An 18-year-old high school student from Shijiazhuang, in Hebei Province, has received an unexpected New Year's gift in the form of a personal letter and an autographed photo from German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Merkel also enclosed a book about Germany written in Chinese.

"I was screaming and running around the house," said Shi, who studies English and German. "Merkel wished me happy New Year!"

Shi, a soccer fan, has written 137 letters to sports teams and individuals around the world since 2005.

She penned her letter to the German leader in English and a little German expressing her admiration for the chancellor and her love of German soccer after finding the address on Merkel's official website.

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A small black bear that had been raiding crops in Dujiangyan in Sichuan Province has been caught and wrestled into submission by a brawny villager named Yang Dahai who caged it after knocking the beast unconscious with his bare hands.

The bear, which was taken to Chengdu Zoo last week, had been playing what the farmers termed "a game of hide and seek" since early December when it showed up and began stealing from a large carrot patch.

Yang and three other villagers finally staked out the bear's territory near a river. Initially Yang crouched while his companions attempted to chase it into his open arms so he could give it a bear hug and subdue it.

The attempt failed when the beast struggled and slipped out of Yang's embrace, then led the quartet on a 2-hour romp along a roadside, around the river and through reeds.

Finally, the 20-kilogram bear was driven into Yang's arms again and he pressed it to the ground while it clawed him and bit his clothes. The sturdy farmer subdued it while his companions called forestry bureau workers to take the feisty beast away.

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Crews responding to a trailer fire in southern Utah in the U.S. had another factor to contend with: snakes.

Kristeen Checketts, the animal control officer in St George, says there were about 19 pet pythons in the trailer when it caught fire on January 2nd at a local caravan park.

Once the fire was put out, Checketts and firefighters began pulling out snake after snake, most in cages and some up to 18 feet long.

Checketts said 11 survived. The snakes' owner tried to revive another by massaging it and blowing into its mouth through a plastic tube.

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In the ever-changing story about Tiger Woods, word has surfaced that he may have entered an upscale sex rehabilitation clinic in Arizona, according to sources contacted by PEOPLE magazine.

The sources say that Woods entered 'The Meadows', a clinic in Wickenburg, Arizona, sometime around the holidays �C a rumour that first made the rounds last month. The clinic specialises in substance abuse, as well as compulsive disorders such as gambling or sex addiction.

A sex-therapy expert who claims to be familiar with the situation says Woods, 34, showed up in Wickenburg around New Year's and would likely plan to stay for 4 to 5 weeks of treatment. "He should be out by Valentine's Day or thereabouts," said the source.