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CANBERRA (Reuters) –
Parents used to save for their children's weddings but now there's another major rite of passage to fund before they even leave home — the school formal or prom, a booming industry which seems recession-proof.

Parties or balls to celebrate the end of school have become increasingly glitzy affairs in a list of countries from Britain, to Singapore, to India and Australia, emulating U.S.-style proms glamorized in the hit Disney movie "High School Musical" and the TV series "Gossip Girl."

Teenagers are no longer content to celebrate in a school gym decorated with streamers and a parent DJ — and parents are left with the dilemma of whether or not to join the party and splash out on their teenager's big night.

Figures from Elk and Sons Consolidated Ptd Ltd, which runs event organizer Prom Night Events, show that in Australia the high school formal market grew nine percent in the past year to be worth $170 million ($155 million) in the city of Sydney alone.

With the Australian school year ending in December, thousands of teenagers are forking out for glamorous evening gowns, hair stylists, a spray tan, photos and limousines as they celebrate at five-star venues more used to weddings than school events.

"This has become a huge industry in a niche market and some people even think it will overtake the bridal market," said Elliot Kleiner from Prom Night Events.

"The school formal is the biggest event on their calendar for the year. This is the Academy Awards of their school life and for many of them it's the last time they will see other."

A survey of nearly 2,000 Australian students aged between 15 and 18 found that on average girls were spending $1,330 each on the big night while boys were spending an average of $840.

GLAMOUR DAZZLES OVER EXAMS

The poll found that 77 percent of the students when questioned at the start of their final year at school were more focused on the school formal than on their final exams.

In Britain a survey by supermarket chain ASDA found the average cost of attending the high school prom came in at 258 pounds (US$425). Formal menswear shops are seeing a surge in business from teenagers hiring suits and department store John Lewis has added a prom dress line, British media reported.

Melbourne mother Debbie Ward paid $600 for her daughter Emma's formal dress as well as about $360 on hair, nails and a fake tan, $50 on limousine hire, $100 on shores, $95 for a ticket, $75 for ball dancing lessons and $300 on official ball photos, for a total price tag of $1,580.

"It was important as it brings the year level together and the kids enjoyed doing the ball lessons and also dressing up and presenting themselves to their family," she said.

Amy Best, author of the book "Prom Night: Youth, Schools and Popular Culture," studied the trend of upscaling proms, finding the rising purchasing power of youth culture had made the prom into an industry in its own right.

Kleiner believes the massive change in communication had made teenagers into savvy consumer aware of their buying power.

"The teenagers of today have more expendable cash than previous generations for this kind of thing and far more sophisticated tastes," said Kleiner who is setting up franchises in Britain, the United States, South Africa and Canada.

In Singapore, some beauty salons and make-up artists are offering special prom packages for students, who are also shelling out more to prepare for glitzier school parties — to the chagrin of some parents.

"I really wonder, why is it so popular for schools in Singapore to hold their prom night at some expensive high-class hotel with an… expensive dinner which can easily reach much more than $100," wrote one irate parent on blog sgforums.com.

"Somemore, the students must wear appropriate clothing, which could easily cost up to $100," the parent added.

"Isn't it better to hold a simple dinner at school which more students can afford?"

(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

CHICAGO (Reuters) –
Beverage can tops are still finding their way into the stomachs of some children, especially teens, despite being redesigned in the 1970s to keep people from swallowing them, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

A 16-year study at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center found 19 children had swallowed the safety tabs, which are designed to fold back but stay attached to cans for soda and other beverages.

"I think we all know if you fiddle with these stay tabs, you can easily break them off," Dr. Lane Donnelly, who led the study, told reporters at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago.

The study included children aged 1 to 18 at his medical center, but he suspects many cases go unreported.

Donnelly said he suspected children break off the tab, drop it into the soda can and inadvertently swallow the tab. When broken, the tabs have jagged edges that could perforate the stomach or intestine.

Since the tabs are made from aluminum, they are much harder to detect on an X-ray than coins, which babies and toddlers often swallow, Donnelly said.

He said parents should be aware of the problem and that beverage companies might consider a newer design that makes the tabs harder to break off.

As for the children in his study, none required surgery, although one was sent home with explicit instructions from the emergency department that read: "No sucking on can tops."

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Peter Cooney)

STOCKHOLM (Reuters Life!) –
Designer jeans labeled "Made in North Korea" will go on sale this Friday at a trendy department store in the Swedish capital, marking a first foray into Western fashion for the reclusive communist state.

The jeans, marketed under the "Noko" brand, carry a price tag of 1,500 Swedish crowns ($215) and will share shelf space at Stockholm's PUB store with brands such as Guess and Levi's.

Noko's founders told Reuters they had spent over a year trying to gain access to factory operators in North Korea, and struggled with poor communications and an unfamiliar approach to doing business once inside the country.

"There is a political gap, there is a mental gap, and there is an economic gap," said Jacob Astrom, one of three Swedish advertising executives behind the project. "All contacts with the country are difficult and remain so to this day."

The idea for the project was born out of curiosity for North Korea, which has grown increasingly isolated in recent years under Western criticism of its human rights record and nuclear ambitions.

"The reason we did this was to come closer to a country that was very difficult to get into contact with," Astrom said.

North Korea, a country better known for its reclusive nature than fashionable clothes, rarely allows outsiders within its borders and has virtually no trade or diplomatic relations with most Western countries. Sweden, one of only seven countries to have an embassy in North Korea, is an exception.

But the process of agreeing a deal to produce just 1,100 pairs of jeans — the first ever produced by the country, according to the founders — often proved baffling. E-mails vanished into a void and communications were strained.

At one point they were asked to bring a zinc smelting oven into the country, and a trade representative once asked them to help him find a pirated version of the computer program Adobe Acrobat so he could read files they were sending him.

"Everyone is a manager. Even our chauffeur was some sort of manager," said founder Jakob Ohlsson, adding that North Korean titles were often confusing.

After being turned down by North Korea's largest textile company, the group managed to secure a manufacturing deal with its largest mining company, Trade 4, which also happens to run a small textile operations on its site.

"This is often the way it works in North Korea," said Ohlsson. "Companies seldom specialize and therefore often manage several operations that differ completely from one another."

During the summer, the trio travelled to the factory in North Korea to oversee the production process and ensure that workers there were treated according to Noko's guidelines.

"We were forced to operate by micro-management," Ohlsson said, referring to his experience on the factory floor.

Fashionable novelty seekers can order Noko jeans from the company's website www.nokojeans.com after December 4, but you are not likely to see a pair on the streets of Pyongyang, North Korea's capital, anytime soon.

Socialist dress code forbids them.

(Writing by Nick Vinocur, editing by Paul Casciato)

BERLIN (Reuters) –
Germany's most wanted fugitive was captured Tuesday after a five-day manhunt, when police knocked the escaped murderer off the woman's bicycle he was riding along a rural road near the Dutch border.

Peter Paul Michalski surrendered without a fight after an unmarked police car deliberately crashed into him, knocking him off the bicycle onto the grassy shoulder of the road.

The 46-year-old, who was serving a life sentence when he escaped from prison last week, was carrying a pistol.

Heavily armed police commandos had raided a number of buildings in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia searching for Michalski following his escape from a high-security prison in Aachen. An accomplice in the escape was captured Sunday.

They made a copy of a key inside the jail and simply unlocked several doors to escape, according to German media reports. They even stopped to wave good-bye to a security camera outside the front gate before getting into a taxi.

"Bad luck for you — we just broke out of jail," the accomplice Michael Heckhoff was quoted telling the taxi driver in his testimony to police, according to a report in Bild newspaper Tuesday. "He said that was no problem for him."

Thousands of police were involved in the hunt and authorities in neighboring countries were also alerted.

Police warned the public the two were extremely dangerous. They stole a car and robbed several people along their escape route through several western German towns and cities.

(Reporting by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Jon Boyle)