World's biggest independent drug use survey is launched
Global Drug Survey collects detailed information about what drugs people use, why and how often
The world's biggest independent survey of drug use, collecting detailed data on the drug experiences of tens of thousands of people, launches on Thursday.
The Guardian, along with a range of media partners across the globe, is supporting the survey, which asks participants about what drugs they use, why they take them and how often, and what the social, medical and legal consequences of their drug use are.
Drugs covered by the survey include cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis, ketamine, mephedrone, alcohol, tobacco, "legal highs" and prescription medicines such as temazepam, Viagra and opioid painkillers.
You can access the 2013 drug survey here.
Fragile truce deal hailed as a victory on both sides
Hillary Clinton praised the Egyptian President for showing leadership during the talks
Hours after a bomb ripped through a bus in Tel Aviv, apparently sinking all hope of ending eight days of violence in Gaza, Hillary Clinton and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr announced a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The deal came into effect at 9pm local time following a frantic final day of diplomacy in which Ms Clinton shuttled between Jerusalem, Ramallah and Cairo to help seal the seal.
Around 18 rockets were fired in the first 90 minutes of the ceasefire, but hours later it appeared as if it was being observed by both sides. The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had warned it might take some time to impose discipline on all the militant cells.
The Irish Times - Thursday, November 22, 2012
Climate change to cause more extreme weather events in Europe, say scientists
FRANK McDONALD, Environment Editor
Climate change is now affecting all regions in Europe, causing a wide range of impacts on society and the environment, with the damage it causes likely to become more costly in future, according to the European Environment Agency.
Its report, Climate Change, Impacts and Vulnerability in Europe 2012, confirms that the past 10 years were the warmest on record in Europe, with a pattern of decreasing rainfall in southern regions and increasing rainfall in northern regions.
Climate change is projected to increase river flooding, particularly in northern Europe, as higher temperatures intensify periodic rainfall – although the report concedes that it is “difficult to discern the influence of climate change in flooding data records”.
But the Greenland ice sheet, Arctic sea ice and many glaciers across Europe “are melting”, it says bluntly. “Extreme weather events such as heatwaves, floods and droughts have caused rising damage costs across Europe in recent years.Heatwaves have increased in frequency and length, causing tens of thousands of deaths over the last decade. The projected increase in heatwaves could increase the number of related deaths over the next decades, unless societies adapt.
RAN
Amid crises, signs of deal on Iran's nuke program
As if the Middle East didn't have enough problems, Iran is fast developing a nuclear weapon. But with Tehran increasingly isolated in the region, there are signs that a new deal over uranium enrichment is possible.
Iran's slow progress toward a nuclear weapon seems unstoppable. New reports show the country is busily stockpiling uranium enriched to the crucial 20-percent level. This is a necessary preliminary to processing the material to weapons grade.
Uranium enrichment refined to five percent is suitable for civilian nuclear power plants - Iran has none but says it plans to build them, while Tehran says the 20 percent product is for running the capital's medical research reactor.
And the technological progress is apparent everywhere. Last week, a UN nuclear agency reported that Iran has installed all the centrifuges its underground Fordow plant was built for with a view to expanding the uranium enrichment program.
M23 rebels vow to take DR Congo
Thousands of Congolese soldiers and policemen have defected to the M23 rebels, as rebel leaders vowed to take control of all of the Congo.
"We are now going to Kinshasa. No one will divide this country," said Colonel Vianney Kazarama, the M23 spokesperson, to a cheering crowd of thousands on Wednesday.
The rebels organised the rally at Goma's Stadium of Volcanoes after seizing control of the strategic city in eastern Congo on Tuesday.
Kazarama first welcomed the crowd in Swahili by shouting "Goma Jambo!" meaning "Hello Goma!".
Kazarama said the M23 rebels' next goal is Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu province on the other side of Lake Kivu. He claimed the rebels already control the town of Sake, 27km from Goma on the road to Bukavu, and will soon take Minova, a lakeside town in South Kivu.
Sentenced for 'pro-North Korea' Twitter posts
November 22, 2012 - 12:53PM
A South Korean man received a suspended 10-month prison term on Wednesday for resending North Korean propaganda posts from his Twitter account.
The man, Park Jung-geun, 24, a photographer and social media and freedom of speech activist, was arrested in January on charges of violating South Korea's controversial National Security Law, which bans "praising, encouraging or propagandising" for North Korea but does not clearly define what constitutes such acts. He was later released on bail.
The message is that if you babble on Twitter carelessly, you can end up in prison.
Mr Park was accused of resending 100 posts from an official North Korean Twitter account until late last year, including one that said "Long Live Kim Jong Il!" After Kim Jong-il, the longtime North Korean dictator, died last December, Mr Park also wrote on his Twitter account that he wanted to send North Korea "uranium and plutonium" as a show of condolence. He also uploaded web links to North Korean propaganda songs.
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