TOKYO (Reuters) – A troupe of dancers in skin-coloured body suits had Japanese national broadcaster NHK apologising to viewers of its New Year’s Eve music special for what seemed to be a full-scale Janet Jackson-style wardrobe malfunction.

The dancers, who all appeared to be topless and wore skimpy bikini-style bottoms and feathered head-dresses, covered the stage during a performance by singer DJ OZMA, prompting about 250 viewers to phone in and complain.

“The dancers were wearing body suits, but we apologise for any misunderstanding,” a presenter announced towards the end of the 57th annual “Red and White Song Contest”.

“I guess it looked a bit too real,” local media quoted the singer as telling reporters after the show, which regularly tops viewer ratings on New Year’s Eve in Japan.

BERLIN (Reuters) – From the Turkish Airline workers who sacrificed a camel at Istanbul airport to celebrate a job well done to the German who invented snug spray-on condoms, the world was full of offbeat news in 2006.

While “Miss Israel” Yael Nezri was exempted from carrying her assault rifle in the Israeli army because it bruised her beauty queen legs, “Mr. Switzerland” Renzo Blumenthal lured lonely women who hate soccer to his country for the World Cup.

Careless thieves once again made headlines round the world. A burglar in Germany left behind a vital clue — his finger tip.

“We usually find finger prints but it’s not every day that the thieves leave the original there too,” a police spokesman said. It took only a few hours to track down the thief.

A Jordanian salesman was arrested for trying to fleece a money exchanger with a fake ID card bearing a Brad Pitt picture.

In Vienna, burglars fled after finding eight severed human heads. A dentist had stored the mummified heads for research.

Village leaders in India ordered 150 men to dip their hands in boiling oil to prove their innocence after food was stolen.

An Australian man stopped for drunk driving threatened police with a live snake he picked up off the road.

In Cologne, a plastic surgeon cheated out of payment by two women using fake names gave “Wanted” pictures of their enlarged breasts to police. “It’s probably the most unusual ‘wanted’ poster police ever had,” wrote top-selling Bild newspaper, which helpfully published life-size pictures of the boosted breasts.

There were tragic moments too. In Hanoi, a Vietnamese man famous on a national TV program for his ability to resist electric shocks was electrocuted while fixing a generator.

In Rio de Janeiro, a Brazilian man died when he tried to open a rocket-propelled grenade with a sledgehammer.

STRANGE LOVE

The political year began with a bang when Vice President
Dick Cheney accidentally shot a friend on a quail hunt.

In Hungary, Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany sparked rioting by admitting he lied to win a general election.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s wife Cherie pretended to slap a cheeky teen-ager for a photograph but was questioned by police after child protection officers reported her.

In Bangkok, Thai coup leaders banned go-go girls from dancing near tanks and posing for photos with soldiers because they were distracting the troops.

Random acts of bad judgment in 2006 included: the Philadelphia man who pulled a gun on his 7-year-old son’s football coach to demand more playing time; and in Koblenz, Germany, a woman who was caught driving her dead mother across country to save on mortuary transport costs.

Two women working at the German Labor Office got into trouble for writing emails at work moaning about their dull sex lives — and sending the exchange to thousands of co-workers.

A pilot of Air Canada’s Jazz subsidiary got locked out of the cockpit after stepping out to go to the washroom.

Three doctors in India were caught by a TV camera agreeing to amputate healthy limbs of beggars who wanted more sympathy.

Love had its strange moments too. Two prisoners in an Ivory Coast jail got married after falling in love through the peephole in an iron prison door.

And in Finland, a court ruled against a woman in her 20s who charged a 74-year-old man 25,500 euros ($32,000) to fondle her breasts on 10 occasions.

“Based on general life experience, it is indisputably clear that a 25,500 euro charge is disproportionate to the compensation in question,” Judge Hasse Hakki told Reuters.

BERLIN (Reuters) – A 21-year-old German woman who did not feel like going to work at a fast food restaurant sent her parents a text message saying she had been kidnapped.

Police in the Bavarian town of Straubing said Wednesday they had launched a massive search throughout the region for the woman who disappeared on December 23 but turned up unscathed the following morning, saying the kidnapper had set her free.

A spokesman said the woman was questioned over the Christmas holiday and admitted she made up the story because she owed a colleague 25 euros ($32.9) and did not have the money to pay her debt. She now faces a fine of up to 1,000 euros.

BEIJING, Dec 21 (Reuters Life!) – Police in central China have scotched a wine maker’s plans for a mass Christmas Eve “nude run” which the company said was a public interest event to discourage the use of “excessive packaging” in the industry.

Jixiang Ruyi Tobacco and Alcohol Company offered 284 people 10,000 yuan ($1,280) in cash and prizes to participate in a naked dash through Zhengzhou, capital of Henan province, the People’s Daily reported on its Web site on Thursday.

The company’s advertisement called for “auspicious” men and women under the age of 30 with “healthy bodies” and “regular features” to apply.

“The goal of this streaking event is to raise consumer awareness and declare war on the excessive packaging of ‘baijiu’ through the language of the body,” the report quoted a manager surnamed Ma as saying.

“Baijiu” is a type of grain-based spirit popular in China, and often given as an elaborately packaged gift in the lead-up to Chinese New Year.

“The government has called for a sustainable society. Although there is no statute limiting packaging — and this action may seem a bit much — our focus is on the broad mass of consumers,” Ma said.

Over 1,700 people had applied in four days, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on its Web site, the overwhelming majority of them men.

“We have already invited experts from the beauty industry to conduct physical checks on the applicants. Their mental condition must also be sound. According to the tests, there are only 30 or so that qualify,” CCTV quoted a company official surnamed Cao, as saying.

Zhengzhou police rejected the company’s application for a permit to hold the run.

“Public commercial events … must meet moral standards,” CCTV quoted a police official as saying. “Such mass streakings do not.”

CANBERRA (Reuters) – A 150-year old Australian public library has a new true-romance section after introducing speed-dating nights for lovers of classic texts.

The state library of Victoria in Melbourne introduced dating with a literary twist after the idea was raised at a staff party.

Those who attend must bring a book they either love or loathe as a conversation starter, ensuring there are no uneasy silences during the series of five-minute dates.

“It’s speed dating with books. It’s designed to bring book lovers together,” the library’s project manager, Jackie Felstead, told Reuters Wednesday.

The library’s first event was quickly sold out with 52 book lovers taking part, and 13 couples linking up for further dates.

It proved such a success that more speed-dating nights have been organized for 2007.

Felstead said books taken to the first dating night included Susan Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, and several novels by Japanese author Haruki Murakami.

BALTIMORE – A 29-year-old woman allegedly forged documents and assumed the identity of an Annapolis attorney, apparently for the sole purpose of having sex with an inmate at a Baltimore prison.

“It was an elaborate scheme,” said Maj. Priscilla Doggett, a spokeswoman for the prison system. “I’m not aware of something like this ever occurring before.”

Police charged Tiffany Gwen Weaver, of Reisterstown with seven counts stemming from the alleged incident, including forgery, fraud, and false use of government identification. She faces up to 10 years in prison.

On Nov. 13, police allege in charging documents filed in Baltimore District Court, a woman appeared at the Maryland Reception, Diagnostic and Classification Center, claiming to be an attorney for inmate Jason Moody, who is serving 30 years for manslaughter. She had a Maryland State Bar Association Security Identification Pass with photo, identifying her as Amanda Sprehn of the Annapolis law firm Hyatt, Peters & Weber. She also gave jail officials a business card with Sprehn’s name.

Once alone with Moody, the court documents allege, the two began engaging in sexual intercourse. Corrections officials assigned to monitor such visits for safety and security observed their behavior and cut the visit short.

Annapolis attorney Amanda Sprehn, the real Amanda Sprehn, told The Baltimore Examiner she was on leave when her firm received a letter banning her from the jail.

“I was out on maternity leave,” she said. “They informed me they received a letter saying I had been caught having sex with an inmate — which was a real laugh.”

“I haven’t a clue how she got onto my identity,” Sprehn said, adding that she has never represented Weaver. “I certainly feel like a victim. My reputation is at stake. There were already rumors circulating about me in Annapolis. My colleagues had to squash the rumors.”

Prison investigators met with Sprehn’s firm, and realized the business card and security pass were fakes. Further investigation led them to Weaver, authorities said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. growers produce nearly $35 billion (18 billion pounds) worth of marijuana annually, making the illegal drug the country’s largest cash crop, bigger than corn and wheat combined, an advocate of medical marijuana use said in a study released on Monday.

The report, conducted by Jon Gettman, a public policy analyst and former head of the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, also concluded that five U.S. states produce more than $1 billion worth of marijuana apiece: California, Tennessee, Kentucky, Hawaii and Washington.

California’s production alone was about $13.8 billion, according to Gettman, who waged an unsuccessful six-year legal battle to force the government to remove marijuana from a list of drugs deemed to have no medical value.

Tom Riley, a spokesman for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, said he could not confirm the report’s conclusions on the size of the country’s marijuana crop. But he said the government estimated overall U.S. illegal drug use at $200 billion annually.

Gettman’s figures were based on several government reports between 2002 and 2005 estimating the United States produced more than 10,000 metric tons of marijuana annually.

He calculated the producer price per pound of marijuana at $1,606 based on national survey data showing retail prices of between $2,400 and $3,000 between 2001 and 2005.

The total value of 10,000 metric tons of marijuana at $1,606 per pound would be $35.8 billion.

By comparison, the United States produced an average of nearly $23.3 billion worth of corn annually from 2003 to 2005, $17.6 billion worth of soybeans, $12.2 billion worth of hay, nearly $11.1 billion worth of vegetables and $7.4 billion worth of wheat, the report said.

Gettman said the 10-fold increase in U.S. marijuana production, from 1,000 metric tons in 1981 to 10,000 metric tons in 2006, showed the country was failing to control marijuana by making its cultivation and use illegal.

“Marijuana has become a pervasive and ineradicable part of the economy of the United States,” he said. “The contribution of this market to the nation’s gross domestic product is overlooked in the debate over effective control.”

“Like all profitable agricultural crops marijuana adds resources and value to the economy,” he added. “The focus of public policy should be how to effectively control this market through regulation and taxation in order to achieve immediate and realistic goals, such as reducing teenage access.”

Riley said illegal drug use was a “serious part of the economy,” but he rejected the notion of an economic argument for legalizing marijuana.

He said marijuana use was an “inherently harmful activity” with serious physical and mental health consequences. He said more American teens were in treatment centres for marijuana dependency than for all other drugs combined.

BETHALTO, Ill. – Some women at a tavern near this Metro East community took playing with their food to a new level last week by wrestling in mashed potatoes, and now the bar’s owner is in hot legal water.

Rhonda Cato, 48, was charged Monday with misdemeanor obscenity and violating the liquor code after what happened last Thursday at the Palace Tavern, where authorities say patrons grappled in a shallow, inflatable children’s pool filled with mashed spuds.

Cato, of Wood River, was charged because female participants allegedly pulled up each others’ shirts as about 30 to 40 people watched during matches staged while the tavern’s doors were locked, Madison County sheriff’s Lt. Brad Wells said.

“Basically, the clothing on the female bar patrons was being removed,” Wells said.

The tavern could be fined $1,000, lose its liquor license or have it suspended for up to 30 days if it’s determined that the liquor license code was violated.

The event was not advertised publicly but was billed on a dry-erase board at the bar, Wells said.

The wrestlers could also face criminal charges, he said.

Calls to the Palace Tavern on Tuesday morning went unanswered. Efforts to find a listed home telephone number for Cato were unsuccessful.

Cato is free on $100 bond.

LONDON (Reuters) – A devout Christian who said an accident at work boosted his libido and wrecked his marriage as he turned to prostitutes and pornography was awarded more than 3 million pounds ($5.89 million) in damages Tuesday.

Stephen Tame, 29, from Suffolk, suffered severe head injuries in a fall, transforming him from a loyal newlywed into a “disinhibited” character who had two affairs.

He was in a coma for two months after falling from a gantry while working at a bicycle warehouse shortly after his marriage in January 2002. Doctors said it was a miracle he survived.

Awarding him 3.1 million pounds in compensation at London’s High Court, Judge Michael Harris said: “His life and the life of his young wife were shattered.”

His former employer, Professional Cycle Marketing, of Essex, had argued through their lawyers that his injuries were not as bad as suggested in court.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Cologne will earn a record 828,000 euros ($1.1 million) in “sex tax” revenues this year, a figure well above expectations when the levy was first introduced by Germany’s fourth largest city in 2004.

Cologne officials, who say their city is a worldwide pioneer in taxing prostitution, were quoted in local media reports on Friday saying the sex tax component of the “pleasure tax” had jumped from 790,000 euros in 2005 to about 828,000 this year.

Cologne, which introduced the tax two years ago to raise money after national reforms left the city woefully short of cash, has been charging prostitutes a flat 150-euro per month tax since 2004, replacing a voluntary reporting scheme.

The so-called “pleasure tax” (Vergnuegungssteuer) was first levied on casinos and amusement arcades but widened in 2004 to include brothels, massage parlors and table-dancing clubs.

In 2006, the city introduced a new 6-euro per day fee for “part-time” prostitutes who had claimed the 150-euro monthly fee was unfair. Authorities said many prostitutes had documents proving they were only working a few days each month.

Prostitution is legal in Germany and sex workers are required to pay tax on their income and a value-added tax.

NEW YORK, Dec 14 (Reuters Life!) – Miss USA 2006 is in danger of losing her crown due to bad behavior, organizers of the annual beauty pageant said on Thursday.

Property magnate and TV “reality” series star Donald Trump, who owns the Miss USA and Miss Universe contests, will decide next week whether or not Tara Conner would keep the title, they said.

“The Miss Universe Organization and Mr. Donald J. Trump will be evaluating her behavioral and personal issues to see what we can do to work with her, and what we will do about her reign going forward,” Paula Shugart, president of the Miss Universe Organization, said in a statement.

“Mr. Trump will make a determination and announcement within the coming week.”

A spokeswoman for the contest declined to give any details on Conner’s misbehavior or comment on online reports about incidents of inappropriate conduct at New York bars.

“Miss USA is a role model. There are moral rules that we go over with them,” she said, but declined to outline the rules under which the winners accept the title.

Conner, who turns 21 this month, won the Miss USA contest in April this year, becoming the first woman from Kentucky to win the crown.

She has been competing in pageants since age 4.

Under beauty contest rules, if Conner were removed, the first runner-up would assume her duties. She is Miss California USA, Tamiko Nash.

Conner would not be the first beauty queen to be stripped of her title.

Last month Miss Great Britain Danielle Lloyd lost her crown for reportedly dating soccer star Teddy Sheringham before he judged the contest and also for agreeing to pose for Playboy magazine.

WICHITA, Kan. – A Wichita man called 911 to report he was the victim of an armed robbery. The theft? A pound of marijuana worth about $1,100 that he had been trying to sell at his home.

The victim told police Thursday that a buyer had pulled out a sawed-off shotgun and stole the drugs.

Police brought in a drug-sniffing dog to the house and located more marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

The victim was booked into Sedgwick County jail on several charges, including possession with the intent to sell drug.

The thief has not been found.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – A man arrested for secretly filming under a teenage girl’s skirt was barred from using cameras for a year by a Singapore court, a paper said on Thursday.

The 20-year-old Singaporean was arrested in November last year after he was caught filming under the 17-year-old girl’s skirt with a digital camera and his camera phone on an escalator, the Straits Times daily reported.

Dubbed “the upskirt voyeur” by the paper, the man escaped a jail term but was sentenced to 40 hours of community service and ordered by the court to stay away from all types of cameras, including camera phones for a year.

Court officials could not immediately confirm the ruling.

At least eight men in Singapore — including teachers, an engineer, and a doctor — have been jailed for similar offences in the last year, the paper said.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – By day Sandra Martinez works at a New York law firm, but by night she throws off her conservative image and becomes “Sandra Claws” — an amateur female Jell-O wrestler.

At a grungy live music bar on New York’s Lower East Side, she joined 11 other women to do battle — several for the first time — in a blue, blow-up kiddie pool decorated with orange fish and filled with warm, clear clumps of an unflavored version of the gelatin dessert.

“It (lets us do) things we probably want to do to women sometimes that we dislike, but we have a forum where we can express it in a fun and safe way,” said Martinez, a 27-year-old business development specialist.

Her competitors, with day jobs including nanny and marketing manager, introduce each other by stage names — Tinsel the Bohemian Christmas Fairy, Parcel of Power, Chocolate Thunder and Backhand Betty.

“The show is done for the girls, put together by girls, as something that’s a fun, friendly competition,” said Dana Sterling, 31, who has organized the “Amateur Female Jello Wrestling” competition once a month for the last three years.

“It’s really hard to explain to my mother,” said Sterling, who by day works as a lighting designer. “It really is a sport, it’s a satire sport.”

Wearing a glittering gold swimsuit, black satin ruffle skirt and white curly wig, Herricane — who by day is 33-year-old marketing manager Mickie King — takes to the stage punching the air, shouting: “I’m ready, I have got wind, I’m ready.”

The crowd gathers around the pool, which sits on top of four old mattresses roped together. Jell-O flecks the audience as the fighters roll around, attempting to pin each other to the ground for three seconds.

Several competing women said the concept of female Jell-O wrestling conjured an image of sleazy men watching naked women roll around, but that Sterling’s event was far from that.

“We work hard to promote it as a feminist thing and the night is really like a community night in that it is really what the women make of it,” said Annie Rock, 26, one of the organizers.

“It’s definitely aggression release. It’s sexy as well, throwing women around in Jell-O,” King said.

To get male fans into what she called the “silly” mood of the evening, Sterling gets a few men up on stage for a hoola hoop competition. She also skews the door price so that women pay $3 entry, men accompanied by women pay $7 and men on their own pay $15.

RICHMOND, Va. – To hear the students tell it, Stephen Murmer is a fun, popular art teacher who is always quick to crack a joke. But there is another side to Murmer. A side that has agitated school officials and resulted in his suspension. A side that focuses, almost entirely, on the crack in his backside.

Outside of class and under an alter ego, the self-proclaimed “butt-printing artist” creates floral and abstract art by plastering his posterior and genitals with paint and pressing them against canvas. His cheeky creations sell for hundreds of dollars.

This has not gone over well with Chesterfield County school officials, who placed Murmer on administrative leave from his job at Monacan High School.

Murmer contacted the
American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia after he was suspended on Friday, ACLU legal director Rebecca Glenberg said. He told Glenberg that administrators had suspended him with pay for five days because of his work as a butt-print painter and that he also could face unpaid suspension pending an investigation.

Murmer has been instructed by the school administration not to speak with the media, Glenberg said. He did not return messages seeking comment Tuesday.

Chesterfield County schools spokeswoman Debra Marlow confirmed that a Monacan art teacher had been placed on administrative leave but declined to provide additional details because it is a personnel issue.

“In the school system, personnel regulations state that teachers are expected to set an example for students through their personal conduct,” Marlow said. “Additionally, the Supreme Court has stated that schools must teach by example and that teachers, like parents, are role models.”

Murmer went to great lengths to keep his work life separate from his activities as an artist, said ACLU executive director Kent Willis. As a butt-printing artist, he goes by the name “Stan Murmur,” and appears in disguise in photographs and videos promoting his art.

“As a public employee, he has constitutional rights, and he certainly has the right to engage in private legal activities protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution,” Willis said.

A nearly naked Murmer expressed concern about remaining incognito during a 2003 appearance on the now-canceled cable television talk show, “Unscrewed With Martin Sargent.” In a clip from the show, available on YouTube.com, Murmer dons a fake nose and glasses, a towel on his head, a black thong — and nothing else.

“I’m certainly proud of the ass painting,” Murmer said in response to questions about his disguise. “I do have a real job where I do have real clients and I don’t think they’d be too understanding if I was also the guy who painted with my ass.”

That video has made the rounds at Monacan High, where the mere mention of Murmer’s name was enough to elicit grins from students Tuesday. Most appeared to be firmly behind their teacher, describing his suspension as “stupid,” “ignorant” and “kinda retarded.”

“Everyone has been talking about it,” senior Heather Thompson said with a laugh as she and other students streamed out of school.

Thompson, who worked with Murmer in the school’s art club, said many students have known about his paintings for a few years, but the YouTube clip recently got everyone buzzing. She and other students described Murmer as a funny, likable and popular teacher. There is little support among the student body for his suspension, she said.

“It was simply him expressing himself and his art, and it had nothing to do with school — he wasn’t advertising,” she said.

This is not the first time Murmer has faced potential problems because of his extracurricular activities. Three years ago, he contacted the ACLU after he was told school administrators were unhappy about his paintings, Willis said. The issue eventually blew over with no suspension issued, Willis said. It was unclear why administrators decided to take action now.

Owning a piece of Murmer’s art doesn’t come cheap. On his Web site, his creations run upward of $900. His most popular piece, “Tulip Butts,” goes for $600.

So how does one become a butt-printing artist? On his Web site, Murmur said his journey began a few years ago when he was told to find an organic item to use as a stamp for a class painting assignment. He decided to use his posterior. His final product was a hit with the class and a butt painter was born.

He was, however, the only student not asked to hold up his organic stamp.

WELLINGTON (AFP) – New Zealanders looking for some extra curricular activity are now able to apply for the position of condom tester.

Condom manufacturer Durex is looking for test pilots of its products, and says New Zealanders were chosen because they are among the most sexually active and adventurous in the world.

“Kiwis have proven they’re a sexually energetic bunch, and therefore it makes sense that a select few will have the chance to try our latest condom innovation, all in the name of research,” said Durex New Zealand manager Victoria Potter.

“Durex wants to ensure that its condoms are best meeting the needs of New Zealanders, from delivering on sexual pleasure, to keeping them safe.”

Potential applicants are invited to log on to www.explorersclub.co.nz and provide details as to why they believe they are up to the job.

JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – A South African couple have been ordered by their village chief to hold off on their love-making sessions until after 10:00 pm following a string of complaints about their howls of passion.

Neighbours of Emily Dolo and her boyfriend Barnett Motloung, who live in the eastern state of Mpumalanga, had complained to the village kgosi (elder) that their meals and television watching were being disrupted by the amorous couple for hours at a time.

“I have a nine-year-old boy and he always asks what is happening every time the woman screams,” one neighbour told The Sowetan daily.

Dolo was initially ordered to stop making a noise when the couple were summoned to a tribal council but the elder later ruled that they must limit their sex sessions to between 10:00 pm and 5:00 am.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Some of Hollywood’s most successful women share an unexpected byproduct of success, hairy armpits.

That was one of the lighter messages brought home on Tuesday at a star-studded breakfast, hosted by the Hollywood Reporter in conjunction with the publication of its 15th annual Women In Entertainment Power 100 list.

“It’s a miracle I’m here,” said keynote speaker Maria Bello, star of “World Trade Center,” in describing her hectic morning as a multi-tasking mom during which she finally got around to “shaving two-week old growth” under her arms.

“I still have two-week old growth,” quipped fellow “World Trade Center” star Maggie Gyllenhaal, another keynote speaker who, like Bello, earned accolades for her role in the Oliver Stone-directed drama about the September 11 attacks.

The Hollywood Reporter named Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE – news)’s Sony Pictures Entertainment, as the most powerful woman in Hollywood, followed by Anne Sweeney, president of Walt Disney Co’s Disney-ABC Television Group. Judy McGrath, chairman and CEO of Viacom Inc’s MTV Networks ranked third place.

Much of the discussion involved the swelling ranks of women in Hollywood boardrooms as well as in politics and other industries.

Bello drew loud applause when she exclaimed: “I’d just like to say this: The speaker of the House is a chick!,” referring to incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.

“World Trade Center” producer Stacey Sher recounted how she broke into the business by volunteering as a waitress at industry events. When the magazine first began publishing the list 15 years ago, it ranked only the top 50 women in Hollywood.

“Fifteen years ago, it was hard to find 50 women to fill it and now it’s hard to trim it,” said John Kilcullen, publisher of the Hollywood Reporter.

Academy Award winner Meryl Streep got the 2006 Sherry Lansing Leadership Award, named after the former Paramount Pictures chief credited with shattering Hollywood’s glass ceiling by becoming the first woman to head production at a major studio.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Condoms designed to meet international size specifications are too big for many Indian men as their penises fall short of what manufacturers had anticipated, an Indian study has found.

The Indian Council of Medical Research, a leading state-run centre, said its initial findings from a two-year study showed 60 percent of men in the financial capital Mumbai had penises about 2.4 cm (one inch) shorter than those condoms catered for.

For a further 30 percent, the difference was at least 5 cm (two inches). A poor fit meant the prophylactics often didn’t do the job they were bought for, and led to some tearing or slipping off during use.

“One of the reasons for a failure of up to 20 percent (of condoms) is the association of the size of the condom to the erect penis,” the council’s Dr. Chander Puri told Reuters, adding another reason was couples often put them on in a hurry.

Puri said many men in India, which has the world’s highest
HIV positive caseload, were too shy to ask for condoms.

“We need more vending machines for condoms of different sizes so people can pick a condom with confidence that is suited to their needs,” he said.

The Times of India reported the ICMR survey had studied 1,400 men between 18-50 years of age in cities like Mumbai and New Delhi as well as in rural areas in a report. It entitled its story “Indian men don’t measure up”.

JAKARTA (Reuters) – A popular Indonesian Islamic cleric’s decision to take a second wife has sparked a fiery debate about polygamy laws in the world’s largest Muslim country where multiple marriages are only banned among civil servants.

The turban-clad but leather-jacketed Abdullah Gymnastiar’s announcement prompted the government to consider extending the ban to lawmakers, a move that sent many legislators leaping to the defense of polygamy arguing that it is allowed under Islam.

“If the government wants to regulate polygamy, it has to do it correctly because Islam allows polygamy with some strict conditions,” Ichwan Sam, secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council, an umbrella group of Muslim clerics, told Reuters.

“There should not be an impression that government regulations or laws are reducing religious teachings.”

The controversy began when Gymnastiar, a 40-something preacher with the style of a televangelical and the fan following of a rock star, announced he had taken a second wife, unleashing a torrent of angry text messages and e-mails, media reports said.

“Polygamy is indeed allowed, but don’t put lust above everything else” or “Don’t sell out your religion,” said some of the messages in response to Gymnastiar’s second marriage.

Gymnnastiar, popularly called as “Aa Gym” or elder brother Gym, is a household name in Indonesia because of his relaxed sermons on Islam that strike a chord with ordinary people charmed by his chatty, youthful style and effervescent smile.

His moderate tone, use of hi-technology and hobbies such as riding Harley Davidsons set him apart from stereotypical clerics.

“Women tend to be monogamous, that’s how their software is. But men, you know … their software is different,” the Jakarta Post quoted Gymnastiar as saying in a sermon when asked if he had married again.

Women’s activists say polygamy should be completely banned.

“In our marriage law, our principle is monogamy … but the law puts polygamy as an exit in the worst situation,” Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, a leading feminist lawyer and member of parliament, told Reuters.

“For me, polygamy is discrimination or like apartheid. If your husband doesn’t like you he can get rid of you.”

“POLYGAMY JUICE”

Though uncommon among ordinary Indonesians, polygamy has some prominent advocates such as restaurateur Puspo Wardoyo who has four wives, and has been at the forefront of a campaign to promote multiple marriages.

His popular chain of restaurants is known for items like “Polygamy juice,” a mixture of four tropical fruits, and “Polygamy Vegetables, a four-vegetable combo.

But activists pushing for a ban on polygamy, which goes back to the Javanese sultans, say it is a form of female subjugation.

Former president Abdurrahman Wahid’s wife, Sinta Nuriyah Wahid, was a prominent opponent of multiple marriages. A little more than two years ago she led a group of protesters who blocked the delivery of packed lunches from Wardoyo’s chain.

More recently, an arthouse film sparked some soul-searching with stories of three women in polygamous relationships: a rich doctor, a waitress and a poor shantytown girl.

“Although these women possess different feelings, some things are the same: the sadness and denials behind their smiles,” Nia Dinata, the director of “Berbagi Suami,” or sharing a husband, said in an interview some months ago.

NEW CASTLE, Pa. – A man convicted of terrorizing three teenagers by repeatedly calling and asking them about their feet has been sentenced to nine months to almost two years in prison.

Scott Michael Kundar, 32, was also ordered Tuesday to serve two years probation and to receive psychiatric counseling.

When asked by the judge what compelled him make the calls, Kundar declined to answer.

Kundar pleaded guilty Nov. 8 to three misdemeanor counts of making terroristic threats. As part of the plea agreement, three counts of stalking and nine counts of harassment were dropped.

Police charged him on March 28 with allegedly calling three 15-year-olds at their homes as many as 60 times a day and said he also threatened their parents.

Lawyer Nick Turco Jr., who represented Kundar, did not return a call for comment early Thursday.

OSLO (Reuters) – A Norwegian court ruled on Tuesday that strip clubs did not have to pay value added tax (VAT) because their services were a form of art performed by artists, a Norwegian news agency said.

Tax authorities had taken club operator Blue Engel AS to court for refusing to charge customers an additional 25 percent VAT on ticket sales.

“One can suspect there were moral scruples behind the tax authorities’ claim since all forms of stage dance are free of value-added tax,” the club owner’s attorney Stein Fagerhaug was quoted as saying by Norwegian online news service Nettavisen.

It was not clear if the state would appeal against the ruling, which upheld a lower court decision.

The state was also ordered to cover the club owner’s legal costs of around $24,500 (12,400 pounds), Nettavisen said.

BHOPAL, India (Reuters Life!) – A kissing scene from a movie starring Bollywood actors Aishwarya Rai and Hrithik Roshan has irked a lawyer who has filed a criminal case against them, accusing them of obscenity, he said on Sunday.

Shailendra Dwivedi of Indore, near Bhopal, the capital of central Madhya Pradesh state, said the scene from the movie, titled “Dhoom 2,” lowered the dignity of Indian women and gave an obscene message to youth.

“Bollywood actors are conveying vulgarity in the society,” Dwivedi told Reuters. “These films cannot be watched with our families, they are so vulgar at times.”

A local court accepted Dwivedi’s petition to punish the actors and said it would hear the petitioner on December 11.

The Indian censor board, which certifies all films, released the movie with a “parental discretion” certificate.

A majority of Indians frown upon intimacy in public.

BEIJING (Reuters) – Urban Chinese men spend 8.6 minutes a day gazing at themselves in the mirror and shell out 80 yuan (5 pounds) a month on beauty products, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday, citing a survey.

Men in Beijing and the financial centre of Shanghai were neck-and-neck on whose residents were most vain.

Those in the capital spent the most money on cosmetics — an average of 119 yuan a month — but those in Shanghai looked in the mirror the longest — about 17 minutes a day.

The survey of men aged 18 to 60 in seven major Chinese cities was conducted jointly by Horizon Research Consultancy Group and a Shanghai fashion and media company, Xinhua said.

Chinese consumers are becoming increasingly image conscious as they grow wealthier, with plastic surgery and sales of beauty products booming.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – A one-day art exhibit on the Indiana University campus includes works created from condoms. The display, called “Latexhibition,” was created to mark World AIDS Day on Friday.

Christopher Fisher, an IU doctoral student, got the idea from a display last year at San Francisco State University. Fisher is research coordinator for the Sexual Health Research Working Group, which is presenting the exhibit.

Students from two human sexuality classes created most of the art works, which will be judged Friday. About 10 other students also contributed to the exhibition.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court said on Friday it would decide whether a high school principal violated a student’s free-speech rights by suspending him for unfurling a banner that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus”.

Student Joseph Frederick says the banner’s language was designed to be meaningless and funny in an effort to get on television as the Winter Olympic torch relay passed by the school in Juneau, Alaska, in January 2002.

But school officials say the phrase “bong hits” refers to smoking marijuana. Principal Deborah Morse suspended Frederick for 10 days because she said the banner advocates or promotes illegal drug use in violation of school policy.

Frederick, 18, had been standing on a public sidewalk across the street from the school when Morse grabbed his banner and crumpled it. Students had been allowed to skip class to watch the relay.

Frederick sued and sought the removal of the suspension from his records, a declaration that his rights had been violated and monetary damages.

A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit, but a U.S. appeals court ruled for Frederick and said the principal can be held liable for damages.

“A school cannot censor or punish students’ speech merely because the students advocate a position contrary to government policy,” the appeals court said.

The principal and the Juneau School Board appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the U.S. Constitution’s free-speech guarantee still allows public schools to bar students from displaying messages promoting use of illegal substances.

Kenneth Starr, the former special prosecutor who investigated ex-President
Bill Clinton over the Whitewater land deal and the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal, brought the appeal to the high court.

“This case raises an issue of vital importance to every school principal and administrator in the country,” said Starr, now dean at the Pepperdine Law School in California.

Frederick’s lawyer, Douglas Mertz, said schools cannot punish students for displaying messages off school property at events that are not sponsored or supervised by the school.

He said the school admitted that Frederick did not disrupt or interfere with any school activities.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case at the end of February, with a decision due by June.

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. – A teen accused of ordering from at least three fast food drive-thrus nude faces an indecent exposure charge. David Gatton, 18, of Columbia City, was found in the parking lot of a McDonald’s by a sheriff’s deputy after police received a call that the teen had been nude when he ordered from his car at the Arby’s drive-thru, police said.

“Maybe it was a way to enjoy the last of the warm weather,” joked Capt. Brian Anspach of the Columbia City Police Department.

Sgt. Mike Engle of the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department passed the car Tuesday night in Columbia City, 20 miles west of Fort Wayne. Engle said he turned around to stop the car and saw that Gatton had driven into the McDonald’s lot.

When Engle got to the car, Gatton was putting his clothes back on. Police said Gatton had a clothed male passenger in the car and the pair had been making the stops as part of a joke. Gatton faces a misdemeanor charge.

No telephone listing was available for Gatton in Columbia City.

BERLIN (Reuters) – German sex educators plan to launch a spray-on condom tailor-made for all sizes.

Jan Vinzenz Krause from the Institute for Condom Consultancy, a Singen-based practice that offers advice on condom use, told Reuters Thursday the product aimed to help people enjoy better and safer sex lives.

“We’re trying to develop the perfect condom for men that’s suited to every size of penis,” he said. “We’re very serious.”

Krause’s team (spraykondom.de) is developing a type of spray can into which the man inserts his penis first. At the push of a button it is then coated in a rubber condom.

“It works by spraying on latex from nozzles on all sides,” he said. “We call it the ’360 degree procedure’ — once round and from top to bottom. It’s a bit like a car wash.”

Krause said the plan is to make the product ready for use in about five seconds. He said it would function more effectively as a contraceptive because it would fit better and not slip.

However, before the new condom can be sold in shops, the firm must ensure that the latex is evenly spread when sprayed, as well as optimize the vulcanization process.

Krause hopes the high tech condom, which will be available in different strengths and colors, will on the market by 2008.

He said the spray can would likely cost some 20 euros ($26) as a one-off purchase. The latex cartridges — sufficient for up to 20 applications — would cost roughly 10 euros, he said.

Krause said he had hit upon the idea when considering the difficulties some people faced using condoms, and drew inspiration from spray-on plasters now used in medicine.