News Briefs

January 4, 1996
Web posted at: 6:15 p.m EST (2315 GMT) druglord

Burma closing in on drug warlord

RANGOON, Burma (CNN) -- Burma's government troops have seized Homong, the base of drug warlord Khun Sa. Officials said Khun Sa has held the mountain town 250 miles northeast of Rangoon for more than 30 years.

Khun Sa was not immediately arrested. Burmese troops reportedly marched into Homong without a fight after he agreed to surrender. The government said it would announce the timing and location of the drug kingpin's surrender at "an appropriate time."

Khun Sa is the best-known opium trafficker in the Golden Triangle, a lawless region where Burma borders Laos and Thailand. Three-fifths of the heroin sold in the United States originates there. Both opium and heroin are processed from poppies.

The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok said the United States has offered a reward of up to $2 million for information leading to Khun Sa's arrest. He faces a 10-count indictment in the United States for heroin trafficking.

Curators swoop down on rare Darwin bird specimens

MELBOURNE, Australia (CNN) -- Curators at the Museum of Victoria have discovered two preserved birds they say were collected last century by Charles Darwin, "the father of evolution," as he used them to formulate his theory.

Bird expert Les Christidis said the finch and bush bird were found in museum vaults where they had been stored and forgotten for generations. Both birds reportedly had identification tags apparently handwritten by the famous British naturalist.

Christidis said the birds were two of many trapped by Darwin as sailed along South America's Pacific coast in the between 1831 and 1836. Observations made during the voyage led to the 1859 book "The Origin of Species," setting forth the now-widely accepted theory that species evolve over generations due to slight variations and the pressures of natural selection.

Disease follows floods in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Floodwaters in the Sumatra province subsided Thursday, but victims faced a potential outbreak of dengue fever and malaria, officials said. At least 20 people are said to be very ill.

The flooding, which began just before the new year, forced more than 14,000 people out of their homes. One newspaper reported more than 10,000 structures have been damaged or destroyed.

News Briefs

Burma closing in on drug warlord

Curators swoop down on rare Darwin bird specimens

Disease follows floods in Indonesia

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