US girl eats five soaps a week

LONDON: A 19-year-old girl in the US is getting treatment for her addiction of eating soaps and detergent powders. Tempestt Henderson, from Florida, eats up to five bars of soap a week and washing powder as well, the Daily Mail reported here. According to doctors, the toxic compulsion is a rare medical condition, PICA, which causes an appetite for substances that are largely non-nutritive. People suffering form PICA have been known to compulsively eat metal, coins, chalk, batteries and toothbrushes. It can often be caused by a mineral deficiency, which explains why pregnant women often crave eating coal when needing iron. "In the shower, I like to lather up a green bar of soap, and lick the bubbles. And as the soap disintegrates, I pop a tiny amount of the soap into my mouth and suck it. It's heavenly," she was quoted as saying. "I love the clean feeling it gives me. Eating soap feels so much cleaner than just washing with it." 

India's biggest mosque to be built in Kozhikode

KOZHIKODE: India's largest mosque is planned to be built in Kozhikode covering an area of 12 acres on the sprawling 'Knowledge City' complex of Islamic religious and Cultural Jamia Markazu Ssaquafathi Ssunniyya near here. Estimated to cost Rs 40 crore for construction, the mosque would be able to accommodate 25,000 people for prayer at a time, Markazu sources here said. According to Riyaz Muhammad,the Thrissur-based architect who has done the design for the mosque,the magnificent structure would be following the Mughal architectural style.