Watching TV is bad for your child

Top English psychologist Dr. Aric Sigman said we must prevent children under three from watching television or risk irreversibly damaging their health, the Daily Mail reported. About 80 percent of brain development happens before we are three, and screen time at this age seems to be particularly damaging. So there needs to be a recommended daily allowance for screen time as we have with salt and fat.

Research suggests it is not what you watch, it is what age you start and how long you watch for that has a detrimental effect. In many ways Teletubbies, or any other educational program for children, could be as physiologically damaging as a violent video game.

In addition, a new study from the Heart and Diabetes Institute, Melbourne, found that each daily hour of TV viewing in adulthood was associated with an 18 percent increase in death from heart disease. Those who watched four or more hours were 80 percent more likely to suffer a fatal heart condition.

Chinese boat crew flying home

The 14 Chinese fishermen, on board the trawler which had been kept off Ishigaki harbour in Okinawa since Tuesday's collision, returned home today from the Ishigaki airport on a Chinese chartered flight, according to Xinhua. Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo Friday urgently summoned the Japanese ambassador Uichiro Niwa, and on Sunday the Chinese government raised the stakes in the latest diplomatic dispute with Japan, warning Tokyo not to make "wrong judgments" over the seizure of the fishing boat in contested waters.

Virus on deer tick identified

The virus found in patients of deer tick bite has been isolated by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing News reported. The virus has been identified as a new variation of the Bunyaviridae, commonly found in vertebrates and arthropods. The Ministry of Health is working on clinical plans to effectively deal with the patients. There's no evidence so far that suggest inter-human contamination of the virus.

Iran to free US hiker on bail

Iran said Sunday it will free on bail one of the three Americans accused of espionage and held for more than a year, Reuters reported. The Tehran prosecutor told state television Sarah Shourd would be freed on US$500,000 bail and permitted to leave the country. Shourd was detained near Iran's border with Iraq in July 2009 along with two male companions, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal. Their families say the three were on a mountain hike in northern Iraq at the time.

Turkey backs constitutional changes

Turkish voters strongly backed constitutional reforms Sunday, Reuters reported. Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency showed the "Yes" vote at 58 percent for the 26 constitutional amendments with 97 percent of the vote counted. "The winner today was Turkish democracy," said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who had portrayed the reforms as an effort to boost the Muslim nation's democracy and help its European Union candidacy.

Be wary of 'free check-ups'

Some 617 women in Chengwu County, Heze City, Shandong Province, were lured by free gynecological check-ups provided by Heze Huajie Hospital from late July to mid-August, Qilu Evening News reported. Most of them were told that they had gynecological disorders, and 96 who received loop electrosurgical excision procedures (LEEP) all had severe complications. The operation costs from 700 yuan to 1,400 yuan. The privately-run hospital has been closed by the local government since September 5.

More mainlanders buy HK apartments

Guangzhou Daily reported that mainlanders now buy 40 percent of new apartments in Hong Kong, thanks to the continuous appreciation of the renminbi against the Hong Kong dollar, according to statistics by Centaline Property and Hongkong Land Holdings Limited. The figure was only 20% before mid-March.

US claims FIBA championship

Kevin Durant carried the US men's basketball team to its first FIBA World Championship title since 1994, scoring 28 points in an 81-64 victory over host Turkey in the gold medal game, Bloomberg reported. Team U.S.A. now automatically qualifies for the 2012 Olympics in London.

French New Wave giant dies

One of France's best-known film directors, Claude Chabrol, died Sunday at the age of 80, BBC reported.

One of France's best-known film directors, Claude Chabrol, died Sunday at the age of 80, BBC reported. A member of the French New Wave movement, Chabrol is best known for 1960s and '70s thrillers, such as The Unfaithful Wife, The Butcher and This Man Must Die. He made more than 50 films during his career, and his Les Cousins won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival in 1959.

"With the death of Claude Chabrol, French cinema has lost one of its maestros," said French Prime Minister Francois Fillon in a statement. French President Nicolas Sarkozy described Chabrol as a "great author and great filmmaker."

Mafia beauty show for crooks

Budapest, Hungary, is holding the world's first pageant exclusively for girls convicted of Mafia-connected crimes, the Sun reported. All contestants are convicted crooks. Women can post their pictures on the contest's website, but only after submitting a police mug shot to prove their "credentials". The winner will get a car and an apartment in Budapest, and it will be decided in a final pageant at a bar that was once bombed in a Mafia-clan war. One organizer said, "we have thieves, fraudsters, gang members, bank robbers and swindlers, so it should be an interesting night."

(China.org.cn September 13, 2010)