Source : Agencies / 25 Apr 2014

Russian Federation has approved an alcohol and drug prevention policy until 2020. The new legislation goes beyond the traditional focus on health-care delivery to include a concern about population health, setting out the goals of reducing mortality in working ages, especially by lowering rates of injuries and alcohol poisoning, as well as reducing infant and maternal mortality. It also highlights the need for effective action against “socially determined conditions” such as drug addictions, smoking, hazardous drinking, diseases, tuberculosis, and AIDS.

Source :Khaleej Times / 14 Apr 2014

The study was published by the nonprofit Social Progress Imperative and released last week at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. 

The UAE has been ranked number one in the region in a global study measuring social progress in 132 countries. Globally, the country has been ranked 37th in the 2014 Social Progress Index.

Source : UN Multimedia / 11 Apr 2014

More than 430,000 people were murdered around the world in 2012 according to a new report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The "Global Study on Homicide", released in London on Thursday, reveals that almost half of the homicides are in Africa and the Americas.

Source : Presstv / 10 Apr 2014

The British government has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on stockpiling ineffective medicine for emergency treatment of flu, a study shows.

Oxford University conducted the study and published the results on Thursday.

Source : Reuters / 24 Mar 2014

Nearly half a million people sought asylum in Europe last year, the most in two decades, with the largest number coming from Syrians fleeing civil war, the European Union said on Monday.

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi / 10 Mar 2014

The Middle East's driest winter in several decades could pose a threat to global food prices, with local crops depleted and farmers' livelihoods blighted, U.N. experts and climatologists say.

Varying degrees of drought are hitting almost two thirds of the limited arable land across Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and Iraq.

Source : Agencies / 07 Mar 2014

According to the Pew Islam is growing about 2.9% per year. This is faster than the total world population which increases about 2.3% annually. The world’s Muslim population is expected to increase by about 35% in the next 20 years. In mid 2010 the Pew forum estimated that there were 1.57 billion Muslims in the world. This represents 22% of the world’s population.

Source : Presstv / 06 Mar 2014

A new study reveals that one in every three women in the European Union (EU) countries has experienced at least one physical or sexual assault since the age of fifteen.

The Violence Against Women report by the EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), released on Wednesday, shows that some 33 percent of women living across the 28-nation bloc, equating to 62 million people, have been a victim of violence during their lifetime.

Source : Al Arabiya / 05 Mar 2014

Bill Gates has regained his crown as the world’s richest person – but Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed has fallen in Forbes magazine’s annual billionaire ranking.

The list found that Microsoft co-founder Gates has a net worth of $76 billion, overtaking Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helu, who holds an altogether more modest $72bn.

Source : Arab news / 22 Feb 2014

Around 57 percent of road accident fatalities involve teachers and students, according to a latest study.

Conducted by a local daily, the study said male and female teachers accounted for 35 percent of these fatalities and students 22 percent.