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Superhuman recoveryChristopher Reeve, the star of Superman and the celebrity who personified superhuman strength, has left his doctors conf...

Superhuman recovery

Christopher Reeve, the star of Superman and the celebrity who personified superhuman strength, has left his doctors confounded by defying predictions of medical science. His continued recovery from the horse-riding accident that broke his neck two years ago leaving him crippled, is being hailed as a triumph of the human spirit. In an interview to NBC8217;s 48 Hours recently, he said he had recovered sensation 8220;all the way down to the base of his spine, which is really a breakthrough because six months ago, I couldn8217;t feel down here8221;.

For the first time he could feel the touch of his five-year-old son, his greatest wish being to be able to cuddle him. Doctors are amazed by his recovery, as in most cases of spinal injury the extent of damage is known within two months, and it is rare for patients to recover after that. As Steven Kirshblum, one of his doctors, put it: 8220;There are things that aren8217;t supposed to happen8230;.but sometimes we see miracles.8221;

Spin Doctoring

PETER MANDELSON, the king of spin doctoring and media manipulation and the architect of labour8217;s election victory, has accused the BBC of exploiting him over an interview in which he came close to tears discussing his father8217;s death. According to him, the BBC hyped a two-year-old interview and revived it to exploit his new position as minister without portfolio.

It seems he was told the pilot series for which the interview had been conducted had been rejected by the BBC. But recently, he got calls from journalists after being told his interview with Oliver James, a clinical psychologist, would be aired in June. 8220;I think the BBC has exploited me,8221; said Mandelson, 8220;I am not having a row with it but I do think it has acted pretty unscrupulously.8221;

Ice Queen

ANNA WINTOUR, the editor of American Vogue, has a reputation so icy, that she earned the nickname Nuclear Wintour while editing British Vogue a decade ago. She, however, thinks she is a fairly normal person, and finds her reputation baffling. 8220;I seem to have an image here that I can8217;t lose,8221; she says. 8220;But my Dad, who I think is the sweetest man in the world, was always called Chilly Charlie! Maybe it8217;s in the genes,8221; she concedes.

Her father was editor of the Evening Standard and her family is full of academic achievements, but she decided to go to work instead, joining the fashion department of Harper8217;s amp; Queen at 20. She rose steadily and today, her magazine, American Vogue, is icon and industry rolled into one. Some months it is thicker than a telephone directory.

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Married to the chief of child psychology at Columbia Presbyterian with two children aged nine and 11, in her spare time she raises mega amounts for AIDS and breast cancer research. She became really controversial only last winter, when she confessed to her readers that she wore fur, inciting the fury of anti-fur activists. Her lunch at the Four Seasons last December was interrupted when a frozen raccoon was thrown on her plate. Wintour reacted as Nuclear Wintour would: she draped a serviette over the dead animal and called for coffee.