If another pandemic happens, the world will again be unprepared.

The Scottish government has proposed decriminalizing possession of all drugs for personal use to tackle one of Europe’s highest overdose death rates.

A New Zealand man on Thursday was sentenced to one year in prison for threatening to kill Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

A panel of independent experts who reviewed the World Health Organization’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has published its final report, listing an array of recommendations about how the world can better prepare for another.

While much of the world remains hunkered down, the band Six60 has been playing to huge crowds in New Zealand, where social distancing isn’t required after the nation stamped out the coronavirus.

“What is clear to the panel is that public health measures could have been applied more forcefully by local and national health authorities in China in January,” it said. The U.N. health agency convened its emergency committee on Jan. 22, but did not characterize the emerging pandemic as an international emergency until a week later. “One more question is whether it would have helped if WHO used the word pandemic earlier than it did,” the panel said. WHO did not describe the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic until March 11, weeks after the virus had begun causing explosive outbreaks in numerous continents, meeting WHO’s own definition for a flu pandemic. The U.N. health agency bowed to the international pressure at the annual assembly of its member states last spring by creating the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response.

GENEVA – A senior U.S. government official complained Tuesday that the World Health Organization has not shared enough information about its planned mission to China to investigate the animal origins of the coronavirus. “The (terms of reference) were not negotiated in a transparent way with all WHO member states,” he said via video conference, referring to the mission's criteria. In recent months, a long-planned WHO-led team seeking to investigate the coronavirus’ animal origins in China has stalled. Clark has shied away from criticizing WHO or member states like China for their COVID-19 efforts. ___Follow AP’s coronavirus pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

New Zealanders are poised to decide on two crucial social issues during an election on Saturday, Oct. 17, whether to legalize recreational marijuana and whether to legalize euthanasia. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)AUCKLAND – New Zealanders are poised to decide on two landmark social issues during an election Saturday: whether to legalize recreational marijuana and whether to legalize euthanasia. Polls indicate the euthanasia referendum is likely to pass while the result of the marijuana measure remains uncertain. The marijuana measure would allow people to buy up to 14 grams (0.5 ounce) a day and grow two plants. If the euthanasia referendum is approved, it would become law, whereas if the marijuana referendum is approved, it would still require lawmakers to pass matching legislation.

The 83,341 cases added in the past 24 hours pushed India's total past 3.9 million, according to the Health Ministry. Indias Health Ministry on Friday also reported 1,096 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 68,472. India added nearly 2 million coronavirus cases in August alone. New Zealand reported five new virus cases Friday, two among returning travelers already in quarantine and three connected to the Auckland outbreak. The number of new coronavirus cases in South Korea has stayed below 200 for the second consecutive day amid toughened social distancing rules.

The panel's co-chairs, former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, announced the 11 other members during a media briefing. Clark said she and Johnson Sirleaf chose the panel members independently and that WHO did not attempt to influence their choices. We must honor the more than 25.6 million people known to have contracted the disease and the 850,000 and counting who have died from COVID-19, Johnson Sirleaf said. The panel scheduled its first meeting for Sept. 17 and plans to meet every six weeks between then and April. To uncover how the global response to COVID-19 was managed, we may ask decision-makers what kept them up at night," Clark said.