MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Fedyashin) – Like every other Afghanistan conference, the sixth conference in London on January 28 did not discuss the country’s opium problem.

The more than 70 countries and international organizations that met in London have declared the goals of creating “a more stable and secure Afghanistan,” transferring power to the Afghan government, and reintegrating “those who renounce violence, cut links to terrorism and agree to work within the democratic process” into Afghan society.

However, refusing to discuss Afghanistan’s opium problem is like discussing reconciliation in Colombia without touching on the cocaine trade which has sustained rebels for a long time.

The United States and Britain do not like to discuss heroin at international conferences, and they do not like it when Russia tries to convince them to launch major anti-drug projects in Afghanistan and adjacent regions. Russia is pursuing this mostly because the Afghan connection has become a strategic threat to Russia, as the Central Asian countries’ borders with Afghanistan are completely unprotected.

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An HSBC worker has been jailed for stealing more than £38,000 from dormant accounts – including a man who died in the 7/7 London bomb attacks.

Callous Paul Walsh, 35, repeatedly extended the credit limit of Anthony Fatayi-Williams – who was killed in the 2005 terror attacks.

A year after his death, Walsh used a ‘dummy card’ to access the account, which he raided on 90 separate occasions after changing the correspondence address.

His scam went unnoticed by fellow employees for over a year because a delay in the death certificate meant the account could not be closed.

Walsh was jailed for two years at Cambridge Crown Court on Wednesday after admitting six counts of false accounting, one count of fraud and one count of theft.

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On the eve of today’s summit in London on the future of Afghanistan, sources told The Daily Telegraph that they hoped to be able to “reintegrate” half the estimated 25,000 Taliban fighters with promises of new jobs.

The aim is to “divide the insurgency” with the military continuing to pursue the “hard-core Taliban”, but sources say eventually they hope that even Mullah Mohammad Omar, the movement’s leader, will be part of the peace process.

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A judge has thrown out all juvenile cases that were handled by former Luzerne County judge Mark Ciavarella between 2003 and 2008.

For many it was a big sigh of relief. For others, it was a reminder of the corruption that troubles the county. Either way, Luzerne County officials feel like they are moving forward.

A Luzerne County judge ruled Monday that 5,000 juvenile cases overseen by disgraced former judge Mark Ciavarella will all be thrown out. The move comes after District Attorney Jackie Musto Carroll announced she would not retry the accused.

It comes on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the plea agreement made between Ciavarella and federal prosecutors. That agreement has since been withdrawn.

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