Afghan heroin kills more people from NATO countries every year than Afghan insurgents have killed in the eight years since the fall of the Taliban regime, the United Nations said Wednesday. About 15 million people around the world use heroin, opium or morphine, fueling a $65 billion market, warned Antonio Maria Costa, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime. The trade is fueling terrorism and insurgencies: The Taliban raised between $450 million and $600 million in the past ...

Thousands flocked to Spain's capital Saturday to protest the Socialist government's move to make it easier to get an abortion. The anti-abortion protest, themed "each life is important," began at 5 p.m. in central Madrid and many leading conservative politicians attended, including former Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. Local media estimated the crowd in the tens of thousands. The protest was prompted by a proposed law that would ease restrictions on obtaining an abortion. Since 1985, abortion has ...

The Rev. Franklin Graham has arrived in North Korea bearing a gift for North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, the country's official news agency reported Wednesday. Graham handed the present, which was not identified, to a high-ranking official Wednesday to give to Kim, the Korean Central News Agency reported. Graham, the son of the Rev. Billy Graham and the president of Samaritan's Purse, arrived Tuesday in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang, KCNA said. On its Web site, Samaritan's Purse said Franklin ...

British singer Leona Lewis was "understandably shaken" after a man attacked her during a book signing in central London Wednesday afternoon, a spokeswoman for her record label said. A 29-year-old man was arrested after he punched Lewis at the Waterstones bookstore in Piccadilly Circus at 4:36 p.m. (10:36 a.m. ET), according to a Scotland Yard statement. She was signing copies of her new autobiography "Dreams" when the "unprovoked attack" happened, said Sarah Weinstein Dennison of the RCA Music Group. "The ...

The brother of a convicted British drug smuggler facing imminent execution in China has pleaded for authorities to show compassion amid concerns over the man's mental health at the time of his arrest. Akmal Shaikh was arrested carrying a suitcase containing 4 kilograms of heroin at Urumqi airport in northwestern China after arriving on a flight from Tajikistan in September 2007. The 53-year-old claimed he was given the suitcase to carry by another man who had duped him into believing ...

Three days after the Reserve Bank of Australia unexpectedly raised interest rates, the monetary policy committee of South Korea's central bank held a meeting. The Oct. 9 gathering was closely followed because the Australian move raised expectations that other central banks will also tighten. Korea held the line. Citing "uncertainty as to the economic growth path," the Bank of Korea kept interest rates at an ultra-low 2%, the result of six rate cuts over the past year. ...

Hundreds of federal police officers seized control of a company that supplies power to four central states and the capital, Mexican state media reported Sunday. The federal government cited high operation costs and losses, and labor liabilities, as reasons for the takeover. The utility had been ensnared in a labor dispute between federal officials and a union representing employees of the company, Luz y Fuerza del Centro. The official federal journal, El Primer Minuto Domingo, announced the takeover after 500 ...

Mexico has qualified for a fifth straight World Cup after beating El Salvador 4-1 in its Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football match.

The two people who died and the 19 others who fell ill at a central Arizona resort after spending time in a sauna-like "sweatbox" were attending a program by self-help expert James Arthur Ray, authorities said Saturday. The dead were identified as James Shore of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Kirby Brown of Westtown, New York, Sheriff Lloyd Waugh told reporters. They were among the 50 or so visitors at the Angel Valley Resort near Sedona attending Ray's "Spiritual Warrior" program. Nineteen ...

Two people died and another 19 were injured at a central Arizona resort after spending up to two hours in a "sweatbox," authorities said Friday. About 50 people had spent up to two hours inside the "sweatbox," a dome-like structure covered with tarps and blankets, according to the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office. Hot rocks and water are used to create steam in the enclosed environment. Fire and rescue officials received an emergency call Thursday night from the Angel Valley Resort ...