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Off the Record
Raisa raises glamour stakes
LONDON : Soviet first lady Raisa Gorbachev cut a stylish figure at the side of President Mikhail Gorbachev on Wednesday, reports Reuter.
All smiles, she arrived with Gorbachev for a news confer ence with British Prime Minister John Major, at which the two leaders announced an unprecedented partnership between the Soviet Union and the West.
Gorbachev, with her taste for Italian haute couture, raised the glamour stakes at an already stylish spouses' summit.
French fashion designer Pierre Cardin once called her one of the most elegant women in the world.
Stunning Mila Mulroney, wife of Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, captured the limelight from the first moment. appearing in a dazzling all-white suit on Monday to greet summit hostess Norma Major.
That evening for a night at the theatre, she again went for white a skin tight jersey dress.
Norma Major, wife of British Prime Minister John Major, found the spotlight trained on her as she made her debut as hostess at a key international gathering.
Gay union blessed
PHOENIX: About 150 gay couples had their relationships blessed Thursday by a pastor who founded a church to serve homosexuals and lesbians, reports AP
The couples stood with arms around one another as the Rev. Troy Perry, head of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches, recited an approximation of marriage vows.
Then, at Perry s suggestion, the couples embraced and kissed.
The world tells us you can't do that," Perry said. They say you can't touch another that you love. But you certainly can."
Aa_ihe hugs continued, he added. This can continue in the bedroom."
Troy founded the church in 1968. It now has about 200 congregations across the country. The service was part of the church's biennial conference.
The conference met as the Episcopal Church's governing convention met in Phoenix and debated whether the church should sanction homosexual relationships and ordain gay prleata. Episcopal leaders reaffirmed thetr stand against sex ual relations outside heterosexual marriage, but acknowl edged that many church members don't heed the policy.
Shahara shrinking
WASHINGTON Despite reports of global warming and African drought, the Sahara desert has shrunk markedly since 1984. following a substantial expansion over the previous four years, scientists say. reports AP.
In a report tn Friday's edition of the journal Science. the researchers said thetr satellite measurements of the world's largest desert over the last decade aren t enough Io declare a trend, but they did express surprise at what one termed the "unbelievable" fluctuations from year to year
For example, the Sahara grew from 3 4 million square miles (8 8 million square kilometers) tn I960 to 3 9 rrtlhon square miles (10.1 million square kilometers) tn Just four years, including an expansion of 218.000 square miles (366,800 square kilometers) from 1963 to 1964. they said And just a year later. they found it had shrunk by 262.000 square miles (733.200 square kilometers)
The studies, part of an overall programme assessing global climate change, were performed by two NASA scientists. Compton J Tucker and William W Newcomb, at the apace agency s Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics in Greenbelt Md. and by Harold E Dregne of Taxa* Tech University * International Center for Arid and Semi Arid Land Studies
"What has been • tremendous surprise to us to the toter annual variation it • what I would have thought unbelievable " Dreme said in • telephone Interview
The scientist. said they still don't know why It • happen Ing or whal the tong term outlook to
It would require a decadetong study to determine whether long term expansion or contraction of the Sahara to occurring." according to the report of the three actenttota