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September 01, 2011 Sparks fly: Winegrowers in Australia can no longer use champagne on their labels, and must use the term sparkling wine. Relaxnews PARIS, Sept 1 If youre drinking bubbly in Australia that was bottled before September 1, theres no telling where it actually came from. But as of today, any bubbly produced in that country can no longer label itself as champagne but will have to be called sparkling wine. Its part of a trade agreement that was signed between Australia and the European Union, meant to protect winegrowers around the world and enforce labelling laws, an initiative of the Comit Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne, or CIVC in France. To mark the milestone event in the industry, the organisation has created a website counting down the final minutes until the new Australian law comes into force. When it comes to wine, there is no ingredient more important than location, says the CIVC. The land, air, water and weather where grapes are grown are what make each w...

August 31, 2011 The study also found many of the companies spent more on lobbying than they did on taxes. Reuters pic WASHINGTON, Aug 31 Twenty-five of the 100 highest paid US CEOs earned more last year than their companies paid in federal income tax, a pay study said today. It also found many of the companies spent more on lobbying than they did on taxes. At a time when lawmakers are facing tough choices in a quest to slash the national debt, the report from the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), a left-leaning Washington think tank, quickly hit a nerve. After reading it, Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings, ranking member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, called for hearings on executive compensation. In a letter to that committees chairman, Republican Darrell Issa, Cummings asked to examine the extent to which the problems in CEO compensation that led to the economic crisis continue to exist today. He also asked why CEO pay and corporate profits are skyro...

Add to My Stories Share Male executives are paid more than 10,000 a year more than their female counterparts, research has revealed - and it will take 98 years for the gap to close. Astudy of 35,000 executives showed a gender gap of 10,546, around 500 more than last year, although at junior level women earned marginally more than men. Wages for women executives are increasing faster than those of men. Disparity: Young women managers have overtaken men and now earn 600 more on average in the same jobs Butat the current rate it will take almost 100 years for salaries to be equal, according to the report by the Chartered Management Institute. Maleexecutives earned an average of 42,441 compared with 31,895 for women, although men's pay increased by 2.3 per cent in the past year compared with 2.8 per cent for women. CMI research chief Petra Wilton said: 'While CMI is delighted that junior female executives have caught up with males at thesame level, this year's salary sur...

August 31, 2011 The tax is not new but the fact moon cakes given out by companies are now considered to be income that is taxable has set off a torrent of criticism. foodhunt.net pic BEIJING, Aug 31 A Chinese tax on moon cakes is not likely to spark an uprising of the sort that earned the Boston Tea Party its place in history, but the move has left a bad taste in the mouth ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Tens of millions of brightly decorated boxes of the fist-sized moon cakes are exchanged at this time of year in a symbolic tribute to the full moon that is considered biggest and roundest on the holiday, which this year falls on September 12. Companies get into the act, and gifts between colleagues and customers have become a costly business ritual across the country. That made the so-called moon cake tax an easy choice for tax authorities looking for new sources of revenue. Actually, the tax is not new, but the moon cakes given out by companies are now considered to be income that...

Add to My Stories Share In his major new examination of the Elizabethans, historian A.N. Wilson details the passionate love Queen Elizabeth I felt for several men throughout her reign. Here, in the final part of the Mails exclusive serialisation, Wilson reflects on the Queens later years and her disastrous infatuation with a courtier young enough to be her grandson... By the time she was in her mid-60s, the Virgin Queen had grown prematurely old, with a goggle throat and a great gullet hanging out. But if Elizabeth was long past her springtime, so was her once dynamic country. The new French ambassador travelled from Dover to London in 1597 through a landscape he described as wild and untilled. In her palace in Whitehall, he was taken to meet her as she sat in a low chair, all by herself and melancholy, almost as if she had been abandoned. Her long, thin face was lined. Her teeth were very yellow and unequal. On either side of her ears, two great curls hung from beneath a somewha...

Add to My Stories Share Elle Macpherson often pictured on the school run sporting perfectly styled hair, high heels and designer outfits. But it seems the supermodel isn't the only one who makes an effort at the school gates. Two thirds of mothers will try to get a one up on when their kids go back to school following the six week summer break, it has emerged. Yummy mummy: Elle Macpherson looks impossibly glamorous on the school run Anything Elle can do...: Celebrities who make an effort at the school gates have encouraged other others to follow suit, as the average mother spends 25 minutes perfecting hair and make-up in preparation for the first day back Around one in six will sport a new hairdo, a similar number have bought a new outfit while others will be showing off a bronzed look. Italso emerged the average mother will spend up to 25 minutes perfecting her hair and make-up and deciding what to wear in preparation for the big day. Amazingly, that's around seve...

Add to My Stories Share A fashion boutique is opening in London where young girls can turn themselves into living dolls by dressing exactly the same way as their toys. My London Girl is Britain's first 'doll boutique' where children can choose a designer outfit and accessories for themselves and then buy a doll to match. The store, which opens in London's Westfield shopping centre this month, will sell designer clothes for girls aged three to 12-years-old. The same clothing range will also be available to buy in doll-size, with the 19in dolls on sale for 79. Mini me: At My London Girl, children can get designer outfits for themselves and their dolls To make the dolls even more personal to the owner, they come with different eye colours and skin tones. The hair can also be as closely matched as possible with different shades from blonde to black available which can be curly or straight. The current clothing range of the shop is created by David Charles, who usual...

August 31, 2011 A screen capture shows a Merdeka- and Aidilfitri-themed Google doodle at google.com.my. KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 31 Google gave Malaysia a very special Merdeka Day present: Its very own Google doodle. Visitors to google.com.my today will see the Google logo decorated with a ketupat and a Malaysia flag, in celebration of Merdeka Raya. We're delighted to add a special Malaysian design to our doodle list, especially since it is a rare double celebration this year. While Google is a global brand, we want to be as local as we can in our own Googley way. We wish all Malaysians a Selamat Hari Raya and Merdeka Day, said Sajith Sivanandan, country head, Google Malaysia. Google doodles have delighted users over the years and have proven to be an endearing part of the whole Google experience. They have celebrated and marked everything from Alfred Hitchcock's birthday to leap years. A team of designers are employed to come up with these doodles and here is a short history of doo...

Add to My Stories Share Investigation: Jenny Stocks visited six abortion advice centres, but found that Choices was the only one that gave balanced advice Regardless of your moral stance, deciding whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy must surely rank as one of the most difficult dilemmas a woman can face. At a time when a woman feels at her most confused and vulnerable, it is vital she has access to clear, impartial advice, so that she can reach a decision which, either way, will stay with her for the rest of her life. For years, campaigners have expressed fears that pregnant women have only been able to seek advice from abortion providers, who are running profit-making businesses, or from pro-life groups, who tend to encourage keeping a baby, no matter what the circumstances. The issue is due to come before Parliament this week, when Tory backbencher Nadine Dorries will ask for the biggest shake-up of abortion laws for 20 years. Under the proposed changes, abortion clinics...

Add to My Stories Share Given its perfectly possible that you have not yet seen the Hollywood blockbuster One Day, or read the bestseller on which its based, let me enlighten you. The story begins in 1988 and follows our two lead characters dowdy blue-stocking Emma, who abandons acting and enchilada-filling in a cheap Mexican restaurant to become a teacher, and Dexter, a rakish, handsome, privileged young man who finds fame on television. These two spend the night together just once after graduation, and we revisit them once a year, on St Swithins Day, for the following 20 years. They are best friends. They make each other laugh. They flirt, and reach out for each other when life has, yet again, kicked them in the teeth and they are lonely. Ideal love: Jim Sturgess as Dexter and Anne Hathaway as Emma in the film One Day You and I are supposed to think that they are meant for each other, but pride, fear, circumstance, other people, geography and a careless postman get in the w...

Add to My Stories Share Its a common gripe for anyone faced with a pile of ironing regularly having to stop and wait for the heat setting to catch up when you switch between cottons and delicates. Even then, there is always the risk of the less domesticated among us either scorching favourite clothes, or not being able to get creases out of them on lower temperatures. But an iron manufacturer claims to have eliminated the need to check labels and adjust the heat each time you start on a different shirt or dress. Hot new product: The Philips PerfectCare Iron The iron cannot scorch fabric, its makers claim despite having only one temperature setting. It can even get perfect results on tricky-to-iron fabrics such as silk. At an eye-watering 230, it promises to save time and money in damaged clothes and dry cleaning bills. It also spares you the need to pre-sort clothes. The Philips PerfectCare iron claims to get creases out of any type of fabric even though its soleplate never he...

Add to My Stories Share Kiki Dee, 64, is best known for her chart-topping 1976 duet with Elton John, Dont Go Breaking My Heart. She lives alone in Hertfordshire. This is me in 1957, aged about ten, in St Oswald's Junior School rounders team. I always enjoyed sport. I was a bit of a wild child, to be honest, and just loved running around. I was born Pauline Matthews and grew up in Bradford as one of three children I had an older brother, David, and an older sister, Betty. My father Fred worked in the mills as a textile weaving supervisor, and my mother, Mary, was a housewife. Sports fan: Kiki, centre, on her school hockey team Being the youngest, I was a bit of a daddy's girl, and sought attention from an early age by singing. I don'tknow where I got my voice, but ours was always a musical house. More... My haven: Michelin-starred chef Jean-Christophe Novelli lets off steam in the gym at his 14th-century Hertfordshire farmhouse My sister played piano, and my brother ...

August 30, 2011 TOKYO, Aug 30 Jokes about creaky knees, thinning hair and spreading or vanishing waistlines have long been an inevitable, if unwelcome, part of watching the birthdays pile up. But it shouldnt be that way, argues Wendy Lustbader, who maintains that youth, with all its insecurities and confusion, is more of a burden than the golden age society says it is, with aging far from a gloomy decline. File photo of Ayako Shizo (centre), 85, tapping a therapeutic robot named Paro as she sits with other residents at the Suisyoen retirement home in Iwaki, Japan on July 28, 2011. Reuters pic Im so disgusted by the pervasive dread of ageing that everyone has, and the constant joking about it and everybody looking at later life as if its just a dead zone, with nothing going on, said Lustbader, a former social worker and author who herself is in her late 50s. But its really the opposite. When you really get to know elders, when you hang out with them as much as I have, its the elders...

Add to My Stories Share Investigation: Jenny Stocks visited six abortion advice centres, but found that Choices was the only one that gave balanced advice Regardless of your moral stance, deciding whether to terminate an unwanted pregnancy must surely rank as one of the most difficult dilemmas a woman can face. At a time when a woman feels at her most confused and vulnerable, it is vital she has access to clear, impartial advice, so that she can reach a decision which, either way, will stay with her for the rest of her life. For years, campaigners have expressed fears that pregnant women have only been able to seek advice from abortion providers, who are running profit-making businesses, or from pro-life groups, who tend to encourage keeping a baby, no matter what the circumstances. The issue is due to come before Parliament this week, when Tory backbencher Nadine Dorries will ask for the biggest shake-up of abortion laws for 20 years. Under the proposed changes, abortion clinics...

Add to My Stories Share Hands off: Supercop Bill Bratton and fourth wife Rikki - who uses body language to ward off other women When U.S supercop Bill Bratton and wife Rikki were pictured in The Mail on Sunday last week, her elegantly manicured fingers were lightly but oh so firmly resting upon her handsome husbands torso. And a little research reveals that in almost every photograph taken of the couple, TV personality Rikki has adopted a similar pose. Bill is the charismatic policeman credited with reversing Americas crime epidemic and the fact that Rikki is his fourth wife is perhaps a clue to the significance of her sub-conscious hand signals. Because body-language expert Judi James says the pose is classically adopted by women everywhere to send a hands-off gesture to any rivals who may be interested in their man. This is a possessive barrier gesture, explains James. Although it is a sign of affection, principally it is a signal to other females, who may be potential rival...