A round-up of today’s other stories in brief
World leaders falling short of hunger target
WASHINGTON – Twenty-nine countries show alarming levels of hunger and more than a billion people were hungry in 2009, according to a new report.
World leaders are far from a 1990 goal of halving the number of hungry people by 2015, according to the annual Global Hunger Index (GHI) published by the International Food Policy Research Institute and other aid groups. Most of the countries with “alarming” GHI scores are in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. – (Reuters)
George Michael released from jail
LONDON – George Michael was released from prison yesterday after serving four weeks for driving under the influence of cannabis.
The 47-year-old was sentenced to eight weeks in jail last month after he crashing his car into a London shop in July.
The singer was freed from Highpoint Prison in Suffolk from where he told fans earlier this month: “In the last three weeks, there have been no tears, no anxiety, no bullying . . . on the contrary, I’ve been treated with kindness by fellow inmates and prison staff alike.”
– (Reuters)
Five executed in Iran for drug smuggling
TEHRAN – Iran has executed five people convicted of smuggling drugs in the central city of Isfahan, the website of state-run television IRIB has reported.
Since authorities launched a clampdown on “immoral behaviour” in 2007, police have arrested dozens of drug addicts, smugglers, rapists and murderers.
“Five people were hanged in Isfahan’s central prison for trafficking drugs,” IRIB reported. – (Reuters)