San Quintín, Mexico
Contact high: Mexican police burned 300 acres of marijuana this week, destroying the largest marijuana plantation in the country’s history. The huge farm, hidden in the desert in Baja California, had the potential to yield 120 tons of marijuana worth an estimated $158 million. The entire country produced 19,000 tons of marijuana in 2009, according to official estimates. More than 50 people have been arrested in connection with the bust.
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Caracas, Venezuela
Absentee president: President Hugo Chávez refused to hand over power to his vice president this week before heading back to Cuba for chemotherapy. Opposition lawmakers wanted Chávez to cede power while he was away. Chávez said that if his physical capacities were diminished, he “would be the first in doing what the constitution says” by ceding authority to the vice president. But he said he feels fine and plans to delegate just one responsibility to Vice President Elias Jaua: the power to oversee budget transfers to government ministries, to keep the government running. Chávez, 56, had a cancerous tumor removed from his pelvic region last month; he refuses to say what kind of cancer he has.
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France political crisis: what does Bayrou's gamble mean for Macron?Today's Big Question The French president could see his authority damaged beyond repair should another of his governments fail
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