In an industry first, a top-level fashion show in Madrid has banned models who are too thin. The move has resulted in a furor among modeling agencies and increased the possibility of restrictions in other venues. Madrid's fashion week responded to protests that young women were aspiring to copy the models' rail-thin looks and adopting eating disorders by rejecting underweight models.

Dropping an earlier plan to censor the photo, the subway walls in Tokyo will now feature a nude and pregnant Britney Spears. The advertisement space at the posh Omotesando station next week will be rented by HB Japan Inc. , publisher of the Japanese edition of Harper's Bazaar. They aim to promote their October issue with Spears posing naked on the cover. The AP reports that the advertisement that will appear in Tokyo is the same that was used in the August issue of the magazine's U. S. edition. It shows the 24 year old Spears baring her belly but she covers her breasts with her hands.

A 40 lb tortoise has made his way home, after a slow craw to freedom. Willy the tortoise spent a month roaming away from home, and found his way back to Kellie Copeland-Burnup's wading pool.

An icon of the Virgin Mary has been stolen from a monastery in Greece. A police operation headed by the deputy chief of national police is underway to find the 700-year-old replica. The icon is thought to have cured the sick and protect those who believed in its powers. People believe the icon's powers will bring tragedy to both the party who stole it and the people who relied on its protection.

Two convicts were arrested within five hours of being released from Macomer jail on the island of Sardinia. The Italian prisoners were freed under a national pardon program aimed at easing prison overcrowding. Massimiliano Formula, 32, and Raimondo Muntoni, 28, were celebrating their freedom at a bar when they punched a police officer who asked to see their papers.