More than half of Indian children under the age of five do not get the health care they need, according to a report by Save the Children.

It ranks India alongside Ghana when it comes to providing basic health care to its children under five years of age.

The annual report looks at whether developing countries are delivering health care effectively to children.

It found the Philippines was performing best with almost 69% of children able to get access to health care.

Ethiopia ranks last - only 16% of children under five get health care when they need it.

'Basic measures'

The report, called State of the World's Mothers, says girls die at much higher rates in India than most countries.

Although India has cut child its mortality rate by 34% since 1990, Indian girls are 61% more likely than boys to die between the ages of one and five.

Inequity of health care among male and female children is responsible for this situation, the report says.

The report says experts predict that over 60% of the nearly 10 million children who die every year could be saved by delivering basic health services through a health facility or community health worker.

"A child's chance of reaching its fifth birthday should not depend on the country or community where it is born," said Jasmine Whitbread, Save the Children's chief executive.

"We need to do a better job of reaching the poorest children with basic health measures like vaccines, antibiotics and skilled care at childbirth,"

A long, steady rise in life expectancy in the United States apparently isn't being shared by everyone, and hasn't been for years, according to a new study.

While the overall life expectancy of Americans increased by about seven years between 1960 and 2000, the report by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the University of Washington found a "reversal of fortunes" beginning in the early 1980s for large segments of the population.

The study, published online Monday in the journal PLoS Medicine, reinforces concerns about long-term trends in the health of the American population.

In a broad swath of the nation's midsection - stretching from the Appalachian Mountains westward toward Texas and brushing to northern reaches of the Deep South - lies a concentration of counties where the lengthening of life span either sputtered out or actually declined during the last two decades of the 20th century.

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students will be hoping their talent will be discovered at a prestigious London fashion show this week.

A group of second-year students from the University College for the Creative Arts, Rochester, will be exhibiting their work at Alternative Fashion Week in London.

Twenty-three students, studying for the National Diploma in Art and Design, will present their Sixties Fashion Project at the event, which is renowned for discovering new talent.

Each student designed and made a 1960s-style dress.

Lecturer Jennifer Hughes said: "This kind of exposure is fantastic. Alternative Fashion Week provides an opportunity for truly innovative designers to present their work directly to the press, the public and the fashion industry."

Hot on the heels of London's mainstream Fashion Week, this event is for those who enjoy fashion and want to stay ahead of the pack.

Rochester's young designers will show off their innovative work alongside fashion's stars of the future.

The show is famed for its aspiring young fashion models and trendsetting fresh talent.

• Alternative Fashion Week is at Spitalfields Market, Crispin Place, Brushfield Street, London, from Monday, April 21, until Friday, April 25. Admission free.

Cynthia Nixon has joined forces with the breast cancer organization Susan G. Komen for the Cure and is going public with her own battle with breast cancer.

Nixon, who is reprising her role as Miranda in HBO's "Sex and the City" in an upcoming movie, had a lumpectomy two years ago and then underwent six and a half weeks of radiation. She also helped her mother battle breast cancer.

"As the daughter of a breast cancer survivor, knowing my personal risk made me more aware and more empowered when I faced my own diagnosis," the 42-year-old actress said in a statement. "I want to help Susan G. Komen for the Cure educate the 1.1 million women around the globe who face a diagnosis each year."

The Dallas-based Komen foundation is known for its Race for the Cure events.

Nixon will serve as an ambassador for the organization and will share her cancer experiences in a series of Web videos.

She told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that she didn't want to make her cancer treatment public while she was going through it. "I didn't want paparazzi at the hospital," she said. 

It's creepy to think that reality TV, the guilty pleasure that showcases our quirkiest neighbors, the spectrum of humanity's highs and lows as well as all manner of odd behavior, could have nosedived to embarrassing depths.

Very, very creepy.

Even TV snobs willing to be fair can admit that if you separate the wheat from the chaff, reality TV can be harmless, goofy or even shocking fun. It's cheap for the networks to generate, it's entertaining and it provides more points of entry for more Joe Nobodys desperately looking for their 15 minutes.

As a bonus, every so often viewers are rewarded with a gem such as Jennifer Hudson or an example of the unblemished courage that can propel the human spirit to reach out for what they really want. God bless you, William Hung.

But we've come to a terribly dark place in television when watching a humiliated, weeping little kid is considered entertainment.

Such is the nature of "I Know My Kid's a Star," a VH-1 reality show that brings together stage parents and their children, along with their children's hopes to be the next child superstar.

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Maria Sharapova will switch her focus to the clay season as she makes her return to the court this week after a fortnight's break enforced by injury and fatigue.

The Russian will make her debut appearance at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island in Florida on Tuesday night, when she faces Czech qualifier Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in the second round.

Sharapova, who turns 21 on April 19, skipped the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami -- the final event of the early hard-court swing which saw her win the year's first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, then triumph in Qatar.

She reached the semifinals at Indian Wells before compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova handed her a first defeat in 19 matches, then promptly pulled out of the Miami tournament -- which Serena Williams won for a record-equaling fifth time on Saturday.

Sharapova, who opted to rest her nagging shoulder injury, is looking forward to the switch of surface.

"I'm actually glad in a way that I get to start early and I get a heads-up on my feel on clay," the top seed told The Associated Press.

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Where once we ducked cheap shots about socks 'n' sandals and hippie gear, B.C. fashion is now anything but. Where once experts glimpsed Vancouver's style scene and -- to paraphrase Jeanne Beker, the doyenne of this country's fashionistas -- were not that keen to revisit it any day soon, now her Fashion Television vehicle is rolling into town for our BC Fashion Week shows.

"We're definitely evolving," Debra Walker, executive director of BC Fashion Week, says. "We are very, very pleased to be having Fashion Television as a sponsor; it makes us feel good to know that Vancouver is being viewed positively."

From the homegrown talent of Evan & Dean and Jacqueline Conoir to the international fashion house Tiger of Sweden, designers will present their fall-winter collections during the five-day event being held this week at the Chinese Cultural Centre on Pender Street. While some runways are invitation-only, tickets are still available for the Sound of Fashion and the ever-popular Generation Next shows -- described as an "incubator competition" for rising design stars on Thursday.

As in previous seasons, the week will also be streamed live (www.arc2.tv). "One of the misnomers of a fashion week is that it's all about the people who are sitting in the chairs at the time of that show," Walker explains.

"What we are hopefully trying to show is that that 15-minute show is such a small piece of what it is that [designers] want to do with that opportunity. Things like live streaming [enables] the show to get into the eyes and minds of people who are the decision makers such as the purchasers."

There is strong interest nationally in B.C. fashion, she adds, but also internationally: from New York City and London ("they sent a camera crew filming fashion tourism, so it was wonderful to be able to say we have Main Street, Granville, Robson, Gastown -- so many pockets of fashion happening in the city") to Palm Springs and Los Angeles.

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Hormones! How can something so small have such a big impact?

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With globalization catching up at a rapid speed in India, can global fashion be far behind! The modern Indian teen is aware of the latest in fashion and knows what’s hot and what’s not. If you thought girls were the only ones who cared for fashion, it is time to get your facts right! Teenage boys are equally conscious and overt about the latest trends and compromise on nothing when it comes to looking good. With the advent of the New Year 2008, we present some hot fashion trends and styles are that are going to be popular amongst teenagers in this year. Check it out and remain stylish!
 
The Ladies…
All you pretty girls, make sure you stack up your wardrobe with stuff that is going to be hot this year. Throw away those ill-fitting clothes and buy yourself an entirely new variety that will enhance the best features of your body and make you look absolutely stylish. Follow these style tips and trends for staying “in”.
 
Get funky and striped sleeveless tees and kurtas for yourself. They can be teamed with jeans and can be accessorized with a chunky belt, in any color. Belts that are made of metal and look like jeweled waistbands are absolutely hot this year, so don’t forget to buy one of those.
However much we fret about denims, these snug, comfy and extremely stylish clothes never go out of fashion. Make sure you buy a decent pair that has a little flare at the ankles. Jeans with embellishments may look a bit gaudy, but you can always hunt down a pair that has simple crystals just around the pockets.

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Let's get the boring stuff over first. The teen clothing at left and below is how we actually dressed for school in the Sixties. Over the course of the decade, the hemlines would shorten a little, a very little to just above the knee.

I graduated from high school in 1968. We had a Dean of Girls who was relentless about skirt length. If you knelt and your skirt didn't touch the ground, she'd fix that. She'd cut the hem out, making it longer. If that wasn't sufficient, you were sent home.

No pants or shorts allowed in school. And I don't know what awful thing would have happend to you if you dared to wear jeans.

Okay, today that behavior would get her arrested, but the simple truth was that high school in the 1960s was conservative. On Fridays we wore our school colors. Blue skirts, white blouses for girls; blue slacks, white shirts for guys.

That's not what you want to hear, and it isn't what you see in the movies, but I was there and I know.