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French hospitals could not cope with a repeat of the heatwave which killed almost 15,000 people last summer, a prominent doctor said on Thursday.
Patrick Pelloux, an emergency doctor who led attacks on the government over its handling of the 2003 heatwave, said there were not enough hospital beds or staff available.
A "heatwave alert plan" unveiled by the government in May would not be enough to cope, he said.
"The only thing that has incontestably changed compared to last year are (…)

By David Shukman
First you hear a savage cracking sound, next the rolling crash of thunder.
Then as the icebergs rip away from the margin of the ice-sheet they plunge into the grey waters of the Atlantic with a roar that echoes around the mountains.
Nothing prepares you for the sheer scale and drama of events in this forbidding terrain and all the signs are that the changes at work here are gathering pace.
The only way to reach the ice-sheet is by helicopter - a spectacular flight (…)

A campaign worker for President Bush said on Thursday American workers unhappy with low-quality jobs should find new ones — or pop a Prozac to make themselves feel better.
"Why don’t they get new jobs if they’re unhappy — or go on Prozac?" said Susan Sheybani, an assistant to Bush campaign spokesman Terry Holt.
The comment was apparently directed to a colleague who was transferring a phone call from a reporter asking about job quality, and who overheard the remark.
When told the Prozac (…)

Le Monde Editorial
It took Doctors without Borders’ announcement of its departure from Afghanistan in response to the assassination of five of its members by the Taliban for the spotlights to turn back towards this unhappy country. The humanitarian organization, which has been on the ground there for twenty-four years, deemed that its teams’ security could no longer be assured.
The "French Doctors" do not content themselves merely with criticizing President Karzai’s government’s (…)

By TERESA HAMPTON
President George W. Bush is taking powerful anti-depressant drugs to control his erratic behavior, depression and paranoia, Capitol Hill Blue has learned.
The prescription drugs, administered by Col. Richard J. Tubb, the White House physician, can impair the President’s mental faculties and decrease both his physical capabilities and his ability to respond to a crisis, administration aides admit privately.
"It’s a double-edged sword," says one aide. "We can’t have him (…)

By Daniel Patrick Welch
The hype and hysteria reached even the sleepy North Shore of Boston. In the weeks leading up to the summer’s seminal event in The Big City, local police chiefs were predicting endless commutes and near-constant gridlock. Many advised locals to "go to New Hampshire for the week and don’t look back." Thanks to the comfort of an overwhelming Police (State) presence, the terrorists, tourists, troublemakers and travelers were kept at bay.
Poor Boston. $60 million on (…)

By David Blair, Africa Correspondent
The prospect of foreign troops deploying in Darfur moved closer yesterday when the African Union announced that it was planning to send peacekeepers to Sudan’s war-torn region.
But the Khartoum regime rejected any outside military presence on its soil and vowed to fight if attacked.
The AU, a regional grouping of the continent’s 53 countries, has broken with the tradition of solidarity between African governments by strongly criticising human rights (…)

LONDON, England (CNN) — A British parliamentary committee has warned that Afghanistan is likely to "implode, with terrible consequences" unless more troops and resources are sent to calm the country.
The all-party Foreign Affairs Select Committee, in a report released Thursday, said warlord violence and the struggle between U.S.-led troops and insurgents continues to be a threat to security in Afghanistan.
The wide-ranging report on the war against terrorism also said raised concerns (…)

Schwarzenegger Idea Puzzles Lawmakers
By Rene Sanchez
LOS ANGELES California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) never starred in a soap opera before forsaking acting for politics, but his relationship with state lawmakers is beginning to resemble one.
Earlier this month, he ridiculed them as "girlie men" for not bending to his budget wishes. This week, with a budget deal in hand, he praised them for showing a "new, refreshed, positive kind of attitude" of bipartisanship. Then he renewed a (…)

by Joshua Holland
The allegation that Iraqi Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi shot seven restrained prisoners (killing six) in a fit of anger-with a number of witnesses present-is certainly newsworthy.
But, remarkably, the U.S. media has chosen not to cover it, preferring to accept official denials. The foreign press is not so trusting. The disconcerting result is that we simply aren’t getting the same picture of Iraq that citizens of every other English-speaking country see.
If you (…)