A Polish priest has installed an electronic reader in his church for schoolchildren to leave their fingerprints in order to monitor their attendance at mass, the Gazeta Wyborcza daily said yesterday.
The pupils will mark their fingerprints every time they go to church over three years and if they attend 200 Masses they will be freed from the obligation of having to pass an exam prior to their confirmation. The pupils in Gryfow Slaski told the daily they liked the idea and also the priest, Grzegorz Sowa, who invented it.
"This is comfortable. We don't have to stand in a line to get the priest's signature (confirming our presence at the Mass) in our confirmation notebooks," said one pupil.
Poland is perhaps the most devoutly Roman Catholic country in Europe today and churches are regularly packed on Sundays. (Reuters)
Surfers against sewage
A group of surfers have announced a plan to break the world record for the fastest crossing of the English Channel by stand-up paddleboard.
The five paddlers hope to raise £10,000 through the challenge and increase awareness of the campaigns of Surfers Against Sewage.
In the first event of its kind, they will set off from Dover and aim to arrive in Calais about five hours later, having completed the crossing of one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. The event will be taking place between June 18 and 25. (PA)
In love? Shout it out loud
Love really takes to the air in Tokyo once a year, when dozens of Japanese shout out their ardour for spouses, partners - and even themselves - at an event that's broadcast on TV.
Japanese have traditionally valued modesty and reticence over outspokenness, but Kiyotaka Yamana, a Tokyo resident who started the "Love Message Yelling Event" after his marriage failed, said that didn't mean they were unromantic.
The event took place at the Hibiya Park in central Tokyo, co-hosted by a citizen group dedicated to devoted husbands. Most of the 30 or so participants took to the stage, yelling "I love you" or "Let me be with you."
However, one kimono-clad woman, who said she was unmarried, confessed to the audience that she loved herself the most. (Reuters)
Unlucky couple
A test rocket fired by Indonesia's state-run weapons manufacturer crashed into a farm and seriously wounded the owners.
The government said the 9-foot RKN 200 rocket missed its target because of high winds and the couple were hit by shrapnel.
Indonesia's military arsenal has become outdated because of a massive drop in spending since the fall of late dictator Suharto. (PA)
'Holy' marijuana!
An American man is claiming marijuana as the main sacrament of his religion, saying a drug charge against him violates his constitutional rights.
Trevor Douglas, from Colorado, says he belongs to the Hawaii-based THC Ministry but was charged with marijuana possession after police searched him.
He said the use of the drug was sacred to him, just as wine and bread were to Christians. (PA)
Freeze and strip down
A knife-wielding robber who ordered victims to remove their trousers to stop them chasing him was arrested last Thursday, South Korean police said.
The man identified only as Kim, 25, is accused of robbing four convenience stores over the past four months.
"Wielding a knife, he stripped store staff down to their underwear before running away," a detective at Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul said.
In 2007 Kim received a suspended jail sentence for robbing convenience stores in the same way, he said. (AFP)
Ambulance used as getaway
Two South African ambulance drivers have been arrested after cramming their vehicle full of stolen copper cables and using their emergency lights to try to get away.
The two men worked for the health department in eastern Mpumalanga province, and were wearing uniforms when police arrested them.
"Loads of copper cables to the value of 57,000 rands (€5,350), were stashed inside the vehicle," regional police commissioner Thulani Ntobela said in a statement.
"When they finished with their loot, they then drove out of the premises with the emergency lights on, as if they were ferrying a patient in need of urgent medical attention," it added. (AFP)