Australian girl goes to court to stop marriage

This file illustrration photo shows people queueing at the ticketing counter inside departure terminal at Sydney airport. A 16-year-old girl has been placed on an airport watchlist in Australia after going to court to prevent her parents sending her to Lebanon for a forced marriage.(AFP/File/Greg Wood)

By AFP

SYDNEY (AFP) - A 16-year-old girl has been placed on an airport watchlist in Australia after going to court to prevent her parents sending her to Lebanon for a forced marriage.

The Federal Magistrates' Court ruled that the parents of the teenager, who cannot be named, could not remove or attempt to remove their daughter from the country to marry the young man she has met only once.

Magistrate Joe Harman also ordered that the parents not assault, molest, harass, threaten or otherwise intimidate the girl or take her out of school.

In his judgement, delivered in April but revealed by Australian press on Friday, Harman said the girl's application to prevent her parents from sending her away for the marriage was one that was becoming increasingly common.

"The young person's evidence makes very clear that she has expressed to her parents that she does not want to go to Lebanon and does not want to marry the person proposed," he said.

"She has indicated also in her evidence that she is fearful for her personal safety, that she has concerns as to what will occur in relation to her mother's reaction once she becomes aware of these proceedings."

He said the girl might be suggested to have betrayed the authority of her parents by challenging the Lebanese Islamic culture in which she had been raised and this only made him more convinced of her argument.

"What has occurred is, in fact, an act of great bravery by this young woman in taking the steps this young person has taken in seeking assistance through the Legal Aid Commission," he said.

Harman found there was a psychological risk posed to the girl if he did not stop her marriage to a man who was essentially "a stranger".

He said if she was forced to go through with the union without her consent, it would render the marriage void under Australian law.

Doctor sends woman to morgue alive

By Agence France-Presse

A Brazilian woman in her 60s being treated in hospital for pneumonia was given up for dead by her attending physician, and sent to the morgue too soon, O Globo newspaper reported Sunday.

The doctor felt no vital signs, ran tests and pronounced her dead. She was sent to the morgue and spent at least two hours in a plastic body bag.

"I went to give my mom one last hug, and I could feel that she was breathing. I screamed out -- my mom is alive! And they all looked at me like I was crazy," Rosangela Celestrino, the patient's daughter, told the paper.

"Not only did I have to go collect my mom from a cold storage drawer at the morgue, but when I got there, I find her still breathing," Celestrino went on.

Hospital officials said the patient, Rosa Celestrino de Assis, had two strokes and had been on assisted breathing. At 7:30 pm local time Friday, a nurse phoned the attending doctor because she did not show vital signs. The doctor confirmed her death and sent her to the morgue.

Hospital director Manoel Moreira Filho said the mistake was identified at about 10:00 pm, and the patient was immediately intubated and put back on life support.

Bikinis and hijabs contrast on Albanian beach

Muslim women swimming in hijab. - AFP

SPILLE, Albania, Sept 22, 2011 (AFP) - September has seen devout Muslims again flocking to Albania's only "burqa beach" after the Ramadan holy month, where women bathe in full hijab -- a short distance from the "other" Albania where girls romp in scanty bikinis.

About two-thirds of this Mediterranean state's 3.2 million residents are Muslim. Much of the rest is Christian -- both Orthodox and Catholic -- and co-habitation among the different faiths is the norm in EU-hopeful Albania.

The contrast is not to everyone's liking but is a testament to Albania's centuries-old tradition of religious tolerance, which even survived nearly half a century of a communist rule that tried to stamp out all religion.

"To each their own," said Selim, a Muslim who gave only his first name.

But "why do some people think that showing off their buttocks is a sign of civilization and freedom, while protecting one's body from other people's glances is an expression of underdevelopment?" he asked.

Selim sat on a small, remote part of the long stretch of beach in Spille, which lies about 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of the capital Tiranab.

There is nothing official about the patch, nicknamed "burqa beach". It's been informally claimed by conservative Muslims who do not wish to expose their bodies while bathing, and is the sole spot of its kind on Albania's lengthy Adriatic and Ionian coastline.

Empty during Ramadan in August when fasting Muslims avoid swimming for fear of swallowing water, "burqa beach" is again busy as temperatures in recent weeks soared into the 30s C (high 80s F) and often continue so into October.

Despite the rarity of such beaches in Europe, the few dozen families who come here resent the fact there are no facilities and that they must walk a half hour from Spille's main beach to reach the spot.

But "everyone is free to choose, even those girls in bikinis who line the length of this beach while our women and children only have this little space," said Selim, carefully watching his wife and sister as they wade into the waves, at the ready since neither know how to swim.

While most Albanians are Muslims, the majority are moderate. Only a handful of women can be seen in the streets of Tirana with their heads covered, and the consumption of alcohol -- prohibited in Islam -- is commonplace.

Post-communist Albania has seen a revival in all faiths after the complete ban on religion during a half-century of Stalinist rule, which cut Albania off from the outside world.

"Islam does not forbid a woman to bathe, but only if she covers herself in a decent way, to protect herself from the looks and please only God," insisted Fatima, a mother of two emerging from the water in a long black robe.

"Those who have money go to Turkey or other countries instead of this out-of-the-way spot in Spille that lacks the intimacy and infrastructure for devout Muslims women who must not undress in public or attract any glances," grumbled 40-something Hasan as his wife went to change in one of the tents set up nearby.

Ermir Gjinishi, a professor of Islamic studies in Tirana, feels Albania should have more women-only beaches for devout Muslim women, as separated from men "they are even allowed to wear bathing suits."

Over on "bikini" beach, the mood is tolerant but defiant.

"I have nothing to hide, neither from God, nor from the sun," said psychology student Arjana as she adjusted her bikini strap and insisted swimming in a hijab was no more modest than in a two-piece.

A little way up, several women went further and sunbathed topless -- a practice not without risk. Last year police were called in to remove some foreigners who went topless after local families complained.

"Albanian beaches have room for every one: hijab, burka, bikini, bathing suit," said Arta, sunning herself on the public beach. "Modesty is a personal issue. It is important that everyone is free to choose and accept the other without any complex."


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Women in skirt suits create better first impression

By Indo Asian News Service, IANS

London, Sep 19 - Women wearing skirts are perceived as more successful than those sporting trousers favoured by the likes of Hillary Clinton and Angela Merkel, research suggests.

They seem to be the attire of the high-flying career businesswoman, but trouser suits don't seem to be best way to make a favourable first impression.

Research has revealed women who wear skirts and jackets are viewed as more confident, higher-earning and more savvy than their trouser sporting peer, the Telegraph reports.

Scientists also found that opinions of others, based purely on the clothes they are wearing, are formed within seconds of first meeting.

Karen Pine, a psychologist who co-led the research at the University of Hertfordshire, said: "We make very rapid judgements about people within the first few seconds of meeting them based on their clothing. 

"'It was surprising that the skirt suit elicited more favourable attributes than the trouser suit as other studies have suggested that women who dress in a more masculine style were perceived as having greater professional status.

"What we found suggests women can still dress in a feminine way yet still be perceived as confident and successful. The skirt suit seems to balance professionalism with attractiveness,' concluded Professor Pine.

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Transport without drivers

Battery-powered pods launched at Heathrow airport in UK

By Gaby Leslie, Yahoo!
The UK’s biggest airport has launched the transport of the future – driverless battery-powered pods that provide hassle-free rides for passengers and their luggage.


A world’s first in modern transit technology, the Heathrow pod system is expected to carry 500,000 people every year on the five-minute journey between Terminal 5 and the car park.


A total of 21 Personal Rapid Transport (PRT) pods which use 70% less energy than a car will circulate around a 3.8km congestion-free track.


The vehicles can reach a top speed of 25mph and will eliminate the need for 50,000 yearly bus journeys around the airport.


It has taken 40 years to develop the concept of driverless vehicles and the technology piloted at Heathrow is expected to be rolled out across the world.




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Rabbit saves owner from house fire

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Sept. 20)  - A pet rabbit is being credited for saving its owners from a house fire in southeastern Alaska before it died of smoke inhalation, fire officials said on Friday.
The rabbit woke up the homeowner early on Tuesday morning by scratching on her chest, the Ketchikan Fire Department said in a statement.
The homeowner realized that the house was full of smoke, woke up her daughter and fled the house.
The fire was brought under control fairly quickly, with four engines, a ladder truck and 33 firefighters responding.
Damage to the house from flames, smoke and water was considered moderate.
While there were no injuries to the mother or daughter, the rabbit was not so lucky. The animal succumbed to smoke inhalation and did not survive, the fire department said. - Reuters

Facebook lets users tell life stories

SAN FRANCISCO (Sept 22, 2011) — Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday unveiled transformed profile pages that let members of the world's leading online social network tell the stories of their lives. Zuckerberg kicked off Facebook's annual f8 developers conference in San Francisco by introducing "Timeline" pages designed to let people digitally map everything they've ever done. "The heart of your Facebook experience, completely rethought from the ground up," Zuckerberg said. "Timeline is the story of your life." He demonstrated by showing his revamped profile page chronicled his experiences from meeting US President Barack Obama to baby photos. "The biggest challenge was to tell the story of your life in a single page," Zuckerberg said. "What Timeline does is show all the recent activity and then as you go back in time it starts summarizing the things you've done in your life." He also said the latest changes at Facebook include a new class of applications that will let people discover and share music, movies, books and other news as well as seemingly lightweight experiences like bicycle rides. "I am excited about what the latest wave of music companies is doing with the open graph," Zuckerberg said. Software apps made by more than a dozen developers, including Spotify, will let Facebook members share, discover and listen to music, he added. "It's a big day for everyone who loves music," Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek said after joining Zuckerberg on stage. — AFP

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Arkansas town searching for toe-sucking man

Sept. 17, 2011


LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas - There's nothing illegal about a foot fetish but police in Conway, Arkansas, are looking for a toe-sucking man they said has crossed the line into assault.

Police have received two complaints in the past week about a man who seems desperate to suck women's toes — whether they want him to or not.

"We want him off the streets," said Conway police spokeswoman LaTresha Woodruff.

Last Saturday, Ruth Harris, 83, told police she was sitting in a chair in front of her apartment when a man approached and said he liked her feet. According to a police report, the man took off one of her shoes and began sucking on her toe.

"The man then asked if he could kiss her and she had told him no and told him he was crazy," the report stated.

The man left quickly after people walked into the apartment complex's courtyard.

On Tuesday, police received another call from a woman who said that on Saturday she was shopping when she noticed a man staring at her.

The man then told the woman that he had a foot fetish and that "her toes are so long and succulent" and he wanted to suck them. When the woman's cell phone rang, the man retreated.

She told police the man had "messed up toes."

It is not the first time that Conway has dealt with this sort of complaint. In the 1990s, a man who was known as the "Toe Suck Fairy" kept Arkansans captivated with his foot fondling antics in Conway and Little Rock.

That assailant, Michael Robert Wyatt, pretended to be a podiatrist in order to fondle and suck a Conway woman's toes at a clothing store. He received probation, a fine and court-ordered therapy but his probation was revoked after he was arrested in another town on similar charges.

In 1991, he was convicted of making threats for telling a convenience store clerk that he wanted to cut off her feet and suck her toes while she bled to death.

Wyatt was sentenced to four years in state prison. He served just more than one year in prison, according to Conway police.

Some two decades later, police have not ruled out the possibility that the current toe-sucker could be the same man. - Reuters


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Dutch mull bringing the mountain to them

Vaalserberg

UTRECHT, The Netherlands - What started as a joke about creating an artificial mountain in the utterly flat Netherlands may actually be feasible.


This was not what semi-professional cyclist-cum-journalist Thijs Zonneveld had expected when he posted a column on a popular Dutch news website on Aug. 5 in which he laughingly urged his countrymen to create their own mountain with alpine slopes, meadows and villages.


"It was not serious but the next day there was such a serious response from people who had actually been thinking about it and calculating stuff that it made me realize I was not the only one who'd had that idea," Zonneveld said.


The highest natural ground in the Netherlands is at Vaalserberg, in the southern province of Limburg, with an altitude of just 323 metres, making it little more than a hill in the low-lying country in the eyes of most people.


But Zonneveld, 30, dreams of an artificial mountain 5 km (3.107 miles) wide and between 1 and 2 km in height, which would surpass the world's tallest man-made building, the 828-metre (yard) high Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai.


The idea of artificial mountains is not new.


In 2009, a German architect proposed erecting a 1,000 meter-high mountain at the site of the old Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, but had to settle for a 60-meter hill as the challenges set in.


Zonneveld has yet to figure out exactly how the Dutch mountain would be designed and built, what materials would be used, where it would be located, and, crucially, how much it would cost. He declined to put even a rough price tag on it.


Yet his call has resonated with the enterprising Dutch, whose engineering prowess has allowed them to defend land that lies below sea level from the raging waters and to engage in major engineering feats abroad, such as building artificial islands in Dubai.


On Tuesday, Dutch engineering groups such as Oranjewoud and Bartels, along with sport organizations, such as the Dutch skiing association and the Dutch climbing and mountaineering association, met to ponder the details.


"The project is feasible and we the Dutch have a lot of experience in moving soil and sand around for our land reclamation projects. It just needs to gather a snowball of support," said Oranjewoud project manager Anthony van Dongen.


Estimates of the cost range from a few billion euros all the way up to 200 billion euros. If and when the project takes off, it would therefore provide a major boost to the Dutch construction sector, which has been hit by a property downturn.


"Technically this can be done and the space can also be found. The biggest hurdles will be financing and environmental problems. But these will be tackled in the coming months by these companies," Zonneveld said.


Zonneveld said he had already spoken to several investors who saw commercial opportunities in offering sports, leisure resorts, developing real estate and even producing renewable energy by erecting wind mills on the mountain.


"People may think this is a publicity stunt but this is not true. Publicity is the means because if people don't know about it, it cannot be done. The goal however is to build this mountain," Zonneveld said.


Zonneveld said that even though his editorial kicked off the initiative and he was now devoting up to 16 hours a day working on the project, he does not care what the mountain is called, but suggested it could be named after the largest proprietor.


"The idea is now to use the name of a person or company that pays the most. I think it would be good to name the mountain after someone who can afford to contribute the most to make it happen," Zonneveld said.


Supporters of the idea hope they can appeal to Dutch national pride but also tap into the frustration of many of the country's holidaymakers who have to travel to neighbouring northern European countries to enjoy holidays with a bit of altitude.


"I'm realistic enough to know it will take a long time and that there will be a lot of obstacles to overcome, it will have to be taken step by step. But this is the moment to do this, I'm 100 percent confident," Zonneveld said. -- Reuters

Rare blue roses to be up for sale in US

Sept 16, 2011






By Indo Asian News Service, IANS

London, Sep 16 (IANS) Not naturally available, the mythical blue rose will be on sale in the US and Canada in November.


Named 'Applause,' the rose is the product of a genetic modification to synthesise a pigment found in blue flowers know as delphinidin.


And while it seems like purple, it is the nearest to a blue flower scientists have come so far.


The only blue roses available have been white coloured which are dyed blue. This is because nature is unable to produce blue pigments.


However after 20 years of trying, Japanese company Suntory Ltd finally made the breakthrough, the Daily Mail reports.


Since then the blue roses have been available to buy in Japan - although at 15-20 pounds for each stem, they are strictly for very special occasions.


Blue roses are also believed to have mythical qualities.

Space probe detects a planet with a double sunset

Sept. 14, 2011

By Deborah Zabarenko, Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When the day ends on planet Kepler-16b there is a double sunset, scientists reported on Thursday in the journal Science.


In a scene reminiscent of science fiction, researchers using observations from NASA's Kepler spacecraft have detected a distant planet orbiting two waltzing stars, the first time such a phenomenon has been confirmed.


"This is really a stunning measurement by Kepler," said Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution for Science, a co-author of the study. "The real exciting thing is there's a planet sitting out there orbiting around these two stars."


Binary stars -- two suns turning around each other -- have been seen before, and astronomers have suspected planets exist around them, but Kepler's observations are the first to confirm it.


The gravitational pull of two stars, even stars like the relatively small ones at the heart of this stellar system, would be quite different from the gravity exerted by just one star, Boss said by telephone.


Kepler's mission is to scour our section of the Milky Way galaxy for Earth-like planets in the so-called "habitable zone" that is not too close and not too far away from the stars they orbit.


LIKE LUKE SKYWALKER'S HOME?


The spacecraft does this by finding stars whose light periodically gets dimmer, which means there is an orbiting astronomical body -- a planet -- passing between the star and Kepler's instruments. This is known as a planetary transit.


What made this find so eye-popping was that the stars were eclipsing each other as first one and then the other got in the way. And then a third eclipse indicated a planet was part of the system.


If the notion of a planet with two suns seems familiar, it may be because it was displayed in the earliest "Star Wars" film on the fictional planet Tatooine, home of Luke Skywalker.


Tatooine was a rocky, desert planet, but Kepler-16b is a cool gas giant, Boss and other researchers said.


Because both of its suns are smaller and cooler than our sun, Kepler-16b would be quite cold, with a surface temperature of around minus 100 to minus 150 degrees F (minus 73 to minus 101 degrees Celsius), the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics said in a statement. The center's Josh Carter is co-author of the study.


Kepler-16b is similar to Jupiter in size and mass, a cold gas giant that orbits its two suns every 229 days at a distance of 65 million miles (104.6 million km). That is roughly the same distance as Venus' orbit, compared to Earth's 365-day orbit around the sun at a distance of about 93 million miles (149.7 million km).


This newly detected planet is 200 light-years from Earth and is not thought to harbor life. A light-year is about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km), the distance light travels in a year.

Scientists shocked by behavior of rare gray whale

By DAN JOLING - Associated Press | AP 

• 
  FILE - In this Sept. 15, 2010 file photo provided by Oregon State University.

• 
  
  
  

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Scientists tracking a rare western Pacific gray whale were shocked last winter when the endangered animal left the Asian coast, crossed the Bering Sea and swam south along Alaska, British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest coasts.

Researchers are back in Russia to see whether the feat will be repeated by other Pacific gray whales.

A science team coordinated by the International Whaling Commission has attached satellite tags to five more of the highly endangered whales, according to an announcement by Oregon State University, which is taking part in the study. Researchers hope to tag 10 more whales before field work concludes.

Only about 130 western Pacific gray whales remain and little is known of their winter habits. They spend summers near Russia's Sahkalin Island. They face threats from offshore petroleum development, according to environmental groups.

Researchers last October were limited by foul weather to placing a cigar-size satellite tag on just one whale on the last day of field work. The 13-year-old male was dubbed "Flex." It spent more than two months feeding near Sakhalin Island before moving across the Sea of Okhotsk to the west coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

On Jan. 3, to the surprise of researchers, it began swimming steadily east across the Bering Sea. Eighty miles north of Alaska's Pribilof Islands, the whale turned south, and swam between Aleutian Islands into the Gulf of Alaska. It continued southeast to shallow coastal waters off Washington and Oregon. Its last confirmed location was Feb. 4 off Siletz Bay, Ore., where researchers believe the satellite tag fell off. The whale had traveled 5,335 miles over 124 days.

Bruce Mate, director of the Marine Mammal Institute at Oregon State University, told The Associated Press in January that little was known about the winter habits of western Pacific gray whales. One hypothesis was that they swam south down the Asian coast to the southeast China Sea. Tracking one to North America waters was "surprising everybody," he said in January.

Marine researchers later determined that Flex had crossed the Pacific at least once before. Researchers sent a photo of Flex to Cascadia Research Collective, a scientific and education organization based in Olympia, Wash., which matched the photo to a whale photographed in 2008 off Canada's Vancouver Island.

Mate is again part of the research team and is leading the tagging portion. He said by e-mail Wednesday that weather will again be a factor in how many whales are tagged.

"We are having weather issues for sure (one day on the water in the last 8 days)," he wrote. "It will probably get worse as we continue, just because it is September, but we will not stay more than another 9 days."

The effort also includes scientists from the A.N. Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service.

Like last year, the public will be able to track tagged whales through weekly updates posted in English at http://mmi.oregonstate.edu/Sakhalin2011 and in Russian at http://kit.sevin-expedition.ru/news/news_69.html . A tag on one whale was not completely attached, according to the Oregon State website, and may have fallen off.

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Cat goes missing in Colorado turns up in New York

Five years after it disappeared 

By Lisa L. Colangelo

Daily News Staff Writer

BOULDER, Colorado - A cat reported to have gone missing five years ago was found in New York Wednesday, after what seemed to be an incredible journey - a sttagring 1,800 miles from home.

Her owners were blown away when shelter workers called to say a tiny microchip planted under Willow's skin had identified their long lost pet.

"When we first heard the voicemail, we couldn't believe it," said Jamie Squires. "My husband and I didn't want to tell the kids until we knew it was definitely her. They emailed the photo and it was her. The kids are so excited."

A man found the cat on Wednesday wandering on E 20th St. and brought her to the Animal Care and Control's Manhattan shelter.

"No one knows how the cat made her way from Colorado to New York City, but we are happy she is safe and will soon be back with her owners," said Julie Bank, executive director of Animal Care & Control.

"This miracle story underscores the importance of having some sort of identification on your pet and the effectiveness of a microchip."

Squires said the cat ran off during home renovations.

"We know there is a family of coyotes nearby," she told the Daily News. "We thought she had been eaten."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/09/14/2011-09-14_willow_the_cat_goes_missing_in_colorado_turns_up_in_manhattan_five_years_later.html#ixzz1Y2dMFOFq





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Dentist pulls wrong tooth, fixes it back from waste bin

By  Indo Asian News Service, IANS


London, Sep 11 - A lady in Britain was shocked after her dentist first mistakenly pulled out the wrong tooth, then replanted it by allegedly retrieving it from a medical waste bin.

The incident took place after Kim Green, a mother of three from Wellington, Somerset called the ADP practice near her home with acute pain caused by a decayed and infected tooth.

Green claims that Dentist Justin George took an X-ray of her mouth but did not check the images. He relied on her pointing to the throbbing tooth, Daily Mail reported.

The lady rang up the surgery back two hours later claiming that he had pulled out the wrong one. When George examined the X-ray, he realised his blunder.

The lady was summoned back and informed that her healthy tooth would be sewn back in.

Unable to bear the pain anymore she couldn't think straight and just agreed to whatever the dentist told her. 'He told me he could save the healthy tooth he had removed and that he performed operations like that all the time,' said Green.

Green, who was in agony from a root canal infection, did not know that her healthy tooth had lain among bloodied tissues, saliva wipes and needles used on other patients.

She said: "He had sewn the healthy tooth back into the infected area with the decayed tooth still in place."

Green was sent back home with a prescription of pain killers. But her pain worsened once again later. In the end, it got so bad that she was taking the suggested pain killers every hour. But still the pain didn't stop.

"I was crying with pain. I phoned an emergency general practitioner (GP) who asked what painkillers I had," said Green.

She was admitted to a hospital in Taunton - where George used to practise.

A shocked surgeon there removed both the replanted and the infected tooth. He reported George, the dentist, to the local health authority and General Dental Council (GDC).

The dentist has now been suspended pending a disciplinary hearing. - Indo Asian News Service

Kate Middleton not a trendsetter, say NY fashion experts

Sept. 12, 2011 at 20:51


By Michelle Nichols, Reuters

Kate Middleton

NEW YORK - She has graced countless magazine covers and dresses sell out hours after she has worn them, but experts at New York Fashion Week say Britain's Kate Middleton is a style follower, not a trendsetter like her royal spouse's late mother Princess Diana.

Middleton has been compared and contrasted with Diana, whose style, charity and scandalous divorce from Prince Charles made her arguably the world's most famous woman.

When Middleton married Prince William in April, hundreds of millions of people around the world watched on television, eager to see the wedding dress designed by Sarah Burton for the British label Alexander McQueen.

Then during the a visit by the couple to Canada and the United States in July, all eyes were on Middleton's wardrobe.

"She is stylish, but she's not setting trends, she's following trends," said Gregg Andrews, a fashion director at U.S. department store chain Nordstrom.

"If you take Kate out of the royal family, put her on a street in New York, you wouldn't look at her twice. She's a beautiful woman, but she blends into a crowd," he said.

While experts debate her fashion status, they say there is no question that the new Duchess of Cambridge and wife of the person second in line to the British throne is influential.

"Is she a style icon of the likes of a Kate Moss? Absolutely not. Is she in the public eye? Are people going to become obsessed with everything she wears regardless of what it is? Yes," said Elle Fashion News Director Anne Slowey.

Much like U.S. first lady Michelle Obama, Middleton has been praised for wearing affordable Main Street labels.

A blue Issa crossover knee-length dress that she wore when her engagement to William was announced sold out within 24 hours and cheap knock-offs vanished almost instantly.

GREAT ROLE MODEL

And the cream "Nannette" gown by British fashion retailer Reiss, which Middleton wore in the official engagement portraits, sold out several times over.

"Is she iconic at the moment? Time will tell. She's certainly influential. In the position that she's in you can't be simply stunning as she is and not have influence," said Neiman Marcus Fashion Director Ken Downing.

While more polished lady-like looks have been shown at New York Fashion Week -- such as evening wear with sleeves -- some experts were not expecting to see many styles on the runway inspired by Middleton.

Almost 100 designers are showing collections for spring/summer 2012 to retail buyers, media and celebrities, with dozens more showing at other venues around the city to coincide with the semi-annual event, which ends on Thursday.

Saks Fifth Avenue Senior Fashion Director Colleen Sherin said Middleton's style could be aspirational for many women.

"She seems to be starting to experiment a bit, to try some different looks and some different designers which I like to see but also still remaining thoughtful and appropriate in her choices and that's the key to her success," she said.

Jill Martin, author of "I Have Nothing to Wear!", described Middleton's style as classic. "I think this spring you will see many brides walking down the aisle in dresses with sleeves and that will pay tribute to Kate," she said.

Spain's most feared killer bull

'Mouse' wins fame, infamy

By ALAN CLENDENNING, AP

SUECA, Spain — With more than 3,000 fans cheering, a hulking, black-and-white fighting bull named "Mouse" chased one daredevil runner after another, trying to flip them airborne and skewer them as he did a month ago in a fatal goring that enshrined his reputation as Spain's most feared and famous beast.

Mouse was greeted in the southeastern farm town of Sueca like a rock star: Everyone stood up at 2 a.m. Sunday in the bull ring's grandstands as he charged across the sand after loudspeakers introduced him with the eerie strains of the soundtrack to "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," the 1960s spaghetti western starring a young Clint Eastwood.

The 550-kilogram (1,213-pound) bull didn't claim any more victims this time, but tried his hardest to gore runners. And he captured intense media coverage in what could be his last appearance before retirement amid the controversy he has generated about Spain's summertime tradition of bull versus human runs, a pastime that plays out in rings, narrow streets and plazas across the nation.

After running with Mouse, a breathless Julian Herroja said the bull is so dangerous that "if you make a mistake, he won't. You'll be a victim for sure."

More than 30 journalists were on hand to cover the event in Sueca, population 28,000, near the beach destination of Valencia. Though Mouse will make one more appearance before the end of his season this year, he will run around the ring without runners.

Mouse's owner now fends off as many as 60 cell phone calls daily from reporters. Facebook pages dedicated to him include comments from some people praising him for taking revenge against humans in a country where slews of bulls are slain every year in bullfights by matadors.

But Gregorio de Jesus is angry that Mouse has been nicknamed "Killer Bull," saying he gets blame for doing what comes naturally: Defending himself against perceived threats.

"We go to entertain people so they'll have fun, but unfortunately they are fighting bulls, and there is always a percentage of risk," said de Jesus, 42, a former bull fighter who raises 70 specially bred bulls and 300 cows.

The hype about Mouse has grown so much in Spain that de Jesus is forced to deny reports that the 11-year-old Mouse has killed as many as five runners during his career. But in addition to the 29-year-old victim Aug. 14 in the town of Xativa, he killed a 56-year-old man in 2006 and has seriously injured five more people over the years.

Mouse got his name because no one ever expected him to turn into such a raging bull, de Jesus said. As a calf, he was tormented by several youths who broke into his pen and exhausted him almost to death. Then he was nearly fatally gored by another bull at de Jesus' ranch.

Critics and bull run aficionados alike agree that security is lax at many small town bull runs, meaning almost anyone can participate — even if they're drunk, have taken drugs or aren't physically fit enough to sprint away from enraged bulls. Sueca's mayor beefed up security Sunday, and the extra contingent of police took away some suspected drunks during Mouse's run.

After the bull's last deadly goring, Valencia's regional government announced plans to study how police can be given more authority to detain runners who shouldn't be in the ring, while stressing that the overall number of bull run injuries in the region where they run dropped to 486 in 2010 from 676 in 2008.

Hector Benet, an insurance agent for the bull run industry, said the number of deaths each year in the region averages four, with dozens of serious injuries annually. While bulls in the runs aren't killed or bloodied like their counterparts in bullfights, animal rights groups say the events are a form of animal torture, with bulls terrified by the hundreds of people who taunt the animals by yelling at them, poking them with long sticks and tossing sand from the plaza at them.

"Mouse is the proof that the bull runs are barbaric and medieval," said Leonardo Anselmi of PROU, the animal rights group whose signature-collecting campaign led to a bullfighting ban in Catalonia, which neighbors Valencia. "It's excessive and cruel violence. The culprits are the politicians who allow the bull runs."

But after Catalonia banned bullfighting, politicians there put in protections for other bull-related traditions, including "correbous" — when metal rods with flaming balls of wax or fireworks are attached to bulls' horns before they are let loose to run around bull rings or plazas and chase people.

It's all part of Spain's centuries-old fascination with bulls, with animals used in public as a test of bravery and part of the national identity. Spaniards also run with bulls in northern Pamplona every year, spear them to death from horseback in a town called Tordesillas and cordon off town squares to let children dodge feisty calves bred to become top-fighter bulls.

Sueca's mayor, Salvador Campillo, was torn on whether to let Mouse perform in his small city after this year's fatal goring by the bull. In the end, he decided to go ahead because he's a bull run fan.

"Raton is a bull that gives a great show, he never stops," Campillo said with a smile.

The town's annual end of summer party also features an international paella cooking competition in place since 1961. The contest attracted chefs this year from top restaurants from Spain and France, plus one from Chicago.

Campillo said de Jesus told him that the Sueca event would be Mouse's last real run before retirement, but de Jesus insisted he won't decide until next year whether Mouse will be put to pasture to breed "some little Mouses" with a chance of inheriting the bull's agility, aggression, intelligence and speed.

Mouse's eventual retirement will probably prove lucrative for his owner, Campillo said, because cow owners who want mating privileges with the bull may have to pay as much as euro3,000 ($4,145) for each use of his services.

Scientists create spooky green cats

Aids research does it by modifying gene

A genetically engineered green-glowing cat (Press Association)

By Press Association

Green glowing cats have been created by gene scientists working on the Aids virus.

The spooky-looking moggies had their DNA modified with a gene from a fluorescent jellyfish. Placed under blue light, their fur, claws and whiskers emit an eerie green glow.

The purpose of the study was to show how a natural protein that prevents macaque monkeys developing Aids can do the same in cats.

Scientists in the US used the jellyfish gene to track the gene for the protein. Both were inserted into the DNA of adult tabby cats, which gave birth to luminous kittens.

Cats are susceptible to their own version of the HIV virus that triggers Aids, called FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus).

Normally the immune systems of cats and humans are overwhelmed by the viruses.

But macaque monkeys possess "restriction factor" proteins that can stop the viruses invading immune cells.

When cats were genetically engineered to produce one of these factors, TRIMcyp, FIV replication was reduced.

Two male cats and one female with the genes were born and survived. The male passed the genes down to kittens of his own, which emitted a weaker glow.

Eric Poeschla, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, New York state, who led the study, reported in the journal Nature Methods: "One of the best things about this biomedical research is that it is aimed at benefiting both human and feline health. It can help cats as much as people."

Tiger kills mate in 'love triangle'

File photo of Wzui before he was killed by his mate.

By Patricia Giovine, Reuters

EL PASO, Texas  - A female tiger has killed her mate at a West Texas zoo, authorities said on Friday, in a rare attack that came after months of simmering jealousy in a feline love triangle.

Three-year-old Malayan tiger Seri killed 6-year-old Wzui at about 4 p.m. on Thursday in an enclosure at El Paso Zoo, zoo spokeswoman Karla Martinez said on Friday,

As soon as the incident was reported, zookeepers closed the tiger exhibit and veterinary staff were called. They examined Wzui, and found he was dead.

"Tragic incidents such as this are not unheard of but we don't consider this common," zoo Director Steve Marshall said. Marshall described the deceased tiger as very down to earth and loving and said it would "be greatly missed."

Malayan tigers are a critically endangered species, with just 500 or so of the animals remaining in the wilds of Thailand and Malaysia, according to the World Wide Fund For Nature.

Both Seri and Wzui were on loan from other zoos as part of the American Zoo Association's Species Survival Plan to aid in their conservation through captive breeding.

Marshall said keepers had not observed any signs of aggression leading up to the attack, and that the two cats had been seen playing affectionately at the exhibit earlier in the day.

However, in June, zoo authorities reported what they called a "tiger love triangle" between Seri, Wzui and a 15-year-old female called Meli, who was transferred to El Paso from a zoo in Fresno, California, in 2001.

"The male tiger Wzui likes both females, but the two females don't like each other," the zoo said in a press release dated June 14. "The girls are jealous of each other," collections Supervisor Griselda Martinez said.

Staff expect that another tiger will be transferred to the El Paso Zoo to replace Wzui for breeding purposes.

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