LONDON (Reuters) - American short story writer Lydia Davis won the fifth Man Booker International Prize for fiction on Wednesday for a body of work that includes some of the briefest tales ever published.

Davis, a professor of creative writing at the University of Albany, is best known for work that Observer critic William Skidelsky once said "redefines the meaning of brevity".

She is also an accomplished translator whose English versions of Marcel Proust's "Du Cote de Chez Swann" (Swann's Way) and Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" helped earn her a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.

Davis said it was Proust's monumental work and famously long sentences that helped inspire her succinct writing style.

"Actually, when I was translating Proust was when I thought 'how short could a short story be?'" she told Reuters after receiving the 60,000 pound ($90,800) award in London. "I thought 'how little could you say and still have it work?'"

Some of Davis's longer stories may run to two, three, as many as nine pages, while others can be as brief as a paragraph or even just a sentence.

"Idea for a Short Documentary Film" in the 2009 "Collected Stories of Lydia Davis" reads:

"Representatives of different food products manufacturers try to open their own packaging."

Davis - who has only written one novel - beat out a shortlist of 10 contenders for the prize that included two authors banned in their home countries, the youngest ever nominee and one shortlisted for the second time.

Booker International panel chairman Christopher Ricks said 65-year-old Davis's stories embraced so many literary structures that it was hard to narrow them down to a single label.

"Should we simply concur with the official title and dub them stories?" Ricks said in a statement announcing the prize.

"Or perhaps miniatures? Anecdotes? Essays? Jokes? Parables? Fables? Texts? Aphorisms, or even apophthegms? Prayers, or perhaps wisdom literature? Or might we settle for observations?"

Davis' one novel is entitled "The End of the Story" and she has written seven story collections including "Break It Down", "Almost No Memory", "Samuel Johnson Is Indignant" and "Varieties of Disturbance".

A new collection, "Can't and Won't", is due to be published in the United States in 2014.

Davis is considered hugely influential by a generation of writers including Jonathan Franzen, David Foster Wallace and Dave Eggers, who once wrote that she "blows the roof off of so many of our assumptions about what constitutes short fiction."

The Man Booker International Prize is presented once every two years to a living author for a body of work published either originally in English or available in translation in the English language.

Previous winners include U.S. novelist Philip Roth in 2011, Canadian novelist Alice Munro in 2009, the late Nigerian poet and novelist Chinua Achebe in 2007 and Albanian writer Ismail Kadare in 2005.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato and Ana Nicolaci da Costa; editing by Mike Collett-White)

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The research firm notes that while the iPhone and Android have similar market shares, people with higher income and education are much more likely than those with lower-income and educational levels to say they own an iPhone. Nearly half, or 49%, of respondents from households with a combined income of $150,000 or more said they owned an iPhone. Apples smartphone was also more popular than Android among adults age 55 and older.

This article was

Here are a few of the biggest misconceptions:

1. Unions protect bad teachers

People who believe unions sole purpose is to protect teachers often vilify unions in the public eye. The argument is that bad teachers are protected once they earn the dreaded T word: tenure. This is a major misconception.

What unions do is protect teachers from simply being fired on the spot by a vindictive administrator. Their role is to protect the contractual process that has been negotiated by all parties. When I sit in with teachers and administrators, my role as the local union president is to guarantee that the process is followed correctly. I ensure that professional plans are developed with measurable criteria. I also make sure that the plans are implemented appropriately.

That process, at least in my district, requires that an objective plan with measurable steps be in place and that the teacher in question is provided with support and professional development that will improve her/his instruction. Both the teacher and administrator agree to these professional development plans. Meetings occur after observations, and discussions are had about progress, continued challenges, and strategies to improve instruction for students.

If, after two years, that teacher has not shown marked improvement in her/his teaching, as laid out in the plan, s/he may be in a situation where the contract is not renewed. 

2. Unions are reactive

More often than not, the public focuses on teachers unions when budgets are discussed or contract negotiations are being held. At these times, unions are often lambasted for only protecting teachers and driving up local costs. Again, this is a terrible misconception, as unions are also responsible for providing professional development throughout the year. 

In Maine, that professional development takes a variety of forms, such as one-day conferences that are open to members for free and non-members for a minimal cost. Ongoing professional development is also offered by way of Saturday support meetings for teachers in the process of applying for National Board certification. Both of these examples have direct, positive impacts on students as they allow teachers to exchange successful strategies and hone their craft.

Additionally, union leaders are often trained on a variety of issues, including legislative actions that are going on within the state. That information is then conveyed to the union members.

3. Unions are obstacles to change

Finally, unions are perceived as being obstacles to change. Most recently, teacher evaluation systems have been in the spotlight.

What is actually happening in many places is that teachers unions are cooperatively working, or even taking the lead, in the development of more informative and helpful ways to measuring the effectiveness of teachers.

For example, when the Maine legislature mandated local districts to develop a new teacher effectiveness system, educational communities (teachers, teacher associations, administrators, and concerned members of the public) came together and reviewed existing evaluation programs. All of those stakeholders have been able to productively discuss the goals of education in their locale and develop a way of measuring teacher effectiveness.

At the end of this process, these efforts translate directly to better educational experiences for students.

People often forget some of the things that unions have done for us over the years. The 40-hour, five-day workweek is one of those things.

For so long, unions were the backbone of the workforce in this country, and now they are targets for misinformed people that do not understand their purpose or how they function. Teachers unions support sound educational practice, the practitioners, and the improvement of learning opportunities for students.

Police spotted a speeding Mercedes with diplomatic license plates in downtown Paris on Sunday night and tried to stop it, but the 54-year-old driver raced on towards the police officers until they shot out one of his tires, the sources said.

The driver was then arrested and taken to the police station, where tests showed his blood alcohol was far above the legal limit, but was released after his diplomatic immunity had been confirmed.

The Swiss Foreign Ministry confirmed that its envoy to the OECD had been stopped by police and said it would lift his immunity if France requested it. It declined to comment further.

Flueckiger was appointed to his post in 2010.

(Reporting by Nicolas Bertin in Paris and Silke Koltrowitz in Zurich; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku said the election date should be linked to the automatic dissolution of Zimbabwe's parliament on June 29 at the end of its current five-year term.

A new constitution overwhelmingly accepted in a March 16 referendum requires amendments to electoral laws and voting procedures that lawyers' groups say need about two months to complete.

Veritas, an independent legal research group, said Friday that the court's July date is impractical.

A lawsuit was brought to the court on May 24 to force Mugabe to call early polls. The private court application claimed the country could not be run without the existence of the parliament, rendering the government illegal.

But Veritas said the constitution allows for the executive arm and government ministries to continue operating without a sitting parliament for up to four months after the legislature dissolves on June 29.

Judge Chidyausiku, sitting alongside eight senior judges in the Constitutional Court, said their ruling ordered elections to be held by July 31. He described Mugabe's failure to announce the election date as "a violation of his duties."

Two judges dissented.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader in a shaky coalition with Mugabe after violent and disputed elections in 2008, wants a vote that would end their power-sharing agreement to be held in September at the earliest.

Tsvangirai said in a statement Friday that the court had no power to set an election date and the judges had "overstepped their mandate."

Zimbabweans still expect electoral and wider reforms along with an intensive voter registration campaign "that would not have anyone unnecessarily disenfranchised" in the upcoming elections, he said.

The judgment was not available later Friday for legal experts to comment. But they did say an appeal cannot be made on the Constitutional Court's ruling and only parliament can pass a law to overturn it.

Mugabe's fractious ZANU-PF party has repeatedly called for early polls to endorse Mugabe, 89, for another five-year presidential term. Mugabe led the nation to independence from colonial rule in 1980.

The new constitution limits the presidential office to two five-year terms but is not retroactive, allowing Mugabe if re-elected to serve up to age 99.

Zimbabwe is scheduled to host the U.N. World Tourism Organization summit in mid-August. An estimated 2,000 foreign delegates are expected to attend and a bitterly contested poll shortly before would likely raise concerns among organizers.

Previous elections since 2000 have been marred by violence, political intimidation and allegations of vote-rigging.

Veritas said disobeying a constitutional court ruling could lead to contempt of court proceedings. But contempt charges in the past against at least two of Mugabe's senior ministers were ignored and no further action was taken.

While the glamorous models in lingerie ads are ogled for their perfect cleavage in colorful, lacy brassieres, most women struggle just to find a properly fitted bra. In fact,— or some 90 million women over the age of 18 — are wearing the wrong bra size.

A possible solution: Instead of working within the standard measurement system that leaves many women frustrated, Jockey International has unveiled a completely new line ofbras that come in strange new sizes like 1-30 and 9-42.

As , since the 1930s, bras have followed the conventional measurements of A-B-C-D cups, which are determined by measuring the difference between "the breast at its fullest point minus the rib cage measurement." This letter measurement is then paired with an under-the-bust measurement, such as 32, 34, and 36.

After eight years of research focusing on 3D scans of more than 800 women's breasts, Jockey has come up with a system centered around the volume of a woman's breasts, creating a more three-dimensional measurement. As , "Would you measure water in a pitcher with a tape measure? No. So why would you measure a woman's breast with a flat measuring tool?"

But how exactly does this new measurement work? First, a woman needs to order a "Fit Kit" with 10 "volumetric fit cups." Then she tries out different cups until she achieves "full coverage with no gapping or spillage," and takes the traditional under-bust measurement. This produces new sizes like 5-34 or 7-36.

As , these new "bras are a mass-market answer to custom fittings that have become increasingly popular in boutiques and high-end department stores." And women are prioritizing tailoring and size. As"People are becoming more knowledgeable about fashion minutiae, and they're focusing on things like fit."

But don't count on all women embracing the volumetric fitting system. For one, it costs $19.95 just to order the fitting cups (though women do get a $20 rebate later on), and each bra costs $60. "Jeez," says . "How much would it cost to switch all your bras over to this new sizing system?"

Moreover, Jockey will be the only bra maker utilizing this measurement system. As , Jockey "may change their bra sizes, but the majority of bra companies still use the classic A-B-C cup sizes" In fact, Jockey's change may ultimately cause more confusion for women because "they now have to contend with multiple sizing systems."

Even without cost and exclusivity concerns, some observers aren't convinced that Jockey's new system will actually solve the problem of ill-fitting bras.is among the skeptical: "Of course, there is a good chance that none of the 10 sizes perfectly encapsulate your boob shape because even the 800 women Jockey scanned to get 'data points' might not look like you."

Of course, if all else fails, frustrated (and bold women) .

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OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Bank of Canada clung on Wednesday to its year-long message that its next move on interest rates would be a hike, staying the course in the final decision under outgoing Governor Mark Carney and leaving any change in stance to his successor.

As expected, the central bank held the key policy rate at 1 percent, extending a nearly three-year freeze on rates, the longest since the 1950s.

It cited continued slack in the economy, a muted outlook for inflation, and slower debt buildup by Canadian households as justification for keeping rates unchanged for now.

The "considerable monetary policy stimulus currently in place will likely remain appropriate for a period of time, after which some modest withdrawal will likely be required," it said.

Governor Carney is stepping down and will begin a five-year term as Bank of England governor on July 1.

Canada's central bank is the only one in the Group of Seven industrialized nations to signal that its next move will be a rate increase, while the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks continue to pump stimulus into the global economy through massive bond-buying campaigns after slashing rates to zero.

The forward guidance was identical to that in the bank's last rate decision on April 17, and sets the stage for the bank's next governor, Stephen Poloz, to oversee any policy shift after he takes over on Monday.

Markets are looking to Poloz's testimony to a parliamentary committee on June 6 and his first speech as governor June 19 for clues on his thinking.

His first rate decision will be on July 17.

"Obviously, Mr. Carney did not care to make any waves in his last meeting," said Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, who last week said the central bank should drop its tightening bias.

"We have that (next) hike so far down the road that little tweaks in the language weren't going to affect that view in any event," he said.

The Canadian dollar briefly touched a session high of C$1.0350, or 96.62 U.S. cents, versus the U.S. dollar after the news, before giving up those gains.

Market participants had largely expected the bank to stay the course as Carney exits, but some players saw an outside chance the bank would drop its tightening bias altogether because of very low inflation and uncertain outlook for growth.

The Bank of Canada has been signaling for more than a year that it intends to lift borrowing costs, but has gradually softened its tone to indicate any move would be far in the distance.

Economists don't expect an increase until the final quarter of 2014, according to a median forecast of 34 analysts in a Reuters poll earlier this month.

PRESSURE ON POLOZ

Incoming Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz, currently head of the country's export credit agency, could come under pressure to shift towards neutral language on rates given low inflation. But such a change is far from certain.

"I don't anticipate any major shift when Poloz takes over the helm," said Derek Burleton, deputy chief economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank. "There hasn't been any heightened pressure to change their stance based on recent developments."

Canada's economy has long recovered from the 2008-09 recession but growth slowed to a crawl in the second half of last year. There are early signs of a rebound this year.

The bank said growth in the first quarter likely surpassed its projection of 1.5 percent, annualized, but said growth in 2013 as a whole looked broadly in line with its 1.5 percent expectation.

Inflation has been slightly weaker than it had expected; the annual rate fell to 0.4 percent in April, well outside the bank's targeted range of 1 to 3 percent.

But the bank maintained its forecast for total consumer price index inflation and core inflation to rise to the 2 percent target by mid-2015.

Household debt, a huge concern for the central bank and the government since the recession, is becoming less of a concern.

The bank said total household credit growth is slowing and repeated that it expects the household debt-to-income ratio to stabilize near the current level of 165 percent.

(Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp, Solarina Ho and Euan Rocha in Toronto; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson and Bernadette Baum)

"Was I a good mother?" Cissy Houston, 79, was quoted as telling the celebrity magazine in an advance excerpt released on Wednesday from the magazine's Friday edition.

"I still wonder if I could have saved her somehow. But there's no book written on how to be a parent. You do the best you can."

Whitney Houston drowned accidentally in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub on February 11, 2012, after taking cocaine and after a well-chronicled battle with drug addiction. She was 48.

Cissy Houston, a singer in her own right, talked to People about her daughter's personal life and career while promoting her upcoming memoir, "Remembering Whitney."

In the memoir, Cissy Houston says she was not aware of the early "partying" days of her daughter, known to the family as "Nippy."

"I had no idea about Nippy's 'partying.' And the truth is, back then I didn't really want to know about it," she writes, according to excerpts released to People.

Cissy Houston also discussed her daughter's ex-husband Bobby Brown, who has had his own substance abuse problems and run-ins with the law. "He didn't help her, that's for damn sure," Houston told the celebrity magazine of Brown.

The Grammy-winning singer left behind her only child, Bobbi Kristina, 19, who was hospitalized twice with anxiety after her mother's death.

Last fall, Cissy, Bobbi Kristina, the singer's brother and sister-in-law starred in a 14-episode reality show for cable channel Lifetime about their struggle to cope after Houston's death called "The Houstons: On Our Own."

Houston told the magazine she was "worried" about granddaughter Bobbi Kristina and "trying to make sure she doesn't (follow the same path)" as her famous mother.

Cissy Houston's interview with People, and excerpts from her memoir, can be found in the issue which reaches newsstands on January 25.

(Reporting By Zorianna Kit; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Claudia Parsons)

The level of phosphate in blood increases when kidney function declines. Keryx is testing Zerenex as a treatment for elevated serum phosphorus levels, or hyperphosphatemia, in patients with end-stage renal disease on dialysis.

The drug showed a statistically significant reduction in patients' blood phosphate level compared with a placebo over a four-week period.

Zerenex also met the two secondary goals of increasing the levels of two proteins in the blood and reducing the need for intravenous iron and erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA), an agent used to stimulate red blood cell production. Declining kidney function often leads to anemia.

"The trial has demonstrated profound benefits not just in the primary endpoints but also in the secondary endpoints. As such, we think the risks of this drug, one - being approved, and two - being a commercial success, go down dramatically," Maxim Group analyst Jason Kolbert said.

The company expects to file for regulatory approvals of the drug in the United States and Europe in the second quarter of 2013.

Zerenex, the company's only clinical candidate, is also being tested in a mid-stage study in patients with chronic kidney disease who are not dependent on dialysis.

If approved, Zerenex will compete with Renagel and Renvela, both developed by Sanofi's biotech subsidiary, Genzyme Corp.

Shire Plc's Fosrenol and Fresenius Medical Care's PhosLo also claim market share for the same indication.

These drugs are called phosphate binders as they attach themselves to phosphate in the gastrointestinal tract and prevent its absorption in the body.

"In our view, the differentiated profile of Zerenex represented by these results, positions it, if approved, to potentially overtake Renvela as the market leader in the phosphate binder market over time," MLV & Co Investment Research analyst Ed Arce said in a note.

Maxim Group's Kolbert said even in the face of current standards of care, with drugs like PhosLo or Renvela going generic, there will be substantial health and pharmaco-economic advantages associated with Zerenex.

"We have said all along that Zerenex is the only phosphate binder that has the potential to transcend into another dialysis category, in this case anemia management, and generate a benefit," Keryx CEO Ron Bentsur said on a conference call.

Shares of New York City-based Keryx were up about 40 percent at $4.80 early on Monday on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting by Esha Dey and Pallavi Ail in Bangalore; Editing by Roshni Menon and Sreejiraj Eluvangal)

Just over a month after the shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut, experts told a Senate hearing that three-quarters of mental illnesses emerge by age 24, but fewer than one in five youths with diagnosable problems receive treatment that could avoid later problems including violence and suicide.

Overall, experts said as many of 45 million Americans experience mental illnesses such as depression, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and drug abuse each year. But only 38 percent get treatment.

"These are the chronic disorders of young people," said Dr. Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health.

The hearing, before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, was held in response to the shootings at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School, where a young 20-year-old man described as having mental issues gunned down 26 people including 20 young children with assault rifle on December 14. It was the first time the committee has addressed the issue of mental health since 2007.

The Newtown tragedy and other mass shootings in recent years have ignited a debate about gun control and mental health, including a push by President Barack Obama for stronger gun controls and better mental health training for schools and communities.

But the committee's Democratic chairman, Tom Harkin, warned against drawing a bold parallel between mental illness and violence against others.

"One of the most insidious stereotypes about people with mental illness is that they are inherently violent," said the Iowa senator. "People with mental illness are much more likely to be the victims of violent crimes than they are to be perpetrators of acts of violence."

Insel said a relatively small number of mentally ill people, who suffer from symptoms such as paranoia and hallucinations, are violent. "Far more common than homicide is violence against the self," he said, pointing out that 90 percent of the 38,000 suicides each year involved mentally ill people.

RULES AND DEFICIT CUTS

All told, he said, the risk of violence, including suicide, among people who develop mental illness is 15 times greater without treatment.

Experts cautioned that treatment should avoid powerful drugs for children who are often vulnerable to side-effects and recommended extra care to ensure that the normal behavioral problems of childhood and adolescence not be mislabeled as mental illness.

In response to the Newtown tragedy, Obama has announced a series of initiatives intended to help teachers and other adults identify children, adolescents and young adults with mental illness and ensure they receive treatment.

Experts said Obama's healthcare reform law is expected to lead to the biggest increase in mental health access in a generation. After January 1, 2014, it is scheduled to extend health coverage to millions of Americans currently locked out of the $2.8 trillion U.S. healthcare system because of a lack of insurance.

Pamela Hyde, administrator of the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said that as many of 10 million people with mental illnesses could gain access to care as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. "Prevention works. Treatment is effective. And people recover," she said.

But Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, expressed concern that the Obama administration is not moving fast enough to produce detailed rules on how mental health access should be made available through new state-based online health insurance marketplaces being set up under the law.

"It's really essential that we see a final rule before April," Murray told Hyde. "Our states are working on the exchanges and they need that clarity. I can't urge you strongly enough."

Hyde said a final rule on essential benefits is due next month. But she could not say whether a separate rule on mental health parity would meet Murray's deadline.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Jilian Mincer and Tim Dobbyn)