World Briefs

The US Army is wooing young Americans with video games, Google maps and simulated attacks on enemy positions from an Apache helicopter.

The US Army Experience Centre at the Franklin Mills shopping mall in Philadelphia has 60 personal computers loaded with military video games, 19 Xbox 360 video game controllers and a series of interactive screens. There is a separate room for prospective soldiers to "fire" from a real Humvee on enemy encampments projected on a 4.5-metre-high battleground scenario that has deafening sound effects while those inclined to attack from above can join helicopter raids in which enemy soldiers emerge from hide-outs to be felled by automatic gunfire from a simulator modelled on an Apache or Blackhawk helicopter.

Recession makes pilgrims pray

A record number of people in Japan visited shrines and temples to pray at the start of the New Year, as anxiety grows over the deepening recession.

Over 99 million people showed up for "Hatsumoude" prayers in the first three days of January, the highest since records began in 1974.

It is customary for Japanese, many in colourful kimonos, to throng to shrines and temples in the first few days of the year to pray, buy good luck charms and draw fortune scrolls on white paper forecasting luck in business, health and love.

The top destination for prayers was the sprawling Meiji Jingu shrine in central Tokyo, with visitors topping three million since the beginning of the year.

Some came to pray for a new-born baby while the sick came to pray for health, a spokesman said. But the main concern for visitors, who numbered 20,000 more than last year, was probably the economy.

"It's hard to pin it down to one factor, but it seems many people prayed this year because of the recession," the spokesman said.

Shivering, but world is getting hotter

It might feel cold in Europe but the world is getting hotter and global warming remains a danger, the United Nations weather agency WMO said yesterday.

"The Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organisation, Michel Jarraud, has stressed that we mustn't confuse the current weather that we're seeing with global warming," WMO spokesman Gaelle Sevenier told a news briefing.

Temperatures have plunged to record lows in Germany and heavy snow brought Marseille in normally sunny southern France to a standstill on Thursday but weather studies since 1850 show an undeniable increase in temperature, Ms Sevenier said.

Most scientists believe global warming is creating extremes of weather bringing death and destruction through hurricanes, floods and drought. While 2008 was cooler than the previous year, it was the tenth warmest year since records started.

Spider-Man celebrates Obama

Barack Obama will be "nerd-in-chief" when he takes office as US President this month, according to Marvel Comics, which is putting him on the cover of its next "Spider-Man" comic.

The special edition of the weekly Spider-Man comic features a story about the superhero saving the day when an imposter tries to take Mr Obama's place as President. It is due to hit newsstands next Wednesday.

Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada said the idea for the "Spidey meets the President!" edition came from a statement from Mr Obama's campaign listing 10 little known facts about the Democrat who will be America's first black President.

"Right at the top of that list was he collected Spider-Man comics," Mr Quesada said.

Computer geeks learn to flirt

Even the most quirky of computer nerds can learn to flirt with finesse thanks to a new "flirting course" being offered to budding IT engineers at Potsdam University south of Berlin.

The 440 students enrolled in the master's degree course will learn how to write flirtatious text messages and emails, impress people at parties and cope with rejection.

Philip von Senftleben, an author and radio presenter who will teach the course, summed up his job as teaching how to "get someone else's heart beating fast while yours stays calm".

The course, which starts next Monday, is part of the social skills section of the IT course and is designed to ease entry into the world of work. Students also learn body language, public-speaking, stress management and presentation skills.

Shoes dumped at Israeli embassy

Around 200 members of Chile's Palestinian community, the largest in South America, dumped hundreds of old shoes outside the Israeli embassy in Santiago on Thursday to protest Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip.

Inspired by an Iraqi journalist who narrowly missed US President George W. Bush with his shoes, the protesters called for an end to Israel's 13-day-old offensive in Gaza.

Chile is home to 120,000 people of Palestinian descent, making it one of the largest expatriate Palestinian communities in the West.