What do you do when you are in a romantic situation with your boyfriend/girlfriend? Well, typically, you would kiss. And here in Canada, there's no law against kissing in public, or is there? Well, we won't go into that, because it's Canada.
But, in Dubai, things are different. A British couple in Dubai that was caught kissing in public may be going to prison over their romance--for up to a month. Why? Well, it's all because an Emirati woman/mother complained that her child saw them kissing and had seen their "indiscretion."
The couple, a British man living in Dubai and a female friend, were arrested in November on accusations of kissing and touching each other intimately in public and consuming alcohol, their lawyer said. They were ordered to be imprisoned for a month.
The case is the third time in less than two years in which British couples have hit the headlines by falling foul of decency laws in Dubai, a flashy Muslim emirate popular with sun-seeking Western tourists and expatriates.
A lawyer for the potentially-cute couple that launched an appeal on Sunday said that there had been no inappropriate kissing and the two were just friends. A verdict in the appeal is expected on April 4, 2010.
"There was no lip kissing. It was just a normal greeting that is not considered offensive," lawyer Khalaf al-Hosani told the court, adding the complainant's testimony was contradictory.
The British man's mother in London said her son, Ayman Najafi, had vowed to clear his name.
"My Ayman is a good boy He's very wise and mature. I can't believe it," his mother Maida Najafi was quoted as saying in The Independent. "He knows the rules over there. He would never do that. He wouldn't even do it over here."
The couple, who are free on bail, were also fined 1,000 dirham ($272) for illegal consumption of alcohol, the lawyer said. They are to be deported after the completion of their jail sentence. Wow, you kiss someone and you go to prison, and eventually get deported.
Dubai's foreign population has expanded rapidly in recent years as expatriates flocked to the Gulf Arab trade and tourism hub for its tax-free earnings and year-round sunshine.
The changes have challenged the Emirati population, which is now vastly outnumbered by foreigners, raising concern that their emirate's rapid pace of growth is a threat to their social and religious identity in what remains a deeply conservative region.
In a high-profile case in 2008, a British couple narrowly escaped jail after a court found them guilty of engaging in drunken sexual activity out of wedlock, and for doing so in public on a beach in the emirate. They were sentenced to three months in prison followed by deportation, but had their jail terms overturned on appeal.
In a separate case this year, a British couple who shared a hotel room managed to escape trial in Dubai for having sex out of wedlock by producing a marriage certificate. A British embassy spokesman said it could confirm that a British national was arrested in November and the mission had provided consular assistance, but gave no further details.
Five couples wed at the Municipal Palace in Mexico City, which legalized same-sex marriage in December. The law authorizing such unions has been challenged by the federal government.
Mayor Marcelo Ebrard was on hand to witness four of the five couples signing their marriage certificates at the end of a 20-minute ceremony. The fifth couple, flying in from another state to take advantage of the new rule, arrived late and was married after the others.
Mexico City's left-leaning legislature approved gay marriage and opened the way for adoptions by homosexual couples on December 21, provoking a wave of uproar from religious groups in the Catholic nation and conservatives, including President Felipe Calderon.
The attorney general has lodged an appeal against the move at the Supreme Court and a string of states are seeking to apply measures to specifically prohibit gay marriages. Two men were recently married in Argentina, the country's second gay marriage, after a judge approved the union ahead of possible legislation there, too.
Lol Kin Castaneda, 33, and Judith Vazquez, became the first gay couple to marry. They wore matching ivory dresses as they led the multiple ceremonies.
The couple met nine years ago, when Miss Castaneda was already an activist for gay rights and Miss Vazquez was planning to become a nun.
"They're now a family recognized by the law, with rights and obligations," said Hegel Cortes, the judge, as the couple kissed.
What do you do when you are a celebrity talk show host that recently lost your job? Well, like many of those who are unemployed and bored, you would obviously surf the Internets aimlessly, and even go on Twitter.
So, recently, Conan O'Brien was bored and decided to follow a Twitter user named Sarah Killen at random.
Now, Killen has tons of followers and she answers their questions about her life, including her wedding, and other stuff.
In fact, Killen has described some perks of being followed by Conan O'Brien... she has received wine, a limo, a wedding gown for her wedding day and a new computer... and meeting rapper Ludacris.
Simon Cowell has finally confirmed his engagement to his make-up artist girlfriend Mezghan Hussainy on a U.S. TV talk show. The TV mogul not only confirmed his engagement but also coyly admitted to the chat show host that a wedding is on the cards, according to multiple tabloid reports.
The Internets was abuzz with reports last month that Cowell and Hussainy have gotten engaged during a dinner date. Reports emerged at the time claiming that Cowell popped the question during a romantic dinner at Mr Chow restaurant in Knightsbridge, London on Valentine's night, and his makeup artist sweetheart presumably has happily answered "Yes."
Cowell, 50, and Hussainy, 36, were recently spotted hugging and kissing in public, fuelling speculation that they are an item. The two have reportedly been dating since last summer, but the two were never pictured together until last month when reports emerged claiming that Cowell shared his first public kiss with his new lady love during a break in filming for ITV1 talent show Britain's Got Talent.
After much speculation, the X Factor supreme officially confirmed his engagement to his Afghan-born sweetheart, known as Mish, during an appearance on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Monday night, People.com reports.
Besides the engagement confirmation, Cowell also broke the news that he and Hussainy are getting hitched and that he is thinking of one day becoming a father.
When Leno broached the engagement subject, Cowell first tried to remain coy but soon admitted to it.
During the interview, Leno asked the music mogul: "Are rumours you're engaged true?"
After a moment of pause, Cowell responded, "Are they true? Well, I do have somebody in my life now, Jay, yes. And I kind of made a decision this year to make somebody happy."
"So you're doing this just to help someone?" the show host asked.
Don't like your wife or husband? Well, if you continue to reconcile, or at least try to, you'll save money because getting a divorce is going to cost Saskatchewan couples more money as of April 1, 2010.
Disgruntled landlords and renters will also have to shell out more cash to file an application to the Office of Residential Tenancies, while fees are going up for out-of-province campers as well.
The Government of Saskatchewan released of what fees and charges are changing for 2010 yesterday. The changes will add more than $1 million to the general revenue fund in the 2010-11 fiscal year and about $150,000 to a revolving fund that goes to Saskatchewan's parks, campgrounds and recreational facilities. One brand new fee is a $2,500 non-refundable application fee that will be charged to immigrants applying for permanent residence in Saskatchewan in the "entrepreneur" category.
Rob Norris, the Minister Responsible for Immigration, said the entrepreneur category is a specialized section within Saskatchewan's broader immigrant nominee program, and it focuses on business people.
"(The fee) is meant to demonstrate that those applying into the entrepreneurship stream are serious about staying in Saskatchewan, creating jobs in Saskatchewan and investing in Saskatchewan," Norris said.
There are no fees for immigrants applying in other sections, which include family members, skilled workers, health professional and student categories. Meanwhile, non-Saskatchewan residents who want a camping permit will pay $4 more per night for non-electrical sites and $6 per night for electrical sites.
Saskatchewan NDP MLA Kevin Yates questioned the fee increases, saying it's counter-productive for the government to charge immigrant entrepreneurs, and charge extra to out-of-province campers, while trying to entice more people to Saskatchewan.
"It seems to be a cash grab in a number of different ways," said Yates.
Within the Ministry of Justice, the filing fee for divorce matters is going up. The fee for filing a petition doubles to $200, and increases from $35 to $100 for a reply to a petition.
A ministry official said the money generated goes toward dispute resolution services to people in the court system, such as sessions on parenting after separation and divorce, which are provided for free.
Making an application to the Office of Residential Tenancy goes up to $50, from $25 and $30. Most applications come from landlords. Fees will still be waived for clients on social assistance, and no fees are charged for claims by tenants related to security deposits.
Some fees are going down or being eliminated.
The subscription fee of $200 for the weekly drilling activity report is being eliminated, as is the single request fee of $4. Information will instead be posted on the Ministry of Energy and Resources website. The Ministry of Agriculture is getting rid of the five-year game farm licence fee of $150. Also gone are the fees associated with providing services for prospective irrigation sites.
Figure skater Joannie Rochette, who captured the hearts of Canadians for her bronze-medal performance in the grief-stricken days following the death of her mother, carried the Canadian flag into the closing ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games last night.
The smiling Joannie Rochette waved to the adoring crowd as a huge contingent of the 206-member Canadian team, 86 of whom won a medal during the 2010 Winter Games, marched into the stadium, forming a circle with athletes from 81 other countries around the lit cauldron. Some of the home-grown athletes carried their own Canadian flags, and ski cross gold medallist Ashleigh McIvor sport a maple leaf tattoo on her cheek.
Cheryl Bernard's curling team looked thrilled with their silver medals, showing them off proudly to the boisterous crowd, two days after the disappointment of losing the gold-medal match.
The Canadian Olympic Committee revealed that Joannie Rochette would carry the flag into BC Place Stadium during a news conference Sunday morning. Joannie Rochette told reporters she was thrilled to be given such an honour, but was surprised when the COC approached her because a record number of Canadians had won gold during the Winter Games and, in doing so, rewrote Olympic history books. Nonetheless, Joannie Rochette was happy and gracious Sunday morning when speaking to reporters about her role in the finale.
"I thought, 'Why me?'" she said, smiling shyly. "This is such a big honour because during this whole Olympic experience I've been carried by so many Canadians."
Joannie Rochette's mother died of a heart attack on the morning of February 21, shortly after arriving in Vancouver to see her daughter compete in the women's figure skating event. Despite having been an only child who was extremely close to her mother, Joannie Rochette decided to continue to compete and, against the odds, performed so well she captured the bronze medal four days after the tragic death.
It has been a week of incredible highs and lows for the pleasant, 24-year-old woman from tiny Ile Dupas, Quebec.
"A lot of things happened this week that made me cry," she said in French.
She then added in English: "It has been a tough week for me but I am going to walk into that stadium in celebration of how great Canada was at the Games... I want to walk into that stadium with a big smile on my face because I'm proud of my skating."
And that is exactly what she did to the delight of 60,000 spectators, most of who were on their feet cheering as the Canadian team walked onto centre-stage wearing the popular knit Canadian sweaters. Joannie Rochette told reporters that she wanted to thank her fellow athletes for their friendship, many fans for all their e-mails and messages, and the COC for its support, noting the organization didn't put pressure on her to perform but allowed her to make the decision.
"What I can tell you about the Canadian team is that it is the most closely knit team there is at the Olympics and I could really witness that because I could not be here without my teammates, without their support, without all the help I got," she said.
Nathalie Lambert, the COC's chef de mission for the Games, said Joannie Rochette was chosen because she touched the entire country and inspired the other athletes with her gutsy and emotional performance.
A couple of teachers that were engaging in some interesting misconduct recently have been suspended after they were caught on video. And of course, the video went viral.
The video in question, which was taken last Wednesday during a busy pep rally for students in grades 9 to 12 at Churchill High School in Winnipeg, shows students giggling, gasping and screaming as female teacher receives a strip club-style lap dance from a male teacher.
By Thursday afternoon, students were spreading a minute-long video of the dance amongst each other on Facebook... and by Tuesday afternoon, clips from the video were aired on the CBC.
The minute-long clip, which looks like it was recorded on a cellular phone, shows the male teacher bobbing his head near the female teacher's genitals, and grinding his rear end against her crotch.
The teachers, who are said to be relatively new teachers, were sent home with pay after a parent complained about the video, said Winnipeg School Division trustee Michael Babinsky.
Damn teachers and their strip-club-style lap dances...
Malaysian authorities have caned three women under Islamic laws for the first time in the Southeast Asian country, according to the country's interior minister.
Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that the sentences were carried out on February 9, 2010, after a religious court found them guilty of having sex out of wedlock. Two of the women were whipped six times.
"It was carried out perfectly," Hishammuddin said in a statement. "Even though the caning did not injure them (the women), they said it caused pain within them."
The minister's comments signal that the mostly Muslim country is now prepared to flog Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a mother of two, for drinking beer, despite the international criticism that the case has generated.
That case has put the multi-racial but mostly Muslim country's moderate image under scrutiny at a time when it is trying to draw in investors.
The British media might love to slag the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, but the rest of the country thinks we're pretty fine, according a poll from the U.K. that was released Wednesday, which said Canadians are the tenth most attractive people in the world.
The 5,000 Britons in the OnePoll.com survey ranked Americans as the best-looking nationality, followed closely by Brazilians, Spaniards and Australians.
And while Canada ranked behind Sweden, England, India and France, we topped Mexico (apparently, Salma Hayek is no match for Emmanuelle Chirqui), Russia (neither are Elena Dementieva or Anna Kournikova), Argentina, the Netherlands and Germany. India, Brazil, and the U.S. all have a size advantage, as their populations all dwarf Canada's, meaning a larger number of hot people attracting international attention.
Australia and Spain can both boast a climate a little more attuned to Speedos than to snow pants, and Italy's and France's devotion to fashion has resulted in a centuries-long struggle to top the sartorial heap. And as for the Swedes, well... they're just a bunch of very good looking people.
Michelle Villett, a Toronto-based writer who runs the fashion website beautyeditor.ca, said that Canadians have a "unique form of beauty" that partly comes from the country's multicultural makeup. She pointed to top models from diverse backgrounds as Coco Rocha, Jessica Stam, and Irina Lazarenu as proof that the Canadian ideal is admired around the world.
But what really sets us apart, particularly from the U.S., is the "aesthetic of outdoorsy, natural beauty that we all share," said Villett.
"The American ideal of beauty is mostly defined by their celebrity culture. It's an uber-groomed sort of beauty, striving to be perfect with not a hair out of place."
"Perhaps because of our cold climate -- which makes staying warm a greater priority than showing off the latest hairstyle -- men and women here tend to stick with a more fresh-faced, natural look."
How England ended up in the top-10 could reflect a bit of hometown bias.
The website BeautifulPeople.com, "an elite dating website for beautiful people only," found that only 12% of British male applicants and 15% of British women were attractive enough to join, compared to 65% of Swedish men and 75% of Norwegian men.
Here is the list of the top 20 countries:
1. United States 2. Brazil 3. Spain 4. Australia 5. Italy 6. Sweden 7. England 8. India 9. France 10. Canada 11. Mexico 12. Portugal 13. Wales 14. Russia 15. Japan 16. Ireland 17. Argentina 18. Netherlands 19. Scotland 20. Germany
Nearly half of men surveyed said that they had used a poorly fitting condom in the previous three months, according to a new study that sheds light on why couples fail to use them. The study, published online in February in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, was based on a survey of 426 men aged 19 to 67.
Nearly 45% said that they had used a condom that fit poorly the last time they had sex during the previous three months. These men were 2.6 times more likely to say the condom broke, and 2.7 times more likely to say the condom slipped compared with those who said the condoms fit well, Dr. Richard Crosby of the University of Kentucky and Dr. Bill Yarber of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction in Bloomington, Ind., reported.
"Men and their female sex partners may benefit from public health efforts designed to promote the improved fit of condoms," the researchers wrote.
Men often won't buy condoms sized small or medium, the researchers noted. Yarber suggested that condom manufacturers label boxes as medium, large and extra large instead. The findings have implications for programs trying to encourage condoms to reduce the risk of sexually transmitted infection, including AIDS, as well as unwanted pregnancy, Yarber said in a journal podcast.
Men who said they wore poorly fitting condoms often said it was irritating to wear. Participants who wore poorly fitting condoms were about twice as likely to say the condoms made it difficult for them, their partners or both to reach orgasm.
Yarber encouraged men to experiment to find a good fit.
"The increased likelihood that men using ill-fitting condoms will remove condoms before sex ends constitutes another form of condom failure," the researchers concluded. "Fortunately, it seems likely that these problems could be rectified through education programs."
It will take some creativity to overcome the emotional barriers to using condoms in both heterosexual and homosexual relationships, Yarber told the journal. Participants were surveyed through the website of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.
The online retail giant Amazon.ca has named Saskatoon Canada's most romantic city, placing it just ahead of Calgary and Victoria.
It's a welcome distinction for the Saskatchewan city that is perhaps better known as Canada's most violent metropolis.
"It makes sense," says local comedian Dez Reed, father of nine children. "You could cash out at any moment here, so we live our romantic lives to the fullest. What could be more romantic than having your wife standing over you while you bleed out into the snow?"
Certainly the city is well endowed with striking bridges, a cute downtown core and quaint riverside strolls, but what about the cold?
"We tend to be more snuggly here," said Mr. Reed, who lived in New York, Los Angeles and Toronto before settling in Saskatoon.
But a closer inspection of Amazon's questionable criteria: sales data of romance novels, sex books, rom-com DVDs and Michael Bublé CDs, suggests that Saskatoon may be more lovelorn than lovestruck.
With that in mind, the romantically inclined may be better advised to visit the amorous locale that placed last on the 20-city list... because nothing says romance like a trip to Windsor, Ontario.
An Austrian tycoon is giving away every penny of his $5 million CDN fortune after realizing that his riches were making him unhappy.
Karl Rabeder, 47, a businessman from Telfs near Innsbruck, is in the process of selling his 3,455 ft2 villa with lake, sauna and spectacular mountain views over the Alps, valued at $2.34 million.
Also for sale is his beautiful old stone farmhouse in Provence with 42 acres, on the market for $1 million. Already gone is his collection of six gliders valued at $586,417.
Mr. Rabeder has also sold the interior furnishings and accessories business, from vases to artificial flowers, that made his fortune.
"My idea is to have nothing left. Absolutely nothing," he told The Daily Telegraph. "Money is counterproductive - it prevents happiness."
He will move out of his Alpine retreat into a small wooden hut in the mountains or a simple bedsit in Innsbruck, surviving on $1,341 a month, while the proceeds go to a charity he set up in Latin America. He will draw no salary from it.
"For a long time I believed that more wealth and luxury automatically meant more happiness," he said. "I come from a very poor family where the rules were to work more to achieve more material things, and I applied this for many years."
But over time, a conflicting feeling developed. "More and more I heard the words: 'Stop what you are doing now - all this luxury and consumerism - and start your real life'," he said. "I had the feeling I was working as a slave for things that I did not wish for or need.
"I have the feeling that there are lot of people doing the same thing."
For many years, he said, he was simply not "brave" enough to give up his comfortable existence. The tipping point came during a three-week holiday with his wife in Hawaii.
"It was the biggest shock in my life, when I realized how horrible, soulless and without feeling the five star lifestyle is," Mr Rabeder said.
"In those three weeks, we spent all the money you could possibly spend. But in all that time, we had the feeling we hadn't met a single real person, that we were all just actors. The staff played the role of being friendly and the guests played the role of being important and nobody was real."
Suddenly, he realized that "if I don't do it now I won't do it for the rest of my life".
Mr. Rabeder decided to raffle his Alpine home, selling 21,999 tickets at $145 each. The Provence house, in the village of Cruis, is on sale at the local estate agent.
All the money will go into his microcredit charity, which offers small loans and advice to self-employed people in El Salvador, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Chile.
Since deciding to sell up, Mr. Rabeder said he felt "free, the opposite of heavy". But, he did not judge those who chose to keep their wealth. "I do not have the right to give any other person advice," he said. "I was just listening to the voice of my heart and soul."
Two and a Half Men actor Charlie Sheen was charged today with assaulting and threatening his wife Brooke Mueller in a heated Christmas Day argument. But, the couple left the court in the Colorado ski resort of Aspen hugging each other, hoping the charges will be dropped, and apparently planning to reconcile.
Sheen, who is 44, was arrested in the ski resort of Aspen, Colorado on December 25 after Mueller called the cops and told them that he pulled a knife on her during an argument and threatened to have her killed. Sheen spent the day behind bars before being released on bail.
Sheen and Mueller, the actor's third wife, married in 2008 and have infant twin sons.
Sheen was charged with felony menacing, misdemeanour assault and criminal mischief. The menacing charge entails the alleged use of a deadly weapon in a threatening manner. Sheen could face up to three years behind bars if convicted. He did not enter a plea and another hearing was set for March 15, 2010.
Judge James Boyd lifted a "no contact" portion of a restraining order that had barred Sheen from speaking to Mueller or having contact with her. Lawyers for both sides wanted the order lifted. Mueller, 32, told police in December that Sheen held a knife to her throat and threatened to have her killed when she said she would divorce him and take their children.
At the time, Sheen denied brandishing the knife but admitted crumpling his wife's eyeglasses and said both of them had slapped each other's arms, according to court records. Mueller embraced Sheen as the end of today's brief hearing and the pair left together.
"They hugged in the courtroom, they hugged downstairs and they are hugging in the car," Mueller's lawyer, Yale Galanter, told reporters after the hearing.
"It is Brooke's position that she would like the charges dismissed and this case to be over," he added.
His Christmas Day arrest is not the first time he has been accused of violence. He pleaded no contest to a 1997 battery charge on his then girlfriend, and his second wife, Denise Richards, obtained a restraining order against him in 2006.
A Winnipeg man at the centre of a preset Virgin Mobile text message fallout is apparently speaking out.
Darren, who is 49, lived with his common-law wife up until earlier this week when she found suggestive factory-installed text messages on his cell phone placed there by Virgin.
Now, Darren apparently has been misplaced from his own home, and has a protective order against him for yelling at his partner trying to explain what had happened.
Well, if this is true, I have a few questions of my own...
First off, why is a 49-year-old buying a phone from Virgin Mobile anyway? I would think that with their retarded advertising, it would appeal only to younger weirdoes.
Argentina President Cristina Fernandez recommended pork as an alternative to Viagra on Wednesday, saying that she spent a satisfying weekend with her husband after eating barbecued pork.
"I've just been told something I didn't know; that eating pork improves your sex life... I'd say it's a lot nicer to eat a bit of grilled pork than take Viagra," President Cristina Fernandez said to leaders of the pig farming industry.
She said she recently ate pork and "things went very well that weekend, so it could well be true."
Argentines are the world's biggest-per-capita consumers of beef, but the government has sought to promote pork as alternative in recent years due to rising steak prices and as a way to diversify the meat industry.
"Trying it doesn't cost anything, so let's give it a go," Fernandez said in the televised speech.
That's just odd. I could never really picture any prime minister or president making a televised speech about sex.
Pope Benedict XVI called Friday on the Vatican court which rules on marriage annulments to take a strict line, saying the point of Church laws was to save souls. Catholics who have marriages annulled are allowed to remarry in church and take communion, unlike those who are divorced by civilian courts.
But the pontiff said Vatican judges must not seek to satisfy "subjective demands" in order to arrive at an annulment "at any price."
He was speaking at an audience for judges of the Roman Rota, the Church's highest appeal court, whose caseload is dominated by people petitioning for a decree of nullity.
"Marriage enjoys the favour of law. Therefore, in case of doubt, it should be ruled as valid until proof to the contrary," the pope said. "Otherwise, one runs the grave risk of having no objective reference point to pronounce on nullity, turning every conjugal difficulty into a symptom of the failure of a union whose essential legal core -- the indissoluble link -- is thus denied."
"Some people maintain that pastoral charity can justify every step toward the declaration of nullity in order to help those who find themselves in an irregular matrimonial situation."
The truth, the pope said, could thus be instrumentalized and "adapted from time to time to the various demands that may arise."
"In the Church, the aim of judicial activity is the salvation of souls."
The pontiff also urged lawyers to "scrupulously avoid" taking on cases "which their conscience could not objectively support." Figures released by the Vatican show 192 marriage annulments pronounced in 2008.
The Catholic Church operates some 3,000 ecclesiastical courts of first and second instance around the world, although it is possible for an individual to appeal any initial decision directly to the Rota.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's new focus on helping some of the world's poorest people won praise at the World Economic Forum from two of the annual conference's superstars, Bill Clinton and Bill Gates.
The former American president emerged from a 30-minute meeting with Mr. Harper on Thursday morning to laud the efforts of individual Canadians to support Haiti.
"It has been unbelievable," Mr. Clinton said. "I'll bet you on a per capita basis, they're No. 1 in the world now in helping Haiti. Probably because of the prime minister's matching grant program but, for whatever reason, the Canadians have all given money and all want to support it. You should be very proud of that. I'm very grateful."
The Conservative government has pledged to match all donations made to for Haitian recovery up to a maximum $50 million. So, if you decide to donate $50 million, as well as a penny, that penny will be disregarded.
Mr. Harper made a keynote speech in Switzerland Thursday evening. Among other things, he announced that the G8 should focus its attention on helping mothers and children in developing countries, which was a focus that was applauded by Bill Gates, whose charitable foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which also works to help developing nations.
"It's super that you've got that out there early so everybody's thinking about it," Mr. Gates told Mr. Harper.
Also, keep in mind: Canada is the first country to host both the G8 and G20 meetings in the same year.
A chain of high-street shops in Britain on Monday launched a divorce gift list service amid a surge of married couples saying "I don't" after the festive season.
In a twist on the popular wedding list, through which newlyweds receive presents to help them into married life, retailer Debenhams came up with a new list to help divorcees stock up after leaving their ex-partner's home.
"Divorcing can be an expensive time and registering for a Divorce Gift List means that family and friends can help the newly separated begin their new life," said Peter Moore, head of retail services at the chain.
A "divorce means that one partner will be leaving the marital home and therefore be left without any essentials in their new house," he said.
The list includes a range of items from bed linen and towels to microwaves and plasma screen televisions. Debenhams, which has outlets across Britain, said they took the decision at a time when "congratulations on your divorce" greeting cards and divorce parties were growing in popularity. It is just the latest present for married couples heading towards a festive breakup in Britain after a law firm reportedly started offering divorce gift vouchers in the run-up to Christmas.
Cops in Dubai said yesterday that they had found no evidence to support a British woman's report that she was raped by a waiter in the Gulf Arab emirate, but have arrested her and her boyfriend for having sex outside marriage.
This is the second time in just over a year in which British citizens have hit the headlines by falling foul of laws banning extra-marital sex in Dubai.
The woman, 23, and her British boyfriend, 44, were in Dubai as tourists when they reported to cops that she had been raped by a Syrian waiter in the bathroom of a hotel bar, Khamis al-Muzinah, deputy commander of the Dubai police, told Reuters.
The investigation found that the British woman had been very drunk and an Indian bartender had helped her find the toilets, where two female staff members were present at the time, Muzinah said
During questioning the following day, the woman told police that she had been sharing a hotel room with her boyfriend and that they had had sex, which led to the couple being arrested.
"They have been charged for having sex without marriage," Muzinah said, adding that the police had now handed the case to the public prosecutor, who would decide whether to bring a court case against them. The couple are currently free, he said.
That's a shame. Besides, how is it the government's business what couples do?
On Monday, EA Sports said that it was moving forward with plans to introduce an online Tiger Woods game, despite the golfer's public relations nightmare and drastic drop in popularity following his adultery scandal.
The EA unit's president, Peter Moore, said in a company blog, www.itsinthegame.com, that the company would this month begin offering Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online, which is a browser-based golf game developed in the past year.
"Our relationship with Tiger has always been rooted in golf," he wrote on the blog. "We didn't form a relationship with him so that he could act as an arm's length endorser."
"Regardless of what's happening in his personal life... Tiger Woods is still one of the greatest athletes in history," he added.
EA's move comes only four days after AT&T decided that it was too good to do business with Mr. Woods.
Approximately 5,000 people have been booted off of a social networking website for gaining weight over the holidays, with 533 Canadians among the so-called "festive fatties" shown the virtual door.
Although the mass eviction has the hallmarks of an odd publicity stunt for BeautifulPeople.com, a gated online community with a ban on the ugly, the sheer of volume of members expelled, from a site whose members claim supreme interest in appearance, no less, speaks to how narrow-minded people have become.
The website issued a news release heralding the ousted, which occurred after members posted photos of themselves celebrating Christmas and the New Year.
"Vigilant members, who take pride in the standards demanded by the site, called for action," said the news release.
"Canada has been one of the worst offenders," says Greg Hodge, managing director of BeautifulPeople.com. "It's the eating, the drinking, the sitting on the couch watching TV -- that entire culture. Canada also has the added excuse of it being extremely cold, so people are wearing baggy clothes and don't mind letting themselves go a bit over the winter months."
Canadians were the third-largest group of rejects. The United States led with 1,520 and the United Kingdom was second with 832.
Someday, while you're at the local Starbucks Coffee joint, your cellular phone may alert to you a possible love connection as they walk by on the street outside.
It will become possible as more of our personal preferences and traits live online and GPS-enabled cellular phones track our locations at all times, says Erica Orange, who is a long-term analyst at New York-based consulting firm Weiner, Edrich, Brown, Inc. and a member of the World Future Society.
Does that sound weird to you? Well, researchers at MIT are already working on an iPhone application called Serendipity will do just that.
A gay couple in Argentina vowed to keep fighting for the right to get married after a last-minute court ruling dashed their plans to hold Latin America's first legal same-sex marriage today.
Alex Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, were granted a marriage licence by a city judge two weeks ago, and that ruling gave approval for the two men to marry in the capital, despite a national policy defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
Despite that ruling, a national judge on Monday ordered the suspension of the ceremony, which had been planned for today, saying that the city judge had no power to make the earlier ruling.
The couple, dozens of friends, gay rights and curious on-lookers gathered at the civil registry office today to protest the ban.
The Olympic torch shone brilliantly as a beacon of hope, a symbol of the triumphant human spirit and a matrimonial metaphor on Thursday, as it fanned the flames of romance during its latest trek through southern Ontario.
As Sara Bergami carried the Olympic torch in the town of Corunna Thursday afternoon, her boyfriend, Luca Bertacchi, emerged from the crowd, slowly walked toward her, hugged her and whispered something in her ear. He then dropped to one knee and made a surprise marriage proposal.
Her hand over her heart in apparent shock, Bergami said "Yes," creating one of the most memorable moments so far on the Olympic flame's 106-day, 45,000-kilometre odyssey across the country. That's cute...
Twitter came alive with happy comments for the newly engaged couple on the 56th day of the Olympic torch relay. But, with a strict schedule to keep, organizers couldn't pause long for the happy moment, and the journey between Windsor and London, Ontario, continued. They pushed on to Aamjiwnaang First Nation. Boisterous members there were waiting in traditional clothing and colourful feathers.
"What a very proud day it is to be a member of Aamjiwnaang," Chief Chris Plain told the crowd. "Today, as a community, we welcome Canada and the world to Aamjiwnaang."
Drummers sent the flame on its way with a traditional travelling song, then it was on to Sarnia, where several hundred people lined the streets to welcome the torchbearers, along with hundreds more who gathered around a large outdoor stage to watch the cauldron lighting ceremony.
London's John Davidson was the final torchbearer in that city. He was carrying the flame in honour of his son Jesse, who died of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in November at the age of 29. In 1998, John and Jesse made a trek around Ontario to raise awareness about Jesse's disease. Then 49, Davidson pushed his son's wheelchair more than 3,300 kilometres in what became known as Jesse's Journey.
As Davidson stood, waiting for the flame to be passed to his torch, he said, "The torch is heavier than I thought. But I think I'll get some help from above."
Looking around at the throngs of well wishers, many of them shouting his name, Davidson said, "This is definitely home."
He was greeted with a roar from the crowd as he entered Victoria Park. He carried the torch for the final 300-metre leg of the day's relay, then lit the cauldron, to the delight of the crowd of 8,000. Among the crowd, earlier participants in telltale white tracksuits, proudly displaying their torches. They were greeted like movie stars, and swarmed for photos.
Especially keen for a picture was Elfreda Molone of London. She excitedly posed with torchbearer Carlene Paquette, who took part in the relay 10 days ago in Orleans, just east of Ottawa. With a walking cane slung over her elbow, the "seventy something" Molone held the unlit torch aloft.
"I couldn't miss it," she said, "Cane or no cane."
For Molone, the reason for being there was simple. She moved to Canada from Germany 54 years ago. The torch is a symbol of the place she calls her true home.
"I'm so proud to be a Canadian," she said, as tears began to stream down her face. "We couldn't live in a better country."
After 55 days on the road, the torch and its attendants will get a much-deserved rest in London. The relay will take a two-day break over Christmas at an undisclosed hotel. The journey will resume on December 27, making visits to Thamesford, Ingersoll, Woodstock and Stratford.
You know what you need to go out on a date? A member of the opposite... and to get that started, one of them needs to ask and other needs to say yes.
Well, that's not the case for Jordan Christensen from Appleton, Wisconsin, as he needs legal permission to date girls for the next three years after he was convicted of fleeing to Tennessee with his girlfriend in a stolen car.
On Friday, he was sentenced to one year in prison and three years of probation.
Divorces and child-custody disputes will be less "combative," costly and drawn out under changes to Ontario's family law system, Attorney General Chris Bentley said Thursday. Bentley said the long-anticipated reforms represent a "fundamental shift" in the province's approach to family law issues and will make family matters easier to resolve and more affordable.
"By definition, a family court process is emotionally draining," Bentley said. "If we can get more decisions made early on that will enable the parties to get on with their lives faster, it is always better for the kids."
The changes don't involve new money but a re-allocation of resources, Bentley said, adding the initiatives will first be rolled out in two courts in Brampton and Milton. Under the changes, those seeking a divorce will have to attend a mandatory information session, where they will learn about their basic rights and the steps they need to take.
The province will also improve access to legal advice as well as provide more options to resolve disputes though mediation, arbitration and collaborative family law. Those cases that do end up in court will see a more streamlined process and simplified steps, Bentley said.
Tiger Woods is at 14 alleged mistresses and counting, but he may be down one wife and two kids. The New York Post photographed movers outside of the Woods family's Florida mansion on Tuesday. And according to their reports, Woods' wife, Elin Nordegren, was spotted on the scene, giving instructions to the moving crew before driving away.
According to their snitch, Nordegren "is making plans to move out and take the kids with her." Woods and Nordegren have a two-year-old daughter Sam and a 10-month-old son Charlie.
"She's planning to go somewhere warm and Tiger-free for Christmas," continues the Post's source.
Is there any place that's really warmer than Florida?
At the New York Daily News, their source said: "Elin is planning to take the kids to spend the holidays with her family in Sweden."
Wherever they're headed, it would seem it's away from Woods. Nordegren was photographed sans wedding ring earlier this week, leading to speculation that she was planning to leave Woods. A source told People magazine, "She's made up her mind. There's nothing to think about. He's never going to change."
According to the magazine, Nordegren has also sought legal counsel, meeting with lawyers to renegotiate her multimillion-dollar pre-nuptial agreement with Woods.
You know what's fun to do? It's fun to go out with people from the opposite gender. And, eventually, you fall in love and get married. Of course, there are others out there who like to cheat on their girlfriends or their wives.
It took about one day for an infidelity-promoting ad to go from what philandering website AshleyMadison.com thought was a done deal to the dustbin of streetcar advertising when the Toronto Transit Commission rejected it today.
The eye-catching wraparound streetcar ad, with oversized white print on a mauve background, reads "Life if short. Have an affair."
City councillor and committee member Suzan Hall says that the ad doesn't jive with taste or community standards.
Those damn Aussies. They really are wasteful. According to a recent survey, 825,000 gifts will go straight to the dump at some point this Christmas because their recipients just hate them. Man, it's called "re-gifting."
Actually, re-gifting is already in the picture.
"An estimated 6.4 million presents will be given away, refunded, re-gifted or binned in 2009," Jo Sabin from website Blurb Australia said in a statement. "That's a lot of wasted effort and money. The top tip for making sure that your gift is kept and valued this Christmas is to personalize it."
The survey also highlighted that more than 55% of all women are guilty of re-gifting unwanted presents for their friends and one in five will return the gift directly to the store.
If any politician is funny, it's Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. And now, his estranged wife is seeking 43 million Euros, or about $65 million US, a year in alimony in a divorce case that she launched after her husband was embroiled in a sex scandal, an Italian newspaper reported Thursday.
Veronica Lario's lawyer was not immediately available to comment on the report in Corriere della Sera. The alimony request, part of separation procedures, would work out to more than 3.5 million Euros a month.
Couples in Italy must be legally separated before divorce can be granted. Well... that's a shame.
Corriere della Sera, citing what it said were "informed sources," said Berlusconi, Italy's second-richest man, made a counteroffer of 200,000 Euros a month, and indicated willingness to go up to 300,000 Euros.
Berlusconi, 73, is listed by Forbes magazine as the 70th richest person in the world, worth $6.5 billion.
Lario, a 52-year-old former actress, said earlier this year that she was fed up with Berlusconi's infatuation with young women and was seeking divorce. The scandal swirls around several parties and dinners at Berlusconi's Sardinia estate and Rome residence.
A southern Italian businessman, who has been arrested in a cocaine probe, has told investigators he procured some 30 young women to attend the parties in hope of currying favour with the prime minister. Among the guests was a prostitute who has said she spent the night with Berlusconi in the bedroom of the Rome residence.
Berlusconi, who says he is "no saint," has denied ever paying for sex. He isn't under investigation in the scandal.
Lario, Berlusconi's second wife, wed him in 1990 after several years together. She bore him three children, who are now in their 20s.
Corriere della Sera said Lario was seeking alimony that would allow her to maintain the style of life she now enjoys. The couple's children each hold a sizable stake in Fininvest, which groups Berlusconi's business interests in media and other companies.
According to the newspaper, Berlusconi already has given Lario some $90 million to $105 million, apparently in the interests of the children.
Berlusconi also has two children from his first marriage.
Just moments ago, I reported to you that Britney Spears was rumoured to be engaged.
Now, there are other rumours that state that after she proposed to Jason Trawick, her boyfriend and lover for the past three years, she has been turned down.
Britney Spears is apparently getting married, again, for the third time, in five years.
Yeah... we thought we would not have heard from her for a while... but I guess we were all wrong.
The rumours state that she is planning on marrying her manager and lover of three years, Jason Trawick. Trawick is also her manager.
In 2004, Spears apparently married her childhood friend Jason Alexander (not the guy who played George Costanza on Seinfeld). And even she married Kevin Federline that year, it was still a hurried ceremony.
Fewer marriages in Canada are ending in divorce than is commonly being assumed, but the effects of the split can affect every member of the family, a new report indicates. The popular notion that half of all marriages fail is not true, according to the report released Thursday by the Vanier Institute of the Family. But, there is also no sign that Canadian divorce rates will drop in the future.
"What we're not talking about is the impact of parent conflict after the divorce and while they're separated," says Anne-Marie Ambert, an emeritus sociology professor at Toronto's York University and author of the report. "It's what happens after, when the parents bicker over everything, over every cent, over every visit, and the kids are placed in the middle of that... that is bound to be very bad."
Most children of divorce do not experience severe developmental problems, she emphasizes, but they are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, behavioural problems, receiving bad grades or leaving school earlier, becoming young offenders or experiencing their own relationship problems down the road.
The latest estimates from Statistics Canada in 2008 suggest that 38% of married couples in Canada will divorce by their 30th wedding anniversary (divorce beyond that point is rare). The percentages range from 22% in Newfoundland and Labrador to 48% in Quebec. In the United States, the figure is 44%.
The persistently-cited statistic that half of all marriages end in divorce stems from stupidity of those who believe in American figures from the 1980s, when divorces peaked and half of all marriages in the United States did end, Ambert says.
Researchers have estimated that 30% of Canadian children born in 1984 witnessed the end of their parents' marriage or cohabitation by age 15, she writes in the report, and almost half of all children from divorced families will see their parents divorce again.
If one partner chooses to leave, they usually do their grieving in the months or years it takes to make that decision, says Alyna Reesor, children's program lead at the Calgary Counselling Centre, but divorce can be a very different experience for the partner who is left and may be blindsided by the news. Children are often more in sync emotionally with the parent who is left because they begin working through things at the same time, she says, but that can also complicate a child's mourning process if they feel the need to protect their parent from their own feelings. The centre runs a group for children of divorce a few times a year, and Reesor says the simple fact that divorce is more common now provides some comfort and support.
"Seeing another kid say 'I really miss my dad' and show some tears about that just opens up the other children, where they might be trying to put on a brave face but then they realize it's OK to be sad about this," she says. "It's very big for the parents as well, because sometimes there's still some shame and stigma around separation and divorce."
But, while Canadian teens have grown up with divorce as a fairly common occurrence, only 40% of them approve of divorce and 88% "expect" to remain with the same partner for life, Reginald Bibby, author of The Emerging Millennials and a sociologist at the University of Lethbridge, found in his extensive surveys of young Canadians.
"Large numbers of teens have experienced divorce," he says. "But they are anything but blase about it, and in many instances, disapprove of it. And without question, they're determined not to experience it themselves."
When divorce rates peaked in Canada in 1987, there were 362 divorces per 100,000 populations but that number fell through the 1990s and now sits at 221 divorces per 100,000 people. But, marriage rates have also been falling as more couples opt to co-habituate and the breakup of those unions isn't captured in divorce statisticss, according to the report, so couple dissolution may actually have increased.
The average marriage that ended in divorce in 2005 lasted 14.5 years, or 1.7 years longer than a decade ago.
"What I do hear a lot of parents say is that they really want to try everything before they make the decision to leave a marriage, so it could be related to the fact that there's a lot of supports out there that they can access or try," says Reesor. "Most parents, they don't want to end their marriage -- or at least one partner doesn't -- and they're willing to try everything before they let it go."
Britons are among the ugliest people in the world, according to a dating website that says it only allows "beautiful people" to join. Fewer than one in eight British men and just three in 20 women who have applied to BeautifulPeople.com have been accepted, an emailed statement from the website showed.
Existing members of the "elite dating site" rate how attractive potential members are over a 48-hour period, after applicants upload a recent photo and personal profile. Swedish men have proved the most successful, with 65% being accepted, while Norwegian women are considered the most beautiful with 76% accepted, the website said. The way that BeautifulPeople.com accepts new members is simple. A potential member applies with a photo and a brief profile. Over 48 hours, existing members of the opposite sex vote whether or not to admit them, the site said.
The options are: "Yes definitely," "Hmm yes, OK," "Hmm no, not really" and "No, definitely not."
The site was founded in 2002 in Denmark and went live across the globe last month. Since then, the site has rejected nearly 1.8 million people from 190 countries, admitting just 360,000 new members. Only the male Russian and Polish applicants fared worse than British men, although Russian women had a 44 per cent acceptance rate.
A large number of people living in Canada's biggest cities are anxious about the future "livability" of urban spaces and are stressed about traffic and public transit, according to a new poll. The Angus Reid poll commissioned by IBM Canada found that 31% of the 2,015 urban dwellers polled disagreed with the statement: "My city is currently on a path of long-term livability."
Almost half of those polled, 48%, rated traffic and public transit as the biggest infrastructure challenges facing modern cities. Ottawa residents proved to be the most anxious: 75% of those polled said traffic and transit in the city are growing problems, perhaps reflecting the commuter chaos caused by last winter's transit strike.
Other cities where residents polled high levels of anxiety about transit are Calgary (70%), Vancouver (69%), Toronto (60%) and Montreal (53%). Respondents were far more positive about other city services: 66% rated police, fire and ambulance services as excellent or good; 62% approved of their municipal water, sewage and electrical services; and 59% gave a vote of confidence to local education systems.
Vancouver was chosen as Canada's most livable city by the largest number of survey respondents, as 18%, from a list that also included Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Halifax, Edmonton and Winnipeg. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2.19%, 19 times out of 20.
Women might not believe men's claims of buying Playboy for the articles, but Harvard researchers say the 'gentlemen' are swallowing their own story, hook, line and sinker. People will often rationalize, or make excuses for, questionable behaviour so that others will see them as good, fair and moral. But investigators have learned that people place equal importance on seeing themselves that way -- even if they have to deceive themselves to maintain that view.
According to their findings, men will over-inflate the value of the articles in a magazine filled with scantily clad women as a coping mechanism for a choice that might otherwise trigger guilt or self-admonishment.
"Even before a decision is made... we don't want to look at things that will prevent us from doing what we want to do," says Michael I. Norton, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. "For example, people who care about the environment can be less likely to look to see if a product they want is environmentally safe because that information might prevent them from buying it."
In what's dubbed "the Playboy study," Norton and Harvard doctoral student Zoe Chance set up an experiment in which male participants were asked to choose between two very similar sports magazines -- one that covered a higher number of sports per issue with a lower number of feature articles, the other with the opposite balance.
Each magazine was advertised as having one "special" annual issue: either a year's Top-10 athletes edition or a swimsuit edition, with researchers varying which special edition came with which magazine. Not surprisingly, 75% of the men chose the magazine that was accompanied by the swimsuit issue.
While fully 92% chose the title with more articles when it was paired with the swimsuit issue, less than half (46%) picked it when it came with the top-10 athletes issue -- "meaning that 54% of participants suddenly preferred the magazine with more sports covered," the researchers write.
"After we engage in questionable behaviour, we try to make it right in our head, in the service of making us feel like we're nice, moral people," says Norton. "This can be true for big decisions as well as silly decisions, like which magazine to buy."
When the men were asked to rank the importance of the number of feature articles versus variety of sports covered, men overwhelmingly inflated the value of whichever attribute favoured the magazine with the swimsuit edition. For example, 83% rated the trait of "more articles" of higher importance when the magazine came with a swimsuit issue, but just 36% said the same when it didn't. Norton says that these kinds of justifications occur regardless of whether people are told their answers will be reviewed or kept private. His colleague, Chance, says it all points to the conclusion that they really did believe their reasons for choosing one magazine over the other were more honourable than hormonal.
"The challenging thing about self-deception is that, by definition, we won't know when it's happening," says Chance, who studies decision-making processes. "The cost that we bear can be as simple as gaining a few pounds over the holidays because we sincerely believe we'll eat better in January."
Women might not believe men's claims of buying Playboy for the articles, but Harvard researchers say the 'gentlemen' are swallowing their own story, hook, line and sinker. People will often rationalize, or make excuses for, questionable behaviour so that others will see them as good, fair and moral. But investigators have learned that people place equal importance on seeing themselves that way -- even if they have to deceive themselves to maintain that view.
According to their findings, men will over-inflate the value of the articles in a magazine filled with scantily clad women as a coping mechanism for a choice that might otherwise trigger guilt or self-admonishment.
"Even before a decision is made... we don't want to look at things that will prevent us from doing what we want to do," says Michael I. Norton, an assistant professor at Harvard Business School. "For example, people who care about the environment can be less likely to look to see if a product they want is environmentally safe because that information might prevent them from buying it."
In what's dubbed "the Playboy study," Norton and Harvard doctoral student Zoe Chance set up an experiment in which male participants were asked to choose between two very similar sports magazines -- one that covered a higher number of sports per issue with a lower number of feature articles, the other with the opposite balance.
Each magazine was advertised as having one "special" annual issue: either a year's Top-10 athletes edition or a swimsuit edition, with researchers varying which special edition came with which magazine. Not surprisingly, 75% of the men chose the magazine that was accompanied by the swimsuit issue.
While fully 92% chose the title with more articles when it was paired with the swimsuit issue, less than half (46%) picked it when it came with the top-10 athletes issue -- "meaning that 54% of participants suddenly preferred the magazine with more sports covered," the researchers write.
"After we engage in questionable behaviour, we try to make it right in our head, in the service of making us feel like we're nice, moral people," says Norton. "This can be true for big decisions as well as silly decisions, like which magazine to buy."
When the men were asked to rank the importance of the number of feature articles versus variety of sports covered, men overwhelmingly inflated the value of whichever attribute favoured the magazine with the swimsuit edition. For example, 83% rated the trait of "more articles" of higher importance when the magazine came with a swimsuit issue, but just 36% said the same when it didn't. Norton says that these kinds of justifications occur regardless of whether people are told their answers will be reviewed or kept private. His colleague, Chance, says it all points to the conclusion that they really did believe their reasons for choosing one magazine over the other were more honourable than hormonal.
"The challenging thing about self-deception is that, by definition, we won't know when it's happening," says Chance, who studies decision-making processes. "The cost that we bear can be as simple as gaining a few pounds over the holidays because we sincerely believe we'll eat better in January."
Amanda Rodrigues, the widow of ex-world boxing champ Arturo Gatti, has lost her bid at $150,000 of his estate, and the dog.
Instead, Superior Court Justice Paul Chaput awarded her $30,000 to pay her legal fees today, as well as $10,000 for the couple's young son and access to the couple's Montréal condo to gather her stuff.
The decision comes in the preliminary round of what should be a long legal battle pitting the widow against Gatti's blood relatives.
The winner will get an estate worth at least $6 million, left after Gatti's mysterious death at a Brazilian resort on July 11, 2009.
Earlier this week, Rodrigues, 23, didn't say a thing as lawyers for both sides traded verbal punches over her request for an immediate support payment of $150,000, plus custody of the dog.
Initially jailed on suspicion of her husband's murder in Brazil, Rodrigues was released in late July, after Brazilian authorities reclassified the boxer's death a suicide.
Gatti's blood relatives contend that a 2007 New Jersey will should give the family control over his estate. The widow argues that a Quebec will that was notarized three weeks before Gatti's death gives her control over everything.
That last part is a little suspicious. Don't you think it's a little weird that Gatti died only approximately three weeks after a will was notarized?!
Remember when Peter MacKay (Minister of Defence) and Belinda Stronach were dating? Yeah, they were cute, weren't they? Yeah, I'd have to say so. Well, that romance ended terribly. And to top things off, she left the Conservative Party of Canada, and instead... joined the Liberal Party of Canada. Based on that decision, I would not want to date a woman who did that.
Well, Peter MacKay eventually moved on and found love once again. This time, he was asking the media questions.
MacKay has asked Jana Juginovic, director of programming at CTV News Channel for her hand while they were in Boston, where she is on a one-year fellowship. According to sources, she basically said: "Hell yes!"
The couple have been dating for several years.
No date has been set for their wedding. And on an interesting note, it will be the first marriage for both.
Here in Canada, when you burn someone's house down, there is still the possibility of house arrest, which the Conservative government is trying to remove as an option. And of course, with Canada's current crappy justice laws, if you burn someone's house down, there is still a chance you can still get house arrest, and stay in the comfort of your own home, which is quite unfair.
Well, a Sicilian builder that was transferred from prison to house arrest tried to get himself locked up again to escape arguments with his wife at home, Italian media reported on Thursday.
Santo Gambino (that's a pretty cool last name), 30, did time for dumping hazardous waste before being moved to house arrest.
Gambino went to the police station and asked to be put away again to avoid arguing with his wife, who accused him of failing to pay for the upkeep of their two kids.
Cops charged him with violating the conditions of his sentence and made him go home and make up.
Silvio Berlusconi is a crazy bastard, therefore making him a kick-ass Prime Minister, and I wouldn't mind having him as the Prime Minister of Canada someday, if he were actually Canadian.
About 97,000 Italian women have signed the "Women offended by the premier" appeal after the Italian Prime Minister told the matronly, bespectacled leftist Rosy Bindi that she was more beautiful than intelligent, which is a swipe at her weight and brains.
Since then, Facebook groups offering solidarity have sprung up, protests have been held in towns like Reggio Emilia, while Bindi's response, "I'm not a woman at your disposal," has become a rallying cry printed on T-shirts and placards.
You probably assumed it, but now it's been proven true: women cry more than men ever do.
German experts provided that confirmation yesterday. In addition to that, they cry for longer periods of time, and in a more dramatic fashion. That's probably the reason men are always the ones to fall in love before the women.
According to the German Society of Ophthalmology, which was collated different scientific studies on the phenomenon, women shed tears on average between 30 and 64 times a year and men six to 17 times.
Men tend to cry for between 2-4 minutes while women cry for around six minutes. And in 65% of cases, weeping turns into sobbing for women 65% of the time, compared to just 6% for males.
However, there is no difference until adolescence. Up until 13, boys and girls turn the waterworks the same amount, "showing that blubbing because of joy, sadness or anger is something that is learned," researchers said.
The reasons for crying differ too, according to the paper.
Women cry when they feel inadequate, when they are confronted by situations that are difficult to resolve or when they remember past events. As for men, they tend to cry from empathy or when a relationship fails.
Marc and Sylvia Day don't look at their wedding album very much, because they don't really have one. And if you look at their crappy wedding photos, you would know why. The really funny part is... the heads were chopped off in many pictures.
In addition to the crappy photos, there was poor lighting and unfortunate positioning.
The couple hired Gareth Bowers from Fresh Images who charged them £1,450 for the opportunity, and now they've sued, and won.
And to top that of, thank-you cards that were created had misspelled names.
That's actually pretty funny... somewhat.
And somehow, a small situation like this has turned into some sort of worldwide headline, including news outlets here in Canada. Of course, the crappy pictures seem to be listed on websites not based in Canada.
For those of you who bet on Betty, congratulations. It looks like Archie is going to marry her, too. What? Does that make any sense to you at all?
According to the New York Times, Archie Andrews, that indecisive comic book character, will marry his other longtime high school sweetheart in an edition of the Archie comic book to be released next month.
Back in May, it was revealed Archie would finally ditch his wishy-washy Riverdale High School persona and get hitched. The pronouncement caused a huge media buzz and led to editorial columns debating the virtues of marrying the pleasant, blond Betty versus hooking up with Veronica, the often-bad-tempered brunette.
It also resulted in the sale of an estimated 54,000 copies of the comic book, a 20-fold increase that doesn't even include newsstand, supermarket and international sales.
Archie chose Veronica, right? So, what the hell is going on? Well, it seems the redhead with the checkerboard hair is living some sort of a six-part dreamlike existence in which he is walking down a road called Memory Lane. In the first scenario, released in an edition last month, Archie walks toward a fork in the road and turns left, allowing him to see his life after a marriage to Veronica. This time, he walks to the right and envisions a future with Betty as his bride. In each sequence, Archie ends up with twins.
Archie Comic Publications has received so much attention over the latest developments in this six-decades-long love triangle that the comic-book company is expanding.
"What the story has done is to introduce Archie on a global level," Jon Goldwater, co-chief executive of Archie Comic Publications told the Times.
He adds that the company plans to introduce new titles in international markets and to seriously pursue film and television deals. Archie will now be printed in five languages in India and will open an office in New Delhi next year. It also is preparing some exclusive comics for that market that will include Indian characters.
Remember that television show called Jon & Kate Plus 8, which follows the lives of two parents and eight kids? Well, the parents have divorced, and the show was subsequently renamed Kate Plus 8.
Well, production of the show has stopped for now, as the cable channel behind the program and its start Jon Gosselin are embroiled in a dispute days after the company announced his name would be removed from the show's title.
TLC said yesterday that due to the issues with Gosselin, the U.S. cable network has suspended filming of his eight children with estranged wife Kate Gosselin, "pending further investigations between both parents."
In recent weeks, Jon Gosselin has been photographed with other women and told a U.S. broadcast network that he despises his estranged wife and that she verbally abused him.
Yesterday, media reports showed a picture hanging on the gate outside the Gosselins' home that told TLC production staff to stay away, under penalty of trespass.
In response, TLC officials said that they are deeply disappointed at Jon's continued erratic behaviour.
"He and the family were shooting as recently as last Friday, without incident," TLC said. "And his latest comments are grossly inaccurate, without merit and are clearly opportunistic."
Remember that guy named Jon and his wife named Kate, who had eight kids, and got a freakishly-weird TV show about their eight kids? Well, the show, which is currently called Jon & Kate Plus 8, will be renamed Kate Plus 8, effective November 2, 2009.
The show's name change will reflect that the fact that the couple have divorced.
If you haven't heard of Ashley Wolfe, then you're just crazy. She is a beautiful woman that packs a punch. In fact, she packs enough of a punch to kick as the ass of British soldiers.
And of course, she is proud of her performance. Well, who wouldn't be?
Wolfe, who is 24 and stands only 5'3" and weighs 125 pounds, has been dubbed "Glambo" by British newspaper feasting on the story of a beautiful, petite young Canadian who beat up members of Britain's oldest army regiment while wearing a sexy red dress.
However, she said that the witnesses at her trial last week incorrectly portrayed her as an aggressor who threw the initial punches at one soldier and the wife of another. Wolfe, who said she was unable to attend the trial because of a bad flu, insists she was the one who was first slugged in the face and knocked down. Lawyers for the Canadian couple are currently seeking a new trial.
"I'm very proud of myself that I could get knocked down and get back up and knock a guy out with one punch," she told Canwest News Service in an interview in the couple's apartment here, miming her nasty left hook.
Ashley Wolfe was born and raised in Abbotsford in British Columbia's Fraser Valley. She sat her (and her husband's) sparsely-furnished apartment in a gritty building in Hungary's capital. She appeared happy to let her husband Bill, 54, deal with most questions.
When questioned as to why Wolfe married a much-older guy, she explained: "He's not a sissy like the rest of the guys my age."
The funny thing is that Wolfe's husband has a daughter that is only one year older than her.
British men are becoming increasingly interested in having their eyebrows professionally groomed, according to the Debenhams department store chain, which plans to hold men-only "guy-brow" nights.
Men, it said, now make up 40% of the visitors to its brow bars, which is stupidly-double the proportion of a year ago. They are going for a treatment called "threading," an ancient method of hair removal which originated in India in which a thin twine of cotton thread is rolled over the offending area, plucking the hair from the follicle level. Unlike plucking, threading removes an entire row of hair at a time so that it is quicker, more accurate and less painful, the store says, although the treatment still hurts.
Debenhams said that its consumer research showed many men initially came for threading either in a bid to look good for a job interview, or at the mercy of their fiancées as part of their wedding preparations.
"Men are recognizing the power of a groomed brow to frame the face and create a sexy James Bond-style arch when raised," says Sara Stern, a Debenhams official. "The Neanderthal mono-brow, famously displayed by Noel Gallagher, will soon be ancient history as alpha males look to cultivate dark, strong brows with the help of threading and dying."
Remember Rahim Jaffer? You know... that Conservative MP who lost his Edmonton-Strathcona seat in the 2008 election a first-time NDP MP? Well, the next day, he married Helena Guergis, who is currently a Conservative cabinet minister.
Anyway, as you should know by now, Jaffer was arrested by Ontario Provincial Police and has been charged for cocaine possession and drunk driving. However, the charges have not been proven in court.
His wife, Helena Guergis, reacted to news of his arrest earlier today.
"I'm taking this very seriously," Guergis told reporters. "I don't really have enough information to give an informed comment."
She did say that she was not in the car at the time of the arrest. Jaffer is scheduled to appear in an Orangeville, Ontario court on October 19, 2009. Meanwhile, his driver's licence has been suspended for 90 days.
The young man was once seen as a rising star in the Conservative Party of Canada. He won his first seat in Parliament at the age of 25, serving as MP for riding of Edmonton-Strathcona from 1997 until 2008, when he was defeated unexpectedly by NDP candidate Linda Duncan.
Remember Sum 41? Yeah, that Canadian band that somehow gained popularity in the United States? Well, remember when he married Avril Lavigne?
Well, Lavigne has reportedly dumped him.
Well, that's a shame...
In fact, or according to reports, Lavigne is apparently so determined to turn the page on the relationship that she has opted to cut tracks from her forthcoming CD. Whibley, 29, is said to have produced eight of the nine songs recorded for the album at the couple's studio in Tarzana, California.
A friend told Us Weekly the following: "She is going to do new songs that don't have his mark on them. She wants no trace of him."
The number of British men undergoing surgery to reduce the size of their boobs has soared in the last five years, according to medical figures published today. Men of all ages are going to plastic surgeons over their "moobs," or man-boobs, according to figures revealed at a meeting of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
In 2003, there were only 22 male breast reduction operations, but the number jumped by more than 1,000% to 323 in 2008, or from one a fortnight to almost one a day. The reason for the surge is unclear, but could be to do with the increasing number of websites showing what can be done, greater wealth, or a growing openness among older men.
"I get people coming to me in their 50s and 60s. Men who have never taken their T-shirts off in public before," said Douglas McGeorge, a past president of BAAPS, which is a non-profit body.
What do you do when you are in a romantic situation with your boyfriend/girlfriend? Well, typically, you would kiss. And here in Canada, there's no law against kissing in public, or is there? Well, we won't go into that, because it's Canada.
Five couples wed at the Municipal Palace in Mexico City, which legalized same-sex marriage in December. The law authorizing such unions has been challenged by the federal government.
What do you do when you are a celebrity talk show host that recently lost your job? Well, like many of those who are unemployed and bored, you would obviously surf the Internets aimlessly, and even go on Twitter.
Simon Cowell has finally confirmed his engagement to his make-up artist girlfriend Mezghan Hussainy on a U.S. TV talk show. The TV mogul not only confirmed his engagement but also coyly admitted to the chat show host that a wedding is on the cards, according to multiple tabloid reports.
Figure skater Joannie Rochette, who captured the hearts of Canadians for her bronze-medal performance in the grief-stricken days following the death of her mother, carried the Canadian flag into the closing ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games last night.
Malaysian authorities have caned three women under Islamic laws for the first time in the Southeast Asian country, according to the country's interior minister.
The British media might love to slag the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, but the rest of the country thinks we're pretty fine, according a poll from the U.K. that was released Wednesday, which said Canadians are the tenth most attractive people in the world.
Nearly half of men surveyed said that they had used a poorly fitting condom in the previous three months, according to a new study that sheds light on why couples fail to use them. The study, published online in February in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, was based on a survey of 426 men aged 19 to 67.
The online retail giant Amazon.ca has named Saskatoon Canada's most romantic city, placing it just ahead of Calgary and Victoria.
An Austrian tycoon is giving away every penny of his $5 million CDN fortune after realizing that his riches were making him unhappy.
Two and a Half Men actor Charlie Sheen was charged today with assaulting and threatening his wife Brooke Mueller in a heated Christmas Day argument. But, the couple left the court in the Colorado ski resort of Aspen hugging each other, hoping the charges will be dropped, and apparently planning to reconcile.
Argentina President Cristina Fernandez recommended pork as an alternative to Viagra on Wednesday, saying that she spent a satisfying weekend with her husband after eating barbecued pork.
Pope Benedict XVI called Friday on the Vatican court which rules on marriage annulments to take a strict line, saying the point of Church laws was to save souls. Catholics who have marriages annulled are allowed to remarry in church and take communion, unlike those who are divorced by civilian courts.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's new focus on helping some of the world's poorest people won praise at the World Economic Forum from two of the annual conference's superstars, Bill Clinton and Bill Gates.
A chain of high-street shops in Britain on Monday launched a divorce gift list service amid a surge of married couples saying "I don't" after the festive season.
Cops in Dubai said yesterday that they had found no evidence to support a British woman's report that she was raped by a waiter in the Gulf Arab emirate, but have arrested her and her boyfriend for having sex outside marriage.
On Monday, EA Sports said that it was moving forward with plans to introduce an online Tiger Woods game, despite the golfer's public relations nightmare and drastic drop in popularity following his adultery scandal.
Someday, while you're at the local Starbucks Coffee joint, your cellular phone may alert to you a possible love connection as they walk by on the street outside.
A gay couple in Argentina vowed to keep fighting for the right to get married after a last-minute court ruling dashed their plans to hold Latin America's first legal same-sex marriage today.
The Olympic torch shone brilliantly as a beacon of hope, a symbol of the triumphant human spirit and a matrimonial metaphor on Thursday, as it fanned the flames of romance during its latest trek through southern Ontario.
You know what you need to go out on a date? A member of the opposite... and to get that started, one of them needs to ask and other needs to say yes.
Divorces and child-custody disputes will be less "combative," costly and drawn out under changes to Ontario's family law system, Attorney General Chris Bentley said Thursday. Bentley said the long-anticipated reforms represent a "fundamental shift" in the province's approach to family law issues and will make family matters easier to resolve and more affordable.
Those damn Aussies. They really are wasteful. According to a recent survey, 825,000 gifts will go straight to the dump at some point this Christmas because their recipients just hate them. Man, it's called "re-gifting."
If any politician is funny, it's Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. And now, his estranged wife is seeking 43 million Euros, or about $65 million US, a year in alimony in a divorce case that she launched after her husband was embroiled in a sex scandal, an Italian newspaper reported Thursday.
Just moments ago, I reported to you that Britney Spears was rumoured to be engaged.
Britney Spears is apparently getting married, again, for the third time, in five years.
A large number of people living in Canada's biggest cities are anxious about the future "livability" of urban spaces and are stressed about traffic and public transit, according to a new poll. The Angus Reid poll commissioned by IBM Canada found that 31% of the 2,015 urban dwellers polled disagreed with the statement: "My city is currently on a path of long-term livability."
Women might not believe men's claims of buying Playboy for the articles, but Harvard researchers say the 'gentlemen' are swallowing their own story, hook, line and sinker. People will often rationalize, or make excuses for, questionable behaviour so that others will see them as good, fair and moral. But investigators have learned that people place equal importance on seeing themselves that way -- even if they have to deceive themselves to maintain that view.
Amanda Rodrigues, the widow of ex-world boxing champ Arturo Gatti, has lost her bid at $150,000 of his estate, and the dog.
Remember when Peter MacKay (Minister of Defence) and Belinda Stronach were dating? Yeah, they were cute, weren't they? Yeah, I'd have to say so. Well, that romance ended terribly. And to top things off, she left the Conservative Party of Canada, and instead... joined the Liberal Party of Canada. Based on that decision, I would not want to date a woman who did that.
Here in Canada, when you burn someone's house down, there is still the possibility of house arrest, which the Conservative government is trying to remove as an option. And of course, with Canada's current crappy justice laws, if you burn someone's house down, there is still a chance you can still get house arrest, and stay in the comfort of your own home, which is quite unfair.
Silvio Berlusconi is a crazy bastard, therefore making him a kick-ass Prime Minister, and I wouldn't mind having him as the Prime Minister of Canada someday, if he were actually Canadian.
You probably assumed it, but now it's been proven true: women cry more than men ever do.
For those of you who bet on Betty, congratulations. It looks like Archie is going to marry her, too. What? Does that make any sense to you at all?
Remember that television show called Jon & Kate Plus 8, which follows the lives of two parents and eight kids? Well, the parents have divorced, and the show was subsequently renamed Kate Plus 8.
Remember that guy named Jon and his wife named Kate, who had eight kids, and got a freakishly-weird TV show about their eight kids? Well, the show, which is currently called Jon & Kate Plus 8, will be renamed Kate Plus 8, effective November 2, 2009.
If you haven't heard of Ashley Wolfe, then you're just crazy. She is a beautiful woman that packs a punch. In fact, she packs enough of a punch to kick as the ass of British soldiers.
British men are becoming increasingly interested in having their eyebrows professionally groomed, according to the Debenhams department store chain, which plans to hold men-only "guy-brow" nights.
Remember Rahim Jaffer? You know... that Conservative MP who lost his Edmonton-Strathcona seat in the 2008 election a first-time NDP MP? Well, the next day, he married Helena Guergis, who is currently a Conservative cabinet minister.
Remember Sum 41? Yeah, that Canadian band that somehow gained popularity in the United States? Well, remember when he married Avril Lavigne?
The number of British men undergoing surgery to reduce the size of their boobs has soared in the last five years, according to medical figures published today. Men of all ages are going to plastic surgeons over their "moobs," or man-boobs, according to figures revealed at a meeting of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
