Mammograms aimed at finding breast cancer might actually raise the chances of developing it in young women whose genes put them at higher risk for the disease, a study by leading European cancer agencies suggests.

The added radiation from mammograms and other types of tests with chest radiation might be especially harmful to them and an MRI is probably a safer method of screening women under 30 who are at high risk because of gene mutations, the authors conclude.

An AIDS awareness campaigner and his lawyers said Friday they are taking a groundbreaking test case to Zimbabwe's highest court to force police and prison authorities ensure HIV sufferers get their life prolonging medication.

Douglas Muzanenhamo said in papers filed at the Supreme Court that he was denied appropriate antiretroviral treatment in jail for three weeks last year and his condition veered toward death.

One million people die by their own hand each year, accounting for more deaths than wars and murders put together, the World Health Organization said Friday, calling for urgent action to address the problem.

"Data from the WHO indicate that approximately one million people worldwide die by suicide each year. This corresponds to one death by suicide every 40 seconds," the organization said in a report launched ahead of the World Suicide Prevention Day on Monday.

Cancer is big, but so are the celebrities determined to help conquer it.

Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow, Sofia Vergara and Robert Pattinson were among dozens of stars who appeared Friday on the third Stand Up to Cancer telethon.

A common dietary supplement could treat a rare form of autism which has been found to be linked to an amino acid deficiency, a study published Thursday in the journal Science has found.

U.S. researchers were able to isolate a genetic mutation in some autism patients which speeds up metabolism of certain amino acids.

Argentina's "miracle baby," born premature and declared dead in April and then found alive 12 hours later at the morgue, has been cleared to go home, the hospital said Thursday.

Luz Milagros, whose middle name means "miracles" in Spanish, "is stable," with a tube for feeding and respiratory assistance "to help avoid fatigue," said the director of Resistencia's pediatric hospital, Juan Mario Jacobassi.

Singapore registered its worst level of air pollution for the year on Friday as smoke from forest fires in Indonesia blew over the city-state, triggering a health warning.

As of 8am (0000 GMT) Singapore's Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) ranged from 65-75 after a night of thick, choking haze over the island. The air began to clear later in the morning thanks to favourable winds.

One of the world's most body-conscious countries, Brazil is now threatened by growing obesity rates, with half of the population already overweight.

As a result of an unbalanced diet and a rise in more sedentary lifestyles, Brazil, which moved 30 million people out of poverty and into the middle class over the past decade, is paying a heavy price for its frenetic growth.

Around a third of young children in southern Afghanistan are acutely malnourished, according to a U.N.-backed government survey.

The figures show there has been little improvement in tackling malnutrition, despite the billions of dollars of aid money pumped into the war-torn country since a 2001 U.S.-led invasion brought down the Taliban.

A massive DNA database has generated a map of the genetic switches which impact everything from hair loss to cancer and opened the door to revolutionary treatments for a host of deadly diseases, researchers said Wednesday.

"This is a major step toward understanding the wiring diagram of a human being," said lead researcher Michael Snyder of Stanford University.