Newscan

Easy way out

The days of hiding report cards may soon be over for underachievers. School systems in Washington are uploading student information - grades, test scores, class schedules, homework assignments and attendance records - to the Internet. Using assigned passwords, parents can access the information anytime, anywhere. However, school officials say grades are altered when teachers walk away without logging off the computer.

Changing Russian history

Asterix has gone on sale for the first time in Russian, and five more adventures are due before October. Emmanuel Durand, an independent French publisher based in Moscow, translated the first Asterix book when translator friends told him how they had translated Asterix stories for their own children. Durand says: "It's a bit of a gamble as there's no tradition for strip cartoons in Russia." The first 5,000-strong print run of the book has been selling well. In the Russian publishing industry, a run of 3,000 is deemed a success.

A tough interior

Doctors spent more than an hour removing 222 rusty nails, keys and coins from the stomach of Gezahenge Debebe, a mentally ill patient, in Addis Ababa after he complained of stomach pain. Doctors say Debebe must have eaten the items during his 20 years as a mental patient.

Reward for bravery

Two prisoners in London had their three-year sentences cut by 28 days after they rescued a prison officer being attacked by a wild boar. Mark Collerton and Andrew Good, jailed for wounding and theft respectively, rushed in to help farm manager Roger Murray while he was being tossed in the air by Namajara, a Royal Berkshire boar, at Prescoed prison in south Wales. "The inmates risked injury and have hence been rewarded," a prison official said.

Angel on earth

Eighty-year-old sculptor Kristofer Leirdal says he modeled a statue of an archangel on U.S. rock legend Bob Dylan. "I was inspired by Bob Dylan and his features when I made St. Michael. I saw that singer as a representative of American opposition to the Vietnam war," he said. The statue, erected in 1969, is on top of Trondheim Cathedral in Norway.

A happy family

After six years of wandering the streets of suburban Los Angeles, Lukee the Lhasa Apso finally came home. The seven-year-old lap dog, who ran away from her yard on July 4, 1995, apparently because she was traumatised by the sound of fireworks, was rescued by animal welfare workers who found an implanted microchip in her neck identifying her owner. "Thank God for the chip," said Lukee's owner, Shauna Lukesh. "It's been a long time."

Compiled by SUBAJAYANTHI WILSON

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Section  : Features
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