■ `Bigfoot' alive and well
Malaysia's wildlife department said this week it would investigate claims that "Bigfoot" man-like beasts are roaming the jungles of southern Johor state, an official said. Newspapers have this week aired stories of sightings of the legendary creatures, and photographs of a giant footprint left near a jungle swamp. The director of the wildlife department's biodiversity conservation division, Siti Hawa Yatim, said they would examine the prints, which reportedly measure up to 45cm. "We are going to check first if the case is a true one," Siti Hawa said.
■ No doves of peace this year
Polish Christmas nativity scenes, which often include live animals, were without chickens, doves or other winged creatures this year because of worries about bird flu. "We wanted, as in previous years, to include birds in our creche alongside other animals," said Father Jan Maria Szewek, in charge of the nativity tableau at the Franciscan church in Krakow in southern Poland. "But the farmer who usually lent us his poultry reminded us of the measures brought in because of bird flu," he said. This summer the Polish veterinary authorities ordered poultry to be raised indoors and banned sales in the open air and bird shows and competitions, worried that the disease might spread from neighboring Ukraine.
■ Minority rules for aussies
Australia is trying to recruit ethnic minorities to become lifeguards in the wake of racial violence on a Sydney beach last month. The southern state of Victoria yesterday announced stepped-up plans to enlist "multicultural ambassadors" as lifeguards, just weeks after neighboring New South Wales did the same. "Volunteers play a vital role in our community, [so] it's important our volunteers reflect the diversity of the wider community and build on Victoria's reputation for tolerance," said acting state premier John Thwaites. Most lifeguards on Australian beaches are young volunteers, and it was an attack on two of them at Sydney's Cronulla beach, allegedly by a group of ethnic Lebanese men, that sparked last month's race riots. Dozens of people were injured and arrested in two days of violence which shocked Sydney and set this former British colony questioning its attitudes to racial minorities.
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