World Of Tourism

This story is courtesy of the telegraph.co.uk:

Americans are the most attractive looking people in the world, according to a new survey.

The United States, home to George Clooney and Jessica Simpson, came top in a poll of more than 5,000 globe-trotting Britons.

In second place was Brazil while Spain, which boasts Hollywood actress Penelope Cruz as one of its natives, was third.

Blonde, tanned surfers of Australia saw it voted into fourth place, while Italy came fifth.

Sexy Swedes, such as model Victoria Silvstedt, helped it into sixth spot, but England only made it into seventh place in the poll.

India was eighth, France ninth, and Canada finished off the top 10.

England's neighbours didn't fare so well in the poll though as Wales only made it in at number 13, Ireland was at 16, and Scotland was a measly 19th.

A spokeswoman for www.OnePoll.com, which carried out the study, said: ''America has got a lot on offer and boasts some of the sexiest people on the planet.

''The likes of Jessica Alba, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt all help America's image as a hot bed of good looking people.

''But with a population of more than 300 million, they do have an unfair advantage."

She added: ''England's talent only got them into seventh place and despite Gerard Butler waving the flag for Scotland, they only just beat the Germans.

''But in fairness, when you think of good looking countries, Sweden, Italy, France and Brazil talent all spring to mind before us lazy, pale Brits.

''If you're looking for some fun in the sun, you now know where to head on holiday.''

Other countries to feature in the top 20 include Portugal, Japan and Netherlands.

Germany completed the top 20.

Top 20 'best looking nations'

1. America

2. Brazil

3. Spain

4. Australia

5. Italy

6. Sweden

7. England

8. India

9. France

10. Canada

11. Mexico

12. Portugal

13. Wales

14. Russia

15. Japan

16. Ireland

17. Argentina

18. Netherlands

19. Scotland

20. Germany

This article is brought to you by the Telegraph.co.uk:

A cat with an uncanny ability to detect when nursing home patients are about to die has proven itself in around 50 cases by curling up with them in their final hours, according to a new book.

Dr David Dosa, a geriatrician and assistant professor at Brown University, said that five years of records showed Oscar rarely erring, sometimes proving medical staff at the New England nursing home wrong in their predictions over which patients were close to death.

The cat, now five and generally unsociable, was adopted as a kitten at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Providence, Rhode Island, which specialises in caring for people with severe dementia.

Dr Dosa first publicised Oscar's gift in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2007. Since then, the cat has gone on to double the number of imminent deaths it has sensed and convinced the geriatrician that it is no fluke.

The tortoiseshell and white cat spends its days pacing from room to room, rarely spending any time with patients except those with just hours to live.

If kept outside the room of a dying patient, Oscar will scratch on the door trying to get in.

When nurses once placed the cat on the bed of a patient they thought close to death, Oscar "charged out" and went to sit beside someone in another room. The cat's judgement was better than that of the nurses: the second patient died that evening, while the first lived for two more days.

Dr Dosa and other staff are so confident in Oscar's accuracy that they will alert family members when the cat jumps on to a bed and stretches out beside its occupant.

"It's not like he dawdles. He'll slip out for two minutes, grab some kibble and then he's back at the patient's side. It's like he's literally on a vigil," Dr Dosa wrote.

Dr Dosa noted that the nursing home keeps five other cats, but none of the others have ever displayed a similar ability.

In his book, "Making rounds with Oscar: the extraordinary gift of an ordinary cat", Dr Dosa offers no solid scientific explanation for Oscar's behaviour.

He suggests Oscar is able - like dogs, which can reportedly smell cancer - to detect ketones, the distinctly-odoured biochemicals given off by dying cells.

Far from recoiling from Oscar's presence, now they know its significance, relatives and friends of patients have been comforted and sometimes praised the cat in newspaper death notices and eulogies, said Dr Dosa.

"People were actually taking great comfort in this idea, that this animal was there and might be there when their loved ones eventually pass. He was there when they couldn't be," he said.