Jockstrip: The world as we know it

PENTHOUSE MAY STOP PUBLISHING

Penthouse Magazine could soon be disappearing from the publishing world, Newsweek reports exclusively on its Web site.

Penthouse founder Bob Guccione could lose his fabled Penthouse Mansion, a century-old residence that is one of the largest private homes in New York City.

During its peak in the 1970s, Penthouse had a circulation of more than 5 million, but that has dropped to an estimated 500,000 for the more recent ultra hard-core version.

The growth of hard-core pornography on the Internet, coupled with new magazines such as Maxim and FHM that provide skin without the stigma, have hurt Penthouse, Newsweek reports.

USING CORPSES TO GET GAS

Two mortuary workers in Zimbabwe have been arrested for allegedly renting out corpses to motorists to enable them to buy gasoline.

Most service stations in Zimbabwe give preference in fuel queues to people with burial orders or those taking dead relatives for burial.

The state-owned Herald newspaper reported the two men also were accused of selling fake burial orders to motorists who then took the corpses to service stations.

The men are expected to appear in court on charges of violating dead bodies, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported. Fuel prices have jumped 600 percent since February, after a barter deal with Libya collapsed.

PLANT KILLING HORSES

Research scheduled to be released later this week blames a plant for killing more than 6,500 horses in the United Kingdom.

Ragwort, a plant with a yellow flower seen in many English meadows, could be causing a lingering, painful death to the horses that eat it.

Inquiries to 1,945 members of the British Equine Veterinary Association find each respondent dealt with an average of 3.37 cases of confirmed or suspected ragwort poisoning in horses last year.

An alkaline toxin in the plant corrodes the liver until it finally fails, the London Guardian reports.

GIZMO MAY GET A GIG

The bright lights from off-off-Broadway are calling the black-and-white kitten who made headlines last week after his owner was arrested.

But Angel Melendez, arrested on a transit violation for having the kitten unrestrained in the subway, has vanished according to the New York Post.

A theater group wants to cast Gizmo in a play -- an Australian comedy about the travails of surviving one's roommates.

"If we can find Gizmo, there's a definite gig for him, at Equity rate -- $76 for Friday and Saturday," said Simon Joseph, publicist of the Aussie cult classic "He Died with a Felafel in His Hand."