Prince: 'It's fun being in Islamic countries'

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian's Film&Music, Prince said: "It's fun being in Islamic countries, to know there's only one religion. There's order. You wear a burqa. There's no choice. People are happy with that." When asked about the fate of those unhappy with having no choice, he replied: "There are people who are unhappy with everything. There's a dark side to everything."

Read the full story at the Guardian

Anxiety is everywhere

New research showing that the brains of city dwellers operate differently from the brains of those living in rural areas – and that this possibly explains an increase in urban mental health problems – will come as no surprise to most people. According to the study by the University of Heidelberg and McGill University, the two regions of the brain governing emotion and anxiety show signs of over-activity for city dwellers.

Read the full story at the Guardian

The world must support its widows

There are 245 million widows in the world, yet their problems are often ignored. Today, on the first International Widows Day, I hope to break the silence of their suffering in order to support them to play an active role in building their families and their communities.

Read the full story at the Guardian

Keeping children at school until 8pm is only good for pushy parents

Gove this week announced that free schools will be able to lengthen not just term times, but the length of the school day, too.

Free schools will be free to open 51 weeks a year, until 7pm or even 8pm – six days a week. The hours are not dissimilar to those once worked by children in the Victorian mills. It is natural for proponents to believe this will give their offspring, and our future generation, the edge – it will turn them into academic powerhouses, reeling off ancient Greek and Latin in no time at all. It would be a great idea if it wasn't such nonsense.

Read the full story at the Guardian

John Galliano: in vino veritas?

One way to test the validity of John Galliano's defence against the charges of public antisemitism he's facing in France would be to give him a whopping dose of one the few drugs he seems not to have been on last year – sodium amytal (aka "truth serum"). The three judges could ask the wayward fashion designer what his feelings were about Jews, gas chambers and genocide. Perhaps that inner John, whom his lawyer describes as "a tolerant man, without hostility to religion", would emerge to confound the prosecutor. Case closed.

Read the full story at the Guardian

If you want big society, you need big religion

Robert Putnam, Harvard professor of public policy, has been in London, channelling the wisdom of social capital at No 10, as well as talking at St Martins-in-the-Fields on Monday evening. That venue is the big clue to his latest findings. It could be summarised thus: if you want big society, you need big religion.

Read the full story at the Guardian

Barack Obama's real record on LGBT rights

On Thursday evening, President Obama will headline the annual LGBT Leadership Council Gala in New York City, timed to coincide with Gay Pride. With tickets starting at $1,250 per plate and going up to $38,500, the event is key to shoring up Obama's 2012 war chest. It's also central to convincing the press and public that the LGBT community loves Obama, and he has our vote sewn up.

Read the full story at the Guardian

Sex with my wife is virtually non-existent. Should I tell her I'm seeing an escort?

My wife finds penetrative sex difficult. Since her hysterectomy she's been unable to come properly. After excellent sex for three years, successive health and job pressures have meant it's become virtually non-existent.

I have to be so gentle, she gets thrush and is turned off. We share a bed and it's so frustrating. I've tried not to burden her with my needs because she's disabled and has a demanding job. I have a high sex drive and have been seeing escorts. One is phenomenally responsive. It gets better each time with this lady and she's encouraged me to try Viagra to overcome some impotence. The last two occasions have been so good for my confidence. I now wonder if I should tell my wife about my encounters? I do need satisfying, and it's becoming impossible not living with the person I make love to.

Read Pamela Stephenson's answer at the Guardian

Venus Williams serves a fashion ace

There are some certainties about Wimbledon: that it will rain, that the TV cameras will seek out Cliff Richard and that one or other of the Williams sisters will cause a bit of fashion fuss. On opening day Venus obliged tradition and appeared on Centre Court wearing a mini lace jumpsuit. The message was louder than her trademark grunt: her bid for the championships is still in its early stages, but she's already aced the style victory. Again.

Read the full story at the Guardian

The woman at the helm in the US Navy

Half a dozen F-18 fast jets streak across the sky, while below, others are flung off the top of the sprawling flight deck by steam catapult.

And In the midst of this display of naval power sits Rear Admiral Nora Tyson, the first woman to command a US carrier strike group. Adm Tyson is in charge of 75 jets, helicopters and other aircraft – together worth $45bn – plus a cluster of cruisers and destroyers, and nearly 10,000 men and women.

Read the full story at the Guardian

Yulia Tymoshenko says corruption trial aim is to destroy Ukraine opposition

Her distinctive circular braid has been replaced by a loose furl of blond hair, but the unwavering gaze and the stinging rhetoric are those of old.

Seven years since she led Ukraine's orange revolution, Yulia Tymoshenko is back at centre stage as she prepares to stand as the accused in what she calls a show trial orchestrated by President Viktor Yanukovich, her sworn political foe.

Read the full story at the Guardian

Muslim Tory minister says Pakistan's treatment of women fails Islam

Pakistan is failing to live up to one of the tenets of Islam which guarantees rights to all women, according to Sayeeda Warsi, the Conservative party co-chairman and minister without portfolio, who is the first Muslim to sit as a full member of the cabinet.

In a sign of Britain's impatience with Pakistan, Lady Warsi said the world's first Islamic republic is denying rights granted 1,400 years ago in the Qur'an.

Read the full story at the Guardian

Don’t forget D.C.’s homeless women in the HIV/AIDS fight

Figures released last week by the D.C. Department of Health show that the District has made a dent in reducing new cases of HIV/AIDS. However, there is still an alarming reality that isn’t being addressed as publicly: Our data, based on the self-reported HIV status of our clients, suggest that homeless women in this region are nearly 150 percent more likely to suffer from the disease than the general population. There are solutions for the underlying issues that cause this disparity — issues including domestic violence, trauma and substance abuse — and they’re being addressed by some local nonprofits.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

The income gap: an American nightmare

The most convincing evidence of the worsening of U.S. income distribution comes from the historical evolution of the minimum wage, the main source of earning for the poorest of the poor.

The minimum wage in 1970 was $1.60 per hour. This was increased in steps to $7.25 today. Adjusted for the inflation rate, the minimum wage in real terms in 2010 was just four-fifths of the level in 1970, down 20 percent. Over the same period, U.S. real gross domestic product increased three-fold and also doubled in per capita terms.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Wal-Mart to help fund D.C. summer youth programs

Wal-Mart and its charitable foundation are giving $25 million to support summer programs for youths across the country, including $665,000 in grants for school nutrition, jobs and learning programs in the District.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

D.C. Jesuit removed from ministry for allegedly touching child improperly

A D.C. Jesuit who has served as a national leader on spiritual music and African American worship has been permanently removed from ministry after an investigator concluded that he improperly touched a child in the 1980s.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Jury convicts self-help author of 3 counts of negligent homicide in Arizona sweat lodge deaths

CAMP VERDE, Ariz. — A self-help guru was found guilty of three counts of negligent homicide Wednesday in a case that shined a spotlight on a deadly Arizona sweat lodge ceremony that ended in chaos, with participants vomiting, shaking and being dragged outside.

Jurors reached their verdict with remarkable swiftness: They took less than 10 hours to convict James Arthur Ray following a four-month trial that included hundreds of exhibits and countless hours of testimony.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Breast implants reasonably safe, FDA says

Silicone breast implants appear to be relatively safe for most women, although recipients often have them removed because of leaks, infections and other problems, federal health officials said Wednesday.

A preliminary analysis of data being collected by two companies that won approval for silicone gel-filled implants in 2006 and other data found no evidence that the implants cause breast cancer, reproductive problems, rheumatoid arthritis or other major health problems, the Food and Drug Administration said.

Read the full story at the Washington Post

A religious exemption for gay marriage?

Discussion

A bill legalizing same-sex marriage for couples in New York state is at a standstill over the issue of exemptions for religious organizations and individuals. The reach of these religious protections is wide-ranging -from whether Catholic adoption agencies may reject same-sex couples, to the right of religious caterers to refuse services for gay weddings. In New York’s Marriage Equality Act, should there be exemptions for religion? What should happen when equal rights for gay citizens and the right to religious free exercise clash?

Read all the articles at the Washington Post

‘Good Enough’ parenting or perfect parenting

Lori Gottlieb has just started a schoolyard brawl.

With an article in the Atlantic that hit newsstands this week, the writer, therapist and mother has lassoed an increasingly common complaint among parents, grandparents, teachers and professors: modern parents are ruining their children.

Gottlieb, who previously wrote “Marry Him: The Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough” (Dutton, 2010) quotes other therapists, authors and a few teachers about how they’ve been witnessing a sea change among kids and teenagers. They told her that the younger generation is plagued with anxiety and paper-thin egos. The culprits, they say, are not the bad parents, but the best parents.

Read the full story in the Washington Post

How important is sex to a marriage?

Many things get lost in the long haul of relationships, among them inhibitions, senses of humour, socks — and, in many cases, libido.
It is a lucky and unusual couple who, decades into a marriage, still feel the same passion for each other that ignited their early relationship.
Far more common is the story of the once-happy sex life that has waned as the years passed — that initial physical bond becoming fractured in the maelstrom of raising children, earning a living, running a house and growing older.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail

'Red wine could have led to Jimi Hendrix's death', says close friend Meic Stevens

The doctor who attempted to save Jimi Hendrix on the night that the guitarist died said it was 'plausible' he was murdered because he 'drowned in red wine'.
But the iconic musician may have choked and died because he did not know how to drink the substance, close friend Meic Stevens has revealed.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail

Single mothers hardest hit by cuts - Fawcett Society

Single mothers will be hardest hit by the government's programme of benefit cuts and tax rises, according to campaign group the Fawcett Society.

It estimates they will lose an average 8.5% of their income after tax by 2015.

Read the full story at the BBC

Women's gaydar (for men) improves when ovulating

Trick-cyclists in Canada have found that women become much better at telling whether a man is gay – based merely on looking at a photo of his face – when they are ovulating and fertile. In the course of determining this, the psychology profs revealed that they possess highly effective scientifically-verified texts, the mere reading of which sends nubile young sorority girls into a mating frenzy.

Read the full story at the Register

British former lapdancer, her lover and the ex who found them in bed are all jailed in Dubai for having sex outside marriage

A British former lapdancer, her banker lover and his jealous Brazilian model ex-girlfriend who caught them in bed have all been jailed in Dubai for having sex outside marriage.
Danielle Spencer, 31, was naked with Toby Carroll, 33, when furious Priscilla Gomez, 25, stormed into his flat, threatening them with a knife and smashing his possessions.
Police called to the scene decided that all three in the love triangle were in breach of the Arab emirate's strict morality laws and arrested them.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail

Scotland tops world cocaine use

Scotland has again been placed at the top of the world league for cocaine consumption.

Figures published by the United Nations show that 3.9% of Scottish residents aged between 16 and 64 used the drug in the past year.

Read the full story at the BBC

Toddler's solo bus trip from Montgomery to Shrewsbury

A toddler has managed to travel alone 28 miles (45km) from Powys to Shropshire after getting on a bus.

The two-year-old boy got on with other passengers at Montgomery on Monday morning and was only noticed when the bus reached its destination at Shrewsbury.

Read the full story at the BBC

Nottingham pensioner fined £35 for 'upside down' badge

A disabled pensioner has been fined for displaying his blue badge upside down at a Nottinghamshire council car park.

Peter Knott, 76, who suffers from severe arthritis, was upset after he was fined £35 in West Bridgford.

Read the full story at the BBC

Ai Weiwei 'cannot leave Beijing without permission'

China's foreign ministry has said that artist Ai Weiwei cannot leave Beijing without permission, a day after he was freed from police detention.

Mr Ai - a vocal government critic - was bailed after the Chinese authorities said he had confessed to tax evasion. Mr Ai said he was unable to comment.

Read the full story at the BBC

Buju Banton sentenced to 10 years in prison

Grammy-award-winning star Buju Banton has been sentenced to 10 years in jail in the US for his role in setting up a cocaine deal in 2009.

The singer, whose real name is Mark Myrie, was told at Tampa federal court that he must serve five years' probation following prison.

Read the full story on the BBC

MPs defy ministers and back ban on wild circus animals

MPs have defied the government and backed a ban on wild animals being used in circuses in England after a heated debate in Parliament.

Tory MP Mark Pritchard's motion was approved without a formal vote.

Read the full story at the BBC

George Michael to stage HIV charity concert

George Michael is to stage a special concert for Sir Elton John's Aids foundation.

The gig at London's Royal Opera House will benefit the charity's newly created Elizabeth Taylor Memorial Fund.

Michael said he "really wanted to honour the inspiring efforts" made by the actress in raising awareness of the disease.

Read the full story at the BBC

How Catherine Deneuve became a trophy wife

With more than 100 films to her name, screen icon Catherine Deneuve plays against type as a 1970s housewife in French sex comedy Potiche.

So often regarded as the embodiment of cinematic elegance, it is something of a surprise when Catherine Deneuve appears at the start of her latest film jogging in red tracksuit with her hair in curlers.

Read the full story at the BBC

Married men ‘feel unhealthier when they retire'... until their wives stop work too and are on hand to look after them

Most married men look forward to retirement, with all the gardening and games of golf it’ll bring
But a study shows that many actually feel in worse health once they stop working.
But fortunately things do improve: husbands begin to feel healthier when their wives retire too and begin looking after them more carefully, researchers from the University of Missouri discovered.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail

Now that really is a spin cycle! University student invents washing machine that can be powered by pedalling

For those of us used to our washing machines, this might not seem like the easiest way of getting the laundry done.
But student Richard Hewitt is hoping that to people in developing countries his pedal-powered washing machine will be a godsend.
The 21-year-old, who has just completed a degree in product design at Sheffield Hallam University, has come up with the 'Spincycle' a device which washes and dries clothes by using pedal power.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail

Pilot broadcasts slur-filled rant about gay flight attendants over air-traffic control frequency

A pilot was suspended after accidentally broadcasting a slur-filled rant about flight attendants over an air-traffic control frequency that stopped controllers from contacting other aircraft.
The foul-mouthed rant meant controllers were unable to contact other aircraft for several minutes potentially putting lives at risk.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail

Is this the world's smelliest man? The farm worker who has not had a wash in 37 years

It is not an achievement that can readily be savoured by his nearest and dearest.
But Kailash Singh has as good a claim as any to the accolade of world's smelliest man - after refusing to wash for more than 37 years.
Mr Singh, 65, has not bathed or cut his 6ft-long dreadlocks since 1974, shortly after he married.
Explaining his unconventional decision, Mr Singh claimed a priest guaranteed him a much-prized son and heir if he followed the advice.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail

Autistic children could be diagnosed from the age of ONE thanks to new brain scan

Researchers studying autistic children have discovered their brain activity appears to be out of sync compared to their peers at a very early stage.
They found that language areas in the right and left sides of the brain are less synchronised in autistic toddlers.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail

Who needs clothes with a body like this? Heidi Klum poses topless for daring new Project Runway ad

Project Runway may be all about fashion, but the show's host Heidi Klum decided to forgo clothes all together in a promotional image for the new series.
The 39-year-old model and mother of four posed with a pair of scissors and a pink tie ribbon around her neck, with the words 'Make It Work' - a catchphrase of the show's co-host Tim Gunn - written on her arm.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail

That's a bit risqué! Keira Knightley gets spanked in sexually charged film A Dangerous Method

Risqué stills from Keira Knightley’s upcoming film have been released, showing the actress being spanked by her co-star.
Set in the early 1900s, 26-year-old star is seen dressed in a white corseted dress as she is belted by actor Michael Fassbender, who plays her psychiatrist in the sexually-charged project.

Read the full story at the Daily Mail

The moment nine-year-old girl is forced to endure agony of eyebrow waxing for child beauty pageant

A nine-year-old girl is made to have her eyebrows waxed in the name of beauty as mothers push their daughters to ever greater extremes in the competitive world of child pageants.
Chloe, nine, from Forney in Texas, can be seen screwing her face up in shock and pain as she undergoes the procedure in a professional salon in preparation for a contest.

Read the full story on the Daily Mail

Stressed in the City: How Urban Life May Change Your Brain

I live in New York City, and for me, there's nothing that compares to its culture, energy and convenience. I'm not alone in feeling this way — more than half of the world's population now lives in urban areas.
But I also know that when it comes to mental health, the urban lifestyle may not be such a good thing. City dwellers tend to be more stressed and have higher levels of mood disorders and psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia than those living in rural or suburban areas. And now researchers say they have uncovered certain changes in brain activity that could potentially help explain why.

Read the full story in Time magazine

Inside the Sex-Crimes Unit Prosecuting DSK

With the indictment of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn (DSK) on charges of attempted rape, the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit is in the glare of the international spotlight. But the tabloid frenzy over this high-profile case obscures the dogged and far less glamorous work of the prosecutors and investigators of this pioneering crime unit, which investigates roughly 300 cases at any given time.

Read the full story at Time magazine

Study: Doctors May Be Confused About Cervical Cancer Screening

The U.S. has arguably the world's best medical tools available — especially when it comes to cancer screening, which has significantly reduced the mortality rates of serious killers such as breast and colorectal cancer in the last few years. But too much of a good thing can be bad, and expensive.
A government study finds that too many doctors are using the wrong test or testing the wrong women for the human papillomavirus, or HPV, the virus that causes cervical cancer. The unnecessary tests are costly and may be leading to harm and anxiety in women who receive extra medical care they don't need.

Read the full story in Time magazine

Sex and Spicy Food: Half of Women Try Folklore to Induce Labor

By the time a pregnant woman draws near her due date or breezes by it, with no sign of baby, she may get a little desperate. What to do? Many women turn to folklore.
Myriad are the well-intentioned people who promise surefire, old-wives' ways to jumpstart labor. Apparently, moms-to-be are listening: new research shows that half of women who reached 37 weeks of pregnancy tried methods like walking, having sex, eating spicy food or stimulating their nipples to induce labor.

Read the full story in Time Magazine

Driving While Buzzed: No Amount of Alcohol Is Safe Behind the Wheel

The blood-alcohol limit in the U.S. is 0.08% — a cutoff that implies that any blood-alcohol content (BAC) south of 0.08% is safe, or at least not illegal.
But a new study published in the journal Addiction suggests that there is no such thing as a safe BAC and that driving after consuming even a small amount of alcohol — just one beer, for instance — is associated with incapacitating injury and death.

Read the full story in Time Magazine

30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future

Rebel, survivor, pinup, sweetheart, pit bull, rock chick, ice queen: female tennis players sure seem to get labeled a lot. And while that kind of media sizzle makes tournaments like Wimbledon a hot ticket, it doesn't begin to sum up the resilience and power of the sport's biggest stars. Find out what drives the greatest players of the past 40 years, from Billie Jean King to Li Na

Read the full article in Time magazine

UN issues first resolution condemning discrimination against gay people

The United Nations issued its first condemnation of discrimination against gay, lesbian and transgender people on Friday, in a cautiously-worded declaration hailed by supporters including the US as a historic moment.

Members of the UN human rights council narrowly voted in favour of the resolution put forward by South Africa, against strong opposition from African and Islamic countries.

Read the full story on the Guardian

Shaykhy Crushes: Trials in the Lives of Men of Knowledge

When I first began studying Islam and getting involved in Islamic work, one of the major motivators for me was that this field would keep me away from the fitnah of the opposite gender. For every young man and woman, one of the greatest trials we face is dealing with members of the opposite gender without falling into sin. Originally, and it was naive of me, I thought Islamic work would put me in a position in which I would not have to deal with these situations. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

There is a trend among contemporary, practicing Muslims which I find rather disturbing, this trend is what I call a “Shaykhy Crush”. I have noticed at many Islamic events, from classes to conferences, practicing Muslim women who follow the Deen in dress and Ibadah, developing crushes and falling in love with the speakers and teachers. This has led to many dangerous scenarios.

Read the full story at Muslim Matters

Catholic Care's latest appeal request is refused

Alison McKenna of the charity tribunal rules that the charity has not identified any errors of law in the decision not to allow it to discriminate against same-sex adoption couples.

Read the full story at Third Sector