• Politico reports that what may be the first statue of Barack Obama is set to go up in his old hometown of Jakarta. The 2-meter high statue will depict the President as a 10-year-old, and will be placed in Obama's old neighborhood at a corner of a playground. • Arlington, Tennessee Mayor Russell Wiseman has apologized for writing on his Facebook page that President Obama is a Muslim, and timed his speech on Afghanistan to block the Peanuts Christmas Special. Wiseman called it a "poor attempt at tongue-in-cheek humor amongst friends." • A Maryland woman reportedly kidnapped a pregnant homeless woman and attempted to cut out her baby using box cutters and a razor blade. The victim was held hostage for five days, during which time her attacker cut into her abdomen, exposing her placenta and intestines. The woman has since been hospitalized, and is expected to make a full recovery. Her newborn daughter is also in good condition. • The parents of Jessica Logan, who committed suicide last year, are suing several of Logan's classmates for circulating a nude picture of their daughter. They argue that Logan suffered from severe emotional distress after her peers sent around an explicit picture she took on her cellphone for her then-boyfriend. Further evidence that nude photos are not something every boy should receive. • A Muslim woman claims she was abused by a Christian hotelier because of her Islamic clothing. She says the British hotel-owners called her husband a "warlord," argued that her outfit - consisting of a hijab and gown - was a form of "bondage." •  Newsweek delves into the possible causes for the declining birth rate in Taiwan. Apparently, selfish women are to blame (aren't we always?). Too many Taiwanese ladies are focusing on their careers, pushing back marriage, and choosing not to spend all their money on having babies. • For the second year in a row, Boise, Idaho firefighters had to rescue a child who got his tongue stuck to a metal pole. The 10-year-old boy's tongue was bleeding a little after firefighters used a glass of warm water to free him, but at least he didn't shoot his eye out with a BB gun. •

• The Transportation Security Administration has announced that snow globes will not be allowed in carry-on bags. The reason is that the souvenirs could hold more than the allowed amount of liquid, and security protocol is to discard undetermined amounts of fluid. Plan your holiday travel accordingly. •  Every Tuesday at Sardo's Grill & Lounge in Los Angeles, porn industry insiders swarm the place for Karaoke night. It's the place to be if you're interested in the adult industry, or if you care whether your favorite performer has talents outside of the bedroom (Nicki Hunter is apparently quite the singer). •  Everyone's favorite homemaker Martha Stewart is set to expand her empire, this time with paint. The Martha-branded colors will be available at Home Depot starting in March. •  A Connecticut prosecutor has revealed that he does not plan to bring charges against Sandra Herold, owner of the chimp that mauled and blinded a woman in February. However, the victim's family is suing Herold for %50 million. • Today NPR took a look at Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder, a condition in which women (and men) have abnormally low sex drives. Psychologist Lorri Brocco makes the argument that HSDD is defined by male sexuality and does not take into account the differences between male and female arousal, particularly with regards to the significance of fantasies. • A 29-year-old cop has been charged with the rape of an 18-year-old woman on Thanksgiving day. The officer was off-duty, and had gone on a date with the younger woman, who he later assaulted in his Brooklyn apartment. Shawqi Ahmed was arrested Friday by the NYPD Internal Affairs Bureau. •  Mary Glasspool has become the second openly gay bishop in the Episcopal church. Some are opposed to Glasspool's election, claiming that it raises "serious questions," but she is looking forward to using her new position to further human rights. "Any group of people who have been oppressed because of any one, isolated aspect of their persons yearns for justice and equal rights," she said. •  TMZ cornered Sarah Palin and asked her about the best thing a mother can say to her children. Her response? "Obey... listen to what we say!" Watch the video here. •

• Stern wasn't making a flip remark. Sports Illustrator writer Ian Thomsen explains he sent the question to Stern a week ago so he'd have time to think about it. Stern said he really believes it may happen, but "when you look at tennis, and this is the argument against me... As great as the women are, and actually in some cases I think their serves are served at a higher speed than men on the tour, like Serena's (Williams) first serve — you still get the sense that they wouldn't do well on the men's side of the tour... But in basketball, where it's a five-person game and you have zones and you can do a variety of other things — a fast person with a good shot that can play on the team? I think we could see it in the next decade or so ... I'll leave it to the real experts to talk about the muscle factor. But there's going to be a very strong woman who has all the moves, who's going to want to play, and she's going to be good." • If you're sipping from a can of Slim-Fast right now, drop it. Unilever is recalling 10 million cans of ready-to-drink products, regardless of flavor, "best-by" date, or lot code, because they may be contaminated with Bacilus cereus bacteria, which causes diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Customers should throw the cans out and contact the company for a refund. • A group of Danish prostitutes say they are offering free sex to delegates at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen to protest city officials asking 160 hotels not to arrange prostitutes for guests during the meeting. Copehnhagen Mayor Ritt Bjerregaard also wrote to the 500 delegates asking them not to take the prostitutes up on their offer. A representative for the women said: "It's completely discriminatory. Ritt Bjerregaard is abusing her position when she uses her power to prevent us from carrying out our legal work." •  A 33-year-old bouncer and ex-con has been charged with raping a woman in a Manhattan nightclub. Hunter Dupree allegedly cornered the victim, who was drunk and vomiting, in a bathroom stall. But Dupree's lawyer claims that she made it all up: "You never know who is going to come and say, 'He attacked me.'" •  Car safety experts from Virginia Tech University are hard at work developing a better seat belt for pregnant woman. They are in the process of creating a highly advanced model of the human body to use in testing. For now, experts advise pregnant women make sure the seat belt rests on the bony parts of the body, and that they sit as far from the steering wheel as possible. •  Sgt. Kimberly Munley became a hero when she helped bring down the shooter at Ford Hood, but Munley says her injuries will shorten her career. Officials say they have not yet begun the process of assessing whether or not her wounds will prevent her from rejoining her beat. •  A team of researchers have confirmed what the scientific community has long suspected: female researchers are greatly underrepresented on research articles. Women account for only 10-15% of authorship of the overall reports studied. One researcher suggests this may be because women have "other obligations that prevent them from dedicating so much to research." • Researchers had mothers complete frustrating tasks with each of their same-sex twins separately and found the moms whose negativity was most strongly linked with their child's challenging behavior had the poorest working memory skills. Having a stronger working memory allows parents to reason quickly, rather than lashing out at their kids. • New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate was sentenced today to three years probation and 250 hours of community service for injuring his companion by dragging her through the lobby of his apartment building. He had been accused of slashing her in the face with broken glass while in his apartment, but the judge said he couldn't prove her face was cut in an intentional attack. A Senate committee is still investigating whether to censure, suspend or expel Monserrate, who said he won't resign. • Former Senator Paula Hawkins, who became the first woman elected to a full Senate term without a family political connection in 1980, died today at 82. The Republican backed legislation that helped housewives find jobs after getting divorced and supported equalizing pension benefits for women by taking the years they spent caring for children into account. She also found to get day care for the children of Senate employees and and forced fellow senators to wear bathing trunks in the Senate gym so she could work out there too. • Jody Trautwein, the Alabama pastor who tries to talk Sacha Baron Cohen's character out of being gay in Bruno is running for mayor of Birmingham against 13 other candidates. An election is being held next week to replace Larry Langford, who was convicted of 60 felony counts in a bribery scheme. • The chestnut tree that was outside Anne Frank's window while she was hiding from the Nazis is dying, but today in Amsterdam, a sapling from the tree was planted in Amsterdamse Bos. Other saplings will be sent to schools around the world named after Frank and 11 locations in the U.S., including the White House and the September 11 memorial in New York. •

Although some have claimed that threats are "up 400%," Sullivan denies that there has been much of an increase at all. "I'm not sure where that number comes from," he said. • Congressman Bennie Thompson, the House Homeland Security Committee Chairman, says his staff is preparing to subpoena the Salahis to testify as to how they crashed the White House State Dinner. He added that he will not subpoena White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers because her testimony isn't worth "engaging in a protracted legal battle with the White House." • Anthony Sowell, who was accused of the murder of 11 women in Ohio, entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity today. Sowell has been charged with an 85-count indictment, for crimes including rape, murder, assault and corpse abuse. If convicted, he could be given the death penalty. •  French tennis player Amelie Mauresmo has announced plans to retire. "I don't want to train anymore," said the 2006 Wimbledon title winner. "When you grow older, it's more difficult to stay at the top. It's a bit sad but this is the right decision." •  The Optimum Population Trust has determined that contraception is the cheapest way to help the environment, much cheaper than, say, planting trees of investing in wind power. The group has created a website that accepts donations to help pay for family planning services. •  This story, about a team of soccer-playing grannies from South Africa, will seriously brighten your day. The group of 40 older ladies has been playing since 2006, when cancer survivor Beka Ntsanwisi saw a group of women waiting for treatment, and decided that they needed somewhere to go for both exercise and companionship. Since 2006, several other teams have been set up, and they all compete in a league called the Top Eight. • The Berhane Hewan or "Light of Eve" program funded by the U.N. and Nike Foundation educates about 10,000 women and girls in Ethiopia in hopes of preventing child marriage. The program holds meetings for whole villages to discuss why child marriages hurts girls and gives families a pregnant ewe each time a daughter completes two years of school to offset the poverty that drives parents to marry off their daughters. • Sarah Palin received a special award from College of the Ozarks, a small Bible school in Missouri that goes by the slogan "Hard Work U." (strangely, this was a great favorite of my high school guidance counselor). They gave her the first ever "Great American Award." The press release reveals she got the award for being super patriotic: "Patriotism is one of the important goals of the College." •

• Her official photographer has posted many of the pictures on Palin's Facebook page, along with the credit "The Photo Opportunity is Provided By SarahPAC," so, if you want a shot of yourself wearing an Obama shirt next to Palin you'll have to contribute to her PAC. • Sarah Palin will give the keynote address at the International Bowl Expo 2010, the "premier international convention" of bowling in June. A rep said: "Regardless of your political affiliation, Ms. Palin is a force in American politics and culture. Her presence underscores the impact and importance of bowling, one of our country's leading national pastimes and a growing $10 billion industry." • Leroy Benros was charged with rape at a New York nightclub after his alleged victim texted her friends during the attack. After he forcibly kissed her, the woman texted her friend: "I'm being molested. Help." By the time two of her friends found her, police say she was partially naked under a coat with her eyes closed and her arms dangling. Her friends pulled her away and Benros was arrested. • Now that Maurice Clemmons, the ex-convict suspected of killing four police officers, is dead, authorities are focusing on the people who may have helped him escape and stay on the lam for two days. Prosecutors are expected to charge alleged getaway driver Darcus D. Allen today. Clemmons' aunt and another woman have been arrested and are expected to be charged for giving him first aid and helping him escape. Police are still investigating a handful of other suspects. "Some are friends, some are acquaintances, some are partners in crime, some are relatives. Now they're all partners in crime," said a police spokesman. • Cocaine abuse is on the rise among young English women. Among women ages 18 to 25, the number of women who needed treatment for cocaine abuse in England. jumped 80 percent in the past four years from 329 to 592. Experts point to a growing "ladette" culture, which is also blamed for increasing alcohol abuse among young women. • In a new British study, researchers say they have discovered how and where androgenic hormones work in the testis to control normal sperm production and male fertility, which may allow for the development of a male birth control pill. "This study provides a new opportunity to identify how androgens control sperm production, which could provide new insight for the development of new treatments for male infertility and perhaps new male contraceptives," said Michelle Welsh, Ph.D., co-author of the study. • An increasing number of British women are hiring doulas to help them give birth, but anesthetist Dr. Abhijoy Chaklader questioned their role in the British Medical Journal. He wrote the trend toward hiring doulas, who have no medical training, may "be a sad reflection of failures in the delivery of medical and midwifery care, a sticking plaster concealing greater problems... a cynic might ask whether the doula business is actually necessary or whether it is exploiting - for profit - unspoken fears about NHS perinatal care and the seemingly limitless market for birth related products and service." • Switzerland elected women to the nation's top three political positions today: president, speaker of parliament's lower house, and speaker of the upper house. Swiss women couldn't even vote in national elections until 1971. • A Dutch man was arrested for allegedly collecting information on more than 30 girls from social networking sites, then blackmailing their parents. He posed as a photographer and told the parents their daughters had performed sexual acts on camera, or suggested they had been raped by others, then said he'd upload the non-existent pornography online if they didn't pay him. • Family members say a New York hairdresser who disappeared last week after dropping her 6-year-old daughter off at school complained about a creepy man she kept encountering near the school. "She mentioned to us about this guy in the street she would see every day," said Jamaica Smith's niece. "He was real aggressive toward her, always saying, 'Hey, baby, you look so pretty.' ... We know for a fact she was abducted because she would never leave her daughter." There are rumors that some people saw her struggling with a man near her home, but police deny the story and say they don't think foul play was involved. • After General Motors CEO Fritz Henderson announced yesterday that he was stepping down, someone claiming to be his daughter Sarah Henderson posted on GM's Facebook page, "HE FUCKING GOT ASKED TO STEP DOWN ALL OF YOU FUCKING IDIOTS. I'M FRITZ'S FUCKING DAUGHTER, AND HE DID NOT FUCKING RESIGN. WHITACRE IS A SELFISH PIECE OF SHIFT [sic], WHO CARES ABOUT HIMSELF AND NOT THE FUCKING COMPANY. HAVE FUN WITH GM, I HOPE TO NEVER BUY FROM THIS GOD FORESAKEN [sic] COMPANY EVERY [sic] AGAIN. FUCK ALL OF YOU." It was later removed. • Adeline Bayne-Goody, a 56-year-old New York City subway driver, may lose her job over an incident in October in which she subdued a crazed man who threatened other passengers, spewed racial epithets, punched her and spit in her face. She held him down until the police arrived, but officials told her she committed "gross misconduct" and should be fired because she left her post. • Carmen Huertas, the woman accused of driving drunk in Manhattan, injuring six children who were in the car and killing one, has been trying to commit suicide in jail. "She's tried to place objects around her neck," said her lawyer. "She's confused and devastated, and understands the consequences of her actions." • Thirteen female ski jumpers have filed a request with Canada's Supreme Court to allow the sport in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The International Olympic Committee voted in 2006 not to include women's ski jumping in the 2010 Olympics because they say the sport is not developed enough. • The Japanese man who recently married his virtual girlfriend from the Nintendo DS game Love Plus has responded to media reports with a letter and some photos from his honeymoon. He writes: "Now that the ceremony is over, I feel like I've been able to achieve a major milestone in my life. Some people have expressed doubts about my actions, but at the end of the day, this is really just about us as husband and wife. As long as the two of us can go on to create a happy household, I'm sure any misgivings about us will be resolved." •

• He went on to say that Knox is a "clean-faced young girl, swept away by a tsunami." • Two California girls, ages 12 and 14, have been arrested for attacking a 13-year-old classmate - twice. The girls lured the victim, who they believed had been talking shit about them, to a field, telling her that they had some belongings of hers to return. Police caught the attackers after they posted videos of the beatings on YouTube. • Accused Cleveland serial killer Anthony Sowell has been indicted on murder charges in the deaths of 11 women, plus dozens of other counts, including kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, attempted murder, assault and rape. Authorities say many of the 10 identified victims were homeless addicts he lured into his home. • NPR's Richard Gonzales, who grew up in Richmond, California, returned to see how the town is coping after a teenage girl was gang-raped at the high school. He spoke to sophomore Lizette Franco, who said, "We don't want it to be our identity, because there is so much more to Richmond than what they're portraying in the media. We're not animals. We're not savages. We're students striving to be better people." •  Former track star Marion Jones has announced plans to sign up with a W.N.B.A. team. Jones, who was busted for steroid use and has since toured the country speaking to students about making good choices, says she hopes the W.N.B.A. will provide a larger platform for her message, as well as a "second chance." •  Good news: According to the DCist, a bill instituting same-sex marriage has just passed in the D.C. council. Ben Smith from Politico notes that this is "a sign that same-sex marriage has really become a quite mainstream Democratic cause, one embraced equally by a Massachusetts court and an urban City Council." • The Senate is expected to vote today on an amendment that would increase health insurance benefits for women in the first vote on the health care overhaul legislation. The amendment was introduced by Senators Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine and inspired by the recent and controversial mammogram and Pap smear recommendations. "My amendment guarantees screening for breast cancer, yes, mammograms," Mikulski said. "We don't mandate that you have a mammogram at age 40. What we say is discuss this with your doctor, but if your doctor says you need one, my amendment says you are going to get one." • Zeituni Onyango, the half sister of President Obama's late father, gave an interview to the Associated Press in which she said she's anguished over not having contact with the family after it was revealed that she'd been illegally living in U.S. public housing for years. She isolated herself from the family after the inauguration because she didn't want her immigrations problems to hurt his presidency. "Before, we were family. But right now, there is a lot of politics, and me, I am not interested in any politics at all," she said. • South African President Jacob Zuma said today - on World AIDS Day - that the government will make sure that all HIV-positive babies receive treatment. There are also plans to expand testing and treatment for pregnant women. •  Sarah Palin's absurdist memoir Going Rogue has sold 1 million copies, a HarperCollins spokeswoman reveals. The publisher has increased the print run accordingly, to 2.8 million. • Asma Hanif, who runs a Baltimore domestic violence shelter for Muslim women says, "My biggest problem was that if you send a Muslim woman to be counseled in a shelter that's run by Christians, then what the people say is the reason why you're being beat is because of that religion. We do not want Islam to be the focal point of domestic violence." She added that in other shelters, "There may be situations - such as, there would be men that were there, or there wasn't any place for them to pray, or maybe there was an issue with the food." • An online poll of 1,027 people by the Tylenol Canadian Pain Survey found that women report experiencing headaches more often than men, and they experience somewhat more pain than men. "Pain doesn't discriminate against gender; however, with headache pain, women tend to be more expressive in reporting their pain than men, and tend to be more proactive in managing it," said Dr. Gary Shapero, a family physician who has studied headache and pain management. • Salon owner Cindy Vong is fighting the Arizona Board of Cosmetology's decision to ban flesh-eating fish foot treatments. "The board knows nothing about spa fish therapy, so its reaction is to shut it down," said her lawyer. "The board's action is more about protecting cosmetologists from competition than it is about protecting consumers against anything except wet feet and smooth skin." • On Thanksgiving, a woman and her brother were fighting over whether their parents are too old to be watching their children, when he allegedly threw extremely hot pecan pie at her after it was heated in the microwave. She was treated for first and second degree burns to her neck, face, and chest. Her brother is expected to be charged with aggravated assault. • 26-year-old Swedish father Ragnar Bengtsson has given up his months-long attempt to pump milk from his breasts. "All he got was sore breasts," said the host of a local show that was following the progress of the "Milkman." However, Bengtsson isn't walking away empty handed: He's flying to the U.S. to appear on - of course - The Tyra Banks Show. •

• PETA has requested that school official replace Uga with a robot, but so far UGA hasn't responded. •  According to new research, men are more likely to be woken up by a fly or the wind than by a crying baby. Wailing infants doesn't even register on the top ten of sounds most likely to disturb their sleep. Not so for women, who may be evolutionarily programed to react to a child's cries, or so suggests the author of the study. •  After being caught with a prostitute, a Swedish man told authorities that he was driven to pay for sex because his wife was pregnant, and he hadn't had sex in five months. He also asked that all letters regarding the incident be sent to his work address, to keep the charges secret from his wife. •  Women in Syria are at the forefront of the country's religious revival, according to the BBC. Many women are turning to prayer groups lead by female preachers, who are often quite conservative. • A 13-year-old girl from Detroit met a 19-year-old man on Facebook, who she allegedly invited over to her house, where they had "sex". She then hid the man in her closet for two days, before her mother finally found him. •  According to a new study out of Australia, women spend more time doing pleasurable activities than men (15 minutes each day) and are more likely to spend time socializing. Researchers also report that men spend six minutes more everyday on activities they dislike, including commuting and work. •  Carlo Pacelli, the lawyer representing Congolese man Patrick Diya Lumumba—who Amanda Knox initially accused of murdering her roommate—called Knox a "diabolical she-devil" in court. He also made mention of her vibrators and rumors of bad hygiene, concluding that she "is unclean on the outside because she was dirty on the inside." Knox's stepfather, who was in court, said Pacelli's statement is a "sexist discourse that sets Italy back 100 years." • On the other side of her family, Amanda Knox's father and stepmother are being investigated for defamation. Last year, they told the Sunday Times that Knox was beaten and brutalized by members of the Italian police force. "It is odd that the timing is coming out now, five days before the end of the trial, and this is supposed to be something that happened over a year ago," said Knox's stepmother. • Mary Arnott of Toronto has been given an honorary diploma from St. Peter's Girls High School on Staten Island for her 100th birthday. She had been in the class of 1925, but dropped out when her mother died during her senior year. "I kept going to night school and more night school and finally got business training and became a secretary to a lawyer, but it wasn't the same," said Arnott. • One of the rites involved in Islam's annual hajj involves pilgrims jogging seven times between two spots in Mecca to reenact Abraham's consort Hagar running between two hills searching for water for her dying son. Shahidah Sharif, an American Muslim on this year's pilgrimage, says clerics should stop telling women to do the run slowly because they are "weaker" or running is immodest. "We are commemorating the act of a woman, someone who made a sacrifice not just for her child but to the building of an entire city," Sharif said. "And she was going through these extremes to provide for her child, without thinking about gender, and here it is now (they're) making it forbidden for women to run." •

•  Last night John McCain told Fox News's Greta Van Susteren that he thinks people are being too hard on Sarah Palin, even if he does find it kinda funny. "I'm entertained and sometimes a little angry when I see this constant, vicious attacks by people on the left. I've never seen anything like it," he said. • According to a recent poll, 86% of men in Canada would rather be a driver than a passenger in bad weather. Unfortunately, 50% of men also claimed that they don't slow down in the snow, which makes things a little more dangerous for the rest of you up north. •  Researchers have found that a particular type of fertility treatment, ICSI, may produce more baby girls than boys. Even though few babies are born through this method, the authors conclude: "because our findings suggest that ICSI may reduce the sex ratio, we recommend that ICSI only be done if medically necessary, in an effort to prevent this potential side effect." •  19-year-old pimp DeShawn "Cash Money" Clark has become the first person to be convicted of human trafficking in Washington state. Clark faces up to 18 years in prison for his crimes. •  Years after doctors told her she was infertile, Sarah Wilkinson took an emergency trip to the hospital because she felt some pain in her stomach. Turns out, she was having a baby. She says she feels "fantastic" now, even though the pregnancy was a huge shock. • Did you know that there have been women in the Scotland Yard for 90 years now? Women first started working as officers in 1919, when they were introduced in order to help deal with prostitutes and suicidal women. Plus: here are some of their spiffy outfits. •  Vicki Kennedy told Oprah today that she has absolutely no interest in running for the senate seat left empty by her late husband, Edward Kennedy. She also told Oprah about the last days of her husband's life, including his determination to survive to see Obama elected president. •  Two teenage girls from New Zealand have been convicted of the murder of a retired school teacher. The girls, aged 18 and 15, broke into his house and beat him to death with his own walking stick before trashing the place and leaving with his wallet. •  Three lacrosse players from Sacred Heart University have been accused of conspiring to sexually assault a female student in a dorm room. The victim was engaging in consensual sex with one of the boys when his two friends crept in "as a prank," but their lawyers claim they had no contact with the woman. •  Lobna Abdelrehim used to work at a Wall Street publishing firm, until she got fed up with the rampant racism and sexism. She says she was constantly mocked for her faith and her looks, and has brought a lawsuit against the company. •  Michele Bachmann admitted to the St. Cloud Times that she sometimes says stupid shit: "I wish I could be more artful in the way I say things. But she went on add some qualifying statement about "bias in the mainstream media" and so on. • In other Bachmann news, she's headed to Nashville to join Sarah Palin for a Tea Party. Sadly, not the fun kind. •  A new study from the UK confirms that police often don't believe rape victims due to prejudices about their background, class, and "behavior." Officers were also found to be inadequately trained for dealing with rape, which can result in police that would rather "do nothing at all" than risk doing something wrong. • 

This shouldn't be difficult for Australians, according to White Ribbon Chairman Andrew O'Keefe: "Today we are challenging all men to swear, and let's face it swearing comes naturally to most Aussie men." •  According to police, Kevin M. Derks, 53, turned his Wisconsin home into a shrine to child porn. He covered "every flat surface" with pictures of young celebrities and computer printouts of young girls in various states of undress or being otherwise molested. He claims he turned to children after realizing that the world has gotten "worse and worse." •  The Federal government has issued a recall for more than 2 million cribs, following reports that four babies had suffocated in them. They say the crib has a detachable side which can break, and allow the child to become trapped in a space between the crib and the mattress. • An Alabama district attorney says he is considering charging a 14-year-old girl for arranging the rape of her classmate. The girl told reporters that she and her classmate had planned on having sex with three older teens, but the victim said no when the other boys joined in. • Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio recently forced a pregnant woman to give birth while cuffed at the wrists and ankles. The woman was transported to a medical center, where she gave birth in "forensic restraint." She was also not allowed to hold her child, or see her for 72 days. Arpaio claimed he "had no choice." • According to plastic surgeons, Venezuelans are so dedicated to looking good that many people are dipping into their savings or taking on debt to pay for the costly procedures. "The financial crisis has spurred people to spend more on themselves ... to console themselves in this crisis. I have not seen demand diminishing," said one doctor. • In efforts to combat reports of anti-choice centers manipulating pregnant woman, the Baltimore City Council is considering legislation that will require pregnancy centers to post signs if they do not offer abortions or birth control referrals. • 

"We have a lot of people … [who have] lost their jobs, who don't have health care, even children that are in homes don't get three square meals a day. But this man sits with guards protecting him, he's receiving free medical, free meals." •  A recently freed Spanish skipper claims that Somali pirates are holding a 12-year-old Ukrainian girl hostage aboard another hijacked ship. Ricardo Black says he met both the girl and her parents. "Her mother begged me to take [her daughter] with me," he told a Spanish paper. • A New York teacher is suing the Department of Education because she claims she suffered injuries after she slipped on garbage, including condoms, that had been left on the floor. She's particularly mad about the condom bit (although there is no news about whether or not they were used): "They caused, allowed and permitted condoms to be distributed by school personnel to the students, many of which were opened during the school lunch period and thrown on the floor," she said in the suit. • Five high school freshmen were arrested in California for the sexual assault of two ninth-grade girls. Police say that the boys accosted the girls at school and groped them during a lunch break. • Forbes has compiled a list of the top earning states for women. Washington D.C. is at the top of the list, with women making an average of $866 a week, only 7.8% less than men. Also high on the list are Maryland, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. • Rusty Kanokogi, advocate for women's judo, has died at the age of 74. Kanokogi devoted the past twenty years to making women's judo an Olympic sport, an effort that was recognized by the Japanese government, who awarded her the Order of the Rising Sun last year. • The Virginia Military Institute is facing charges of sex discrimination. The Education Department first brought the complaint against the Military school in 2008, claiming that the "climate and culture" of the school was derogatory and discriminatory towards women.  • According to FBI data released today, reports of hate crimes against gays and religious groups increased sharply in 2008. The number of racially motivated hate crimes fell less than 1 percent, but there was an 11 percent increase in hate crimes against homosexuals and a 9 percent increase in crimes against religious groups. • Dr. Bernadine Healy, the former director of the National Institutes of Health, says women should ignore the new breast cancer screening guidelines that delay the start of routine mammograms until 50, because it would save money but not lives. • Senator Harry Reid says that right after the Senate's vote to begin debating health care legislation on Saturday, he got a call from Ted Kennedy's widow, Victoria Reggie Kennedy. "She believes that Ted was watching," said Reid. "I'll remember the call always. She of course was crying pretty hard. We both felt that he's watching us tonight." • Today President Obama announced "Educate to Innovate," a 10-year campaign to increase American students' achievement in math and science. It involves $260 million in corporate donations, a National Lab Day, and an annual national science fair at the White House "to show young people how cool science people can be." • A reporter for The Guardian visited an Iraqi jail to talk to women who have attempted to commit a suicide bombing. She found many have lost close male relatives, lived in isolated communities dominated by extremists, and felt choosing to be a suicide bomber made them special, even though they couldn't control much else in their lives. But, one detective investigating the women cautioned not to generalize because, "All the cases are different. Some are old; some are young; some are just criminals; some are believers. They have different reasons." • The late Sister Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas is one step closer to becoming a saint after thousands of worshipers gathered in Nazareth for her beatification yesterday. She helped found the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem in the 1880s, which continues to run schools for Palestinian girls in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. • Libby Longino is one of only 32 students to win a Rhodes Scholarship this year, but she won't be lonely at Oxford University: her boyfriend Henry Spelman was also selected. They are both seniors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Longino said, "I could barely hope it would turn out this way." •

Nubian representatives say that the line compares black Egyptians to monkeys, and are suing the singer, her record label, and the songwriter. • The man charged with the kidnapping of Shaniya Davis has also been accused of raping and asphyxiating the 5-year-old South Carolina girl. Mario McNeill is being charged with first-degree murder and rape of a child. • Amanda Knox broke down in tears today in court as the prosecution closed their case against her, saying she "harboured hatred" for Meredith Kercher and "killed her to take revenge." • Amanda Knox's parents are so confident she'll be acquitted that they've already bought her a plane ticket home to Seattle. •  The British man charged with strangling his own wife on a camping trip was found not guilty on account of a rare disorder, which caused him to murder Christine Thomas in his sleep. "You are a decent man and a devoted husband. I strongly suspect that, not withstanding the circumstances here, you may well be feeling a sense of guilt about what happened that night. In the eyes of the law, you bear no responsibility," said the judge. •  Reporter Michael Crowley sat down in a restaurant the other night and found himself sitting two tables away from Sonia Sotomayor. Naturally, he sent out a Tweet, which read: "She left her purse on a chair; stern-faced security guys came back for it about 30 min later." •  Soldiers in Sweden are fighting for flame-retardant underwear. The Swedish Conscription Council claims that the female soldiers were promised appropriate bras and panties years ago, but the armed forces has failed to deliver. • Selma Aliye Kavaf, Turkey's minister for women's affairs, says, "The mentality change regarding women's participation in business or political life would take time. Legislation or laws are not enough for women to become active in business life." • A dad from Minnesota claims that during the first three years of his son's life, he spoke to him only in Klingon. The dad says it was part of an experiment, to see whether his kid would pick up the fictional language. He says he stopped when it became clear his son, now 15, preferred English. •  Warning: This story is disgusting and highly disturbing. Short version: a gang in Peru has been accused of murdering people in order to collect their fat, which is then sold on the black market for cosmetics. • The highest court in New York has rejected an attempt to throw out two government orders to recognize the rights of same-sex couples married in other states. While this is good news, the ruling was based on a technicality, and did not address the broader human rights issue at stake. • A team of researchers have made headway in understanding how the body metabolizes date rape drugs. They hope that the breakthrough "may provide new clues on how to counteract the drug's effects, or to enhance its metabolism and decrease toxicity for chronic abusers or victims of sexual assault." • A study from the Harvard School of Public Health found a woman's risk of developing multiple sclerosis during her lifetime is doubled if she was obese at age 18. This is the first time MS risk has been linked to obesity. The research was based on the Nurses' Health study, but doctors say "There's no reason to believe that the biological mechanisms would be different." • Ohio State University researchers found that alcoholics over the age of 60 have more than 40 alcoholic drinks a week on average, compared to between 25 and 35 drinks a week on average for younger alcoholics. The findings suggest older alcoholics have developed a tolerance and need to drink even more to get drunk. • A North Carolina doctor could lose his medical license for allegedly poking a patient's thigh and calling her fat and irresponsible for being unemployed and using taxpayer's money to pay for another pregnancy. The doctor admitted he told her that her fat thighs and diabetes could make her go blind. • Could "real" America's love affair with Sarah Palin be coming to a close? In this video an angry mob boos her and calls her a quitter after left a an event in Noblesville, Indiana without signing the books of about 300 families who had been waiting for more than three hours. • A few Indian travel agents are pushing "divorce tourism," package deals designed to help couples salvage their relationship. Viresh Hirjee, chief executive of a Mumbai travel agency, has been sending customers of vacation along with marriage counselors. "We are trying our best to bring the couple together," he said, but warned, "We are not destiny changers." • School officials in Orange County, California warned kids that if they skip school today to see New Moon they'll be marked truant. • The business information analysis firm IBISWorld says that the growing popularity of online dating sites is responsible for Australia's sex industry losing $67.6 million in the past year. "The rapid growth in online services means it has never been easier for like-minded individuals to organize casual liaisons for little or no cost," said IBISWorld analyst Edward Butler. • Barbara Ann Radnofsky, Democratic candidate for attorney general in Texas, says a clause in a 2005 constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages accidentally banned all marriages in the state. The clause reads: "This state or a political subdivision of this state may not create or recognize any legal status identical or similar to marriage." Backers of the ban say she's reading too much into the clause for political reasons. • The city of Auckland, New Zealand paid $74,000 to give a 66-foot fiberglass Santa statue a facelift. One of his mechanical eyes had been drooping and people were worried it would scare children. His face has been bandaged and the repairs will be unveiled on Sunday. •

• A 54-year-old woman from Chicago has been charged with a hate crime for harassing a young Muslim woman in a grocery store. Valerie Kenney reportedly made loud references to the Fort Hood shootings before grabbing and pulling Amal Abusumaya's headscarf. If convicted, Kenney faces up to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine. •  A woman accused with trying to exhort money from former Knicks coach Rick Pitino has been charged for falsely claiming Pitino raped her. The FBI says there is no evidence that a rape occurred, although he admits to having consensual sex with the woman. • A new analysis of several different studies has found that women who quit smoking while in treatment for weight control fare better at both tasks. While conventional wisdom tells us that going cold turkey while dieting is impossible, researchers say now women won't "have to choose between the two." •  29-year-old Mario McNeill has admitted to the kidnap of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis. McNeill told investigators that he took Shaniya from her home to a hotel about 30 miles away. Police have not yet brought charged against McNeill, and don't plan to until jurisdiction questions are resolved. • Two college students were handcuffed and driven away in a police car after they refused to pay a mandatory gratuity service at the Lehigh Pub. "Gratuity is thanking you for your service," argued 22-year-old Leslie Pope. "You can't give us terrible, terrible service and expect a tip." • Japanese drug company Sciele Pharma Inc plans to file for U.S. approval of a spray that numbs the penis to prevent premature ejaculation. There is currently no prescription treatment for the condition, which Sciele estimates affects up to a third of American men ages 18 to 59. • The March of Dimes gave the U.S. a D on its premature births report card because one out of eight American babies are born prematurely each year. Some states were recognized for taking steps to reduce smoking among women or providing health insurance coverage for pregnant women, but no state got an A. • A study of 2,016 women by deodorant-maker Bionsen found that the average British woman "hosts" 515 chemicals on her body every day. Most of the pollutants come from deodorant, perfumes, moisturizers, and makeup the women put on themselves. • Separate studies found that the most talented male athletes also have attractive faces. In one study women ranked the best NFL players as more desirable, and another survey of New Scientist Twitter followers came up with similar results for men's tennis. Researchers concluded the same genetic factors may be linked to an attractive male face and athletic prowess. • The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery has responded to the Senate health bill including a 5 percent tax on most of their procedures with six reasons they think it's a bad idea, including, "cosmetic surgery is not a specialty for only the wealthy or the vain," and "despite the fact that more men are seeking cosmetic procedures than ever, the largest portion of patients are still working women, who would be unfairly targeted by such taxes." •

• Police believe Joshua Woodward, a restaurateur from L.A., gave his 13-weeks pregnant girlfriend an abortion inducing drug without her consent. She claims just hours before she miscarried, Woodward touched her sexually, leaving white powder in her underwear. • Conseulo Carreto Valencia, 61, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison - the maximum sentence - for forcing girls to work as prostitutes. In this rather tasteless article, the NY Daily News refers to her as a "mini-madam," due to her short stature. •  A Danish political party has fessed up to pasting yellow penis stickers all over the posters for opposing parties. "We admit we did it," said party Vice President Niels Andreasen. But it seems like their hilarious efforts paid off: "At first we figured we'd get around 200 votes. But now we've had 10,000 visitors to our Web site and we have 500 new Facebook friends." • Two cities in California have voted to outlaw the declawing of cats. Beverly Hills City Council and the Los Angeles City Council joined Santa Monica and San Francisco in the recent ban. •  A 20-year-old Somali woman was stoned to death for adultery in front of a crowd of 200 on Tuesday afternoon. She had recently been divorced, and was reportedly dating a 29-year-old man. He received 100 lashes for his part in the affair. • A research team from the UK found that almost 50% of women have a genetic variation which reduces their ability to produce vitamin A from beta-carotene. This may mean that up to half the women in England could be at risk for vitamin A deficiency. • Doctors believe that they may be able to use eggs donated by younger women to increase the chances of conception among older women. A team from Japan removed the nuclei from eggs of women undergoing IVF and injected them into eggs donated by women under 35. • The city of Sacramento, California has presented 18-year-old Margarita Vargas with an official proclamation, calling her decision to call the police after hearing about the brutal gang rape of a teen girl "a bold act of humanity." • Olivia Thomas, the oldest person in the U.S., died this week at the age of 114. Thomas was believed to be the third oldest person in the world at the time of her death. •  A police officer in Arkansas recently tasered a 10-year-old girl when she refused to get into his police car. The report says the stun was "very, very brief" and only used to bring the girl to a youth shelter. • It seems Brian Adams, the photographer who shot the picture of Sarah Palin in shorts for Runner's World violated his contract by reselling the photo to Newsweek. A spokeswoman for Runner's World said the picture was supposed to be under embargo until August 2010, and "Runner's World did not provide Newsweek with its cover image... It was provided to Newsweek by the photographer's stock agency, without Runner's World's knowledge or permission." A Newsweek spokesman responded, "We purchased the photo from an agency and were not aware of any issues with it." • Police say they're not filing any more charges in the murder of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis until it's decided which North Carolina county will handle the case. Her mother, Antoinette Davis, and Mario McNeill have already been arrested and charged with kidnapping and child abuse involving prostitution. • Katherine Sebelius addressed the confusion over new breast cancer screening recommendations saying, "The U.S. Preventive Task Force is an outside independent panel of doctors and scientists who make recommendations... They do not set federal policy, and they don't determine what services are covered by the federal government... The Task Force has presented some new evidence for consideration but our policies remain unchanged. Indeed, I would be very surprised if any private insurance company changed its mammography coverage decisions as a result of this action." • A 13-year-old boy in Alabama was arrested after he asked an undercover officer posing as a prostitute for sex. The officer says she tried to run him off more than once, but he insisted, so she had to arrest him. He was charged with a misdemeanor count of loitering while looking for a prostitute. • In its 2009 state of the world population report, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says the world's poor are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and most of the 1.5 billion people living on less than $1 a day are women. "Poor women in poor countries are among the hardest hit by climate change, even though they contributed the least to it," said UNFPA executive director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid. • Last month the U.K.'s Law Commission proposed that unmarried couples who live together for two years should be able to claim half of their partner's estate if they die without a will. Baroness Deech, chairman of the Bar Standards Board says, "Cohabitation law retards the emancipation of women, degrades the relationship, takes away choice, is too expensive and would extend an already unsatisfactory maintenance law for married couples to another large category," adding, "Women do not need and ought not to require to be kept by men after their relationship has come to an end." • British hedge fund manager Mark Lowe is being sued for sexual discrimination by female executive Jordan Wimmer because he repeatedly forwarded the office sexist emails. She confronted him when he sent around a dumb blonde joke. He said in court: "I didn't for a moment suppose anyone would take exception to a feeble joke of this sort. It was not directed against [Ms Wimmer]. The thought never occurred to me that she'd be offended." •

Shane Ryan, creator of classics like Amateur Porn Star Killer and Sex, Kids, Party, says that the film will handle her story with care: "We're trying to figure out a way to do that so it's not exploitative." • Prosecutors have decided that a 59-year-old man from the UK probably did murder his wife in her sleep, as his defense has claimed. Brian Thomas dreamt that his wife was an intruder, and strangled her to death. Prosecutors, persuaded by expert testimony about automatism and sleep disorders, are now arguing for a ruling of not guilty by reason of mental insanity - the alternative being a "simple verdict of not guilty." • Back in June, New York State decided to allow researchers to pay women for their eggs for stem cell research. But many fear that this policy will take advantage of underprivileged women, since donating eggs is not without risks. • The March of Dimes' Premature Birth Card has graded the U.S. a "D" when it comes to preterm birth rate. Not a single state was awarded an A, and only Vermont was given a B. • Government researchers report black women are twice as likely as white or Hispanic women to suffer a stillbirth, partly due to higher pregnancy rates and because African-American women are more at risk for high blood pressure, diabetes, and pregnancy complications like uterine bleeding and premature rupture of the sac surrounding the fetus. The racial gap is even wider between more-educated women. Higher education is linked to a 30 percent reduction in stillbirths among white women, but no reduction in risk among African-Americans. • An interesting new study from the University of Pennsylvania found that children who are insensitive to fear are more likely to grow up to be criminals. Researchers examined toddlers, measuring their sweat output to determine fear. Years later they pulled the records of participants, and found that toddlers who did not sweat in response to a loud noise were more likely to have a criminal record. •  A government watchdog group has asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate whether Michele Bachmann violated house rules by organizing the November 5th Tea Party rally. • Wanda Eileen Barzee, the woman accused of helping her then-husband kidnap Elizabeth Smart, has plead guilty to charges of kidnapping and unlawful transportation of a minor. The terms of her plea agreement have not yet been made public. • According to a children's charity, Britain lacks the resources to protect thousands of young girls vulnerable to being forced into sexual slavery. Only 20% of local authorities have the specialist sources to intervene, said the chief executive of Bernardo. • A 21-year-old Army mom may face criminal charges after she skipped a deployment flight to Afghanistan in order to stay home and care for her infant son. Alexis Hutchinson's attorney says her superiors ordered her to place the child in foster care and resume service. •  Several organizations are trying to get more British girls to ride bikes, but the campaigns focus too much on looking good while cycling, according to an editorial in The Guardian. One site called Bike Belles actually advises girls to, "Use waterproof mascara when it's raining on your bike, and take a powder compact for a quick refresher on arrival." • Burkittsville, Maryland, the town where The Blair Witch Project was filmed, had to design new welcome signs because people keep stealing the ones that were shown in the movie. • Hooters Las Vegas lost millions of dollars this year and now the company has received a notice of default from its lenders. The company is trying to restructure, but maybe frat boys just don't have as much money to throw around these days? • A New Jersey high school student is suing her school because administrators wouldn't let her participate in the Pro Life Day of Silent Solidarity, an annual worldwide protest. She wanted to remain silent on October 20, except when called on in class, wear an armband with the word "life" on it, and hand out anti-abortion pamphlets. "The school district basically held that there is no religion allowed in school, which violates the students' First Amendment rights," said her lawyer. • On Saturday, a French woman was allowed to marry the father of her two children nearly a year after his death in a car accident. She stood next to his picture while she recited her vows. "I'm not really in the mood to celebrate," she said afterwards. "We're going to drink a cup of coffee and I will thank those who have supported me." •

• On Sunday, Michelle Wie won her first LPGA tour title. This was her 65th LPGA tour event, and while she had finished second six times, she had never managed a win. ''Wowww-w-w ...... never thought this would feel THIS great!!!!" she said on Twitter. • President Obama told - not asked - Burma's junta to free pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi at a recent summit with the Burmese prime minister. •  A Zambian reporter has been acquitted of pornography charges, which could have held a five year sentence if she had been convicted. The so-called porn possessed by Chansa Kabwela was actually photographs of a mother giving birth in a car park, which Kabwela did not publish but instead sent out to women's rights groups. • The suburban swim club outside Philadelphia that was accused of discrimination earlier this year has announced plans to declare bankruptcy. The club reportedly asked several children not to return because of "racial animus" expressed by a member. But the swim club's president denies that their closing has anything to do with the legal proceedings. •  A bushfire on the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve has turned the area into an "animal graveyard." Some blame Terri Irwin for improperly managing the property, but Irwin blames it on pig hunters, who she claims were probably trying to clear the land. •  A recent study published in the British Medical Journal found that current policies to reduce teen pregnancies are simply not working. The study also linked certain factors to teen pregnancy, including dislike of school, poverty, unhappy childhoods and low expectations for the future. •  For the first time in decades, the U.S. skating team has no clear-cut Olympic medal contender. "In the past, we've had Michelle Kwan, Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill year after year, and every time we felt that they were going to win the gold medal," said David Ruth, executive director of US Figure Skating. "But when Michael Jordan left the N.B.A, they were looking for a new star, and we're looking for a new star." • Researchers have found that texting may be linked to neck pain, caused primarily by the hunched-over body position favored by serial texters. • Doctors are hopeful that a vaccine for chlamydia isn't far away. However, previous research has shown that injections don't work very well, so a vaccine may come in the form of a vaginal cream or spray. •  Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has pissed off some 200 Italian women after he placed an ad recruiting "attractive girls between 18 and 35 years old" for an "event." While most expected a party, the event turned out to be a two hour lesson intended to convert them to Islam. •  A recent report touts the benefits of distributing contraceptives in Uganda. The report estimates that meeting just half of Ugandan women's unmet needs for contraceptives would yield dramatic health benefits, including an expected 21% decline in maternal deaths. • Angie Young's film The Coat Hanger Project tells the story of how abortions have actually become increasingly less accessible in the decades since Roe vs. Wade. One good example: the Stupak amendment. You can take action against the pro-choice Democrats who supported the amendment by signing a petition to send them a coat hanger. • The Association of Chief Police Officers in England and Wales has proposed a domestic violence register to track an estimated 25,000 serial abusers. The register would allow people to look up a man's history including convictions and unproven allegations. The Association is also pushing for the creation of a "course of conduct" offense to make it easier to go after serial offenders, even if there isn't enough evidence to prosecute each individual case. • Janet Clark went to a British hospital because she believed she'd gone into labor in her 25th week of pregnancy, but a doctor and four midwives told her to go home. The next day she went back and was told to go home again, and then started giving birth on the toilet. "A pregnant woman shouldn't have to plead with medical staff," said Clark, who had a healthy baby boy. • In a study 54 Caucasian subjects were asked to manipulate the skin color of male and female faces on a computer screen to make them appear as healthy as possible. Most increased the rosiness, yellowness, and brightness of the skin. "In the West we often think that sun tanning is the best way to improve the color of your skin," said researcher Dr. Ian Stephen, "But our research suggests that living a healthy lifestyle with a good diet might actually be better." The study didn't address what makes non-white faces appear healthier and attractive. • Researchers found that in business, gender is a factor in measuring a team's performance, but but not the leaders themselves. In industries in which most leadership positions are held by men, people will expect more of teams led by men, but expectations of the leaders themselves are not influenced by gender. • In an interview on CBS' Early Show Mary Lou Quinlan, author of What She's Not Telling You: Why Women Hide the Whole Truth and What Marketers Can Do About It, says women tell "half truths" about "anything with a number in it. Their age, their weight, how many drinks they had." • In a new interview with CBS News, Laura Bush said Texas feels like it's a million miles away from Washington. "...Not that I ever felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders, or that George did when I lived there — but when it was gone, I could notice it," she said. "There's a great feeling of freedom." •

• On the heels of reports that Going Rogue confirms there was tension between Sarah Palin and John McCain's aides during the 2008 campaign, Ann Coulter says, "Wow, I hope she pays them back in this book, and I can't wait to read it. No, I mean, McCain — he was the media's favorite Republican. So, any criticism his side made of Palin was instantly printed, and now we finally get the payback. And I'm looking forward to it." • Palin will visit Fort Hood next month as part of her book tour for Going Rogue. She planned the visit before last week's shooting, and a representative from the base called her and said she should still make her planned appearance on December 4. • The British government has proposed a ban on people under the age of 18 using tanning beds to reduce the risk of young people developing skin cancer. It was reported today that in some areas of the U.K. up to half of all girls aged 15-17 are tanning, which doctors say significantly increases the risk of malignant melanoma. • In February, Jen Ivers will become the first female student to participate in the Mr. Yale contest. Ivers prefers to dress as a man, is openly gay, and doesn't identify as a man or a woman. Her residential college overwhelmingly voted for her to represent them, but initially the college rejected her application. Yale claims it was a miscommunication and a rep says, "It'll be really cool and unique to have her compete." • Scientists from the University of California tested the pain threshold of 25 women in various situations and found that they didn't hurt as much when their romantic partner was holding their hand, and experienced even less pain when just looking at his picture. Researchers say the person's picture brings up pleasant thoughts, but when they're actually in the room they may be upset that their partner is worried about them. They recommend patients bring loved ones' pictures to painful procedures. • Jill Berry, president of the Girls' Schools Association, says that schools should tell teenage girls that they don't need to beat themselves up if they decide to take time off from their future careers to raise children. ''They will need to realise that there may be times when they might not want to work, or they might want to take a lesser job because their priorities have changed. It is important that they leave school at 18 with their eyes open," she said. • Kirsty Moore, who became the first woman admitted to Britain's Royal Air Force display team, says she hopes her position will make girls "think that this is something they could be part of and they should go for it." • Caster Semenya says after the international controversy over her gender, "People want to stare at me now. They want to touch me. I'm supposed to be famous but I don't think I like it so much." • Oreo, the dog who was nursed back to health after her owner threw her off the roof of his six-floor Brooklyn apartment building, was killed today by lethal injection. After Oreo's owner was convicted of animal cruelty many people offered to adopt her and pay for her medical care, but the A.S.P.C.A. said she was a danger to the public because she was "unpredictably aggressive." Supporters had requested that the organization delay the euthanization and negotiate the dog's transfer to an animal sanctuary. • No African country has developed a program to give the cervical cancer vaccines to girls, even though 71,000 of the 500,000 who are diagnosed with cervical cancer every year are from Africa, and 78 percent of cases result in death. Professor Lutz Gissman, one of the researchers who discovered the virus said, "If you can persuade [African] girls to get a vaccine shot, the problem will be drastically reduced in the next 10, 20 years." • Police are hunting for a Brazilian blogger they say posted the names of 300 people who are cheating on their partner in the small rural town of Lagoa da Prata on Orkut. "This is not a very nice joke – for people to say that your boyfriend or your husband is a cuckold," says one woman whose boyfriend's name was on the list. "I don't really know what to say to people." • Police arrested a Florida man who repeatedly called 911 and made sexual comments to the dispatcher, asking to come to her house. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation: He told police that he'd run out of cell phone minutes and 911 was the only number he could call. •

Although nothing about the truck — which is used to advertise for a strip club — is illegal, some commissioners fear that it could cause accidents. • In 2005, Melanie Dawn Williams went into premature labor and ran a red light on the way to the hospital. Two police officers chased after her, followed her into the hospital, and tackled her in the emergency room. The over-zealous cops then dragged her outside, where they proceeded to handcuff her. Eventually a nurse found her, and brought her back in for medical care. Williams now says she may sue for unlawful arrest. •  A British woman has received a £75 fine for littering after she was caught throwing bread to ducks. "I do not intend to pay the fine," she said. "I'm going to fight this to the end." •  A 56-year-old Oregon man has been charged with making threatening calls to a local Planned Parenthood. Gregory Paul Freeman reportedly threatened to blow up the clinic. They also received a voice message that said: "Uh, please go ahead and dial the, uh, United States of America, because I'm going to burn your abortion clinic down because you are a baby killer and you hate babies." •  In the past year the pay gap between men and women in Britain has fallen - but only by 1%. There still remains a 16.4% gap in the U.K. If improvement continues at this rate, it will be 17 years before women receive equal pay. •  The Maryland university system has opted not to police porn on college campuses. They voted unanimously to reject the policy, on the grounds that it would hinder free speech and suck up too much funding. • Former CIA agent Valerie Plame lost her appeal to declassify part of her memoir Fair Game. Plame and her publisher sued the CIA in 2007 to block the agency from blacking out the dates she worked there, but the appeals court ruled that, "Because Ms. Wilson is obligated by a secrecy agreement with the CIA not to disclose information, the district court correctly ruled." • Weston General Hospital in England has banned pregnant women with a BMI of more than 34 from giving birth at the hospital, forcing them to travel 20 miles to the nearest maternity ward. The hospital claims it's not equipped to handle complicated births. "Our foremost concern is for the safety of mothers who deliver here and their babies," said a spokesman. "Mothers with a high BMI are at increased risk in labour of bleeding, needing an instrumental delivery or complications, such as the baby's shoulder becoming trapped behind the pubic bone." • French art expert Pascal Cotte analyzed the Mona Lisa with a special camera and found she used to have eyebrows and a wider smile. He says da Vinci painted some details on top of a glaze that was meant to make the portrait look 3-D. "That could explain why the eyebrows have disappeared – they have faded because of chemical reactions or they have been cleaned off," said Cotte. • University of Haifa researcher found that the hormone oxytocin, which affects trust, empathy and generosity, also affects opposite behaviors, like jealousy and gloating. "Subsequent to these findings, we assume that the hormone is an overall trigger for social sentiments: when the person's association is positive, oxytocin bolsters pro-social behaviors; when the association is negative, the hormone increases negative sentiments," said lead researcher Simone Shamay-Tsoory. • A British woman saw a suspicious message pop up on her husband's computer so she pretended to be a 14-year-old schoolgirl and contacted him on the internet from another computer in their house. He asked her to meet for sex and "used a webcam to film himself carrying out acts of indecency," which she could see on her screen in the other room. He was found guilty of engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child and making and possessing illegal images, and his wife left him. •

• The Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported that more babies were born in that country 2008 than ever before. They also found that the trend of mothers giving birth later in life "seems to have stalled," and that there were slightly more newborn boys (51%) than girls. •  A 28-year-old German man has been found guilty of stabbing a pregnant Egyptian woman during a court hearing in Dresden. Al-Sherbini was going to testify against Alexander Wiens, who allegedly harassed her at work with taunts of "terrorist" and "Islamist" when Wiens attacked her in the courtroom. Wiens has been sentenced to life in prison. • Jewish activists are anticipating Obama's announcement of a special envoy to monitor anti-Semitism. Rumor has it that the candidate is female, with Chicago connections. • A Hungarian man convicted of using a camera to peep up women's skirts has been banned from filming in public for the next two years. Apparently, the women who he filmed were unaware and have not been informed of the violation. • Jaycee Dugard's family has brought in a publicist to help "clean up" the mess made by several greedy middlemen. Unfortunately, the family is still in looking for donations to help pay for everything from medical bills to food. •  A recent spate of suicides among housekeepers working in Lebanon has lead to a campaign for better conditions for the often overworked immigrant women. A recent survey found that more than one migrant domestic worker was dying in Lebanon each week, usually from either suicide or falling off a balcony in attempts to get away from an abusive employer. •  For the first time ever, the Mormon church has announced support for gay rights legislation in Salt Lake City. Although the Church is still against gay marriage, officials have come out in support of legislation that would prohibit discrimination against gays in housing and employment. • Cynthia Stewart, a 17-year-old junior at Tharptown High School in Alabama, is on her school's prom planning committee and personally raised $200 for the event. But when Stewart asked her principal if she could bring her girlfriend to the prom he said no and told her to take off a sticker that read "I am a lesbian," because, "You don't have that much freedom of speech at school." Her family appealed the decision to the school board, but it upheld the principal's decision. • The Tate Gallery has announced the appointment of Penelope Curtis as the new director for the museum in London. Other good news for women in art comes from Venice, where the Japanese architect Kazuyo Sejima has been named director of the Venice Architecture Biennale. • Scottish widow Mona Webster, who died in August at the age of 96, loved opera and birds so she left most of her $16.6 million fortune to New York's Metropolitan Opera and the British charity Windfowl and Wetlands Trust. • Brits are some of the ugliest people in the world, according to the dating site BeautifulPeople.com. The site lets existing members rate applicants' attractiveness to decide if they should be let on the site and only one in 8 British men and three in 30 British women have been accepted. Swedish men have the most success, with 65 percent accepted, and Norwegian women were voted the most beautiful with 76 percent accepted. • People are criticizing Pittsburgh's recently unveiled Mister Rogers statue because they say the 11-foot tall, 7,000 pound statue looks nothing like him. Jimmy Kimmel said it makes "the nicest man in the world look like a mud monster." •

•  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. •