US Hurricane Katrina claimed its first victims in Louisiana as it dumped torrential rain on the southern state and other parts of the US Gulf of Mexico coast, threatening death and massive destruction. Asia Oil prices hit new record highs after crossing 70 dollars a barrel in Asian trading hours as powerful Hurricane Katrina threatened the crude-producing Gulf of Mexico region in the United States. Iraq Iraqi newspapers trumpeted the completion of a first post-Saddam Hussein constitution after weeks of tortuous negotiation but expressed concern that Sunni Arab opposition might still lead to defeat in an October referendum. Iraq Hundreds of Sunni Arabs, some chanting their support for Saddam Hussein, took to the streets of the ousted Iraqi dictator's hometown of Tikrit on Monday to protest against the constitution. Mideast EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana was meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders as the international community tried to breathe life back into the peace process after the historic pullout from Gaza. NKorea North Korea is refusing to show up for six-party talks on its nuclear weapons programs in Beijing this week and the other nations have accepted there will be a delay, a South Korean official said. China European Union trade chief Peter Mandelson was set to press EU governments to help unblock a logjam which has left millions of Chinese-made clothes blocked at European ports. France Acting in response to a series of civil aviation disasters, France published a list of five airlines banned in its airspace for safety reasons. Venezuela Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has warned he will lodge a complaint against the United States at the United Nations and other international bodies if the US government fails to act against television evangelist Pat Robertson, who has called for Chavez's assassination. Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, trying to hold his lead in the polls two weeks before elections, vowed to reform Japan's political culture and to stand up to China over visits to a war shrine. China Louise Arbour, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, is due in China to push Beijing to ratify the UN Convention on Civil and Political Rights, but activists see little reason for optimism. Australia A 10-year-old Iranian boy launched a landmark legal action against the Australian government, with his lawyers arguing he was psychologically damaged by living in immigration detention camps for more than a year.