[Beijing, December 18. Image via Getty]

A child figure skates on an outdoor ice-skating rink at a shopping mall in Beijing on December 18, 2009. Up to a generation ago most Beijingers would have taken to skating on the rough and bumpy surface of frozen lakes during the freezing north China winters but nowadays youngsters can skate on the smoother surfaces of numerous skating rinks in various shopping malls across the city. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

[London, December 16. Image via Getty]

A member of the Chinese State Circus performs during a photocall in Blackheath, London, on December 16, 2009. AFP PHOTO/Carl de Souza (Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)

[Taipei, December 9. Image via Getty]

Performers from the Tun Huang Art Research Institute in mainland China's Ganshu province dance during a rehearsal show in Taipei on December 9, 2009. The visiting troupe will put on shows at Taipei's Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall between December 12-13. AFP PHOTO / Sam YEH (Photo credit should read SAM YEH/AFP/Getty Images)

[Beijing, November 30. Image via Getty]

A young woman stands by various Christmas decoration at a shopping mall in Beijing on November 30, 2009. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said international pressure over China's currency policy was 'unfair' and that a stable yuan is crucial to his nation's economic health. AFP PHOTO/ LIU Jin (Photo credit should read LIU JIN/AFP/Getty Images)

[Macau, November 22. Image via Getty]

Models pose for photographers prior to the Macau GT cup race event, part of the 57th Macau Grand Prix, on November 22, 2009. The Macau Grand Prix Formula Three race is being held in city November 19-22. AFP PHOTO / ED JONES (Photo credit should read Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)

[Hefei, China; November 19. Image via Getty]

Chinese students look at a newspaper outside an employment fair in Hefei, in east China's Anhui province on November 19, 2009. China's urban registered unemployment rate stood at 4.3 percent in the second quarter, unchanged from the first three months of the year and up from 4.2 percent at the end of 2008, official data showed, however, the actual jobless figure may be much bigger than the official rate, which does not take into account migrant workers and university graduates, where a recent report showed about three million graduates were still unemployed. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

[Shanghai, November 19. Image via Getty]

A woman (2nd L) waits in front of public toilets in Shanghai during the World Toilet Day on November 19, 2009. The World Toilet Organization, the drive to improve sanitation around the globe founded in 2001 with 15 members and now having 151 member organizations in 53 countries, declared its founding day on 19 November, as World Toilet Day. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE LOPEZ (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

[Beijing, November 12. Image via Getty]

A woman poses beside a snowman at a park in Beijing on November 12, 2009. Residents in the Chinese capital awoke to another morning of snowfall, the third this month following the earliest snow to hit Beijing in 22 years which fell on November 1 and was articifially induced by Chinese scientists, who did it again on November 10, reigniting debate over the practice of tinkering with Mother Nature. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

[Tawang, India; November 11. Image via Getty]

An Indian woman listens as Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama speaks at a gathering at Yid-Gha-Choezin in Tawang, in the northwestern corner of Arunachal Pradesh state, on November 11, 2009. The Dalai Lama said religious 'duty' compelled him to make his visit to a Buddhist region near India's disputed Himalayan border with Tibet that has infuriated China. AFP PHOTO/Diptendu DUTTA (Photo credit should read DIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP/Getty Images)

• The Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported that more babies were born in that country 2008 than ever before. They also found that the trend of mothers giving birth later in life "seems to have stalled," and that there were slightly more newborn boys (51%) than girls. •  A 28-year-old German man has been found guilty of stabbing a pregnant Egyptian woman during a court hearing in Dresden. Al-Sherbini was going to testify against Alexander Wiens, who allegedly harassed her at work with taunts of "terrorist" and "Islamist" when Wiens attacked her in the courtroom. Wiens has been sentenced to life in prison. • Jewish activists are anticipating Obama's announcement of a special envoy to monitor anti-Semitism. Rumor has it that the candidate is female, with Chicago connections. • A Hungarian man convicted of using a camera to peep up women's skirts has been banned from filming in public for the next two years. Apparently, the women who he filmed were unaware and have not been informed of the violation. • Jaycee Dugard's family has brought in a publicist to help "clean up" the mess made by several greedy middlemen. Unfortunately, the family is still in looking for donations to help pay for everything from medical bills to food. •  A recent spate of suicides among housekeepers working in Lebanon has lead to a campaign for better conditions for the often overworked immigrant women. A recent survey found that more than one migrant domestic worker was dying in Lebanon each week, usually from either suicide or falling off a balcony in attempts to get away from an abusive employer. •  For the first time ever, the Mormon church has announced support for gay rights legislation in Salt Lake City. Although the Church is still against gay marriage, officials have come out in support of legislation that would prohibit discrimination against gays in housing and employment. • Cynthia Stewart, a 17-year-old junior at Tharptown High School in Alabama, is on her school's prom planning committee and personally raised $200 for the event. But when Stewart asked her principal if she could bring her girlfriend to the prom he said no and told her to take off a sticker that read "I am a lesbian," because, "You don't have that much freedom of speech at school." Her family appealed the decision to the school board, but it upheld the principal's decision. • The Tate Gallery has announced the appointment of Penelope Curtis as the new director for the museum in London. Other good news for women in art comes from Venice, where the Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima has been named director of the Venice Architecture Biennale. • Scottish widow Mona Webster, who died in August at the age of 96, loved opera and birds so she left most of her $16.6 million fortune to New York's Metropolitan Opera and the British charity Windfowl and Wetlands Trust. • Brits are some of the ugliest people in the world, according to the dating site BeautifulPeople.com. The site lets existing members rate applicants' attractiveness to decide if they should be let on the site and only one in 8 British men and three in 30 British women have been accepted. Swedish men have the most success, with 65 percent accepted, and Norwegian women were voted the most beautiful with 76 percent accepted. • People are criticizing Pittsburgh's recently unveiled Mister Rogers statue because they say the 11-foot tall, 7,000 pound statue looks nothing like him. Jimmy Kimmel said it makes "the nicest man in the world look like a mud monster." •

[Beijing, November 10. Image via Getty]

Snow-covered panda sculptures decorate the entrance to the panda enclosure at a zoo in Beijing on November 10, 2009. Chinese scientists artificially induced the second major snowstorm to wreak havoc in Beijing this season, state media said, reigniting debate over the practice of tinkering with Mother Nature. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Carmichael says Sowell invited her to the house in April for a beer. They were upstairs talking, "and then he just clicked," Doss said. "I'm sitting on the corner of the bed and he just leaped up and came over and started choking me. He said, 'If you want to live, knock three times on the floor.' And I knocked on the floor." He made her lay on the bed and take her clothes off but didn't try to rape her. She fell asleep and when she woke up he acted like nothing had happened and she left. She didn't report the crime because she's done jail time on a drug charge and assumed the police wouldn't believe her. Her friend disappeared later that month and Doss believes she may be one of the 10 unidentified victims. • Brigitte Harris of New York is facing up to 15 years in prison for killing her father when she cut off his penis. She cooked his penis on the stove because she heard that John Bobbitt's penis had been reattached, but said she didn't mean to kill him. She says her father had been raping her since she was 3 and she decided to take action because she was afraid he was about to do the same to her nieces. "Thinking back now, I definitely would have tried to put my resources into getting him put in jail," she said. "But I thought that people weren't going to believe me." • In Florida a 7-month old baby who was reported missing by her mother was found five days later in a box under her babysitter's bed. The mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, had asked babysitter Susan Elizabeth Baker to permanently take custody of the girl but didn't say why. The babysitter had written to Governor Charlie Christ over the summer asking him to help the baby because her father shook her and mother did drugs in front of her. • A guard at a "black jail" in China plead guilty to raping a 21-year-old detainee. Human rights groups say many people who come to Beijing to air complaints ignored by local authorities are rounded up by provincial officials who are worried the complaints will get them in trouble. The government still denies these "black jails" exist and the term was not mentioned in the trial. • Canadian researchers have found that oral contraceptives may benefit women with asthma. Women with asthma who were not taking birth control pills had lower exhaled nitric oxide levels, whcih is a marker of airway inflammation, than women who were on the pill. • Doctors are now injecting botox into women's chest muscles to tighten sagging cleavage. British cosmetic surgeon Sach Mohan said: "A young woman who has recently been pregnant might not have very much in her wardrobe that fits. But she is under pressure to look good just weeks after giving birth. This is another tool in their armory." • Between 20,000 and 40,000 women in the United States are allergic to their husband's sperm. Within half an hour of unprotected sex an allergic woman can develop hives, swollen eyes, diarrhea, and breathing difficulties. The condition can be treated and it's even possible for couple's to have children with a doctor's help. • The National Assembly in Pakistan has passed a bill calling for harsher punishment for sexually harassing women. Under the new bill, which will now go to the senate, the punishment for sexual harassment will be three years in jail and a fine of $6,000. Now the maximum punishment is one year in prison and an unspecified fine. • Gay marriage activists are blaming the failure of Maine's gay marriage law in Tuesday's election on scare-mongering ads and President Obama's failure to speak out in favor of the law. "President Obama missed an opportunity to state his position against these discriminatory attacks with the clarity and moral imperative that would have helped in this close fight," said Evan Wolfson of the national advocacy group Freedom to Marry. "The anti-gay forces are throwing millions of dollars into various unsubtle ads aimed at scaring people, so subtle statements from the White House are not enough." • The defeat of same-sex marriage in Maine has inspired anti-gay marriage activists in New Hampshire to draft legislation that would repeal the state's recently-passed law allowing gay marriage and put the issue to a vote again. • A USA Today/Gallup poll of potential Republican voters in 2012 found that 71% would "seriously consider" voting for Mike Huckabee, with Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin tying for second place. • While 65 percent of Republicans in the same poll said that they would consider voting for Sarah Palin, only 58 percent said she was qualified to be president. • San Francisco has banned the declawing of cats. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, chief sponsor of the legislation, said, "It is well documented and well understood from a medical perspective that it is torture; it is a form of animal cruelty." •

[Beijing, November 5. Image via Getty]

BEIJING - NOVEMBER 05: Model walks on the runway during the MGPIN MAO Geping Cosmetics & Style Design Release at 2010 China Fashion Week S/S Collection on November 5, 2009 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

[Beijing, November 2. Image via Getty]

BEIJING - NOVEMBER 02: Model walks on the runway during Aimer National College Invitation Contest for Women's Wear Design 2009 at 2010 China Fashion Week S/S Collection on November 2, 2009 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

[Beijing, November 2. Image via Getty]

BEIJING - NOVEMBER 02: Model walks on the runway during Aimer National College Invitation Contest for Women's Wear Design 2009 at 2010 China Fashion Week S/S Collection on November 2, 2009 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Feng Li/Getty Images)

[Shanghai, October 7. Image via Getty]

A man and a woman stand in front of a shop showing US toy manufacturer Mattel's Barbie doll in Shanghai on October 7, 2009. Since the US consumer is no longer the main growth engine of the global economy, experts are looking at China but are sceptical the Asian giant can fill that huge role. AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE LOPEZ (Photo credit should read PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

[Beijing, October 6. Image via Getty]

Hundreds of Chinese twins take part in the 6th Beijing Twins Festival on October 6, 2009. Whether China decides to phase out the one-child policy, population decline is inevitable after more than 15 years of fertility rates below the replacement level of 2.1. CHINA OUT AFP PHOTO (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

[Hong Kong, October 6. Image via Getty]

A woman walks past 'The Importance of Elsewhere - The Kingdom of Heaven' by Damien Hirst in Hong Kong on October 6, 2009. The work is part of a sale of Asian and Western art with an estimated value of US12 million to go for auction on October 7. AFP PHOTO/MIKE CLARKE (Photo credit should read MIKE CLARKE/AFP/Getty Images)