France’s never-ending war on drugs

Italian authorities stunned the world by announcing the "Islamic State" was trying to ship €1 billion worth of amphetamines into Europe. But after analysts raised doubts, eyes turn to President Bashar Assad's regime.

Philanthropist and Microsoft founder Bill Gates calls for any future COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed based on "equity", warning that selling drugs "to the highest bidder" would lead to a "longer, more injust, deadlier pandemic".

Reports suggest that more illegal drugs are consumed in the country than anywhere else in Europe. ... The government, though, is taking action, introducing on-the-spot fines of €200 for anyone caught consuming drugs.2

Blondie star Debbie Harry speaks to Eve Jackson about a life of rock 'n' roll madness. They chat about her autobiography, recently translated into French, which features stories of hanging out with Andy Warhol, taking drugs, being flashed by David Bowie and having her house taken by the tax collector – all while becoming a trailblazing rock star. It covers her adoption aged three months and goes all the way up to her recent 2017 album "Pollinator". The band has just announced a UK against-the-odds tour for November 2021 with the group Garbage.

The WHO had recommended loosening control on cannabis, to make research into its medical use easier. It was earlier put in the same category as heroin and synthetic opioids.

Yellow fever outbreak: Wife of Delta governor gives drugs to inmates

NDLEA seizes drugs worth over N30billion at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos

Italian police say they have seized 1.3 tonnes of cocaine in the past week from the southern port of Gioia Tauro, a major narcotics entry-point controlled by the 'Ndrangheta mafia. In three operations using sophisticated scanners, police discovered the uncut drugs worth 260 million euros ($315 million) hidden within containers loaded with coffee and frozen meat from Brazil, and exotic fruit from Ecuador.

Honduran authorities incinerate 1,426 kilos of cocaine seized from cartel members, at a time when Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez and armed forces officials are being investigated in the United States for drug trafficking.

Oxygen cylinders are supplied to a Mumbai hospital and signs outside a vaccination centre read "Covishield out of stock" as India posts a global one-day record of almost 315,000 new Covid infections.

Chaotic scenes outside a medical store in New Delhi, India selling remdesivir as family members of hospitalised Covid-19 patients desperately search for the antiviral drug, which is facing severe shortages. Despite India's status as the "pharmacy of the world", the biggest producer of generic drugs has been unable to meet the demand for antiviral medication such as remdesivir and favipiravir.

Misuse of drugs responsible for mortality in Africa - WHO