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Furious mother buys $600 worth of t-shirts because they offend her

A furious mother takes extreme measures to prevent children from seeing provocative imagery.
Judy Cox

A furious mother was so affronted at the provocative imagery hanging on display in a shopping centre window, that she bought the t-shirts to prevent children from seeing them.

Judy Cox was shopping with her son in a mall near Salt Lake City when she saw t-shirts hanging on display that featured images of scantily dressed young women in highly provocative poses.

She first complained to a store manager about the window display but was told the shirts couldn’t be taken down without approval from the corporate office.

So she bought all of the t-shirts in stock – 19 of them, at a cost of $567.

She says she plans to return them later, toward the end of the chain store’s 60-day return period.

“These shirts clearly cross a boundary that is continually being pushed on our children in images on the Internet, television and when our families shop in the mall,” Cox said.

Cox lives in Orem, Utah in the USA. The area is known for being extremely conservative with most residents belonging to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church encourages modest dress and does not approve of pornography.

Judy Cox

She says that she hopes the publicity surrounding her story will prompt others to take action.

“You don’t have to purchase $600 worth of T-shirts, but you can express your concerns to businesses and corporations who promote the display of pornography to children,” she said.

PacSun CEO Gary Schoenfeld responded saying that the company takes pride in the clothes and products it offers.

“While customer feedback is important to us, we remain committed to the selection of brands and apparel available in our stores.”

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Prince Charles visits Saudi Arabia on royal tour

Prince Charles, dressed in the traditional Saudi garb of a robe and chequered keffiyeh, has joined members of Saudi Arabia's royal family in performing the "Ardah" sword dance.
Prince Charles in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for Der'iya

Prince Charles, dressed in the traditional Saudi garb of a robe and chequered keffiyeh, has joined members of Saudi Arabia’s royal family in performing the “Ardah” sword dance.

He was seen near Riyadh, the kingdom’s capital, swaying his sword to the rhythm of drumbeats and accompanied by several princes, including King Abdullah’s son and the National Guard chief Prince Mitaab.

Taking a regional tour without his wife Camilla, it is The Prince of Wales’ second visit to the Arab state in a year.

The Tuesday festivities were a celebration of the annual cultural and heritage Al-Janadriya festival. On Wednesday he visited Al-Dir’iyah, the first capital of the Saudi dynasty where the remains of many palaces and restored buildings are located.

The heir to the British throne met during his Saudi visit with several Saudi officials, including Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.

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Schapelle’s travel buddy talks: ‘I’ve kept quiet too long’

Schapelle's travel buddy Katrina

Schapelle's travel buddy Katrina

After nine long years of silence, Katrina Richards recounts that fateful flight to Bali in her very first interview. Woman’s Day’s JAMES GRAHAM reports.

After nine long years of silence, Katrina Richards recounts that fateful flight to Bali in her very first interview. Woman’s Day’s JAMES GRAHAM reports.

Katrina Richards’ terrifying airport ordeal in Bali with Schapelle Corby in 2004 still feels as if it were yesterday.

It’s only now, as she replays the chaotic TV scenes of her veiled friend walking free from prison, she can finally start to put the nightmare behind her.

A wide-eyed Katrina, then 17, was at Denpasar with Schapelle’s half-brother James Kisina and friend Ally McComb the moment Schapelle was arrested for smuggling 4.2kg of marijuana.

Although remaining fiercely loyal to Schapelle and her family – an “Always have faith” tattoo on her ankle testament to her allegiance – this is the first time she’s spoken about the story that’s polarising Australia. “It could’ve been me; it could’ve been any of us – none of our bags were locked,” confesses Katrina, now 27, who joined Schapelle’s mum Rosleigh Rose and James to watch the convicted drug smuggler’s dramatic release on TV last week.

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Peter Cosgrove to host Prince William, Catherine and Prince George

Australia's governor-general, Peter Cosgrove, to host Prince William, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and Prince George in Sydney
Peter Cosgrove meeting The Queen

When The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge bring baby Prince George to Sydney in April, it will be incoming Governor-General Peter Cosgrove and his wife Lynne who will be hosting them at Admiralty House. But the former Chief of the Defence Force told The Weekly today that it’s going to be a very relaxed affair giving the royal couple plenty of space to do their own thing.

“There’s sort of an arm’s distance hosting in the sense that we want them to be able to relax,” General Cosgrove explained. “So the idea would be to greet them, settle them in –  but very briefly – and then leave them to enjoy the delights of Sydney.”

General Cosgrove was speaking to a small collection of Australian media including The Weekly at the Australian High Commission in his first interview since Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced his appointment. He was in London on a private trip visiting The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh with whom he and Lynne had had lunch earlier in the day.

Peter Cosgrove and The Queen

“There’s no constitutional requirement, but it is good manners, because you have a close relationship with the Monarch and it’s polite to just come and see The Queen before you assume [office],” said General Cosgrove, who also met with The Duchess of Cornwall at Clarence House later in the afternoon where he was shown a collection of watercolors by Australian WWII war artist Norma Bull.

When questioned about his personal views on Australia becoming a republic, General Cosgrove said he couldn’t remember how he voted in the 1999 referendum but that he was “a staunch Australian”.

Peter Cosgrove and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall

He was in no doubt that following many recent royal tours, the Australian people is extremely happy to welcome the royal family on home turf. “There may have been a period where people thought that Australia’s attention was wavering, but when the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall visit and when Her Majesty visits… and when the young Princes visit… the country comes alive…There’s a buzz in the air. And I think when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge come in April, Australia will roll out the welcome mat.”

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Minogues’ sexy red carpet reunion

If they weren’t having such a darn good time we would have announced another Minogue family face-off at last night’s BRIT Awards in London.

The sisters, who so rarely grace the red carpet together, turned up arm-in-arm wearing equally daring black dresses. Kylie, 45, was wearing a PVC number adorned with massive bows and Dannii, 42, paired lace and sparkle with a hot red lip.

After their playful arrival the Aussie pop stars enjoyed the awards together, with Kylie joining Pharrell Williams on-stage to present the award for International Male Solo Artist.

Click through the gallery for more pics of the age-defying sisters entrance.

The pair posing for the cameras on the red carpet.

Danni took a demure hemline to another level with an asymmetrical neckline.

Onlookers said the sisters were laughing and joking all evening.

Kylie has been working as a coach on reality show *The Voice*.

Kylie has been working as a coach on reality show The Voice.

She presented a BRIT award with Pharrell Williams.

40-what? The sisters flaunted their individual stlye and age-defying beauty.

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11-year-old boy with cancer asks his mother to let him go as he refuses treatment

Terminally ill 11 year-old Reece Puddington is refusing treatment and letting nature take its course

Reece Puddington refuses cancer treatment. Source: Twitter

An 11-year-old boy who has had cancer for more than half of his life has revealed he is refusing life-lengthening treatment.

In a Facebook post titled “The Beginning of the End”, Reece Puddington told his friends and supporters that his mother is “letting him go.”

“After careful consideration, my mum thought that if she was doing it for herself she would keep sending me for treatment as she wouldn’t want to let me go, but if she was doing it for me she’d let me go.”

Reece, from Kent in the UK, was diagnosed in 2008 with neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system. He successfully underwent chemotherapy treatment but later suffered a recurrence in the form of a liver tumour and was advised by doctors that his disease was terminal.

He wrote on Facebook, “After the latest scan results, I was sent home to rest and think over the two possible options.

“I could opt for another trial but this would mean travelling a lot to the hospital and coping with the side effects but could also hopefully extend my life.

“Or I could simply do nothing, stay at home and let nature take its course which would lead to me losing my life slightly earlier than if I’d had more treatment.”

Reece has made a bucket list of things he wants to do before he dies. They include meeting actor Johnny Depp, seeing his mum learn to drive and building a hobbit house in his garden.

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Older actors in high demand for movie roles

Older actors are dominating Hollywood, at the moment.
Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson

It’s not often that you can say being of mature age is of the zeitgeist. But that is how actress Lindsay Duncan explains the spiking number of roles for older actors at the moment.

The 63 year-old, who stars in Le Week-End (a movie belonging to the booming “couples-at-the-crossroads” genre), says that it makes better business sense for films to be about older people, because those are the people who are going to the movies.

“Because people our age are still going to the cinema and many others aren’t. Younger people are using other devices to look at film,” she told The Australian.

Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan. Photo: Getty Images

Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan. Photo: Getty Images

Jim Broadbent and Lindsay Duncan. Photo: Getty Images

Among the recent spate of films with senior stars are The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Expendables and Hope Springs.

This year’s Academy Award nominations feature a bunch of sexagenarians and septuagenarians including Meryl Streep, 64, for August: Osage County, Judi Dench, 79, for Philomena and Bruce Dern, 76, for Nebraska.

English screenwriter Hanif Kureishi, who wrote Le Week-End and other productions with mature-age catalysts such as The Mother (about a 60-year-old woman who falls in love with a younger man) does not say he writes older characters thanks to business sensibilities.

“Older people are just more interesting,” he says. “I’ve got teenagers and I like them, but I don’t find their lives all that fascinating.”

Roles for older actors aren’t just limited to “couples-at-the-crossroads” types of films. Some of today’s biggest action stars are the same actors from the 1980s and 90s: Sylvester Stallone, 67, Liam Neeson, 61, and Bruce Willis, 58, showing that the veterans might just appeal to the youth as well.

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Women made up and Photoshopped to look like cover models have unexpected reactions

Women Photoshopped to look like cover models have surprising reactions
The suprising reactions of real women being photoshopped to look like cover girls

An experiment by the online publication Buzzfeed that put four ordinary women through a professional photo-shoot and had a Photoshop expert make them look like “cover models” got surprising results when the women reacted against the images of their perfect selves.

“This is how I’ve always wanted to see myself. But now that I see it, I’m questioning why I ever wanted to look like that,” one woman said.

“I don’t even know who that is.”

Rather than getting a kick out of seeing themselves displayed as conventionally beautiful women with slim figures and flawless skin, the four subjects considered the photos a demonstration of how “the ideal doesn’t exist.”

“I think because I know myself, this looks really… different,” said one participant.

“You look at these ads in magazines and you see these women who look absolutely flawless, but who really looks like this?” said another.

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Glass ceiling in Saudi Arabia cracked as first female newspaper editor appointed

Somayya Jabarti.

For the first time in Saudi Arabia, a woman will hold the position of editor at a major newspaper.

Somayya Jabarti has been appointed the editor-in-chief of the national English-language daily paper, the Saudi Gazette.

Although other women have headed magazines, this is the first time a national daily newspaper has put a woman at the helm.

It is an unprecedented level of public power in female hands for the conservative Arab nation, with the former editor-in-chief Khaled Almaeena calling the appointment historic”.

“She’s the first editor-in-chief of a Saudi paper – English or Arabic-language,” he said. “In Saudi Arabia it’s a major achievement.”

Jabarti, who had already made history when she was appointed the Managing Editor and Deputy Editor of a daily Saudi publication, is a prominent player in the movement for the empowerment and emancipation of women in the country.

“There’s a crack that has been made in the glass ceiling. And I’m hoping it will be made into a door,” she said.

“This is a first for a Saudi daily… A mould has been broken where editors-in-chief of Saudi daily newspapers are concerned.”

She said that she feels great responsibility in the new position, given that her success may have a bearing on other women’s careers.

“Being the first Saudi woman [newspaper editor] is going to be double the responsibility… One’s actions will reflect upon my fellow Saudi women.

“The success will not be complete unless I see my peers who are also Saudi women in the media, take other roles where they are decision makers.”

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‘I didn’t know if I was going to make it’: John Travolta opens up about his son’s death

John Travolta opens up about his shattering grief following death of son Jett
John Travolta and son Jett

John Travolta has opened up about the shattering grief he experienced after the death of his teenage son saying it was “worst thing that’s ever happened in my life.”

In an interview with with BBC interviewer Barry Norman at London’s Theatre Royal, the Hollywood legend said “The truth is, I didn’t know if I was going to make it. Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better.”

His firstborn son Jett, who lived with autism and had a history of seizures, died in 2009 at the age of 16. He suffered a seizure struck his head against a bath during a family holiday in the Bahamas.

Travolta said that following the tragedy, he “didn’t want to wake up” and that “it took a lot to get me better.”

He says that he has the Church of Scientology to thank for getting through it.

“I will forever be grateful to Scientology for supporting me for two years solid, I mean Monday through Sunday.

“They didn’t take a day off, working through different angles of the techniques to get through grief and loss, and to make me feel that finally I could get through a day.”

Travolta has been a member of the controversial religion since the 1970s.

He and his wife of 23 years Kelly Preston are parents to two other children – daughter Ella Bleu, 13, and son Benjamin, 3.

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