In the Soviet Ogonek, Georgi Blok describes a sensational exhibit at a recent meeting of the Moscow Surgical Society. On the platform close to the guests of honor stood a large white dog, wagging its tail. From one side of its neck protruded the head of a small brown puppy. As the surgeons watched, the puppy's head bit the nearest white ear. The white head snarled.The two-headed dog, no freak of nature, was the latest product of Surgeon Vladimir Petrovich Demikhov, chief ...

Kevin Clash is an Emmy-award-winning performer and producer with dozens of TV and film credits to his name, but he's far better known as a furry red monster. Clash is the puppeteer and the voice behind Elmo, one of the most popular characters on the seminal children's television show Sesame Street, which this week marks its 40th anniversary with a series of special episodes and a two-disc DVD set, Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days. Clash ...

The singer clutches the wireless microphone to his lips and croons the words to a traditional Afghan love song. The house band struggles to keep the beat. Listeners beam, some furtively tap their feet. They shift in their folding chairs as television cameras pan the audience. By the time the song is over, the studio guests have loosened up a little. They applaud politely. It's only when the real star of the show steps on stage that ...

Kevin Clash is an Emmy-award-winning performer and producer with dozens of TV and film credits to his name, but he's far better known as a furry red monster. Clash is the puppeteer and the voice behind Elmo, one of the most popular characters on the seminal children's television show Sesame Street, which this week marks its 40th anniversary with a series of special episodes and a two-disc DVD set, Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days. Clash spoke to ...

A new policy at Tufts University prohibits students in dorms from having sex while their roommate is in the room, according to the university's 2009-2010 student handbook. The Massachusetts university's formal rule also bars so-called "sexiling" -- exiling a roommate from the room so the other roommate can engage in sexual activity. The new policy "is really about consideration and respect for others and the need for students to be mindful of their roommates' need for privacy, study and sleep," ...

The mood at Hong Kong's Metropark Hotel was subdued Thursday -- but only because most of the guests were in their rooms nursing hangovers from a night of partying the evening before. And with good reason. For seven days, the 200 guests and 100 staff members at this modest business hotel in the Wanchai bar district have been in involuntary confinement after health officials determined that a guest there had contracted swine flu. But in another 24 hours -- at ...

In the world of business -- where book titles like "Only the Paranoid Survive" thrive -- successful executives hope for the best but plan for the worst. But no amount of planning could have prevented the bad luck that befell the Metropark hotel group last week. The Metropark Hotel in Wanchai was shut down when a guest -- having recently arrived from his native Mexico -- fell ill with the city's first reported case of H1N1. City health officials, chastened ...