Nuremberg, Germany  - Parents who discover their teenager is smoking cannabis should not overreact, but remain cool and collected, a German child guidance specialist advised.

Andreas Engel from Germany's Bundeskonferenz fuer Erziehungsberatung, an association that groups together the country's child guidance councillors, says parents should also inform themselves about marijuana's main active ingredient, THC.

Sydney  - We already know that smoking in pregnancy results in babies that are around 250 grams lighter than those born to mothers who did not smoke.

And we also know from the statistics that infants in homes where there are smokers are up to four times more likely to succumb to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) - more commonly called cot death.

Researchers in Australia believe they can explain how exposure to tobacco smoke impacts on the brains of babies.

Hamburg, Germany  - Contrary to conventional wisdom, fish oil supplements are not particularly helpful to cardiac patients who are already receiving optimal medical care, according to a team of German researchers.

Dr. Jochen Senges of the Heart Centre in Ludwigshafen and the University of Heidelberg in Germany said that omega-3 fatty acid supplements had no additional protective effect for heart attack patients receiving treatment.

Sydney  - Two Australians recently returned from a trip to Mexico are in a Queensland hospital with symptoms similar to the deadly swine flu, officials said Monday.

"We do have two cases overnight of people checking into hospital whose symptoms are being tested," Queensland Premier Anna Bligh told reporters in Brisbane. "Clearly, this is a very serious disease, and we are taking it very seriously."

In Sydney, two people checked into hospital to have flu-like symptoms checked after returning from Mexico.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong health officials said Sunday they had stepped up surveillance at border control points as more swine flu cases were reported in Mexico and the US. Airlines had been asked to broadcast health advice on all direct flights from affected areas and passengers with symptoms have been asked to report to officers on arrival, the city's Centre for Health Protection said.

Mexico City/Geneva  - A spreading lethal virus that has claimed 68 lives in Mexico and infected at least 11 people in the United States prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to send out a global alarm Saturday.

WHO officials raised the possibility of an emerging pandemic even as countries in the region, including Nicaragua, Colombia and Brazil, tightened airport controls over people and goods arriving from Mexico.