News Extra
By Rachel Ogbu
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Teacher Fired for Abandoning Earthquake School
In China, the local media has denounced a high school teacher because he fled a classroom before his students during the devastating earthquake that occurred in May.
Fan Meizhong, a Chinese-language teacher, who was also fired from the private high school in quake-ravaged Dujiangyan in southwest Sichuan province, has been branded "running Fan" on the Internet.
The 8.0 magnitude earthquake killed more than 70,000 people, including thousands of children at their desks in what many parents believe were shoddily made school buildings. "At such a life-or-death moment, I would only consider sacrificing my life for my daughter. I would not do it for anyone else, even my mother," Meizhong wrote on the popular online portal- www.tianya.cn"In a flash, I felt it - a big earthquake! Then I charged to the building's stairs," he said, adding that he was the first person to get out of the school building on to the soccer pitch.
Fortunately, none of the children in his literature class died in the quake.
China's education ministry confirmed that the teacher had been sacked, but said it was the school's decision and denied media reports that it had issued a special order demanding it.
Meizhong, on the other hand, did not take the termination of his appointment lightly and said he had not ruled out suing the authorities over the decision. But his account has enraged China, as it struggles to rebuild damaged cities and provide housing for millions of victims displaced by the quake. "I know many teachers died protecting children during the earthquake... In this long essay, I can't see any 'person' here, I just see a big 'me'," a post in response to Meizhong 's account said.
World's Biggest Coffin
Ukrainian undertakers recently announced that they have achieved a world record feat by building the world's first death-themed restaurant in a 65ft long coffin.
The huge coffin is decorated with dozens of wreaths and normal-sized caskets. Diners can order from a menu that includes "Nine Day" and "Forty Day" salads - named after local mourning rituals - and a dish called "Let's Meet in Paradise."
The restaurant, called Eternity, is the work of a funeral parlour in the town of Truskavets, in the west of the country near the Polish border. Stepan Pyrianyk, the director of the funeral home conceptualised the idea of a casket restaurant because he wanted to attract tourists.
The undertakers hope their restaurant which is made up of 30 cubic metres of pine would be confirmed as the world's biggest coffin, attracting tourists to a region currently best known for its mineral-rich bathing waters.
Guinness World Records confirmed the biggest coffin title is currently unclaimed, but said it was yet to receive an application from Ukraine.
Is your Mobile Phone Battery Dead? Try Dancing
What do you do when your mobile phone battery is dead and there is no electricity to charge it?
Thanks to a new invention. That would no longer be a problem. All you have to do is just face the music and dance.
Orange, mobile phone operator, said two weeks ago that it had teamed up with GotWind, a firm specialising in renewable energy, to produce a recharge powered by dance energy alone.
The portable kinetic energy chargers was given a test run at this year's Glastonbury Festival, the world's biggest Greenfield music and arts celebration.
Orange said the prototype chargers weigh the same as a phone and are about the size of a pack of cards. Attached to the user's arm, they employ a system of weights and magnets which provide an electric current to top up charge in a storage battery after the user has danced. This can then later be used to recharge the phone. "We wanted to create an engaging and interactive product which would encourage users to have a laugh while charging their mobile phone and at the same time test out a new energy-efficient prototype," said Hattie Magee, head of Partnerships at Orange United Kingdom.
Happiest Day of the Year
An academic has worked out a mathematical formula that proved June 20, is the happiest day of the year. According to the calculations, the results came through a combination of lighter evenings, the prospect of holidays and memories of childhood summers.
Cliff Arnall, a psychologist and former tutor at Cardiff University, worked out the equation: "O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He."
O stands for being outdoors, N is nature, S is socialising with neighbours and friends, Cpm stand for childhood positive memories, T is the mean temperature, and He is holiday expectation.
However, his formula fails to take into account rising inflation, rising fuel prices or stagnating salary rises.
Chinese Couples Queue for Olympic Wedding
Superstition played a major role in China a few weeks ago when more than 1,000 Chinese couples queued for hours for marriage licences to wed on August 8, the date of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.
The couples crowded various marriage registration offices on the first day that applications to get married on August 8 were being accepted.
The number eight is auspicious in China, as it is pronounced like the word "fa", which is part of the expression meaning, "to get wealthy." Chinese people are keen to tie the knot on an auspicious date and the opening date of the Olympics adds new meaning.
Marriage registration offices in Beijing predicted more than 9,000 couples will get married on August 8, this year.
Malaysian City Bans Lipstick for Muslim Women
Malaysian authorities in a northern city have prohibited Muslim women from wearing bright lipstick and noisy stilettos shoes. The directive was intended to prevent sexual assaults and "illicit sex."
The National News Agency, Bernama, said the directive was issued by the metropolitan council of Kota Baru and is aimed at Muslim women working in restaurants and other businesses in the city. It said the ban would safeguard the morality among women and prevent rape. "It states that Muslim women are forbidden to wear thick make-up, like bright coloured lipstick and high-heeled shoes that give a tapping sound. For those who insist on wearing high heel shoes, they can do so but with rubber heels," the News Agency said.
Kota Baru already has a directive calling on Muslim women to wear non-transparent headscarves that cover the chest, long-sleeved and loose blouses and socks.
Anyone not following the regulations can be fined up to 500 Ringgit - its equivalent being N18,054.
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