Word: rivers
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...good in the first major offensive of President Barack Obama's war in Afghanistan. For the past four days, 4,000 U.S. Marines and 650 Afghan soldiers have been fighting their way into the southern reaches of Afghanistan's Helmand River valley, hoping to clear out insurgents there. But other than in one limited area of fierce resistance, the fighting has generally been restricted to small-scale skirmishes in which few Taliban have been killed because most of the insurgents appear to have slipped away - as guerrillas tend to do when confronted by overwhelming firepower. More important to U.S. goals...
...Until June 25, the River Palace was one of the most popular casinos in Kiev, buzzing with customers trying their luck in rooms awash with the sounds of pinging bells and clicking roulette balls. But now the place is deserted, filled only with an eerie silence. The timing couldn't have been worse for Olha Stupak, who was one of the casino's senior supervisors. With a child about to enter university, car-loan repayments to make and rent to pay, she's going to struggle to get by on her savings and unemployment benefits. "I'm looking for work...
...using the gambling ban to enhance her hard-earned reputation as a supporter of working-class voters - a poll by the Kiev-based Horshenin Institute in May showed that 82% are in favor of the law. "She has scored a few political points at our expense," says the River Palace's Stupak. President Viktor Yushchenko vetoed the law, calling it "populist," only to have his decision overturned by parliament. And Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko, who will be in charge of enforcing the ban, has expressed his misgivings that all establishments are being tarred with the same brush. "I think...
...almost inevitable that establishments will reopen, run by criminal groups," says Ian Payne, director of operations at the River Palace. "There is a huge, established customer base that still wants to gamble. People will get fed up after a few weeks." Whether moral crusade or canny campaign move, the decision to ban gambling in Russia and Ukraine is a risky play...
...final stop was the town of Sinuiju, across the Yalu River from China. Officials took us on a tour of the local hospital, a disturbing den of dank hallways and archaic equipment, and a department store offering a sparse selection of packaged food and clothing that looked like 1950s leftovers. After dark, students gathered at the foot of Sinuiju's giant statue of Kim Il Sung, the country's founding father, to finish their homework. With little electricity in the town, the spotlights pointed at the statue were one of the few sources of light. The North Koreans escorting...