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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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Iran says it has brought down a foreign spy drone

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LONDON | Sat Feb 23, 2013 7:12pm EST

LONDON (Reuters) - Iran's Revolutionary Guards have brought down a foreign surveillance drone during a military exercise, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said on Saturday.

"We have managed to bring down a drone of the enemy. This has happened before in our country," the agency quoted war games spokesman General Hamid Sarkheli as saying in Kerman, southeast Iran, where the military exercise is taking place.

The agency gave no details on who the drone belonged to.

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said he had seen the reports. He noted that the Iranians did not specifically claim that the drone was American.

In the past, there have been incidents of Iran claiming to have seized U.S. drones.

In early January Iranian media said Iran had captured two miniature U.S.-made surveillance drones over the past 17 months.

Several drone incidents over the past year or so have highlighted tension in the Gulf as Iran and the United States flex their military capabilities in a standoff over Iran's disputed nuclear program.

Iran said in January that lightweight RQ11 Raven drones were brought down by Iranian air defense units in separate incidents in August 2011 and November 2012.

(Writing by Stephen Powell; Editing by Jon Hemming)
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Comments (7)
bboaze wrote:
That’s the reason they send “Drones”.

Feb 23, 2013 7:31pm EST  --  Report as abuse
Bunker555 wrote:
Was the drone equipped with the latest “kill list”?

Feb 23, 2013 7:35pm EST  --  Report as abuse
1942.bill wrote:
Soon, it will be that the skies of the United States are the only place where Obama’s drones can fly, spy, and cause people to die, with absolute impunity. We are sheep being driven to slaughter by this maniac.

Feb 23, 2013 8:40pm EST  --  Report as abuse
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