International
Marijuana use on the rise among young Americans: study
AFP
Marijuana use by young Americans reached record levels last year and the use of hallucinogens is also on the rise, according to a new study.
Forty-three percent of the 5,000 young adults between 19 and 30 years old surveyed reported past-year marijuana use in 2021, up from 34 percent in 2016 and 29 percent in 2011, the Monitoring the Future study by the University of Michigan found.
Twenty-nine percent reported using marijuana in the past month in 2021, up from 21 percent in 2016 and 17 percent in 2011.
Daily marijuana use rose from six percent in 2011 to eight percent in 2016 to 11 percent in 2021.
The authors of the study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, said the 2021 figures for marijuana use were the “highest levels ever recorded since these trends were first monitored in 1988.”
As for hallucinogens, eight percent of the young adults reported using LSD, MDMA, mescaline, peyote, “shrooms” or PCP in the past year, up from five percent in 2016 and three percent in 2011.
Nearly 82 percent of those surveyed reported drinking alcohol in the previous 12 months, down slightly from 83.5 percent in 2016 and 83.8 percent in 2011.
The study did not cite any reasons for the rise in marijuana use among young adults, but recreational cannabis is now legal in nearly 20 US states.
International
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe on Monday requested that the Supreme Court restore his freedom while he appeals the historic 12-year house arrest sentence he received for bribery and procedural fraud.
Uribe, the most prominent figure of Colombia’s right wing, was convicted last week by a lower court for attempting to bribe paramilitary members into denying his ties to the violent anti-guerrilla squads.
Since Friday, the 73-year-old has been under house arrest at his residence in Rionegro, about 30 km from Medellín. The judge justified the measure by citing a risk of flight.
However, Uribe’s defense team rejected that argument and formally petitioned the court to immediately lift the detention order, claiming it lacks legal basis.
Uribe, a dominant force in Colombian politics for decades, is now the first former president in the country’s history to be convicted and placed under arrest, found guilty of witness tampering and obstruction of justice to prevent links to paramilitary groups.
He has repeatedly denounced the trial as politically motivated, blaming pressure from the leftist government currently in power.
His political party, Centro Democrático, has called for nationwide protests on August 7 in support of Uribe, who remains popular for his hardline stance against guerrilla groups.
Uribe has until August 13 to submit his written appeal. The case will then move to the Bogotá High Court, which has until October 16 to uphold, overturn, or dismiss the sentence. If the deadline passes without a decision, the case will be archived.
International
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
The poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean is currently engulfed in a deep political crisis and a wave of violence driven by armed groups — a situation that an international security mission led by Kenya is attempting to stabilize.
Due to the worsening security conditions, the U.S. government has suspended all official movements of embassy personnel outside the compound in Port-au-Prince, the U.S. State Department announced Monday in a security alert posted on social media platform X.
“There are intense gunfights in the Tabarre neighborhood, near the U.S. Embassy,” the alert reads, urging the public to avoid the area.
Tabarre is a municipality located near Port-au-Prince International Airport, northeast of the Haitian capital.
According to a July report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 3,141 people were killed in Haitibetween January 1 and June 30 of this year.
International
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
The Israeli military announced on Sunday that 136 boxes of food aid were airdropped into Gaza by the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt, Germany, and Belgium.
“In recent hours, six countries conducted air drops of 136 aid packages containing food for residents in the southern and northern Gaza Strip,” read the statement, which added that the operation was coordinated by COGAT, the Israeli defense body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Israeli military emphasized that they will “continue working to improve the humanitarian response alongside the international community” and reiterated their stance to “refute false allegations of deliberate famine in Gaza.”
The announcement comes as UN agencies warn Gaza faces an imminent risk of famine. More than one in three residents go days without eating, and other nutrition indicators have dropped to their worst levels since the conflict began.
The agencies also noted the difficulty of “collecting reliable data in current conditions, as Gaza’s health systems —already devastated by nearly three years of conflict— are collapsing.”
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry reported on Sunday that hospitals in the enclave recorded six deaths from hunger and malnutrition on Saturday, all of them adults.
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction
U.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
Israel says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
Defense Minister commends salvadoran soldier for Central American Cross Country victory
Extension of the state of emergency approved in southern Chile
-
Central America4 days agoCosta Rica faces historic vote on lifting presidential immunity for Rodrigo Chaves
-
International2 days agoIsrael says 136 food aid boxes airdropped into Gaza by six nations
-
International4 days agoTrump administration blasts judge’s ruling reinstating TPS for Honduras, Nepal, and Nicaragua
-
International4 days agoStudy finds COVID-19 vaccines prevented 2.5 million deaths worldwide
-
International2 days agoU.S. Embassy staff restricted as gunfire erupts near compound in Port-au-Prince
-
International2 days agoSeven inmates dead, 11 injured after violent riot in Veracruz prison
-
International2 days ago
Uribe requests freedom amid appeal of historic bribery conviction