Today's Reuters World News Headlines - Yahoo! News:
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China's Xi to visit Vietnam in test for tricky relationship
Thu,15 Dec 2011 07:01 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Vice President Xi Jinping, likely to take over as top leader late next year, will visit Vietnam for three days from Tuesday in what could be a test of how he handles festering territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin also said on Friday Xi will then make a three-day visit to Thailand, according to the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn). The brief announcement gave no details about what issues or agreements Xi will take up in either country. ...
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Gaddafi's death may be war crime: ICC prosecutor
Thu,15 Dec 2011 06:43 PM PST
Reuters -  (Reuters) - The death of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was captured and killed by rebels in October, may have been a war crime, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Thursday. "I think the way in which Mr Gaddafi was killed creates suspicions of ... war crimes," ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo told reporters. "I think that's a very important issue," he said. "We are raising this concern to the national authorities and they are preparing a plan to have a comprehensive strategy to investigate all these crimes. ...
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Japan set to declare stricken nuclear plant in cold shutdown
Thu,15 Dec 2011 05:58 PM PST
Reuters -  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is set to declare on Friday that its tsunami-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant has reached cold shutdown, passing a key milestone in efforts to bring under control the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl 25 years ago. The Fukushima Daiichi plant, 240 km (150 miles) northeast of Tokyo, was wrecked on March 11 by a huge earthquake and a 10-metre-high (33-ft-high) tsunami, which knocked out its cooling systems, triggering meltdowns and radiation leaks. ...
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U.S. Navy eyes stationing of ships in Singapore
Thu,15 Dec 2011 05:52 PM PST
Reuters - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Navy, underscoring the importance of "operating forward" amid tightening budgets and increasing threats to free seas, will station several of its new littoral combat ships in Singapore in coming years and is considering similar arrangements in the Philippines. The Navy will increasingly focus on the strategic "maritime crossroads" of the Asia-Pacific region, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Jonathan Greenert wrote in the December issue of Proceedings, published by the U.S. Naval Institute. ... Full Story | Top |
France hands Carlos the Jackal another life prison term
Thu,15 Dec 2011 04:03 PM PST
Reuters -  PARIS (Reuters) - A French court sentenced flamboyant Marxist militant Carlos the Jackal to another life prison term on Thursday for bomb attacks that killed 11 people nearly three decades ago. The Venezuelan defendant, 62, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, has been locked up in France for almost 20 years serving a life sentence in a separate case for killing two police officers and an informant in Paris in 1975. Sentencing Ramirez to an additional life term, the special terrorism court in Paris made up of seven magistrates said he should serve a minimum of 18 years in jail. ...
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Gingrich to face attacks at Iowa 2012 debate
Thu,15 Dec 2011 03:57 PM PST
Reuters -  SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Reuters) - Front-runner Newt Gingrich was braced for attacks from rival Republican presidential candidates at a debate on Thursday as they make their case one last time before Iowa launches the 2012 election season. Gingrich, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney lead the field in Iowa less than three weeks before the state's Republicans decide on January 3 who they want as their presidential candidate. It is anybody's guess at this stage as to who will win. Gingrich is trying to hang on to a slender lead in the polls and the 8 p.m. CDT (9 p.m. ...
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France hands Carlos the Jackal another life prison term
Thu,15 Dec 2011 03:46 PM PST
Reuters - PARIS (Reuters) - A French court sentenced flamboyant Marxist militant Carlos the Jackal to another life prison term on Thursday for bomb attacks that killed 11 people nearly three decades ago. The Venezuelan defendant, 62, whose real name is Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, has been locked up in France for almost 20 years serving a life sentence in a separate case for killing two police officers and an informant in Paris in 1975. Sentencing Ramirez to an additional life term, the special terrorism court in Paris made up of seven magistrates said he should serve a minimum of 18 years in jail. ...
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Analysis: Aquino's anti-graft drive risks Philippine instability
Thu,15 Dec 2011 03:02 PM PST
Reuters -  MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine President Benigno Aquino has locked horns with what he calls an obstructionist judiciary beholden to his predecessor, but his anti-corruption zeal risks plunging the country into instability. Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, accused of protecting former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo from investigation, was impeached by the lower house of Congress, dominated by Aquino allies, on Monday. Corona has vowed to fight the first impeachment of a chief justice, strongly backed by Aquino, a confrontation pointing to policy paralysis ahead. ...
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Russia's Putin offers protesters small change
Thu,15 Dec 2011 02:48 PM PST
Reuters -  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin offered to ease slightly his tight political control of Russian politics in token concessions to protesters he suggested had been paid to turn out in the biggest demonstrations since he took power 12 years ago. In a 4-1/2 hour call-in question-and-answer show that was broadcast live across Russia and intended to rebuild support as he prepares to reclaim the presidency, the long-serving prime minister sought to portray himself as a reasonable, even-handed national leader who can unite his people. ...
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Military marks end to nearly nine bloody years in Iraq
Thu,15 Dec 2011 02:41 PM PST
Reuters -  BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces formally ended almost nine years of war in Iraq on Thursday with a modest flag-lowering ceremony in Baghdad, while to the north flickering violence highlighted ethnic and sectarian strains threatening the country in years ahead. "After a lot of blood spilled by Iraqis and Americans, the mission of an Iraq that could govern and secure itself has become real," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said at the ceremony at Baghdad's still heavily-fortified airport. Almost 4,500 U.S. ...
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Syrian rebels kill 27 soldiers in south
Thu,15 Dec 2011 02:30 PM PST
Reuters -  BEIRUT (Reuters) - Army deserters killed 27 soldiers in southern Syria on Thursday, an activist group said, in some of the deadliest attacks on forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad since the start of an uprising nine months ago. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes flared in Deraa, where protests against Assad first erupted in March, and at a checkpoint east of the city where all 15 personnel manning it were killed. ...
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Russian draft offers hope of U.N. Syria resolution
Thu,15 Dec 2011 01:50 PM PST
Reuters - UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia offered a new, beefed-up draft resolution on the violence in Syria to the U.N. Security Council on Thursday, and Western countries said for the first time they were willing to negotiate over it. Although Western envoys said the Russian text was too weak, their readiness to work on it offered a chance for the Security Council to overcome its deadlock and issue the 15-nation panel's first resolution on Syria's bloody nine-month-old crackdown on opposition protesters. ... Full Story | Top |
Libya to allow UK police to probe Lockerbie: minister
Thu,15 Dec 2011 01:33 PM PST
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - The Libyan government will allow British police to go to Libya to investigate the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the unsolved 1984 killing of a policewoman in London, a British minister said on Thursday. Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt, who held talks with Libyan ministers in Tripoli last week, said the Libyan government had given permission for British police to carry out fresh investigations into the two shadowy episodes that occurred under the rule of late strongman Muammar Gaddafi. ... Full Story | Top |
Russia holds key to raising pressure on Assad: UK
Thu,15 Dec 2011 01:26 PM PST
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will look into imposing new financial, energy and transport sanctions on Syria over its harsh crackdown on protests but Russia may hold the key to increasing pressure on President Bashar al-Assad, a British minister said on Thursday. European Union countries, including Britain, have slapped several rounds of sanctions on Assad's government since May over its violent suppression of unrest, including an embargo on Syrian oil and a ban on new investment in the energy sector. ... Full Story | Top |
Corrected: Mexico drug gangs up ante with high-tech tunnels
Thu,15 Dec 2011 12:43 PM PST
Reuters - (This story corrects name of agency to Drug Enforcement Administration in last paragraph) MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Reuters) - When architect Felipe de Jesus Corona built Mexico's most powerful drug lord a 200-foot-long tunnel under the U.S.-Mexican border with a hydraulic lift entrance opened by a fake water tap, the kingpin was impressed. The architect "made me one f---ing cool tunnel" Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman said, according to court testimony that helped sentence Corona to 18 years in prison in 2006. ... Full Story | Top |
Israel forms special ops command; experts eye Iran
Thu,15 Dec 2011 12:34 PM PST
Reuters - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Thursday it was unifying its special forces under one command, a move experts say could help Israel strike countries like Iran, whose nuclear program the Jewish state deems a threat to its existence. "The primary task of the Corps will be to extend joint IDF (Israel Defence Force) operations into the strategic depth," said a statement from the military, announcing the formation of the "Depth Corps. ... Full Story | Top |
U.N. calls for protecting gay rights worldwide
Thu,15 Dec 2011 12:31 PM PST
Reuters -  GENEVA (Reuters) - Homosexuals and transgender people in all regions face discrimination and violence, including killings, rape and torture because of their orientation, and risk the death penalty in at least five countries, the United Nations said on Thursday. In the first official U.N. report on the issue, it called on governments to protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, prosecute all serious violations and repeal discriminatory laws. "Homophobic and transphobic violence has been recorded in all regions. ...
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Russia's Putin relies on "collective hostages"
Thu,15 Dec 2011 11:12 AM PST
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - To his admirers, he is the man who saved Russia from chaos and the clutches of Western imperialism, soothing its hurt pride and revitalizing its military might to restore it to greatness. They see him as an "ideal man" who wins wars, puts the West in its place and ensures workers keep their jobs by preventing the closure of struggling factories - but also makes time to ride horses, dive for ancient treasure and ski down mountains. Vladimir Putin, for some in Russia, is superman. ... Full Story | Top |
Russia's Putin relies on "collective hostages"
Thu,15 Dec 2011 11:07 AM PST
Reuters -  MOSCOW (Reuters) - To his admirers, he is the man who saved Russia from chaos and the clutches of Western imperialism, soothing its hurt pride and revitalizing its military might to restore it to greatness. They see him as an "ideal man" who wins wars, puts the West in its place and ensures workers keep their jobs by preventing the closure of struggling factories - but also makes time to ride horses, dive for ancient treasure and ski down mountains. Vladimir Putin, for some in Russia, is superman. ...
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Jewish settlers set fire to mosque, defy Netanyahu
Thu,15 Dec 2011 10:56 AM PST
Reuters -  JERUSALEM (Reuters) - People thought to be Jewish settlers set fire to a Palestinian mosque, damaging its interior, in the West Bank on Thursday after Israeli forces tore down structures in a settler outpost built without government approval. The vandalism appeared to be the latest act of defiance by militant settlers whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to rein in after similar attacks on mosques and vandalism at an Israeli military base. ...
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Putin: On the pulse or out of touch with Russia?
Thu,15 Dec 2011 10:23 AM PST
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin told the nation he was practicing ice hockey during the biggest protests of his 12-year rule and mistook the white ribbons worn by protesters for condoms. In an annual call-in show, the Russian prime minister reached for a familiar mix of reassuring rhetoric, crude humor and verbal assaults against Washington and the West to please a crowd of millions watching live on state television. ... Full Story | Top |
Italian tax agency gets second letter bomb: police
Thu,15 Dec 2011 09:41 AM PST
Reuters -  ROME (Reuters) - A second letter bomb was discovered on Thursday at the Italian tax collection office where a similar device blew off part of the finger of the agency's director general last week, police said. The latest bomb was intercepted before being delivered, and did not explode. An Italian anarchist group called the Informal Anarchist Federation claimed responsibility for last week's attack, and for a separate letter bomb sent to Josef Ackermann, chief executive of Deutsche Bank, two days earlier. ...
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Islamists set to dominate in Egypt vote
Thu,15 Dec 2011 08:57 AM PST
Reuters -  CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians voting on Thursday said they felt empowered by the first free election after Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, a vote likely to give Islamists the upper hand in a parliament that will help shape Egypt's new constitution. The army, which took over after Mubarak was ousted, remains in charge until a presidential election in mid-2012, but parliament will have a popular mandate that the military will find difficult to ignore as it oversees the transition. Islamist-led party lists secured about two-thirds of votes in the first round of the election. ...
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Dutch pot sales to foreigners go up in smoke
Thu,15 Dec 2011 09:32 AM PST
Reuters -  AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The reputation of the Netherlands as the go-to country for a legal joint will begin to vanish like a puff of smoke next year as sales to foreigners of cannabis and hashish in coffee shops are banned. The Dutch government has been clamping down on the sale of soft drugs since 2007 because of gang-related crime and concern about the risk to health, particularly as stronger forms of cannabis have been introduced. "The Dutch drugs policy's appeal to foreign users has to be reduced," Dutch Security and Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten said in a letter to parliament. ...
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Somali rebels block ICRC food aid convoys
Thu,15 Dec 2011 08:16 AM PST
Reuters - MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Islamist militants in Somalia have blocked two International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) convoys carrying emergency food aid for drought victims this month, contractors and a senior rebel said. Residents of Baidoa, a stronghold of the al Shabaab rebel group, told Reuters they had seen the militants loading food aid from dozens of trucks into their warehouses there Thursday. Aid worker sources said al Shabaab wanted to check the quality of the food. ... Full Story | Top |
In Mubarak's hometown, Egypt wrestles with the past
Thu,15 Dec 2011 08:15 AM PST
Reuters - KAFR MUSAILHA, Egypt (Reuters) - In the hometown of Hosni Mubarak, 72-year-old Hajj Sayyed climbed the polling station stairs to vote in an election that will set Egypt on a new democratic course, with little thought for the former president who he said neglected his own kin. "We are done with the past. It is time to move on. Today, we are voting to make ourselves heard," said Sayyed, after casting his ballot in the Nile Delta town of Kafr Musailha. ... Full Story | Top |
Peru could revive talks with foes of Newmont mine
Thu,15 Dec 2011 07:56 AM PST
Reuters - LIMA (Reuters) - Peru said on Wednesday it could reopen negotiations with foes of Newmont Mining's $4.8 billion Conga project, a sign a solution to the month long impasse could be found, after a crackdown coerced protesters to call off their rallies. A detente might vindicate the harsh strategy of new Prime Minister Oscar Valdes, who froze the assets of regional leaders in Cajamarca, detained high-profile protesters, and imposed a state of emergency to show the government would not tolerate protests against projects. ... Full Story | Top |
China villagers defy government in standoff over death
Thu,15 Dec 2011 07:42 AM PST
Reuters -  BEIJING (Reuters) - Villagers in southern China on Thursday defied authorities and continued protests over a death in custody and land dispute in the latest outburst of simmering rural discontent that is eroding the ruling Communist Party's grip at the grassroots. Many hundreds of residents in Wukan Village in Guangdong province held an angry march and rally despite moves by authorities to halt a land project at the center of the months-long unrest and detain local officials involved. "The whole village is distraught and enraged. ...
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Magnitude 5.6 quake hits off Japan
Thu,15 Dec 2011 07:40 AM PST
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - A magnitude 5.6 quake struck off Japan shortly after midnight at a depth of 15 (10 miles), the U.S. Geological Survey said. It said it hit 219 km southeast of Hachijo-jima, in the Izu Islands, at 1512 GMT. It earlier gave the magnitude as 6. It was not immediately clear whether it had caused any damage. Japan, situated on the "Ring of Fire" arc of volcanoes and oceanic trenches which partly encircles the Pacific Basin, accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater. (Writing by Alison Williams) Full Story | Top |
Karzai only supports Afghan-led talks: spokesman
Thu,15 Dec 2011 07:35 AM PST
Reuters -  KABUL (Reuters) - Afghans must lead any peace negotiations to end the war in their country, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday, in a swipe at Qatar after reports that the Gulf state had agreed to set up an unofficial Taliban embassy. Kabul recalled its ambassador to Qatar on Wednesday, hours after an Indian newspaper reported that final arrangements had been put in place for a Taliban office with "the privileges but not the formal protection of a diplomatic mission." Qatari and U.S. ...
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Fifth victim dies after Belgian attack: report
Thu,15 Dec 2011 06:09 AM PST
Reuters -  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A 75-year-old woman has died in the hospital after being injured in Tuesday's mass-killing in Liege, Belgium, taking the total number of dead to six, including the gunman who killed himself, Belgian news agency Belga reported on Thursday. Apart from the woman and gunman Nordine Amrani, boys aged 15 and 17, a 17-month-old toddler and a cleaning woman also died. Belgian investigators found the cleaning woman, who appears to have been the first victim, at a warehouse used by Amrani. ...
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China reaches out to Myanmar's Suu Kyi
Thu,15 Dec 2011 06:08 AM PST
Reuters -  YANGON/BEIJING (Reuters) - China's ambassador to Myanmar held a rare meeting with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi last week, her aide said on Thursday, in the highest level contact in two decades between Beijing and Myanmar's opposition. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin also said the two met, adding that China's top diplomat, State Councilor Dai Bingguo, would travel to Myanmar for a summit next week of Mekong River countries, weeks after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's landmark visit there. ...
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Bad batch of moonshine kills at least 125 in India
Thu,15 Dec 2011 05:36 AM PST
Reuters -  MOGRAHAT, India (Reuters) - An adulterated batch of bootleg liquor has killed at least 125 drinkers in eastern India, with dozens more arriving at a cramped rural hospital with poisoning symptoms. The deaths come just days after a hospital fire killed 93 people in the same state of West Bengal. Both disasters highlight lax health and safety standards as the nation of 1.2 billion people rapidly modernizes. Residents of Mograhat, a town about 50 km (31 miles) south of West Bengal's capital Kolkata, fell severely ill after drinking liquor from several illegal shops. ...
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Putin hints at government return by ex-FinMin Kudrin
Thu,15 Dec 2011 05:27 AM PST
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, bidding to return to the Kremlin, said on Thursday that ex-Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin could have a future role in government despite their differences over this month's parliamentary election. "Such people are needed and will be needed in current and future governments," Putin told an annual televised call-in show in response to a question on Kudrin's political future. Kudrin quit in September after 11 years in the job, directly after Putin announced his plan to seek a third term as president. ... Full Story | Top |
Executions for drug crimes surge in Iran: Amnesty
Thu,15 Dec 2011 05:21 AM PST
Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - Iran has executed more people for drug-related crimes in 2011 than in the previous two years combined, in "a killing spree of staggering proportions," Amnesty International said Thursday. Iran has the world's highest per capita execution rate, rights group said. For drug related offences alone, it put 488 people to death in 2011, from 172 executions recorded last year and 166 in 2009, Amnesty said. ... Full Story | Top |
Egypt's al-Azhar to preach Islamic message on satellite TV
Thu,15 Dec 2011 04:56 AM PST
Reuters - CAIRO (Reuters) - Al-Azhar, Egypt's 1,000-year-old seat of Islamic learning, will soon be preaching its doctrines on satellite television, a space it has previously left to Islamist parties now leading the country's first free polls. Al-Azhar, Egypt's highest religious authority, also plans to spruce up its websites, improve religious education and mobilize its imams to offer an alternative to the unexpectedly popular puritan message some Islamist politicians deliver. ... Full Story | Top |
Instant View: Reaction to Russian PM Putin's annual phone-in
Thu,15 Dec 2011 04:48 AM PST
Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday held his annual televised call-in show less than a week after thousands took to the streets to protest against his rule and to demand a re-run of recent parliamentary elections. Below is a selection of comments on Putin's performance and what it says about his standing as paramount leader of Russia: SERGEY EZIMOV, FUND MANAGER, WERMUTH ASSET MANAGEMENT "He called Kudrin his friend. That basically spoiled the guy's (Kudrin's) ability to market a liberal party if he ever wanted to. ... Full Story | Top |
Instant View: Reaction to Russian PM Putin's annual phone-in
Thu,15 Dec 2011 04:47 AM PST
Reuters -  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday held his annual televised call-in show less than a week after thousands took to the streets to protest against his rule and to demand a re-run of recent parliamentary elections. Below is a selection of comments on Putin's performance and what it says about his standing as paramount leader of Russia: SERGEY EZIMOV, FUND MANAGER, WERMUTH ASSET MANAGEMENT "He called Kudrin his friend. That basically spoiled the guy's (Kudrin's) ability to market a liberal party if he ever wanted to. ...
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French ex-president Chirac convicted in graft trial
Thu,15 Dec 2011 04:38 AM PST
Reuters -  PARIS (Reuters) - A judge found former French president Jacques Chirac guilty on Thursday of misusing public funds, making him the country's first head of state to be convicted since Nazi collaborator Marshal Philippe Petain in 1945. Chirac, 79, was absent from the court as the judge declared him guilty of knowingly operating a system that diverted about 1.4 million euros of Paris City Hall funds for political purposes when he was mayor of the French capital. ...
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Opium growth increasing in Myanmar, Laos: U.N.
Thu,15 Dec 2011 01:03 AM PST
Reuters - BANGKOK (Reuters) - Opium cultivation is back on the rise in Myanmar and Laos despite government eradication campaigns, with impoverished farmers lured by higher prices and strong demand from neighboring countries, the United Nations said on Thursday. The area of land devoted to growing opium, a paste from poppy used to make heroin, has increased by 14 percent in Myanmar from last year and 38 percent in Laos, according to satellite and helicopter surveys carried out by the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Myanmar and Lao governments. ... Full Story | Top |
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