World Vignettes

Among the customers were a Japanese tourist who spent two hours addressing copies of the special presentation packet to send back home and an American who bought 900 sets, the post office said. Some bought entire sheets of the stamps to frame.

8220;It8217;s the biggest day ever in the history of the post office,8221; said a spokeswoman, who would not allow her name to be used. 8220;It8217;s been phenomenal, and just proves what an extremely popular person she was, throughout the world.8221; The five first-class stamps, which cost 40 cents each, will be the only set issued in Britain with the Princess8217;s image on them.

Bordered in purple and carrying the dates of her life, 1961-1997, they show formal and informal shots of Princess Diana by photographers, Lord Snowdon, Terence Donovan, TimGraham and John Stillwell.

Aerobics on street

BANGKOK: Bangkok8217;s governor closed down a busy city street in the heart of the business district on Tuesday to pave the way for aerobic dancing. The economic and social situation nowadays has adversely affected the health of Thai people, particularly Bangkokians, who are increasingly stressed out by traffic, unemployment and inflation, said Bangkok governor Bhichit Rattakul, in his street-closing speech.

Bhichit shut off traffic to a section of Narathiwat Rajaanakarin road, a main thoroughfare in the Silom business district, to allow stressed-out stock brokers and other businessmen a chance to stretch their limbs to an aerobic beat.

Professional aerobic instructors and loud boom-boxes were provided free-of-charge by the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority to anyone who cared to join the healthful dancing. The BMA intends to offer the free aerobics as a stress-reliever for Bangkokians on a regular basis should the street dancing provepopular.

Prolonging life

LONDON: Men who have active sex live longer than men who don8217;t, according to the findings of a long-term survey reported in the British Medical Journal. Three researchers from Bristol and Belfast monitored the health and sex life of 918 men aged between 45 and 59 over a ten-year period.

They found that among men who had sex most often at least twice a week mortality was only half as high as among those who had least sex less than once a month. During the ten years 150 of the men died, including 67 who died of coronaries.

A statistically significant relationship between frequency of sexual activity and mortality remained even when risk factors such as age, blood pressure, smoking and social status were taken into account, write professors George Davey Smith, Stephen Frankel and John Varell, presenting their findings.

Pageant in Hawaii

HONOLULU: Hawaii8217;s distinctive culture and history, stunning landscape and recreational opportunities have lured theorganisers of the 47th annual Miss Universe pageant to the state, pageant officials said yesterday. It will mark the third time in three years that the pageant will be held in the United States and gives reigning Miss Universe Brook Mahealani Lee of Hawaii a chance to relinquish her crown in her home state a first for the pageant.

8220;It8217;s such an emotional experience to give up the title,8221; Lee said. 8220;I8217;m glad I8217;ll be home to do it.8221; The pageant will be held the week of May 11 at the university of Hawaii8217;s Stan Sheriff Centre. The exact date of the event has not been determined. The pageant will bring nearly 2,000 visitors to Hawaii and more than nine million dollars in immediate economic benefits. In addition, the show will be aired in 75 countries and be viewed by hundreds of millions of people worldwide.