Pertandingan dukung isteri

ROCCO ANDREOZZI mendukung Kim Wasko semasa dia berlari dalam Kejohanan Mendukung Isteri di Resort River Ski Sunday, Maine kelmarin.

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RESORT RIVER SKI SUNDAY, Maine - Pasangan Rocco Andreozzi dan Kim Wasko menang dalam Kejohanan Mendukung Isteri di sini, Amerika Syarikat kelmarin.

Mereka menamatkan larian terakhir dengan masa 49.64 saat manakala tempat kedua dirangkul oleh David dan Lacey Castro dengan masa 52.39 saat.

Seramai 47 peserta menyertai pertandingan itu dengan pemenang akan bertanding dalam Kejohanan Mendukung Isteri Peringkat Dunia.

Antara acara yang perlu para peserta lakukan ialah berlari mendaki bukit dan merempuh halangan kawasan yang berlumpur semasa mendukung pasangan mereka.

Pemenang pertandingan menerima cek bernilai AS$620 (RM1,956). - Agensi

Mercedes to Launch Baby SLS AMG in 2014

Mercedes-AMG is planning a smaller and cheaper version of the SLS supercar, which will take on cars like the Porsche 911 and the Jaguar C-X16.

In an interview with Auto Express the development director of performance division AMG, Cristoph Jung, said there is room for an AMG model below the SLS.

Jung also said that the success of the SLS Gullwing – which has now sold 5,000 models since 2009 – had paved the way for a second AMG model.

“It is important to work on our brand and grow it. Look at the Porsche 911 – it is a huge success. They have done a very good job in evolving it over the years.

The car will come as a coupé, and a roadster is also under consideration. the new SLS will be a two-seater, powered by a V8 engine mounted in the front of the car.

This engine will most likely be the 5.5 liter twin-turbo which develops up to 500 horsepower. Expect 0-60mph in four seconds and a top speed of 185mph.

The baby SLS is expected to arrive in 2014, with a price tag of around 80,000 Euros.

Finger monkeys Tiny primates are world's smallest

Pocket primate ... pygmy marmosets are the smallest monkeys in the world

WE'RE not monkeying about — this little critter really is as tiny as a FINGER.

Dwarf monkeys, or pygmy marmosets, are officially the smallest monkeys in the world.

The teeny primates measure just 5-6ins and on average weigh in at a measly 130g — lighter than an apple.

The cute creatures, which are normally found in rainforests in Brazil, are affectionately known as "pocket monkeys", "finger monkeys" and "little lions".

And it's easy to see why with their fluffy mane of fur and miniature size.

The animals have become a web hit on cult site Slightly Warped.

And looking at these adorable images it's not surprising they've been getting the lion's share of online attention.

Good things come in small packages ... two tranquil mini monkeys

Twisted around his little finger ... butter wouldn't melt for this 'little lion'

Peace ... two dwarf monkeys get 40 winks

Hasilkan baju dengan gentian susu

ENAM liter susu diperlukan untuk menghasilkan sehelai baju.

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HANOVER, Jerman - Seorang pereka fesyen yang juga merupakan pakar mikrobiologi, Anke Domaske mengejutkan dunia fesyen apabila berjaya mencipta baju daripada gentian susu. Domaske, 28, menemui cara menggabungkan susu tepung dengan bahan lain untuk menghasilkan sejenis fabrik istimewa. Rekaan pakaiannya diberi nama Qmilch.

ANKE DOMASKE bergambar bersama model dan pakaian yang dihasilkan daripada gentian susu.

"Fabrik susu ini mengandungi protein yang berperanan memastikan kulit anda berada dalam keadaan sihat. Pakaian bio merupakan satu trend baharu yang akan bermula dalam industri fesyen dan kami kini berada di hadapan," kata Domaske yang membangunkan gentian susu tersebut dalam tempoh hanya dua tahun.

Dia juga percaya teknik yang dibangunkan dengan kerjasama Institut Fiber Bremen itu boleh diaplikasikan ke dalam industri lain termasuklah ubat-ubatan.

Sebelum ini, beberapa buah syarikat Eropah seperti H&M dan C&A telah menghasilkan pakaian yang diperbuat daripada kain kapas organik. Tetapi kebanyakan material organik adalah mahal untuk dipasarkan ke pasaran antarabangsa.

Gentian susu tersebut mengandungi 18 asid amino yang memberi faedah kepada kesihatan. Untuk menghasilkan sehelai baju, Domaske memerlukan sehingga enam liter susu. - Agensi

Hotel di dalam hutan menanti pembeli

HOTEL Balsams Grand Resort di Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, Amerika Syarikat kini mencari pemilik baharu.

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DIXVILLE NOTCH, New Hampshire - Sebuah hotel berusia hampir 150 tahun yang terletak di dalam hutan di sini kini menanti pembeli sejak ia mula berada dalam pasaran untuk dijual pada Julai tahun lalu.

Hotel Balsams Grand Resort yang ditutup pada 14 September lalu itu mempunyai padang golf dan boleh memuatkan 400 tetamu.

Ahli lembaga pengarah hotel itu kini mencari pemilik baharu yang boleh memodenkan hartanah tersebut kerana ia tidak pernah mengalami sebarang kerja-kerja pengubahsuaian besar sejak awal tahun 1900-an.

Hotel itu milik keluarga Tillotson sejak tahun 1954 yang terkenal kerana melabur dalam industri getah.

Namun, ia kini mengalami kerugian sejak beberapa tahun lalu.

Hotel itu menggunakan tenaga wap panas yang dijana oleh sebuah loji biojisim yang pernah digunakan untuk menjana kilang milik Tillotson yang terletak dekat dengan hotel tersebut.

"Ia adalah kos terbesar kami selain kos buruh, ia menyebabkan kami sukar bersaing sebagai sebuah hotel. Adalah sukar untuk mendapat pulangan modal apabila kos tenaga anda begitu tinggi," kata presiden dan pengurus besar hotel tersebut, Jeff McIver.

Hotel itu mengalami kerugian selama bertahun-tahun dengan aset yayasan keluarga tersebut digunakan untuk menampung kos operasinya. - Agensi

Belanja RM32.06 juta angkut batu 340 tan

SEORANG pekerja berdiri di depan bongkah batu seberat 340 tan yang diangkut ke Muzium Seni dari kuari Stone Valley di Riverside, California pada 22 September lalu.

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LOS ANGELES, Amerika Syarikat (AS) - Muzium Seni Los Angeles yang membelanjakan sehingga AS$10 juta (RM32.06 juta) untuk membawa sebuah bongkah batu ke sebuah bangunannya di pusat bandar ini.

Bongkah batu seberat 340 tan itu akan dijadikan karya hasil seni oleh artis terkenal AS, Michael Heizer dalam pameran yang dikenali sebagai Levitated Mass.

Ia diangkut dari kuari Stone Valley dekat sini oleh sebuah kenderaan pengangkut yang mempunyai 196 tayar yang mampu membawa berat muatan 450,000 kilogram.

Seramai 60 orang termasuk pemandu, juruarah dan anggota polis terbabit dalam usaha memindahkan bongkah batu gergasi tersebut.- Agensi

Qatar now world’s richest nation

Qatar surpassed Luxembourg as the world’s richest nation in 2010 and is set to pull away with wealth that’s almost twice that of the US.

The IMF’s Chart of the Day shows Qatar’s gross domestic product per capita at $88,221 in 2010, beating Luxembourg for the top spot.

The figure may reach $111,963 by 2016, surpassing Luxembourg’s $94,621 and Singapore’s $70,992, the IMF said.

“It’s the combination of wealth, growth and a small population,” said Paul Cooper, Dubai-based managing director at Sarasin-Alpen & Partners.

Qatar forecasts economic growth of about 16 percent in 2011 and projects a budget surplus of $6.1 billion this fiscal year.

The IMF estimates the Gulf nation will have the world’s fastest-growing economy for a second year (Qatar has a population of about 848,000).

The country, the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, has reached its target of 77 million tons of annual production.

Qatar, one of the largest global investors through its sovereign wealth fund, plans to spend over $125bn in the next five years on construction and energy projects.

Lioness saves cub from cliff fall

Rescued ... cub is lifted to safety

A BRAVE lioness shows raw strength as she lifts her tiny cub to safety in a dramatic cliff-side rescue.

Mum came to the rescue after the young male wandered off from the herd and became stranded above a ravine.

Facing an almost vertical climb and the prospect of a huge drop, the lioness carefully made her way to the ledge where the cub was stuck.

Slip ... lioness dives to catch son

She then had to dive for him when he fell from the crumbling refuge.

The lioness eventually clawed her way back to the top with the cub in her jaws.

Steep ... another lion tried but failed

Once back to safety, she gave the wayward youngster an affectionate lick of the head.

The amazing rescue at Kenya's Masai Mara game reserve was captured by wildlife photographer Jean-Francois Largot.

Licky escape ... duo after rescue

Owning a Private Island

Our summer of discontent is over. Between the scary debt-ceiling debacle in Washington, economic woes in Europe, and frightening stock-market gyrations, it's time to get away, right? So what would it be like to escape to your own getaway in the Florida Keys, off the coast in the Northeast, or on the banks of Lake Michigan?

Usually impervious to market swings, even the private island market has adjusted to the weak economy, with prices dropping as much as 50 percent, according to Farhad Vladi, president of Vladi Private Islands. More sellers are also obtaining building permits in advance of sale -- a long process that can be one of the biggest drawbacks to creating an island retreat.

Don't fool yourself: Owning an island is a luxury, not an investment. It can take two to five years to complete a private refuge on an undeveloped piece of land. Purchasing an island that comes with everything you need speeds up the process, but you give up the opportunity to truly make it your own, something that Chris Krolow, president of Private Islands Inc., says is often important to his well-to-do clients.

So whether you have the will and the way, or just wonder what it would be like, take a look at these islands for sale.

Vladi Private Islands

Lower Birch Islands

Place: Near Addison Township, Maine, about 60 miles northeast of Bar Harbor

Asking Price: $1.295 million

Acreage: Larger island is 23.6 acres; smaller island is 4.4 acres

Larger island is developed; smaller island is undeveloped

It's rare to find islands for sale in this easternmost county of the U.S. Located about ten miles off the mainland, the larger island has a three-bedroom, 1.5 bath home with a wraparound deck, and the current owner is obtaining permits to build a four-bedroom home on the smaller one. A generator and solar power system come with the existing home, as does most of the furniture. There is also a three-acre launch lot on the mainland, perfect for getting the 28-foot lobster boat and dingy included in the sale in and out of the water. The asking price is $500,000 less than back in 2007, when the islands first went on sale.

Private Islands Online

Brewers Island

Place: Near Glen Burnie, Md., 15 miles south of Baltimore

Asking Price: $890,000 (price recently reduced)

Acreage: 1 acre

Developed

Washington, D.C. is less than 40 miles away, and Baltimore's Inner Harbor is accessible by speedboat in just 35 minutes.

Located 300 yards from shore in Marley Creek, a small waterway that leads to the Chesapeake Bay, the island has a two-bedroom, one-bath home, accompanied by a one-bedroom, one-bath guest-cottage. It also comes with high-speed cable, electricity, and water and septic systems. Interesting history, too: The title deed dates back to the pre-Revolutionary War era, and the island is rumored to have been part of the underground railroad for fugitive slaves before the Civil War.

Private Islands Online

Namaste Island

Place: In Lake Michigan, near Traverse City, Mich.

Asking Price: $885,000

Acreage: 7.5 acres

Developed

You could watch the sun rise over Lake Michigan from your bed in this newly renovated three-bedroom, one-bath cabin.

Located less than 1,000 feet from shore, the kitchen comes complete with high-end Electrolux appliances. The island also has several sandy beaches, wild blueberries in July and great fishing.

Private Islands Online

Maude Island

Place: Near Sitka, Ak., in the Alaskan panhandle

Asking Price: $1.15 million

Acreage: 1 acre

Developed

The three-bedroom, two-bath, 2,500-square-foot home has several large decks with views of glaciers and mountains towering over the Gulf of Alaska. The house also comes with a private dock for fishing, boating and kayaking.

Private Islands Online

Sea Shell Key

Place: In the Florida Keys, near Marathon, Fla.

Asking Price: $1.35 million

Acreage: 0.25 acre

Developed

Two-bedroom, one-bath escape comes with a screened-in-porch, air conditioning, electricity and water, a Jacuzzi tub and satellite TV.

The island is surrounded by an exposed reef that attracts all kinds of sea life And, situated less than 1,000 feet from Marathon, there's town life nearby.

Tak mengaku salah kerat kemaluan suami

CATHERINE KIEU

WESTMINSTER - Seorang wanita California, Catherine Kieu tidak mengaku bersalah mengerat kemaluan suaminya dan membuangnya di dalam pengisar sampah.

Dia membuat pengakuan itu di Mahkamah Daerah Orange, di sini pada Jumaat lalu berhubung dakwaan melakukan penyeksaan dan menambahkan kacau-bilau.

Kieu juga didakwa menggunakan pisau dan menyebabkan kecederaan.

Jika disabitkan dengan semua kesalahan itu, dia akan dikenakan penjara seumur hidup tanpa dikenakan parol.

Wanita itu ditahan dengan wang ikat jamin sebanyak AS$1 juta (RM3.16 juta).

Pihak berkuasa berkata, wanita itu membubuh dadah di dalam makanan suaminya yang berusia 60 tahun pada 11 Julai lalu.

Dia kemudian mengikat tangan dan kaki suaminya di katil.

Pihak berkuasa menyatakan Kieu mengerat kemaluan suaminya semasa dia terjaga selepas tertidur.

Suaminya itu telah memfailkan perceraian pada Mei lalu selepas 16 bulan mereka mendirikan rumah tangga.- AP