A report for the U.S. Congress on drug smuggling through Venezuelaconcludes that corruption at high levels of President Hugo Chavez'sgovernment and state aid to Colombia's drug-trafficking guerrillas havemade Venezuela a major launching pad for cocaine bound for the UnitedStates and

A drug deal plays out, California-style: A conservatively dressedcourier drives a company-leased Smart Car to an apartment on a weekdayafternoon. Erick Alvaro hands over a white paper bag to his 58-year-oldcustomer, who inspects the bag to ensure everything he ordered

The former U.S. vice-president Dick Cheney has come out of hisbunker to defend his legacy. This week there was a hint why, when thenew U.S. intelligence chief revealed Dick Cheney's participation incovert, possibly illegal operations. Has he been making pre-emptivestrikes

In April 2002, as the terrorism suspect known as Abu Zubaida lay in aBangkok hospital bed in Thailand, top U.S. counterterrorism officials gathered atCIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, for a series of meetings on an urgentproblem: how to get him

China's participation in a $2.7 billion Pilbara iron ore project isin serious doubt after talks with Clive Palmer's listed AustralasianResources broke down in a critical week for Sino-Australian relations. State-owned Shougang, which has a 6.33 per cent stake inAustralasian and

Uighur "separatists" have "close relations with theAfghanistan-based al-Qaeda", China's official English-languagenewspaper China Daily claims. It said Friday that the aim of such Uighurs, blamed by Beijingfor orchestrating the recent riots in which almost 200 died in China'sXinjiang region, "is not

â Dear Diary ...â That phrase is, well, just so dated. And it's certainly far too private, at a time when people are eager topost their innermost thoughts on blogs and social networking sites likeFacebook, for all to read. Toronto,

An Australian soldiers has been killed and another seriously wounded in Afghanistan by an explosive device.Three Afghan civilians, including an eight year-old boy, were also hurt in the blast, said the Australian Defense Ministry.The incident took place during an operation

Two French agents kidnapped in Somalia will be tried soon underIslamic Sharia law for aiding "the enemy of Allah", an official of thehardline Shebab rebel group holding them said Sunday. A Somali government minister says the two have been taken

Just days after his appointment, a top aide to Iranian PresidentMahmoud Ahmadinejad who had voiced a moderate stance toward Israelresigned his post Sunday under pressure from hard-line figures andgroups.The announcement, carried by several Iranian news agencies, highlightsAhmadinejad's fragile new political

Despite President Barack Obamaâ ™sassurance that a revamping of the United States health-care systemwould not swell the federal deficit, his goal of quick congressionalpassage seemed to grow a bit more tenuous on Sunday as Republicans dugin their heels while governors

Calling Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem indisputable, PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday rejected U.S. demands to stop plansto build 20 Jewish-owned apartments in the eastern part of the citythat Palestinians regard as key to their future state.The decision to allow new housing

Intellpuke: This editorial appeared in the New York Times edition for Sunday, July 19, 2009.When leaders of the worldâ ™s richest nations and the big developingcountries agreed at the Group of 8 summit this month to restart globaltrade negotiations, they

Real estate broker Carl Muhlstein maneuvered his silver BMW convertiblethrough downtown Los Angeles traffic, one hand steering the car and theother pressing a cellphone to his ear."Come on," he teased. "Insult me with an offer."While some who swim the deep

India served notice on Sunday that it remains opposed to legallybinding targets to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide, digging in itsheels against the United States as the Obama administration beginsmarshaling support for a new global agreement on climate change. India

Sixteen civilians working under contract to Western forces werekilled Sunday when their helicopter plunged to the ground just aftertakeofffrom NATO's main base in southern Afghanistan, said military officials.It was the second deadly crash in less than a week involving aRussian-made

Donetsk City Council Head Anatoliy Blyzniuk has said that Donetsk region is fully prepared for the UEFA European Under-19 Championship. He said that the region would manage to organize the event properly, and, as the tournament host, would demonstrate its

ElectroTyazhMash Plant (Kharkiv, Northeast Ukraine), one of the world's largest producers of water-turbine generators and electric engines, has produced two water-turbine generators with capacity of 28 MW for the Panamanian Bajo de Mina hydropower station, UKRINFORM reported quoting the company's

A jubilee silver coin of 1 dollar was released in Australia by the 300th anniversary of the Poltava battle, Poltava (Center Ukraine) Mayor Andriy Matkovskyi informed. "The coin, particularly, shows a fragment of the battle. The far-away continent with a

As of late June, the unemployment rate in Ukraine posted 2.4% of working-age population, the State Statistics Committee reported. In May, the unemployment was 2.6%, in April - 2.9%, in March 3.1%, in January to February - 3.2%. A total