The waif-look could soon be officially out in the land of fashion houses. On Tuesday, the lower house of parliament adopted a landmark measure making it illegal for anyone -- including fashion magazines and celebrities - to incite or promote unhealthy thinness.

British magazine Bookseller recently published poll results that revealed the past year's three strangest book titles, continuing the magazine's annual trend. The award, named the Diagram Prize, for the oddest book title for 2007 was given to one titled "If You Want Closure In Your Relationship, Start With Your Legs. "

Aside from his extraordinary leadership skills which led to his being named "Person of the Year" by Time Magazine, Russian President Vladimir Putin will soon be recognized internationally for his athletic prowess. In particular his judo moves as he and an Olympic Japanese judo medalist will come out with an instructional video soon. Mr. Putin and Yasuhiro Yamashita shot the instructional video disc as a supplement to a judo manual. The disc is slated to be released on January or February, President Putin said Friday at the opening of a Toyota Motor Corporation's assembly plant near St. Petersburg.

Dennis Saunders, a convicted peeping tom, is demanding that police return some 500 pornographic movies and 250 magazines his lawyer described as unrelated to the case and is otherwise legal material. In March this year, Saunders, 59, filed suit against the San Rafael Police Department in Marin County Superior Court after they refused to return his massive porn collection. He is not seeking the peeping tom videos he recorded.

A duck in China is reported to be an invaluable assistant to his newspaper vendor-owner, by manning his newsstand and at the same time help attract curious customers. According to a report by the China Daily, the duck can be usually seen perched on a chair at the newsstand and uses its beak to collect money from customers buying newspapers or magazines.