Dreary dads

Rome, March 19 (Reuters): The vast majority of Italian youths would like to swap their fathers for someone richer and more successful, such as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, according to a survey published yesterday.

The poll of Italians aged between 15 and 24 said only 10 per cent of those questioned were happy to stick with their dads. The other 90 per cent were decidedly unhappy, with 63 per cent complaining that their fathers hadn?t built good enough careers and 58 per cent saying they hadn?t accumulated enough wealth.

Asked who would be the ideal father figure, 67 per cent named a popular television personality, Paolo Bonolis. The second choice was Berlusconi ? Italy?s richest man ? who had an approval rating of 59 per cent.

Royal no

London: Zara Phillips quashed rumours of an engagement to the England rugby star Mike Tindall on Friday, according to The Daily Telegraph. Interviewed on BBC Radio Five Live at Cheltenham races, the daughter of Princess Anne, was asked whether Tindall had asked, or was going to ask her to marry him. She laughed, then joked: ?I hope not.? The TV presenter Clare Balding, remarking on their marital status, said: ?I thought we did know.? Phillips replied: ?No, no, no.?

Panda tags

Beijing (Reuters): China will implant high-tech identification tags into all its captive pandas in an effort to better monitor the population and prevent inbreeding, the Xinhua news agency said on Saturday. ?Information about pedigree, age and other basic data will be permanently incorporated into the giant pandas by ways of molecular labelling or hypodermic implantation of sensing chips,? Xinhua quoted a state forestry official as saying.