Reuters

NEW YORK - Point guard Derrick Rose of the University of Memphis was taken by the Chicago Bulls with the first pick of the 2008 NBA Draft on Thursday.

Rose averaged 14.9 points per game and 4.7 assists in leading Memphis as a freshman to the finals of the NCAA Tournament.

The 6 ft 3 ins Rose, who grew up in Chicago, said: "It feels great to be back at home."

The Miami Heat followed by selecting Kansas State forward Michael Beasley with the second choice.

Beasley averaged 26.2 points and led major US colleges by averaging 12.4 rebounds a game.

Reuters

KHOST, Afghanistan - Afghans call them 'night letters' -- notes scattered or pushed under doorways by Taliban militants in the dead of night, threatening villagers' lives if they cooperate with foreign forces and the government.

The threats have picked up in recent weeks in areas across southeastern Afghanistan, US officers and Afghans say, as the Taliban intensify their activities along the Pakistan border and in mountainous communities inland towards Kabul.

The notes are often poorly written but the message is clear -- have nothing to do with the foreign troops or serve in the government they back, otherwise, your business will be destroyed, your livestock snatched or your throat cut.

At least six people have had either throats slit or were beheaded by the militants for allegedly acting as spies for the foreign forces only in recent weeks in various parts of southeastern Afghanistan, according to officials and the Taliban.

Scores have lost their lives for failing to take notice of the Taliban's verbal threats, or in the form of the 'night letters', since 2006 when the al Qaeda-backed Taliban made a return.

"It's usually the merchants or those with something to lose," says Lieutenant Augie Gonzalez, a platoon commander based at a camp outside Khost, a city in the southeast of the country, 20 km from the Pakistan border.

"The threats are for real and it gets to them, you sense it," he says, explaining how he'll often visit a village to talk to local leaders and deliver food and other aid, only to return three days later and learn the Taliban have been there.

"The villagers don't want the Taliban there, there's no sympathy and they'll tell you that straight, but they can't take them on their own and we can't be there every day."

The night letters form part of a campaign of intimidation and violence that appears to be steadily escalating, although the commander of US forces in the area, Colonel Pete Johnson, dismisses suggestions of a renewed Taliban offensive.

Four US troops and a US civilian were killed in ambushes or roadside bomb attacks last week alone, while Afghan security forces, particularly the less well organized police, have also repeatedly been targeted, with around a dozen killed.

"Yes, there's more fighting right now than there was last month, but that's just the way the context is in eastern Afghanistan," Johnson told Reuters last week, describing the idea of a Taliban offensive as a "myth".

Schools burnt

Lieutenant Gonzalez and his men don't see their day-to-day work as countering a Taliban offensive. Instead it's more about trying to get into villages and win the population over before the militants have a chance to do so and impose their will.

"It's a slow process of pushing forwards, providing security so that others can come in and rebuild," says Gonzalez.

Yet, the Taliban threat is very real -- a roadside bomb that killed two US soldiers last week also left two severely wounded: both had their legs amputated and both may lose an arm.

A soldier in the same platoon, traveling three vehicles behind the one that was hit, has survived six roadside bomb attacks already and he's only been in Afghanistan six weeks.

"It's been pretty intense," said the soldier, Private Mullan, clearly shaken and not wanting to give his full name. "Sometimes we've had a series of events that have gradually built up, other times it's been quieter."

For Afghans, the Taliban threat is very real and there is no doubt in their minds it has risen in the past month as the season has shifted and it's become easier for militants to move across the border from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

Saif, a translator working with the Americans who lives in a remote district outside Khost, says night letters are commonplace and threats have been carried out. Schools have been burnt down and district centers, the focal point for local rebuilding and development, attacked and destroyed.

He is quick to emphasize, though, how "little" sympathy there is for the Taliban in his area, where most regard them as "poorly educated thugs with little proper religious grounding".

He recounts how some members of the Taliban were recently captured following a botched attack. One was a simple young man who was asked by his captors to show them how to pray. "He didn't know how," the translator said. "He couldn't even start."

Ousted from power in 2001 for sheltering al Qaeda leaders, the Taliban have vowed to drive out the foreign troops from Afghanistan and topple the central government.

In their campaign, the Taliban also target any one working or helping the government or the foreign forces.

By Aries Rufo /Newsbreak BANGKOK—Governments and policy makers are being urged to impose higher taxes on tobacco products and cigarettes to curb smoking as well as deter potential new consumers of the health-risk product. A higher tax rate is like hitting three birds in one stone—it addresses one of the biggest health problems, attacks the tobacco industrys profits with a shrinking consumer base and increases the governments revenue intake—all at the same time. Experts and government officials gathered here for a workshop on the World Health Organizations Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Article 6 stressed that raising tobacco taxes is the most effective way of controlling the health menace as shown from the success stories of other countries. Article 6 recommends increasing levies on tobacco products to combat cigarette use in Southeast Asia.
Related Stories
• Anti-Smoking Law: Short-lived Success • Phillip Morris's Smokescreen? • Deadly Industry • Puffing Teens • Shaking Off an Addiction • Smokers Paradise Former deputy prime minister of Thailand Dr. Paiboon Wattanasiritham, who also chaired the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, cited his countrys experience where higher taxes have caused consumption to drop without adversely affecting the governments revenue. “Between 1993 and 2007, Thailand increased tobacco taxes eight times. The number of packs sold decreased from 2.135 million packs in 1993 to 1.958 million in 2007,” Wattanasiritham said. Yet, “as the number of packs tumbled, the revenue earned soared from 15.345 million baht in 1993 to 41.528 million baht. This demonstrates that increasing taxes to reduce smoking does not necessarily mean a drop in revenue,” he said. “The tobacco industry often tells governments that they are going to lose revenues if they increase cigarette taxes because people will buy fewer cigarettes. However it is clear that this is a myth spun to protect the industry because addicted consumers respond slowly to price increases. Less revenue? University of California-Berkeley Professor Teh-wei Hu said studies in Canada, South Africa and in other countries proved that higher taxes do not mean less revenue, only lesser consumption and therefore fewer smoking-related deaths. He suggested that governments use the ideal median tax rate of 65-75 percent in the retail price of cigarettes, which balances government interests on revenue while at the same time addressing the health concern on tobacco consumption. “This is a win-win tax rate,” Teh-wei told /Newsbreak. Philippines: lowest rate In the ASEAN region, Singapore and Thailand have the highest tax rate on tobacco products, 64 percent and 61 percent respectively on the retail price. The Philippines, on the other hand, has the lowest rate, at 10-30 percent. The Philippines has four tax classifications for cigarettes—low-priced, which is slapped a tax of P2.23 per pack; medium-priced, P6.74 per pack; high-priced, P10.88 per pack, and premium, P26.06 per pack. In contrast, other countries observe uniform and less complicated excise tax rates for cigarettes. Estimates showed that a uniform tax rate would have netted government P26 billion more in revenues than the present multi-layered scheme. On the average, income from cigarette tax amounts to P60 billion a year. At the workshop organized by the Bangkok-based Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, it was also raised that the tobacco industry perpetuates the myth that higher tax would only encourage smuggling. Smuggling On the contrary, Dr. Hana Ross of the International Tobacco Research and the American Cancer Society said there is no factual correlation between higher price and tobacco smuggling as shown by the experience of some countries. She said that other factors such as geographic proximity, overproduction, availability of infrastructure to market cigarettes, trade restriction and ease on border controls facilitate smuggling. “Smuggling does not eliminate the impact of tax increases on smoking behavior—higher taxes will improve public health even in the presence of smuggling,” Ross said. It is estimated that illicit trade on tobacco products is now a $40-50 billion industry. Experts say the proliferation of counterfeit and smuggled tobacco products poses grave health danger and urged government officials to undertake measures to stop it. “The illicit tobacco trade products brings cheaper cigarettes to the markets, making it more affordable and available, especially to children. It undermines the impact of tobacco control measures,” Prof. Teh-wei said.