Couples Who Test Together, Stay Together • Survey Says: Tina Fey Funnier Palin Than Palin

• After questioning 1,000 young adults, researchers determined that discussing STDs is the best indicator of whether a budding relationship will last. Talking about sexual health has become the new milestone for couples, surpassing even meeting the ‘rents. •

• A 3-year-old South Korean girl starved to death after her parents neglected her in favor of a “virtual baby.” Police say the couple “lost their will to live a normal life” after losing their jobs. They spent 12 hour stretches at an internet cafe while their child suffered at home. • Barbie Latza Nadeau, author of the book Angel Face, has reviewed the judge’s ruling in the case of Amanda Knox. Nadeau believes Knox will have a good chance of appealing the guilty verdict, especially since they were unable to find a motive for the murder. The hearing will be held in fall 2010. • The Turkish Prime Minister is unhappy with the decision to classify the killing of thousands of Armenians during the early 20th century I as “genocide.” “We condemn this resolution accusing Turkey of a crime that it had not committed,” said an official statement. Since the resolution passed, speaker Nancy Pelosi must decide whether to bring it to the floor. • Senator John Kerry and 18 others have called for a change in policy that currently bans man who has had gay sex since 1977 from donating blood. Kerry says that there is “not a single piece of scientific evidence” to support the ban, which has been in place since 1983. • The Mancession is spreading: the pattern of job loss, which has been worse for men than women, started in the US but has since been noticed around the world. In India, 95% of layoffs were men, and France in France they made up 71% of all job losses. Part of this has to do with the proportion of men working, but it can also be explained by examining what sectors were hardest hit by the recession. • Pope John Paul II’s canonization has come under question after the nun he “cured” has fallen ill once again. In 2007, she was suffering from what may have been Parkinson’s but she claims his prayers brought her back to full health. According to reports, her illness has returned, which leads some doctors to believe she never had Parkinson’s at all, but a different disorder. • EU Fundamental Rights Commissioner Viviane Reding has announced plans to address the gender pay gap by hiking women’s pay. “Gender equality has to be integrated in all of our policies,” she said Friday. • The gender pay gap is also alive and well in the US, where Missouri women make 25% less than their male counterparts. This is larger than the national pay gap; in 2009 American women currently made $638 – or about 80 percent – of the $798 men made. • Police have seen a recent surge in the number of cases involving roofies in the Aspen area. At least 11 young men and women have been dosed with the drug in recent months. Police suggest it may be the work of one person. • And now for some good news out of Colorado: 10 female pilots from WWII will be honored with the Congressional Gold Medal for their service at a ceremony in Washington, DC on March 10th. • March is Biker Chick Month, according to Harley-Davidson. Celebrate by donning your best leather jacket and taking a ride (preferably not on the back). • Police say they have located a 22-year-old woman from Utah who had been missing since she was a child. Jessica Click-Hill was reported missing by her father in 1995, but authorities recently found her living with her mother, Wendy Hill, in California. • 80% of Guardian readers think Tina Fey makes a funnier Sarah Palin than the former governor herself. Considering Sarah’s recent appearance on Leno, we have to say we agree. • Cell phones have made the old don’t call after nine curfew obsolete, according to a recent survey out of Britain. However, people still adhere to “more traditional etiquette” when calling a land line. • Rep Bart Stupak announced Thursday that he and 11 other Democrats will vote against the health care overhaul unless a provision subsidizing abortion is removed. “We’re not going to bypass some principles that we believe strongly about,” he told Good Morning America. Obama invited the opposing democrats to the White House on Thursday to discuss the health care legislation, but despite his efforts, there is still a good deal of controversy surrounding the proposed bill. • Two teen girls from Pennsylvania carried out a suicide pact on February 25th while their third friend, who had just backed out of the deal, pleaded with them to reconsider. It is extremely rare for teenagers to actually go through with a suicide pact; only about 1% of suicides result from pacts, most of which are between older couples. • An anti-abortion group in Poland has erected billboards featuring images of Hitler juxtaposed with pictures of aborted fetuses. “Abortion was introduced for Polish women by Hitler on March 9, 1943,” it reads. A spokesman from Pro, the group responsible for the posters, says the campaign is “absolutely justified” and will serve to remind Polish women of the rights of their fetuses. •