Dr. Frederik Polak, a Dutch psychiatrist asked a simple question from Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime: why the level of cannabis use is lower in the Netherlands, where cannabis is legally available for adults, than in many other countries with more restrictive drug policies?
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Head Of UN Office On Drugs and Crime Avoids Question
No tax break for games developers
No support in pre-budget report for software sector, despite it being larger than the state-backed film industry
Calls from video game developers for government support are understood to have fallen on deaf ears, with chancellor Alistair Darling expected to reject the idea of a tax break for the industry in the pre-budget report.
The news will be a massive setback for a sector that contributes more to the UK economy than the film industry, which does get financial help from the Treasury, and has spawned a string of worldwide hits including Tomb Raider and, more controversially, the Grand Theft Auto franchise. British game designers are battling to retain talent in the face of fierce competition from countries such as Canada and South Korea, who are using subsidies to lure developers.
In his final Digital Britain report in June, the then communications minister, Lord Carter, proposed a so-called 'cultural tax break' for computer games companies and there has been intense lobbying since then to get the idea approved by the Treasury. Richard Wilson, chief executive of the videogame trade association Tiga, said not coming to the aid of the industry would be 'a colossal mistake and a failure of imagination on behalf of the government'.
'We have provided concrete, substantive and compelling evidence to support the case for a games tax relief, which our research shows would more than pay for itself,' he said. 'We are convinced that the games industry has the potential to be one of the UK's leading digital industries as we emerge from the recession, so we will redouble our efforts to convince government and policymakers of the need to back our sector.'
Tiga had proposed support that it reckoned would cost the Treasury £192m – roughly equivalent to three days' worth of interest payments on the burgeoning national debt – over a five-year period. That cash, it argued, would safeguard £415m in tax receipts and encourage £450m of investment by the industry, creating more jobs.
Games companies provide employment across the UK, from Realtime Worlds in Dundee and Rockstar North in Edinburgh to Frontier in Cambridge and Rebellion Developments in Oxford.
For three decades, Britain had the third largest videogames industry in the world, behind the United States and Japan. But tax incentives in other countries have seen that ranking slip in recent years and by some estimates the UK is now fourth or fifth, behind Canada and South Korea, with France also gaining strongly.
British game developers will now be hoping that a change of administration might produce an improvement in their fortunes. Shadow culture minister Ed Vaizey has already stated that he is 'actively considering' a tax break for the industry.
Separately, shares in Game Group dropped almost 20% today after the computer games retailer shocked investors by saying total sales fell 10.8% over the 44 weeks to 5 December, with the slide accelerating over the final 18 weeks. While blockbuster game releases such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Fifa 2010 Football did very well, they could not make up for weak sales of other new releases. Revenues were also depressed by the decisions of both Sony and Microsoft to cut the price of their PlayStation and Xbox consoles earlier in the year.
Competition is also growing from the supermarkets, Game admitted, and it is trying to counter their influence by offering more 'bundles' to consumers – adding games and accessories packages to its consoles.
Game does about a quarter of its business in the last eight weeks of its financial year, which includes Christmas and the January sales, and it is hoping to attract customers who might formerly have gone to now-bankrupt Woolworths and Zavvi to buy their gaming presents.
Ancient Roman city found off Libyan coast
Italian archaeologists have discovered the remains of an ancient Roman city submerged off the coast of Libya.
The remains of the city date back to the 2nd century A.D. and were found by archaeologists and experts from Sicily and the University Suor Orsola Benincasa of Naples, involved in the ArCoLibia archaeology project.
The discovery took place on the Cape of Ras Eteen on the western side of Libya’s Gulf of Bumbah, as archaeologists were searching the area for shipwrecks and the remains of ancient ports.
Archaeologists instead found walls, streets, and the remains of buildings and ancient tombs. After a careful analysis, the experts realised the area extended for over a hectare.
Experts also said that the city could have been destroyed by a strong tsunami after an earthquake which struck the eastern coastal region of Cyrenaica in 365 A.D.
According to a statement released by Sicilian authorities, the city flourished through the manufacture of imperial dye, a purple pigment used to colour the clothing of the Roman elite.
The dye was very expensive in Roman times.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Bush Felt Blair Was Soulmate
The details of the friendship between the leaders emerged yesterday when the former British ambassador to the US Christopher Meyer gave evidence to the inquiry into the Iraq war.
Sir Christopher, who was in the US on September 11, 2001, and before Iraq was invaded in 2003, said the two men got on extraordinarily well, and he remembered the then US secretary of state, Condoleeza Rice, telling him Mr Bush felt understood by Mr Blair.
''I remember it was after they had a very good weekend together and so did the wives, and the press conference afterwards, the Colgate moment, didn't do justice to the nature of their relationship,'' he told the inquiry."
Israeli copycats: Saudi Arabia pounding Yemeni civilians with chemical weapons
"So far, Saudi and Yemeni government forces have achieved none of their goals in the war that they have waged against a major portion of the Yemeni society, who are only defending their rights," a Houthi spokesman told the Al-Alam network.
"Oppression and autocracy do not provide a way out of the current crisis," Mohammed Abdul-Salam told the Arabic language news network.
He then went on to urge the Saudi government not to further involve itself in the conflict by allowing the Yemeni government to attack its own citizens via Saudi Arabia's southern borders.
According to the spokesman, the Saudi government has announced plans to create a so-called "security zone" and clear the region of its Shia residents.
He also rejected claims that Houthi fighters had violated the Saudi border. He said that it would be impossible for Houthis to capture Saudi soldiers, unless the Saudis were advancing into Yemen's territory.
Abdul-Salam said the Houthi's have documents that shows the Saudi government is planning an incursion into Yemen.
The spokesman said that without dialogue, the conflict would drag on indefinitely, notwithstanding the sophisticated weaponry that the Saudi government possesses.
He also commented on the current situation in the conflict zone, saying that clashes were still underway in the mountainous region of Malahit, near the Saudi border.
He added that the Yemeni government was targeting Malahit and other areas inside the war-ridden northern province of Sa'ada with air raids and missiles.
Abdul-Salam said that the fighters had blocked an incursion into Yemen by Saudi forces and blown up one of their tanks.
The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana'a and Houthi fighters. Relative peace had returned to the region until August 11, when the Yemeni army launched a major offensive, dubbed Operation Scorched Earth, against Sa'ada.
The government claims that the fighters, who are named after their leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, seek to restore the Shia imamate system, which was overthrown in a 1962 military coup.
The Houthis, however, say they are defending their people's civil rights, which the government has undermined under pressure from Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists.
The Saudi Arabian government has added to the problem by launching its own offensive against northern Yemen.
While Riyadh insists that it is targeting Houthi positions on 'Saudi territory', the fighters say Saudi Arabia is bombing Yemeni villages with chemical weapons and causing the death of Shia civilians.
As Sana'a does not allow independent media into the conflict zone, there are no clear estimates available as to how many people have been killed in the Shia province of Sa'ada since 2004 or in the recent wave of violence.
According to UN estimates, however, during the past five years, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa'ada to take refuge in overcrowded camps set up by the international body.
12 Afghan Inmates Escape from Prison
12 Afghan Inmates Escape from Prison
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Police said Saturday the inmates broke out of the prison in Farah province by digging a tunnel from their cell to the outside. Officials captured a 13th prisoner as he tried to escape.
In the northern province of Takhar, police say gunmen attacked and killed the provincial head of the Red Crescent organization Friday.
At least three suspects have been detained for the murder.
Local officials have suggested that the killing may have been prompted by a personal conflict, and was not related to the man's work.
And in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Saturday, security officials said a bomb in a trash can exploded in the city's center, causing little damage and no injuries.
A day earlier, Afghan President Hamid Karzai again called on the Taliban and other extremist groups to disarm and help rebuild the war-torn country.
During a speech to mark Afghanistan's first day of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, Mr. Karzai asked those he called his Taliban "brothers" and everyone who has taken up arms against their homeland to join the government and help usher in peace and prosperity.
Mr. Karzai's appeal came after Taliban leader Mullah Omar ruled out talks with the president and urged Afghans to break ties with the Kabul government.
On Friday, NATO sources said nations that have committed troops to Afghanistan are expected to announce plans to send at least 4,000 more.
U.S. military officials have called for allied nations to send up to 10,000 additional troops, as U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to send more American soldiers.
News reports say Mr. Obama is most likely to call for the deployment of at least 30,000 more U.S. troops to add to the 68,000 U.S. troops already in Afghanistan.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.
Report: Traces of explosives at Russian train site
UGLOVKA, Russia (AP) — Russian news agencies are reporting that investigators have found traces of explosives among the wreckage of a train that derailed, killing at least 26 people.
The reported discovery appears to buttress initial fears that the deadly derailment on the Moscow-St.
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