Colombian police: Bombs strapped to donkeys kill 2 coca-eradication workers

October 8th, 2009 Gaza zoo draws crowds with zebra-colored donkeysGAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Gaza City zookeepers have found a creative way of drawing crowds to their dilapidated zoo — by painting their donkeys. The Marah Land Zoo's only two zebras died of hunger earlier this year when they were neglected during the Israel-Hamas war.

September 3rd, 2009 Peru rebels down air force helicopter, kill 3LIMA, Peru — Drug-funded Shining Path rebels shot down an air force helicopter in Peru's coca-growing highlands, killing three troops and wounding five, Peru's joint command said Thursday. Peru's fight against the insurgency has flared up in the past week, with guerrillas ambushing army patrols and attacking an army base.

August 14th, 2009 3 bombs in Baluchistan kill 1, wound 18QUETTA, Pakistan — Police say three bomb explosions have killed a man and wounded 18 other people in Baluchistan, an impoverished but oil-rich province in Pakistan where Baluch nationalist groups have been fighting for more autonomy for decades. Police officer Abdul Hameed Lasi says one of the bombs Friday was rigged to a motorcycle.

July 28th, 2009 5 killed in attack on Colombia coca eradicatorsBOGOTA — Colombian authorities say three soldiers and two civilians have been killed in a rifle and grenade attack on a boat carrying coca eradication workers. They say six people also have wounds and six more are missing.

July 19th, 2009 Bolivia coca growers back Morales re-electionLA PAZ, Bolivia — A leader of coca growers in Central Bolivia says the farmers are putting their controversial crop behind President Evo Morales' campaign for re-election. Asterio Romero tells the government's Patria Nueva radio station that each of his union's 45,000 members will donate a pound of coca to help Morales in the December election.

July 17th, 2009 Police: Bombs at Jakarta hotels kill 4 foreignersJAKARTA, Indonesia — Bombs exploded at the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in the Indonesian capital on Friday, ripping the facade off the Ritz and killing at least four foreigners, police said. The head of the Health Ministry crisis center, Rustam Pakaya, said at least two people were seriously injured, including one New Zealander.

July 11th, 2009 Wanted: Late Colombian drug lord's escaped hipposBOGOTA — One fugitive hippo down, two to go. Colombian bounty hunters with orders to kill are seeking the two remaining hippopotamuses that escaped from the famous menagerie of fallen Colombian drug baron Pablo Escobar.

July 9th, 2009 Uribe to Colombian rebels: free all hostagesBOGOTA — Colombian President Alvaro Uribe says he will allow an opposition senator to accompany the release of hostages held by FARC rebels. But his office set a stiff condition: the leftist insurgents must release all 24 police and soldiers they are known to hold.

June 23rd, 2009 7 Colombian police killed in rebel ambushBUENOS AIRES, Colombia — Colombian officials say rebels have killed at least seven members of a police counterinsurgency unit in an ambush in the country's southwest. The regional police commander, Gen.

June 19th, 2009 UN: Colombia coca crop down; Peru and Bolivia upBOGOTA — Colombia's coca crop shrank by nearly a fifth last year while cultivation of the bush that is the basis of cocaine rose for a third straight year in Peru and Bolivia, the world's two other coca-producing nations, the United Nations said Friday. The U.N. Office of Drugs and Crime said the 18 percent reduction in Colombia, the world's top cocaine producer, from 2007 owed in part to record manual eradication — as opposed to aerial herbicide spraying — of 96,100 hectares (371 square miles) of the crop.

June 13th, 2009 Venezuela: Coca-Cola Zero has harmful sweetenerCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's Health Ministry said Friday it banned sales of Coca-Cola Zero because the company failed to declare that the no-calorie soft drink uses an artificial sweetener allegedly harmful to health. Health officials said tests show the cola contains sodium cyclamate.

June 12th, 2009 Coca-Cola pulls Coca-Cola Zero in VenezuelaCARACAS, Venezuela — Coca-Cola Corp. said Thursday it has temporarily stopped selling its Coca-Cola Zero brand in Venezuela after the country's health ministry banned it, claiming the no-calorie soft drink contains harmful ingredients.

June 11th, 2009 Venezuela calls Coca-Cola Zero harmful, bans saleCARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuela's health ministry has banned the sale of Coca-Cola Zero, claiming the no-calorie soft drink contains harmful ingredients. Health Minister Jesus Mantilla says the ban is aimed at "preserving the health of Venezuelans," but he hasn't specified what ingredients are purportedly harmful.

March 9th, 2009 BOGOTA - Police in the central Colombia have found and seized a mobile cocaine laboratory and arrested two suspects, EFE reported. The lab, which was seized Saturday in Cundinamarca province, had the capacity to produce 'between 50 and 100 kg of cocaine weekly,' provincial police chief Colonel Fabio Castaneda said.

March 4th, 2009 BOGOTA - A police helicopter crashed in South Colombia killing all four people on board, Spanish news agency EFE reported Wednesday. The helicopter has been missing since early Tuesday and was by search and rescue teams in southern Colombian province of Putumayo, authorities said.