Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has since spread to many countries in the Americas.

France has detected its first sexually transmitted case of Zika in a woman whose partner had traveled to Brazil, the epicentre of an outbreak of the virus, a senior health official says.

The organising committee for the August Olympics in Rio de Janeiro said it will charge national delegations to have mosquito screens on athletes' rooms.

The head of the World Health Organization warns that the Zika outbreak would likely worsen before nations besieged by the mosquito-borne virus linked to thousands of birth defects in Brazil see relief.

A huge meteor explodes in the atmosphere over the South Atlantic Ocean near Brazil without causing damage to lives and properties.

Brazil is planning to fight the Zika virus by zapping millions of male mosquitoes with gamma rays to sterilize them and stop the spread of the virus linked to thousands of birth defects.

This rum-drinking primate from Brazil grabs a butcher's knife and hops onto the roof of a makeshift bar and stabs the tiles and then waved the blade over the edge -- essentially, giving the folks below some very strong "BACK OFF" vibes

The Zika virus may be particularly adept at entrenching itself in parts of the body that are shielded from the immune system, making it harder to fight off and possibly lengthening the timeframe in which it can be transmitted, top US experts say.

The government is to strengthen surveillance and screening of travelers coming into Bangladesh’s air, water and land ports coming from the countries affected by the Zika virus.

South American health ministers hold an emergency meeting on slowing the spread of the Zika virus, dubbed a "nightmare" by hard-hit Brazil, where it is blamed for brain damage in babies.

The mosquito behind the Zika virus seems to operate like a heat-driven missile of disease. The hotter it gets, the better the mosquito that carries Zika virus is at transmitting its buffet of dangerous illnesses, scientists say.

Prosecutors in Brazil are recommending that football star Neymar be charged over four counts of fraud in relation to a tax case prior to his transfer to Barcelona in 2013.

There is no chance that the Rio Olympics will be cancelled because of a Zika virus outbreak, Brazil says.

For scores of women in the epicenter of the Zika outbreak in Brazil, the joy of pregnancy has given way to fear.

Neymar of Barcelona has claimed that winning trophies motivates him more than being named the best footballer in the world.

Brazil President Dilma Rousseff has called on the whole of Brazilian society to help combat the spread of the Zika virus, which has been linked to birth defects.

The world's "up and coming economies" are struggling to shake off corruption, an anti-graft watchdog warned today, citing massive scandals in Brazil and Malaysia as cause for concern.

Brazilian soccer legend Ronaldinho had a miraculous escape on Monday after a traffic signal post fell in front of the car carrying him seconds before it sped away in Kozhikode city of southern Indian state of Kerala.

An absent-minded tourist has made the news by leaving his wife stranded at a petrol station and not noticing she was missing for almost 60 miles, reports the Independent.

The Rio de Janeiro authorities announce plans to prevent the spread of the Zika virus during the Olympic Games later this year.