Britain: Portland prisoners 'developing drug problem in jail'
20 September 2017 - Prisoners have developed drug problems behind bars prompting a rise in violence at a jail, a report says. One in five inmates have a drug habit they did not have before their jail term began at HMP/YOI Portland, HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) found. It said violence was high against staff as well as inmates at the Dorset jail. (more)

One in four UK teenage girls 'depressed'
20 September 2017 - A quarter of girls and nearly one in 10 boys show signs of depression at the age of 14, say UK researchers. The findings come from more than 10,000 young people who shared their worries and emotions. Lead investigator Dr Praveetha Patalay, from Liverpool University, said teenagers, and particularly girls, were facing more mental health difficulties than previous generations. Half of all cases of adult mental illness start by the age of 14 . . . (more)

149 killed as 7.1 magnitude quake fells buildings in Mexico
19 September 2017 - A powerful earthquake shook central Mexico on Tuesday (19 September), collapsing buildings in plumes of dust and killing at least 149 people. Thousands fled into the streets in panic, and many stayed to help rescue those trapped. Dozens of buildings tumbled into mounds of rubble or were severely damaged in densely populated parts of Mexico City and nearby states. Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said buildings fell at 44 places in the capital alone as high-rises across the city swayed sickeningly. (more)

Hurricane Maria aims at Puerto Rico after slamming Dominica
19 September 2017 - Hurricane Maria barreled toward Puerto Rico on Tuesday night (19 September) after wreaking widespread devastation on Dominica and leaving the small Caribbean island virtually incommunicado. As rains began to lash Puerto Rico, Governor Ricardo Rossello warned that Maria could hit 'with a force and violence that we haven't seen for several generations.' (more)

What hurricanes don't teach us: AP finds fast coastal growth
16 September 2017 - Rising sea levels and fierce storms have failed to stop relentless population growth along U.S. coasts in recent years, a new Associated Press analysis shows. The latest punishing hurricanes scored bull's-eyes on two of the country's fastest growing regions: coastal Texas around Houston and resort areas of southwest Florida. Nothing seems to curb America's appetite for life near the sea, especially in the warmer climates of the South. Coastal development destroys natural barriers such as islands and wetlands, promotes erosion and flooding, and positions more buildings and people in the path of future destruction, according to researchers and policy advisers who study hurricanes. (more)

Typhoon tears across Vietnam
15 September 2017 - A typhoon tore a destructive path across central Vietnam on Friday, flooding hundreds of thousands of homes, whipping off roofs, and knocking out power in the country's most powerful storm in years. ... more than 5,000 houses were submerged, 19 collapsed, and nearly 24,000 houses in Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, and Thua Thien-Hue provinces were damaged, the disaster agency said in a report. ... Winds exceeded 130 km (80 miles) per hour and were expected to weaken as the storm heads to Laos. (more)

EU report on weedkiller safety copied text from Monsanto study
14 September 2017 - EU's food safety watchdog recommended that glyphosate was safe but pages of report were identical to application from pesticide maker. The European food safety authority (Efsa) based a recommendation that a chemical linked to cancer was safe for public use on an EU report that copied and pasted analyses from a Monsanto study, the Guardian can reveal. Franziska Achterberg, Greenpeace EU's food policy director, said: Whether this is a question of negligence or intent, it is completely unacceptable. It calls into question the entire EU pesticide approval process. If regulators rely on the industry's evaluation of the science without doing their own assessment, the decision whether pesticides are deemed safe or not is effectively in the industry's hands.' (more)

Brazilian President Temer charged with obstruction of justice and racketeering
14 September 2017 - Brazil's prosecutor general's office has filed charges of racketeering against President Michel Temer and six other leading politicians from his party, three of whom are already in jail. Temer and two other men are also accused of obstructing justice. 'They practiced illicit acts in exchange for bribes by way of diverse public organs,'' prosecutors said. 'Michel Temer is accused of having acted as the leader of the criminal organisation since May 2016.' Prosecutors said the group, all politicians from Temer's Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB), pocketed $188m in bribes. (more)