Briefs from around the world
New York - The mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, tried to calm growing anger at the police shooting of a black groom on his wedding day. The mayor met community leaders to discuss the incident, in which 23-year-old Sean Bell was killed and two of his friends badly injured. Witnesses heard around 50 shots at the scene, almost half of which were fired at the car the three men were traveling in after a stag party in a strip club.
Afghanistan - Afghanistan's soaring opium production threatens to wreck efforts to rebuild the country after years of war, the UN and the World Bank warned. Afghanistan supplies more than 90 per cent of world opium and wiping out the illegal trade will take a generation, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said. The drug trade accounts for a third of the economy and permeates the “higher levels of government”, the report said.
Iraq - President George W. Bush, under pressure to change direction in Iraq, said Tuesday he will not be persuaded to withdraw American troops before the country is stabilized.
“There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete,” Bush said in a speech setting the stage for meetings with the Iraqi prime minister later this week. “We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren.”
Britain - A male contraceptive designed to stop the ejaculation of sperm is being developed by British scientists. The tablet, which would work just hours after being taken, would effectively create a “dry orgasm” with the user's fertility returning back to normal shortly after taking the drug.
Afghanistan - Afghanistan's soaring opium production threatens to wreck efforts to rebuild the country after years of war, the UN and the World Bank warned. Afghanistan supplies more than 90 per cent of world opium and wiping out the illegal trade will take a generation, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said. The drug trade accounts for a third of the economy and permeates the “higher levels of government”, the report said.
Iraq - President George W. Bush, under pressure to change direction in Iraq, said Tuesday he will not be persuaded to withdraw American troops before the country is stabilized.
“There's one thing I'm not going to do, I'm not going to pull our troops off the battlefield before the mission is complete,” Bush said in a speech setting the stage for meetings with the Iraqi prime minister later this week. “We can accept nothing less than victory for our children and our grandchildren.”
Britain - A male contraceptive designed to stop the ejaculation of sperm is being developed by British scientists. The tablet, which would work just hours after being taken, would effectively create a “dry orgasm” with the user's fertility returning back to normal shortly after taking the drug.
