[Rawalpindi, Pakistan; December 18. Image via AP]

Afghan refugee girls react while playing in a poor neighborhood in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

[Islamabad, December 3. Image via Getty]

A Pakistani girl looks out from a house in Islamabad on December 3, 2009. The South Waziristan offensive has sparked a wave of retaliatory suicide bombings by the Taliban, with more than 430 people killed in Pakistan in the past two months. AFP PHOTO/ Nicolas ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Islamabad, December 1. Image via Getty]

A girl holds up her dress to avoid getting it dirty as she walks down a narrow street at a slum in Islamabad on December 1, 2009. The South Waziristan offensive have sparked a wave of retaliatory suicide bombings by the Taliban, with more than 430 people killed in Pakistan in the past two months. AFP PHOTO/ Nicolas ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Peshawar, Pakistan; November 19. Image via Getty]

PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN - NOVEMBER 19: A woman grieves at the site of a suicide bomb blast on November 19, 2009 in Peshawar, Pakistan. A suicide bomber detonated himself outside of a court building near the Supreme Court complex of Pakistan, in Peshawar today, killing at least 15 people and injuring at least 25, officials said, in the latest of a wave of numerous attacks that have struck the Northwest Pakistan city, closest to the Afghan border. Peshawar, the bustling frontier city on the edge of the mountainous western tribal regions, has become the main target of Insurgent violence since the Pakistan Army's offensive in South Waziristan, against the Taliban, began last month. The suicide bomber detonated himself on being searched whilst attempting to enter the court complex. The attack occurred across the road form the Pearl Continental Hotel, which was attacked earlier in June of this year. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

[Rawalpindi, Pakistan; November 17. Image via Getty]

A girl plays hide and seek at the end of her work day at a brick factory in Rawalpindi, on the outskirts of capital Islamabad on November 17, 2009. Officially, Pakistan admits its 3.3 million children are at work helping their economically crippled families to survive but independent analysts say this figure is much higher. AFP PHOTO/ Nicolas ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Rawalpindi, Pakistan; November 12. Image via Getty]

Shmela, 8, makes bricks with unseen family members at a brick factory in Rawalpindi, on the outskirts of capital Islamabad on November 12, 2009. Families trapped in the bonded agreement all work together, the men and women preparing the clay and making bricks while the children gather them and ferry the building materials in the hazardous kiln area. A study by the Bonded Labour Liberation Front Pakistan (BLLFP), a group of charities working to help the labourers, estimates 4.5 million brick kiln workers are victims of this illegal custom. AFP PHOTO/ Nicolas ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

• Dana Thomas — author of Deluxe — wrote an excellent feature on the quagmire of the house of Versace. Thomas takes aim at Donatella and Santo Versace's resistance to change and ham-handed business decisions. It's a thrilling read. [Newsweek]

• "My kids are my best style advisors because they are so honest," says Victoria Beckham. "I remember one time I was wearing a Chanel cape and skinny jeans and I walked down the stairs to see my sons and they said, 'Oh my God, Mummy, you're Batman!'" [Grazia]
• We know this is hard to imagine, but the new Calvin Klein billboard in SoHo is quite sexual. Some say it "goes too far"! For more details of the development of this shocking and unexpected outrage, you can count on the Daily News. [NYDN]
• Moises de la Renta, son of Oscar, is rumored to be "inking a deal" with Mango, presumably as a designer. [WWD]
• Pamela Anderson has not one, but two perfumes: Malibu Blue and Malibu Pink. They start at $39 and are available at drug stores. [People]
• Custom, one-of-a-kind Uggs really are a level of ugliness impressive to behold. [WWD]
• Tamara Mellon says the clothes she has produced for the Jimmy Choo for H&M collaboration were hard to conceptualize, because she doesn't sketch. Then, like so many designers, she had a brainwave, and picked apart some much-loved vintage pieces, cut patterns, and slapped labels on them. [LATimes]
• Although Mellon holds the copyright to the label Jimmy Choo, the real Jimmy Choo still designs bespoke shoes for an ultra-rich clientele under the name Jimmy Choo Couture. "I design like an architect," says the Malaysian-born Choo. "It's a beautiful, distinctive art, and shoes are like the foundations. If the foundations aren't right, the building won't stand upright, and if a woman's balance isn't right, nothing else is." Are you listening, Christian Louboutin? [Telegraph]
• Kate Moss is notoriously resistant to being interviewed, so when longtime hairdresser James Brown included more of her than she anticipated in the final cut of a TV doc about his shop, she cut him loose. "She maintains her hair herself nowadays," says Brown, we imagine a tad wistfully. [Daily Mail]
• Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons has a collection of handbags about the Beatles. [IHT]
• Heard of Roksanda Ilincic? Mareunrols? Bogomir Doronger? Baltic and Eastern European designers must be a trend! [FT]
• Hey, look: someone's applying the Netflix mail-order rental model to designer clothes. Drycleaning included in the fee. [NYTimes]
• Burberry's social-networking site, artofthetrench.com, has launched. [Artofthetrench]
• Cynthia Rowley is going to design new uniforms for United Airlines flight crews. [ChicagoTrib]
• Henry Holland says he and Agyness Deyn, who both grew up in a town called Ramsbottom, rarely ponder the nuances of their unlikely fashion greatness. "We'd be complete wankers if we did that, wouldn't we? Pause the TV! 'Hang on, you're the hottest model and I'm one of the hottest young designers, let's talk about that while I make a brew.'" [Guardian]
• While textile exports are worth around $12 billion to Pakistan's economy every year, the country's garment industry is relatively under-developed. "We are still doing the 30 dollar a dozen T-shirt business. There is no value added," said Ayesha Tammy Haq. "We should be employing millions of people, not hundreds of thousands of them." Hence Fashion Pakistan Week, of which Haq is the CEO. And don't expect the clothes to be dull: "This does not represent what we are as a people," designer Ayesha Tahir Masood said. "Only 0.001 percent of Pakistani women would wear these clothes, and then only in a controlled environment when drunk out of their minds." [AP]
• Carmen Colle is a French designer who runs a company, World Tricot, that hand-makes unique knitwear to the specifications of top houses like Christian Dior, Givenchy and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Colle is suing Chanel for allegedly taking one of her crochet patterns without paying for it. The four-year-old suit is finally being heard in Paris, along with a countersuit that asks the judge to consider Colle's level of fault for daring blacken the Chanel name with such an allegation. Since filing her lawsuit, World Tricot has been largely abandoned by its other clients, and Colle has been forced to lay off all but 12 of her staff. [Guardian]
• Lord & Taylor's same-store sales have risen 6% and 12%, respectively, on last September and October. Last September and October was pretty much the middle of the giant red Down arrow of the retail market, however, so even a double-digit improvement on those results is to be taken with a grain of salt. [WWD]
• The company that makes Crocs enjoyed a $22.1 million third-quarter profit, but the stock is still losing value. The surplus largely came from a one-time tax benefit, and investors are dubious about the company's long-term prospects. [TS]

[Karachi, November 5. Image via Getty]

KARACHI, PAKISTAN - NOVEMBER 05: A Pakistani model wearing a creation by Pakistani designer Zarmina Khan pauses before walking out onto the catwalk during the 2nd day of Fashion Pakistan Week on November 5, 2009 in Karachi, Pakistan. Fashion Pakistan Week commenced today amidst security threats. The organisers already postponed the event twice due to security fears and the threat of ongoing militant violence. The four day long event will feature over 30 Pakistani designers and will showcase the best of fashion in Pakistan. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

[Karachi, November 5. Image via Getty.]

A Pakistani model has her make-up done backstage during the Pakistan Fashion Week in Karachi on November 5, 2009. Fashion week runs until November 7, taking place three weeks late because of security jitters and as a mark of respect for more than 300 people who perished in a string of attacks blamed on Islamist militants last month. Fashion week showcases 32 local designers over the four-day event, with security fears keeping foreign models and designers away. AFP PHOTO/ RIZWAN TABASSUM (Photo credit should read RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP/Getty Images)

[Karachi, November 4. Image via Getty]

KARACHI, PAKISTAN - NOVEMBER 04: Pakistani models prepare backstage during the 1st day of Fashion Pakistan Week on November 4, 2009 in Karachi, Pakistan. Fashion Pakistan Week commenced today amidst security threats. The organisers already postponed the event twice due to security fears and the threat of ongoing militant violence. The four day long event will feature over 30 Pakistani designers and will showcase the best of fashion in Pakistan. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)

[Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan; October 30. Image via Getty]

A Pakistani NGO employee (R) checks the papers of internally displaced tribeswomen, fleeing from military operations against Taliban militants in South Waziristan, outside an aid distribution point in Dera Ismail Khan on October 30, 2009. Visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heard advice from Pakistani elders, wrapping up a diplomatic visit overshadowed by an outburst against the government over Al-Qaeda and a devastating attack. Clinton has focused on trying to strengthen the civilian government and counter rising public anti-Americanism, but has been frustrated by fears that a 7.5 billion dollar non-military aid bill violates Pakistan's sovereignty. AFP PHOTO/Farooq NAEEM (Photo credit should read FAROOQ NAEEM/AFP/Getty Images)

[Islamabad, October 28. Image via Getty]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) sits with US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson as she waits for Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani before a meeting at The Prime Minister's House in Islamabad on October 28, 2009. The United States will stand shoulder to shoulder with Pakistan in its fight against 'brutal extremist groups', visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on October 28 after a massive bomb blast. AFP PHOTO/ AAMIR QURESHI (Photo credit should read AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Rawalpindi, October 25. Image via Getty]

A Pakistani woman holds a baby and firewood as she walk in a slum in Rawalpindi, on the outskirts of capital Islamabad, on October 25, 2009. The insurgency-hit country is fearing fresh attacks in a month that has left around 185 people dead as troops pressed a major offensive against Taliban networks. AFP PHOTO/ Nicolas ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Rawalpindi, October 22. Image via Getty]

A Pakistani girl lookS out from a window of her homr in Rawalpindi, on the outskirts of Islamabad on October 22, 2009. The insurgency-hit country is fearing fresh attacks in a month that has left around 185 people dead as troops pressed a major offensive against Taliban networks. AFP PHOTO/ Nicolas ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

The attack on International Islamic University in Islamabad is the latest in a series of militant attacks around the country in recent weeks. Many schools in the area had closed this week because authorities warned that insurgents may be planning attacks. Half of the school's 18,000 students are female and most study secular subjects. • A French man accused of kidnapping and raping a boy after serving 18 years in prison for raping two other children has written to President Nicolas Sarkozy and asked to be castrated. France is currently debating forcing some sex offenders to be chemically castrated, but the man wants his testicles removed. • An Australian primary school has banned hugging and other "inappropriate behavior" between its students because administrators are worried the older students, who are 11 to 13, are setting a bad example for the younger ones. Principal Julie Gale says hugging between friends is not banned "but we do discourage displays of affection in the school yard among students ... who have a boyfriend or girlfriend at the school." • In March, the United Nations will consider 40 proposals to curb the trade of endangered animals including tuna used in sushi, corals that are made into jewelry, and sharks whose fins make soup. If passed, the animal trade would probably be regulated with a government permit system. • Female cat burglar Celeste Ricciardi allegedly looted four New York apartment buildings including her own by crawling into windows from the fire escape. The New York Post calls her "catwoman" and notes that she "has two cats." • Married British doctor Edward Erin has been found guilty of attempting to spike his girlfriend's drinks to induce abortion. Bella Prowse took several suspicious beverages he'd prepared to the police and they determined they were laced with drugs used to cause a miscarriage. Prowse gave birth to a son in September 2008 and Erin is awaiting sentencing. • Adrian Searle writes in The Guardian that with the death of Nancy Spero on Sunday "the art world loses its conscience." He says, "Her art could also be riotously funny and sexy as well as macabre, and she made many works which dealt with female jouissance and eroticism, pleasure and pain. Spero was a spearhead of feminist art in the 1960s, calling for greater recognition of women artists and women in the New York art world." • Prosecutors say they're worried Rod Blagojevich's appearance on The Celebrity Apprentice may prejudice potential jurors for his trial on corruption charges. A judge has ruled that he can appear on the show but prosecutors have asked that the judge limit what he can say on television. • A lock of hair believed to be Amelia Earhart's is actually just thread. A group looking for DNA evidence of Earhart on a Pacific island asked to examine the sample at the International Women's Air and Space Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, but found it was a fake. •

[Lahore, October 20. Image via Getty]

CORRECTING LOCATION Pakistani Punjab University students protest terrorism at a rally in Lahore on October 20, 2009. Twin suicide blasts tore through a university campus in Pakistan's capital Islamabad October 20 killing five people, as the military pursued a major anti-Taliban offensive in the lawless northwest. AFP PHOTO/Arif ALI (Photo credit should read Arif Ali/AFP/Getty Images)

[Rawalpindi, Pakistan; October 18. Image via Getty]

In this picture taken on October 18, 2009, a Pakistani girls peeks out of her house in Rawalpindi, on the outskirts of capital Islamabad. More than 100,000 people have fled South Waziristan, the lawless area on the Afghan border where Pakistan has launched a major ground assault against the Taliban, officials said. AFP PHOTO/ NICOLAS ASFOURI (Photo credit should read NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP/Getty Images)

[Karachi, September 30. Image via Getty]

Female Pakistani paramilitary troops march during a passing out parade at The Corps Rangers Training Centre in Karachi on September 30, 2009. Pakistani troops have fought increasingly against Taliban militants in recent years, with the country suffering from a deadly Islamist backlash that has killed about 2,000 people in bomb attacks in the last two years. AFP PHOTO/RIZWAN TABASSUM (Photo credit should read RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP/Getty Images)

[Karachi, September 29. Image via Getty]

An internally displaced Pakistani woman holds her child as she waits for transport at a bus terminal in Karachi to return her home to the Swat Valley region on September 29, 2009. A military offensive forced 1.9 million civilians from their homes. The UN has said 1.65 million people had returned after the government declared the area free of insurgents. In April, Pakistan launched a military offensive against the Taliban in the northwest districts of Buner, Lower Dir and Swat after militants advanced to within 100 kilometres (60 miles) of the capital Islamabad. AFP PHOTO/ASIF HASSAN (Photo credit should read ASIF HASSAN/AFP/Getty Images)

[Karachi, September 16. Image via Getty]

A poverty-stricken Pakistani woman and her child wait in an impoverished locality of Khori Garden for free distribution of food items at the same place where a tragic stampede occured on September 14, in Karachi on September 16, 2009. Pakistan has opened a judicial inquiry into a stampede that killed 20 women and children on September 14 queuing for food handouts in an impoverished district of financial capital Karachi. AFP PHOTO/Rizwan TABASSUM (Photo credit should read RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP/Getty Images)

Related: The Science of Hunger: What 1 Billion People Feel [LiveScience]