| The craze for SMS has led to an increase in injuries The enormous popularity in China of short text messages (SMS) transmitted via mobile phones has begun to lead to injuries among fans of this means of communication, reports the Lanzhou Wanbao newspaper. As a result of SMS abuse, a number of users were forced to seek medical help due to damage to the ligaments of the thumb, which is used to type text on the telephone keyboard. Doctors at the Gansu Provincial People's Hospital, who first encountered such patients, recommend refraining from excessively active use of SMS, since working too often and quickly with a small mobile phone keyboard can actually lead to unnecessary strain on the hands and damage to the thumbs. In 2002, about 90 billion short text messages were transmitted through the networks of China's main mobile operators China Mobile and China Unicom - an average of 246 million per day. During the SARS outbreak, the average daily number of SMS messages transmitted over these networks reached 300 million. INTERFAX
Generous donation worries monks
The monks of the Kofukuji Buddhist Temple (Nara city in Japan) are perplexed about what they should do with an expensive ring, which, along with an ambiguous note, was “presented” to them by an anonymous donor. This was reported by the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Daily News. A ring with a 4.87-carat sapphire and several 2.5-carat diamonds was thrown into a donation box located in one of the halls of the temple. The expensive gift was wrapped in pink fabric. Last Sunday, a temple attendant noticed it: a piece of fabric was sticking out of a box. Taking out and unwrapping the package, he discovered an unexpected “offering”, to which was attached a note with a short phrase: “Please cleanse.” Attached to the ring was a price tag indicating that the gift was worth approximately $2.2 million. “We would, of course, be very grateful for such a donation, but we cannot fully understand what the meaning of the request stated in the note,” one of the temple’s responsible servants said with concern. NEWSRU.COM
A chapel will be built for football fans
The Bulgarian football club Levski will build a chapel next to its stadium that will help its fans get rid of negative emotions both before and after the match. Levski officials hope that the club's fans will frequent the chapel since it will be located directly on the route to the arena. “The religious culture of the new generation is not at the proper level,” said Levski sports director Stoyan Granov, “and the proximity of the chapel to the stadium could arouse interest in it among young people.” The chapel, due to be completed next May, will be open to everyone, no matter which team they support. RIA "NOVOSTI"
Vietnam bans condom advertising
Vietnam's communist government has banned advertisements for condoms, sanitary pads and toilet paper. These products, according to the country's Ministry of Culture and Information, lack aesthetics, and in addition, they do not correspond to “national customs,” Welt reports, citing the Vietnamese state newspaper Tien Phong. Although official Vietnam advocates the use of condoms as part of the fight against AIDS, conservative parents continue to protest against advertising of these products. RBC
A parrot sings Tchaikovsky in the morning
The parrot, which flew away from its owners and was found by employees of the British Humane Society, does not allow its new owner to sleep: every morning at exactly 4.00 he whistles Tchaikovsky's "1812" overture. A parrot named Spikey was found on a tree in Sunderland (north-east England). Elaine Redhead was entrusted with caring for him, who discovered the bird's musical abilities. "He has an amazing technique. I instantly recognized Tchaikovsky's melody," says Elaine. At the same time, she says that she is already tired of waking up early in the morning and really wants to find the parrot’s previous owners. DELFI
Barguzin sable survives
Measures to protect the Barguzin sable have stabilized its numbers in Buryatia. This was announced yesterday by the chief specialist of the republican hunting department Stepan Zalivin. According to him, there are now more than 15.7 thousand fur-bearing animals in the republic, their population fluctuates slightly from year to year. Wild animals sometimes even stop being afraid of people. Sable is especially carefully protected in the Barguzinsky Nature Reserve and the Baikal National Park. According to Zalivin, in places where the shooting of sables is completely prohibited, they can also “misbehave” - climb onto a car, plunder the supplies of a fisherman and hunter, as soon as he moves away. The Barguzin sable almost disappeared as a result of predatory extermination for fur at the end of the 19th century. To preserve it, the Barguzin Nature Reserve was created by royal decree in 1916. Fur-bearing animals again became an object of trade after the Great Patriotic War. Currently, about 3 thousand sables are caught in Buryatia per year. ITAR-TASS|
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