My throat's been killing me this whole week - and while I at first thought it was the onset of some sort of sickness, I haven't gotten weak or feeble yet. This morning, I finally realized the culprit: those damn Northern sandstorms. more ›

The next big epidemic is here and this time around it didn't come out of China! Swine flu, a respiratory disease in pigs, has somehow spread to humans - infecting a total of 20 people in the U.S. so far and allegedly killing more than 103 in Mexico! more ›

Last week a 19 year old girl in Beijing died of bird flu (avian flu) in China's first reported case in about a year. Beijing Notebook wrote a list of tips for preventing infection by bird flu based on a distribution list from a doctor of the German Embassy in Beijing. Go to www.Beijing.diplo.de for a Chinese translation. more ›