Allergy treat

Tokyo, Feb. 12 (Reuters): With Japan’s pollen allergy season about to set in, a Tokyo hotel is setting up a special floor to ease the suffering for sneezing guests.

Allergy-suffering guests checking in at the Tokyu Inn in the business district of Shinbashi, will step into a phone booth-style box to have the pollen blown off their clothes by a high-powered air shower before going to their rooms, the Mainichi Shimbun said today.

Windows on the allergy-sufferers’ floor will be kept closed to keep the pollen out and peppermint tea, said to alleviate the symptoms, will be provided in each room, along with a special spray to prevent pollen sticking to clothing.

V-Day text

London (Reuters): Britons texting Valentine’s Day love messages on Tuesday should be careful they don't send them to the wrong person. A poll of 3,000 mobile phone users that found 40 per cent will be texting rather than sending cards and that one in four have misdirected a provocative text or photo. Recipients of the unwanted texts include bosses or colleagues (9 per cent) parents (3 per cent) and perhaps most embarrassing of all - ex-partners (2 per cent). The study for student phone service dot mobile revealed eight in ten 18-25 year-olds have sent a flirty text message within the last year, with a third indulging in “text sex”.

Jesus spat

Rome (Reuters): An Italian atheist lost his legal crusade against the Catholic Church when a judge rejected his attempts to sue a priest for saying that Jesus existed 2,000 years ago. Luigi Cascioli, 72, had argued his hometown priest and former schoolmate had effectively broken an Italian law meant to protect the public from being conned. But instead of granting Cascioli his request to bring the case to court, the judge recommended magistrates investigate him for slandering priest Enrico Righi.