A dramatic rise in opium prices could cause more Afghan farmers to grow the illegal crop this year, thwarting efforts to stem the practice, the UN said today.

Afghanistan’s opium production declined by almost half this year due largely to the spread of a disease which damaged poppy plants, the UN’s drug agency said today.

RUSSIAN exile Boris Berezovsky yesterday denied he supported a coup against president, Vladimir Putin.

Iran’s refusal to fully give up uranium enrichment – and banish suspicions it is interested in nuclear arms – set the stage for a confrontation at a key UN atomic watchdog agency meeting today.