World Vignettes

Grave dearth in AustraliaSYDNEY: Australia, a country the size of China but with just 1.7 per cent of its population, may have to bury its d...

Grave dearth in Australia

SYDNEY: Australia, a country the size of China but with just 1.7 per cent of its population, may have to bury its dead standing up unless land can be found for additional public cemeteries, officials have said. The shortage is most acute in Sydney, the country8217;s biggest city, where local rules mean burial plots are single-occupancy and can be used only once.

The public needs to be educated into accepting some form of tenure system, a spokesman for the new South wales ministry for land and water conservation said. He favours European models where plots are leased and family graves are common. Sydney8217;s Rockwood cemetery, reputed to be the largest in the southern hemisphere, only has plots left in its religion-specific sections. The whole city will run out space in 30 years unless public cemeteries switch to a less land-intensive system.

Cindy on sale

HAMBURG: Cloning experiments are raising eyebrows around the world. First there was a sheep Dolly,who was allegedly grown from a cell taken from the mother8217;s udder. Then there were the cloned calves, George and Charlie, recently born in Texas 8212; prototypes of animals intended to function as pharmaceutical factories.

And recently a physicist in the United States caused an uproar by announcing his intention to clone a human within the next 18 months. It8217;s no surprise, then, that a clone of the model Cindy Crawford is advertised on the net for 80,000 dollars, while a copy of James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan is available at 65,000 dollars. Or how about a brand new Nelson Mandela? You can order that for 5,000 dollars.

Carl Wilson dead

LOS ANGELES: Carl Wilson, a founding member of the Beach Boys and lead guitarist for the seminal surf band, has died from complications of lung cancer, his family said. He was 51. Wilson died on Friday evening in Los Angeles with his family at his side.

8220;Even though he was diagnosed with cancer and was going through treatment for a year, he was a realfighter,8221; publicist Alyson Dutch said on Saturday. 8220;He participated in the entire summer tour this year.8221; The Beach Boys defined the surfing sound with bouncy, hummable tunes such as 8220;I get around,8221; 8220;Good Vibrations,8221; 8220;Help Me Rhonda8221; and 8220;Surfin8217; USA8221;.