Miss France keeps crown after photo controversy...

Reuters

Fri Dec 28, 2007. PARIS (Reuters) - Miss France 2008 has kept her crown, contest organizers said Friday, after a row over suggestive photographs that saw members of parliament, a bishop and the minister for overseas territories spring to her defense.

However she will not be able to compete in the Miss World or Miss Universe contests, where she will be replaced by Miss New Caledonia.

Valerie Begue, 22, from Reunion, won the beauty pageant, which is taken more seriously in France than in many other countries, in a televised ceremony on December 8.

But her reign threatened to be short-lived after a magazine published a risque series of photographs in which she was seen lying in a crucifixion-like pose while wearing a bikini or licking condensed milk in a suggestive manner.

The rules of the contest forbid participants from appearing in nude or provocative photographs and the head of the Miss France contest, Genevieve de Fontenay, called for Begue to renounce her title when the pictures emerged.

Begue refused, saying the photographs, taken three years ago, had been published without her consent and in the face of wide public support, the organizers relented.

"We felt that, as she had been elected in front of 9 million television viewers, faced with this public that had never seen the photographs, we couldn't take the title from her," de Fontenay told a news conference in Paris.

The affair stirred a major controversy in Reunion, the French Indian Ocean department (region) that Begue comes from, and several members of parliament and local politicians spoke out in her defense.

The bishop of Saint-Denis de La Reunion said that while the photograph of Begue lying on a cross like Christ insulted Christians, it was a "youthful error" and he refused to be used as an ally by those seeking to strip her of her title.

Christian Estrosi, minister for overseas territories, also defended Begue on French radio during the week and he welcomed the decision.

"Reunion, beyond any political and social differences has defended Valerie Begue with heart and talent but has also defended the image of a courageous, determined and successful Reunion," he said in a statement.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Writing by James Mackenzie)

Neuroticism hard on the heart: study...

Health Reuters

Wed Dec 26, 2007. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Neurotic people are more likely to die from cardiovascular disease, while being extroverted seems to protect people from dying from respiratory illness, UK researchers report based on a study they conducted.

Neuroticism -- a proclivity toward worry and emotional ups and downs -- is related to anxiety and depression, which could help explain the relationship with heart trouble, note Beverly A. Shipley of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and colleagues in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

Reports on the health effects of both neuroticism and extroversion, which is the tendency to be friendly and outgoing -- have been mixed, the researchers note. To clarify the relationship, Shipley and her team looked at mortality in 5,424 middle-aged adults who were followed for 21 years after they completed personality tests.

While an increasing degree of neuroticism was tied to an increased risk of death from any cause, the relationship disappeared after the researchers adjusted for other relevant factors such as body weight, alcohol use, social class and education.

Risk of death from cardiovascular disease also climbed as a person's level of neuroticism rose, and the relationship remained significant after statistical adjustment.

Extraversion reduced a person's likelihood of dying from respiratory disease, but had no other effects on mortality.

Based on the findings, the researchers conclude, the neuroticism-cardiovascular disease death link could be related to genes, but socioeconomic and behavioral factors are apt to be involved as well.

SOURCE: Psychosomatic Medicine, November-December 2007.

© Reuters 2007 All rights reserved

Brothers hand out Christmas cash at mall

Reuters

Wed Dec 26, 2007. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shoppers got a Christmas Eve surprise on Monday when a pair of brothers handed out $100 bills at a mall on Long Island, New York.

Police responded to a call from security staff at the Sunrise Mall in the town of Massapequa, concerned that the give-away might create a scene or involve counterfeit bills.

Instead, officers found a simple case of Christmas charity where calm prevailed as the businessmen, aged 45 and 41, gave out the money at the entrance to the shopping center, police said.

"These two brothers say they do this every year. They say they've been blessed and just want to give something back," Detective Sergeant Anthony Repalone said.

"They gave it to people who they thought needed it. The people were very appreciative."

Police declined to identify the brothers, respecting their wish to remain anonymous.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

© Reuters 2007 All rights reserved

Referee pulls out red card, then a gun....

Wed Dec 26, 2007. "KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian referee took out his gun and fired warning shots in the air after a local soccer match turned unruly following the suspension of a player, a newspaper said Tuesday. The referee, who was also a policeman, ran to...";

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A Malaysian referee took out his gun and fired warning shots in the air after a local soccer match turned unruly following the suspension of a player, a newspaper said Tuesday.

The referee, who was also a policeman, ran to his patrol car to get his gun after players mobbed him for showing the red-card to one of them, the New Straits Times said.

"We are investigating as to whether the policeman was justified in taking out his firearm and discharging it, and also why he had it with him during the match," it quoted Hussin Ismail, police chief in the southern Johor state, as saying.

The policemen was taken into custody for suspected misuse of firearms.
Five players, aged between 23 and 40, were also being held for questioning and could be charged for rioting, the paper said.

(Reporting by Jalil Hamid, Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

© Reuters 2007 All rights reserved

Student wins lottery, leaves school...

Reuters

Thu Dec 27, 2007. BEIJING (Reuters) - A college student withdrew from school after winning the 5 million yuan ($683,000) jackpot in a lottery in China' eastern city of Nanjing, local media reported on Thursday.

The second-year student at the Jiangsu Maritime Institute, identified by the nickname Yong to protect his identity, was the sole first-prize winner in the "Double Colour Ball" issued by the China Welfare Lottery on Tuesday, the Beijing News said.

"After winning the lottery, Yong told his roommates that he would share 2,000 yuan with each of them," it added.

Yong informed school authorities of his winnings, and had returned home.

"We are not sure if he will return to school, but we hope he will eventually finish his education," the paper quoted Yong's teacher as saying.

The Communist Party abolished lotteries in China after taking power in 1949, denouncing them as a practice of decadent capitalists. But the country launched state-run lotteries in 1987 amid market-oriented reforms.

Lotteries have become increasingly popular both among the poor and the newly rich in China, where many forms of gambling are banned. Per capita income in China's urban areas is roughly $1,900 a year and about $600 a year in rural areas.

Lottery-related crimes have been on the rise as well, and underground lottery schemes have become rampant across the country in recent years, bankrupting many families.

Last month, China set up its first help centre for lottery addicts, offering counseling and legal assistance.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, Editing by Ken Wills and Sanjeev Miglani)

© Reuters 2007 All rights reserve

Student wins lottery, leaves school...

Reuters

Thu Dec 27, 2007. BEIJING (Reuters) - A college student withdrew from school after winning the 5 million yuan ($683,000) jackpot in a lottery in China' eastern city of Nanjing, local media reported on Thursday.

The second-year student at the Jiangsu Maritime Institute, identified by the nickname Yong to protect his identity, was the sole first-prize winner in the "Double Colour Ball" issued by the China Welfare Lottery on Tuesday, the Beijing News said.

"After winning the lottery, Yong told his roommates that he would share 2,000 yuan with each of them," it added.

Yong informed school authorities of his winnings, and had returned home.

"We are not sure if he will return to school, but we hope he will eventually finish his education," the paper quoted Yong's teacher as saying.

The Communist Party abolished lotteries in China after taking power in 1949, denouncing them as a practice of decadent capitalists. But the country launched state-run lotteries in 1987 amid market-oriented reforms.

Lotteries have become increasingly popular both among the poor and the newly rich in China, where many forms of gambling are banned. Per capita income in China's urban areas is roughly $1,900 a year and about $600 a year in rural areas.

Lottery-related crimes have been on the rise as well, and underground lottery schemes have become rampant across the country in recent years, bankrupting many families.

Last month, China set up its first help centre for lottery addicts, offering counseling and legal assistance.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom, Editing by Ken Wills and Sanjeev Miglani)

© Reuters 2007 All rights reserve

Coffee, tea linked to lower risk of kidney cancer...

Health Reuters

Mon Dec 24, 2007. (Reuters Health) - Coffee and tea lovers may have a slightly reduced risk of developing kidney cancer, research hints.

The findings, based on an analysis of 13 previous studies, suggest that coffee and tea may be protective against kidney cancer, while milk, soda and juice seem to have no effect one way or the other.

Across the studies, people who drank three or more cups of coffee a day were 16 percent less likely to develop kidney cancer than those who averaged less than a cup per day. And those who sipped just one 8-ounce cup of tea each day had a 15 percent lower risk of the disease than non-drinkers.

The findings appear in the International Journal of Cancer.

While the study cannot show that coffee or tea directly lower kidney cancer risk, there are reasons why the beverages could be beneficial, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Jung Eun Lee of Harvard Medical School in Boston.

For example, they explain, coffee and tea may increase the body's sensitivity to the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin, and researchers suspect that insulin levels over time may affect kidney cancer risk.

Coffee and tea also contain antioxidant compounds that may help protect cells in the kidney from cancer-promoting damage, the researchers point out.

For their study, the investigators combined the results of 13 long-term studies that included a total of 530,469 women and 244,483 men. Each study collected information on participants' diets at the outset and then followed them for seven to 20 years.

Coffee and tea consumption were linked to a lower risk of kidney cancer even when the researchers accounted for a number of factors known to affect people's risk of the disease -- such as obesity, smoking and high blood pressure.

"Our results suggest that coffee and tea consumption may be associated with a modestly lower risk of (kidney) cancer, whereas intakes of milk, juice and soda were not associated with risk," Lee's team writes.

They say more studies are needed to understand why coffee and tea might be protective against the disease.

SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, November 15, 2007.

Revealed: The seven great medical myths...

Reuters

Mon Dec 24, 2007.LONDON (Reuters) - Reading in dim light won't damage your eyes, you don't need eight glasses of water a day to stay healthy and shaving your legs won't make the hair grow back faster.

These well-worn theories are among seven "medical myths" exposed in a paper published Friday in the British Medical Journal, which traditionally carries light-hearted features in its Christmas edition. Two U.S. researchers took seven common beliefs and searched the archives for evidence to support them.

Despite frequent mentions in the popular press of the need to drink eight glasses of water, they found no scientific basis for the claim.

The complete lack of evidence has been recorded in a study published the American Journal of Psychology, they said.

The other six "myths" are:

* Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight

The majority of eye experts believe it is unlikely to do any permanent damage, but it may make you squint, blink more and have trouble focusing, the researchers said.

* Shaving makes hair grow back faster or coarser.

It has no effect on the thickness or rate of hair regrowth, studies say. But stubble lacks the finer taper of unshaven hair, giving the impression of coarseness.

* Eating turkey makes you drowsy

It does contain an amino acid called tryptophan that is involved in sleep and mood control. But turkey has no more of the acid than chicken or minced beef. Eating lots of food and drink at Christmas are probably the real cause of sleepiness.

* We use only 10 percent of our brains

This myth arose as early as 1907 but imaging shows no area of the brain is silent or completely inactive.

* Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death

This idea may stem from ghoulish novels. The researchers said the skin dries out and retracts after death, giving the appearance of longer hair or nails.

* Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals

Despite widespread concerns, studies have found minimal interference with medical equipment.

The research was conducted by Aaron Carroll, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Regenstrief Institute, Indianapolis, and Rachel Vreeman, fellow in children's health services research at Indiana University School of Medicine.

(Editing by Steve Addison and Paul Casciato)

Microsoft's piracy fight gains momentum in China...

Technology Reuters

Fri Dec 21, 2007. SHANGHAI/SEATTLE (Reuters) - In his first official visit to the United States in 2006, China President Hu Jintao arrived for dinner at Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Chairman Bill Gates' house with a gift for the host.

Shortly before Hu's Seattle visit, the Chinese government had issued a decree requiring all personal computers manufactured in China to come with a licensed operating system before leaving the factory gates.

Now, nearly two years later, that gift keeps giving. The software company co-founded by Gates is seeing the benefits of more stringent intellectual property policies in China, with a decline in piracy rates and improved results at its mainstay Windows division.

China is by no means the worst offender.

More than a dozen other countries -- including Indonesia and Ukraine -- have higher software piracy rates, according to a study from the Business Software Alliance and IDC. None of those countries, however, offers the promise of China, the world's second-largest PC market, growing at more than 10 percent a year.

China's piracy rates, the level of pirated software in a particular country, dropped to 82 percent in 2006 from 90 percent in 2004, the study said.

"In China, where piracy is the way things are done with respect to software, any marginal money Microsoft gets back is super important," said Kim Caughey, portfolio manager and senior analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group.

Reducing software piracy and selling more expensive versions of Windows are ways for Microsoft to generate sales growth that exceeds the overall PC market, a task made difficult since its global market share already tops 90 percent.

Microsoft said improvements in fighting piracy accounted for about $164 million of the $822 million revenue gain at the Windows client unit in the quarter ended September.

Windows is Microsoft's most lucrative product with an operating margin exceeding 80 percent.

"Every pirated copy that Microsoft converts into a paying customer all flows to the bottom line," said Morningstar analyst Toan Tran. "It could have a dramatic effect on its profit margin."

PIRATES AT WORK

Despite the progress being made, pirated software is still readily available on the streets of Shanghai.

Fuzhou Road in the former British concession near the Bund, an area famous for bookstores and art boutiques, is also locally renowned as a place to buy pirate PCs and software.

The small alleyways running off Fuzhou Road host dozens of pirate PC shops, which usually have no signs. Locals ask passersby if they want to buy "cheap" PCs or software before leading potential customers to the store.

Once a computer is assembled, the customer is given a list of pirated software options, ranging from Microsoft Office to Adobe Systems' (ADBE.O: Quote, Profile, Research) Photoshop. If a software program is not there, it can be ordered.

The government decree requiring PC makers to pre-install an operating system sought to address the problem of Chinese consumers buying computers without software and then opting to buy less expensive counterfeit software.

Beijing went one step further, calling on any Chinese companies wanting to do business with the government to run properly licensed software.

"The whole situation is heading in the right direction," said Hao Jing, spokeswoman at Founder Technology Group (600601.SS: Quote, Profile, Research), China's second-largest PC maker. "Pre-installing genuine copyrighted operating systems has become an industry standard."

Earlier this year, the Chinese police and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation seized $500 million worth of pirated software, including counterfeit Microsoft and Symantec (SYMC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) products, from a Chinese piracy syndicate.

"We've seen in the last two years significant emphasis on legitimate intellectual property use in China," said Cori Hartje, director of Microsoft's genuine software initiative.

Microsoft said it needs to do more in educating consumers to the benefits of getting genuine software like access to software updates and better security. Improved technology also serves to deter piracy.

Windows Vista, the latest version of its operating system, has been more effective in preventing piracy. Microsoft has said piracy rates for Vista are half the level of its predecessor Windows XP.

In Vista's first major update due out next year, Microsoft said it plans to close two primary methods used by software pirates to illegally copy Windows Vista.

Passport office in need of spellcheck...

Reuters

Thu Dec 20, 2007. (Reuters) - Israel's national passport office could have done with a good spellchecker.

First it stamped "Ministry of the Intrerior" in English in new batches of passports. Then it advised Israelis of the misspelling in a jumbled newspaper advertisement Thursday that only compounded the mistake.

"Due to a technical error in some of the Ministry's stampsthe document you received may have been stampedwith an flawed stamp," the Interior Ministry said in a notice in the English-language Jerusalem Post.

The newspaper said its advertising department was responsible for mistakes in the ministry's ad, which urged people with the faulty passports to apply for new documents.

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Peter Millership)

© Reuters 2007 All rights reserved

Disco babes bring Saturday night fever to Sundays...

Reuters

Itsy-bitsy pink bikini gets serviceman jail...

Reuters

Tue Dec 18, 2007 SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A Singapore national serviceman who sashayed into a lift early one morning wearing only a pink bikini has been handed a day's jail and a S$11,000 ($7,529) fine by a court in the city-state, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

Tan Wen Zhong, 21, admitted to five charges, including "outraging the modesty" of the woman who shared the lift with him and "fraudulent possession of women's underwear," Singapore's Straits Times reported.

The paper said a subsequent police search of his apartment turned up 46 pieces of women's underwear and bikinis as well as four obscene films.

Tan, who was completing Singapore's mandatory national service when he committed the offence in April, was also accused of grabbing a 23-year-old woman's buttocks a year ago and of shoplifting a pair of sunglasses two years ago.

In mitigation, Tan's lawyer said his client had been badly affected by his parents' divorce during his
formative years.

(Reporting by Sebastian Tong; Editing by Jerry Norton)

Author of nasty letters from Santa sought...

Reuters

Fri Dec 14, 2007. OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's post office and police are trying to track down a "rogue elf" who wrote obscene letters to children on behalf of Santa Claus, a newspaper reported on Friday.

The Ottawa Citizen said at least 10 nasty letters had been delivered to little girls and boys in Ottawa who wrote to Santa this year care of the North Pole, which has a special H0H 0H0 Canadian postal code. Return letters from Santa are in fact written by an 11,000-strong army of Canada Post employees and volunteers.

"We firmly believe there is just one rogue elf out there," a Canada Post spokeswoman told the paper.

Canada Post's popular "Write to Santa" program -- which last year delivered more than a million letters to children in Canada and around the world -- has been shut down in Ottawa until the offender is caught.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Peter Galloway

© Reuters 2007 All rights reserve

Export and Backup All Emails from Outlook to Your Gmail Account...

Digital Inspiration Technology Guide Written by Amit

Friday, December 14, 2007. Export and Backup All Emails from Outlook to Your Gmail Account. Sachin writes - “I have few thousand email messages inside Microsoft Outlook (a pst file) organized in various folders. I know it is possible to download emails from Gmail to Outlook using POP3 or IMAP but is the reverse path possible.”

Sachin is looking for a trick to archive all Outlook email messages (and folders) to his online Gmail account for two reasons - one is secure backup and two, he will be able to access his old emails from any computer.

Solution: It is quite easy to transfer Outlook emails to your Gmail mailbox. Here’s a step by step guide:

Step 1: Enable IMAP in your Gmail account and then configure Outlook (or Outlook Express or Windows Live Mail) to sync with your Gmail address via IMAP. Read this guide.

Step 2: Import your Outlook PST file into a Personal folder that is different from your default Gmail Inbox.

To import, click File -> Import And Export -> Import from another program or file. -> Next -> Personal Folder File (.pst) -> Next.

Select the PST file that contains your email, then pick the email folders that you want to import in Outlook and click Finish.

Step 3: Select the Personal folders that you want to backup online and copy them your Gmail Folder in Outlook (see screenshot).

In the Folder List, right-click the folder you want to copy and click Copy Folder name. Click the Gmail Folder in Outlook to copy that folder in that location. You can repeat the steps as needed for other folders.

That’s it. Your Outlook email will soon become available inside your online Gmail Inbox.

Caution: The migration from Outlook to Gmail can take a long time if you have very large Outlook pst file or if your internet connection speed is slow. Therefore, consider removing all large emails before moving them to your Gmail via IMAP.

Related: Is Your Outlook+Gmail Slow ?

Prisoner gets compensation over cockroaches...

Tue Dec 11, 2007. JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli judge has ordered the country's prison authority to pay an inmate over $1,000 in compensation after he complained of having to share a cell with cockroaches.

Mordechai Yehudai filed a lawsuit complaining of poor hygiene, a lack of fresh air, broken windows and inmates who smoke in a handful of cells, a spokeswoman for the Israel Prisons Service said.

"The Prisons Service mistreated the plaintiff in a number of ways, including ... broken windows, cockroaches as well as incarceration with smokers," judge Irit Cohen wrote in her verdict, according to newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

The spokeswoman said the inmate's cell would be cleaned up. Yehudai has been held in three different prisons and has had complaints about conditions in all of them.

"Prisoners have the right to sue us whenever they see fit and we comply with the court's rulings," she said.

© Reuters2007All rights reserved

Teen caller tricks White House...

Reuters

Wed Dec 12, 2007. REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - A teen-ager says he convinced the White House he was Iceland's president and managed to schedule a call with George W. Bush but was found out before he got to talk to the U.S. president.

"My call was transferred around a few times until I got hold of Bush's secretary and managed to book a call meeting with Bush the following Monday evening," Vifill Atlason, 16, told Reuters.

The teen-ager posed as Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson when he made the call on Dec 1.

Icelandic police turned up at his door two days later -- the day of the planned call -- and took him in for questioning.

"They told me the CIA had called the National Commissioner of the Icelandic police and asked if the police could try and find out where I received that phone number from," said Atlason.

The teen-ager said he was unable to recall where he discovered the telephone number for the White House.

"I know I've had it on my phone card for at least 4 years now and that an Icelandic friend gave it to me, but I don't remember who," he said.

At a White House news conference Monday, Bush spokeswoman Dana Perino said her understanding was that Atlason had called a public line "that anybody can call," according to a transcript.

Local police confirmed the National Security Unit at the national police headquarters had asked them to bring Atlason in.

Jon Bjartmarz, Chief Superintendent at Iceland's national police headquarters, said Icelandic police had not spoken to their U.S. counterparts about the matter. He declined to say how police were tipped off about Atlason's call.

"As far as we're concerned, there will not be any further investigation, and I don't know if the American government is taking any action because of this," he said.

Prostitute auctions sex for charity....

Reuters

Thu Nov 29, 2007 (Reuters) - A Chilean prostitute has auctioned 27 hours of sex to raise money for the country's largest charity during an annual fund-raising campaign.

Maria Carolina became an overnight celebrity in the conservative Roman Catholic country, making news headlines and appearing on talk shows since she made her unusual donation to the televised charity event, which runs for 27 hours starting on Friday evening.

"I've already auctioned off the 27 hours of love," Maria Carolina told Reuters on Wednesday, saying she had raised about $4,000. "One of my clients already paid. It seemed like a good deed to him."

Adult prostitution is legal in Chile. Chile's two-day Teleton fundraiser is endorsed by television stars and aims to raise funds for poor, disabled children.

Speaking about Maria Carolina's unusual donation, campaign organizer Mario Kreutzberger said he would not encourage "immoral" activities, but said he would accept her pledge.

"Everyone can do what they want, but if someone tells me that they'll do something immoral ... I'm not going to encourage it," Kreutzberger, who as "Don Francisco" hosts the long-running "Sabado Gigante" program on the U.S. Spanish-language Univision network, told local media.

But Maria Carolina, who advertises her services on the Internet, defended her money-raising scheme.

"There are people who are going to be donating money that's a lot more questionable than mine," she said. "The only thing I did was publicize it."

(Reporting by Antonio de la Jara; writing by Lisa Yulkowski; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

© Reuters2007All rights reserved