Things in March

Interesting news headlines in March:

A digest of news headlines in March*

1. Google trends show that in New Zealand people are more likely to search for Coke while in Turkey and India, Pepsi dominates.
2. In 1928 the UK Parliament passed the Easter Act which fixes the date for Easter but the law has not been implemented, while in 2008 the United States spent $2bn (£1bn) on Easter chocolate.
3. The Greek Orthodox Church considers all common-law marriages to be tantamount to "prostitution".
4. The Vatican is putting priests who hear confession through a refresher course and has brought up to date the traditional seven deadly sins by adding seven modern mortal sins.
5. A bear has been convicted for theft of honey in Macedonia, Vietnam has banned the sale and possession of hamsters and Cuba prohibits toasters.
6. Bolivian officials want the UN to remove the coca plant from its list of dangerous drugs.
7. An accountant in England tried to sue Marks & Spencer for more than £300,000 after claiming he injured himself during a shopping trip by slipping on a grape.
8. Police in Italy have issued footage of a man who is suspected of hypnotising supermarket checkout staff to hand over money from their cash registers.
9. Some French landlords demand sex as rent.
10. A genetic study of Latin America suggests male European settlers mated with native and African women, and slaughtered the men.
11. Archimedes was murdered over pi.
12. It's now believed that the oldest recorded voice was captured on April 9, 1860, 17 years earlier than inventor Thomas Edison.
13. Hillary Clinton, Madonna, Angelina Jolie and the Duchess of Cornwall are all distantly related.
14. The most frequently used term of abuse in schools is "gay".
15. There is strong evidence that exposure to pesticides significantly increases the risk of Parkinson's disease.
16. Human beings can detect danger through smell.
17. Short men are more likely to be jealous.
18. A 4cm hole in the heart is not necessarily fatal.
19. Magpies are one of the most hated birds in the UK.
20. Sharks can be used to predict storms and dolphins can communicate with whales.

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* (Pictures from left to right) 1. A women's rally in Istanbul celebrating International Women's Day; 2. Women bake bread in a traditional oven in south-eastern Turkey ahead of the spring festival of Nowruz - the Farsi word for New Year; 3. Parts of the UK being battered by rain and fierce winds; 4. Plans have been revealed to build a massive pyramid, filled with human remains, on a windswept field near the city of Dessau, eastern Germany; 5.The CND sign which is 50 years old is based on semaphore for N(uclear) and D(isarmament) but it also signifies human despair; 6. Attendance at a Buddhist temple in Japan has increased since the temple's pet, a two-year-old dog, has joined in the daily prayers.

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