Europe

> The students blame President Aleksandar Vučić for corruption and nepotism.

> Artisanal shellfish farmers face ruinous losses but money meant to help is going to the powerful fishing industry, say critics

> The European Union is working to help fortify the healthcare industry with a new action plan that focuses on prevention, detection, impact mitigation, and deterrence of cyber threats.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/53195593

> https://archive.is/ou4Xd

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/53195760

> https://archive.is/DxN1a

https://archive.is/2yI9Q

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/52940725

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/52907210

> President Volodymyr Zelenskyy believes that the possibility of ending the war or achieving a truce in Ukraine hinges on Europe’s readiness to take a tougher stance on Russia.

> Stanislaw Szypowski, convicted for spying for Russia’s military intelligence (GRU), stole a classified report on a gas pipeline, helped select informants for recruitment, and promoted pro-Russian narratives in Polish media. After seven years in prison, he re-emerged as a businessman attending numerous events, including embassy gatherings and conferences on Ukraine and FinTech, meeting regularly with state officials, without intelligence services raising alarms. His current activities resemble his pre-arrest GRU operations.

> The operator of the plant defended itself, saying it meets all other limits, just not mercury.

> The plant, the country's largest emitter of toxic mercury, has been operating without mercury emission limits since August 2024, following a court ruling that annulled its previous exemption for non-compliance with EU rules.

Zelenskyy offers prisoner exchange if Kim Jong Un helps with the return of Ukrainian prisoners from Russia.

Paywall? https://archive.is/OCcqD

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/31137251

> > Cocaine use in France has nearly doubled and consumption of hard drugs like heroin and ecstasy is also rising, a study said Wednesday, the increase taking place as drug-related violence spreads across the country. > > > Some 1.1 million people used cocaine at least once in 2023, according to a report published by the French Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT). > > >The previous report, released in 2022, put the number of users at 600,000. > > >The new figures put France in 7th place in Europe in terms of cocaine consumption. > > >Record levels of global cocaine production and the drug's changing image were among the factors behind the increase, it said. > > >People are now using cocaine not just as a recreational drug for the well-off, but to cope with intense workloads or rough working conditions in blue-collar industries like fishing, Ivana Obradovic, deputy director at OFDT, told AFP. > > >The use of crack -- a solid form of cocaine -- is also spreading and cocaine is now increasingly perceived as "less dangerous" as opposed to 20 years ago, said Obradovic. > > >A drug that stimulates the central nervous system, cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant in South America. > > >While its price has remained virtually unchanged -- a gram of cocaine cost 66 euros in 2023, compared with 60 euros in 2011 -- the purity of cocaine is on the rise, with 73 percent in 2023 compared to 46 percent in 2011. > > >According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia -- the world's three biggest cocaine cultivators -- produced 2,700 tonnes of the drug in 2022, compared with 1,134 tonnes in 2010. > > >French authorities have seized more and more of the drug in recent years. In 2023, France seized 23.5 tonnes of cocaine, compared with 4.1 tonnes in 2010. In the first 11 months of 2024, nearly 47 tonnes of cocaine were seized. > > > The use of heroin and the mind-altering drug MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, is also on the rise, the report said. > > > MDMA use has jumped from 400,000 to 750,000 people between 2019 and 2023, according to the study. > > > "It was among young adults that there were the biggest increases in experimentation and use during the year," particularly of stimulants such as cocaine and MDMA, said Obradovic. > > > Drug experimentation involving heroin, an extremely potent opioid, is also on the rise in France, with the number of users estimated at 850,000 people, a rise of 350,000 consumers compared with the previous study. > > > "The use of heroin is no longer confined to the most disadvantaged sections of society," Obradovic said, adding that "more socially integrated" individuals often prefer to sniff it. > > > Cannabis remains the most popular illegal drug in France, with five million annual users in 2023. > > > The rise in the drug use comes as drug-related violence spreads, with shootouts now erupting in what were previously quiet corners of the country. > > > The illicit drug trade in France is estimated to generate between 3.5 and six billion euros a year.

cross-posted from: https://discuss.tchncs.de/post/28684266

This article is part of our special report Prevention, promotion and impact, how Europe can improve youth mental health.

A new report by the Z Zurich Foundation highlights the urgent need to address Europe’s growing youth mental health crisis. With one in six young Europeans facing mental health challenges and the economic burden surpassing €600 billion annually, the report underscores the critical importance of early intervention through prevention and promotion over treatment.

> When, in 2011, Marine Le Pen took over as head of the National Front (FN) party he founded four decades earlier, she quickly took steps towards making it electable – rebranding it the National Rally (RN) and cleaning up its image in a policy known as "de-demonisation".

Paywall? https://archive.is/kxEkU