China bans synthetic cannabinoids
BEIJING -- China on Tuesday said it will add all synthetic cannabinoids to its list of banned drugs, in what it described as a first in the world, to curb their manufacturing, trafficking and abuse.
It is the second time that Chinese authorities have imposed a class-wide ban on a substance, after all fentanyl-related drugs were controlled in 2019.
Synthetic cannabinoids are chemicals that act on the same brain receptors as the main active ingredient in marijuana. However, they can be toxic and cause "serious side effects that are very different from those of marijuana," according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The United States says China is a key source of synthetic drugs which are then shipped to users in the U.S.
Chinese officials said 18 other psychoactive substances will also be banned. The changes take effect July 1.
Authorities said 1,047 types of psychoactive substances had appeared as of the end of 2020, of which about 450 were found in the past five years.
The ban did not specify penalties but China regularly executes people found guilty in drug cases.
Taliban capture Afghan district office
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Taliban gained control Tuesday of a strategic district headquarters in a province in central Afghanistan, just south of the capital, Kabul, a provincial council official said.
According to the official, Sharifullah Hotak, the Taliban overran the Nirkh district headquarters in Maidan Wardak province. The insurgents confirmed the significant battlefield success.
The insurgents have long held sway in the area, but the collapse of the district headquarters doesn't bode well for embattled Afghan security forces as U.S. and NATO troops begin their final withdrawal from the country, after 20 years of war.
Nirkh district is important because it runs along the central highway that links Kabul to southern Kandahar province, a Taliban heartland.
The district collapse comes ahead of a Taliban-announced, three-day cease fire over the Eid-al-Fitr holidays marking the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan this week.
The Taliban also released more than 100 government prisoners from across the country, said Taliban's political spokesman Suhail Shaheen. The prisoner release was also to commemorate the Eid holidays, he said.
Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said the retreat in Maidan Wardak was a tactical decision and that he expected the Afghan security forces to retake the headquarters.
C. African Republic: Rebel abettor held
BANGUI, Central African Republic -- Police have arrested a French national accused of supporting rebels in volatile Central African Republic after discovering a cache of weapons and ammunition at his residence, authorities said.
Juan Remy Quignolot, 55, was detained on Monday after the search that also uncovered military fatigues and bank notes in multiple currencies, according to Attorney General Eric Didier Tambo.
Photos had circulated on social media purporting to show Quignolot alongside Ali Darassa, the leader of a rebel movement known as the Union for Peace in Central African Republic.
The arrest comes amid somewhat of a diplomatic chill between Central African Republic and former colonizer France as Bangui has deepened its relationship with Moscow. Anti-French sentiment also remains high in many parts of Central African Republic.
However, government spokesman Ange Maxime Kazagui said that Quignolot was not targeted because he is a French national.
"An investigation is underway, and we must leave room for the justice system to do its work," Kazagui said.
Vatican graft suspect in U.K. custody
ROME -- The main suspect in the Vatican's corruption investigation into a London real estate venture was taken into custody Tuesday in London after he appeared for his first extradition hearing, his lawyers said.
The British judge determined businessman Gianluigi Torzi was a flight risk and ordered him detained. A statement from Torzi's lawyers said they would argue he is not a flight risk at a new audience expected this week.
British authorities were acting on an arrest warrant issued last month by a Rome judge accusing Torzi of false billing, tax evasion and money laundering. Torzi has denied the allegations.
In addition, Vatican prosecutors have accused Torzi of extorting $17.8 million from the Holy See to turn over ownership of a luxury London building in which the Vatican's secretariat of state was a majority shareholder.
Torzi denies wrongdoing. Contracts show top Holy See officials signed off on Torzi's involvement in the deal, and even Pope Francis knew about it and had met with Torzi.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports