News In Brief

WHY NOT PICK A TUESDAY?

"Priests," says the letter, "are not machines." Since nobody is known to be suggesting they are, who is the writer and why does he think it necessary to take such a position? The Rev. Michel Dubost, bishop of d'Evry, is proposing that the clergy in his diocese officiate at only two weddings each Saturday and Sunday rather than the four they regularly perform in June, the peak month for nuptials in France. June is so popular both because of its reliably nice weather and because, under the French tax system, couples can reduce their liability by marrying then.

AND LAY OFF THE CHEESE FRIES

In Austria, results of a new survey suggest that for teenage females hoping to remain slim, the best way to accomplish that goal is to stay in school. Said a professor involved in the study: "They are at a level where it is not acceptable" to be overweight. Dropouts, she added, "don't have to prove they have their weight under control."

Street intersections where accidents occur most often

America's most dangerous traffic intersection is in Pembroke Pines, Fla., the auto insurer State Farm reported in its annual list of top 10 crash-prone crossings. To assemble its rankings, the company assessed collision claims in every state in 1999 and 2000. The list:

1. Flamingo Road/Pines Boulevard, Pembroke Pines, Fla.

2. Roosevelt Boulevard/Red Lion Road, Philadelphia

3. Roosevelt Boulevard/Grant Avenue, Philadelphia

4. 7th Street/Bell Road, Phoenix

5. Memorial Drive/51st Street, Tulsa, Okla.

6. Memorial Drive/71st Street, Tulsa, Okla.

7. 19th Avenue/Northern Avenue, Phoenix

8. State Highway 121/Preston Road, Frisco, Texas

9. Clearview Parkway, Veterans Memorial Boulevard, Metairie, La.

10. Fair Oaks Boulevard/Howe Avenue, Sacramento, Calif.

- Reuters

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor