ADDICTION charity Focus12 has received a huge financial boost after a codumentary about Russell Brand was shown last night.

The documentary Russell Brand: Addiction to Recovery resulted in an immediate boost in donations and inspired the managing director of Bury St Edmunds based Chevington Finance and Leasing to offer the charity £106,000 over three years.Russell Brand attended Focus12, the Bury St Edmunds abstinence-based alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre, in 2003 and is now a patron of the charity, describing...

ON CLOUD NINE: BATH SALTS BY ANOTHER NAME... WITH STRONG COMPULSIONS TO REDOSE

After the recent stream of disturbing news reports of people eating others' flesh, Hornaday Manufacturing has released bullets that promise to ‘make dead permanent.’The ammunition, branded as Zombie Max offers Proven Z-Max bullets, is live ammunition, but is actually only...

A mind-altering drug banned in Britain two years ago is being blamed for the spate of cannibal attacks in America.

Narcotic Cloud Nine was blamed for the attack when Rudy Eugene ate 75% of homeless man Ronald Poppo’s face in Miami last month. Horrific images surfaced of the attack that only ended once police shot and killed 31-year-old Eugene. Mr Poppo is still recovering...

Opiates Killed 8 Americans In Afghanistan, Army Records Show

Eight American soldiers died of overdoses involving heroin, morphine or other opiates during deployments in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2011, according to U.S. Army investigative reports. The overdoses were revealed in documents detailing how the Army investigated a total of 56 soldiers, including the eight who fell victim to overdoses, on suspicion of possessing, using or distributing heroin and other...

What cannabis actually does to your brain

Archaeologists recently found a 2,700-year-old pot stash, so we know humans have been smoking weed for thousands of years. But it was only about 20 years ago that neuroscientists began to understand how it affects our brains.Scientists have known for a while that the...

Easter airport 'gridlock' warning

 Airlines have warned the Home Secretary that Britain "risks gridlock" at airports including Heathrow and Gatwick over the Easter break due to staff shortages. More than 370,000 passengers will leave Heathrow airport between Good Friday and Easter Monday, and 200,000 will pass through Gatwick. A spokesman for Heathrow owner BAA told the Daily Telegraph: "Immigration waiting times during peak...

Legal High Mexxy, Alternative To Ketamine, To Be Outlawed

 legal high known as "mexxy" is to be outlawed, the Government has announced. It follows concerns that two people whose bodies were found in Leicestershire in February may have taken some form of the drug after buying it over the internet. Methoxetamine, or mexxy, will initially be made illegal for 12 months while Government advisers decide whether to ban it completely. Crime Prevention Minister...

Russian shot in UK was due to give evidence

 Russian banker shot five times close to London's financial district had been days away from giving evidence to an investigation into the attempted murder of a former business associate, his lawyer has said. German Gorbuntsov, who at the height of his business empire owned four Russian banks, was walking towards his apartment block near the Canary Wharf banking district when a gunman opened...

More and more footballers are going bankrupt despite Premier League wages now averaging £1.47 million a year,

 More and more footballers are going bankrupt despite Premier League wages now averaging £1.47 million a year, experts have claimed.  Mark Sands, head of bankruptcy at accountancy firm RSM Tenon, said the lavish lifestyles of the players coupled with poor investment choices has led to increased vulnerability. "In 2010 the average salary of a player in the Premier League was £1.47 million,...

TOWIE to shoot summer special in Marbella

 Sam Faiers and the rest of her TOWIE castmates are apparently jetting off to Spain to film a special this summer. The reality TV stars will be shooting in sunny Marbella - where they holidayed last May - later on this year, reports the Daily Star. Speaking at the Tric Awards, Sam said the special will need "lots of dramas, a fight and maybe a wedding." Co-star Gemma Collins, who was snapped...

Could abolishing tax havens solve Africa's financing needs?

 The past month, the spotlight has been on James Ibori, the governor of Nigeria's Delta state from 1999 to 2007, who pleaded guilty at in a London court to 10 counts relating to conspiracy to launder funds from the state he governed. Ibori was accused of siphoning off an estimated $250m and laundering it in London through a number of offshore companies and financial intermediaries to fund his...

Shisha cafes should have prominent notices saying, “Smoking shisha can kill” - just like you would on a cigarette packet

 puffing on a Turkish waterpipe is the latest trend to hit British bars and cafes.The flavoured tobacco, which is smoked via a long pipe connected to a vessel filled with water, is particularly fashionable among young people, with the number of specialist bars rising...

Dutch activist arrested in Morocco

 A young Dutch-Moroccan activist was arrested in Morocco on Monday. The Dutch Foreign Ministry has confirmed the detention of Yuba Zalen to Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Mr Zalen is a member of the 20th of February movement, a young protest group inspired by the Arab Spring and calling for greater democracy in Morocco. He was in Morocco to report on the unrest in the northern town of Ait Bouayach,...

Revolt in the city of Bni Bouayach in the mountainous area of the Northern Rif in Morocco

The city of Bni Bouayach in the mountainous area of the Northern Rif in Morocco has been sealed off since Wednesday, March 8. All the repressive organs of the state, the army, the gendarmerie together with the secret and public police, have joined forces to blockade the small city. The inhabitants live in fear of police terror and the raiding of houses and arrests. Other repressive forces are hunting...

Moroccan appeal court confirmed a death sentence

A Moroccan appeal court confirmed a death sentence Friday against the mastermind of the April 2011 Marrakesh bombing that killed 17 people, and handed a death sentence to one of the others convicted.The chief judge of the court confirmed the death sentence against Adil...

Protests Spread in Morocco's North Rif Mountains

Anti-government protests in Morocco's impoverished northern Rif mountains are spreading after a second village clashed with police resulting in serious injuries and 10 arrests, reported the state news agency. For the past 10 days, there have been demonstrations in the small village of Beni Bouayache following the arrest of a local activist. On Sunday they spread to the nearby town of Imzouren. The...

20-STRONG ‘dog squad’ is taking on disobedient dog owners in Marbella.

 The pet owners are being targeted in a crack down on those breaking strict bylaws with 440 summonses being issued in just 30 days. The most common offence involved dogs not being kept on leads, while others included owners not clearing up after their animal and dogs not being muzzled. Fines ranged from 75 to 3,000 euros depending on the offence. The most serious breach of the law involved 24...

Crackdown on Lancashire cannabis farms

 MONTH-long crackdown on drug factories in Lancashire has been launched. Officers from the county have raided 485 cannabis farms and seized more than £8million of the drug in the past 12 months. The rise in drugs factories is matched by a rise in smaller farms often in rented properties and linked to organised crime gangs. Det Supt John Lyons said: “Cannabis is not the harmless drug it is...

Michael Jackson's entire back catalogue, including previously unreleased material from his sessions for 'Bad', 'Off The Wall' and 'Thriller', has apparently been stolen by computer hackers.

 Michael Jackson's entire back catalogue, including previously unreleased material from his sessions for 'Bad', 'Off The Wall' and 'Thriller', has apparently been stolen by computer hackers. Sony Music paid the late singer's estate over $250 million (£158 million) for the back catalogue in 2010 and released the first swathe of tracks from it at the end of that year with the posthumous album...

Australian facing drug death penalty in Malaysia

 AN AUSTRALIAN man is facing the death penalty after being arrested in Malaysia for allegedly trying to sell methamphetamine. Malaysian police have confirmed a West Australian man ''tentatively charged'' with trying to sell 225g of methamphetamine could be executed. Malaysian Police Narcotics Supt Nafisah Adam said today that a former Perth man, 32, was being held in custody, along with three...

Cannabis memory effects examined

 Scientists believe they are closer to understanding how taking cannabis disrupts short-term memory. The Canadian team from Ottawa University narrowed the effect down to a particular type of brain cell called an astrocyte. Writing in the journal Cell, they said it might be possible to block it in medicines based on cannabis. A UK researcher said it could reveal more about natural brain chemicals....

France reporter Edith Bouvier asks for Syria evacuation

 The French journalist who was wounded in an attack on the Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday has asked to be evacuated from Syria quickly, saying she needs urgent medical attention. Edith Bouvier was injured in the attack that killed journalists Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik in the Baba Amr suburb. In a video posted online by opposition activists, Ms Bouvier says she has a broken femur and urgently...

Indonesia moves foreigners out of riot-hit prison

 Indonesia started moving foreign inmates, women and children out of an overcrowded prison on Bali island Thursday after two days of rioting, officials said, as troops backed by water canons and armored vehicles surrounded the tense facility. Schapelle Corby and several other Australians serving time for drug trafficking balked at the transfer because of the difficulty adjusting to a new place,...

Foreign and female inmates to be evacuated from Bali's Kerobokan prison

 FOREIGN inmates including the 12 Australians held at Bali's notorious Kerobokan jail are set to be moved later today amid fears they could be targeted in ongoing unrest at the prison. Prison guards and police have again been forced to retreat to the streets outside the jail following a second night of unrest in the wake of a rampage by inmates on Tuesday night during which sections of the jail...

Confusion surrounds Australian prisoners held in Bali riot jail

 Confusion surrounds Australian prisoners held in Bali riot jail Scott Rush, is escorted by two policemen after being moved out from Kerobokan prison in Denpasar.  BALI nine drug mule Scott Rush was evacuated from the fire-damaged Kerobokan prison late yesterday after a day of confusion and posturing. Prison authorities in Bali backed down from a threat to forcibly move 1015 prisoners from...

Two arrested after headless burnt body is found in 'suspected gangland execution'

 Two men have been arrested after a man was beheaded and set on fire in a suspected gangland execution. Firefighters discovered the headless body on fire after being called to a wooded area off a car park in Wellington Street, Stockport, in the early hours of this morning. After extinguishing the blaze they found man's head nearby. Forensic officers remove the body in a covered body bag at...

The UK could become a hub for smuggling the herbal stimulant khat,

 European police and politicians have warned. The Netherlands is the latest country to outlaw the sale of the plant, which is now banned in sixteen EU member states and Norway. Khat is freely sold in the UK and observers say the UK's isolated stance could make it the main base for Europe's khat trade. The British government has commissioned a new review of khat use. Until announcing its ban...

Saravy Sok, 22, of 88 Forthill Ave., Lowell, who was identified by prosecutors as a member of the Tiny Rascals Gang-Grey, a violent street gang with ties to California, was arraigned on gun charges

 Saravy Sok, 22, of 88 Forthill Ave., Lowell, who was identified by prosecutors as a member of the Tiny Rascals Gang-Grey, a violent street gang with ties to California, was arraigned on gun charges and a charge of armed assault to murder after the Sunday morning shooting outside 12 Benefit St. According to police and Assistant District Attorney Roberta O’Brien, a 28-year-old man was at a party...

Spain’s Two Finance Ministers Clash on Budget Amid Recession

 Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Spain is sticking to its deficit goal even as the economy shrinks, underlining a rift in the month-old Cabinet over whether the nation can halve its shortfall during a recession. De Guindos said the government’s commitment to budget cuts is “total” and there’s “no change” to this year’s target. His comments in Brussels today came after reporters asked him...

Cannabis taxation: a win-win all round, Richard Branson tells MPs

 The market for cannabis in Britain should be regulated and taxed, and responsibility for drug policy moved from the Home Office to the health department, Sir Richard Branson has told MPs. The Virgin Group head said the 20% of police time and £200m spent on giving criminal sentences to 70,000 young people for possession of illegal drugs in Britain each year would be better spent going after...