EDS: For Canwest newspapers only.

Europe's first `personalized paper' rolls off the presses

BERLIN - You can listen to satellite or web broadcasts made up of only music you like, and watch cable news network hosts you'll never disagree with, so it was only a matter of time before someone came up with a newspaper that will never expose you to news or opinions you don't want to read.

Niiu, Europe's first ``personalized paper'' rolled off the presses this week in Berlin.

News on the subscriber's chosen subject - for example, sports, politics or entertainment - is gathered from major German and foreign papers, blogs and Internet news sources, put together in a 16-page paper and delivered to the door before 8 a.m.

Niiu is aimed mainly at students, who pay 1.20 euros ($2 Cdn) to get their narrow news fix; non-students pay up to 1.8 euros.

More than 1,000 subscribers have already signed up, said Wanja Oberhof, 23, one of the founders. "That has exceeded all our expectations," he said.

The founders said that young people were tired of trawling the web for items of interest to them.

"Our feedback has shown that people prefer to read from paper," said Oberhof.

Source: Agence France-Presse

After luxury bags, counterfeit luxury wines

PARIS - Is that a Petrus in your Prada bag, or are you trying to impress me with a knock-off?

Fine wines such as Petrus and Chateau d'Yquem are the latest fashion brands to be targeted by counterfeiters looking to make a buck from those who want to be seen to have the best - but don't always want to pay for it.

Trafficking in fake vintage wine has "always existed a little, but it's definitely amplified with the rising prices of fine wines", said Sylvain Boivert, director of the Conseil des Grands Crus Classes en 1855.

Jeroboams (the equivalent of four bottles) of the 1945 vintage from the Romanee-Conti estate in Burgundy, one of the world's scarcest and most expensive wines, have recently been sold in auctions, according to Laurent Ponsot, a renowned Burgundy producer.

Alas, Romanee-Conti did not bottle their 1945 in Jeroboams.

Counterfeiters use methods such as photocopied labels, or different chateau names on the capsule and the label. Sometimes the bottle is authentic but doesn't contain the wine or the vintage indicated, or only partially, the level of the wine having been topped off with another wine by using a syringe.

Source: Agence France-Presse

U.S. singles on PlayDate search for soulmate

ARLINGTON, Va. - It's like speed-dating brought to you by Hasbro.

There's no end of businesses out there willing to hook lonely singles up for a price. Now at least someone's come up with a scheme that promises to be more fun than sifting through thousands of profiles on the Internet.

PlayDate offers a chance to meet Mr. or Ms. Right along with a return to childhood, playing games such as Scrabble, Monopoly, or Hungry Hippo.

Prospective daters pay $15 a night to lose themselves in the fun and spontaneity of going head-to-head against a prospective romantic interest, say organizers. They say daters can have a raucous good time - whether or not they find love - because the board and floor games break down the inhibitions and self-consciousness that can make the typical dating scene so painful.

PlayDate's organizers have not entirely forsaken classic dating fare: In addition to fun and games, there is a cocktail bar along with a dance floor at one end of the ballroom, complete with a DJ spinning classic soul tunes.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Women paid to listen to Gadhafi speech

ROME - Here's a cautionary tale for those looking for temp work.

In Rome recently, modelling agency Hostessweb recruited 100 young women - specifications were for women at least five foot seven, pleasant and well- dressed, no low-cut tops or mini skirts allowed - for an evening's work that paid anywhere from 50 to 60 euros ($79 to $95 Cdn).

The women were told to go to a luxury hotel on the Via Veneto, then were taken in buses to another location.

To the surprise of the women, who were expecting a party, they were taken to the Libyan ambassador's residence, where the job was to sit in the audience and listen to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi deliver an hour-long speech during which, among other topics, he exhorted them to convert to Islam.

The Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera said the speech finished about midnight and the women were given a copy of the Green Book of the Libyan revolution and another work called How To Be Muslim? They were not, however, given anything to eat or drink.

Newspaper reports said Hostessweb had recruited another 400 women for two new evenings with the Libyan leader during his stay in Rome.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Compiled by Kim Covert