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    Nearly 100,000 people marked the 22nd anniversary of the suppression of pro-democracy protesters at Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Semiautonomous Hong Kong is the only Chinese city where the massacre can be publicly remembered. With China in the throes of a severe crackdown on dissent, this year's vigil carried even deeper resonance.

    Guru's Fast Triggers Political Storm

    INDIA

    Police used truncheons and tear gas to disperse tens of thousands of demonstrators massed by a famous yoga guru on a hunger strike. Swami Ramdev was protesting corruption in Indian politics, but government officials said the crowds had gathered illegally and that the fast was a front for a rally by opportunistic right-wing Hindu nationalists.

    Tough Task for New Prime Minister

    PORTUGAL

    In national polls, the center-right Social Democrats (PSD) defeated the ruling Socialists, paving the way for PSD leader Pedro Passos Coelho to assemble the debt-ridden country's next government. Coelho must now preside over drastic austerity measures mandated by a $114 billion bailout from the IMF and E.U., and he acknowledged his triumph somberly. "The years that await us will require a lot of courage," he said.

    Study: The War on Drugs Has Failed

    U.S.

    A high-profile commission led by a number of Latin American former Presidents released a report that found that nearly a half-century of global policies to combat drugs has backfired, only driving rates of drug use up and creating a black market run by lethal cartels. The report suggests a total rethinking of repressive strategies in use for decades, urging the legalization of substances like cannabis.

    Consumption rates are up, while harsh drug laws create public-health risks

    [The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]

    35% OPIATES

    27% COCAINE

    8.5% CANNABIS

    INCREASE IN U.S. USAGE FROM 1998 TO 2008

    % HIV PREVALENCE AMONG PEOPLE WHO INJECT DRUGS

    SWITZERLAND

    AUSTRALIA

    Where needle users are treated as patients, not criminals

    FRANCE

    U.S.

    Where such strategies were used partially or late

    RUSSIA

    THAILAND

    Countries that deploy only repressive measures

    SOURCE: GLOBAL COMMISSION ON DRUG POLICY

    For more news from TIME's correspondents around the world, go to globalspin.blogs.time.com

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