■ United States
`Viagra sting' involves mob
Three physicians were charged Thursday with illegally peddling Viagra pills to the Gambino family in exchange for favors ranging from construction work to auto repairs. The doctors were freed on US$50,000 bail each, and if convicted each could face up to 10 years in prison. One defense lawyer said the government was trying to turn legitimate medical work, such as providing drug samples to patients, into a crime. Another said his client had been treating one of the reputed mobsters for many years for a heart condition but had done nothing wrong. The US attorney's office said the charges resulted from a three-year investigation in which an FBI agent worked undercover in one of the family's crews. The indictment led to the arrest of 32 defendants, including the family's acting boss and underboss.
■ United Kingdom
Harry back on page one
Prince Harry was back in the headlines yesterday, this time after his limousine failed to stay at the scene of an accident when it clipped and scraped a parked car. The Sun newspaper said Harry -- who begins army officer training this weekend at Sandhurst military college -- emerged in the wee hours of Friday with a "tipsy" friend after "an all-night bender" at a posh London nightclub, Raffles. With the 20-year-old seen laughing in the back seat, the chauffeur-driven limousine clipped the wing mirror off a parked Citroen, and scraped the side of the vehicle, before stopping a few seconds and then driving off.
■ Spain
Not enough rain in Spain
The Spanish cabinet approved a US$25 million package for emergency projects to combat the country's worst drought since record-keeping began in 1947. Among the measures approved are reactivating disused canals and wells and opening connections between reservoirs and rivers in different areas. Over the winter, Spain received an average of 70mm of rain, instead of the normal 200mm. On average, the reservoirs are only 26 percent full. Combined with very cold weather, the drought could do serious damages to crops, especially olives and vines. The last serious drought in Spain was in 1990 and lasted five years.
■ Spain
Memorial service triggers riot
A memorial service for a young man stabbed to death by a foreigner ended in violence as several hundred youths went on an anti-foreigner rampage through the streets of Madrid early yesterday that resulted in injury to four immigrants. Among the injured was a Colombian journalist. Two reporters from the Spanish newspaper El Pais also said they were accosted by the youths.
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