death

Nine million people died prematurely in 2015 because of air, water and soil pollution — three times the number that died of tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria combined, says a study published in The Lancet. The exact cause of death ranged from lung cancer to heart disease, but the total amounted to 16 percent of all deaths globally.

The Washington Post says its county-by-county analysis of death records compiled by the federal government "shows a clear divide in the health of urban and rural Americans, with the gap widening most dramatically among whites.

An additional 77 cases of salmonella were reported in the past week in a outbreak of food-borne illness linked to cucumbers imported from Mexico, said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"For decades, farmers across the country have been dying by suicide at higher rates than the general population" -- nearly double the U.S. average, says Newsweek.