Dads – do you feel a bit of a spare part? Do you see yourself in relation to your kids as about as useful as a stick of furniture – one of the lesser used pieces, like the side table in the guest bedroom? Well, the good news, delivered in a BBC documentary just in time for Father's Day, is that those traditional dad activities, such as talking over your children's head with long words and complex sentences, or swinging them around so that their shoulders threaten to come out of their sockets, are biologically useful. Fathers make evolutionary sense – and not just as reconstructed pseudo-mummies, or "new dads".

"There's a lot of talk at the moment about the absence of fathers, and a curiosity about what it is that fathers actually do," says child psychologist Laverne Antrobus, presenter of "The Biology of Dads", a one-off documentary in BBC Four's Fatherhood season. "In some ways, parenting has been merged. Fathers have been invited to be like mothers rather than to be like fathers – this idea of everything being about nurture. So I wondered what it must be like for fathers who think, 'What do I do that's unique and a bit different?'" Antrobus has collated the latest academic research on the subject, including the already well understood role of the kind of rough-and-tumble games preferred by fathers, which teach toddlers the boundaries of aggression and discipline.

Less well known is the part fathers play in language development – conversing with their toddlers, seemingly inappropriately, as if with a fellow adult. "Mums are constantly adapting their vocabulary so a child knows the word, but dads spur them on," says Antrobus. "They not only use longer words, but they encourage more complex uses of language, such as wit and sarcasm."

Never mind that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, the gist of Antrobus's film is that fathers consistently push boundaries and nurture independence. What men might find less palatable is what has been happening to their hormones in the meantime. For in a very real, biological sense, fathers of newborn children become more like women.

Now, I remember my wife regularly declaring that her hormones "were all over the shop" while she was pregnant, and in the months after she gave birth to our daughter. Little did I suspect that my own hormones were also on the march. Firstly, it seems that the female hormone prolactin, which triggers lactation and the urge to breast-feed, and which lies dormant in men, springs into action in fathers-to-be. Indeed there is a syndrome known as Couvade Syndrome, or "sympathetic pregnancy", whereby the partners of pregnant women report feelings of morning sickness as well as the urge to binge eat unusual foods. Simultaneously, the key male hormone, testosterone, the one strongly associated with aggression, goes into free fall, back to levels not experienced since before puberty.

Dr Nick Neave, an evolutionary psychologist at Northumbria University, reckons this is nature's way of curbing a new father's behaviour. "You don't want some big, butch, hairy, violent male around these infants, because males who are high in testosterone have low levels of frustration tolerance," he says. "You don't want these guys flying off the handle when the baby starts to cry."

Even so, in the case of "shaken baby syndrome" the overwhelming proportion of perpetrators are men. One can only imagine the carnage if levels of testosterone didn't drop off naturally. And how does this square with anecdotal evidence that suggests that the birth of a child sometimes triggers either physical abuse directed at the mother, or the man loping off to have have an affair with another woman? "We didn't go there (in the film) because if you've got somebody who is prone to domestic violence there will be a lot of other things that are happening at about that time. There will be a dynamic in that relationship that is around vulnerability, for instance", says Antrobus. "In an evolutionary sense, what is really important is that you get this drop in testosterone, thank goodness; it's an opportunity to get the best out of dads."

In her BBC film, Antrobus observes an experiment in which a new father is handed a doll wrapped in his daughter's blanket. His child's pheromones, the chemical messengers that can affect someone else's behaviour, soon have the new father protectively cradling the doll and subconsciously comforting it with blanket tucking and pats to the back. The experiment is repeated with a testosterone-packed single male, who might as well be – in Laverne's words – "holding a sack of spuds".

drive from www.independent.co.uk

Cecil B DeMille has been there before, of course. As have Pier Paolo Pasolini, Roberto Rossellini, Mel Gibson, Franco Zeffirelli and Martin Scorsese. So maybe it was only a matter of time before Bollywood not only succumbed to the temptation but went one better by making its version in the subject's native land. Yesterday, India's Aditya Productions unveiled plans for a $30m (£19.5m), two-hour-15-min biopic which will be shot in the Holy Land and which it said would be "the first ever – in 79 years – Bollywoodian film on the life of Jesus Christ".

Although the picture will – unusually – mainly feature child actors, it will have an as yet unspecified role for the Bollywood megastar Pawan Kalyan – introduced to reporters at Jerusalem's King David Hotel yesterday as the "darling of millions".

Summing up the appeal of the story, which will be "a very faithful representation of the life of Jesus" from "birth to his crucifixion" with particular emphasis on his youth, the producer, Konda Krishnam Raju, said: "It is remarkable that this man who started his mission from a small village became within a short span of three years a force that influenced mankind for over 2,000 years and is worshiped by millions of people."

Stressing that the film – which will be made in English, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam, will start shooting here in October and should be ready by late 2011 – was high budget, Krishnam Raju said simply: "It is going to be a huge one."

To judge by the almost reverential tone of Indian entertainment journalists being beamed into the press conference by video link from seven cities in the subcontinent, he is right. Although fewer than 3 per cent of Indians are Christians, Kalyan, who declined to say what part he would be playing, explained: "There are millions of people in India who follow Christianity. It is a great faith, a great religion. There is a great tolerance for other religions; there is a great audience for such a film in India."

The actor underlined his delight at being involved in the project by describing how, six months before he was approached for a part in it, his five-year-old son hurt his knee in a fall. "The first thing that came into my mind was mother Mary and what she must have been through seeing her son [on the cross]." As a result, he explained, when the producers contacted him about the film, "I felt a kind of connectivity with it." Kalyan said there would be music but not "song and dance like in other Bollywood films".

drive from www.independent.co.uk

Grief and anger at the killing of eight Hong Kong tourists in a bus siege in Manila spilled over yesterday at a march where demonstrators condemned the Philippines authorities for bungling the rescue operation.

An estimated 80,000 people attended the protest in Hong Kong, which began with a short ceremony in a city park to honour the dead. After observing three minutes' silence, the demonstrators – many of whom wore yellow ribbons and carried white flowers, the traditional Chinese colour of mourning – marched to the central financial district.

The tourists were killed in the final stages of a 12-hour hostage ordeal a week ago, when poorly trained and equipped police stormed a bus hijacked by a former officer, Rolando Mendoza. The bloody conclusion to the crisis, which was broadcast live on television, horrified the victims' compatriots in the wealthy Chinese territory.

Police have admitted they made serious tactical errors throughout the stand-off with Mendoza, who was buried on Saturday in his home town of Tanauan, south of Manila. Around 1,000 mourners were reported to have attended the funeral Mass, where his many police medals were displayed, along with floral wreaths sent by former colleagues.

Once cited as one of the Philippines' 10 outstanding officers, Mendoza, 55, had been dismissed following allegations of extortion and robbery. He commandeered the bus in an effort to pressure the authorities into giving him his job back, but was killed by a police sniper during the chaotic rescue operation.

The eight victims were among 15 people held captive on the bus after Mendoza released other passengers, mainly children and the elderly, earlier in the day. Police attempting to negotiate with him turned down an offer of an elite military unit trained by US special forces to handle hijackings and hostage situations, it has emerged.

The head of Manila police has since taken leave and five of his officers have been suspended, but feelings in Hong Kong continue to run high.

At yesterday's march, one of the territory's politicians, Cheung Man-kwong, said: "That 80,000 people can show up in such a short period of time – it shows the anger and unity of the Hong Kong people."

One demonstrator, Andy Wong, demanded justice for the dead, saying: "Everyone saw how the Philippines government mishandled the situation." Another, Daisy Kwong, told Agence France-Presse: "Hong Kong people hope that, at the very least, the Philippines authorities could tell us the truth [about what went wrong]."

With an investigation under way, a Philippines presidential spokesman, Herminio Coloma, promised at the weekend that the results would be presented to the Hong Kong authorities soon. "We are doing everything to ensure that we have comprehensive, thorough and accurate findings," he said in a radio interview.

More than 100,000 Philippines nationals work in Hong Kong, many as maids, and many have said they fear a backlash by angry locals.

Yesterday, in a gesture of solidarity, members of the Philippines community in Hong Kong held their own inter-faith service in memory of the victims, lighting eight candles – one for each of the dead. One domestic worker, Elma Oliva, said the purpose of the service was "to send our sympathy and condolences".

At Mendoza's funeral, friends and neighbours defended his reputation. A family friend, Francisco Misaba, said: "Just about everyone in the district was his friend."

drive from www.independent.co.uk

In a remote Serbian mountain village, chefs are cooking up delicacies to make your mouth water or your stomach churn. At the seventh annual World Testicle Cooking Championship, visitors watch and sometimes taste as teams of chefs cook up bull, boar, camel, ostrich and even kangaroo testicles.

"This festival is all about fun, food and bravery," said Ljubomir Erovic, the Serbian chef who organises the event in Ozrem and has published a testicle cookery book. The food politely called "white kidneys" in Serbian is believed to be rich in testosterone. In the Balkans, it is considered to help men's libido.

"The bulls' testicles are the best, goulash-style," said last year's winner, Zoltan Levai, stirring a metal pot heated by a wood fire and filled with vegetables and large testicles that he said were provided from a state-run slaughterhouse.

The festival includes dishes such as testicle pizza and testicles in bechamel sauce flavoured with a variety of herbs found in the region. Visitors eat the dishes with plenty of wine or beer, and the stalls also sell roasted pig or lamb "as a side dish".

"I came here last year, and decided to come back," said Anna Wexler, an Israeli citizen originally from New York who is now a member of the festival's jury. "It was delicious. There was testicle moussaka, goulash, stallion, boar, bull and many other things."

The festival also gives prizes to those who have made the news for being "ballsy". This year one of the unsuspecting winners was Barack Obama. "He's the bravest man in the world," said Erovic. "Obama took over the world at the most difficult economic and political times. He showed he has balls."

The other prize went to the US pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who last year glided a passenger jet into the Hudson river in New York rather than risk crashing into a densely populated area.

drive from www.guardian.co.uk

For the second time in less than a year, genetically modified vines being tested by the French National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA) in its Colmar centre in eastern France have been uprooted and destroyed. Now that France no longer grows or tests GM corn, which used to be a regular summer target of the Faucheurs Volontaires (voluntary reapers) movement, attention has turned to the vines.

This month Faucheurs destroyed transgenic vines being tested for protection against court-noué, the fanleaf virus transmitted by earthworms. In September 2009 a single activist had cut down 70 vines at the same site.

At dawn on 15 August, Faucheurs Volontaires broke into the research centre, dug up the grafting stock and chopped it up. Police and gendarmes arrived rapidly and arrested the Faucheurs, who had not covered their faces and had told the press of their action in advance. More than 60 people were questioned and released.

Faucheurs Volontaires said: "The plot was neutralised because experimental GM trials are the first step in a commercial process aiming to impose these crops, which are currently unauthorised and are not wanted by consumers any more than by farmers, and all with the approval of the European commission."

Jean-Louis Borloo, Valérie Pécresse and Bruno Le Maire, the ministers for ecology, research and agriculture, condemned the "wanton destruction". Pécresse and Le Maire are due to visit the Colmar research facility next month. Last May the government authorised INRA to carry out the trials over a four-year period, after the committee for biotechnologies issued a positive opinion on the project.

The ministers said they were "shocked by this scandalous act of vandalism on an exemplary trial that has involved ... co-ordination between scientists, professional agricultural organisations, the local authorities as well as environmental NGOs."

They were referring to INRA's new consultative approach that tries to make this type of research more palatable to the public. This includes a monitoring committee that details all the precautions taken to isolate the GM test area, as well as research efforts to find alternatives to transgenics for dealing with the virus. At a local level this strategy succeeded and several environmental bodies, including France Nature Environment, took part in discussions.

Jacques Muller, a Green senator from the Lower Rhine, described the September 2009 crop attack as "immeasurable human waste". The activist Pierre Azelvandre was fined $2,500, plus one symbolic euro for the "moral wrong". But Muller has stressed "the technical futility" of the trials. He believes it more important for wine growers to develop alternative natural methods.

drive from www.guardian.co.uk

China has produced all kinds of heroes in the six decades since the revolution. But it is hard to believe that many among their number died in the toilet.

The latest addition to the ranks of the country's feted élite is one Zhu Jihong, a 29-year-old government employee who was taking a break from his work on a development project in Sichuan province when he fell and met with a sad demise.

Now the authorities have bestowed a rare honour on him – and sparked controversy over what, exactly, makes for a valiant death. Because Mr Zhu was working overtime, at the weekend, when he suffered the fatal accident, and because of his impeccable work record, the local government has honoured him for "dying a hero's death while carrying out his duties". He was also hailed as a "model party member".
But, if the government has made up its mind, many observers are sceptical. "No offence to the hapless Zhu, but the fact remains that the use of 'die a hero's death' is a blatant misnomer," wrote the Shanghai Daily newspaper.

"After all, compared with people who lose their lives trying to save others or safeguard public assets from being plundered, Zhu's death doesn't carry the same cachet... Tragic as the death was, it is mind-boggling that a fall in a toilet should lead to the glorification of someone who clearly died of a cause other than work," said the paper.

Many Chinese web users have taken a similar view. One joked that it was hard to associate the performance of one's patriotic duty with relieving oneself. Others have complained that the award is going to people who may not deserve the title. It was not always thus. Most of Mr Zhu's predecessors come with a more obviously laudable life story.

"Iron Man Wang" was China's first model worker and a great revolutionary propaganda hero, famous for digging for oil with his bare hands. The revolutionary hero Lei Fang was a soldier who died in 1962 when he was run over by a lorry while trying to help a comrade.

The circumstances surrounding Mr Zhu's death were a little different. He suffered head injuries after he fell in the cubicle on Saturday, 24 July, while texting his girlfriend, by some reports, and apparently suffering from exhaustion. He died of his wounds two days later.

But, despite that sharp contrast, Mr Zhu's employers have argued that his public service made his death as noble as his life. "Mr Zhu deserves the honours," the local propaganda unit said. "He volunteered to work on weekends for a raft of urgent public projects. His collapse was a result of extreme fatigue caused by overwork."

Giving public servants "hero" status is a cornerstone of China's state system, a way of ensuring that soldiers or police officers who die in the line of duty are honoured, and that their families receive an adequate pension.

The Communist Party designation of "model worker", traditionally confined to loyal bus conductors and coal miners, has in recent years been broadened to include entrepreneurs and sports stars – Yao Ming, the multimillionaire basketball star for the Houston Rockets, has been named a model worker.

But the principle of sacrifice and heroism remains mostly intact. Other heroes include Shi Chuanxiang, who spent 40 years unflinchingly shovelling night soil, or human manure, from Beijing public toilets.

drive from www.independent.co.uk

Q. I found three kittens in a skip in my road. I think they are about four weeks old. Do they still need bottle feeding? And how do I go about this? Rose, via e-mail

A. First, take them to the vet to get the all-clear. Raising orphan kittens is complicated and time-consuming. If you're not sure you can dedicate the time to this, then it would be kinder to give the kittens to an animal charity. As they are four weeks old they should have their eyes open already and be walking around shakily. To start with, you'll need some replacement formula milk and special bottles. Your vet will be able to give you instructions on how to get hold of and administer the formula. You will still need to feed the kittens about four or five times a day. In addition to this they will soon need to start eating solid food. Mix canned kitten food with the formula and give it to them. At first, they will make a mess and lick it off each other, but this is all part of the learning process. Make sure they are kept warm, as kittens are prone to hypothermia. Keep a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel in their bed but make sure there is enough space so if they feel too hot they can move away from it. They should be weaned by six weeks.

Q. My parrot keeps swearing! I don't know where he learnt bad language from – how can I stop him? Anne, via e-mail

A. It must have been a great shock to have heard your feathered friend using such colourful language! It may seem funny to outsiders, but can you imagine how embarrassing it would be if your parrot insulted an elderly relative or neighbour? First, you need to discover the source of the saucy language; your bird must have learnt it from somewhere. Birds are very intelligent creatures and learn by repetition and praise. If you have teenagers, they might be the culprits; or he could just be copying what he hears on the TV. Be careful about what you watch when he's in the room. When he does use bad language, simply walk out of the room and ignore him. After that, you need to re-train him. Teach him another word that sounds similar to the swear word, give him lots of praise and eventually he will pick up the right habits. Good luck!

Q. I've seen some great-looking puppies on various sites on the internet such as Gumtree and Loot. I'm thinking of buying one, but would like to know whether this is a reliable method of buying a pet. Are they checked? Tom, via e-mail

A. You have to be very cautious whenever you are thinking of buying a dog. The internet has made it far too easy to buy pets. There are so many cases of puppies being purchased online – unseen – and then delivered to your door. This is the wrong way to buy a pooch. You need to see the mother, the father and you also need to witness the environment they've been brought up in. You can learn so much from the way puppies interact with their fellow siblings; you can tell if they are the bossy one or the quiet one. Do as much background checking as you can about the owners. And check out your local sanctuary; maybe they've got a suitable puppy. Or you could do a really worthwhile thing and take on an older dog. The internet is great, but it is producing a surplus number of puppies, especially when there are so many in shelters needing loving homes.

drive from www.independent.co.uk

The leg and back injuries that troubled him during the grass-court season have cleared up, he has rediscovered the aggressive style that served him so well for so long and he has just won his first title for seven months. As Roger Federer heads for the US Open, which begins next Monday, the former world No 1 could hardly be in better shape going into the last Grand Slam tournament of the year.

You write off Federer at your peril. Although it remains to be seen how he will fare over a possible seven best-of-five set matches in New York, the manner of his victory in the Cincinnati Masters, secured with a hard-fought win over Mardy Fish in Sunday's final, suggested that the 29-year-old Swiss has put his recent difficulties behind him.

Having made such a good start to his 2010 campaign by winning the Australian Open, Federer aroused suspicions that he might be in long-term decline when his record-breaking run of 23 successive appearances in Grand Slam semi-finals ended in quarter-final defeats at both the French Open and Wimbledon. He left the All England Club bemoaning injuries, but the 16-times Grand Slam champion's failure to impose his game on opponents – particularly hard hitters like Robin Soderling and Tomas Berdych, his conquerors in Paris and at Wimbledon respectively – was arguably his greater problem.

Since Wimbledon, however, Federer has worked hard to regain form and fitness. Most significantly he has had a trial period with Paul Annacone, who used to coach Pete Sampras and Tim Henman. The fruits of their work have been evident in Federer's more positive play and in the greater variety on his serve, which was always one of his greatest strengths. In 42 service games in Cincinnati Federer was broken only once, while Fish forced just one break point in three sets.

"It's nice knowing that the hard work I put in during the off-season after Wimbledon has paid off right away," Federer said. "I know it's not all [down to] work from there, but I've been committed to this sport for many years. I think when you do that and give yourself chances over and over again, you'll break through by winning tournaments again.

"I came close a couple of times earlier in the season. I felt I should have won Halle. I could have won Madrid, but things didn't really work my way. I was maybe playing a little bit too passively. Now I'm taking it more to the opponents again. I'm happy that that's the right game plan right now."

drive from www.independent.co.uk

On Monday morning six men in suits will step off an aeroplane at Heathrow and be whisked to the Dorchester Hotel in London.

Over the following three days they will criss-cross the country gathering information that will go some way to determining England's chances of hosting the 2018 World Cup. If the trip goes badly it could end any hope of the tournament coming home for at least another 20 years.

England is the penultimate stop for Fifa's inspection team, led by the president of the Chilean FA, Harold Mayne-Nicholls, as they tour the nations bidding for arguably the greatest prize in sport. On Thursday they completed their visit to Russia, seen as England's biggest rivals; the next stop is Madrid, to take in the joint bid of Spain and Portugal. They have already been to the Netherlands and Belgium.

Once the inspections are completed, the bid teams will have three more months of global glad-handing before the 24 members of Fifa's executive committee (Ex-co) shut themselves in a no doubt well-appointed conference room in their Zurich HQ and vote on 2 December. If England fail to convince this diverse group of men there is no chance of the World Cup coming to this country until 2030 at the earliest.

Each member of Ex-co has one vote, although some vote in confederation blocks. England are believed to have the support of the Asian vote after the influential Mohamed Bin Hammam of Qatar lavished praise on the Premier League and its impact in the region. He carries four votes with him, and England are set to play a friendly in Thailand next summer to help keep the Thai representative Worawi Makudi onside. The pre-World Cup friendly with Egypt ticked another box – Hany Abo Rida is an Egyptian presence on the Ex-co. In May, members of the bid team trekked around South America, in July they headed for South Africa. There will be many more trips in the next couple of months, but for the next few days the focus will be on home soil.

England's bid team is confident it will not be found wanting in comparison to what the Russians have laid on this week with meetings in the Kremlin and a banquet in St Petersburg's Yusupov Palace. Rasputin was murdered in the palace and the Fifa team could have taken a turn around the "Mad Monk" museum before dinner. A trip to the chamber of horrors at Madame Tussauds would probably be the English equivalent, but that is not understood to be on the schedule. Neither will there be David Beckham – his presence in South Africa and in delivering the bid book in Zurich earlier this year was a fillip to a campaign that was struggling with internal problems. And nor will there be the Prime Minister.

In Russia, Vladimir Putin, as well as the Dutch and Belgium PMs, all entertained the inspectors, but David Cameron will be on holiday and in his stead Nick Clegg will do the meeting and greeting. Cameron telephoned Sepp Blatter personally to apologise and invite him to No 10 in the autumn. Bid insiders are adamant no damage has been done by the Prime Minister's decision to head for Cornwall. And fear not: in the most bizarre turn of a fairly complicated process, Paul the psychic octopus, who found fame predicting results at the World Cup, has been signed up as an official ambassador.

drive from www.independent.co.uk