•  According to an independent group in Britain, the number of abortions performed on fetuses with Down syndrome has been greatly underrepresented. They claim that doctors, in attempts to protect their patients from further pain, have been classifying abortions performed on fetuses with Down as "social abortions." • Excerpts of Anne Frank's diary were censored out of a school textbook in Lebanon after Hezbollah's Al-Manar television channel ran a report claiming the book promotes Zionism. MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said, "These respected, established schools are teaching the so-called tragedy this girl lived, and yet they are ashamed to teach the tragedy of the Lebanese people, the tragedy of the Palestinian people... the tragedy of the people of the south under the hands of Zionist occupation." • A new study has found that there is a significant gender-based pay gap among US faculty. "Our findings show that women who wish to challenge pay gaps at their own institution need to systematically and quantitatively approach the situation, especially during a time of economic downturn," said the author of the study. •  David Swain has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife in 1999. Swain was scuba diving in the Caribbean with his wife Shelley Tyre when something went wrong and Tyre was killed. Although local authorities found no evidence of wrongdoing, a British Virgin Islands judge has ruled differently. • Female cancer or multiple sclerosis patients are six times more likely than male patients to be separated or divorced soon after their diagnosis. Researchers said men may leave a sick spouse because they're more hesitant than women to commit to being a caretaker. • Six years ago, Stephen Weston heard about a woman who had been prosecuted for not wearing her seat belt correctly while pregnant. For many women, the cross-body belt is uncomfortable, so Weston decided to solve the problem by developing an alternative belt for expecting mothers. The shoulder harness seat belt will hit the market in 2010. • The New York Times reports on the rising number of female officers in the Iraqi police force. While women were long discouraged from higher positions, many have come to realize that there are certain benefits to having female officers. "Everyone says men are able to do everything, but that's not true," said Lieutenant Farah Hameed. "In investigations, especially with women, women use their compassion with victims to get them to answer questions clearly." •  A recent study shows that yo-yo dieting may be more like drug addiction than previously believed. Researchers put a group of rats on "diet-cycles," and they found that after going without food, the rats suffered anxiety, and the deprivation effected the same stress symptom that kicks in during drug withdrawal. • Women are getting involved in Mexican drug trafficking in greater numbers and many are being jailed or killed. More women are becoming addicts, turning to dealing as a better alternative to prostitution, or being forced to smuggle drugs through military checkpoints by male family members. •  Prosecutors have offered former astronaut Lisa Nowak a plea deal. Nowak is accused of stalking and assaulting Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman, who was dating Nowak's ex-boyfriend. •  Wanna be happy for the rest of your life? Move West, young woman. Apparently, people are happiest in the Mountain states and on the West Coast, due mainly to the high concentration of wealth, education, and tolerance. • While experts believe that postpartum depression is still severely under-reported, there are several new programs that offer support and aid to women suffering from PPD. UNC has a particularly good program, which features a small postpartum inpatient unit. • In the next 10 years women are expected to become the majority of unionized workers, according to a report from the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "When you have a majority of women in the labor movement, issues like work-family balance, paid sick days and paid parental leave become more important," said economist John Schmitt. • "Weight-watchers everywhere can breathe a sigh of relief. Contrary to their image as slim models of restraint, French women, it seems, really do get fat," begins this article, on rising obesity rates in France. It's a good thing Mireille Guilano has a new shtick. • Some are calling for the website celebrityaddressaerial.com to be shut down after it was revealed that the people who allegedly robbed Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Orlando Bloom, used the site to gather information on their targets. The site, which lists the addresses and aerial photos of hundreds of celebrity homes, contains information that could be found on sites like TMZ and Google Maps in a more easily searchable format. • A new fiction genre described as "Beatrix Potter meets the Kray Brothers" or "Pulp Fiction meets Wind in the Willows" involves animals, or even dinosaurs, in gritty detective stories. • In an interview with a British journalist who says she dreamed of being a Playboy Bunny as a child, Hugh Hefner says, "My younger brother and I were raised in a home in Chicago with no real affection; we knew we were loved, but there was no display of affection. I think that my quest for romantic love and the adventure of romantic love was filling the space that was left because I didn't get the affection when I was young." • In this security video a woman on a Boston subway platform who appears drunk falls onto the tracks. People wave at an oncoming train to stop, the driver breaks, and the car comes to a stop inches away from killing her. •

•  A 35-year-old woman from Japan is believed to have drugged and murdered five men over the past few years. Police believe that she was deeply in debt, which may have been the motivation behind the killings. •  A study from Indiana University has found that using lube makes sex better for women (well, duh). Both water and silicone-based lubricants were found to reduce the risk of vaginal tearing and genital pain. •  Stroller manufacturer Maclaren has announced a recall of one million strollers - all strollers sold since 1999 - after twelve children had to have fingers amputated from being caught in the hinges. •  Canadian researchers report that women with "denser" breasts are at a higher risk of seeing breast cancer return. They examined over 300 breast cancer patients, and organized them into low density, intermediate, and high. The women with high density breasts were much more likely to have cancer return within five years. •  Women taking medication for depression are more likely to give birth prematurely, according to a recent study. Another finding showed that without medication use, women who displayed elevated symptoms of depression during pregnancy were no more likely to give birth preterm than their healthy peers. • On Saturday, hundreds of women in South Africa donned their bikinis and paraded through the streets of Johannesburg. The day-long event raised money for breast cancer research while breaking the world record for largest bikini parade. • Over the past five years, UK-based charity Childline has seen a significant rise (132% since 2004) in the number of calls received regarding sexual abuse by women. However, they do not believe that more women becoming abusers, but rather that more boys have tended to call the helpline. "Many would find it shocking that any woman - let alone a mother - can sexually assault a child. But they do," said Sue Minto, head of Childline. •  Sad news: The natural birth center at NYC's Bellevue Hospital has closed. The birth center was one of the only of its kind to cater to mostly poor, immigrant women on Medicaid, but it was apparently shut down in September due to budget constraints. •  Relatives of Janice Webb, a Cleveland woman who has been missing since June, say that they have not given up hope that Webb is alive, despite fears that she may be among Anthony Sowell's unidentified victims. •  On Sunday dozens of Muslim women gathered in Fremont, California to discuss hijabs. Many of them report facing hostility and prejudice: "There's a lot of covert discrimination out there," said one of the organizers. •  A senior Burmese diplomat has announced the possible release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for the majority of the past two decades, but her supporters at home and abroad hope that she will be free in time for next year's election. • Research on rabbit penises indicates that artificial penis tissue could one day be grown to help men with diseased or damaged penises, or simply those who want bigger dicks. Reassuringly, a writeup of the study notes that "if the scientists do try and help people with this research, naturally they will not use rabbit cells with men." •  The pro-rape Facebook group organized by the University of Sydney's St. Paul's college is apparently not an aberration: one student wrote to the Sydney Morning Herald that ''St Paul's boys are notorious for their sexist behaviour, referring to women as 'holes' and some of the co-ed colleges have 'don't speak to women days.'' • Scott Roeder has confessed to the murder of abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, and plans to use a "necessity defense," arguing that the murder was "justified to protect the lives of unborn children." • A 23-year-old Kansas City man has been arrested for marrying a 14-year-old girl in a Muslim ceremony — under Missouri state law, he would have needed a judge's order to do so. • Members from the Westboro Baptist Church have been protesting outside the Sidwell Friends School, where Sasha and Malia Obama are enrolled as students. Protesters carried signs with anti-gay, anti-abortion, and anti-Obama slogans. • 

Velez, an Army private, had recently returned from Iraq, where she disarmed bombs. She had served for three years, recently reenlisted for another three, and wanted to become a psychologist to help other soldiers deal with the stress of military life. Her friend Sasha Ramos says she respected the position of Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, the alleged shooter. "He's somebody she would have saluted," Ramos said. "It's degrading to all soldiers that he did something like that." • Vandy Beth Glenn has filed a federal lawsuit to get her job at the Georgia General Assembly back after she was fired for being transgender. She had been working as Glenn Morrison and living as Vandy Beth, but she and her supervisor agreed she would start dressing as a woman on Halloween 2006. But she was fired by Georgia Legislative Counsel Sewell Brumby, who said in a deposition, "It makes me think about things I don't like to think about, particularly at work … I think it's unsettling to think of someone dressed in women's clothing with male sexual organs inside that clothing." • According to the American Psychological Association's annual stress survey released earlier this week, women are more likely than men to say they lack the willpower to make lifestyle changes to improve their health. But, Helen Coons, director of the Women's Mental Health Center in Philadelphia, says "willpower" is a misleading term because women may really mean they're too exhausted to make changes and think of themselves as being "selfish" if they put their needs ahead of others'. • A survey of 1,212 doctors published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that many doctors do unnecessary pap smears, adding to heath care costs. Doctors were asked what screening they'd recommend in various situations and most said they'd give a pap smear to a 35-year-old woman with no history of cervical cancer whose cervix had been removed, which is inconsistent with guidelines from several medical associations. • Though many men think women are mainly interested in color when buying a car, a survey by Ipsos Public Affairs for CarMax found 33% of women say price is the most important factor, followed by reliability and fuel efficiency. • Canadian researchers compared 6-year-old children who were breast-fed for 6 months with those who were breast-fed for only three months and found that there were no differences in intelligence, behavior, or blood pressure. While longer breast-feeding gave the children an immunity boost as infants, the researchers say the advantages of breastfeeding do not include lower risks of obesity, asthma, allergy, or dental problems in the long term. • Elizabeth Lambert, the NCAA women's soccer player whose unsportswomanlike behavior was featured on SportsCenter last night has been suspended indefinitely from the University of New Mexico's team. "Liz is a quality student-athlete, but in this instance her actions clearly crossed the line of fair play and good sportsmanship," said her coach, Kit Vela. • A prosecution source in the Amanda Knox trial says her DNA is on the handle of a knife used to kill Meredith Kercher, but the defense still insists there was DNA tampering at the scene of the crime and that the kitchen knife doesn't match Kercher's wounds. Closing arguments in the case begin in two weeks. • Mary Karr, who just published her memoir Lit, says she developed her storytelling ability as a child. She and her mother would play a game when they were driving or her mom was hungover. "Tell me a story she liked to say, meaning charm me - my life in this Texas suckhole is duller than a rubber knife. Amaze me," says Karr. • "Presidents hate the press," says White House reporter Helen Thomas. "They hate me most of the time. ... Asking questions about Watergate, about Monica Lewinsky, they're questions that will hurt and yet you can't avoid them. If you do avoid them, it shows you don't have guts." •

Carmichael says Sowell invited her to the house in April for a beer. They were upstairs talking, "and then he just clicked," Doss said. "I'm sitting on the corner of the bed and he just leaped up and came over and started choking me. He said, 'If you want to live, knock three times on the floor.' And I knocked on the floor." He made her lay on the bed and take her clothes off but didn't try to rape her. She fell asleep and when she woke up he acted like nothing had happened and she left. She didn't report the crime because she's done jail time on a drug charge and assumed the police wouldn't believe her. Her friend disappeared later that month and Doss believes she may be one of the 10 unidentified victims. • Brigitte Harris of New York is facing up to 15 years in prison for killing her father when she cut off his penis. She cooked his penis on the stove because she heard that John Bobbitt's penis had been reattached, but said she didn't mean to kill him. She says her father had been raping her since she was 3 and she decided to take action because she was afraid he was about to do the same to her nieces. "Thinking back now, I definitely would have tried to put my resources into getting him put in jail," she said. "But I thought that people weren't going to believe me." • In Florida a 7-month old baby who was reported missing by her mother was found five days later in a box under her babysitter's bed. The mother, Chrystina Lynn Mercer, had asked babysitter Susan Elizabeth Baker to permanently take custody of the girl but didn't say why. The babysitter had written to Governor Charlie Christ over the summer asking him to help the baby because her father shook her and mother did drugs in front of her. • A guard at a "black jail" in China plead guilty to raping a 21-year-old detainee. Human rights groups say many people who come to Beijing to air complaints ignored by local authorities are rounded up by provincial officials who are worried the complaints will get them in trouble. The government still denies these "black jails" exist and the term was not mentioned in the trial. • Canadian researchers have found that oral contraceptives may benefit women with asthma. Women with asthma who were not taking birth control pills had lower exhaled nitric oxide levels, whcih is a marker of airway inflammation, than women who were on the pill. • Doctors are now injecting botox into women's chest muscles to tighten sagging cleavage. British cosmetic surgeon Sach Mohan said: "A young woman who has recently been pregnant might not have very much in her wardrobe that fits. But she is under pressure to look good just weeks after giving birth. This is another tool in their armory." • Between 20,000 and 40,000 women in the United States are allergic to their husband's sperm. Within half an hour of unprotected sex an allergic woman can develop hives, swollen eyes, diarrhea, and breathing difficulties. The condition can be treated and it's even possible for couple's to have children with a doctor's help. • The National Assembly in Pakistan has passed a bill calling for harsher punishment for sexually harassing women. Under the new bill, which will now go to the senate, the punishment for sexual harassment will be three years in jail and a fine of $6,000. Now the maximum punishment is one year in prison and an unspecified fine. • Gay marriage activists are blaming the failure of Maine's gay marriage law in Tuesday's election on scare-mongering ads and President Obama's failure to speak out in favor of the law. "President Obama missed an opportunity to state his position against these discriminatory attacks with the clarity and moral imperative that would have helped in this close fight," said Evan Wolfson of the national advocacy group Freedom to Marry. "The anti-gay forces are throwing millions of dollars into various unsubtle ads aimed at scaring people, so subtle statements from the White House are not enough." • The defeat of same-sex marriage in Maine has inspired anti-gay marriage activists in New Hampshire to draft legislation that would repeal the state's recently-passed law allowing gay marriage and put the issue to a vote again. • A USA Today/Gallup poll of potential Republican voters in 2012 found that 71% would "seriously consider" voting for Mike Huckabee, with Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin tying for second place. • While 65 percent of Republicans in the same poll said that they would consider voting for Sarah Palin, only 58 percent said she was qualified to be president. • San Francisco has banned the declawing of cats. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, chief sponsor of the legislation, said, "It is well documented and well understood from a medical perspective that it is torture; it is a form of animal cruelty." •

But her parents recall that Taylor's rise to fame has not been easy. Her father said "you could write 10 pages" about what he had to do to get her into the Irish Amateur Boxing Association. •  Meet Diane Macchino, the so-called "Cement Princess." Macchino owns eight cement trucks, which she refers to as her "babies," manages a cement yard, wears three inch heels, and fights sexual harassment on what sounds like a daily basis. Macchino says shes had trouble from competitors, who don't like the fact that a women is getting into the business, but she has big plans: "This Cement Princess will be back like a woman scorned. Offering the best product at the best prices, honest service with a smile, and a woman's touch." • Police have discovered a seventh body in the Cleveland, Ohio home of convicted rapist Anthony Sowell. He was arrested last week after the decomposing bodies of six African-American women were found in his house and buried in his yard. • Three female college students from North Dakota have gone missing. Authorities refuse to speculate on what has happened to the girls, but a friend reports receiving two late night phone calls that mentioned water and asked for help. •  The Georgian Court Hotel in Vancouver has recently reopened with a new feature: A floor dedicated exclusively to female travelers. The "Orchid Floor" will provide extra amenities, including curling irons, yoga mats, and a collection of women's magazines. • According to a new government report, America's disturbingly high infant mortality rate can be blamed primarily on poor access to prenatal care and the resulting premature births. To make things more depressing, many low income mothers do not have access to proper care, which accounts for the high numbers of infant deaths among women in the US. •  Subjects in a Canadian study looked at photos of men's faces and said they thought those with wider, longer faces were more aggressive. The volunteer's guesses correlated highly to the men's actual aggressive behavior. "The greater the width-to-height ratios, the higher the aggressive rating, suggesting that we may use this aspect of facial structure to judge potential aggression in others," said the researchers. • Evelyn Border, 56, and her daughter Tina Griekspoor, 35, stood outside a Pennsylvania courthouse for four and a half hours today holding signs that read: "I stole from a 9-year-old girl on her birthday! Don't steal or this could happen to you!" The women, who were convicted of stealing the girl's gift card when she put it down on a shelf at Wal-Mart, agreed to hold the signs rather than serving jail time. • Ingmar "Iggy" Sprude, who appeared on the cover of Gulfshore Life magazine's recent issue, was arrested for allegedly pulling the fire alarm inside a Naples, Florida nightclub twice on Halloween. He was dressed as Pamela Anderson at the time. • In addition to taking care of the grounds, White House Horticulturist Dale Henry has developed a relationship with many presidential pets. Henry is Bo's primary walker when Michelle Obama is out of town. He says he's amazed by the public's fascination with With House pets: "Sometimes I think they're more interested in the pets than the president." • Voters at a town hall meeting in Dudley, Massachusetts have made it illegal to own more than three cats without being granted a $50 residential kennel license. The law was created after the neighbor of Mary Ellen Richards said her 15 cats are destroying her yard. Richards is selling her house and says she's moving to a "more cat-friendly community." •

The pictures in question were taken over the summer, and showed the pretending to kiss or lick "novelty phallus-shaped lollipops." Other images showed the girls in their underwear with dollar bills sticking out. The ACLU has become involved in the case, and they claim that since the incident occurred outside school, it should not effect their standing. •  A new study from Britain's Department of Health has found that new mothers feel most anxious around five months after giving birth. At this point, the excitement has supposedly worn off, and friends and relatives are supposedly no longer offering as much support, which leads many mothers to feel isolated and nervous. • Nutrition experts have complained that Kellogg's is falsely advertising that its Cocoa Krispies cereal can help "boost immunity." Currently, the Cocoa Krispies box reads: ""Now helps support your child's IMMUNITY," alluding to the addition of vitamins A, C and E. But Kelly Brownell from Yale University says, "by their logic, you can spray vitamins on a pile of leaves, and it will boost immunity." • Researchers recently found that 1/5 of smokers lie about smoking during pregnancy. The study, which looked at 3,475 women from Scotland, asked women to come clean about lighting up while pregnant and followed up with the revealing blood tests. •  The Cyprus Feline Society has identified two breeds of cat that they claim are "ancient breeds" and would like international recognition for them. The two breeds include the tall and elegant "Aphrodite," and short, broad-faced "Helen." •  A professor at Harvard has announced that next semester he plans a class based entirely on the HBO show The Wire. "I do not hesitate to say that it has done more to enhance our understanding of the challenges of urban life and the problems of urban inequality, more than any other media event or scholarly publication," said sociology professor William J. Wilson at a recent panel discussion.  • A new study found that while marriage rates are lower for women on welfare, receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, once they exit the system they are as likely to marry as women who were never on welfare. • International cancer specialists will meet this week to figure out how to combat the increase of breast cancer in developing countries, where almost two-thirds of women aren't diagnosed until the cancer has spread through their bodies. Doctors say part of the problem is that in some areas women worry that men will leave them if they lose a breast. "It's not a trivial consideration," says Dr. Lawrence Shulman of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, who is working to begin cancer care in parts of Africa where "the women are often seen as really either vessels for producing children or as sex slaves." • A mother in New York is challenging a judge's decision to 34 percent increase in the number of Down Syndrome births between 1989 and 2005, 15 percent fewer babies were born during that time due to prenatal testing. Some are worried that the decline in Down Syndrome cases will lead to cuts in research funding and that more people aren't even considering raising a child with Down syndrome. • A Texas health clinic operator CareNow says it regrets telling a Muslim doctor applying for a job that she couldn't wear her hijab. The company called it a "misunderstanding" after the American-Islamic Relations wrote to CareNow, explaining federal law requires employers to reasonably accommodate religious practices of an employee. • Today Michelle Obama is launching a mentoring program in which she and female White House staffers will mentor 20 high school girls from the Washington, D.C. area. The girls will get to visit their mentors' offices and gather for a group dinner. • Despite Liz Lemon's well-known love of the German language, 30 Rock is not popular in Germany. Its premiere last night on the German channel ZDFNeo earned a 0.0 rating, meaning it was watched by fewer than 5,000 people. Blerg. •

The other twin continued to grow, living inside Kang's stomach and crushing her internal organs. Doctors say this condition is very rare, but Kang is recovering well from her surgery, and is going to be just fine. • Self magazine has ranked the top 10 healthiest cities for women, based on disease rates and other factors. Topping the list is Burlington, Vt., which boasts a large number of co-ops and organic food options, as well as low rates of diabetes, cholesterol and hypertension. •  According to a doctoral thesis out of Spain, students aged 11-16 have generally resigned themselves to bullying. They believe that it is "something natural" and has always happened. They also found that girls viewed bullies differently than boys. Girls tended to empathize with the victims and associate negative feelings with the bully, while boys focused more on the shame of being a victim. •  Researchers have discovered a rather odd link between morning sickness during pregnancy and cognitive ability. Apparently, children whose mothers suffered from nausea and puking tend to score slightly better on cognitive tests. Doctors believe hormone levels may be to blame. • Devout Muslim Rabia Sarwar allegedly tried to slit her new husband Sheikh Naseem's throat, saying he's emotionally abusive and made her drink alcohol, eat pork, and wear revealing clothes. He's unharmed, and she's been charged with attempted murder. • The American people apparently have as low an opinion of Sarah Palin's qualifications as they did of Dan Quayle's. • Also, Iowans can relax: Palin isn't giving a speech in your state... yet. • The US currently bans people with HIV from entering the country, meaning there hasn't been a major AIDS conference here since 1993. However, Obama says he will reverse the ban next year. • Rev. Bernice King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, will become the first female head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which her father helped found. • An Iraqi man accused of running his daughter over with a car because she had become "too Westernized" has been found in Atlanta after a search. • A study found that Swedish mothers who ate more vegetables during pregnancy were less likely to have children with type 1 diabetes. No word on what happens to babies whose moms eat a lot of Swedish fish. • Hillary Clinton's meeting with Pakistani women today went poorly, perhaps because she modeled it on "The View" — or perhaps because she joked about "not talking about security issues," while the Pakistani women want to talk about... security issues. • Pat Robertson responded to Obama's signing of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, which would allow hate crime prosecution for crimes based on sexual orientation, by saying, "The noose has tightened around the necks of Christians." Because not letting Christians persecute gay people is apparently the same as lynching them. • On facing Jaycee Dugard's kidnapper Phillip Garrido in court, the woman he raped 32 years ago says, "It's always been just under the surface of my life, and I thought this was in its box and put away. But this Pandora 's box is open for me, and now I'm dealing with it again on a different level, like I've been victimized myself." • Two waitresses are suing Hooters after they were forced to buy the hideous orange uniforms out of pocket. It is illegal to demand employees buy uniforms if they are required to wear something other than "everyday street clothes." "I don't think that could confuse the Hooters uniform clothes as part of someone's ordinary wardrobe," said their lawyer. •  A recent study from Harvard University has found that men, regardless of their sexual orientation, are most attracted to faces that look most synonymous with their gender. In other words, gay men like very masculine looking men, while straight men are attracted to the most feminine-looking women. • 

• According to a Gallup poll released earlier this year, New England is the least religious region in America, which is partially why Evangelists are targeting the apathetic Northern states. Some Christian denominations view New England as a "mission field," and MSNBC interviews several missionaries seeking to convert those living in and around Boston. From a New Englander born and bred: Good luck with that. •  The Georgia man accused of attacking an African-American woman outside of a Cracker Barrel while screaming racial slurs has been released on bail. Troy Dale West Jr. faces charges ranging from false imprisonment to cruelty to children, but no word yet on whether he will be charged with a hate crime. •  Soon after the election, 67% of Americans reported being "optimistic" about the future of race relations. But the so-called "Obama effect" didn't last long, and the percentage of optimistic folk has already slipped down to 56, which is only one point higher than in December 1963. • In his new memoir The Audacity to Win David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama's presidential campaign, says Obama seriously considered asking Hillary Clinton to be his running mate. He writes; "[W]hat surprised me at [our first meeting to discuss the vice presidency] was that Obama was clearly thinking more seriously about picking Hillary Clinton than Ax and I had realized. He said if his central criterion measured who could be the best VP, she had to be included in that list. She was competent, could help in Congress, would have international bona fides and had been through this before, albeit in a different role. He wanted to continue discussing her as we moved forward." • A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed another one of Orly Taitz's birther lawsuits. She asked the court to demand President Obama produce more documentation proving that he was born in the United States and to shut down the federal government and hold an election if he couldn't. The judge said it was unconstitutional for the courts to "effectively overthrow a sitting president." • Obama For America sent out a link to a commercial paid for by the DNC that features Sarah Palin's various health care lies followed by a clip of her saying "quit making things up." • The House Democrats healthcare reform bill unveiled today says, "Only private premium dollars can be used to provide abortion coverage. Where abortion coverage is provided, funds for this purpose must be segregated from other funds, including affordability credits," which won't satisfy pro-lifers who say private premiums and government subsidies given to low-income Americans can't be isolated and segregated. • New York Governor David Paterson has signed a bill that enhances the penalty for injuring an abortion provider, staff member, volunteer or patient. The legislation is a response to the shooting of Dr. George Tiller, and makes physically injuring someone obtaining or providing an abortion a class E felony rather than a misdemeanor. • Scientists in New Zealand are working on developing an ice cream called ReCharge that will help relieve the side-effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients. The "medical dessert" uses active ingredients from dairy products to relieve diarrhea, anemia and lack of appetite. • Susan Finkelstein, the woman accused of trying to trade sex for World Series tickets, will be given two tickets to Game 3 by a Philadelphia car dealer and the host of Chio in the Morning on WIRED-FM. • According to the CDC's Prevention's Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report released today, 11 percent of the U.S. population reports not getting enough sleep. 12.4 percent of women say they don't sleep enough compared to 9.9 percent of men. • A study by Trojan ranks the University of South Carolina as the nation's top university in sexual health. The ratings were based on a poll of students conducted on Facebook and data from on-campus student health centers. One big element of the school's sexual health awareness program are peer-to-peer groups sponsored by Student Health and Violence Prevention. • Ahmed Muhamed Dhore, a Somalian who claims he is 112 years old, says he has realized a "dream" by marrying a 17-year-old bride. He has married five times before, but three wives are dead. Dhore already has 13 children, the oldest of whom is 80, but says he would like more with his new bride, Safiya Abdulle. •

Image via Peter Rivera's Flickr

• The suspects range in age from 15 to 21 and included a 17-year-old boy who turned himself in and a former Richmond High School student. Richmond, California Police Lt. Mark Gagan said, "These suspects are monsters. And, I don't understand how this many people capable of such atrocious behavior could be in one place at one time." • A lawyer for Susan Finkelstein, the Phillies fan accused of offering sex for World Series tickets, said her post on Craigslist saying she'd get "creative" with payment, "was a variation of 'will work for food.' It doesn't mean she was a prostitute.'" Attorney William Brennan denied an undercover police officer's claim that she offered him sex for tickets and added, "You're talking about a 43-year-old woman who was overcome by Phillies fever. All she was looking to do was take her husband to a World Series game. You know that Madonna movie Desperately Seeking Susan? This was Susan Desperately Seeking.'" • Edward Ates of Florida testified in court today that he couldn't have killed his son-in-law because he is too fat to commit the crime. Paul Duncsak, who was in a child custody dispute with Ates daughter, was shot in his home in 2006. Ates says he weighed 285 lbs at the time and wouldn't have had the energy needed to climb and descend the staircase where prosecutors say the killer was perched when he shot Duncsak. • A Utah judge has sentenced 21-year-old Leo Harrison to prison for accepting $150 from a pregnant girl to help her kill her fetus. Harrison was facing 21 years in prison for pleading guilty to second-degree felony attempted murder, but the judge sentenced him on a charge of third-degree "attempted killing of an unborn child" under Utah's anti-abortion statute, which means he could serve up to 20 years in prison.The woman, who gave birth to a healthy baby, pleaded no contest to second-degree felony criminal solicitation to commit murder for paying Harrison to assault her. • Using forceps if a woman is having difficulty during the "pushing" stage of labor has fallen out of favor, but a new study found that trying forceps instead of immediately performing a C-section does not raise the risks to the baby in most cases. A study of 3,200 women who had an unplanned C-section found that when cases in which there was already a problem with the fetal heart rate were excluded, the rate of complications were the same whether forceps were tried before a C-section or not. • While many Indian women are acting as surrogate mothers, more than half a million Indian women die every year due to pregnancy complications, despite government programs guaranteeing free obstetric care. According to Human Rights Watch, India is doing a poor job of monitoring how maternal health programs are implemented. UNICEF estimates that for every maternal death, there are 20 to 30 cases of other complications including obstetric fistulae, uterine prolapse, infertility, vaginal scarring, and sepsis. • A Spanish study of contraceptive use by 11,000 women from 14 European countries found that after condoms, the pill is the most popular contraceptive method. IUDs are the most popular long-acting contraceptive, but only 10% of women surveyed use them and most are over 30 years old. • Scientists at the Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante, Spain say they've figured out the secret behind Mona Lisa's smile. They say the smile depends on what cells in the retina pick up the image. Sometimes the image is transmitted to the brain on one channel and you see the smile and sometimes another channel takes over and you won't see it. • In a session on grieving during The Women's Conference in California, Maria Shriver said she's been telling people she's OK since her mother's death two months ago but, "the real truth is that I'm not fine... The real truth is that my mother's death has brought me to my knees. I had feared this my entire life... She was my hero, my role model, my very best friend. I spoke to her every single day of my life. I tried really hard when I grew up to make her proud of me." • According to a UC Irvine study, 30 percent of Americans have a gene variant that is linked to performing 20 percent worse on a driving test than people without it. Previous studies have found that in people with a BDNF gene variant, which supports communication among brain cells, a smaller portion of the brain is stimulated when doing a task than in people with a normal BDNF gene. • Check out Live Science's guide to everything you always wanted to know about constipation but were afraid to ask here. (Paging Tracie Egan.) • Accused murderer Drew Peterson is suing JP Morgan Chase because he says the company violated truth-in-lending laws by cutting off his home-equity credit line in May. He says he is now unable to post bond and pay his lawyers, and said if his accounts remain frozen he'll ask the court to approve taxpayer money to fund his defense. • Germany's Lutheran Church Margot Kaessman is one of only two women to serve as bishop in Germany's Protestant church. • Indiana University researchers studied workplace politics at an urban elementary school and found that people who are targets of gossip are negatively evaluated during formal work meetings, but gossip can be derailed by changing the subject, targeting someone else for criticism, or by pre-emptive comments that are positive. "When you're sitting in that business meeting, be attentive to when the talk drifts away from the official task at hand to people who aren't present," said sociologist Tim Hallett. "Be aware that what is going on is a form of politics... that can be a weapon to undermine people who aren't present. But it also can be a gift. If people are talking positively it can be a way to enhance someone's reputation." • Sasha and Malia Obama were given the H1N1 vaccine last week after it was made available for D.C. schoolchildren. The President and First Lady still haven't been vaccinated. • Sarah Palin has responded to Levi Johnston's claim on CBS' Early Show that she repeatedly referred to her son Trig as "retarded" saying, "Trig is our 'blessed little angel' who knows it and is lovingly called that every day of his life. Even the thought that anyone would refer to Trig by any disparaging name is sickening and sad... Consider the source of the most recent attention-getting lies — those who would sell their body for money reflect a desperate need for attention and are likely to say and do anything for even more attention." • Rep. Alan Grayson, a Florida Democrat, says it was inappropriate for him to call Federal Reserve advisor Linda Robertson a "K Street whore." "I offer my sincere apology," Grayson said in a statement. "I did not intend to use a term that is often, and correctly, seen as disrespectful of women." • The Australian Sex Party has nominated Marianna Leishman (a.k.a. Zahra Stardust), for a December election to fill a vacant seat in the Australian House of Representatives. Leishman is a feminist writer/pole dance instructor who has worked at the United Nations and has a law degree. She said in a statement, "In an area that claims 50 years of conservative representation from white, heterosexual, able-bodied, suited, male protagonists, the Australian Sex Party is excited to provide a modern, outward looking female candidate." On her agenda is legalizing gay marriage and abortion, examining child sex abuse in religious institutions, and pushing for more sex education in schools. •

•  Muslim lawmakers in Aceh, Indonesia may soon forbid women from wearing tight trousers. Ramli Mansyur, regent of the district, says women who flout the law may have their pants "destroyed" and he has set aside 7,000 skirts for women unable to afford "proper attire." •  Ever wondered how much you'ree getting paid to sit on the toilet? WorkPoop.com helpfully calculates exactly how much money per year you are make by hiding out in the stall at work. •  As the average age of motherhood has risen, so has the number of cases of Down syndrome detected in the womb, according to a new study. However, fewer children are being born with Down syndrome, since the majority of women do not choose to carry the screened fetus to term. •  A new study shows that Israeli Jews who survived World War II are at a higher risk for developing cancer than other Jews. Researchers speculate this may be due in part to the hardships endured in the Holocaust. •  Women may be catching up to men in one unfortunate area: Heart disease. Up until recently, more men suffered from heart disease than women, who are protected by our hormone fluctuations, but with rising rates of obesity, women are making gains on men. •  Amazing writer (and personal girlcrush) Alice Munro revealed last week that she has had heart bypass surgery and "just had cancer." For the sake of great literature, get well soon! •  According to new statistics, there is a gap between the number of women in top positions in large law firms and the number of men. Above the Law has a few theories to explain the dearth of women rainmakers. • A rape victim who was assaulted 13 years ago testified yesterday against Richard Thomas, who is also accused of raping a 12-year-old girl in 2004. DNA confirms that Thomas raped both women. •  A recent study suggests that anxiety during pregnancy may have an impact on the size of the baby. They found that women who suffered from severe chronic anxiety during pregnancy are more likely to have smaller babies than those who only reported low to moderate anxiety. • Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice have come together to write an op-ed for Politico detailing women's economic gains in the US and stating, "we must extend to all societies the universal right of women to choose their own fortunes." • According to a small study, extra testosterone makes men more miserly. The effect of seeing the Ghost of Christmas Past was not studied. • The city of Seoul is making an active effort to become more "woman friendly" through changes in a dozen sectors, from restrooms to workplaces. But many women feel that not enough has been done. "Personally I don't know where those 'women-friendly' places are," says one Korean woman. "I never see them." • 

• Welfare workers report that girls in gangs are often raped by the male members of the gang as part of initiation, but many of them accept this as routine. "The girls think they are going to be protected by the gang if they have sex with one person but then they find there are more boys there," said Teresa Pointing, chief executive of In-volve, a charity that works with teen girls. • According to White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, Sasha and Malia Obama have not been vaccinated for swine flu. The vaccine is currently unavailable to the twogirls because they are not at high risk. • Doctor Patrick O'Brian recalls being shocked at the state of pregnant women in Uganda, a country that apparently has some of the worst maternal care in the world. In efforts to address this issue, he started a program with the University College Hospital in London that works to distribute medicine to women in need and offer pre and post-natal care to mothers. • Researchers have found that breast reduction surgery may have unexpected benefits. Through testing the removed tissue, doctors may be able to better identify patients at risk for breast cancer. Another upside to breast reduction? Decreased back pain and increased range of movement. • According to a new study, well-educated older women who live alone report a lower emotional well-being than breast cancer patients who live with a partner. •  A little girl from Brooklyn has made the news for a heartbreaking letter she wrote to Sasha and Malia Obama. Bianca's mother was shot several years ago by an abusive boyfriend, and the 6-year-old and her father are still struggling. In her letter, she begged for help for her family, and readers of the Daily News have been quick to respond. • Researchers have found that sperm itself - and not just the fluid it travels in - may transmit HIV to healthy cells. Doctors previously suspected that sperm could transmit the virus, but they were unable to prove this until recently. • A revealing new poll from the UK shows that 90% of expecting mothers are denied the choice as to where they will give birth. The vast majority of women in Britain are not offered the option to give birth at home or at a birthing center attended by a midwife. • The Daily Beast on sexism in nonprofits: "Charity is not allowed to use the same tools as business because society subconsciously regards it as female, and discriminates against it the same way it has historically discriminated against women." Read the rest of their interesting take on charity here. • Good news: The Saudi king has decided not to flog a female journalist charged with participation in a television show in which a man spoke publicly about his sex life. • Among women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, breast cancer is diagnosed six years earlier than in previous generations. Doctors don't know if women are screened better today, or if hormonal and environmental factors are giving women cancer earlier. • Jury selection will begin today in the trial of the first 12 male members of the polygamist sect whose Yearning For Zion ranch was raided last year. Flora Jessop, who escaped the compound 15 years ago, said she's happy to see the men go on trial but, "What I'm upset the most about, I think, is the fact that none of the women have been indicted, as well. ... I think that the women were nothing but pimps on that compound and giving their daughters over to these perverts knowing what was going to happen to them." • A study by the National Center for Voice and Speech found that female teachers used their voices about 10 percent more than males when teaching and 7 percent more when not teaching. Female teachers speak louder than male teachers at work. All teachers spend more time talking than most professionals and are at a greater risk for hurting their voices. • Debbie Davis, 29, of Sunderland, England has been named Britain's top Avon saleswoman. She started selling the cosmetics when she was laid off five years ago and now she's making $408,000 a year. • 14-year-old Dutch girl Laura Dekker says she will wait until the school year is over to begin her attempt to become the youngest sailor to circumnavigate the globe. She had planned to head out in August but was stopped by authorities who said she was too young. The court is expected to rule on her case by Friday. • Elizabeth Edwards told a local news station that John Edwards said of their relationship, "Perhaps [it's] not the great love story that we hoped, but maybe a great love story nonetheless." Well, most great love stories don't involve the man possibly fathering a child with another woman. • After more than 120 years, the Beloit's girls reformatory school in Kansas closed for good in August. Before 1983 the institution often housed girls who hadn't committed criminal offenses, but were considered "incorrigible," "immoral," or had suffered abuse at home. Under some administrations, girls were punished with huge doses of vomit- and diarrhea-inducing castor oil, humiliated with forced hair clipping, or even sterilized. • After a "concerned citizen" in Yulee, Florida tipped the police that the Girls Gone Wild bus was in town, police organized an undercover investigation and arrested seven women who complied with the organizers' request that they "show their breasts so they could be photographed/filmed or so they could have their breasts spray painted. The women were charged with indecent exposure along with the bar's owner and two Girls Gone Wild employees, who were each charged with illegally operating a sexually oriented business. •

Sources say Jamie McCourt is looking for investors to help her buy her husband out. Her lawyer said she's, "disappointed and saddened by her termination. As co-owner of the Dodgers, she will address this and all other issues in the courtroom." • Russian lesbians Irina Shipitko, 32, and Irina Fedotova-Fet, 30, got married today in Toronto after their two requests for a marriage license in Moscow were denied in May. Russia doesn't allow gay marriage, but does honor international unions, so they will try to use other Russian laws to validate their marriage. If they are denied, they plan on filing a complaint with the European Human Rights Commission. • Women and teenagers living on the India-Bangladesh border have been given kits that test for arsenic and information about natural signs of contamination by Kansas State University researchers who are trying to understand why arsenic is seeping into the region's groundwater. "We are targeting the women and children 13 to 15 years old because they are the most available people, more so than the men of the family," says geologist Saugata Datta. "These women are not formally educated, but when it comes to this type of suffering, they have a huge voice and they can really articulate the message very clearly to their neighbors and their own families." • A group of British MPs says men's magazines or "lad mags" with explicit cover images may need to be placed in plastic bags rather than just put on the top shelf to keep children from seeing them. They also suggested that in the future, the magazines could carry a 15+ or 18+ rating system similar to movies. • 97-year-old Roberta Wright McCain, John McCain's mother, has been admitted to a Portuguese hospital after falling in the street last night in Lisbon. She had traveled to Lisbon alone and was found in the street a few hours after checking into her hotel. The hospital released a statement saying she's "in observation, undergoing various medical tests, and in a stable clinical condition." • Though many female marines want to fight on the front lines in Afghanistan, the closest they can get is serving in "female engagement teams." Wearing hijabs under their helmets, they follow infantrymen into villages to talk with Afghan women. • Scientists are debating whether a something unrelated to genetics can be causing obese mothers to program their children to be overweight in the womb. Some research suggests that an obese woman losing weight before pregnancy can make her children less likely to be heavy, even if fat-promoting genes run in the family. However, researchers do not know what biological mechanism could have caused the results, and the medical community is still divided on the issue. • Odds Costume Rentals, which has supplied clothes for TV shows and movies like Law & Order and Road to Perdition for 22 years, filed for bankruptcy this week. Owner Jeanette Oleska says costumes shops can't stay in business because many productions are getting their costumes free from designers and clothing companies looking for promotion. "The people at the top say, ‘We can just get these jeans from the Gap and these sneakers from Nike, and we've got a whole free outfit here. Why do we need to rent anything?'" Oleksa said. • Alice Ramsey, who became the first woman to drive across the country in 1909, will be among the first women inducted into the National Transportation Women's Hall of Fame, which will be housed in the Buffalo Transportation/Pierce-Arrow Museum in New York. • Amelia Earhart's scarf will be flown into space on the shuttle Atlantis by Randy Bresnik, the grandson of her personal photographer. "We are flying Amelia Earhart's favorite scarf that she unfortunately did not take with her on her final mission," said Bresnik "Fortunately, she also decided not to take her photographer with her otherwise I might not be here today." After the space mission in November, the scarf will be placed in the Museum of Women Pilots.

• New data from Britain shows that the number of violent crimes committed by women has risen 81% in the last decade. Conservative politicians suggest that this is directly linked to a rise in binge drinking, which doesn't fully explain why the article is illustrated with a picture of a woman passed out drunk on a park bench. •  A woman spent her wedding night in a Spanish jail cell after she grabbed a cop by his neck and slapped him. The police officer was attempting to break up a fight that had broken out between members of the bride's family and relatives of the groom. We think this would make a great (read: horrible) rom-com, very Bridezillas meets Romeo and Juliet. • According to a recent study, pregnant lesbians are sick of being treated differently than heterosexual mothers. Researchers found that most lesbian couples have felt frustrated at some point or another with the uncomfortable way that midwives and doctors dealt with them. • Experts have disproved claims that Ida, a fossil recently discovered in Germany, was the missing piece that would link the evolutionary roots of monkeys, apes, and humans. In fact, Ida is the "about as far removed from the monkey-ape-human ancestry as a primate could be." • 

8 Cervarix is only $5 cheaper than Gardasil, but unlike Merck's vaccine, it doesn't prevent two other types of HPV that cause genital warts. The committee decided not to endorse one vaccine over the other, and the CDC still has to adopt the committee's recommendation for it to be approved for widespread use. • The Oklahoma law that would require the collection and anonymous public sharing of abortion patients' personal data will not go into effect as scheduled on November 1, due to some legal wrangling and highly unusual judicial decisions. The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a suit requesting a temporary restraining order to prevent the law from going into effect on behalf of two local women. The judge recused herself from the case and the new judge, Twyla Mason Gray, has ignored the request but granted the state's request for an extension, moving the hearing to December 4. Gray set the bond for the temporary restraining order request at $25,000, which is an uncommonly large sum for such cases. Oklahoma Representative Wanda Jo Stapleton says so much personal information would be made public by the law that, "Women in small towns can be identified by nosy neighbors or, equally important, they can be misidentified when the guessing games start." • Megan Williams of West Virginia is now says she was lying when she reported that she was assaulted by a group of white men. She accused the men of keeping her in a trailer for several days, beating and stabbing her, and forcing her to eat animal feces. Seven men plead guilty and were convicted, but now her lawyer says she made up the story to get revenge on one of the men she was having a relationship with. Prosecutor Brian Abraham says the men were convicted on physical evidence and their own statements. • In only the second known case of a sperm donor passing on a genetic disease, a donor has given the heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy to nine of his 24 children. One died at age 2 and two of the children, who are now teenagers, are at risk for sudden cardiac death. • Dr. Marci Bowers, who herself underwent a sex-change operation, now performs "female circumcision reversals" that can restore sexual pleasure in 80% of genital mutilation victims. One patient says she's looking forward to "a romance with my husband." • Israeli researchers say people who are violent with their partners are usually in control with their friends and bosses. They say the abuser usually goes through a calculated decision-making process and their behavior often escalates from verbal aggression, to threats of physical aggression, then moderate physical aggression, and severe physical aggression. • Six women are accused of posing as victims of domestic violence to jump to the top of the New York City Housing Authority's waiting list for subsidized apartments. A manager noticed there were similarities in some of the women's police reports and other documents. If convicted of forging court documents, the women could each face seven years in prison. • 53-year-old John Marshall of California has been charged with drugging and raping an acquaintance then shaving off all of his victim's hair. There are at least two other complaints from men and boys who say he drugged and raped them but he hasn't been charged with those crimes and is currently out on bail. • Kuwait's highest court has granted women the right to obtain a passport without their husband's approval. Thousands of women have been petitioning the courts to overturn the 1962 law requiring their husbands' signatures for a passport. Women in Kuwait can vote, serve in parliament, and drive, unlike women in some neighboring countries. • Researchers from Yale University and the VA Connecticut Healthcare System asked 18,481 female and 134,731 male veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom if they are in pain since coming home. Only 38 percent of female veterans compared to 44 percent of the men said they experienced any pain, and women were more likely to report moderate-severe pain but less likely to report persistent pain. "We were surprised by the lower pain prevalence in women Veterans which is contrary to studies conducted in civilian populations," said Dr. Sally Haskell. The discrepancy could be due to the fact that women do not serve in direct combat roles, or women being reluctant to seek treatment and admit they're in pain. • A 50 year-old Russian coal miner is trying to sell a signed photograph of Brigitte Bardot to pay for a $2,090 operation to treat his lung disease. • The one day suspension of a Springfield, Illinois bus driver who wore a pink tie to support breast cancer awareness has been rescinded. Springfield Mass Transit District managing director Linda Tisdale wrote in a newspaper editorial, "Unfortunately, my decision has left the mistaken impression that the SMTD and I do not support the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and, even more regrettably, has hurt and insulted the many families who have had to deal with this horrible disease." • A Florida judge says he will not dismiss a civil lawsuit against Casey Anthony, charged with killing her daughter Caylee. The girl's former nanny Zenaida Gonzales is suing Anthony because she says she damaged her reputation by naming her as a suspect in Caylee's death. • A recent study found that adults who are childhood cancer survivors are 20 to 25 percent less likely to marry compared with their siblings and the American population. Sometimes cancer treatment can lead to fertility or developmental problems and survivors may suffer from ongoing medical issues. • Hahnium Goren, the mother of a 15-year-old girl believed to be murdered by her father in an "honor killing," testified against her husband Mamet Goren in a London court today. While on the stand she screamed at him, "Look at my face. What did you do to Tu lay?" He's accused of killing their daughter in 1999 because she was dating a boy he didn't approve of. • The British news program More4 News will feature actors playing Jane Austen, Samuel Johnson, and John Ruskin "reporting" on the societal changes since their time. The Jane Austen character will discuss modern courtship and the waning popularity of marriage and observe a speed-dating session where "you can encounter dozens of potential partners in one evening, with no obligations." • Some extremely serious runners have their toenails surgically removed to make 50 or 100-mile races less painful. Nails are removed by pouring acid on the nail bed. A podiatrist who treats runners says, "Even within the ultra community, less than 10 percent or maybe even 5 percent are permanently removing their toenails." •

The attack on International Islamic University in Islamabad is the latest in a series of militant attacks around the country in recent weeks. Many schools in the area had closed this week because authorities warned that insurgents may be planning attacks. Half of the school's 18,000 students are female and most study secular subjects. • A French man accused of kidnapping and raping a boy after serving 18 years in prison for raping two other children has written to President Nicolas Sarkozy and asked to be castrated. France is currently debating forcing some sex offenders to be chemically castrated, but the man wants his testicles removed. • An Australian primary school has banned hugging and other "inappropriate behavior" between its students because administrators are worried the older students, who are 11 to 13, are setting a bad example for the younger ones. Principal Julie Gale says hugging between friends is not banned "but we do discourage displays of affection in the school yard among students ... who have a boyfriend or girlfriend at the school." • In March, the United Nations will consider 40 proposals to curb the trade of endangered animals including tuna used in sushi, corals that are made into jewelry, and sharks whose fins make soup. If passed, the animal trade would probably be regulated with a government permit system. • Female cat burglar Celeste Ricciardi allegedly looted four New York apartment buildings including her own by crawling into windows from the fire escape. The New York Post calls her "catwoman" and notes that she "has two cats." • Married British doctor Edward Erin has been found guilty of attempting to spike his girlfriend's drinks to induce abortion. Bella Prowse took several suspicious beverages he'd prepared to the police and they determined they were laced with drugs used to cause a miscarriage. Prowse gave birth to a son in September 2008 and Erin is awaiting sentencing. • Adrian Searle writes in The Guardian that with the death of Nancy Spero on Sunday "the art world loses its conscience." He says, "Her art could also be riotously funny and sexy as well as macabre, and she made many works which dealt with female jouissance and eroticism, pleasure and pain. Spero was a spearhead of feminist art in the 1960s, calling for greater recognition of women artists and women in the New York art world." • Prosecutors say they're worried Rod Blagojevich's appearance on The Celebrity Apprentice may prejudice potential jurors for his trial on corruption charges. A judge has ruled that he can appear on the show but prosecutors have asked that the judge limit what he can say on television. • A lock of hair believed to be Amelia Earhart's is actually just thread. A group looking for DNA evidence of Earhart on a Pacific island asked to examine the sample at the International Women's Air and Space Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, but found it was a fake. •

• After being passed over for a promotion at McDonald's because of her pregnancy, Rhonda Floyd started a support group of sorts to benefit women in the hospitality industry. "McDonald's is very male-dominated," she said, as are many businesses in the leisure and hospitality sector. • British cops recently caught three woman and a man who were trying to pimp six girls aged 14-23 at a West London hotel. They were also offering a 12-year-old virgin for up to £50,000. All four have been arrested and are facing criminal charges. • According to Nicola Pease, the very same laws designed to protect women in the workplace are actually holding us back. Pease says there is no more sexism in the finance sector, except that which the ladies bring upon themselves by having babies and demanding maternity leave and other unreasonable things. • Author and women's activist Malalai Joya on Obama: "He must criticize how the United States helped turn Afghanistan into a safe haven for fundamentalist terrorists and now helps prop up a corrupt regime and a powerful drug mafia... If I ever do have the chance to meet President Obama, I will try to convey to him these points and tell him very clearly that U.S governments have betrayed the Afghan people enough." • Ximena Hartstock is the acting director of D.C.'s Department of Parks and Recreation, but she may be forced out because of her race and gender. She claims that at a recent city council meeting, Councilmember Marion Barry raised questions as to whether Hartstock could relate to African Americans or if she could do the job as well as a man. •  Kim Ng may become the first female General Manager in baseball. She was spotted having lunch with Padres owner Jeff Moorad, and has previously interviewed for GM positions with the Dodgers and the Mariners. •  As part of a charity event a group of men from New York state put on some pumps and walked a mile in women's shoes. The money raised by the walk has been donated to Alternatives for Battered Women, which operates a shelter for victims of domestic violence. •  A television show/internet competition that has been described as a "cross between Sports Illustrated and Next Top Model" has come under attack from feminists, who think the bathing suit-based contest is sexist. • Researchers have found that new mothers spend 20% more time awake than they did before giving birth. The resulting "postnatal insomnia" can often lead to depression and anxiety problems for stressed parents. Doctors advise that women suffering from postnatal insomnia seek help as soon as possible. • Quinceañeras — lavish parties given by Latino families to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday and transition into womanhood — are gaining popularity in America. Michele Salcedo, author of a book on the practice, says, "It's a way to push back a lot of the negativity that a lot of Latinos feel is directed at Latinos. It is a way for people who have recently arrived, or maybe not so recently arrived, to say 'I have done well here.'" • In a speech at Morehead State University, author bell hooks said, "God is a feminist because if we accept that God is a god of love then we know that God fully intends for females and males to be self-actualized, self-empowered and full of self esteem." • Just one of many problems for working moms is the fact that many of them continue to see child care as coming out of their paycheck alone, not their family's overall income. Nora Bredes, director of the Susan B. Anthony Center for Women's Leadership, says, "Our belief as a society is that mothers are responsible for the care of children, not the couple. We give lip service on how it's a family priority, but it really is all on her." • Québec's fashion industry has adopted a charter to help promote healthy body image, including resolutions to "encourage healthy eating and weight-control habits" and "discourage excessive weight-control practices or appearance modification." • The success of New York police and prosecutors in using DNA to catch rapists in cold cases has lead to a greater push to use DNA evidence in the investigation of other crimes. "It is a tremendously powerful tool that allows us to protect the rights of victims," said California District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert. • 

An Ohio man has been charged with a first degree misdemeanor after he allegedly used a law-enforcement computer network to gather information on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber. • North Carolina lawmakers have redefined "life sentence" to mean 80 years. According to the new definition, 20 convicted criminals are now set for release, including several men convicted of raping young girls. • According to a report released by the National Science Foundation, only 33% of people working in science are women. The scarcity of women in science is especially noticeable in the "hard sciences," including the study of radioactive elements. • This photograph, cleverly captioned "Career Choices for Girls According to Videogames" provides a single piece of the puzzle as to why many young girls feel their only options are fashion designer, cheerleader, or professional housekeeper. • John McCain has asked Obama to posthumously pardon black boxer Jack Johnson, who was imprisoned in 1913 for his romantic involvement with a white woman. • As part of an attempt to get male students to be "Renaissance men," Morehouse College in Atlanta has forbidden them from wearing baggy pants, sunglasses, do-rags and clothing "normally worn by women." • Politicians often write books to boost their careers, but Sarah Palin may be a simpler soul. Says onetime Republican spokesman Ron Bonjean, "her goal is to make a whole lot of money." •

• A woman from Arizona may be forced to fly more than 300 miles away from her hometown to give birth, because her local hospital insists she must have a c-section. Joy Szabo had a c-section for her last child, and the hospital claims that doing a vaginal birth after a c-section is too risky. •  According to a British study, less than 33% of men wash their hands with soap after going to the bathroom. In order to increase the number of hand-washers, researchers suggest placing messages above bathroom sinks, which either shame the person into washing, or gross them out ("Soap it off or eat it later"). •  A man from the UK - who the Daily Mail dubs "Cruel Graeme Conroy" - has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for forcing a 3-year-old girl to smoke cigarettes. Conroy had a 14-year-old girl film him while he forced the young child to chain smoke five cigarettes, "as a joke." •  A Missouri ninth-grader has been arrested for making a website that called a classmate a "slut" and said she "would be better off if she just died." Missouri is cracking down on cyber-bullying after Megan Meier's suicide. • A woman who was raped as a 13-year-old is speaking out against rape kit backlogs after her kit sat untested for twenty years, much longer than the statute of limitations for her case. • A Berlin brothel is offering an "eco discount" to johns who walk or bike there. • PUMA Amy Siskind says "President Obama seems largely tone-deaf to women and women's issues," and praises the Republican party for "promising stars" like Sarah Palin. • But Jimmy Carter is bullish on Obama, saying that he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize "as much as anyone who's ever gotten it for his achievement already," and that "he's spelled out an agenda that can be adopted by others in Europe and around the world to lead toward increased peace and human rights and the alleviation of suffering. Those are all tangible contributions - even though the fulfillment of all of them has got to require time to realize." •

• Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha has requested that India return the remains of Mother Teresa. According to reports, Indian church officials are irate over Albania's claim that Mother Teresa rightfully belongs to them. But as she herself once said: "By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world." •  A recent study found that intimate partner violence is linked to many different health problems, including urinary tract infections, chest pain, and acid reflux. They also found that women who had suffered abuse were more likely to be diagnosed with depression. •  A recent case involving a teacher from Michigan, who passed out at a party and awoke later only to find her entire body covered with obscene pictures and language, has sparked a debate about "drunk shaming." To make the story much worse, the teacher claims there was non-consensual sexual activity earlier in the night. •  The Bomb Squad was called yesterday to examine a package sent to a Swedish princess visiting New York. However, the package was found to be harmless, if a little creepy: It contained wires, cassette tapes, underwear and a love letter. •  According to a new report, almost half of the women who requested the morning after pill in Ireland were unable to get access to the pill within the recommended 24 hours. The morning after pill is not currently available over the counter in Ireland. • Researchers are attempting to address the link between socioeconomic status and breast cancer survival rates through examining the possible benefits of targeted interventions. •  A 54-year-old man from the UK claims that Halloween decorations could scare him to death. He suffers from severe arachnophobia, and even the sight of a rubber spider may be enough to give him a heart attack. •  An 86-year-old Florida woman has been charged with stealing a long-haired cat, which she claims was given to her by her neighbor several years ago. •  Liverpool police claim that there have been instances of teenage girls performing sex acts on bouncers in exchange for admittance to a night club named "Pink Bar." Police are seeking to shut down the gay-friendly club. • The Human Society has filed a complaint against IHOP regarding their eggs, which IHOP advertises are "cruelty-free." The Humane Society says that the eggs are not cage-free, and thus cannot be truly called "cruelty-free." •  Unsurprising news: a study found that overweight women's self-esteem dropped when they looked at photographs of models. A little more surprising: underweight women's self-esteem actually rose. • In a Q&A at the San Francisco Commonwealth Club, White House correspondent Helen Thomas said that "Nancy Reagan was a heroine in my opinion," and that Obama "lacks courage." • The Xhosa practice of ukuthwalwa, or abducting girls for marriage, has some South African girls as young as 11 essentially enslaved to their husbands. But Prince Xhanti Sigcawu of the Xhosa royal family says, "Ukuthwalwa like all our other customs was and remains an important part of who we are as people." • In Ireland, 1,722 women were turned away from domestic violence shelters last year because of lack of space. But the Irish government may be about to cut funding for some victims' services by up to 30%. • Princeton will add one gender-neutral, apartment-style dorm to its housing offerings next year, which supporters say will be a boon to transgender students. • A British woman who splashed children by driving through a puddle may face criminal charges, but she says the kids asked for it. • Eight young women, all drug users and some prostitutes, have been killed in Jennings, Louisiana in the last four years, and police say it may be the work of a serial killer. • The Daily Mail interviewed a 52-year-old woman who has been raising a pet crocodile for the past 13 years. In 2005 her husband forced her to choose between him and the croc. She chose her "daughter" because "husbands can look after themselves." • 

• The so-called "Hecession" continues in the UK: According to a new report, one of out every ten men will be unemployed next year. Young men and black men have it the worst, with one in five currently out of work. •  Teenage boys in Sweden are kind of jerks, says study. Researchers found that many of them are unwilling to take precautions to prevent the spread of chlamydia, and that "a very high proportion of the boys state that they will not be following the advice given during [sex ed] classes and that almost as many think that sex education has no impact whatsoever on their sexual behaviour." • A study out of Rice University found that girls who have a better sense of smell are also more attuned to emotional cues. This suggests an overlap between the emotional section of the brain and the olfactory. •  Many women with uterine fibroid tumors are advised to get hysterectomies, but according to the New York Times there are several other treatment options for those suffering from the tumors, some of them less invasive. •  Members of the Yale community gathered yesterday to pay their last respects to slain medical student Annie Le. She was remembered by University President Richard Levin as bright, caring, loving, and spontaneous. • In most countries, animals are stunned before they are slaughtered, which decreases their pain. However, religious killings often do not stun the animal first, but new research on pain may increase the pressure to adapt Jewish and Muslim religious law. • Scientists have determined that in rare cases cancer can be passed from a mother to her unborn child after a 28-year-old Japanese mother passed leukemia cells to her baby through the placenta. The mother died of leukemia shortly after giving birth and at 11 months old the daughter was diagnosed with lymphoma. She is now in remission. • 12-year-old Abby Miller plays her guitar and sings on the street to raise money for her 4-year-old friend, Taylor Love, who has neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system. The money goes to Love's family and Miller also asks people to write "Love Notes" to Taylor. "Her mom reads them to her before she goes to bed at night," Abby said. "Taylor gets excited for them and she loves getting them read to her because she likes knowing that people are supporting her and people are actually thinking of her." • According to a new study, people who get most of their daily liquids from plain water rather than other beverages tend have healthier diets in general and eat more fiber, less sugar, and fewer calorie-dense foods. • Authorities in Austria haven't been able to sell the home where Josef Fritzl imprisoned and raped his daughter for 24 years. Three of his other properties have been sold and the profits have gone to Fritzl's creditors and his daughter Elisabeth. The police have rejected some offers to turn the dungeons below the home into a museum. • A 17-year-old Utah girl who paid a 21-year-old man $150 to beat her in an attempt to kill her late-term fetus was released from jail today when a judge ruled it was a legal attempt at abortion, not murder. She gave birth in August and is seeking custody of her baby girl, who is currently in state custody. • Police have arrested Dennis Earl Bradford, a 40-year-old welder, for allegedly abducting, raping, and slitting the throat of 8-year-old Jennifer Schuett in 1990 and leaving her for dead in a field. Advances in DNA technology let authorities make the match. Schuett, who survived the attack and is now 27, said, "This event in my life was a tragic one... But today, 19 years later, I stand here and want you all to know that I am OK. I am not a victim, but instead, victorious." •