Snippets
• The EU has published a fresh list of ships that have been banned from entering its ports for fear of environmental disasters and oil spills in the waters surrounding European countries. Nineteen ships have been added to the list. St Vincent and the Grenadines, Bolivia, Turkey, Romania and the Syrian Arab Republic have been reproached for not making their ships adhere to EU rules.
• Siberian cranes might be redirected along their migration route to Bharatpur, Rajasthan, by using a hang glider that would be made to pass the birds. The idea is to make the birds follow the glider. The unique project has been proposed by George Archibald of the International Crane Foundation, a non-profit organisation. It is inspired by Jeff Danie's movie Flyaway Home.
• China has decided to conduct its first nationwide AIDS survey to detect the spread of the virus through blood sale. It has asked its local governments to test every person who has sold blood. "Not one person should be missed,' the Chinese health ministry said. Local governments have to submit their reports by April 15, 2005.
• Red Indians in North and South America are committing suicide in record numbers. The chief of the Innu community of Natuashish in Labrador, eastern Canada, recently described the situation as a suicide "epidemic'. Other Innu communities in Labrador and Quebec also suffer the same problem, as do the Guarani Indians in Brazil.