One of Bangladesh's two "battling begums" went on trial for extortion yesterday, as part of the emergency Government's plan to break their stranglehold on politics and exclude them from an election this year.

The two women, who have dominated Bangladeshi politics for almost two decades, were arrested after the army forced the President to cancel parliamentary polls and impose emergency rule in January last year.

Domenico Nesci charms the ladies, Italian-style, on new MTV dating ...

The gregarious 26-year-old from Milan, Italy, endeared himself to fans during his stint as a Speedo-wearing contestant on MTV's dating show, "A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila," though he failed to win over Tequila.

President Bush Declares March Red Cross Month

In a tradition dating back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President George W. Bush declared March as Red Cross Month, calling it a time to "honor this charitable organization" and "reflect on its remarkable achievements and contributions to our country."

In a Proclamation signed today, the President cited examples of how the Red Cross had provided food, comfort and medical assistance to the victims of a number of disasters in 2007, from the tragic bridge collapse in Minnesota to the devastating wildfires in California. He also noted how the Red Cross provides vital assistance by organizing blood drives, teaching health and safety programs, and supporting our men and women in uniform.

Throughout the month, 750 Red Cross chapters across the country will celebrate in a variety of ways, including holding special events, trainings or fundraisers to give people an opportunity to support the organization through donations of time, money or blood.

Sniffing for Mr. Right

ScientificMatch.com, a Boston-based Internet-dating site launched in December, was created to turn this insight into money. Its founder, an engineer (and self-confessed serial dater) named Eric Holzle, is drawing on an observation made over a decade ago by Claus Wedekind, a researcher at the University of Bern in Switzerland.

Wedekind knew, from studies on mice, that besides fending off infection, the MHC has a role in sexual attractiveness. It changes odors in ways the mice can detect (with mice, the odors are in the urine), and that detection is translated into preferences for particular mates.

Men do it better

When Jakki Chrysler wants to know why a guy hasn't called her, she does not consult her girlfriends.

The line spawned a bestselling book called He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo that was then turned into a film, set for release this summer, starring Scarlett Johansson and Drew Barrymore.

Former Merrillville star putting up big numbers for Cards

Julie DeMuth (Merrillville) was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week after leading Ball State's women's basketball team to the La Quinta Inn and Suites Tournament title recently.The Cardinals' senior forward was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player for her play in victories over Vermont and host Northern Arizona.The MVP honor was the fourth tourney MVP award DeMuth has received, dating back to her sophomore year.DeMuth averaged 21 points per game in BSU's two wins. She shot 50 percent from the floor (12-of-24) and 82 percent from the free throw line (16-of-19) and averaged nine rebounds per game.For the season, DeMuth is averaging 14.7 points and 7.4 rebounds per outing.Aric Van Weelden (Munster) matched his career-high with five points and recorded personal-bests with five rebounds and four assists in Loyola's 76-72 overtime win over Northern Illinois.The 6-foot-3 sophomore guard came off the Ramblers' bench and played a career-high 29 minutes with no turnovers.

Rapper Mr. Serv-On Writes Dating Book For Black Women

Former No Limit Soldier Mr. Serv-On is gearing up for his return to the public eye, via a new dating and relationship guide written by the artist himself.


Entitled Inside the Mind of Brothas: A Young Black Man's Guide for Black Women Trying to Survive the Dating Game in Today's Hip-Hop Generation, the book aims to resolve the most common conflicts faced by young African-American couples today.


“Seventy percent of the time, Black Women's hearts get broken because of their own blind misjudgment and greediness for a man based on outside attributes," explained Mr. Serv-On.


“With this book, I hope to teach women about today's Black men in the Hip-Hop community, so that the playing fields are equal and every black woman will end up with the right guy," the rapper continued.

To find a partner, scratch and sniff

Sniffing someone's armpits does not sound the most promising start to a date. Research, however, suggests that it will probably turn up a better prospect than either a blind date or gabbling nervously to 20 consecutive strangers. Now a new dating website, ScientificMatch.com, promises a discreet way of letting you nose out potential partners.

Researchers found more than a decade ago - by asking female students to sniff T-shirts worn by men - that ovulating women rate certain male body odours as sexier than others. Crucially, the preferences depended on a certain part of the immune system called the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Women, it turned out, were bewitched by the odours of men whose MHC genes were most different from their own, and repelled by the aroma of men with similar MHC genes.

News briefs

Join the Perkins Center in the last of their Beyond Charity series forum exploring Christian community development and reconciliation on the SPU campus, in the local community and around the world. The forum will be tomorrow at 1 p.m. in Otto Miller Hall 109. For more information, contact Caenisha Warren at warrec@spu.edu.

Enjoy the Concert Choir, including Women's Choir, directed by Neil Leiurance, and Men's Choir, directed by Ken Pendergrass, at 7:30 p.m.

Pr. George's Police Suspect Online Prowler in Six Rapes

The rapist stalks his victims on the Internet, surfing popular dating Web sites and chat rooms, where he meets women and sets up sex dates. At least six times, unsuspecting Prince George's County women arrived for a date but found a masked attacker, armed with a handgun, county police said yesterday.

How To Marry A Millionaire — Really

There are more millionaires than ever, and no shortage of people who want to share their success.

But one event in Manhattan last week turned the old idea of a gold digger on its head.

"We are hosting a speed date exclusively available to ultra-wealthy women and hot young men," said event organizer Jeremy Abelson.

One female in attendance, Gail Garrison, said she is a 44-year-old fashion designer.

Another said: "My name is Vivian Cha. I'm 47 years old. And I'm a physician."

Nancy Richards said: "I'm 50 years old. But my motto is '50 is the new 30.'"

"I'm open to dating men that are younger, whether it's five years, ten years, 12 years," Garrison said.

What did one of the younger men there have to say? Paul Janka, 27, said: "I want to be coddled, yes."

"There are a lot of people who are gonna say, 'That's disgusting.' Anytime you integrate money into dating, people are going to say, 'That's disgusting.' And it's usually by people who don't have any money," Abelson said.

Courtship Rituals of Cornellians: An Ethnography

There was, I imagine, a moment in history when courtship rituals among the young men and women far above Cayuga's waters were fairly homogenous. That moment having been summarily executed in a parking lot, our current dating repertoires are sorely in need of documentation. It was the practice of pre-1990s anthropologists to write ethnographies that trampled all hopes of agency and otherized with grace rarely seen in today's literature. It is my intent to follow in that tradition with this column.

Hipsters — Although sometimes thought to be a twenty-first century construct, the Hipster genealogy is long, with Bob Dylan throwing the term around the East Village in 1959 and Billy Corgan beseeching Hipsters to unite in 1993's “Cherub Rock." Any such illustrious lineage must carry entrenched norms of courtship and reproduction.