines from the U.S. Centers from Disease Control are aimed at pregnant women and their partners, and those of childbearing age who are concerned about Zika, a primarily mosquito-borne virus which has been linked to birth defects.

Nearly 500,000 condoms will be distributed in the Angolan capital Luanda during the four-day annual carnival that starts Saturday, in a campaign to help prevent the spread of AIDS, organizers said.

ANASO, an umbrella organization of groups fighting HIV and AIDS, will send 10 teams of volunteers across the city to hand out condoms and leaflets about combating the disease.

The United Nations on Friday urged countries hit by the dangerous Zika virus to let women have access to contraception and abortion.

The U.N. human rights office said the South American countries now urging women to hold off getting pregnant over Zika fears had to offer them the possibility of controlling their fertility.

An inquiry into the death of a man during a drug trial has found "three major shortcomings" at the French laboratory where he was being tested, the minister of health said Thursday.

Five other people were also hospitalized after taking part in a Phase I trial for a new pain and mood disorder medication at Biotrial, in western France, on behalf of Portuguese pharmaceutical company Bial.