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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hundreds of scientists from all over the world under the umbrella organization World Science Forum, WSF, meets this week in Rio do Janeiro to discuss their role in the 21st century and to emphasize the importance of scientific advice in political and economical decisions.
At least 573 people have died from dengue in Brazil so far this year, nearly twice the figure reported in 2012, according to official figures released Wednesday. Last year, 292 deaths were recorded and 473 in 2011, according to the health ministry.