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The cultivation of opium poppies in Afghanistan is soaring. The Afghan and U.S. governments are working to counter the drug trade.

The documentary

With New York's Times Square set to mark its 100th anniversary this month, writer James Traub releases The Devil’s Playground, the story of how this mercurial district became one of the most famous and exciting places in the world. Hear NPR's Howard Berkes and Traub.

Thirty years ago, the uprising of a group of schoolchildren forever changed South Africa's history. What began as a protest against a government education policy became a watershed moment in the fight against apartheid.

The Prestige

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begins a weeklong visit to Central Asia in Kyrgyzstan. She is seeking assurances that the United States will have access to military bases in the region. Neighboring Uzbekistan has ordered U.S. troops out of a base used for operations in Afghanistan.

Because of Charles, Helen says she put her mom Myrtle (Cicely Tyson still wonderful although too rarely seen on screen) in a home and abandoned the rest of her family. But now she needs family and a place to stay. So she goes to her Aunt Madea (Tyler Perry in drag for the best of his three roles), a mountain of a woman who keeps her home open to anyone in need. But be forewarned, anyone who stays has to put up with her sometimes caustic humor. After scolding Helen for investing so much of herself into Charles and her marriage, Madea welcomes her to the house and tells her she needs to pick herself up and get a job. But first, Madea takes Helen back to Charles mansion where they engage in a little therapy by tearing up the new wife-to-bes expensive wardrobe. Now Helen has to redefine herself without Charles, something she has never had to do. She cant decide if she wants to forgive Charles and get on with her life or wallow in self-pity and a growing desire for vengeance. While Madea thinks revenge sounds pretty good, Myrtle urges her daughter to forgive and move on.

Astronaut Steve Robinson successfully removes two small pieces of fabric that were poking out of the shuttle's heat shield. NASA engineers worried the fabric could cause superheated air to damage the shuttle when it returns to Earth next week.

Brokeback Mountain (opening December 16 at Landmarks La Jolla Village and Hillcrest Cinemas) arrives in San Diego after having already gathered awards from the New York and Los Angeles Film Critics and nominations from the Golden Globes and Broadcast Film Critics. The film chronicles the long-term relationship of two modern day cowboys, played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

RJ (voiced by Bruce Willis) is a savvy raccoon with a seemingly bottomless golf bag full of goodies. He may be a wild critter but he seems to have learned a lot about the materialistic consumerism of humans. As the film opens, he attempts to get junk food from the local park's vending machine. When he fails to satisfy his hunger, he turns to the goodies lying in the cave of a hibernating grizzly. But burly old Vincent (Nick Nolte) wakes just in time to witness the accidental destruction on all his winter goods'as well as his favorite red wagon and blue ice chest. RJ is naturally to blame and Vincent holds the rascally raccoon responsible for restocking the den. This prompts RJ to head towards a new housing complex that's just sprouted up on the edge of a tiny forest. Here RJ finds just the 'foragers' he'll need if he's to fill grizzly's order for junk food within the week timeframe he's been given. But Verne (the cautious turtle voiced by Gary Shandling) is suspicious both of RJ and of the ominous world of suburbia that lies just over the hedge.