What we're reading

Nearly 40 cities have been affected by heavy flooding, leaving 18 people dead and more than 280 injured in the northeast region of Brazil

Restrictions imposed in November on eight southern African countries will be lifted on December 31

The window for pursuing the elimination of COVID-19 has closed, and moving toward a post-pandemic world will be more complicated

At least 208 dead and 52 missing after Typhoon Rai carves trail of destruction in Philippines

A growing body of preliminary research suggests COVID vaccines used in most of the world offer almost no defense against omicron infection

Scientists report a series of worrying weaknesses—due to a warming ocean—in the ice shelf holding back one of Antarctica’s most significant glaciers

What if we treated the risk of pandemics the same way we treat the risk of fires?

Canada has approved a law banning "conversion therapy" and criminalizing profiting off the discredited, anti-LGBTQ practice

The proposal, expected to become law next year, would raise the smoking age year by year until it covers the entire population

The director of the Africa CDC said African governments "will not have a choice" but to resort to vaccine mandates if citizens are not vaccinated

In an op-ed, experts say the case for boosters for healthy younger adults is not strong, and those shots would do more good elsewhere

More than half the country's population is expected to face potentially life-threatening food insecurity this winter