Jockstrip: The world as we know it

Second-hand smoke makes flat uninhabitable

NEW YORK, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- A judge has sided with a couple who moved out of a New York condo because of a pair of chain-smokers living next door.

Manhattan Civil Court Judge Shlomo Hagler ruled the second-hand smoke coming from the adjacent unit made the $2,597-a-month apartment owned by Peter Poyck uninhabitable, the New York Daily News reports.

"While the landlord contends that he had no control over the neighbors ... he failed to offer any evidence that he took any action to eliminate or alleviate the hazardous condition," Hagler said in his ruling.

After giving Poyck a month's notice, Michele Bryant, who was recovering from breast cancer, and her husband Stan moved out of the condo more than a year before their lease expired.

"I felt as if my life was in danger, so there was no way I could continue to live there," Michele Bryant said. "I have an allergy to cigarette smoke, so I was coughing with an incision in my body."

Stan Bryant said their complaints about the constant smoking went unheeded by both the landlord and the smokers next door.

Texas capital celebrates bat bridge

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Many residents of Austin, Texas, spent part of Labor Day weekend celebrating what is believed to be the world's largest colony of city bats.

Thousands of the flying mammals live under the Congress Avenue Bridge from March to October. Most are females who give birth under the bridge and raise their young there.

While the two-day Austin Bat Fest featured pony rides, a Corvette tricked out as the Batmobile and a spotlight with the bat signal, the festival also had a serious purpose, the Austin American-Statesman reported.

"We want people to be familiar with the bats so they won't be scared and will lose some of their misconceptions," said Sarah Gerichten, an organizer for Bat Conversation, which gets the proceeds from the festival.

Thousands of bats leave the bridge as night falls, seeking insects for dinner.

Tajikistan stages mass wedding for poor

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- The president of Tajikistan oversaw the simultaneous marriages of 250 disadvantaged couples in the capital Dushanbe Monday and then hosted a public dance.

Emomali Rakhmonov attended the ceremony for the couples, who the Itar-Tass news agency said were either orphans, financially disadvantaged or from broken homes.

After the service, the entourage paraded to the city square where Rakhmanov congratulated the newlyweds, and offered wishes they remain healthy, build strong families and live in prosperity.

Each couple also received refrigerators, washing machines and sets of kitchenware as wedding gifts, paid for by the Tajik Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and the Iranian Imam Khomeini Relief Committee, the report said.

Japan abuzz over impending royal birth

TOKYO, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Speculation ran high across Japan Monday that Princess Kiko will have a male heir to the throne by a Caesarean section this week.

Officials with the Imperial Household Agency have repeatedly said no one knows the gender of the child the princess is carrying, but political moves to allow a woman to reign were dropped during the pregnancy, a Times of London correspondent reports from Tokyo.

The lineage dilemma began in 1993 when an Oxford-educated career diplomat married Emperor Akihito's oldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, and became Princess Masako" class="tpstyle">Crown Princess Masako (Kiko is her informal name). Their daughter Aiko was born in 2001. The Crown Prince's 40-year-old younger brother, Akishino, is next in line, but both of his children also are girls.

However, a source close to the palace told the Times the birth of a son on Wednesday would not end problems for the 2,000-year-old Chrysanthemum throne.

"Even if it is a boy, he would end up being the only (male) member of the Imperial Family, and that would be intolerable," the source said. "To put it very bluntly, you need to have reserves."