A fashion-conscious girl who received surgery to enlarge her breasts has ended up growing four swellings - two on her chest and two on her abdomen, reports Chongqing Morning Post.

Wang, 24, who lives in Chongqing Municipality, underwent the breast-enlargement operation at a small beauty salon in Central China's Henan Province in 2002.

However, one year later, the girl began to sprout two breast-shaped swellings on her belly which slowly enlarged as time passed by. Wang said she was ashamed to use public bathrooms and had to undergo another operation to get rid of the extra growths.

Medical professionals caution not to trust unauthorized hospitals or clinics performing such procedures.

** Boy shot three times on the operation table

A teenager in Fujian Province suffered several gunshot wounds while he was awaiting an emergency treatment on the operation table for a cut on his belly, reports Youth Daily.

After being stabbed in his stomach,the 18-year-old, a student at a Fuqing technical school, was sent to the Fuqing Hospital at around midnight last Wednesday. While the doctors were beginning to clean his wound, five men carrying two guns suddenly broke into the operating room and fired three shots into the teenager's legs. The men quickly fled after the assault.

The youngster survived the gruesome attack after a six-hour operation. Local policemen are probing into the case.

** Heated battle between bears stuns zoo visitors

Two male bears at the Beijing Zoo stunned visitors on Sunday afternoon when they broke out into a fight to win the affection of a female bear, with one being seriously wounded, Beijing Times reports.

With a thunderous roar, the stronger bear knocked down 4-year-old Hui Hui on the ground, biting and beating him until the latter stopped fighting back.

The defeated bear was too frustrated to go back to his enclosure for hours, with his mouth still bleeding.

Since the bears are in heat, they often fight with each other to struggle for their lover, but they rarely suffer from serious injuries, explained an animal keeper at the zoo.

** Parrot proves talented talker in contest

A hill parrot in Changsha, Hunan Province was crowned in the provincial bird singing contest on Sunday by imitating three languages - Chinese Putonghua, Hunan dialect and English, Sanxiang Metropolis News reports.

The bird named Liang Liang distinguished itself among 200 candidates participating in the contest showcasing the animals' versatilities and won the honour for its owner Cai Guangning.

What added colour to its performance was that the bird could recite a Chinese poem from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

(China Daily  March 31, 2004)