News In Brief

SO PEOPLE WILL STARE. LET 'EM

In Richland, Wash., Rachel Call and Eric Edvalson accepted the challenge. In LaGrange, Ind., Tabatha Duty and Kyle Khone did, too. What challenge? Why, making their own high school prom outfits out of duct tape. Gowns, tuxedos - the works. The challenge is from Manco Inc., maker of the product, which it calls "the ultimate prom essential." Each pair of contestants must submit a color photo of themselves in their silvery clothes to be eligible for $5,000 in college scholarships. For wedding couples willing to dress in the sticky stuff, Manco also offers an all-expense-paid ceremony plus a honeymoon in Hawaii.

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HEY, I'M BEING HONEST HERE

Would you turn down the opportunity to become a millionaire? Mutasim Mohamed did. Three times, a bank in Bantry, Ireland, notified the Sudanese immigrant, a physician, that his account was worth $44.4 million. But he knew it wasn't, and said he didn't want the money. Finally, a bank official acknowledged "a technical error" had been made, although "we obviously can't say anything more than that."

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"Mission Impossible 2" was top-grossing film in 2000

Hollywood's grip on the cinema world is tighter than ever, according to a report released at the 54th Cannes Film Festival. The survey by the European Audiovisual Observatory revealed that all of the top 10 - and 19 of the top 20 - highest-earning films in 2000 were American-made, even if their directors and some of their casts were foreign. Last year's top-grossing films and how much each earned internationally (in millions):

1. "Mission: Impossible 2" $545

2. "Gladiator" 449

3. "The Perfect Storm" 323

4. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" 319

5. "Dinosaur" 318

6. "X-Men" 294

7. "American Beauty" 277

8. "Scary Movie" 277

9. "What Lies Beneath" 275

10. "Erin Brockovich" 258

- Associated Press

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Monitor