Health & Science

• Tuesday, December 17th 2013 - 17:51 UTC

  West Antarctic ice sheet loss, one of the multi-year projects to be started this year by BAS

  

  With the Antarctic Summer well underway, British Antarctic Territory Commissioner Peter Hayes has sent his well wishes to British Antarctic Survey staff (BAS) working on the continent over the coming months. In a recent letter to UK Base commanders Dr Hayes commented:

• Saturday, December 14th 2013 - 06:58 UTC

  Pot fumes: Mujica calls UN official, 'liar', after he accused Uruguay of 'pirate attitudes'

  

  President Jose Mujica reacted furiously to the accusation of Uruguay as a 'pirate state' from the UN official in charge of drugs' control, who was protesting the legalization of marihuana and because allegedly he was never received by the Uruguayan leader. Mujica bluntly replied, leaving aside all nice talk, “tell that old man to stop lying and stop showing off to the stands”.

• Saturday, December 14th 2013 - 06:40 UTC

  A Nobel peace prize for Uruguay for legalizing cannabis

  

  Uruguay's recent passing of a bill legalizing cannabis from production to distribution has generated headlines and controversy worldwide. The basics of the law is that current methods to combat drugs addiction and trade have failed completely and new options should be experimented.
  The Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins writes on the controversy.

• Friday, December 13th 2013 - 18:06 UTC

  UK dengue fever health warning for Britons traveling to the Caribbean

  

  The United Kingdom has issued a new health advisory for Britons travelling to the Caribbean following a surge in the incidence of dengue fever in England. The steep rise in British cases of the mosquito-borne disease has forced the health agency Public Health England (PHE) to warn travelers to be on the alert for signs of the illness after visiting the Caribbean.

• Friday, December 13th 2013 - 09:15 UTC

  US to faze out use of antibiotics in animals for meat as resistant diseases keep rising

  

  Citing a potential threat to public health, the United States Food and Drug Administration is taking steps toward phasing out the use of some antibiotics in animals processed for meat. In the US many cattle, hog and poultry producers give their animals antibiotics regularly to ensure that they are healthy and to make the animals grow faster.

• Wednesday, December 11th 2013 - 22:53 UTC

  First obstacle for Uruguay's marijuana bill: it violates international convention on drug control

  

  Uruguay's decision to legalize marijuana is in violation of an international convention on drug control, the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board, INCB, which monitors government compliance with such treaties said on Wednesday.

• Wednesday, December 11th 2013 - 04:31 UTC

  Uruguay becomes first country to oversee production and sale of marijuana

  

  Uruguay's Senate has approved ground-breaking legislation legalizing marijuana, becoming the first nation in the world to oversee the production and sale of the drug. After a marathon debate, the 16 senators from the ruling coalition out of 29 lawmakers voted Tuesday in favor of the legislation championed by President Jose Mujica, who must now sign it into law.

• Friday, December 6th 2013 - 23:20 UTC

  Falklands working on a policy to protect the Islands from norovirus

  

  The Falkland Islands is aiming to develop a policy to protect the territory from the spread of norovirus, an infection which is not uncommon in big urban centres but which several cruise vessels have also experienced.

• Friday, November 29th 2013 - 23:30 UTC

  Brazil will have its own national-made secure communications satellite by 2016

  

  Brazil's state-owned telecom provider Telebras signed a 560m dollar contract to deliver a satellite for secure communications on Thursday, following months of outrage over revelations of US cyber spying. A statement said a joint venture between Telebras and Embraer would deliver the geostationary satellite for strategic communications by late 2016.

• Thursday, November 28th 2013 - 20:51 UTC

  Poor ratings for Chile in health care and pensions' system, according to OECD

  

  Two biannual reports revealed Chile as one of the countries with the worst pension statistics and the highest citizen out-of-pocket expenditure on health among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) nations.