And in the Rest of the World…

THE United Nations (UN) is divided on how to address the global drug problem. From April 19 to 21, world leaders met in New York to attend a special session of the UN General Assembly. Their agenda: rethink the global war on drugs. This meeting was called by Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico – countries ravaged by drug-related violence and vice.

The disagreement: adopt a softer approach or stick to hard measures? Therapy and legalisation, versus law enforcement and criminalisation. Mr Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, said that the “science increasingly supports decriminalization and harm reduction over proscriptive, fear-based approaches” – a point in favour of the softer approach.

But not everyone agrees. Representing Singapore, Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said other delegates’ “soaring rhetoric on the rights of people to access narcotics” was “not based on facts”. Use the map below to see which country’s delegates said what during the conference. And then check out a selection of quotes relating to other world news.

(Note: Cannabis and marijuana are terms often used interchangeably.)

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2016 Summer Olympics

“In these difficult days that Brazil is facing, the flame is a timeless reminder that we all are part of the same humanity.”

— Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, on the lighting of Olympic torch

On Thursday, a symbolic ritual took place at ancient Olympia: the lighting of the Olympic torch. From there, the flaming torch will make its way from one torch bearer to another, ultimately reaching Rio, Brazil, where the 2016 Summer Olympics kicks off on August 5. One of the runners bearing the torch will be a Syrian refugee. And for the first time, a team of five to 12 refugees will compete in this year’s games. This comes at a time when Brazil’s lower house of congress has voted to impeach its country’s President, Ms Dilma Rousseff.

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Norwegian mass murderer, Anders Breivik

“The prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment represents a fundamental value in a democratic society… this is the case no matter what — also in the treatment of terrorists and killers.”

— Helen Andenaes Sekulic, Oslo district court Judge, on her ruling in favour of Anders Breivik

Anders Breivik, a right wing extremist who murdered 77 people, had three prison cells all to himself to play video games, workout, watch television. And yet, on Wednesday (April 20), an Oslo district court ruled that the Norwegian state had broken article 3 of the European Convention of Human Rights – in particular, the article bars “inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”. Breivik even made a Nazi salute on the first day of trial, only to say later that he has renounced violence. In 2011, Breivik had detonated a car bomb and opened fire on students at a summer camp.

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Executives and employees of Mitsubishi Motors

“We would like [to] encourage Mitsubishi Motors to conduct some serious soul searching for having tarnished the ‘Japan Brand’… built up over these years.”

— Keiichi Ishii, Japan’s Transport Minister, on the Mitsubishi Motors fuel efficiency tests scandal

On Thursday (April 21), Japanese authorities raided a Mitsubishi Motors facility. This came after the company admitted to cheating on fuel efficiency tests. The vehicles known to be affected are the Mitsubishi eK mini-wagon and Nissan Dayz. Nissan – which sells this model made by Mitsubishi – found a discrepancy in fuel efficiency test data. On Wednesday, Mitsubishi Motors President Tetsuro Aikawa apologised and confessed that mishandling of the test data was “intentional”. This comes after the Volkswagen (VW) emissions scandal last year. VW installed software that lowered emissions when it detected official emissions tests were being conducted.

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Telephone fraud suspects from Taiwan

“The suspects specifically targeted people on the Chinese mainland and their victims are from the mainland.”

— Chen Shiqu, an official of China’s Ministry of Public Security, on the extradition of 45 suspects from Taiwan

China will investigate and prosecute 45 people from Taiwan suspected of telephone fraud, in accordance to mainland law, said Mr Chen on Thursday. The suspects – who operated from Kenya – had apparently defrauded mainland Chinese. Earlier this month, the suspects were deported to China from Kenya. Kenya claimed that it only sent the suspects back to where they came from, since it recognises Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China. The pressure builds up, as Taiwan’s president-elect, Tsai Ing-wen, takes office in a month’s time.

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World leaders at the United Nations

“Today is a day that I have worked toward since day one as Secretary-General… Today you are signing a new covenant with the future.”

— Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, on the signing of the Paris Climate deal

At United Nations Headquarters, leaders from more than 170 countries signed the Paris Climate deal, on April 22, Earth Day. According to Mr Ban, this is the largest number of countries to sign an international agreement on one day.  It aims to limit the rise in global temperatures by well under two degrees celsius, and was adopted by 196 countries in Paris, last December. China and the United States – the world’s two largest carbon dioxide emitters – have signed the deal and said they will ratify the it before the end of the year.

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Prince Rogers Nelson

“He was able to negotiate God and sex in his subject matter in a way that we had never seen before… Every song was either a prayer or foreplay.”

— Michaela Angela Davis, former stylist of American singer Prince, on remembering him after his death

Prince, the legendary musician, passed away at age 57, on April 21. Fans and fellow musicians were shocked. There were no initial signs of trauma on his body. No reason to believe it was suicide either. This was an unwitnessed death of a middle aged man. His staff found him unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park, his home. Given the circumstances, an autopsy was conducted the next day – results pending. In his lifetime, Prince sang, wrote, and performed some of the greatest hits like “1999,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” and “Kiss”.

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Featured image Earth by Flickr user Joe Lodge. (CC BY-SA 2.0).

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