DNA test proposed to deal with dog poop in Germany

BEIJING, March 3
(Xinhuanet) -- Just saying "It wasn't my dog" will not wash any more if aDNA
testing of dealing with the menace of dog poop on the streets is
taken.

A German lawmaker has proposedthe novel and
high-tech way to identify the canine culprit and fine its owner.

Peter Stein, a conservative politician in eastern
Germany,said officials would test the excrement and then match it up to
the offending dog using a DNA database of all pooches.

German dog owners are fined 30-40 euros (40-50 U.S.
dollars) if they fail to clean up after their pets, but very few are caught,
with only four fines given out in Stein's hometown of Rostock -- human
population 200,000 -- last year.

(Agencies)

Brussels's "first citizen" dressed up in Chinese fur clothing

Musicians play as Brusells' famous
statue Manneken Pis is dressed in traditional Chinese costume made in
leather in Brussels, capital of Belgium, Mar. 2, 2009. The costume was
presented by Haining municipality, which is famous for its leather
industry in China. (Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Photo
Gallery

BRUSSELS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- A vermilion tailor-made fur garment of
traditional Chinese style has been put on the "first citizen" of the Belgian
capital of Brussels -- the bronze fountain sculpture of "little pee boy Julien"
on Monday.

Julien's newest clothes of vermillion color, also known as China Red, was
donated by China's "fur capital" Haining city of Zhejiang province. It is the
819th in his wardrobe since the tradition to "dress the city hero up" started
over 300 years ago.

The vermilion coat with traditional Chinese patterns symbolizing fortune,
vigor and passion on it, is the boy's third Chinese costume after a mandarin
jacket presented by the Beijing municipal government in 1979 when Brussels
celebrated its millennium, and a Chinese space suit in welcome of the visit by
Chinese astronaut Fei Junlong in 2006.

The statue of urinating Julien, now commonly known as the landmark fountain
of Manneken-Pis in Brussels, was built in memory of a boy who saved the city by
urinating on the fuse of gunpowder lit by enemy troops hundreds of years ago and
later honored by the city as the "first citizen."

Brusells' famous statue Manneken Pis is
dressed in traditional Chinese costume made in leather in Brussels,
capital of Belgium, Mar. 2, 2009. The costume was presented by Haining
municipality, which is famous for its leather industry in China.
(Xinhua/Wu Wei)
Photo Gallery

During the donating ceremony, Shi Zhendong, vice mayor of Haining, said
this piece of traditional Chinese clothing includes the latest international
fashion elements.

It is also an embodiment of China's innovative fur industry and exhibits
the new image of China's manufacturing sector, he added.

Edmond Vandenhaute, president of the non-profit association the Friends of
Manneken-Pis, who attended the ceremony on behalf of the Brussels municipal
government, spoke highly of the new apparel, saying that "it is one of the most
beautiful costumes Julien has received" and the best symbol of Belgium-China
friendship.

Stefano Missir di Lusignano, vice consul of Belgium in Shanghai also came
all the way to attend the ceremony in Brussels.

This piece of Chinese fur clothing is of special significance, as
cooperation between Europe and China continues to broaden and deepen, he said.

"No Cussing Week" to be launched in Los Angeles area

LOS ANGELES, March 2 (Xinhua) -- The Los Angeles County will launch "No Cussing Week" later this week in recognition of a high school sophomore's campaign against profanity, authorities said on Monday.

"No Cussing Week" is scheduled to officially begin Tuesday, according to city officials.

"No Cussing Week" is "a good reminder for all of us, not just young people but everybody, to be respectful to one another," a county spokesman said.

McKay Hatch, who founded the No Cussing Club two years ago as a middle school student in Pasadena of Los Angeles, will receive a scroll honoring his work in a ceremony arranged by county Supervisor Michael Antonovich.

Hatch's efforts have generated media attention and made him the target of profane and threatening e-mails. He has written a book titled "The No Cussing Club: How I Fought Peer Pressure and How You Can Too."

"It's not about forcing anyone to stop, just to bring awareness," he said. "If you can do a week without cussing, maybe you can do two weeks. And then maybe a month."

Girls faint en masse in Nepali school, teaching halted

KATHMANDU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Teaching and learning activities have been halted in a hilly district of western Nepal after several girls started falling unconscious daily.

It is already a couple of months since the problem started, at the Lokaraj Adarsha High School located at Karkidanda, Lamjung, some 110 km west of Kathmandu. Till Monday, more than three dozen girls from nursery to grade 10 have fallen unconscious, local newspaper The Rising Nepal reported on Monday.

The problem, however, has not affected the boys, according to the report.

Pratap Raj Silwal, a teacher of the school, said that when a student loses her consciousness, all others have to take care of her. "As teachers and students gather to help the patient, this creates disturbances in all the classrooms," he said.

He said that the students feel dizzy and then fall unconscious. "They also cry and shout and claim that they are affected by witchcraft. They even assault those who come to help them," he added.

According to him, they look normal after they are free from the problem.

Chandra Bahadur Basnet, headmaster of the school, said that even doctors have not found any problem while checking up such patients.

According to the suggestions of guardians, the school management has also conducted prayers and performed various religious activities in the school premises. Even the classrooms of Grade 9 and 10 were changed after the problem was seen among students.

Some of the students who have suffered from the health problem have undergone medical tests at hospitals.

"The doctor's report says I don't have any health-related problem, but I fell unconscious even after I returned from the hospital," said Anupama Bhandari, a student of the school.

Suk Bahadru Gurung, a local, said that his two daughters stopped going to school after they became ill.

Since last week, a witchdoctor has been staying in the school premises for the treatment of the sick students.

"As the doctors' efforts have become futile, I have come here to help the students," said Som Bhandari, the witchdoctor.

He does not charge any fee for his service, according to the report.

20 suspected swine flu cases reported in France

Special Report: World Tackles Swine Flu

PARIS, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Twenty people in France are suspected to be infected with swine flu virus so far and are put under observation, French health authorities said Tuesday.

A total of 107 French people have reported symptoms of flu after returning from Mexico since April 25, and 30 of them were listed as possible swine flu cases after the first round of medical tests, Francoise Weber, head of French Institute for Public Health Surveillance (INVS), told a press conference here.

Ten people were ruled out of infection after further tests, and at present 20 others were still going through medical checkups. The suspected cases are currently put on isolation.

The health official expected more people to be going through tests for possible swine flu infections, with more French returning from Mexico, where nearly 160 people have died after contracting the virus.

In a statement published on its website Tuesday, the French Foreign Ministry strongly advised its nationals not to travel to Mexico because of the deadly flu epidemic that started there.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is now on a visit to Spain, on Tuesday called on French citizens to stay on alert, saying that the French government has been closely following the situation and would inform the public of all related developments.