Mexican youths forced to work for drug gangs

12:45 Mexican youths forced to work for drug gangs 0 Comments

Young Mexicans are being abducted from poor towns and villages and forced to work for drug gangs, rights groups say, alleging the authorities are failing to do anything to stem the problem. Stories of young people disappearing, as if swallowed up by the earth, are spreading in parts of Mexico gripped by drug violence which has left some 50,000 dead, according to media counts, in the past five years. Non-governmental groups in the northern states of Nuevo Leon, where Monterrey lies, as well as Coahuila and Michoacan, to the west, have documented more than 1,000 disappearances from 2007 to 2011. But they say they cannot prove that the youths were forced into working for organized crime groups which have rained terror on parts of Mexico as they battle for control of the lucrative multi-billion dollar drug business. "They tried to take me away around seven months ago," said one 17-year-old in a recorded testimony obtained by AFP from a non-governmental organization. The youth, who declined to be named, lives in a poor suburb of Monterrey, a flashpoint in Mexico's drug wars where the Zetas gang are fighting a vicious turf war with their former employers, the Gulf cartel. Armed men forced him into a car one night as he talked to a friend on the street. "I was frightened, shaking and shaking," the youth said, explaining how he tried to persuade the men to release him by appealing to their religious side, and telling them he had a Bible with him. He said he was lucky because they finally let him go. "If you walk the streets after 11:00 pm they abduct you," warned another youth in the same recording, also requesting anonymity. Requests by AFP to the Mexican attorney general's office for information and a comment on the official numbers of people who have disappeared were not answered. But a year ago the National Human Rights Commission, a state body, said there had been around 5,000 disappearances since President Felipe Calderon started a military crackdown on drug gangs in December 2006. Until recently, many believed the ruthless, powerful drug gangs were filling their ranks with volunteers, including ex-soldiers and ex-police, but witness accounts tell a different story. Youths are "massively being abducted," said Carlos Cruz, an ex-gang member who now heads Citizen Channel, an organization that has rescued almost 4,000 youths from drug gangs since 2003. Armed men enter marginalized areas and take up to 12-15 young men at a time, Cruz told AFP. "The majority of those we rescued were co-opted into the gangs because of extreme poverty or because they were taking drugs. But the percentage of those being co-opted has been growing" in past years, he said. Some were being taken to training camps operated by the Zetas in the northern state of Zacatecas and northwestern Sinaloa and Nayarit, he added. An Ecuadoran who was the only survivor of a massacre of 72 migrants on a ranch in northeastern Tamaulipas state in August 2010 said the migrants had been killed for refusing to go to work for the Zetas. Forced recruitment has also been reported in the eastern state of Veracruz, according to migrant activist and priest Alejandro Solalinde. A young Mexican in jail for involvement in the massacre of 27 farm workers in Guatemala last May said he had been abducted in Veracruz and forced to work for the Zetas, according to Solalinde. He said he had been told by the governor of Velacruz that it "is the principal state for the forced recruitment" of young people. Blanca Martinez, director of the Diocesan Center for Human Rights of Coahuila, said missing men in that state were aged an average 29 years old and included engineers, architects and construction workers. There were attempts to seek a ransom in only a handful of 228 cases documented between 2007 and 2011, she said, calling on officials to start investigating the apparent forced recruitment. In western Michoacan, families of the missing meet up to exchange information in the state capital Morelia. Many speak of threats from both criminals and the authorities. "When you're about to report the crime you start getting phone calls telling you not to whine, that your son will call you in time," said a 55-year-old builder, whose son disappeared with two others in September 2010.

Protein Rich Diet Good For Losing Weight,

07:31 Protein Rich Diet Good For Losing Weight 0 Comments

A recent research has revealed that a diet rich in proteins can prove helpful in making a woman to lose weight. The research was conducted by the researchers of the Sydney University. It has further been pointed out by the researchers that a change in the diet plan can lead to improved lifestyle. For the research, a number of women were recruited. The participants of the research were divided into two groups. The first group was provided with the rich carbohydrate diet plan and the other with rich protein diet. Moreover, the participants of the study were advised to meet their dietician regularly and were also asked to go for walk for at least 30 minutes a day. During the study, it was found that the women who relied heavily on a protein diet were successful in losing a significant level of body weight. The participants on protein diet reported of experiencing improved self esteem. Moreover, the iron level of the participants was also good as compared to the women relying upon carbohydrate diet. The researchers are of the view that their findings would bring a revolution in the way the women follow certain diet plans to lose weight. A large number of women are said to rely on carbohydrate diet for losing weight. A diet rich in protein can not only help a woman in losing weight but also helps in improving the immune system as the diet is rich in essential mineral, vitamins and nutrition which are essential for the over al growth of the body. These days, obesity has become a graver issue as many countries are struggling to deal with it. In the previous studies, the obesity has been linked with life threatening diseases like diabetes and heart diseases.

Recession causes 2,000 heart attack deaths

16:41 000 heart attack deaths , Recession causes 2 0 Comments

Since 2002 the number of people dying from heart attacks in England has dropped by half, the study conducted by Oxford University found. But within that, regional data revealed there was a 'blip' in London that corresponded to the financial crash in 2008 and continued through 2009. Heart attack deaths have dropped due to better prevention of heart attacks in the first place with fewer people smoking and improvements in diet through lower consumption of saturated fat. The treatment of people who do suffer a heart attack has also improved leading to fewer deaths with faster ambulance response times, new procedures to clear blocked arteries and wider use of drugs such as statins and aspirin. The research published in the British Medical Journal showed around 80,000 lives have been saved between 2002 and 2008 as deaths from heart attacks declined.

Paramedics left aspiring model to die at party after he downed 14 shots of vodka

15:30 Paramedics left aspiring model to die at party after he downed 14 shots of vodka 0 Comments

A aspiring model who downed 14 shots of vodka at a party choked to death on his own vomit after paramedics told him to 'sleep the drink off', an inquest heard. Daniel Cripps, 22, was told he did not need to go to hospital even though he was severely drunk at the house party in Newport, Gwent. However, minutes later he choked and his friends had to call for a second ambulance. His father, Michael, 44, is taking legal action and said his son would still be alive today if the emergency workers had taken his son to hospital the first time around. The party took place just a five-minute drive away from Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital. Party host Danielle Baker, 24, told the inquest in Newport yesterday: 'Daniel was drinking the shots in quantity. He was fine at first but later he was completely out of it. 'We were worried about him so we called an ambulance. The paramedics told him that he needed to sleep and let it wear off. 'I was surprised that they left him and we thought he should have gone to hospital in the ambulance. After they left, he began being sick and his lips turned blue.

United bid to tackle alcohol abuse

06:35 United bid to tackle alcohol abuse 0 Comments

Alcohol claims the lives of more than 1,300 people each year across the island of Ireland, health chiefs holding a cross-border conference on the problem have revealed. While the figures relate to deaths caused directly by drink, officials said alcohol has a much wider impact and costs governments in both parts of Ireland billions every year. Health ministers Edwin Poots and James Reilly jointly opened the first north-south conference on the issue, with policymakers pledging to work together to tackle the problem. The Armagh meeting heard that 2,000 acute hospital beds are occupied every night in the Republic due to alcohol-related illness while it costs the south's healthcare system 1.2 billion euro (£1 billion) each year. Delegates were also told that problem drinking costs Northern Ireland up to £900 million, or 1.1 billion euro, every year, with almost £250 million (298 million euro) borne by the region's health sector. In Northern Ireland last year, 284 people died directly as a result of alcohol misuse, an increase of around 40% on the loss of life recorded in 2001. The most recent figures for the Republic showed that 88 people die each month because of alcohol. The Republic's Health Minister Dr Reilly said: "The areas we would like progress on a North-South basis are measures to reduce the availability of cheap alcohol and treatment and rehabilitation of those affected by alcohol misuse. "Alcohol use and misuse is an area where both jurisdictions can achieve a lot together - especially in dealing with the challenges that alcohol presents for young adults." Northern Ireland Health Minister Mr Poots launched a new five-year strategy to prevent and address the harm related to alcohol and drug misuse north of the border, and he stressed its impact on society. He said: "There is no doubt that alcohol misuse is one of the main threats to public health in Northern Ireland. If we do not take significant and robust action, the costs to Northern Ireland, and the health and social care system in particular, will continue to grow. Alcohol remains our favourite drug, and we face similar problems on both sides of the border."

Cocaine cache gets diplomatic treatment at UN

03:27 Cocaine cache gets diplomatic treatment at UN 0 Comments

A 16 kilo (35.5 pounds) consignment of cocaine lost by Mexican drug traffickers has turned up in an unlikely place -- the United Nations in New York. Police and UN officials Thursday told how two fake UN diplomatic pouches containing drugs -- which experts said had a street value of more than $2 million -- sparked an alert when they were delivered by accident to the global body's headquarters. The bags, which had the UN symbol printed on them, were shipped from Mexico through the DHL shipping company's center in Cincinnati, Ohio, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne of the New York Police Department told AFP. But the bags had no address on them, nor any return to sender details. "It is my understanding that because there was no addressee, the DHL just thought well that's the UN symbol so we should ship it on to UN headquarters and let them figure out who it was supposed to go to," Browne said. The two UN bags were "obvious fakes" and were quickly intercepted by security staff when they arrived on January 16. Inside were 14 hard cover books hollowed out to hide the cocaine. "Somebody in Mexico is probably in trouble now having let a significant amount of cocaine out of their possession," said Browne. UN assistant secretary general Gregory Starr told reporters there was no evidence that anyone from the United Nations was linked to the bags. "In my humble opinion this was the work of narcotics traffickers that were trying to ship something into the United States and their plan must have gone wrong," said Starr, who is in charge of UN security.

Ex-Navy man detained in U.S. for alleged drug smuggling in Japan

00:00 Ex-Navy man detained in U.S. for alleged drug smuggling in Japan 0 Comments

former U.S. Navy serviceman has been detained in the United States after Japanese police issued an arrest warrant for him on suspicion of leading a group that smuggled drugs into Japan in 2004 through the military mail service, Japanese investigative sources said Wednesday. Tokyo has been seeking his extradition, and a U.S. court has been deliberating whether to transfer him based on a bilateral extradition treaty, they said. The former sailor left Japan for the United States on Aug. 6, 2004, one day after police arrested two civilian men who worked at the U.S. Naval base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on suspicion of being involved in drug smuggling, according to police. The three are suspected of shipping some 50,000 tablets of synthetic drugs, including ecstasy, from Canada to a post office box at the base using the military mail service in July 2004. The man sought by Japanese police was dishonorably discharged in 2003 for a separate drug offense committed on the base. His whereabouts in the United States were confirmed in 2009, the sources said.

The UK could become a hub for smuggling the herbal stimulant khat,

09:40 The UK could become a hub for smuggling the herbal stimulant khat 0 Comments

European police and politicians have warned. The Netherlands is the latest country to outlaw the sale of the plant, which is now banned in sixteen EU member states and Norway. Khat is freely sold in the UK and observers say the UK's isolated stance could make it the main base for Europe's khat trade. The British government has commissioned a new review of khat use. Until announcing its ban earlier this month, the Netherlands was similar in its stance to the UK where the East African plant is legally imported, sold and consumed. In 2005 the UK Home Office commissioned a report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) which concluded that "the evidence of harm resulting from khat use is not sufficient to recommend its control." In the UK, the drug is mainly consumed by people of Somali and Yemeni origin and the ACMD report concluded there was "no evidence of its spread to the general population." 'Social harm' Gerd Leers, Immigration and Integration Minister in the Netherlands, says he already has enough evidence of social harm caused by the drug to support a ban, which will come into force from June this year. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote Those who argue against a ban don't know about the community and they can't see all the damage it is doing to families and individuals” Muna Hassan Sister of khat user Mark Lancaster, MP for Milton Keynes North, argued that khat should be outlawed in Britain in a speech he made in Parliament earlier this month. But others say that making khat a controlled drug could lead to further problems. "What worries me about the Netherlands is that once these legal Somali traders are criminalised and have their livelihood taken away from them - what are they going to do next?" says Axel Klein, an expert witness for the ACMD's 2005 report. "They have contacts, trading skills, financial acumen so it is very possible that they will start trafficking the khat and then diversify into harder drugs. "This is our main concern when looking at the UK as well. "Do we really want to create the opportunity for an organised crime syndicate to start-up from nowhere with long term consequences by banning khat?" Continue reading the main story Find out more Hear more on The Report on Radio 4 on Thursday, 26 January at 20:00 GMT. You can listen again on the Radio 4 website or by downloading the podcast Listen to The Report on the Radio 4 website Download The Report podcast Explore The Report archive Mr Klein argues that khat is chewed mainly by older men in the Somali diaspora and the practice will die out - rather like snuff has done in the UK. But British-Somali Muna Hassan is not so sure. She blames khat use for inducing her younger brother's paranoid schizophrenia. He has lived in the UK since the age of five and had a bright future ahead of him, studying at university, when he then started chewing khat. "The Somali community has a unified voice on this," she told Radio 4's The Report. "Those who argue against a ban don't know about the community and they can't see all the damage it is doing to families and individuals. We know," she says. 'Dangerous' drug Eleni Palazidou, a psychiatrist who has worked with the Somali community in east London, agrees. "For me it is a drug - no two ways about it. "Every patient that I have seen who chews khat, I have seen them worsening and it is impossible to get their condition under control. Continue reading the main story What is khat? Khat refers to the leaves and shoots of the Catha edulis - a flowering shrub native to the Horn of Africa and Arabian peninsula Khat has many names including 'qat' (Yemen), 'jad' or 'chad' (Ethiopia, Somalia), 'miraa' (Kenya) or 'marungi' (Uganda, Rwanda). Khat leaves are chewed and contain stimulant substances that have amphetamine-like properties. Khat contains cathine and cathinone which, as isolated substances, are banned in the UK, but in khat leaves are not. It is chewed mainly by men in khat houses known as Mafrishes, though there is anecdotal evidence of growing use by teenagers and women. In the UK it is an informal, legal trade so it is impossible to know exactly how much is imported. Estimates range from 10 to 60 tonnes a week. "What khat does to the brain is similar to amphetamines. I think heavy, regular use is dangerous. I have no doubt that khat has a major adverse effect on people's mental health and does cause psychological problems," she told The Report. The Netherlands' ban has been welcomed by Dutch citizens like Dagmar Oudshoorn, mayor of the village of Uithoorn, near Schipol, who says the khat trade has been a blight on her community. "Four times a week 200 cars arrive with people who want to buy khat and they fight - we had stabbing incidents - and they leave rubbish everywhere. "We want to refurbish our business area but because of the bad environment we lose investors and customers," she told the BBC. Neighbouring states, where the drug has long been illegal, have also put pressure on the Dutch government in The Hague because they have seen a sharp increase in khat trafficking from Holland. For Europe's Nordic countries, much of the khat arrives by truck across the Oresund bridge between Denmark and southern Sweden. Swedish police estimate that 200 tonnes is smuggled into the country each year, with a street value of 150 euros (£125/$190) a kilo. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote With the Eurotunnel you can get from London to Malmo in 15 hours. Britain will become the new hub in Europe that is for certain” Detective Stefan Kalman Swedish police After years of lobbying, Swedish MEP Olle Schmidt admits he was pleasantly surprised by the Dutch move to ban khat. "There is a shift in the Netherlands. They no longer want to be seen as a liberal country where tourists can come to smoke pot and buy drugs. "Now, of course, khat will come more extensively to the London airports and then be smuggled to the rest of Europe, because you can earn a lot of money with this drug," warns Mr Schmidt. Stefan Kalman, a senior detective in the Swedish drug squad, says customs officers catch smugglers on the border several times a week. "The couriers often have accidents because they drive so fast", he says. "Sometimes they shoot past the border controls without stopping because they are nervous - khat is quite bulky and you cannot conceal it like other drugs." They are also in a rush because the drug has to be consumed when it is fresh. Cathinone, one of the psychoactive agents in khat leaves, is highly unstable and loses its potency within three days of harvesting. With the door slammed shut in Holland, smugglers will turn to the UK despite the longer distances says Detective Kalman. "With the Eurotunnel you can get from London to Malmo in 15 hours. Britain will become the new hub in Europe that is for certain." The British government has commissioned a new review of khat use - the date of its publication is still to be confirmed.

Eating fried foods didn't hurt the hearts of Spaniards who follow a Mediterranean diet

18:26 Eating fried foods didn't hurt the hearts of Spaniards who follow a Mediterranean diet 0 Comments

Eating fried foods didn't hurt the hearts of Spaniards who follow a Mediterranean diet, but the findings are too good to be true for Canadians, experts say.

A study in Wednesday's issue of the British Medical Journal suggests that frying foods in olive and sunflower oils is not associated with an increased risk of heart disease or premature death.

The Mediterranean diet favours fruits, vegetables, fish and whole grains. (iStock)

Prof. Pilar Guallar-Castillón from Autonomous University of Madrid and her co-authors surveyed the cooking methods of 40,757 adults aged 29 to 69 over an 11-year period. None of the participants had heart disease when the study began.

The people were asked in a typical week whether they ate food that was fried, battered, crumbed or sautéed. Their answers were divided into categories based on how much fried food they consumed.

During the follow-up period, there were 606 events linked to heart disease and 1,134 deaths.

"In Spain, a Mediterranean country where olive or sunflower oil is used for frying, the consumption of fried foods was not associated with coronary heart disease," the study's authors concluded.

The results directly apply only to Mediterranean countries where foods are fried in a similar way to Spain, the researchers noted.

Spanish participants more active

"When I look at the group of patients evaluated in Spain 10 years ago, they were much more active and fit than we are as Canadians nowadays," said Dr. Beth Abramson, a cardiologist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto and a spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

And overall, people in the study ate a diet that was heart healthier than a typical North American diet.

The Mediterranean regime favours fruits, vegetables, fresh fish and whole grains.

"Occasionally having some fried food now and then isn't going to be harmful probably in the long run, but routinely frying food just adds to the chance that you're going to become overweight and out of shape," Abramson said.

The investigators only questioned participants about their diet at the start of the study, which isn't as reliable as checking in more often, Abramson said.

Floria Aghdamimehr, a wellness and life coach in Halifax who teaches people how to improve their diet, said the study confirms the value of using olive oil, though sparingly.

The nutritional content of foods changes when they are fried, Aghdamimehr said.

Nutritional changes with frying

"Most of the deep-fried foods people eat in North America … [uses] oil [that] is being recycled — reused several times,” Aghdamimehr said.

In Spain, fried food doesn't equal fast food from restaurants the way it often does in North America, the researchers said.

"Frying leads to an increase in trans fats and a decrease in unsaturated fats in foods," said Prof. Michael Leitzmann of the department of the epidemiology and preventive medicine at University of Regensburg in Germany in a journal editorial published with the Spanish study.

"Frying also increases the energy density of food and makes food more palatable, which may lead to the consumption of larger amounts."

The study was funded by the Fund for Health of Spain, five Spanish regional governments and the Catlan Institute of Oncology.

Demi Moore treatment claims

18:19 Demi Moore treatment claims 0 Comments

Demi Moore is allegedly being treated for an eating disorder. The actress was rushed to hospital on Monday night after paramedics were called to her Los Angeles home. She was assessed for 30 minutes before being taken to a local medical facility after a reported seizure. Reports have now emerged that Demi is being treated for anorexia, among other "substance abuse issues". "She collapsed after having an epileptic seizure," a source told Radar Online about the emergency 911 call. "Demi is in getting treated for anorexia, as well as other issues that caused her seizure." Demi was left devastated last year after reports emerged that her husband of six-years, Ashton Kutcher, had cheated on her on their sixth wedding anniversary. She announced soon after that she was ending the marriage but divorce papers have not yet been filed. The 49-year-old star has been spotted looking increasingly frail since the breakdown of her marriage. "She has not taken care of her health at all lately and has lost a ton of weight," the source added. Less than two weeks before seeking treatment, Demi was spotted enjoying a night-out in Hollywood with 23-year-old daughter Rumer. The star was supposedly seen in high spirits. "When she first arrived, she kept to herself... but she started loosening up and getting into party mode," an onlooker told People. "She seemed really happy to be out with her daughter's friends."

Underworld bankers Daniel Keenan and Andrew Barnett who laundered £17m of drug money are jailed

17:58 Underworld bankers Daniel Keenan and Andrew Barnett who laundered £17m of drug money are jailed 0 Comments

Two underworld bankers who laundered more than £17million in drug money have been jailed for a total of 17 years. Daniel Keenan, 41, and Andrew Barnett, 45, used a stolen identity to clean up proceeds from a massive cocaine and heroin dealing operation by making currency exchanges They were caught out when police stopped Barnett with £500,000 in cash stuffed into a satchel. The pair were subsequently linked to Ian Kiernan, who was jailed for 20 years in 2001 for his key role in one of Britain's biggest-ever drug smuggling plots. Andrew Barnett (left) and Daniel Keenan (right) laundered the vast proceeds from a cocaine and heroin ring by making currency exchanges Barnett was stopped on 26 November 2009 near Marble Arch carrying a satchel found to contain 535,000 euros in 200 euro notes. He also had a receipt from a nearby money service bureau called Interchange. Convicted blackmailer Keenan contacted the police station a few days later, claiming he had asked Barnett to carry out the transaction, and was promptly arrested on suspicion of money laundering. Investigations revealed Keenan used a stolen identity to set up his Interchange account. Since opening the account in April 2008, Keenan and Barnett had made more than 300 transactions totaling more £17million. The money was generally brought in for exchange in £20 notes in large bags. The pair admitted money laundering but initially claimed the cash came from illicit gambling on horse racing. But after a two-day hearing at Southwark Crown Court they admitted knowing that that bundles of cash had come from drug deals. This is some of the money recovered by police from the pair, who were caught when officers stopped Barnett with £500,000 worth of currency stuffed into a satchel Jailing Keenan for 11 years and Barnett for six years, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said the offences were 'hugely successful' and committed while Keenan was on license from prison. He told Keenan: 'Interchange was visited more than 400 times as you or others delivered cash amounting to a total of £17.5million. 'I accept that initially you thought you were being used to launder the proceeds of illegal gambling. 'But eventually the amounts of money involved must have made it clear that they could only come from the most serious of crimes - sale of Class A drugs. 'You yourself signed for 58 deliveries amounting to £12million while your assistant Mr Barnett signed for about £5 million. 'When police detained Mr Barnett you came up with a number of explanations and produced quantities of false paperwork to try and justify your business which included the use of other people's identities.' Daniel Keenan is here seen on CCTV counting out huge piles of banknotes. Keenan and Barnett laundered more than £17million in organised crime profits Barnett had claimed he was simply acting on behalf of Keenan and was paid £200 each time he want to the Interchange. Drug baron Ian Kiernan had been jailed for 20 years and banned from racecourses for 10 years after a Jockey Club investigation found he was involved in corruption in horseracing. The head of the syndicate, Brian Wright - dubbed The Milkman because he always delivered - was jailed for 30 years in 2007. The link between Kiernan, described as the drug ring's storeman, and the launderers was only discovered in December when police investigated Keenan's mobile phone records. Prosecutor Mark Fenhalls said: 'When Mr Keenan's phone records were looked at they showed that that most of the calls were made to his partner, then his mum, and then Kiernan, in that order.' He was found to have been in contact with Kiernan - who was on temporary licence from HMP Latchmere - on all but one of the days on which transactions of more than £400,000 were processed. Keenan was serving a five-year sentence for blackmail and consiring to defraud the clothes shop Monsoon when he met Kiernan in jail. The court heard Barnett visited Kiernan in prison in 2003, Mr Fenhalls said it was 'inconceivable that Barnett... did not know that he was assisting Keenan to launder the proceeds of cocaine dealing on a vast scale. 'No other explanation or inference sensibly arises from the available evidence.' Barnett, of Twickenham, Middlesex and Keenan, of Egham, Surrey, admitted converting criminal property. Keenan also admitted fraud by false representation, having a fake passport and possession of articles used in fraud, a fake bank card.

Drug smugglers and dealers to get law thaw in UK

17:38 Drug smugglers and dealers to get law thaw in UK 0 Comments

Drug smugglers and street dealers could avoid prison in the UK even if caught with heroin, cocaine or thousands of pounds worth of cannabis, under new guidelines on drug offenses published by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales on Tuesday. The new guidelines, to come into force next month, on February 27, were put out following a three-month public consultation. They cover importation, supply, production, permitting premises to be used for drug-related activities, and possession offences. "Drug offending has to be taken seriously. Drug abuse underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime, and dealing can blight communities. Offending and offenders vary widely, so we have developed this guideline to ensure there is effective guidance for sentencers and clear information for victims, witnesses and the public on how drug offenders are sentenced,” said Lord Justice Hughes, deputy chairman of the Sentencing Council, as quoted by the British media. According to the official website of the Council, the guidelines intend to distinguish the leading players in drug smuggling from those in subordinate roles such as drug mules, who may be coerced or misled into carrying drugs. It will mean that sentences are based on a court’s assessment of the offender’s role, and on the quantity of drugs involved, or the scale of the operation. Reports suggest offenders who play a “limited” role in gangs, including low-level dealers and so-called drug mules, who bring narcotics into the country, could now face community orders rather than jail sentences. This particular draft received major support during the consultations. Drug barons playing a leading role in large-scale offences such as smuggling and supply will continue to face long prison sentences, as will those who sell directly to the public, especially to children. Police have suggested that gang leaders would be able to escape jail by claiming that they were lesser members. “How can a court be expected to differentiate between the person who says, I am very low in the chain, and those high up?” questioned Peter Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, as quoted by The Telegraph. “No matter how big a role I played, if I was in their shoes and arrested for drugs I would say I was a low-level player or forced into it. If they can see a loophole, then of course they will go through it.” Under the new guidelines, dealers caught with 6kg of cannabis, valued at thousands of US dollars, or 20 ecstasy tablets, could now avoid prison and receive a community sentence. Heroin and cocaine dealers deemed to have played only a “minimal” role and workers in small cannabis “farms” could also escape custody.

London hospitals write off 'over 90%' owed by foreign patients

17:30 London hospitals write off 'over 90%' owed by foreign patients 0 Comments

London hospitals have written off more than 90% of what they are owed by foreign patients not entitled to free NHS care, BBC London has learned. A Freedom of Information request showed Newham Hospital Trust wrote off 96% of what it had invoiced last year. Meanwhile, Basildon and Thurrock wrote off 97% of what it was owed, having previously recovered £68,061 out of £116,561 of its debt. In total, £7.6m was written off by 33 NHS trusts in the region, since 2009. Across the trusts, a total of £26m is owed by patients, of which £18.4m continues to be actively sought. However, hospital trusts said chasing the money was difficult if patients leave the UK. In a statement, Basildon and Thurrock said: "We scrupulously manage our finances and only write off debt after following the full debt collection process." Continue reading the main story Hospital variations in amount written off Newham Hospital wrote off £345,000 out of £358,000 Basildon and Thurrock wrote off £47,000 out of £48,500 Hillingdon hospital wrote off £335,000 out of £660,000 Luton and Dunstable wrote off 2,000 out of 85,000 South London wrote off £29,000 out of £481,000 All figures relate to 2010-11 All hospitals are required to recover money owed for treating these patients.

Cannabis taxation: a win-win all round, Richard Branson tells MPs

00:52 Cannabis taxation: a win-win all round , Richard Branson tells MPs 0 Comments

The market for cannabis in Britain should be regulated and taxed, and responsibility for drug policy moved from the Home Office to the health department, Sir Richard Branson has told MPs. The Virgin Group head said the 20% of police time and £200m spent on giving criminal sentences to 70,000 young people for possession of illegal drugs in Britain each year would be better spent going after the criminal gangs at the centre of the drugs trade. "It's win-win all round,'' he told the Commons home affairs select committee. Asked about his personal history of drug use, Branson replied: "I would say 50% of my generation has smoked cannabis. I would say 75% of my children's generation has smoked cannabis … If I was smoking cigarettes, I would be very worried." He said that in his own Virgin companies he did not think staff who were found to be taking drugs should be dismissed but instead treated as having a problem, and helped. "There are many people in companies with drink problems or smoking problems," he said. Branson was part of a global commission on drug policy, which includes five ex-presidents and Kofi Annan, the former United Nations secretary general. The body concluded last year that the war on drugs had failed and called for experiments in decriminalisation. He was the first witness at the Commons home affairs inquiry into drug policy. Branson argued that the policy of switching responsibilty for drug policy from the Home Office to the health department had worked in Portugal, where nobody had been jailed for using or possessing drugs in the last 10 years. Portugal was the only country that had decriminalised all drugs. As a result of treating drug users rather than imprisoning them, he said, heroin use and heroin-related deaths had fallen by more than 50%. In Britain, 100,000 young people a year were arrested for drug offences, and 75,000 of them were given criminal records, which meant they had problems in later life in travelling to some countries, he said. "If next year those 100,000 people are not prosecuted for taking drugs, but they are helped, I think the commission would welcome Britain doing that." He said if the sale of cannabis and other drugs were regulated and taxed, then the quality of what was being taken could be controlled. He contrasted the lack of deaths in Portugal with the recent deaths of three teenagers in Britain from taking tablets they wrongly thought were ecstasy, citing the fatalities as an example of the consequences of failing to regulate the illegal market. The Virgin chief admitted he had not read the UK Home Office drug policy statement, which emphasises diverting drug users from prison, but said the 100,000 arrests each year were evidence the policy was not working in practice. Pressed by some Conservative MPs on the committee to come down on one side or the other in the debate over methadone maintenance versus abstinence, Branson said he was no expert, and it was for the MPs to establish what worked best.

Drugs mule sentences cut in new sentencing guidelines

10:02 Drugs mule sentences cut in new sentencing guidelines 0 Comments

People who smuggle drugs will face more lenient sentences if they have been exploited, under new guidelines. The change in approach on "drug mules" is in the first comprehensive rules on drugs offences from the Sentencing Council for England and Wales. The council said judges should distinguish between those who have been exploited by gangs and criminals heavily involved in the drugs trade. But it said large-scale drugs producers should expect longer jail terms. The council's role is to provide judges and magistrates with a set of broad guidelines so that sentencing is more consistent across England and Wales. Last year the council carried out research into 12 women convicted of drug mule offences, all of whom received sentences of between 15 months and 15 years. The majority of the women said they did not know that they had been carrying drugs when they arrived in the UK, although some admitted being suspicious. In most cases they had carried the drugs for someone they trusted or feared what would happen if they did not do so. Continue reading the main story DRUGS SUPPLY SCENARIOS Guidelines on sentencing for supply vary due to circumstances Example one: Student club-goer guilty of supply of 20 ecstasy tablets to himself and a friend. He buys off a regular dealer recreation and there is no financial gain. Sentencing starting point is 18 months - but can be as low as a community order or as high as three years. Example two: Police stop man in a car who is carrying cocaine worth up to £6,500. They find more drugs trade evidence at home and incriminating messages on a mobile phone. Suspect is involved in commercial-scale selling for profit. Sentencing starting point is eight and a half years. Under the new guideline, which comes into force on 27 February, the starting point for sentencing drug mules guilty of carrying crack, heroin and cocaine will be six years, before judges take into account aggravating and mitigating factors. Those found guilty of a much higher level of involvement in the drugs trade will face longer sentences. Those coerced into smuggling small amounts of Class C drugs, such as ketamine, could be given a community order. The councils said there would be no change in sentences for the key offences of possession and supply, but dealers who provide drugs to under-18s should receive longer sentences. Class A drug street dealers should expect a starting point of four and a half years. Lord Justice Hughes, deputy chairman of the Sentencing Council, said: "Drug offending has to be taken seriously. Drug abuse underlies a huge volume of acquisitive and violent crime and dealing can blight communities. "Offending and offenders vary widely so we have developed this guideline to ensure there is effective guidance for sentencers and clear information for victims, witnesses and the public on how drug offenders are sentenced. "This guideline reinforces current sentencing practice. Drug dealers can expect substantial jail sentences." The guidelines, which applies to magistrates and the crown courts, covers the most common drugs offences - importing, production, supply, possession and allowing a premises to be used for these offences. Chief Constable Tim Hollis, in charge of drugs policy for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: "The Council has clearly given a good deal of consideration to the new guidelines and has produced a document which provides the police and our criminal justice partners with consistent guidance yet still provides the courts with flexibility to deal with each case on its own merits where appropriate." Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust campaign group, said in the light of the guidelines it "calls on the government to review the sentences of all those who have been trafficked into acting as drug mules and are currently languishing for long years in British jails".

Caught with six kilos of cannabis and you could still avoid jail

09:58 Caught with six kilos of cannabis and you could still avoid jail 0 Comments

Sentencing guidelines issued today say that offenders who play a “limited” role in gangs could face community orders for intent to supply Class A drugs. Dealers caught with 6kg of cannabis, valued at £17,000 and enough to fill 30,000 joints or keep an average user in supply for 17 years, could also avoid prison. The sentences on drug “mules” will be cut substantially, while workers in small cannabis “farms” could escape custody. Courts will be told for the first time to reduce sentences for cannabis possession if it is being used for medicinal purposes. The guidelines maintain tough sentences for gang leaders and those who sell directly to the public, especially to children.

Drug Users Could Avoid Jail Under New Guidelines Published By The Sentencing Council For Judges

06:24 Drug Users Could Avoid Jail Under New Guidelines Published By The Sentencing Council For Judges 0 Comments

Friends socially sharing drugs and those using cannabis for medicinal purposes could escape jail under new guidelines for judges. Drug runners and small-time dealers caught with heroin, cocaine or thousands of pounds worth of cannabis could also avoid prison. Instead, low-level operatives caught with 6kg of cannabis, 20 ecstasy tablets, or five grams of heroin or cocaine are likely to receive a community sentence. The guidelines, which come into force on February 27, are expected to be met with mixed reaction. They state a prison sentence may not be necessary for people who supply small amounts of narcotics to share with their friends for no personal gain. They also urge judges for the first time to reduce sentences for cannabis possession if it is being used "to help with a diagnosed medical condition". It is the first time all courts in England and Wales have been given a comprehensive guideline setting out how the role of the offender and the quantity of drugs should influence sentencing. So-called drug "mules", often women forced or tricked into the crime, could face a starting point of six years if deemed to be playing a "lesser role" in bringing up to 1kg of heroin or cocaine into the country. This is compared to the 11-year starting point if the offender was one of the leading figures. Those caught with small amounts of cannabis could avoid jail But the Sentencing Council said offenders who were employed by someone else to import or export drugs regularly for profit would still face tough sentences of up to life in prison. It said tougher sentences could also be handed down to key players guilty of producing drugs on a large scale. Offenders in a leading role in the production or cultivation of 11lb (5kg) of heroin or cocaine or tens of thousands of ecstasy tablets could face up to 16 years in prison. Those producing industrial quantities of cannabis for commercial purposes could also face up to 10 years in jail. Anyone dealing to those aged under 18 would also face tougher penalties. Under the guidelines, street dealers will still face jail, with those playing a key role in selling class A drugs facing a starting point of four and a half years, with up to 16 years for a single incident, depending on the quantity of drugs involved. 

Studying Abroad In Spain Is Filled With Options And Adventure

15:12 Studying Abroad In Spain Is Filled With Options And Adventure 0 Comments

Students who are keen on exploring the world should consider studying abroad in The country. Spain is a beautiful country that offers a ton of study abroad programs. If you dream of to be able to experience a foreign culture, choosing to study in Spain is a good option. There are a myriad of academic programs available with Spain. Students can decide on programs that are situated Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Valencia, and a lot of other cities across Southern spain. Students can opt to adopt classes in humanities, terminology, liberal arts, social sciences, and many other subjects. Choosing to study in Spain gives you the opportunity to take in its history and beautiful scenery. Here you can find . Two of the most popular Spanish cities to study in are Madrid together with Barcelona. Madrid's natives describe their own city as having a little bit of everything. Madrid is known for its amazing art scene and utilizes eating as an art. It is not unusual to enjoy upwards of three hours on lunch and dinner. Madrid plays host to various concerts and plays on a daily basis as well. Madrid is the Las vegas of Spain since that it is also known as the city that for no reason sleeps. If you don't head encountering a traffic jam at three every day on a Friday, Madrid may be the place for you. Barcelona is just as popular as Madrid for students who wish to study abroad. Barcelona is known for at the forefront in fashion and offering visitors a great experience. If you is a fan of art, Barcelona can be a must see. You can purchase artistic pieces from Gaudi, Dali, and Picasso plus all kinds of other artists. Barcelona offers individuals a specialized Spanish experience. Students that are looking to spend their summer abroad may also do so in Spain. There are many different alternatives for students who want to spend a couple of weeks to a couple of months through the summer. Spain offers many intensive language courses through the summer, where you can immerse yourself in the language while enjoying Spain's hot summer and visiting their own gorgeous beaches. This is a fantastic way to learn the spanish language in a shortened time frame. If you're looking to complete an internship implementingwithin your college program, why don't you choose to complete it the country of Spain? Students can apply for a number of different internships through that Academic Programs International, Forum-Nexus Examine Abroad, and InterSchool Southern spain, just to name several. Most internships qualify with regard to college credit and supply you with the opportunity to gain valuable work experience that you can take with you for a lifetime. Individuals who ? re interested in traveling in foreign countries, but don't want to take college level courses can enroll into a volunteer program that will take you to the country of Spain. You will take in the beautiful architecture, beaches, and culture while working to help others. One well-known volunteer program is COINED World, where students can volunteer in Barcelona with little ones, elderly, or the community as a whole.

Yoga in Marbella

14:50 Yoga in Marbella 0 Comments

Marbella may not seem an obvious destination to go in search of enlightenment and the ancient healing therapies of the Far East, but a new health resort is bringing a flavour of Bali to Spain – without the jetlag. Just a 40-minute drive from the Costa del Sol, Shanti-Som takes its inspiration from Asian destination spas with Buddha statues, tropical gardens, Asian-Med fusion cuisine, eastern therapies and a programme of detox, meditation and yoga. Destination Yoga (            0845 458 0723      , destinationyoga.co.uk) will be running a retreat here in March. A seven-night yoga retreat from £945, excluding flights, departs 18 March.

Mexican Cartels Moving Drugs in Armored Vehicles

09:52 Mexican Cartels Moving Drugs in Armored Vehicles 0 Comments

Mexican drug cartels are using improvised armored vehicles known as "monsters" to protect their narcotics shipments from rival gangs, a military officer who spoke on condition of anonymity told Efe. The officer is assigned to the 8th Military Zone based in the northeastern border state of Tamaulipas, where troops have seized around 110 armored cars, including more than 20 monsters that evoke scenes from the 1979 film "Mad Max." Most are heavy trucks that were equipped with armor at clandestine workshops, mostly located in Tamaulipas. Some of the vehicles can carry 12 gunmen, the officer said. Soldiers dismantled one workshop in the Tamaulipas town of Camargo in a June 2011 operation, seizing two armored vehicles and nearly three-dozen more - including 23 tractor-trailers and other heavy trucks - that had not yet been plated. One monster seized last year weighed more than 30 tons because it was covered in thick steel plates and further reinforced with railroad tracks. The officer said troops also confiscated a cargo van dubbed the "pope-mobile" that had an elevated cabin similar to the "room" in the Roman Catholic pontiff's vehicle, although the Mexican van was secured with metal plating instead of bullet-proof glass. "The vehicles are built with steel plates at least an inch thick. Small-caliber projectiles, such as bullets from assault rifles, have a hard time penetrating the armor. They can only be destroyed with heavy weapons or anti-tank shells," the officer added. "They don't circulate on roads or in the cities, but instead operate on byways, which are the routes used to take drugs to the border with the United States," the source said. The brutal turf war being waged in Tamaulipas between the Gulf and Los Zetas gangs - former allies turned arch-enemies - has forced both organizations to develop these armored vehicles to run their businesses. The officer noted that the state has vast semi-arid plains with hundreds of small side roads and byways where the traffickers transport their drugs in light vehicles escorted by the monsters. A ranch where suspected Zetas hit men killed 72 undocumented migrants in August 2010 - apparently after they had refused to work for the gang as enforcers or couriers - was located on one of these unpaved side roads in Tamaulipas. "The cartels are fighting to control and protect these routes both for drug- and people-trafficking and in the opposite direction for the smuggling of weapons to Mexico, as well as to bring in a large quantity of merchandise illegally," the source said.

Once a prison, now a spiritual and tourist hub

02:29 now a spiritual and tourist hub , Once a prison 0 Comments

Barely 100 miles from the arctic circle, The Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea breathes history, mixing the secular and the spiritual. At one time, there was a prison here, no less grim than France’s Bastille, the United States’ Alcatraz, and Poland’s Auschwitz. Since the 15th century, the local monastery has held top-notch political criminals. In those days, there were no special prison facilities; the convicted were locked up in the towers or cellars of impregnable fortresses, and the Solovetsky Monastery was one such fortress. Its massive granite walls were too tough for the Swedes, Danes, and even the powerful British fleet that besieged the monastery during the Crimean War in 1854.   Read more:   A mix of Russian Orthodoxy and modern photography Russia goes under ice   The Solovetsky Monastery was an outpost for the colonisation of northern Russia. It existed almost autonomously –– the monastery was rich and influential, and had its own schools, factories, army, and navy, and its library was one of the most valuable in the Tsarist Russia. But during the socialist revolution of 1917, the monastery was looted and devastated. In the 1920s, the Solovki Special Purpose Camp (SLON) was founded here, the first in a network of concentration camps that from then on encircled all of Russia. Later, the Second World War began and Solovetsky’s street children began to train as sailors for the Northern Fleet.   But the harshest period is behind us. Today, the islands are once again home to monks, and the famous Solovetsky Islands have become one of Russia’s top tourist attractions. The reason for this is not only the out-of-this-world northern environment in these places, but the UNESCO’s decision to recognise the island as a World Heritage Site.   Now, the monastery again has its own fleet, ferrying pilgrims and tourists on boats decorated with Orthodox icons. Right in the monastery courtyard there is a divided garden where flowers and herbs grow. A bakery offers amazingly tasty pies. Incidentally, an art long forgotten in Russia still thrives here: carved gingerbread, called kozuli. Gingerbread houses, owls, bears, deer, angels, and even a carriage with coachmen, all painted and covered with icing, are sold at souvenir shops.   The better-off islanders ride around Solovki in old Soviet UAZ jeeps and new imported ATVs. People who are poorer have to do with bicycles. And to move through swamps and snow, locals construct off-road vehicles with huge inflated wheels – called karakaty – out of scrap materials. A simple stool serves as the seat, and a bear’s face is painted on the front – almost as a totem.   The population of the Solovetsky Islands primarily serves the monastery, or visiting tourists and pilgrims. Every day, the 55-year-old Maria Nikiforova walks to the pier, hoping to catch a newly arrived tourist. In her hands is a plywood sign reading, “Room with amenities.” The room she advertises is in a simple village house with a wood stove. Inside, five iron beds with mattresses are closely huddled together. This is how it is in “high tourist season,” in July and August. In June it is too cold, and it is already too cold in September. The beds vary in type and size. Maria collected them from the village’s destroyed and abandoned cottages. The promised “amenities” is a wooden toilet with a hole in the floor. There are also a few hotels in the village, but most of the tourists are backpackers or Christian pilgrims. Maria herself stays with relatives during the tourist season.   Abandoned motorcycles and trucks stand near the walls of rickety cottages. But most of the houses are inhabited. Clothes dry in the wind, hanging for a long time since the sun is not a frequent visitor to Solovki, and it can take several days for a washed shirt to dry.   After the collapse of the Soviet Union, locals went to the mainland –– there was no work on the islands. But now there is a reverse flow of people. For many, Solovki is a place to experience the ongoing revival of traditional Russian culture and spirituality. Inside a barn a marine yacht is being built according to Dutch blueprints from the time of Peter the Great. Others are trying to recover forgotten crafts: tailoring traditional kosovorotka shirts, sculpting earthenware pots, and woodcutting.   The Solovetsky Islands also attract fans of esotericism and advocates of the paleocontact theory. Ancient mazes made of stone, whose purpose has not yet been discovered, are preserved on the islands. Most scientists believe that these were places of worship for local fisherman tribes. But fans of UFOs are sure that the mazes were left on the islands by aliens, or at least by a powerful ancient civilisation. Tourists wander through the maze, hoping to attain enlightenment, or trying to meditate while sitting in the centre of a stone spiral. “You can’t wear white trousers!” a veteran esotericist instructs a girl trying to enter the maze. “The energy will be the wrong colour!”   The Church is not very approving of the pagan mazes, but at least it won’t destroy them. A ride on a Church boat with a visit to the pagan shrines is a must on the list of the major tours offered to pilgrims.   Every Sunday, there is a feast in the village. A procession of songs and Church banners snakes around the monastery. Bells ring, the parishioners carry icons, and priests sprinkle holy water on the crowd.   It seems as if all the islanders take part in the procession. Here in Solovki, it’s easy to be a believer. It helps that the monastery’s domes are visible from any part of the island, and there is the sweet sound of bells, far from the worldly temptations of big cities. To meet the needs of parishioners, there are church shops selling icons, amulets, edificatory literature, and even trouser belts with prayers. You can get up in the morning, pull on your trousers, and you’ve already done a charitable deed!   One of the major attractions is the lighthouse-church on Sekirnaya Mountain. At the very top of it, under the cross, is a huge lamp active as a lighthouse. Everything below the lamp is the property of the monastery, but the lamp belongs to the Ministry of Defence, so it’s off limits to tourists as it’s a strategic facility.   Solovetsky’s northern vegetation is beautiful in its own way. Dwarf trees grow here, and century-old moss covers the rocks. Off the coast, long seaweed splashes, and it seems like a mermaid is about to come out of the water. Unfortunately, mermaids do not appear here often, probably deterred by their view of the shore, which consists of a cemetery of rusty fishing barges. But well-fed gulls, undistracted by people, fly over the sea. They are fattened by tourists, whom the seagulls shamelessly beg for bread and pull it straight out of their hands. It seems that, for the first time in many years, happy days are here again in Solovki.

Disease model of addiction, Jagrup Brar, Just Say No, courtroom cameras

23:07 courtroom cameras , Disease model of addiction , Jagrup Brar , Just Say No 0 Comments

Dr. Anthony Ocana’s recent letter to the editor is indicative of the liberal view of drug addiction in this city by a select list of special-interest groups that is turning us into a haven for crack addicts, heroin addicts and other socially destructive behaviours. I am tired of it. Firstly, Dr. Ocana should understand that the media is supposed to provide a balanced view of issues. I guess editorialists are now no longer allowed to express opinions in Vancouver, in particular around socially critical issues like drugs because we wouldn’t want to upset people like him. I always find the so called experts choice of the words “harm reduction” pathetic when it comes to these programs. Harm Reduction? How about some dope reduction! Secondly, I thank him for his explanation of “fundamentals of neurobiology” for those of us who “don’t understand addiction”. Sounds like all of us in this town are stupid and Dr. Ocana has all the answers. Every time someone criticizes or has an opposing view of Insite or any of the other drug/alcohol related harm-reduction programs in town we get branded as unaware, ignorant or need to be better educated on drug/alcohol addiction by people like him. Frankly, I can do without Tony’s form of education. We have ideas and solutions, but, suggesting anything that isn’t providing a place to shoot up, provide a crack pipe, free alcohol or explain how it’s better to snort heroin instead of injecting it is likely going to be viewed as a suggestion from the “uninformed.” Finally, I find his comparison of a cancer patient to a drug addict an insult. How can he conclude a child with any form of cancer is no different to some crack addict? Our city and provincial leaders need to start listening to the silent majority. I am sick of the drugs, their effects and the direction the city is taking relative to their bogus harm-reduction programs. Harm reduction is some theorist’s view of a utopian response to people who simple don’t want to be responsible for their actions.

A grisly event in South East Asia highlights the region's developing meth-driven drug war

05:08 A grisly event in South East Asia highlights the region's developing meth-driven drug war 0 Comments

The Mekong River in Thailand Photo via By Jed Bickman 10/11/11 | Share Uppers Rock the World New Life for Asia’s Golden Triangle China Unveils Radical New Approach to Drug Treatment Vietnam's Rehab Gulag Revealed Spinning to Cambodia! In one of the grisliest incidents of the drug war in South East Asia in recent memory, the corpses of thirteen Chinese sailors have been found by Thai authorities on the Mekong River. The victims, including two female cooks, were blindfolded, bound, and shot dead. They're believed to be the crew members of two Chinese cargo ships that were hijacked last week by Thai drug gangs—the boats were recaptured in a firefight with Thai police and 950,000 methamphetamine pills were discovered on board. It's unclear whether the meth was loaded onto the boats by the Thai gangs, or whether it was already being shipped from China. Thai military officials blame a drug trafficking ring led by 40-year-old kingpin Nor Kham—who operates out of northeast Burma and is a wanted man in both Burma and Thailand—for the attacks. Authorities speculate that the Chinese ships neglected to hand over protection money and paid the price. The Chinese government has reacted defensively, suspending cargo and passenger trips along the Mekong river. The region along the border of Burma, Laos, and Thailand—known as the “golden triangle”—is the center of methamphetamine production in Asia, although China has also produced vast amounts of meth since the 1990s. Ephedrine, the base of methamphetamine, is derived from a native Chinese herb—“mao,” AKA "yaba"—which has an important role in Chinese medicine. The UN estimates there are between 3.5 million and 20 million methamphetamine users in South East Asia: such a broad range only serves to illustrate how badly understood the problem is. In 2009, countries in South East Asia collectively reported a 250% jump in methamphetamine arrests, as well as an increasing trend of injecting methamphetamine, which leads to a corresponding jump in HIV and other diseases among users.

Doctors may strike over cuts to their pension pots

00:41 Doctors may strike over cuts to their pension pots 0 Comments

The British Medical Association, which represents 130,000 doctors and medical students, said two thirds of its members support industrial action which could cripple hospitals and GP surgeries throughout the country. The association rejected cuts to doctor’s pensions despite warning that some hospitals are so financially stretched that patient safety can no longer be guaranteed and that “accidents will happen”. Senior government figures said the reductions in their pensions were “modest” and in line with other public sector staff. A government source said: “It seems a bit rich for doctors to be complaining about cuts and patient care when they leave the NHS as millionaires.” Over the past decade, the average consultant has seen their pay rise by 54 per cent, with less qualified doctors enjoying a rise of 30 per cent. Their pay has recently been frozen, with the average GP now earning about £110,000.

Meat causes cancer. It’s been said so many times that you’d have to be an idiot not to believe it, right?

18:32 Meat causes cancer. It’s been said so many times that you’d have to be an idiot not to believe it , right? 0 Comments

 The latest confirmation of this apparent common sense was a report published last week in the British Journal of Cancer Research. The authors, from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, brought together 11 studies - published between 1993 and 2011 - that assessed the risk of pancreatic cancer from eating red meat and ‘processed’ meat. From this meta-analysis, the authors found that red meat increased the risk of pancreatic cancer for men, but not for women, and that the risk of pancreatic cancer rose by 19 per cent for every 50 grams of processed meat consumed. The simple claim that ‘processed meat causes cancer’ was widely reported after the study was published. However, it would be wrong to assume that such claims about risk are all they are cracked up to be. First, there is the question of whether the association claimed is real. Epidemiological studies like the ones brought together by the Swedish researchers will typically find out what participants ate for a day or a week using a questionnaire or a food diary. Then, the participants will be checked some years later to see who has succumbed to the disease in question. Did people correctly remember what they ate? And did they accurately recall how much they consumed? It would be unusual for anyone to have weighed the food, so the amounts could be inaccurate, too. What else did the participants eat? Did they change their eating habits in subsequent months or years? And what the hell is ‘processed’ meat, anyway? Unless you slaughter your own animals, your meat will have been processed to one degree or another. At what point does meat that has been processed become ‘processed meat’? There are so many ways in which the crude tools of epidemiology could screw up the result of studies like this that it is normal for fairly small risks - like the 19 per cent increase in this case - to be treated with a massive pinch of salt. The authors of this study even note: ‘All studies controlled for age and smoking, but only a few studies adjusted for other potential confounders such as body mass index and history of diabetes.’ Secondly, even if the association is not simply a product of the way in which the study was designed, we still don’t know if correlation equals causation. The best we could say is that the kind of people who like to eat processed meat are a bit more likely to get pancreatic cancer than the kind of people who don’t eat meat at all. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist - or a professor of epidemiology - to realise that vegetarians live, on average, quite different lifestyles from people who tuck into burgers and kebabs. Thirdly, even if this study has somehow managed to be supremely accurate and found a real risk, we have to ask if such an increase is of any practical significance in the real world. Cancer Research UK gives the following statistics on pancreatic cancer: for the UK, the age-standardised rate is 9.3 cases per 100,000 people per year - roughly one person in every 10,000. So even those people who really like processed meat and eat 150g per day would have about a 50 per cent increased risk - or about 15 cases per 100,000. To express that in terms of odds, instead of it being 10,000-to-one that these kebab-and-burger lovers develop pancreatic cancer in any particular year, it would be 6,667-to-one. So, to sum up: the association between processed meat and pancreatic cancer is so weak it might well be a mirage; the increased risk might not be caused by the processed meat itself; and even if it is, the risk is so low that it’s really not worth bothering about. Yet still we are advised to consider cutting down on our red meat and processed meat consumption. Life is, frankly, too short to miss out on such tasty foods on the slim chance that we might lose a few years of life in old age. Still, that won’t stop people being harangued anyway. A particularly unsavoury example of this appeared in Sunday’s Observer. Illiberal Liberal of the Week contender, columnist Barbara Ellen, declared that the bovine attitude of recent governments towards smokers and drinkers should apply to meat-eaters, too. Now that a precedent has been set - that people should be harangued for doing things that are legal but disapproved of by Those Who Know Better - Ellen is simply following through this logic by attacking those who like sausages, bacon and pies. Here’s the argument: people (like smokers and drinkers) who deliberately do things that are bad for them, despite being told time and again that they should not, are now lectured, restricted and even have their basic rights taken away; eating meat - and particularly ‘processed’ meat - increases your risk of getting cancer and is bad for you; therefore, people who eat meat should now be lectured, restricted and even have their basic rights taken away. This is a shocking but perfectly logical argument, if you accept the petty-authoritarian mindset that flourished under New Labour and is still going strong under the Lib-Con coalition (and, indeed, around the world). Given the tone of Ellen’s piece, you might hope that she would end by saying: ‘Of course, telling people not to eat meat is stupid - every bit as stupid as telling them not to drink or smoke or telling them not to be fat. The government should just butt out.’ Sadly, there is no note of irony anywhere. She really does want to stick it to meat-eaters. So, of the supposed risks of eating meat, Ellen declares: ‘This information has popped up regularly for years in all forms of popular media. Indeed, in this era of info overload, if you’ve never come across the “burgers and kebabs are unhealthy” revelation, one would have to presume you’ve been lying in a coma. With this in mind, isn’t it time to ask, exactly how thick, how hard to educate, are meat-eaters and why aren’t they held accountable in the same way everyone else is?’ She continues: ‘Sympathy is in short supply these days. You can’t move for people being blamed for their own miserable situations: smokers who “burden” the NHS; alcoholics who don’t “deserve” liver transplants; obese people who “should” pay more for flights. Even those poor terrified women with the faulty breast implants are said to have “brought it on themselves”. By this logic, people who’ve been regularly informed of the dangers of meat, particularly the cheap processed variety, but who continue to wolf it down should be held just as accountable.’ Now that the precedent has been set for the government to lambast those who engage in unapproved habits, it’s open season on any habit that a campaigner or columnist disapproves of. Ban it! Tax it! Make them get a prescription for it! Deny them medical care! Ellen’s article is objectionable but it only follows the remorseless logic of so many others. There is another lesson from the meat-and-cancer story: at a time when all sorts of dubious claims are made based on junk science and dodgy statistics, only some panics get wide publicity; others just pop up and disappear again in a matter of hours. The difference is that some play to an existing political or media agenda and some do not. The idea that meat causes cancer appeals to health busybodies, politicians scrabbling around for a sense of purpose, vegetarians who can’t win a moral argument about animal rights, and environmentalists who have failed to convince us that increasing the ‘human footprint’ - by wanting to eat more meat, for example - is killing the planet. It’s not quite possessed of the same force as religious fervour - do the ‘right thing’ or live in agony for eternity - but the idea that if you do something naughty like enjoy bacon then you might die in agony before your time, is the best that many such claims-makers have got going for them right now. The only proper response to this junkscience-based illiberalism is to be extremely sceptical of any such claims and to defend everyone’s right to indulge in these petty vices.

Pasquale Mazzarella and Clemente Amodio arrested in Marbella

16:16 Pasquale Mazzarella and Clemente Amodio arrested in Marbella 0 Comments

TWO Italians belonging to the Mazzarella mafia family were arrested in Malaga for their alleged involvement in drug trafficking activities, according to Press reports. Pasquale Mazzarella, who had been on the run from the authorities for the past three years, and Clemente Amodio, wanted since last Spring, had European arrest warrants against them and were handed over to the National Court to be extradited to Italy. They were living in a villa in Marbella, and had moved their headquarters to Spain, allegedly bringing drugs from Morocco to sell in Europe.

'Neurology time bomb' on the cards for NHS

13:45 'Neurology time bomb' on the cards for NHS 0 Comments

The NHS could find itself facing a "neurology time bomb" as more people develop conditions such as motor neurone disease and Parkinson's disease. According to the Neurological Alliance, which represents 70 groups and charities, the rising number of cases is being compounded by the poor quality of services. The alliance's criticisms follow a report by the National Audit Office, which questioned the level of care on offer, bringing particular attention to delays in diagnosis and muddled follow-up care. In response, the government has acknowledged that more needs to be done. Steve Ford, chair of the alliance and chief executive of Parkinson's UK, said: "The situation can only get worse. A crisis is looming but the government has its head in the sand. "When it comes to helping vulnerable people with a neurological condition, the government is floundering around in a fog of its own making." It is estimated that more than 200,000 people in the UK have long-term progressive neurological conditions, according to the BBC.

An unflinching look at drugs

09:52 An unflinching look at drugs 0 Comments

From the farm fields and jungle labs where drugs such as crack cocaine, ecstasy and hashish get their start to the front-door steps where recreational users and addicts alike have their drugs delivered, National Geographic Channel (channel 260) explores the world of Drugs Inc. The series premieres on the channel at 9pm today and includes eight unflinching new episodes that examine the business of illegal narcotics production. Drugs Inc goes inside the world of producers, traffickers, dealers, users, doctors and cops with first-person perspectives on what keeps this business in motion. It also investigates relative newcomers such as ketamine and oxycontin – designer drugs for the 21st century – and the covert industry of grand theft auto, which provides cartels with stolen vehicles customised for smuggling. Worth an estimated R1.28 trillion, the business of Drugs Inc fuels crime and violence like no other substance on the planet, turning cartel leaders into billionaires. The illegal drug industry also provides vital income to hundreds of thousands of poor workers across the globe. While some users sacrifice their lives to an addiction they can’t escape, others find drugs to be their only saving grace from physical or emotional pain almost impossible to overcome. Where should the lines be drawn in this hugely lucrative industry? The series looks at hallucinogens, once hailed as a panacea. Psychedelic drugs are at the centre of an underground movement experimenting with mind-altering substances as they explore a possible new medical frontier. Deep in the Amazon, Rob, a Wall Street broker-turned-healer, has created a free clinic of sorts, administering a highly potent narcotic known as ayahuasca to patients desperate to escape powerful trauma. Taking on others’ stress releases Rob’s own demons and a shaman must step in as Rob’s trip spirals dangerously out of control. Dimitri, a former heroin addict, helps drug users to overcome addiction by using a controversial hallucinogen called ibogaine, and encounters dangerous side effects in the process. Turning to the power of mushrooms, one family man suffering from cluster headaches contemplated suicide before finding relief in this psychedelic trip, and a Swiss physician uses LSD to help ease terminal patients’ fear of death. The deadly and addictive drug crack cocaine is the subject of another episode in which users will do anything to get their hands on it. Addicts Jeff and Alexis are desperate for its intense high – turning to burglary, drug dealing and even prostitution. Smuggling hashish from the remote Moroccan Riff Mountains to the streets of Europe is a dirty, dangerous and deadly business. A former British gangster serves as guide into this illicit underworld, visiting a secret hash-making location nestled in the mountains. The smugglers use everything from hidden car compartments to donkeys, skis and drug mules. Their aim is to be as inconspicuous as possible – and to make it out alive. Facing off at the front line of Europe’s war on drugs, customs agents near Gibraltar seize 100kg of hashish, but the huge haul barely scratches the surface. From Spain, smugglers like “Billy” strap blocks of hash to their bodies and board flights to London and European cities. While smugglers take great risks, for some users, getting the drugs is as easy as walking into a coffee shop. But despite this easy access, users still pay a heavy price – as seen at a local youth psychiatric clinic in Holland. Ecstasy marks another trail. Dubbed as Christmas morning in a pill and penicillin for the soul, ecstasy’s euphoric high is said to come with major lows. Ravers have died from it and organised crime gangs will kill for it. One of the biggest ecstasy traffickers shares how he dominated the ecstasy smuggling world, and a high-level ecstasy distributor in California outlines smuggling strategies for the 21st century. Drugs Inc joins all the dots in this fascinating and disturbing network.

Judge quotes Bible, Shakespeare before sentencing priest

17:42 Judge quotes Bible , Shakespeare before sentencing priest 0 Comments

As a strict observer of the Nine Commandments, Monsignor Kevin McAuliffe toiled for nearly a decade as a leader of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church and the Las Vegas Diocese. As a thief in immaculate robes, McAuliffe ripped off $650,000 from church coffers over the years to feed a raging video poker habit. He did not discriminate: He stole from the votive candle fund, the novena fund, and the church gift shop. On Friday morning, in U.S. District Judge James Mahan's packed courtroom, McAuliffe sought leniency and did not get it. Mahan heard about McAuliffe's tragic gambling compulsion from defense expert witness Dr. Timothy Fong of UCLA's Gambling Studies Program. In addition to displaying all the signs and symptoms of a man in the throes of gambling addiction, McAuliffe also appeared to suffer from depression and social anxiety disorder, the $250-an-hour expert said. Defense attorney Margaret Stanish gamely tried to portray her client as a deeply remorseful man whose life of good deeds was marred only by a tragic flaw in the form of a gambling addiction. "This is a man who has given his life to these people," Stanish said, alluding to his many supporters from St. Elizabeth's. She added, "He's done good works since he was a kid." Trouble is, McAuliffe admitted being an accomplished thief for the past decade. By the end of Fong's testimony, and a withering cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina Brown, Mahan appeared irritated by all the pathological gambling palaver and sentenced McAuliffe to 37 months in prison -- four more months than recommended in the pre-sentencing report and agreed upon by the prosecution. Mahan eloquently quoted from the Gospel According to Matthew and conjured the image of the devout as a lily of the field. "You were a lily," the judge said. Then he reminded McAuliffe of the words of Shakespeare, who in Sonnet 94 wrote, "For sweetest things turn sourest by their deeds; Lilies that fester smell far worse than weeds." Oh, what the defense would have given to hear the judge quote from "The Merchant of Venice" about the quality of mercy not being strained. With all the hand-wringing about addiction and quoting from the Bible and the Bard, you might begin to think the story of Monsignor McAuliffe is a genuine tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. But alas, dear readers, it just ain't so. Prosecutor Brown riddled Fong's supposed expert testimony with holes. While Fong recommended the defendant receive intensive psychotherapy, Brown effectively argued that McAuliffe's sudden change of heart appeared more motivated by the threat of prison than a high-minded epiphany. By the time Brown finished with him, Fong looked like he needed therapy. Of course the priest was a compulsive gambler -- one who betrayed the trust of his extended family, or in this case 8,800 families, by stealing from them. The thievery only ceased after he received a visit from the FBI. It was only then he saw the light and sought help for his compulsive behavior. On Friday, McAuliffe sought forgiveness. By the size of the crowd of supporters that assembled in federal court, it's clear he's been forgiven by many parishioners. But that doesn't exactly settle his debts for absconding with 650 grand. For heaven's sake, the mob didn't skim that much from the Tropicana. It would be bad enough if McAuliffe simply stole from the church to which he'd pledged devotion and loyalty. The church is just a building. McAuliffe stole from people who trusted him. Rich and poor. Old and young. In good times and bad. He stole from people at a time many were losing their jobs, their savings and their homes. When it came time to throw himself on the mercy of the court, the experienced extemporaneous speaker read from a carefully crafted prepared statement. McAuliffe's words left Mahan unmoved. The judge knows that America's prisons are littered with drug addicts who fed their vicious habits through thievery. You know what the justice system calls them? Inmates. And what do you call a priest who steals $650,000 from his own parish family? A bum who is now headed from the Lord's house to the big house.

Paul Simon's music takes meandering spiritual journey

11:32 Paul Simon's music takes meandering spiritual journey 0 Comments

Paul Simon says there's always been a spiritual dimension to his music. But the overt religious references in his most recent album, So Beautiful or So What, surprised even him. There are songs about God, angels, creation, pilgrimage, prayer and the afterlife. . Simon says he has many questions about God and explores them through his music. Enlarge By Todd Plitt, for USA TODAY Paul Simon performs at Ground Zero during a 10th anniversary ceremony of the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Simon says he has many questions about God and explores them through his music. Ads by Google 1st Dual Core Mini-ITX VIA EPIA-M900 wi Nano X2 CPU, DDR3 up to 8GB, 2 SATA, 8 USB2.0, 4 www.viaembedded.com Simon says the religious themes were not intentional — he does not describe himself as religious. But in an interview with the PBS program Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, he said the spiritual realm fascinates him. "I think it's a part of my thoughts on a fairly regular basis," he said. "I think of it more as spiritual feeling. It's something that I recognize in myself and that I enjoy, and I don't quite understand it." BLOG: Is heaven Simon's stunning infinity? REVIEW: 'So Beautiful' sums up Simon's latest STORY: 'So Beautiful' is beautifully familiar Simon may not understand it, but he's been writing and singing a lot about it, and that has generated attention. One Irish blogger suggested So Beautiful or So What could be the best Christian album of 2011. Sojourners' Cathleen Falsani, an evangelical who writes frequently about religion and pop culture, called it "one of the most memorable collections of spiritual musical musings" in recent memory. "It's a stunningly beautiful … album, and he's a great surprise to me and frankly a huge blessing," Falsani said. During a career that has spanned half a century, Simon has received numerous awards, including 12 Grammys. His first Grammy came in 1968 for best contemporary vocal duo, along with his musical partner Art Garfunkel. Their 1970 Grammy-winning song Bridge Over Troubled Water was influenced by gospel music. Simon comes from a Jewish background. "I was raised to a degree enough to be bar mitzvahed and have that much Jewish education, although I had no interest. None," he said. Now at 70, he said he has many questions about God. In his song, The Afterlife, he speculates about what happens after death. He imagines waiting in line, like at the Department of Motor Vehicles. As the chorus goes: "You got to fill out a form first and then you wait in the line." But there's a serious aspect as well, as the song continues: "Face-to-face in the vastness of space/ Your words disappear/And you feel like you're swimming in an ocean of love/ And the current is strong." "By the time you get up to speak to God, and you actually get there, there's no question that you could possibly have that could have any relevance," Simon explained. One of the most unusual songs on the album, Getting Ready for Christmas Day, includes excerpts of a sermon preached in 1941 by prominent African-American pastor J.M. Gates. Simon heard the sermon on a set of old recordings and said he was drawn to the rhythms of Gates' "call and response" style of preaching. The song Love and Hard Times begins with the line: "God and His only son paid a courtesy call on Earth one Sunday morning." According to Simon, "To begin with a sentence that is the foundation of Christianity, I said: This is going to be interesting. Now what am I going to say about a subject that I certainly didn't study?" The song ends with a love story, which he says is really about his wife, and a repetition of the line, "Thank God I found you." "When you're looking to be thankful at the highest level, you need a specific and that specific is God. And that's what that song is about," he said. Simon said the beauty of life and of the earth often leads him to thoughts about God. "How was all of this created? If the answer to that question is God created everything, there was a creator, than I say, Great! What a great job," he said. But he said he won't be troubled if it turns out there is no God. "Oh fine, so there's another answer. I don't know the answer," he said. Either way, he added, "I'm just a speck of dust here for a nanosecond, and I'm very grateful." Simon has sought input on his questions from some religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama. He once spent hours talking with British evangelical theologian John Stott, who died last year. Simon said Stott made a big impression on him. "I left there feeling that I had a greater understanding of where belief comes from when it doesn't have an agenda," he said. Many of Simon's songs raise universal questions about things like destiny and the meaning of life. "Quite often, people read or hear things in my songs that I think are more true than what I wrote," he said. Falsani calls Simon a "God-chronicler by accident." "He looks at the world and kind of wonders what the heck is going on, like many of us do. He asks good questions and seems to have his finger on the heartbeat spiritually of a culture," she said. Simon said he's gratified — and somewhat mystified — that some people have told him they believe God has spoken to them through his music. "Is it a profound truth? I don't know," he said. "I feel I'm like a vessel, and it passed through me, and I was the editor, and I'm glad."

Cargo ship runs aground off Sweden, crew suspected drunk

01:08 Cargo ship runs aground off Sweden , crew suspected drunk 0 Comments

The captain and helmsman are both suspected of being under the influence of alcohol and we have launched an inquiry," coast guard spokeswoman Lotta Brandstroem told AFP. It was not immediately known why the Anke Angela, an 82-metre (270-foot) ship loaded with timber, ran aground around 0100 GMT in the Kalmarsund strait between the Swedish mainland and the island of Oeland. "The captain is a German national and the helmsman is Russian, and the other four crew members are from Ukraine and Cape Verde," Brandstroem said, adding that the vessel was en route from Moensteraas to Ireland with a cargo of wood. The ship was listing slightly on Wednesday and the coast guard was assessing the damage.

Wonga stops targeting students after Twitter protests

01:01 Wonga stops targeting students after Twitter protests 0 Comments

Short-term lender Wonga.com has announced that it is taking down information on student finances from its website following accusations it was encouraging undergraduates to take out one of its high-interest loans. Earlier Wonga.com came under severe criticism after its website claimed that its loans can offer students "a little more financial freedom and independence". The claim attracted outrage on Twitter. One user, Neale Gilhooley, tweeted: "A pox on loan company #Wonga offering students loans at a sharking 4,214pc APR." On the "student loans" section of its website, Wonga.com says these government-backed loans – despite their very low interest rates – could encourage people to borrow too much. Student loans currently attract interest at 1.5pc or 5.3pc, depending on when they were taken out. "It's pretty hard not to get carried away when you're a student on a budget and have the option to borrow large amounts of money with a student loan. But the problem with student loans is that they potentially encourage you to live beyond your means," the website says. "They're intended for living and education costs, but it's all too easy to fritter away the money once you have it. Wonga encourages responsible borrowing because, depending on your trust rating, you can borrow as little as £1 up to £1000, as long as you can repay it within a month."