US Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore with winds of 240 kilometers (150 miles) per hour, claiming three victims, knocking out power in New Orleans and threatening a wide swathe of the US Gulf Coast. Commodities Oil prices shot past the 70-dollar-a-barrel level as a powerful hurricane bore down on crude-producing regions of the United States, prompting concerns for the world economy, which until now has weathered the surge in oil rates. Iraq Iraqi officials began distributing millions of copies of a hard-won draft constitution as the battleground moved to the hustings after weeks of tortuous negotiations among politicians on the text. Iraq Insurgents killed 15 Iraqis after ambushing their vehicle on a road north of the rebel stronghold of Fallujah, police said. Afghanistan Afghanistan has reduced the production and cultivation of opium for the first time since the Taliban regime fell in 2001, the United Nations counter-narcotics chief said. China EU trade chief Peter Mandelson vowed to end a logjam that has left millions of Chinese-made clothes blocked at European ports, while insisting that a longer-term deal to curb imports remained valid. 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. 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. Vatican Pope Benedict XVI agreed to start a dialogue with a group of traditionalist Catholics whom his predecessor excommunicated 17 years ago, the Vatican said in a statement. EU Turkey can start EU membership talks as planned in October despite its refusal to recognize Cyprus, the European Commission said. 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. NKorea Communist North Korea said it would not return to six-nation talks on its nuclear program until the week of September 12, blaming the delay on military exercises between the United States and South Korea.