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Global Issues
Updated: 26 Oct 2004   
WASHINGTON FILE
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Global Issues
 
U.S. drug czar John Walters
U.S. drug czar John Walters (©AP/WWP)
U.S. Launches Plan to Target Synthetic Drug Trafficking
Methamphetamine, club drugs, prescription drug abuse growing

The U.S. government is plotting a new strategy to target the growing abuse of synthetic drugs, such as prescription medicines, club drugs and methamphetamine, according to an October 25 announcement from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

The plan comes in response to a sharp increase in the abuse of these substances in recent years. The number of Americans estimated to abuse prescription drugs leapt from 1.6 million in 2000 to 6.3 million in 2003. Emergency room visits in the aftermath of abuse of these drugs has increased more than 160 percent, the ONDCP reports in a press release. (complete text)

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Foreign Visitors to United States Need Machine-Readable Passports
But noncompliant visitors will get one-time exemption, Homeland Security says

Citizens of Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries entering the United States must have either machine-readable passports (MRPs) or visas in their non-MRPs starting October 26.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will enforce the new policy at the entry points, Under Secretary Asa Hutchinson said October 22 as he briefed reporters in Washington about the policy change. The United States is requiring machine-readable passports because they are considered more secure documents and less subject to falsification. (complete text)

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NASA Helps Find Lifelong Gene Activity in Live Organisms
Study is first step in understanding gene response to space flight

NASA scientists and colleagues are learning how DNA encodes instructions for controlling basic biological functions, work that may change the understanding of human diseases, according to an October 22 NASA press release.

Scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center in California, Yale University, Columbia University and the University of Amsterdam discovered genes that change during the development of a living organism at every major stage of its life cycle. (complete text)


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Topical Latest News
26 October 2004 - Three Women from Jerusalem Tour America, Plead for Peace
26 October 2004 - Scientists Use New Technology to Study Mount St. Helens Crater
26 October 2004 - U.S. Funds Effort to Catalog Materials from Ancient Iraqi Site
26 October 2004 - U.S., Japanese Scientists Show How Plant Cells Communicate
26 October 2004 - National Drug Office Takes Aim at Synthetic Drugs
26 October 2004 - United States Launches Plan to Target Synthetic Drug Trafficking
25 October 2004 - U.S. Deports Honduran Death Squad Leader Back to Honduras
25 October 2004 - New U.S. Citizens Could Play Deciding Role in 2004 Elections
25 October 2004 - U.S., German scientists find how bacteria survive adverse conditions
25 October 2004 - State's Dobriansky Says U.S.-Italy Climate Partnership a Model
25 October 2004 - NASA Helps Find Lifelong Gene Activity in Live Organisms
25 October 2004 - Foreign Visitors to United States Need Machine-Readable Passports
23 October 2004 - Secretary Rumsfeld, Defense Minister Yoon Kwang Ung Hold Annual Talks
22 October 2004 - New Passport Requirement Will Not Cause Border Disruption
22 October 2004 - United States To Allow One-Time Exemption for New Passports
22 October 2004 - Travelers to U.S. Need Visas or Machine-Readable Passports
22 October 2004 - International Consortium Awards $5.5 Million for DNA Encyclopedia
22 October 2004 - Latin America Publishing More Science, Engineering Articles
22 October 2004 - U.S. Continues Allowing Imports of Beluga Caviar
22 October 2004 - Earth Drags Space and Time as It Rotates, Scientists Say
22 October 2004 - American Astronaut Will Vote From Space on Election Day
21 October 2004 - U.N. Says Ecuador at "Appropriate Moment" to Act Against HIV/AIDS
21 October 2004 - Large-Scale Forces Shape Local Ocean Life, Global Study Shows
21 October 2004 - U.S. Breaks Up Mexican Drug-Trafficking Organization
21 October 2004 - U.S. Awards $75 Million to Hydrogen Fuel Research Projects
21 October 2004 - U.S. Labor Dept. Awards $18.65 Million to Fight Human Trafficking
21 October 2004 - Labor Dept. Awards $9 million for U.N. Workplace AIDS Programs
21 October 2004 - U.S. Drug Agency Breaks International Money, Drug Ring
21 October 2004 - Genetically Modified Parasite Helps Immune System Fight Invasion
21 October 2004 - International Consortium Describes Complete Human Genome Sequence
20 October 2004 - Coalition General Says Afghan Election Major Defeat for Taliban
20 October 2004 - Bush Renews Sanctions on Colombian Drug Trade
20 October 2004 - American Cancer Expert Raises Awareness of Breast Cancer in Oman
20 October 2004 - State Department Invests in Improving the Visa Process
20 October 2004 - World Bank Program Donates Computers to Latin American Children
20 October 2004 - Planets Born from Turbulence, Scientists Find
20 October 2004 - Early Stress Inhibits Brain-Cell Communication, Scientists Find
20 October 2004 - Agriculture Dept. Uses Light to Track Particles in Environment
20 October 2004 - Soy-Based Hydraulic Fluid Oils Statue of Liberty Elevator
20 October 2004 - U.S. Scientists to Study Oceans, Coasts from Space
19 October 2004 - Citizens in U.S., Islamic Countries Seek to Ease Tensions
19 October 2004 - Microscopic Sensor Monitors Glucose Levels, Scientists Say
19 October 2004 - NASA Scientists Predict Next Period of Minimum Solar Activity
19 October 2004 - Vietnam's National AIDS Strategy Praised
19 October 2004 - International Panel Looks at Illegal Internet Drug Sales
19 October 2004 - Drought Atlas Reconstructs North American Drought History
19 October 2004 - New Flexible Fibers Sense Light and Analyze its Colors
19 October 2004 - El Nino-Related Drought may have Caused Severe Moth Outbreak
19 October 2004 - U.S.-funded Study May Lead to New Volcano-Monitoring Tools
18 October 2004 - EPA Head Reaffirms Commitment to Water Protection
18 October 2004 - Scientists Prepare for Space Probe's Plunge into Titan Atmosphere
18 October 2004 - U.S. Dismantles Colombia-Based Drug Money-Laundering Organization
18 October 2004 - VOA's "Ejo Bite?" Radio Gives African Refugee Children a Voice
18 October 2004 - Scientists Report Success in Malaria Vaccine Trial
18 October 2004 - New Propulsion System Could Make Possible 90-Day Mars Round Trip
18 October 2004 - Open Skies Aircraft Might Be Used for Environmental Protection
17 October 2004 - Agriculture's Veneman Pledges Reduction in Chronic World Hunger
15 October 2004 - USDA's Veneman Stresses Need to Improve World Food Production
15 October 2004 - Global Survey Finds 32 Percent of Amphibians Face Extinction
15 October 2004 - Polio Campaign Targets 5 Percent of World Population
15 October 2004 - U.S. Issues Grants to Reduce Indoor Air Pollution Problems
15 October 2004 - U.S. Treasury Department Targets Colombian Drug Cartel
15 October 2004 - Small Increase in Ivory Trade Approved by Treaty Nations
15 October 2004 - United States Achieves Objectives at Endangered Species Meeting
14 October 2004 - U.S. Continues Alert for Medfly Detection in Tijuana, Mexico
14 October 2004 - U.S. Stresses Importance of Fighting Hate Crime, Collecting Data
14 October 2004 - U.N. Agency Head Urges More Funds for Global Food Aid
14 October 2004 - Trade Restrictions Eased on Bald Eagles
14 October 2004 - USAID to Fund Training of International Agricultural Scientists
14 October 2004 - Global Meeting Ends with Protections for Ramin, Sharks
14 October 2004 - U.S., Mexico Staging Border Binational Health Week
14 October 2004 - NASA Stratospheric Monitoring Satellite Marks 20 Years in Orbit
14 October 2004 - New U.S., Russian Crew on its way to International Space Station
13 October 2004 - Researchers Convey AIDS Information to Those Who Need It Most
13 October 2004 - State Dept. Explains Need for More U.S. Personnel in Colombia
13 October 2004 - Humanitarian Aid a Growing Application for "Digital Diplomacy"
13 October 2004 - Warming Arctic Might Accelerate Climate Change, Scientists Say
13 October 2004 - Italian-Built Space Station Cupola Arrives at NASA
13 October 2004 - Forensic Methods Help Trace Documents to Specific Printers
12 October 2004 - New Program Targets Child-Sex Tourists
12 October 2004 - State Department Uses Satellite Imagery as Foreign Policy Tool
12 October 2004 - New Smallpox Study Uses Microarrays to Show Virus Workings
12 October 2004 - U.S., German Researchers Take First Step on Maize Genome
12 October 2004 - U.S. Committed to Fighting Trafficking in Persons, Protecting Victims
12 October 2004 - Researchers Create Particles that Blend Biology, Nanotechnology
12 October 2004 - United States Awards $4.9 Million for Pathogen Research Tool
12 October 2004 - World Food Prize Foundation Chief Reviews History of Award
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