Pageant priest

Rome, Aug. 27 (Reuters): An Italian priest who had planned an online “pageant” for nuns has suspended the project, saying he was misinterpreted and had no intention of putting sisters on a beauty catwalk.

“My superiors were not happy. The local bishop was not happy, but they did not understand me either,” Father Antonio Rungi told Reuters by telephone from his convent in the town of Mondragone, southern Italy, yesterday.

“It was not at all my intention to put nuns on the catwalk,” said Rungi, a priest of the Passionists religious order. His idea appeared in newspapers around the world after he wrote of a contest for nuns on his blog, called by some “Sister Italy 2008”.

Paul mania

Jerusalem (AP): An upcoming concert by Paul McCartney has revived memories of the 1960s, when an Israeli official called off a Beatles concert for fear it would corrupt the nation’s youth. The episode is often fondly quoted as a relic of a long-lost Israel where the public’s innocence needed protecting. Trouble is, the story might not be true: With Israelis in a tizzy about McCartney’s arrival, the official’s son is taking the opportunity to try to clear his father’s name. So pervasive is the myth of the concert’s cancellation 43 years ago that earlier this year Israel’s ambassador in London wrote a letter expressing regret over the matter to the surviving members of the band. He told them the country would like to make it up to them by inviting them to play during this year’s celebrations marking Israel’s 60th anniversary.

Cat wings

London: Tom cats in Sichuan province in southern China have sprouted wing-like growths on their backs, which locals are attributing to the hot summer weather and the romantic attentions of females, reports The Daily Telegraph. One animal started to develop the “wings” during a period of hot weather in Sichuan, a large province in southern China where a devastating earthquake struck this spring. Although the growths appear fluffy, they contain bone. But veterinary experts say that despite the hard inner core, the flaps do not harm the cat’s quality of life or safety.

Miracle pet

Berlin (Reuters): A four-year-old cat in Germany called Bonny has survived after being walled in beneath a bathtub for seven weeks, its owner said on Tuesday. “It’s a miracle,” said Monika Hoppert, a 60-year-old widow from the western town of Stadthagen.“I’m a strong believer, I think she must have had a guardian angel. I’m so happy.” Bonny disappeared on June 19 while workmen were replacing pipes in the block of flats where Hoppert lives. The black cat was last seen in a neighbouring apartment, where the cladding around a bathtub had been removed.