TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES

[AussieMark]

Marlene Dietrich "hated sex": daughter

BERLIN (Reuters) - Sultry actress Marlene Dietrich, one of the 20th century's most iconic figures, hated sex and had a schizophrenic personality, according to her daughter Maria Riva.

In an interview with German magazine Bunte to be published Thursday, Riva said Dietrich's aversion to sex did not deter countless men from pursuing her.

"All of her lovers wanted to marry her anyway," the magazine quoted the 81-year-old Riva as saying.

Riva, who has written a memoir entitled "My Mother Marlene," said that Dietrich's hatred of sex and sometimes distant personality often made her feel sorry for the men who fell in love with her glamorous mother.

"Marlene Dietrich the film star was always just the person in the mirror, but never her real self," said Riva. "She was a totally normal schizophrenic."

Dietrich's performances in Berlin cabarets and more than a dozen German films during the 1920s prompted her discovery by American film producers. She moved to Hollywood in 1930, where her roles in American productions propelled her rise to fame.

During the 1930s, Dietrich became a vocal opponent of the Nazi leadership in her native Germany, and became an American citizen in 1937. She died in Paris in 1992.

[AussieMark]

You want a smoking or non-smoking cave?

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - There's no room service, no swimming pool, no microwave oven, no coffee machine, no television, no electricity.

But the accommodations do include mattresses and wood stoves.

An 89-year-old retired construction worker this month began advertising cave stays in east-central Idaho for $5 per night, or $25 a month.

Richard Zimmerman, also known as "Dugout Dick," said his dwellings can double as bomb shelters and serve as mining sites for people who bring their own picks.

Zimmerman, himself a cave resident, has spent decades carving out a dozen quarters from a hillside overlooking the Salmon River rapids.

Now he said it's time to break from his labors and help jump-start tourism in this remote mountain community.

The caves stretch as far as 100 feet into the hillside and are bolstered by rocks, peeled fir poles, mud and straw.

So far, a few tourists from overseas -- one from England, another from Spain -- have taken him up on the offer. Zimmerman said they did not take to life underground.

"It's not for everyone," the self-styled Salmon River caveman acknowledged. But "I expect the trade will pick up anytime now."

[AussieMark]

Man coughs up screw after operation

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Four years ago, Etienne Verhees broke two vertebrae falling off a ladder, after which doctors put a metal plate in his neck to help heal the wound.

This week, the Belgian coughed up one of four screws used to hold the plate in place.

"I have had a cold for the past few days," Verhees told daily Gazet Van Antwerpen. "I had a terrible cough a few days ago. That's when I suddenly felt something in my mouth.

"It turned out to be a screw."

One of the doctors involved told the paper he assumed the screw had moved because of an infection Verhees suffered following a second operation, which caused his neck to swell.

[AussieMark]

Women know more than men about soccer?

LONDON (Reuters) - If you don't understand soccer's offside rule, don't ask a man -- find a woman.

British women are top of the table when it comes to knowledge about the game, relegating their menfolk to second spot, according to a survey released Wednesday.

Research found that 59 percent of women could correctly identify the offside law -- one of the game's hardest to comprehend -- as opposed to just 55 percent of men.

Also 65 percent of women correctly used the title assistant referee, while 40 percent of men wrongly referred to the official as a "linesman."

"I've never understood the big fuss surrounding whether girls know what they're talking about when it comes to football because it was my mum who taught me the offside rule when I was a kid," said Sky Sports presenter Helen Chamberlain.

However when it came to team strip, the men were way ahead. More than 80 percent of men could correctly identify the kits of the 20 Premiership teams compared to just 33 percent of women, the survey of 2,000 customers of sports bar Walkabout found.

[rainstorm]

You want a smoking or non-smoking cave?

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - There's no room service, no swimming pool, no microwave oven, no coffee machine, no television, no electricity.

But the accommodations do include mattresses and wood stoves.

An 89-year-old retired construction worker this month began advertising cave stays in east-central Idaho for $5 per night, or $25 a month.

Richard Zimmerman, also known as "Dugout Dick," said his dwellings can double as bomb shelters and serve as mining sites for people who bring their own picks.

Zimmerman, himself a cave resident, has spent decades carving out a dozen quarters from a hillside overlooking the Salmon River rapids.

Now he said it's time to break from his labors and help jump-start tourism in this remote mountain community.

The caves stretch as far as 100 feet into the hillside and are bolstered by rocks, peeled fir poles, mud and straw.

So far, a few tourists from overseas -- one from England, another from Spain -- have taken him up on the offer. Zimmerman said they did not take to life underground.

"It's not for everyone," the self-styled Salmon River caveman acknowledged. But "I expect the trade will pick up anytime now."

non smoking cave for me, hehe

[TexasStooge]

You want a smoking or non-smoking cave?

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - There's no room service, no swimming pool, no microwave oven, no coffee machine, no television, no electricity.

But the accommodations do include mattresses and wood stoves.

An 89-year-old retired construction worker this month began advertising cave stays in east-central Idaho for $5 per night, or $25 a month.

Richard Zimmerman, also known as "Dugout Dick," said his dwellings can double as bomb shelters and serve as mining sites for people who bring their own picks.

Zimmerman, himself a cave resident, has spent decades carving out a dozen quarters from a hillside overlooking the Salmon River rapids.

Now he said it's time to break from his labors and help jump-start tourism in this remote mountain community.

The caves stretch as far as 100 feet into the hillside and are bolstered by rocks, peeled fir poles, mud and straw.

So far, a few tourists from overseas -- one from England, another from Spain -- have taken him up on the offer. Zimmerman said they did not take to life underground.

"It's not for everyone," the self-styled Salmon River caveman acknowledged. But "I expect the trade will pick up anytime now."

No one could pay me to stay in a cave.

[AussieMark]

Britain to tighten up air gun sales

LONDON (Reuters) - Sales of air guns are to be restricted to registered dealers under regulations announced by the Home Office Thursday.

Dealers will have to pay 150 pounds and prove to police they are fit to sell the weapons.

The rule changes, part of an amendment to the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, also outlaws selling airguns by mail order or over the Internet as all sales must be face-to-face.

Dealers selling airguns without registration will face up to five years in jail or an unlimited fine or both.

The clampdown comes after the death of a two-year-old Scottish boy who was hit in the head by an airgun pellet in March.

Mark Bonini, 27, was jailed for 13 years in August for firing the shot which killed toddler Andrew Morton as he watched a fire engine near his house in Glasgow.

"The new proposals outlined today would make suppliers accountable to the police and remove the anonymity of purchasers to deter impulsive purchases and irresponsible sales," said Home Office Minister Hazel Blears.

[TexasStooge]

Burglar, scared by corpse, phones police

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch burglar phoned police after fleeing in panic when he found the corpse of an 89-year-old woman in a house he broke into in The Hague.

Police said they were still searching for the burglar who "got the fright of his life."

"He said he was the burglar and that he found a corpse," a police spokesman said. "He found the mortal remains in one of the rooms and left the home to call emergency number 112."

Police were investigating if anything was stolen and believed the woman may have been dead for some time.

That's one way to stop a burglar in his tracks.

[AussieMark]

Mexican fighters aim to make it big in US

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mistico, a diminutive fighter who stands only 5-1/2 feet tall and weighs 180 pounds, could be the next big thing in a booming American wrestling industry dominated by giants.

Mistico is the epitome of Mexican wrestling, a natural underdog whose impressive flips and acrobatic jumps have made him a celebrity in his native country where "lucha libre" is very much part of the national folklore.

Now, wrestling scouts from the United States are turning their attention to Mistico and other talented Mexican fighters to attract bigger Latino audiences back home and expand the sport's international appeal.

"The dream of every Mexican fighter is to be known around the world," said Mistico, who left home as a teen-ager and learned his trade from a Catholic priest known as "Friar Storm."

"I would love to represent my country in the United States," the soft-spoken 23-year-old added.

By far the most aggressive recruiter of Mexican talent is World Wrestling Entertainment Inc , a publicly traded company that runs the sport's "big leagues" with popular television shows such as "Wrestlemania" and "Smackdown!"

With some 40 million Hispanics living in the United States, locking in a Latin audience makes business sense. The Latino population is growing rapidly in size and purchasing power.

"It does help us in the Latino market to have wrestlers that the crowd know," John Laurinaitis, the WWE vice president of talent recruitment, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

Laurinaitis said he reviewed videotapes of Mexican fighters, took recommendations from established Mexican names and traveled to Mexico to personally check on prospects.

"Some of these Mexican wrestlers are some of the most gifted and agile athletes in the world," he said.

ACROBATIC FLIPS

After 72 years of official lucha libre in Mexico, the weekly fights still draw thousands of snarling fans into dimly lighted arenas.

Mexican wrestlers are known for their daring and acrobatic flips in and outside the ring.

At one recent fight, Mistico was tossed around like a rag doll but came back to win after stepping up on top of the ropes and flying some three yards to land on top of a rival outside the ring.

The crowd stood up and roared "Mistico, Mistico" inside the 16,500-capacity Arena Mexico, known as the "cathedral of lucha libre."

In another fight, a crowd of mostly mothers and children packed the decaying Arena Coliseo near one of Mexico City's roughest neighborhoods to watch wrestlers clad in spandex hammer each other.

Children wearing fighters' masks cursed at wrestlers and mothers blew kisses to their favorites.

"Mexican lucha libre is the best in the world," said Juan Manuel Mar, a promoter with El Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), the oldest wrestling company in Mexico. "That's why Americans come here to recruit fighters."

The CMLL has three nights of wrestling every week and more than 120 fighters on its roster. Crowd favorites range from the 310-pound "Super Porky" to the 4-foot-4 inch "Mascarita Sagrada," or "Sacred Little Mask."

The recruitment drive in Mexico is part of a broader trend of American companies trying to woo untapped Latino consumers.

"The Latino demographic is an audience that is growing in terms of populations and disposable income," said Robert Routh, an entertainment industry analyst with Jefferies & Co. in New York.

WEEKLY BROADCASTS

The Connecticut-based WWE had revenues of $366.4 million and $39.1 million in profits in the 2005 fiscal year.

In April, the WWE cut a deal with NBC Universal to broadcast its weekly shows on the Spanish-language giant Telemundo .

The appeal of Mexican fighters in the United States has also spread to non-Latino fans.

Rey Mysterio Junior, a masked wrestler who started fighting at 15 in the gritty border city of Tijuana, is now a celebrity at the WWE.

"When I was a kid I was a big fan of American wrestling, but I never imagined I would actually make it to the United States," the 30-year-old wrestler said in a telephone interview. "If you stay in Mexico you get stuck."

He debuted in the WWE three years ago and says many others could follow his path to money and fame. "Mexicans have more than enough competition to bring to the Americans."

Young fighters back in Mexico want to do just that.

Danger, a muscular 17-year-old fighter with a baby face, dreams of fame and fortune in the United States.

"I want to achieve all that Rey Mysterio has achieved in the United States," said Danger during a break from a three-hour training session at the Arena Mexico. "In the world of wrestling, it is either everything or nothing."

[AussieMark]

Unique Beethoven manuscript to be auctioned

LONDON (Reuters) - A unique manuscript by Ludwig van Beethoven that was lost for more than a century will go on sale in London in December priced at over one million pounds.

Discovered in July at the bottom of a dusty filing cabinet at a religious school in Philadelphia, the manuscript is a work in progress for the composer's Grosse Fuge in B flat major -- one of his most revolutionary works.

"This is an amazing find," said Stephen Roe, head of auction house Sotheby's manuscript department. "The manuscript was only known from a brief description in a catalog in 1890 and it has never before been seen or described by Beethoven scholars."

Not only is the 80-page document a working manuscript for the only piano version of a major work by Beethoven, it is one of his few compositions for a piano duet.

Sotheby's, which will auction the document on December 1, said it was the most important Beethoven manuscript to have come to market in living memory and would prompt a complete reassessment of his works.

It is the second time very rare musical documents have been found by chance at the former Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary -- now renamed the Palmer Theological Seminary. A Mozart manuscript was discovered there in 1990.

"At that time we called it the 'Mozart miracle'. It seems appropriate that this time we are thankful for the 'Beethoven blessing,'" said seminary president Wallace Charles Smith.

The German composer who continued to work as he went slowly deaf, wrote the work in 1826 -- one year before his death -- as the finale for his String Quartet in B flat major.

The piece is notoriously difficult to perform and, because it was musically far ahead of its time, did not immediately sit well with audiences either.

The manuscript is written in brown and black ink and includes annotations in pencil and red crayon.

Music scholars have welcomed it as breath of fresh air, clearly illustrating the working methods and thought processes of a musical genius.

The document contains multiple deletions and corrections and has places where the paper is rubbed through as Beethoven continuously tried and rejected different variations.

Because it is so obviously a working document, it is not easy to read and has no printer's marks. Sotheby's said it was clear this was not the finished version and as such would give deep insight when compared with the published work.

The path of ownership is murky, but it was last at auction in 1890 -- first in Paris in May of that year and then again in Berlin in October from where it is believed it was taken to the United States and lost to view until July this year.

[AussieMark]

N. Ireland to introduce smoking restrictions

BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Ireland will unveil details of a ban on workplace smoking next week, the Department of Health said Thursday.

It would not say whether the ban, to be announced Monday, will be an Irish-style blanket ban or a partial one, as proposed in England.

Northern Ireland minister Shaun Woodward said in June he was planning restrictions on smoking in the province after his department asked the public for feedback on ban proposals.

Of the 70,000 responses, 91 percent said they favored a ban on smoking in all enclosed public places and workplaces.

In 2004, Ireland, which borders British-ruled Northern Ireland, became the first country in the world to impose a nationwide ban on smoking in pubs, restaurants and workplaces.

The Northern Irish responses received by the health department suggested the Irish model was popular but Woodward said he wanted to look into the business implications of such sweeping measures.

Irish pub owners and drinks and tobacco firms have complained that the smoking ban is hammering sales and driving some pubs out of business.

The other choice would be to allow smoking to continue in some pubs and bars not serving food, bringing it in line with proposed legislation in England and Wales even though only 8 percent of those who responded said they favored that option.

[AussieMark]

Hunting campaigners lose appeal against UK ban

LONDON (Reuters) - Countryside campaigners have lost a key round in their legal battle against the British government's ban on hunting.

Nine Law Lords Thursday unanimously ruled against their challenge in which the Countryside Alliance claimed that the Hunting Act, which bans hunting with dogs, was invalid.

The act, which came into force in February, prompted violent protests outside parliament, including an invasion of the House of Commons by hunt supporters.

Normally only five Law Lords sit on legal matters but the case was regarded of such constitutional importance that nine were called in to decide it.

The Countryside Alliance argued that the Act was approved by only the House of Commons under the provisions of the 1949 Parliament Act which it said was itself invalid.

In those circumstances, it said, the Hunting Act must also be regarded as invalid.

The High Court and the Appeal Court had already rejected the Alliance's arguments on this aspect of the challenge.

The Law Lords, whose decision is final, agreed, concluding the Parliament Act was legal.

"It is obviously unfortunate that the Law Lords could not find in our favor, for technical legal reasons," said John Jackson the Countryside Alliance's chairman.

The ruling prompted concern that the House of Commons was free to change the constitution as it wished without consent from the House of Lords or adequate checks, he said.

The Countryside Alliance has a second challenge going through the courts in which it claims the human rights of the hunting fraternity have been breached by the ban.

The High Court rejected that claim in July and the Law Lords said Thursday's decision would have no bearing on the outcome of a pending appeal.

"We will continue to fight the Hunting Act in the courts and in the political arena," Jackson said.

"Every hunt around the country is continuing to meet and use a variety of methods to hunt within the law in defiance of the ban."

[AussieMark]

New gadget to make theft of mobile phones harder

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish scientists have invented a device to make it harder to steal mobile phones and laptops by enabling them to detect changes in their owner's walking style and then freeze to prevent unauthorized use.

The VTT Technical Research Center of Finland said the device, which is has patented but has yet to sell, could prevent millions of portable appliances being stolen every year.

"A device is equipped with sensors that measure certain characteristics of the user's gait. When the device is used for the first time, these measurements are saved in its memory," VTT said in a statement.

The gadget would monitor the user's walking style and check it against the saved information. If the values differ, the user would have to enter a password.

"Compared with passwords and traditional bio-identification, the new method is simple: confirmation of identity takes place as a background process without any need for user's intervention," the researchers said.[/b]

[AussieMark]

World's oldest noodles found -- in China

LONDON (Reuters) - Italians are known for them and theories suggest they may have originated in the Middle East but scientists said Wednesday the world's oldest known noodles, dating back 4,000 years, were made in China.

Houyuan Lu, of the Chinese Academy of Science in Beijing and his colleagues found the ancient noodles preserved in an overturned, sealed bowl at an archaeological site near the Yellow River in northwestern China.

"Our discovery indicates that noodles were first produced in China about 4,000 years ago," Lu said in an interview.

Until the discovery, reported in the science journal Nature, the oldest written account of noodles was in a book written during the East Han Dynasty in China sometime between 25 and 220.

But there have been other suggestions that noodles were first made in the Middle East and introduced to Italy by the Arabs during the Middle Ages.

"This is the earliest empirical evidence of noodles ever found," said Lu.

The newly unearthed yellow noodles are very thin, delicate and 50 cm (20 inches) in length. The scientists think a large earthquake and catastrophic flooding probably destroyed the ancient settlement where they were discovered.

Unlike modern Chinese noodles or Italian pasta that are made mostly of wheat, the 4,000-year-old variety consisted of millet which is indigenous to China.

Wheat was not introduced from central and western Asia to northwestern China until about 5,000 years ago.

"Archaeological evidence suggests that even though wheat was present in northwestern China 4,500 to 5,000 years ago, it was not commonly cultivated until much later," Lu said.

Prehistoric farmers knew how to pound and grind the hard millet seeds and mix them to make noodles. The dough was probably repeatedly stretched by hand to form long strands and cooked in boiling water to make noodles, according to the researchers.

"This study has established, for the first time, that the earliest noodle production occurred in China," Lu said.

[AussieMark]

First day of school for aspiring Vatican exorcists

ROME (Reuters) - It was the first day of school, so some students were understandably nervous. But then again, they were not taking just any course, but one run by a Vatican university to teach aspiring demonologists and exorcists.

"There is no doubt that the devil is intervening more in the life of man these days," Father Paolo Scarafoni told the students, most of them priests who want to learn how to tackle the demon if they should ever encounter him.

"Not all of you will become exorcists but it is indispensable that every priest knows how to discern between demonic possession and psychological problems," he said.

The four-month course, called "Exorcism and the Prayer of Liberation," is being offered for the second year by Pontifical Regina Apostolorum University on Rome's outskirts.

The about 120 students from around the world will hear lectures on topics such as the pastoral, spiritual, theological, liturgical, medical, legal and criminological aspects of Satanism and demonic possession.

One planned lecture is called: "Problems related to exorcism and correlated issues."

One priest, who asked not to be identified, said he decided to take the course after a "very unsettling experience" while hearing the confession of one young member of his parish.

"Her voice changed, her face was transformed and she started speaking in a language that she did not know," he said. "I've met people who are suffering from this problem and it is not as rare as we might imagine."

So, will he be ready to wrestle with demons of the kind who may have possessed his parishioner in the confessional box?

"If, after this course, my superiors decide that it will be useful for me to become an exorcist, I will do it," he said.

REAL-LIFE EXORCISTS

Interest in the devil and the occult has been boosted by films such as this year's "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," and last year's "Exorcist: The Beginning," which was the sequel to the original "The Exorcist" in 1973.

But forget the films. The students will have several real-life and well known exorcists to teach them.

One is Father Gabriele Nanni, who attended Thursday's opening class and spoke to Reuters during a break.

"First thing is the priest has to know if the devil is at work in a person or if the problem is somewhere else," he said.

Nanni said there are four sure signs that pointed to demonic possession rather than psychological problems.

He listed them as:

"When someone speaks or understands languages they normally do not; when their physical strength is disproportionate to their body size or age; when they are suddenly knowledgeable about occult practices; when they have a physical aversion to sacred things, such as the communion host or prayers."

According to some estimates, as many as 5,000 people are thought to be members of Satanic cults in Italy with 17-to 25-year-olds making up three quarters of them.

In 1999, the Vatican updated its ritual for exorcism.

It starts with prayers, a blessing and sprinkling of holy water, the laying on of hands on the possessed, and the making of the sign of the cross.

The formula begins: "I order you, Satan..." It goes on to denounce Satan as "prince of this world" and "enemy of human salvation." It ends: "Go back, Satan."

[rainstorm]

New gadget to make theft of mobile phones harder

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finnish scientists have invented a device to make it harder to steal mobile phones and laptops by enabling them to detect changes in their owner's walking style and then freeze to prevent unauthorized use.

The VTT Technical Research Center of Finland said the device, which is has patented but has yet to sell, could prevent millions of portable appliances being stolen every year.

"A device is equipped with sensors that measure certain characteristics of the user's gait. When the device is used for the first time, these measurements are saved in its memory," VTT said in a statement.

The gadget would monitor the user's walking style and check it against the saved information. If the values differ, the user would have to enter a password.

"Compared with passwords and traditional bio-identification, the new method is simple: confirmation of identity takes place as a background process without any need for user's intervention," the researchers said.[/b]

thats a good idea

[AussieMark]

Japan to require microchips for 'dangerous' animals

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan is moving toward requiring owners of potentially dangerous animals, such as crocodiles and pythons, to have microchips implanted in their pets in case the animals get loose, officials said on Thursday.

The move follows a recent wave of incidents around the nation in which animals such as pythons, crocodiles and giant salamanders have been found wandering loose, frequently on the streets of densely populated cities.

In one notorious case, a man lost track of his pet python after he took the animal "for a walk" in a park and the snake fled when the man fell asleep on a bench. He was quoted by one TV station as saying he was surprised the snake disappeared because it wasn't that kind of snake.

The Environment Ministry is drawing up a law that would require tiny cylindrical microchips -- 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) long and 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) in diameter -- implanted under the skin of some 650 animal species, a ministry official said.

Each microchip would carry information making it possible to trace the owner if the animal goes missing.

Among the animals included in the proposed law, which is likely to come into effect from next January, are various snakes, snapping turtles and bears. "There was a sense that it is good to have better management of these kinds of animals," the official said. Exotic animals such as reptiles have become increasingly popular pets in Japan over the last few years, largely because they are clean and quiet and usually reside in terrariums -- a big plus in the nation's cramped apartments, which often forbid ownership of more common four-footed friends.

With escapes becoming more frequent, however, calls have risen for tighter regulation of such pets.

In the past week alone, police in Kanagawa prefecture, just west of Tokyo, were called out to capture a green iguana and a 66-centimetre giant salamander, while a woman in downtown Tokyo found a 1-metre-long python curled up on some quilts in a closet.

[AussieMark]

Bird flu bars homecoming for circus doves

SOFIA (Reuters) - A flock of Bulgarian circus doves was barred from returning home on Thursday because of an outbreak of avian flu in Turkey.

The 20 doves had been on tour in Bulgaria's southern Black Sea neighbor for several months with the Balkanski & Sons Circus as part of a menagerie that also includes horses and Siberian tigers.

But they were refused re-entry after Sofia banned imports of live birds and poultry from Turkey and its northern neighbor Romania after both reported cases of bird flu last weekend.

"This is really unfortunate for the circus. They had permission to take the animals out of the country, but the time of their return coincided with the ban," border control inspector Atanas Mihailov told Reuters.

"The owner will probably find someone to take care of the birds in Turkey until the ban is lifted."

Bulgaria -- seen as a potential next destination for the flu because it lies on similar migratory bird routes as Romania and Turkey -- has stepped up checks at borders and farms near its coastal and Danube river wetlands to forestall any outbreak.

Earlier on Thursday, the European Union's executive said the flu discovered in Turkey was the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, which has killed more than 60 people and caused the death of millions of birds in Asia. Tests are still pending on Romania's outbreak.

[AussieMark]

Troops relax with musical pillow

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - A pillow that plays relaxing music has been sent by the Danish army to its soldiers posted in Iraq and Kosovo to help them combat stress and tension.

"In a first test, we have sent 10 pillows each to Iraq and Kosovo and they are now being used by the troops," Henrik Lundstein, head of the leadership and psychology department at Denmark's Royal Defense College, told Reuters.

The Nordic country has around 540 soldiers in Iraq and 340 on a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

The pillow has built-in speakers attached to an mp3-player piping soft instrumentals and sounds of nature like trickling water and chirping birds. Called "MusiCure," it was created for use in therapy by composer and oboist Niels Eje with doctors and psychologists.

Referring to the pillow's success in Danish hospitals, Lundstein said the army hoped it could also help tense soldiers.

"We are hoping it can bring relaxing moments in a stressful environment for soldiers who are at the limit of their stress levels," he said.

[AussieMark]

Woman ticked off by police for "fat" comment

LONDON (Reuters) - A woman struck by a hit and run car driver in northern England said she was told off by a police officer for using the F-word to describe the driver -- "fat."

Mary Magilton, 54, suffered cuts and bruises after being hit by the car which mounted the pavement while she was chatting with friends in Oldham and then drove off, newspapers reported on Friday.

She reported the incident but was ticked off by a police officer when she said the driver of the car was a "fat" woman.

"I was given a frosty look and told I couldn't say that. I could have said lardy, porky or podgy. But I wouldn't dare use those words," the Daily Mirror quoted her as saying.

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said the description recorded on the police log of the incident did include the word "fat."

"I don't think she was severely reprimanded," the spokeswoman said, adding GMP had a policy to ensure officers used "appropriate language" that would not cause offence.