Drink crackdown
1 France Teenagers will be banned from buying alcohol to curb UK-style
binge drinking. Le Figaro reported that Roselyne Bachelot, the health
minister, plans to ban the sale of alcohol to those under 18 early next
year. It is now legal for those aged 16 and 17 to buy wine and beer in
cafes, restaurants and shops with an off-licence.
The French have taken a more relaxed attitude towards teenage drinking,
believing it fostered a mature approach to alcohol. The harder line follows
a sharp rise in the number of people under 25 kept in hospital for excessive
drinking, which has doubled between 2004 and 2007. Studies also show that
those who start drinking under the age of 18 are likely to have a higher
alcohol consumption level later.
Civilian death toll
2 Afghanistan Sixty children were among 90 civilians killed in an
American airstrike in northwest Afghanistan, according to a United Nations
investigation. The village of Nawabad in the district of Shindand endured
several hours of aerial bombardment. “This would almost certainly be the
deadliest case of civilian casualties caused by any United States military
operation in Afghanistan since 2001,” said The New York Times.
Civilian casualties have long been a source of controversy in Afghanistan,
where more than 700 civilians have died this year. An American military
review of the airstrike maintained that only five noncombatants were killed.
RIP macho man
3 America The stereotypical “macho man” is a dying breed, according to
research published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine. A survey of more than
27,000 men in eight countries has found that being seen as honourable is
more important to most men, regardless of their age or nationality, than
being sexually active or attractive to women, the Los Angeles Times
reported.
Michael Sand, the Canadian leader of the research project, told the Ottawa
Citizen: “I think men are telling us ‘I want to be seen as a good father, a
successful partner, far more than I want to be seen as a stud’.”
Roman marvel
4 Turkey Archeologists have unearthed parts of a huge marble statue of
Marcus Aurelius, a Roman emperor who was portrayed by the late Richard
Harris in the film Gladiator.
The head, right arm and legs of the statue, pictured right, were found last
week at the ancient city of Sagalassos in the south of Turkey. The head
alone is 3ft high; the whole statue would have measured just under 15ft.
Marcus Aurelius reigned from AD180 to AD161. He was one of the “five good
emperors”, according to Niccolo Machiavelli, the 15th-century political
theorist. Professor Marc Waelkens, from the University of Leuven in Belgium,
who is leading the team, said the statue’s pupils were looking upwards “as
if in deep contemplation, perfectly fitting of an emperor who was more of a
philosopher than a soldier”.
Nuns on the run
5 Italy The world’s first beauty pageant for nuns has been cancelled
after the organiser, an Italian priest, claimed its purpose had been
“misinterpreted”. Father Antonio Rungi, from the diocese of Modrag-one, near
Naples, said he had expected about 1,000 nuns to take part in the Sister
Italia 2008 contest, in which internet users could vote for their favourite
nun.
Rungi said he had aimed to dispel the stereotypical image of nuns as “old,
stunted and sad”. “Nuns are above all women and beauty is a gift from God,”
he told Corriere della Sera before deciding to cancel the show, which was
due to be held next month. Rungi had become alarmed at the wave of hostile
comments his plan had elicited. “One critic told me I would end up in hell,”
he said.
Lockerbie denial
6 Libya Seif al-Islam, the son of the country’s leader Colonel Gadaffi,
has said that Tripoli only accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie plane
bombing in 1988 to ensure that United Nations security council sanctions
were lifted. In 2001 Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, a former Libyan
intelligence officer, was jailed for 27 years for the bombing of Pan Am
flight 103, which blew up over Lockerbie in Scotland, killing 270 people.
On Friday al-Islam said: “We wrote a letter saying we’re responsible for the
acts of our employees, our people, but it doesn’t mean that we did it in
fact . . . What can you do? Without writing that letter, you will not be
able to get rid of the sanctions.”
Digital scrolls
7 Israel Scientists in Israel are making digital copies of the Dead Sea
Scrolls to place them on the internet. The 2,000-year-old documents, most on
parchment, are the oldest copies of the Hebrew Bible and include secular
text dating from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD. The scrolls were
found by a bedouin shepherd looking for a stray sheep in 1947. Infrared
imaging will allow readers to see faded sections not visible to the naked
eye.
Scientists hope the new technology will help them preserve the scrolls by
detecting any deterioration caused by heat and humidity. “We are able to see
the scrolls in a detail that no one has before,” Simon Tanner, a digital
expert from King’s College London, told the Israeli paper Haaretz.
Gang leader shot
8 India A gang leader nicknamed Bunty who terrorised Delhi from astride
a motorcycle has died in a shootout with police. The criminal, who was
behind at least 42 crimes including at least five murders, turned into a
cult figure after his exploits became a staple of the tabloid press. The
villain, whose real name was Om Prakash, harboured dreams of rising above
street robberies and becoming a crime boss.
Police, who gave him their top classification as a “BC” (bad character), found
that he kept press clippings about himself in his hideout along with guns
and crime magazines.
Mugabe jeered
9 Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was booed and jeered as he attempted
to speak at the opening of the country’s parliament. The scenes followed a
breakthrough by MPs from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, who
succeeded in electing their own candidate as Speaker.
Mugabe, 84 who arrived in a vintage Rolls-Royce, seemed shocked by the events.
Some MPs sang: “We will not forget that you murdered us, we will not forget
that you beat us.”
Zardari doubts
10 Pakistan Doubts have been cast over the mental health of Asif Ali
Zardari, Benazir Bhutto’s widower and the favourite to take over as
president of the country. Doubts about Zardari’s suitability for Pakistan’s
highest office emerged after reports alleged that he had suffered from
“severe psychiatric problems” as recently as last year. Pakistan’s high
commissioner to London denied the claims in the Daily Times in Pakistan,
saying that Zardari is “now fit and well”.
