Headline News 2014 June 26

China's top cop declares "people's war" on drugs The head of China's anti-drugs agency is calling for a "people's war" to stop the spread of drugs. Guo Shengkun, who heads the National Narcotics Control Commission, made the call on the eve of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking which falls on June 26. He is calling for all social forces to participate in drug control, education, and rehabilitation of addicts, and expecting severe punishments for drug crimes. The official stresses that drug taking, trafficking, planting and manufacture should all be targeted in the war on drugs. The drug control situation in China is grave and drug crimes have been spreading from border and coastal areas to the nation's heartland. In the first five months of the year, Chinese courts sentenced nearly 40 thousand criminals for drug offenses, up 27 percent over the same period of last year. Chinese fleet arrives in Hawaii for RIMPAC drill A Chinese fleet of four ships with about 1,100 soldiers and officers are now in the Pearl Harbor to take part in the Rim of the Pacific multi-national naval exercise. It includes missile destroyer Haikou and missile frigate Yueyang. Drill director of the Chinese fleet, Zhao Xiaogang, says the Chinese sailors will participate in a series of exchange events including basketball and football matches. The RIMPAC will see Chinese vessels conduct weapons firing, disaster-relief operations as well as joint assaults by warships and ship-borne helicopters. The US-led RIMPAC, which started in 1971, is the world's largest multinational maritime military exercise. A total of 23 nations will participate in this year's naval drill. Rainstorms, floods kill 4, affect 236,000 in Xinjiang Rainstorms and floods since mid-June have left four people dead and more than 236,000 others affected in northwest China's Xinjiang. The regional authorities say gales and downpours have swept across Xinjiang, wreaking havoc in 27 cities and counties. Over one thousand houses have been damaged or collapsed. Relief materials, including tents and cotton clothes, have been sent to disaster-hit places. Search for MH370 to move farther south in Indian Ocean: Australia Australia says the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will shift farther south in the Indian Ocean following new data analysis. Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss says analysis of satellite information has defined a search zone of up to 60,000 square kilometres along an arc in the southern Indian Ocean. "The new priority area is still focused on the same seventh arc in the southern Indian Ocean where the aircraft last communicated with satellite. We are now shifting our attention to an area further south along that arc, broadly in the area where our first search efforts were focused." He says a Chinese survey ship and an Australian-contracted vessel are mapping the ocean floor. When that is done, the underwater search will begin in August and take up to 12 months to complete. Truss also says it's highly likely that the plane was on autopilot when it flew into the southern Indian Ocean. The Boeing 777, carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared on March 8 shortly en route from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. Iraq insurgents seize oilfields as U.S. advisers arrive Militants have attacked one of Iraq's largest air bases and seized control of several small oilfields in a mounting Sunni insurgency. Fightings continue as U.S. special forces troops and intelligence analysts arrived to help Iraqi security forces counter the rebel advance. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is under international pressure to create a more inclusive government. He says he supports starting the process of forming a new cabinet within a week. The United Nations says more than 1,000 people, mainly civilians, have been killed during the Sunni insurgents' advance in Iraq, spearheaded by al Qaeda offshoot ISIL. 21 killed in Nigeria's capital city bomb blasts There's been another bombing in Nigeria's capital, Abuja. At least 21-people have been killed after a bomb ripped through a popular shopping plaza. Over 50 others have been injured in the blast. So far there's been no claim of responsibility. However, authorities in Abuja are already pointing the finger at Islamist militant group Boko Haram. NATO says soldier killed in southern Afghanistan The U.S.-led international coalition in Afghanistan says one of its service members has been killed in an attack in the country's south. NATO says the soldier died as a result of an enemy forces attack on Wednesday, without giving further details. All foreign combat troops are scheduled to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of this year. Southern Afghanistan is a Taliban stronghold. On Wednesday, Afghan security forces fought back against a fierce Taliban attack by about 800 militants in southern Helmand province.