NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – A lucky cat owes one of its nine lives to a firefighter who revived it with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Al Machado rescued the cat from a burning apartment Tuesday, telling The Standard Times of New Bedford that he saw immediately that it needed air. Machado began performing mouth to mouth on the animal as he carried it outside.

No humans were injured in the fire. A man and woman whose last known address was the building that burned were arrested and charged with arson, authorities said.

Asked what it tasted like to give mouth-to-mouth to a cat, Machado laughed, grimaced and said: “Like fur.”

Mexico looks for worst example of bureaucracy

MEXICO CITY – Bureaucrats beware: Mexico is holding a contest for the worst example of inefficiency and corruption.

President Felipe Calderon says the contest is part of a program to streamline bureaucracy and aims to turn up the most “irritating and useless” example of government red tape.

Calderon says the government struggles with a tangle of 5,000 bureaucratic requirements. He challenged his administration to make it 3,000.

The president announced the contest Wednesday but did not give details.

Mexicans complain that completing even the simplest of official tasks requires waiting in long lines, following incomprehensible instructions and, often, paying a bribe.

From Associated Press reports