In the news
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 9, 2006
Models of health
Spain's top fashion show has turned away a slew of models, calling them too skinny.
Organizers of Madrid Fashion Week used a mathematical formula to calculate the models' body mass index - a measure of their weight in relation to their height - and 30 percent of the women flunked, said the Association of Fashion Designers of Spain.
The association said Friday it wanted models at the show, running Sept. 18 to 22, to project "an image of beauty and health," not a gaunt, emaciated look. Last year's show drew protests from medical associations and women's advocacy groups because some of the models were too thin.
This time the Madrid regional government decided to pressure organizers to hire fuller-figured women as role models for young girls obsessed with being thin and prone to starving themselves into sickness, said Concha Guerra, deputy finance minister of the regional administration.
A vow of conscience
Brad Pitt says he won't marry Angelina Jolie until the restrictions on who can marry whom are dropped.
"Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able," Pitt says in Esquire magazine's October issue, on newsstands Sept. 19.
Though Shiloh, the world-famous daughter of Pitt and Jolie, hogged much attention upon her birth in May, Pitt says he "cannot imagine life" without his adopted children, Maddox, 5, and Zahara, 1.
"They're as much of my blood as any natural born, and I'm theirs," Pitt says. "That's all I can say about it. I can't live without them. So: Anyone considering (adoption), that's my vote."
Amazon begins video downloading service
Amazon.com Inc. launched a digital video downloading service Thursday, ending months of speculation that the Internet retailer would be getting into the online TV and movie business.
The service, dubbed Amazon Unbox, will offer thousands of television shows, movies and other videos from more than 30 studios and networks, the company said.
TV shows will cost $1.99 per episode, and most movies will go for $7.99 to $14.99; movies can be rented for $3.99.
Amazon Unbox will offer shows from CBS, Fox, MTV, Nickelodeon, PBS, BBC, A&E, Discovery Channel, Comedy Central and the History Channel, among others.
Seven major studios are participating in Amazon.com's service: Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros., Lionsgate Entertainment Corp. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Walt Disney Pictures is not participating. Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs is the largest shareholder of Walt Disney Co., and the announcement of Amazon's service comes just days ahead of the expected launch of a movie download service at Apple's iTunes Music Store.
Amazon said the service will work on any Internet-connected personal computer running Windows XP. The downloads can be transferred onto DVDs for storage, and the DVDs can be used to play the movie on the computer that downloaded it, but they cannot be played on a regular DVD player.