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The Sexiest Woman Alive

Halle Berry

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Kumari

Hindu and Buddhist priests chanted sacred hymns and cascaded flowers and grains of rice over a 3-year-old girl who was appointed a living goddess in Nepal on Tuesday.

Wrapped in red silk and adorned with red flowers in her hair, Matani Shakya received approval from the priests and President Ram Baran Yadav in a centuries-old tradition with deep ties to Nepal's monarchy.

The new "kumari" or living goddess, was carried from her parents' home to an ancient palatial temple in the heart of the Nepali capital, Katmandu, where she will live until she reaches puberty and loses her divine status.

A panel of judges conducted a series of ancient ceremonies to select the goddess from several 2- to 4-year-old girls who are all members of the impoverished Shakya goldsmith caste.

The judges read the candidates' horoscopes and check each one for physical imperfections. The living goddess must have perfect hair, eyes, teeth and skin with no scars, and should not be afraid of the dark.

As a final test, the living goddess must spend a night alone in a room among the heads of ritually slaughtered goats and buffaloes without showing fear.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=5972583&page=1

Just Try Nicorette...

A couple from Malaysia was beaten to death Thursday in a bizarre stop-smoking ritual.

Police spokesman Ku Chin Wah told the official Bernama news agency that Mohamed Ibrahim Kader Mydin, 47, and his wife Rosina Mydin Pillay, 41, sustained head injuries in a beating intended to cure them of smoking and other illnesses.

The 15-year-old daughter of one of the four relatives who participated in the beating was also attacked and is fighting for her life in a hospital, according to AFP.

Police said that Mohamed Ibrahim asked family to help him kick his smoking habit, and confided in relatives that his wife was suffering from asthma and a liver ailment.

"Following this, a 23-year-old male relative suggested that the couple undergo a ritual which involved all family members joining forces to beat up the couple to rid them of their ailments,'' Ku told Bernama.

The couple's heads were smashed on tables and beaten with crash helmets and brooms.

Sly Like A Tommy (Fox)

A man who decided to take home a fox he hit on the road wrecked his SUV after the animal he thought was dead revived.

Tommy Fox ran over the fox last Wednesday near Dover, Tenn., as he returned home from work, the Leaf Chronicle reports.

Thinking the animal was dead, he decided to take the animal home to cut off its tail as a souvenir, Dale Grandstaff of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency told the paper.

"The tails are real bushy and pretty and thick this time of year," Grandstaff said.

Instead, the driver flipped his GMC Jimmy trying to keep the fox — that had awoken in the backseat — from biting him.

Fox suffered minor injuries and bruises, the Leaf Chronicle reports. The fox died, though it was unclear if it was from initial injuries or the subsequent wreck of the vehicle.

Best Backyard In Philly?

Behold! The Virgin Mary

Hundreds of people are being drawn to a Catholic hospital in Springfield by what they say looks like an image of the Virgin Mary in a window. Sister Kathleen Sullivan, senior vice president at Mercy Medical Center, said the image in a vacant, second-story office was first noticed Tuesday morning.

As many as 300 people, some weeping, gathered outside the building to take photographs, pray, and say the rosary.

Sullivan said while the cause of the image was not immediately clear, she was humbled by the show of faith. A spokesman for the Springfield Diocese said it could take the church years to investigate.

Deirdre Gogel, who came to see the image, called it comforting at a time of turmoil for the nation.

Bus Stop....In The Middle Of The Street

An East Tennessee school bus driver was charged with driving under the influence after her vehicle with 30 children inside was found stopped in the middle of a street.

Loudon Police Chief James Webb said 48-year-old Vicky Lynn Kwasny was found passed out behind the wheel Tuesday around 8 a.m. Webb said a blood alcohol test was administered but the results were not immediately available.

The Loudon County Emergency Management Agency noticed the bus stopped for an extended time, Webb said, and police were notified. No one was hurt.

Wayne Honeycutt, director of schools, said an estimated 30 students were on the bus, 18 of them high school students and the rest from middle school or younger.

Kwasny was taken to a hospital and then jailed where she remained Tuesday evening. A jail spokesman said there was no record that she had hired an attorney.

Ginger Kids Free!

An Australian Zoo has dropped an ad campaign offering free visits to all "rangas" to highlight the plight of orangutans after sensitive redheads complained.

Last week, advertisements ran offering "free Zoo entry for all rangas" during the school holidays. "Ranga" — an abbreviation of orangutan — is a common nickname for redheads.

"We seem to be getting quite a bit of a negative reaction to that request," said Zoos SA's director of conservation programs Kevin Evans.

"People are possibly more sensitive about it than we thought," he said. "We have a campaign over the school holidays because of orangutans being an endangered species – and so are human redheads," Evans said. Less than 2 percent of humans have red hair.

"Because of the way people move around these days, the genes that carry redheads are breeding out to brunettes and blondes," Evans said. "Eventually it looks like they are going to be extinct as well."

The Adelaide zoo will continue to offer free entry to people with red hair for the next two weeks to raise awareness about orangutans being endangered in the wild.

Dollar Store Home

With a winning bid of just $1.75, a Chicago woman has won an auction for an abandoned home in Saginaw, Michigan.

Joanne Smith, 30, recently was the top bidder for the home during an auction on eBay, The Saginaw News reported. Her bid was one of eight for the home.

"I am going to try and sell it," she told the newspaper. "I don't have any plans to move to Saginaw." Smith said she hasn't seen the property or visited Saginaw, which has been hard-hit by economic troubles in recent years.

There's a notice on the door of the home saying a foreclosure hearing is pending, the newspaper said. She must pay about $850 in back taxes and yard cleanup costs.

The Saginaw News said it could not reach the seller, Southern Investments LLC, for comment.