A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) study finding increasing mercury levels in Africa, Asia, and South America will be discussed in Geneva this week.

As a battleground state, Virginia garners much attention leading up to elections. In 2012, it held one of the most expensive senate races in the United States history between former governors Tim Kaine and George Allen.

What: Search Engine Optimization for Journalists

Where: Google+ Hangout

When: Thursday, January 17th 5pm PT/8pm ET

Exposure and reaching a larger audience are key components to online journalism. Learning how to use the tools the web provides gives us the means to raise the level of discourse. The IVN team will put together a Google+ hangout on Jan. 17 at 5pm PT to help writers understand the system of Search Engine Optimization.

Since 2010, US Army Private Bradley Manning has been one of the figures at the center of the biggest security leaks case in American history. Alleged to have been working with Julian Assange, the creator of WikiLeaks, Manning is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables and other reports to the pro-transparency website.

The first lawsuit involving defense contractors accused of conspiring to torture detainees at Abu Ghraib in Iraq concluded last week with a $5.28 million settlement to the 71 former inmates. Each received a portion of the money.

According to a recent Digital Policy Council (DPC) report, 75% of politicians are on Twitter worldwide, whether it be by name or on behalf of their country. In a summary of the findings, they report:

"A total of 123 world leaders out of 164 countries have accounts on Twitter set up in their personal name or through an official government office. In our last report in August of 2011 only 69 out of 164 countries were using Twitter."