Our Right to Poison: Lessons from the Failed War on Drugs
By Jochen-Martin Gutsch and Juan Moreno
The global war on drugs has cost billions and taken countless lives -- but achieved little. The scant results finally have politicians and experts joining calls for legalization. Following the journey of cocaine from a farm in Colombia to a user in Berlin sheds light on why.
"Pablo Escobar said to me: 'One shot to the head isn't enough. It has to be two shots, just above the eyes.'"
Three guards are standing next to him. He is the only prisoner in the giant building. The watchtower, the security door systems, the surveillance cameras -- it's all for him. The warden of the Cómbita maximum-security prison, a three-hour drive northeast of the Colombian capital Bogotá, has given Popeye one hour to tell his story.
EUROZONE CRISIS
The euro crisis is back - at least in Italy, Spain and Cyprus
Worries about the euro crisis have died down somewhat in recent months, but the upcoming election in Italy is giving financial markets the jitters again. And Italy is, by far, not the only cause for concern.
It was in autumn 2011: The euro crisis was getting worse and worse - and slowly spreading from smaller economies, like Greece and Portugal, to larger players, like Spain, and even Italy.
Especially controversial was Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, who was ridiculed for his positions and lack of action. As a result, his country's standing reached a new low. But then there was the 'great relief' of November 12 when Berlusconi stepped down. His job was taken over by Mario Monit – an economics professor, who, with his plans to get the budget back in order, won a lot of sympathy and trust, not just for Italy, but for the euro currency users as a whole.
India admits knowledge of imminent bomb strikes
February 23, 2013
Ben Doherty
South Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media
IN THE aftermath of the Hyderabad bomb blasts that killed 14 people and injured 119, blame is being attributed in two directions: at an Islamist terrorist organisation for allegedly carrying out the attacks and at India's security forces for failing to prevent them.
Bombs on bicycles, used in Thursday's attacks, are a trademark of the Indian Mujahideen, which has used the tactic at least seven times before.
But the Indian government has conceded it knew a terrorist attack was imminent and police have known for months that the Dilsukhnagar district of Hyderabad, where the bombs went off, was a potential target.
Egypt's Morsi wants Parliament elections in April
Egypt's president has called parliamentary elections for April in an effort to assuage mounting frustration over continued turmoil on the streets.
A decree by President Mohamed Morsi issued late on Thursday set the start of a staggered, four-stage voting process for April 27, with the last round to be held in June.
The newly elected Parliament would then convene for its first session on July 6, the decree said.
Since the 2011 ouster of long-time authoritarian Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising that was part of the Arab Spring revolts, Egyptians have gone through a series of referendums, presidential and parliamentary elections.
The first elected Parliament was disbanded by a court order last June and Morsi, the nation's first freely elected president, assumed his post in July. Morsi and his highly organised Muslim Brotherhood, which was a banned opposition group under Mubarak, emerged from the uprising and the various elections as the country's dominant political group with the largest grass root support.
Year after Once train crash, Argentine anger still seethes
President Kirchner announced last month the government will invest $1 billion in the country’s railways, but critics say that may be too little too late.
By Jonathan Gilbert, Correspondent / February 22, 2013
Paolo Menghini's t-shirt bears the face of his son, Lucas, a victim of one of Argentina's deadliest train accidents, which occurred a year ago today.
The crash at Once train station in Buenos Aires killed a total of 51 people, and will be commemorated this evening by the victims' families, led by Mr. Menghini. Argentina’s trains, however, are still unsafe.
The crash at Once was not an isolated incident. In the first six months of 2012, there were more than 1,200 accidents and 190 deaths on Argentina’s main train lines, according to a government document.
The grieving families blame the current government ofCristina Fernández de Kirchner for the deaths of their relatives, saying it did nothing to improve a system that deteriorated after it was privatized in the 1990s.
South Korean Crossover in Hollywood
By MIKE HALE
Published: February 22, 2013
For nearly as long as there have been American movies there have been foreign directors making them, in a symbiotic arrangement that gives the visitors freedom, cash or exposure and the domestic film industry cachet and infusions of creativity. In Hollywood’s early years Europeans classed up the joint, particularly those from the center of the continent: von Stroheim, Lubitsch, Lang, Zinnemann. More recent waves of talent have washed in from Australia, Hong Kong and Latin America.
This year a new group is arriving on American screens: the South Koreans, representing a celebrated national cinema that has not had much crossover with Hollywood before now. It hadn’t been for lack of trying: the directors Park Chan-wook, Kim Ji-woon and Bong Joon-ho had all been approached by American producers over the years. But through the vagaries of career paths and production schedules each one’s first English-language production has been or is scheduled to be released this year.
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