When Gilani dropped in at a shop
Islamabad: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani paid a surprise visit to a government-run shop here and checked the prices of edible items.
Gilani went to the Utility Store in Aabpara Market here Thursday evening, reported Associated Press of Pakistan.
The prime minister himself drove the car to go to the market.
He inquired from the store’s staff and the shoppers about the prices of items being sold. He was told that pulses and other items of daily use were sold at substantial difference from the market price. (IANS)
600 farm rabbits die of dog fright
Beijing: Some 600 rabbits have died of stress after three dogs broke into a farm in eastern China, a media report said.
The incident occurred in Haixin village of Zhejiang province. Yan Fugen found about 1,000 dead rabbits after the dogs broke into his farm Aug 7. Nearly 600 rabbits had no injuries, the China Daily reported Thursday.
Chen Dongxiang, an expert with the local animal husbandry bureau, said the deaths were the result of the animals’ stress. When rabbits are scared, their bodies secrete large amounts of adrenaline, he said.
Their nervous system enters into a state of excitation, causing their hearts to beat fast and their organs to function improperly. That can lead to death, he added.
Chen said pheasants, like rabbits, can also be scared to death. (IANS)
Girl, 15, becomes youngest to get bionic fingers
London: A 15-year-old girl has become the youngest person in Europe to be fitted with bionic fingers in a 38,000 pound operation.
Chloe Holmes, who lost all her fingers to septicaemia as a toddler and was never able to pick things up for herself, is now using bionic digits, which are controlled by nerve signals in her hand.
She is now learning basic tasks such as cleaning her teeth and using a knife and fork for the first time.
“Growing up has been really difficult. I can”t play sports or anything and I can”t hold things,” the Telegraph quoted Holmes, as saying.
“The best thing about my new hand, is that now, I can hold things. It is quite difficult, but I am getting used to it. I”m looking forward to going back to school so everyone can see it,” she said.
The hand, made by Touch Bionics in Scotland to specifically to fit Chloe”s hand, has sensors in the sleeve, which enable her to control the digits.
Chloe is the youngest and first person outside of America to have bionic fingers. (ANI)
Ancient bird fossil found in China
Beijing: A fossil of a bird dating back to seven million years was discovered in northwest China, Xinhua reported Friday.
It was the first intact bird fossil ever found in the Hezheng county, said Chen Shanqin, deputy curator of the Hezheng County Ancient Animal Fossils Museum.
The county in Gansu province is located at the convergence of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and the Loess plateau.
The fossil features a struggling bird with its wings fully stretched, Chen said Friday.
Judging from the stratum where it was buried, the fossil could date back more than seven million years, Chen said.
However, further study is needed to identify the specie, he added.
Archeologists have found over 30,000 ancient animal fossils in the county and neighbouring areas, including those of the primitive three-toed horse, the platybelodon, which is known as a shovel tusker, and a woolly rhino, which dates back to 2.5 million to 30 million years. (IANS)
Couple calls ambulance to save cat
London: A couple in Britain called for emergency medical help to save their “five-year-old” and did not reveal to paramedics that it was actually a cat, a media report said.
Fearing the worst, the paramedics rushed to the house where a five-year-old had gone into cardiac arrest, until they discovered the youngster was actually a cat, Daily Mail reported Friday.
A fast-response car and an ambulance were scrambled at 6.45 a.m. after a desperate couple dialled 999 Aug 10 and pleaded with the emergency operator to revive their “five-year-old”, the newspaper said.
But when the teams arrived at the home in Ware, Hertfordshire, they found a tearful couple clutching their five year-old pet, which later died.
An ambulance spokesman said the call could have meant the difference between life and death for a genuine patient.
“The 999 situation that raises the adrenaline the most is probably being called to a seriously ill child. It’s human nature.
“Fast-response cars and ambulances will be driven at the maximum speed for safety to the scene and paramedics will be mentally prepared to offer their immediate professional assistance,” the Mail quoted a paramedic as saying. (IANS)
China county imposes liquor ban on civil servants
Beijing: China’s Yueyang County in central Hunan Province has imposed a liquor ban on civil servants during working hours.
According to the new law, civil servants may face fines or can be even dismissed from service if they consume alcoholic beverages during working hours.
The liquor ban extends to civil servants in both government departments and state-owned enterprises.
However, civil servants can request for lifting of ban for special occasions,Xinhua reports.
The county government said the liquor ban aims to combat corruption, build an ethical government and improve work efficiency.
The county government has also established a special office to deal with reports of violations.
The first liquor ban was imposed in Xinyang of central Henan Province in 2007.
But liquor companies are not happy about the new measure and had earlier repeatedly lobbied for it to be revoked.(ANI)
Photo turns new US envoy a hero
BEIJING: The word on the street these days, whether in Washington or Beijing, is that the US is on the decline and China is on the ascent . But it has taken nothing more than a cup of coffee and a backpack to show that American officials can still evoke awe, respect and envy among Chinese, even if unwittingly.
A photograph taken last Friday of Gary F Locke, the new United States ambassador to China, buying coffee with his 6-year-old daughter and carrying a black backpack at a Starbucks in the Seattle airport has gone viral on the Chinese Internet. The seemingly banal scene has bewildered and disarmed Chinese because they are used to seeing their own officials indulge in privileged lives often propped up by graft and bribery and lavish expense accounts.
Locke and his family were waiting to fly to Beijing when a Chinese-American businessman shot the photograph and posted it on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese social networking site. It has been reposted over 40,000 times and has generated thousands of comments. State news organizations have weighed in with favorable articles about Locke.
The first impression from the Starbucks episode has been bolstered by another photograph that shows Locke, his wife, Mona, and their three children carrying their own luggage after landing at Beijing Capital International Airport. (Agencies)