World Briefs

A British town is using garish pink lighting that shows up acne to deter teenagers from loitering and break up loutish gatherings.

Residents of Mansfield in central England have installed fluorescent pink lights normally used by dermatologists to show up pimples and acne blemishes. That aside, it is also thought that surly teenage males might find it "uncool" to hang around in a bright pink underpass.

Marianne Down, from the Layton Burroughs Residents' Association, said the lights were having the desired effect.

"We used to have quite a problem with large groups of young people hanging around in the underpasses drinking, which felt quite intimidating, but the pink lights have really made a difference," she said, adding, "The groups aren't there as much and it feels safer walking through there now, particularly at night."

Mansfield residents are so pleased with the lights that they are planning to install a new set elsewhere in the town. Britain has turned to several new ideas to deter teenage louts from hanging around where they are not wanted. The Mosquito, a device which emits an irritating high-pitched sound that adults cannot hear, has been deployed in several towns across the country, to great effect.

Village comes under internet hammer

The German village of Liebon, in the eastern state of Saxony, is currently up for grabs on the internet.

The village, which dates back to the 14th century, is situated near the Czech and Polish borders and with an area of just 1,400 square metres, it is one of the smallest in the state.

For €300,000, its current owners are now hoping to sell Liebon on the internet auction site eBay. The price includes a large farm dating back to the 18th century, a residential house, a playground, a village pond, a small shop and two road signs.

Currently Liebon boasts a population of eight people - a couple and their six children - and the nearest neighbours live one and a half kilometres away.

Yummy, it's a 4,800-calorie burger

A baseball park in Michigan has created an artery-busting hamburger containing 4,800 calories and is daring fans to eat the "snack," promising a free t-shirt to anyone who succeeds. In an apparent bid to cook up some comfort food during hard economic times, the West Michigan Whitecaps are offering fans a behemoth dubbed the Fifth Third Burger, named after the team's ballpark and the meal's five beef patties, which each weigh 136 grams.

The burger is smothered with chilli, salsa, sour cream and a dollop of melted nacho-style cheese - topped off with Frito chips, lettuce, tomato and five slices of American cheese and laid out in a bun made with 454 grams of dough.

In addition to weighing in at more than double the US daily recommended caloric intake, the Fifth Third Burger contains nearly 300 grams of fat, 744 milligrams of cholesterol and more than 10,000 milligrams of sodium.

Miss Russia menaced by sexy photos

Russian tabloids yesterday queried the participation in the Miss World contest of the Russian candidate after pictures of her in erotic poses came to light.

The pictures of Miss Russia, Sofiya Rudeva, 19, were published on the internet. One report said they were taken when she was 14 or 15 and were originally published in a men's magazine.

"Will Russia's leading beauty be deprived of Miss World because of erotic photos?" asked one newspaper.

Competition rules say that candidates for the Miss Russia title should not appear in pornographic pictures or videos.

Maths formula to forecast divorce

A British mathematician has devised a formula to predict whether loved-up couples are bound to spend their lives together or end their marriages in divorce.

Oxford University professor James Murray said his formula successfully predicted whether a couple would divorce 94 per cent of the time, in a study of 700 newly-married couples.

As part of the research Mr Murray's team filmed the newlyweds discussing contentious issues such as money or sex for 15 minutes, and graded each statement made during their respective turns of speech. Statements with humour or affection were given positive scores, while those with defensiveness or anger were given negative ones. The resulting scores were used to identify whether the relationship was likely to stand the test of time. The couples were then contacted over one to two year intervals over a period of 12 years, with Mr Murray's formula correctly predicting the divorce rate with an accuracy of 94 per cent.

"What astonished me was that a discussion, sometimes highly charged and emotional, could so easily and usefully be encapsulated in what is actually a simple mathematical model of a couple's interaction," Mr Murray said.