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Portugal's success story on drug use |
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Tuesday, 07 September 2010 |
British officials are examining a pioneering Portuguese anti-drugs programme that decriminalises possession of substances including heroin and cocaine.
Controversial when it was first introduced almost a decade ago, the move has turned possession into an "administrative offence", which sends those caught with drugs for personal use to a so-called dissuasion board rather than having them prosecuted.
The board, which consists of social workers and psychologists who interrogate users on their drug habit, has the power to impose a variety of sanctions, including fines, or recommend treatment. Users caught with drugs more than once are ordered to appear at police stations or a doctor's surgery.
According to a senior official at the institute for drugs and drug dependency at Portugal's ministry of health, it was approached by the UK government about a month ago for advice on how it had managed its drugs programme since 2001.
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Nepal's capital hosts gay pride march |
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Saturday, 28 August 2010 |
KATHMANDU — Hundreds of gays, lesbians and transsexuals braved monsoon rains to hold a gay pride parade in the Nepalese capital on Wednesday, led by South Asia's only openly homosexual lawmaker.
The march was organised by Nepalese parliamentarian Sunil Pant, a vocal gay rights campaigner who rode through the city on an elephant followed by around 500 supporters, many of whom danced and played musical instruments.
It was timed to coincide with the Hindu festival of Gai Jatra, traditionally a colourful event, with young men dressing up and processing through town centres.
Nepal is one of the more progressive countries in South Asia with regard to gays and lesbians. A bill to legalise gay marriage is going through parliament.
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China AIDS campaigner detained |
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Sunday, 22 August 2010 |
A 23-year-old Chinese man who contracted the AIDS virus as a boy through a blood transfusion and who has since campaigned for the rights of AIDS sufferers has been detained, activists said Saturday.
Tian Xi, who told fellow activists that his repeated protests had angered authorities, was detained on Tuesday at a hospital in Henan province's Xincai county before being taken to an unknown location, the campaigners said.
Tian was lobbying for compensation for thousands of Chinese like himself who have contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, via tainted blood supplies.
China says that at least 740,000 people are living with HIV, but campaigners say the actual figure could be far higher.
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Gay marriages must be recognized nationwide |
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Saturday, 14 August 2010 |
The Mexico Supreme Court mandated national acceptance of same-sex marriages that take place in Mexico City, the nation's capital. This means the ruling will force each of Mexico's 31 distinct states to recognize any gay marriages carried out in Mexico City. The ruling does not require other Mexican states to perform their own same-sex marriages.
The Mexico Supreme Court voted 9 to 2 to mandate that same-sex marriages held in Mexico City be accepted nation-wide. The Court cited a constitutional law that requires state recognition of legal contracts established outside of state lines.
Like Washington, D.C., Mexico's capital is legally separate from its states.
In March, a same-sex marriage law was passed by the Federal District, giving gay couples all the rights extended to heterosexual unions - including joint insurance policies and the right to adopt children.
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USA:Proposition 8 Struck Down |
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Friday, 06 August 2010 |
Proposition 8, the hot-button ballot measure, was approved by California voters in November 2008 with 52 percent of the vote. Voters took to the polls after the state supreme court issued a decision allowing same-sex marriage.
Gay marriage advocates expressed their excitement over the ruling, while opponents raised accusations of judical activism by U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, a Republican appointee who is also openly gay.
"Opposite-sex couples are not better than their same-sex counterparts; instead, as partners, parents and citizens, opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples are equal," Walker wrote in his decision.
Gays and lesbians may not be allowed to marry immediately, though, as the appeals process goes on. The case will go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and perhaps eventually on to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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