Farmers can be civil servants

China will explore ways of recruiting civil servants from a pool of community cadres, highly rated workers and farmers in 2011 and will pilot in primary units of some departments directly under the central committee, the Beijing Times reports. It is one of three innovative measures for the upcoming 2011 civil service exam. Also, instead of 70 percent in 2010, the government wants more than 85 percent of its new civil-service workers recruited in 2011 to have at least two years of experience, and the proportion in certain governmental organs will be 100 percent if possible. College graduates who work as village officials can apply for any civil service position, but preferential policies for them, such as bonus points, will be deprived.

Social networks changing life

A study conducted by TNS Market Research has found that digital sources are overtaking TV, radio and newspapers as the media channel of choice for 61 percent of the online population around the world, the BBC reports. The firm interviewed 50,000 consumers in 46 countries. The study found Malaysians have the most online friends, an average of 233 on their social networks, while Japanese users have the fewest, an average of just 29. Chinese have an average of 68 online friends. Malaysians are also the heaviest users of social networking sites, spending an average of nine hours per week on them. The study found that consumers are now spending more time using social networking sites than e-mail. The trends are fuelled in part by the rise in mobile net access.

Pizza Hut sold tainted beverages

A Pizza Hut restaurant in Shanghai sold metal-tainted beverages to customers that caused a 3-year-old boy to become seriously ill, the People's Daily reported. The restaurant admitted that a clerk mistakenly put a metal spoon into the ice crusher, and then the ice shavings with floating bits of crushed metal were sold to customers. However, Pizza Hut only agreed to provide a 1,000 yuan voucher as compensation.

Chemical spill sickens 90

Acid industrial gas with a pungent odor leaked from the pipes of a chemical plant in a hi-tech park in the city of Xinyu in Jiangxi Province on Saturday, causing 90 people to be hospitalized, Xinhua reported. Some nearby residents felt their eyes hurting while others panicked and rushed out of the city. Qianwei Chemical Co., Ltd, the operator of the plant, did not report the accident immediately, which caused a delay in the response of the emergency services.

Noisy students stabbed

On the evening of Sept. 30, nine students from Liaoning Advertising Vocational College had dinner together after their college sports meeting, the Modern Express reported. Six of them were stabbed and seriously injured by two men sitting beside them, and apparently the motive for the attack was because they were too noisy. All were still in critical situation by the afternoon of October 7. Police are investigating.

Erotic HK movie to attract tourists

The world's first 3-D erotic movie, 3-D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy is expected to attract mainland tourists to Hong Kong. The movie, which stars Hong Kong actors Ho Wah Chiu and Vonnie Lui as well as Japanese adult video actresses Saori Hara and Yukiko Sou, is in production in Hong Kong and is slated for release on May 1st next year.

The world's first 3-D erotic movie, 3-D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy is expected to attract mainland tourists to Hong Kong, China Business View reports. The movie, which stars Hong Kong actors Ho Wah Chiu and Vonnie Lui as well as Japanese adult video actresses Saori Hara and Yukiko Sou, is in production in Hong Kong and is slated for release on May 1st next year, the first day of the three-day May Day holiday. Since the movie is not likely to be shown on the mainland, many tour agencies see a business opportunity and are planning to put the movie on their list of Hong Kong attractions. A tourism agency in Xi'an confirmed they are already making plans.

Father and son film outer space

Photographer Luke Geissbuhler and his seven-year-old son Max designed a balloon craft and launched it into space to capture video footage, the Daily Mail reported. The craft was constructed from a takeaway box attached to a weather balloon and equipped with an iPhone and a high-definition video camera. They launched from Newburgh, New York in August. During a 102-minute flight it reached an altitude of 19 miles, which is the upper stratosphere, before the balloon burst and parachuted back to Earth. Geissbuhler tracked the module, which was caught in a tree, by using the GPS system on the iPhone and spotted its flashing LED light.

Man bites police dog

When Roderick Lewis, a 23-year-old resident of West Haven, Conn., was bitten by a police dog after he attacked an officer, he bit the dog back, the New York Post reports. Lewis allegedly approached a police officer on a West Haven street early Thursday morning and yelled out "I need a bag of dust," referring to the drug phencyclidine, also known as angel dust or PCP. Lewis walked toward the officer, Scott Bloom, and reached into his waistband. When Bloom grabbed the man's arms to restrain him, Lewis punched the officer in the face. Onyx, the police dog, jumped from Bloom's vehicle and attacked Lewis, latching onto his leg, but Lewis bit back -- he chomped down on the dog's side and did not release his bite until Bloom pulled him off the dog. Lewis was charged with assault on a police officer, disorderly conduct and cruelty to animals, while Bloom and Onyx were treated for their injuries.

Womb transplant closer to reality

Infertile women may soon be able to conceive. Scientists are within two years of being capable of womb transplants after successful animal trials, the Sunday Express reported. Wombs could be harvested from people who are brain dead, living donors or even relatives to minimize the risk of rejection. However, a transplanted human womb would be unlikely to withstand labor, so a C-section birth would be required, and the womb could be removed at the same time. The work has raised the prospect of creating a male pregnancy with a donor uterus and fertility treatment, however, Dr. Cesar Diaz-Garcia, a key researcher, said they are not carrying out work in this area.

Wrong toilets can confuse kids

A team of psychological experts say children taken to the wrong toilets may become confused about their sexual identity, the Guangzhou Daily reported. They say mothers should not take their sons to the lady's room and fathers should not take their daughters to the men's room. The experts say children above 2 years old have already begun to develop their sexual identity and should be allowed to go to the toilet by themselves.

(China.org.cn October 12, 2010)