More News of the Day

The news is always there. Try to avoid it if you will, and many do, but it's there, lurking, just waiting its opportunity to pounce and grab you. And if the news we hear, read and see doesn't grab something deep within you, make you shake your head and wonder at the nature of humanity, then you likely reside deep in some dark hole of blissful ignorance. Which, on the face of it, mightn't be such a bad idea.

Well, there's news and there's news. There are always news reports of dire occurrences, utterly bleak instances illustrating the worst in human nature. And then there are the quirky, sometimes-humorous, sometimes inexplicable, sometimes wry stories that grab our attention for entirely other reasons. Much easier to digest, by far, though.

• Italy - Italian paraglider Antonio Montagno was recovering in hospital yesterday, after crashing in high winds into a mountain forest and hanging upside down in a tree for three days. Mr. Montagno, 47, crashed last Thursday after launching himself from a height of 820 metres on Monte Mignaio near Florence. After an intensive search, he was found on Sunday dangling at the top of a giant beech tree, with his right leg trapped in the tangled ropes of his glider.
• South Korea - The country's Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy said yesterday it hoped to publish a "Robot Ethics Charter" for manufacturers and users, which will also cover ethical standards to be programmed into robots. This includes a sort of Hippocratic oath for androids: they are not allowed to harm humans, or allow them to be harmed; they have to obey orders; and they have to protect themselves if that does not conflict with the first two instructions. "The move anticipates the day when robots, particularly intelligent service robots, could become a part of daily life", the ministry said. Isaac Asimov's Robot Code: 1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. 2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
• China - Only about half of China's 1.3 billion people can speak the national language, Mandarin, despite it being the official medium of education, the Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. China has been promoting Mandarin for decades to ensure national cohesion in a country where there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dialects.
• South Africa - Elderly worshippers at a church in South Africa beat up their priest after he told them to hand over part of the increase in their pension announced in a recent budget. Reverend Piet Mnisi said in his sermon on Sunday that congregation members should give him the 50-rand ($7.95) increase announced by Trevor Manuel, the Finance Minister, claiming it was "a blessing from God". He also warned that their relatives would die if he did not start receiving the money, starting next month. Dozens then turned on the pastor, attacking him with rods and even a bible. "It was strange to see people who pray every day behaving in such a way", said an eyewitness. Rev.Mnisi jumped out of a church window and locked himself in his house.
• United States - After children and adolescents receive an organ transplant in the U.S., more than 90% do well at the one-year mark. After that the rate of loss of the grafted organ increases. Transplant failure rate is linked to the inability to pay for immune suppressant drugs, required for the remainder of the patient's life.
• Thailand - A bird species not seen since one was caught in India 140 years ago is alive and living in Thailand. The large-billed reed warbler was found by chance by ornithologist Philip Round as he was tagging birds near Bangkok. "One of the birds I caught that morning struck me as very odd, something about it didn't quite add up", he said. "Then, it dawned on me - I was probably holding a large-billed reed warbler. I was dumbstruck, it felt as if I was holding a living dodo". A priority now is to find out where the bird's main population lives.
• Canada - Canadians spend the most time online as compared to other industrialized nations, a survey showed. The report by market research firm comScore Networks found that in terms of the amount of time spent online, Canada led the list, with the average user spending 39.6 hours on the Web. This was followed by Israel, South Korea, the U.S. and the U.K. The number of Internet users worldwide increased 10% over the past year amid a surge in India, China and Russia. The report concludes 747 million people aged 15 and up used the Internet worldwide in January 2007, a 10% increase from January 2006.