Drug trade fuels Middle East war
Lebanon's drug-producing heartland is back in business with a resurgence of marijuana and poppy fields, challenging the country's underpowered security forces and adding another dimension to Israel's war with Hezbollah...

Weapon-plane mystery deepens
BANGKOK (AP)The mystery of an aircraft seized in Thailand with a cache of North Korean weapons deepened further yesterday when a senior Thai police officer said it was not headed to Iran as some reports have indicated....

BRIEFS
'Life-threatening' white Christmas - DENVER (AP): A major winter storm is promising to bring a white Christmas to parts of the West and Midwest and also threatening to cause long delays and tough driving conditions for countless holiday travellers.

Mexico says cartel killed marine's family - Police may also have facilitated the murderers' getaway
VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico (AP): Family members of a fallen marine hailed as a drug-war hero were slain by a gang allied with a top drug lord in retaliation for the cartel leader's death, a state official...

Woman killed in drive-by shooting
McALLEN, Texas (AP): A Texas border mayor says he doesn't think he nor the Mexican officials he was with were targets of a drive-by shooting in front of a popular restaurant in Piedras Negras, Mexico.A woman died in the Tuesday attack...