Spam crisis
BERLIN - A flood of half a million unwanted email messages laid low the accounts of thousands of German politicians and civil servants last week.
"Our email system was completely crippled," a worker said.
Another said he believed the ministries' and the chancellory's networks had been hit at the weekend. The result, he said, was that emails were turning up days late, if they arrived at all.
A spokesman for the federal IT-security agency confirmed that the systems of Germany's ministries had been knocked out. An internal memo obtained by the media referred to a barrage of some 510,000 unsolicited, or so-called spam, email messages.
It was not clear whether the flood of mail was the result of a targeted attack or an internal computer hitch. The incident comes as German parliament debates a law aimed at blocking spam.
Toxic teeth
STOCKHOLM - Amalgam tooth fillings made with mercury should be pulled out before people are cremated to cut emissions of the highly toxic metal, a Swedish government agency report proposed recently.
Mercury, also known as quicksilver, has been linked to neurological problems and is especially harmful to young children and foetuses.
It would be "difficult from the ethical point of view, but it is nevertheless desirable to be able to decrease the emission of quicksilver," the Chemical Inspectorate report said.
It calculated that since three quarters of Swedes have amalgam fillings, the population carries some 2.8 tons of mercury in their mouths.
In Sweden 70 per cent of the dead are cremated, so about 1.9 tons end up in the air or in crematorium gas purification systems, the report said.
Church of fools
LONDON - The world's first Internet church has fallen victim to a plague of virtual demons, some of whom have been logging on as Satan and unleashing strings of expletives during sermons.
The "Church of Fools" was launched in the middle of May as a unique chance for Christians to worship interactively by choosing a "3D" animated character who could kneel, sing hymns, talk to others, hear a sermon, or shout "Hallelujah".
The site attracts between 5,000 and 10,000 worshippers daily and those who log on can also give money to a collection plate via mobile phone.
The Church said it had removed a "shout" function where people could speak to the whole congregation. Some were using it to hurl abuse or yell: "Satan loves you".
But the strongest measure against the unruly will be the online equivalent of damnation: wardens will be able to smite the wicked by instantly logging them out of the church if they misbehave.
"Letizia" boom
MADRID - The number of Spanish baby girls with the same name as former TV news presenter Letizia Ortiz has quadrupled since her engagement to Crown Prince Felipe was announced in November, a supermarket study showed.
Photographs of the dashing heir to the throne and his glamorous fiance dominate the media and shop windows all over Madrid as royal wedding fever grips the nation ahead of nuptials.
"In the last (five) months the use of the name had soared," Caprabo's head of marketing Xavier Alomar said, adding that between December and April the number of Letizias and Leticias rose 300 per cent compared with the previous five months.
Cockpit nap
LONDON - A drunken woman looking for a place to sleep slipped past security and onto an aircraft at Aberdeen airport in Scotland where she dozed unnoticed for several hours, sparking a review of security. The British Airports Authority said last week it had launched a full investigation after the woman - reported by a newspaper to be a scantily clad stripper - scaled a fence and boarded a private jet.
The Sun newspaper said 22-year-old Soraya Wilson was discovered eight hours after she passed out in the plane's cockpit. She was cautioned but not charged.
"I don't know who was more embarrassed when they found me, the security men or me, because I was just wearing my knickers and a little top when I woke up," she told the paper.
Pets need drug
MOSCOW - A Russian veterinarian caught by undercover agents while operating on a cat was cleared of using an anaesthetic banned in Russia but widely used in the West.
Ketamine, as a mild anaesthetic, was listed in Russia as a banned narcotic in 1998. It is also commonly abused by drug users. Though it was removed from the list this year, while Sadovedov's case proceeded, the use of ketamine remains in a legal grey area since no law authorizing its use has been passed.
Russian media have reported raids on surgeries where vets were operating and at least two other cases remain outstanding.
"We didn't expect such an outcome," Sadovedov told dozens of supporters outside the court, some carrying signs reading "Give Drugs Back to Animals".
"Russian vets should be allowed to carry on their business - that of caring for animals."
(Agencies via Xinhua)
