The United Nations reports that Record profits for BHP Billiton ...
Civilian and military deaths rise in Afghanistan ...
DW boss voices concern about press freedoms ... poppy production and the yield of opium in Afghanistan is sharply down.
In its annual poppy report, the UN said opium cultivation dropped 19 percent in 2008 after a record harvest last year. 18 provinces, that's more than half of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, are now free of poppy. The crop is now mainly grown in seven southern states, including Helmand province where NATO troops are fighting Taliban forces. Production there is bucking the trend, up 50 percent on last year. Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world's opium which is used to make heroin. Profits support organised crime and the Taliban-led insurgency.
(Deutsche Welle)
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