Drug firm Novartis has taken legal action in the U.K. to make hospitals use $1,000 eye drug over $97 alternative. Let's hear them out though, state-run hospitals have recently started prescribing a much cheaper drug to treat an eye problem. The cheaper drug hasn't been officially approved yet, Novartis say this is potentially putting patients in danger. However, a medical study has shown no significant difference between the two drugs. When you consider Wikipedia says Novartis made $10B profits in 2010, I don't really feel sorry for them.

India will pass a law making sexual contact with a girl under 18 a criminal offence. Interestingly this says nothing about boys. I do believe, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that a female cannot rape a male. Which would make it difficult to create a gender-neutral version of this law.

Libya has passed a new law banning religious parties from government. I did wonder how the power vacuum left by Gaddafi (or however his name should be spelt in English) would play out. I like that they appear to be taking a secular route. It remains to be seen however whether this is a ploy to ensure an Islamic party can grab full power. Time will tell.

Anders Breivik, the Norwegian killer, has claimed no-one would call him insane if he were a bearded Jihadist. In a weird way though he's right. Look at the language that's been used by our media, he's not a terrorist, he's a killer. He couldn't possibly represent Christian views. You can be damn sure if a muslim did the same thing the media would be up in arms about how Islam is a religion of hate. Related, some Norwegians are protesting him by singing a song he hates. Though it should be noted that I don't think this song is targeted at Breivik, rather at his ideals and beliefs. A nice quote from reddit about the matter:

As a Norwegian I will say it here, because many of you have this idea that we are taunting breivik with our way of justice, our way of living, with this song.

This is not a song meant towards Breivik, it is meant for his ideals, his thoughts his unjust foundation of belief.

Breivik wasn't someone who had/has thoughts and beliefs that are only his. His views were shared by many, many Norwegians here still share those views. He was a normal man, just like you and me, who chose to act out in atrocious ways because of his beliefs.

This song isn't against him, we accept that he is a product of fear mongering, he is a product of ignorance, he is a product of Norway.

So no this song isn't for him, its for us. For Norway, for the world. Its to show and tell people around the world, people who think the same way, people who hate out of fear and differences.

That there is more, there is love, there is unity. That no matter what you do to us, no matter how much terror you inflict on us. We will never succumb, we will never give our brothers and sisters away out of fear. We will never give our freedom away.

This isn't a song for Breivik. This is a song for us. For Norway.

The Dutch government has resigned, which will likely lead to an election sometime before summer. This is primarily due to a disagreement on budget cuts. I'm pretty sure the Dutch will lose their AAA credit rating now. I always wonder when I look at some of the European governments how they can function when they comprise of so many different parties. It makes me glad our referendum didn't pass in the U.K. and we still use first pass the post instead of proportional representation. At least that means we get an actual government that can get things done. The Hague court has upheld a plan to ban cannabis for tourists, and with the collapse of the government its unclear how this legislation will be affected. I hope it ultimately gets scrapped, but that's just because I like the idea of going over to Amsterdam and smoking some cannabis.

The Dalai Lama has said the world belongs to humanity, not leaders. The context for this statement is with him offering his support for the Arab Spring protests. I absolutely agree with the Dalai on this point. A government that suppresses their own people purely for their own gain is reprehensible. We could now get into a discussion about how a governments job is to protect the people they govern, and how at times that might mean the removal of certain civil liberties. But this is a whole discussion in itself.

ALDE, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament, have said they will reject ACTA. Finally a small victory for civil rights! There are also stories going around that the White House will formally veto any CISPA bill. Oh how this makes me happy.

And finally, Kazakhstan has thanked 'Borat' for boosting tourism. Didnlt they complain about the film when it was first released? Also, a contender for the Darwin Awards, a Swiss woman has died after attempting to live on sunlight. Lets just call that evolution in action.