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A plainclothes policeman catches a woman during a police crackdown on prostitution in Quanzhou, Fujian province, October 29, 2011. China should remove criminal and administrative penalties against sex workers which often lead to serious police abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on May 14, 2013. The abuses include torture, beatings, physical assaults, fines and arbitrary detentions of up to two years, as well as a failure to investigate crimes against sex workers by clients, bosses and state agents, according to the report. Prostitution is not permitted under Chinese law, although the industry has boomed since the country launched economic reforms in 1978. REUTERS/Stringer

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Senate approves new ambassador to Afghanistan

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WASHINGTON | Thu Aug 2, 2012 10:14pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Senate on Thursday confirmed career diplomat James Cunningham as ambassador to Afghanistan, replacing Ryan Crocker, who stepped down because of ill health.

Cunningham has been serving as deputy ambassador at the U.S. embassy in Kabul since June 2011. Earlier, he was the U.S. ambassador to Israel; he also held senior U.S. posts in Hong Kong, NATO and the United Nations.

He was confirmed on a voice vote.

Crocker said in May that he was leaving the demanding Kabul post for health reasons after a long career in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon.

(Reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Jackie Frank)
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Comments (2)
borisjimbo wrote:
If the Senate can act this quickly on one ambassadorship, it can act as quickly on that tremendous backlog of judicial appointments. Vote up or down, guys and gals, but vote.

Aug 02, 2012 12:17am EDT  --  Report as abuse
Neil_McGowan wrote:
Ryan Crock resigned because he was a crock.

Aug 03, 2012 2:14am EDT  --  Report as abuse
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