Muslim leaders in Russia have called for believers to boycott St Valentine's Day, saying it "preaches universal permissiveness, amorality and nihilism."
A council of Muslim leaders in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region has released a statement calling for a "ban" on celebrating Valentine's Day, which is growing in popularity in Russia although it is not an official holiday.
"We call on all believers and sensible people to say no to celebrating this day, since it contradicts not only the norms of Islam, but also recognised human morality," the statement said.
The Muslim leaders also ap-pealed to head teachers at the region's schools to cancel celebrations for "moral and ethical reasons." (AFP)
Oldest Encyclopaedia Britannica collection
The oldest set of Encyclopaedia Britannica still in private hands is an 18-volume collection from 1797, it was revealed yesterday.
The books, still in regular use by owner Charlotte Hampson and her family, were bought by Mrs Hampson's father in the 1970s for £15, and could be worth as much as £9,000, according to experts.
Mrs Hampson, from Chelm-sford, in Essex, came forward with her third edition set after Encyclopaedia Britannica launched a hunt for the oldest collection.
She believes her volumes came from a stately home in Suffolk but had been presented to an estate worker who no longer needed them.
Fifteen editions of Ency-clopaedia Britannica have been published in its 241-year history.
The original founders - Colin Macfarquhar, Andrew Bell and William Smellie - were reportedly the first writers in English to systemise knowledge and en-lighten readers about the latest discoveries in the arts, science and literature. (PA)
Blizzard drives down crime
The blizzard that hammered the US east coast with record-breaking snowfall and icy winds had a plus side: it drove down crime in Washington, a police spokesman said yesterday.
"Last night, we had very few reported crimes," Lieutenant Nicholas Breul said.
"Every morning, we put out a report of serious crimes, and this morning it was very, very low," Mr Breul said. "Certainly, the weather had to be a factor in that."
No homicides have been re-ported in the US capital since February 3, when a few inches of snow fell on Washington and the surrounding area.
That was followed at a weekend storm which together with Tuesday's blizzard dumped several feet of snow on the eastern US, making the winter of 2009-2010 the snowiest on record in Washington and neighbouring states. (AFP)
Spare bedroom vase fetches £750,000
A cracked vase discovered in an elderly couple's spare bedroom fetched £750,000 at auction yesterday after experts found it was an 18th century Chinese masterpiece.
The owners, said to be of "modest" means, were unaware the object sitting in their home was made in 1740 for the Emperor Qianlong.
The base of the vase, used as an umbrella stand at some point in its career, bears the Emperor's imperial mark. The truth about the antique, once thought to have been owned by Florence Nightin-gale's family, was only discovered when the couple asked for a routine valuation at their home in Purbeck, Dorset.
The "lantern" vase sold at Duke's auctioneers in Dorchester to a telephone bidder who wishes to remain anonymous.
The vase is believed to be the work Tang Ying, rated as one of the era's greatest craftsmen.
Mr Schwinge said the couple were given the vase in the 1960s, little realising it would make their fortune.
The lucky couple wish to remain anonymous. (PA)
Meteorite smuggling ring
Amid a huge bounty of contraband goods seized recently at a Russian airport, one far-out find floored customs officials: chunks of meteorite.
"On the customs declaration, the smugglers identified it as granite for construction and decoration of office space," Larisa Ledovskikh, a spokesman for customs at Moscow's Domodedovo airport, said yesterday.
"But our officials could see it was clearly not granite!"
The two smugglers - who also tried to ship out silver antiques, fossils, semi-precious stones, microscopes and old books in the suspect cargo - were initially charged with making a false declaration on their customs form.
Only after a three-month investigation did officials discover that the mystery lumps were fragments from outer space and the men part of a larger crime ring including experts and scientists, Ms Ledovskikh said. (AFP)