When it comes to romance, women prefer someone who tickles their funny bone while men opt for those who catch their eye, according to an international survey released on Wednesday.
The survey, conducted in 16 countries by Canadian romance publisher Harlequin Enterprises, asked men and women on six continents about traits they liked or disliked and how they went about trying to meet Mr. or Ms. Right.
The poll revealed differences between countries in the way people tried to impress the opposite sex.
Australians and British men frequently admitted drinking too much, while about half of German and Italian men said they had lied about their finances. Spaniards were the most likely to use sex to catch someone's attention.
Eighty percent of Brazilian and Mexican men said they had lied about their marital or relationship status, as did 70 percent of German women, the survey said.
When it came to meeting that special someone, a majority of respondents preferred to rely on friends for introductions. The Internet was not a popular hunting ground except in Portugal, where about half the surveyed men and women opted to find people online.
Both Spain and France suffered a gender gap. Thirty percent of Spanish men, but no Spanish women, looked for love online. In France, 40 percent of men but only 10 percent of women attended parties, bars and clubs to meet someone, but they did have one thing in common: both sexes rated looks as more important than their counterparts in other countries.
When it came to that first meeting, a majority of men polled said beauty was more important than brains, while women put a sense of humor at the top of their list.
Physical attraction was the top priority for men in France, Brazil, Greece, Japan and Britain. And while 40 percent of Portuguese men rated intelligence over looks in a first encounter, no Australian men did so.
In the United States and Canada, humor was considered the most important trait by both men and women, getting 63 and 73 percent of the vote respectively.
20060127
Man with 11-woman commune
Police found a stun gun and tear gas Friday at the Tokyo home of a man who said he persuaded 11 younger women to live with him by chanting a spell, media reports said.
Police suspect he used the weapons to prevent the women, mainly in their 20s, from leaving, the reports said.
Hirohito Shibuya, 57, was arrested Thursday for allegedly threatening a 20-year-old woman who was reluctant to join the commune by telling her that if she left she would be turned to mincemeat, they said.
He denied threatening the woman, Kyodo news agency said, adding that he also allegedly told her he was a former senior officer in Japan's military with secret agents around him.
Shibuya, a bald, rotund man with bags under his eyes, has attracted heavy media attention this week after claiming he chanted a spell to attract the women.
He had married and divorced several of the women, who continued to live with him, the reports said.
Asked what the incantation was, he told a newspaper: "When you say it, even unattractive men become attractive. But I won't say it because if I do, I'll die."
Police confiscated several books on hypnosis from his home, Kyodo said.
Police suspect he used the weapons to prevent the women, mainly in their 20s, from leaving, the reports said.
Hirohito Shibuya, 57, was arrested Thursday for allegedly threatening a 20-year-old woman who was reluctant to join the commune by telling her that if she left she would be turned to mincemeat, they said.
He denied threatening the woman, Kyodo news agency said, adding that he also allegedly told her he was a former senior officer in Japan's military with secret agents around him.
Shibuya, a bald, rotund man with bags under his eyes, has attracted heavy media attention this week after claiming he chanted a spell to attract the women.
He had married and divorced several of the women, who continued to live with him, the reports said.
Asked what the incantation was, he told a newspaper: "When you say it, even unattractive men become attractive. But I won't say it because if I do, I'll die."
Police confiscated several books on hypnosis from his home, Kyodo said.
20060125
Government support for mail-order brides
A rural province in South Korea plans to give financial aid to help lonely male farmers pay for mail-order brides from overseas.
South Kyongsang province plans to start a trial program in which it will give 6 million won ($6,113) to male farmers who marry foreign women, an official said Tuesday.
South Korean farmers have been turning to brides from other parts of Asia in recent years after struggling to woo local women, who are often less than enthralled with the prospect of rural life.
"Young men in the countryside have a hard time finding brides and they started to look elsewhere," said Ryu Kum-ju, an agricultural policy official for the province, located in the southern part of the country.
"We decided to give financial support to those men for a trial period," Ryu said by telephone.
The province also plans to increase courses for foreign brides to help them adjust to life in South Korea.
The local government estimates it costs about 12 million won for a farmer to pay all the fees and travel required to find a bride overseas.
The number of South Korean men who have married foreign women has rocketed in recent years. It hit 25,594 in 2004, more than double the 11,017 in 2002, according to data from the Korea National Statistical Office.
China provides most of the brides, while Vietnam is second on the list.
South Kyongsang province plans to start a trial program in which it will give 6 million won ($6,113) to male farmers who marry foreign women, an official said Tuesday.
South Korean farmers have been turning to brides from other parts of Asia in recent years after struggling to woo local women, who are often less than enthralled with the prospect of rural life.
"Young men in the countryside have a hard time finding brides and they started to look elsewhere," said Ryu Kum-ju, an agricultural policy official for the province, located in the southern part of the country.
"We decided to give financial support to those men for a trial period," Ryu said by telephone.
The province also plans to increase courses for foreign brides to help them adjust to life in South Korea.
The local government estimates it costs about 12 million won for a farmer to pay all the fees and travel required to find a bride overseas.
The number of South Korean men who have married foreign women has rocketed in recent years. It hit 25,594 in 2004, more than double the 11,017 in 2002, according to data from the Korea National Statistical Office.
China provides most of the brides, while Vietnam is second on the list.
20060121
Marriage builds wealth more than being single?
Staying married has its benefits, especially financial, as a new U.S.-wide study shows the wealth of a married person is almost double that of somebody who is single.
Divorce among U.S. baby boomers reduced personal wealth by about 77 percent compared to that of a single person, while the financial standing among those who remained married almost doubled, according to a nationwide study released this week.
"If you really want to increase your wealth, get married and stay married. On the other hand, divorce can devastate your wealth," said Jay Zagorsky, author of the study and a research scientist at Ohio Sate University's Center for Human Resource Research.
Married people will see an increase in wealth that is more than just adding the assets of two single people, according to the study that was published in the Journal of Sociology.
Those who remained together saw a 93 percent gain in wealth compared to that of a single person, while individuals facing divorce saw their financial situation deteriorate long before the decree became final, according to Zagorsky.
The study used data from surveys taken over a 15-year period involving 9,055 Americans who were between 21 and 28 years old in 1985.
Those respondents who remained single had a steady, but slow growth in wealth, from less than $2,000 at the start of the surveys up to an average of about $11,000 after 15 years.
However, those who married and stayed that way showed a sharp increase in wealth accumulation after marriage, growing to an average $43,000 by the 10th year of marriage or by about 16 percent a year.
For people who married and then divorced, there was a slow build-up of wealth during the early years of marriage and then a steady decline about four years prior to divorce.
"Many of these people may have separated before the divorce became official, which would help explain why wealth starts falling so early," Zagorsky said. "Divorce is often a long and messy process, and you can see this in the four-year decline in wealth."
The study also cast doubt on a common assumption that divorce is much harder financially on women than on men. In fact, it showed that women suffered financially only slightly more than men.
Divorce among U.S. baby boomers reduced personal wealth by about 77 percent compared to that of a single person, while the financial standing among those who remained married almost doubled, according to a nationwide study released this week.
"If you really want to increase your wealth, get married and stay married. On the other hand, divorce can devastate your wealth," said Jay Zagorsky, author of the study and a research scientist at Ohio Sate University's Center for Human Resource Research.
Married people will see an increase in wealth that is more than just adding the assets of two single people, according to the study that was published in the Journal of Sociology.
Those who remained together saw a 93 percent gain in wealth compared to that of a single person, while individuals facing divorce saw their financial situation deteriorate long before the decree became final, according to Zagorsky.
The study used data from surveys taken over a 15-year period involving 9,055 Americans who were between 21 and 28 years old in 1985.
Those respondents who remained single had a steady, but slow growth in wealth, from less than $2,000 at the start of the surveys up to an average of about $11,000 after 15 years.
However, those who married and stayed that way showed a sharp increase in wealth accumulation after marriage, growing to an average $43,000 by the 10th year of marriage or by about 16 percent a year.
For people who married and then divorced, there was a slow build-up of wealth during the early years of marriage and then a steady decline about four years prior to divorce.
"Many of these people may have separated before the divorce became official, which would help explain why wealth starts falling so early," Zagorsky said. "Divorce is often a long and messy process, and you can see this in the four-year decline in wealth."
The study also cast doubt on a common assumption that divorce is much harder financially on women than on men. In fact, it showed that women suffered financially only slightly more than men.
Woman arrested in 'kill for a job' case
Brazilian police have arrested a woman they believe ordered the killing of a female former co-worker and an attempt on the life of another to get a permanent job next to a man she loved.
A duty police officer in Cubatao, an industrial city next to Sao Paulo, said Carolina Farias Santos, 22, confessed that she had hired friends for about $1,300 to kill Monica Tamer, a full-time employee at an oil processing company where Santos had worked temporarily.
Santos told police she wanted to work next to a man she had fallen in love with during her stint at the company. She had been hired to temporarily replace another woman, Renata Boreli, who was filling in while Tamer was on maternity leave.
In November, Boreli was wounded as two assailants fired shots at her car, and then started to receive telephone threats warning her not return to work. The following month, Tamer, a mother of two, was killed.
Police traced phone calls to Boreli's house, which led them to Santos and four friends. Two were arrested along with Santos on Wednesday and two remained at large.
A duty police officer in Cubatao, an industrial city next to Sao Paulo, said Carolina Farias Santos, 22, confessed that she had hired friends for about $1,300 to kill Monica Tamer, a full-time employee at an oil processing company where Santos had worked temporarily.
Santos told police she wanted to work next to a man she had fallen in love with during her stint at the company. She had been hired to temporarily replace another woman, Renata Boreli, who was filling in while Tamer was on maternity leave.
In November, Boreli was wounded as two assailants fired shots at her car, and then started to receive telephone threats warning her not return to work. The following month, Tamer, a mother of two, was killed.
Police traced phone calls to Boreli's house, which led them to Santos and four friends. Two were arrested along with Santos on Wednesday and two remained at large.
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