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Could a good marriage and a puppy be the secret to a happy life?

Good marriage and a puppy the secret to a happy life

They say happy wife, happy life but a new study has proven there is another crucial element to long-lasting happiness: a puppy.

A major study run over 72 years has found that a good marriage, close family and owning a pet dog are the key to a happy life.

The Grant Study observed 268 men from their youth in the 1940s to their old age today. It found that a loving family and successful marriage were far more important that wealth or social class when it came to predicting happiness.

Men in good marriages weren’t just more content with their lot in life — they lived longer too.

Only four of the 31 single men in the study are still alive today, compared with more than a third of those in successful relationships.

But there’s some good news for all those men who haven’t found Mrs Right. Study leader George Vaillant, from Harvard Medical School, says a new puppy can bring just as much enjoyment as human relationships.

“If you want to be happy, and don’t have a six-month-old baby to trade smiles with, get yourself a puppy,” Vaillant told British radio station Radio 4.

And if you haven’t found love yet, and can’t get a puppy, Vaillant says there is no need to despair — the study concluded that even finding love after 70 had a profound impact of quality of life.

“Having a loving family is terribly important, but from 70 to 90 years old you’d be surprised at the people who, despite enormous deprivation, manage to find love later on,” he said.

“It gives me an awful lot of hope.”

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Easy access porn to blame for teen sex abuse

Easy access porn to blame for teen sex abuse

Easy access online pornography is being blamed for a surge in the sexual abuse of schoolgirls.

Figures from the UK show that up to a third of sixth-form girls (aged 16 – 18) had been touched inappropriately by boys in their school, and fingers are being pointed at the internet.

Related: Documentary exposes 12-year-olds who think porn is the norm

Ann Coffey, from the all-party parliamentary group on runaway and missing children, told British MPs that porn was distorting teenage boys’ views of sex.

“There is a problem that boys are accessing adult websites which gives them a distorted attitude,” she said.

“It gives them a sense of entitlement, which means they may touch a girl inappropriately and use bullying or coercive behaviour.

As the accessibility of online porn is difficult to regulate, the shocking statistics have led to a push for compulsory sex education in UK schools in order to give children and teenagers a more realistic sexual education, and to give those being abused the courage to speak out.

“To speak out, first children need to feel confident that what is happening to them is wrong and that is why sex and relationship education education in schools is so important,” Ms Coffey said.

“They need to know, indeed they are entitled to know, about issues such as sexual consent, what sexual coercion and exploitation is and how to shape healthy relationships and respect for each other as well as alerting them to the signs that they are being sexually groomed.”

A similar push is underway in Australia, where sex education is part of the curriculum but is not compulsory.

A national survey of 15-29 year olds released earlier this year showed that while some schools teach sex and relationship education comprehensively, other don’t teach it at all.

Related: Why girls are having sex at 12

Australian figures show that 64 per cent of young people got information about sex from pornography, and most young people have an appetite for better sex education.

The push for more comprehensive compulsory sex education is not only coming from MPs, young people have an appetite for it too.

Eighty per cent of those surveyed supporting standardised sex education across the country, highlighting things like sex and pleasure, and sexuality, that they felt needed to be discussed in schools.

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Brange brood overrun pizza parlour

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s brood of six certainly love pizza! Every time they visit Arris’ Pizza, their local pizza parlour in Springfield, Missouri, they cause a real commotion.

“The place shuts down for the entire night and the kids raise a ruckus,” a source has told Us magazine. “They jump on tables and even throw food at each other!”

The source said when the family visit, Brad and Angelina leave the nannies at home and “let the kids enjoy themselves” while they catch up with each other.

“Brad and Angelina just sit there and talk to one another while the children run around in circles!”

This isn’t the first report of Brange’s kids causing a commotion! See more pictures here.

The Jolie Pitt clan step out together.

Pax pulls monster faces, while Ange carries bags of lollies and chocolates.

On a trip out with mum, Shiloh pokes her tounge out, and is little Vivienne wearing lipstick?

Angelina Jolie decided to take her children to Japan with her…

…and that didn’t work out too well!

Pax doing his monster moves.

Pax plays up to waiting papparazzi as they make their way through Tokoyo airport.

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Nicole Kidman on Tom Cruise: ‘I thought our life was perfect’

Nicole Kidman has given a candid interview about her split from Tom Cruise, revealing she was "blindsided" by his decision to leave because she was so in love with him.
Nicole Kidman in DuJour magazine.

When Tom Cruise walked out on Nicole Kidman in 2001, millions of people were shocked — but none more so than Nicole herself.

Eleven years later, Nicole has given a candid interview about the split, revealing she was “blindsided” by Tom’s decision to leave because she was so in love with him.

“I thought our life together was perfect,” the 45-year-old actress told the current issue of DuJour magazine. “It took me a very long time to heal. It was a shock to my system.

“We were in a bubble, just the two of us. We became very dependent on one another. I was reeling with Tom. I would have gone to the ends of the earth for him.

“I was totally smitten — I fell madly, passionately in love. I was so impulsive and naive.”

Nicole is now married to country music star Keith Urban and the couple have two children, Sunday Rose, four, and Faith Margaret, two.

“I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life,” she said.

“My life changed. He is a wonderful, caring man and he makes me feel secure. We don’t ever like to be separated.”

Nicole spoke about Sunday and Faith in the interview but did not mention Bella and Connor, the children she adopted with Tom Cruise.

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Zara Phillips flashes racy red bra in Queensland

Zara Phillips flashes racy red bra in Queensland

Zara Phillips on the Gold Coast yesterday.

As the Queen’s granddaughter, Zara Phillips is expected to look ladylike at all times but she struggled to maintain her composure in a bra-baring backless dress yesterday.

Zara, 31, was photographed in a series of unflattering outfits on the Gold Coast yesterday, including one that was slashed to the waist, revealing her red lace bra.

Related: Zara Phillips – I want to start a family

While the Queen would definitely not approve of her exposed undergarments, Zara seemed relaxed throughout the two-hour photo shoot to promote the upcoming Magic Millions Racing Carnival.

“She’s great with horses — it was such a relaxed shoot,” an insider said. “She took it all in her stride and had a lot of fun with it.”

The 14th in line to the throne also wore a sequinned cocktail dress and a glamorous dip-dyed patterned creation, but kicked off her high heels in favour of thongs in between takes.

In pictures: Zara Phillips – growing up royal

Zara, an Olympic equestrienne, is more accustomed to modelling sports and leisurewear. She currently has a contract with Musto, which sees her donning rain jackets, fleeces, vests and chaps.

Zara will be back in Australia in January to attend the Magic Millions carnival, for which she is an ambassador.

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Nicole Kidman says Tom Cruise split was a total shock

Nicole Kidman opens up on “intoxicating” relationship with Tom Cruise

When Tom Cruise announced his marriage to wife of 10 years Nicole Kidman was over, it made world headlines. But the Aussie actress has now revealed no-one was more shocked by the news than she was.

“I thought our life together was perfect,” Nicole tells France’s DuJour magazine.

Now, 11 years on, she is happily married to country crooner Keith Urban but says she was completely blindsided by Tom’s decision to end their union, as she always thought they had a happy marriage.

“We were in a bubble, just the two of us. We became very dependent on one another,” she says.

“It took me a very long time to heal. It was a shock to my system.”

Nicole, who married Tom when she was just 23, admits she was “impulsive” and “naive” at that age.

“I was reeling with Tom,” she explains. “I would have gone to the ends of the earth for him… I was totally smitten. I fell madly, passionately in love.”

The 45-year-old, who is currently filming Grace Of Monaco in Nice, says she is now “happier than ever” and enjoying family life with Keith and their two daughters.

“I’m living in a friend’s house in Nice. My two daughters are with me – Sunday Rose, who’s four, and Faith Margaret, who’s two,” she says.

“My mother is about to fly in from Australia to babysit. Then Keith will be arriving… My family is with me. My family.”

Nicole says she has come a long way since her days with Tom and that meeting Keith changed her life.

“He is a wonderful, caring man and he makes me feel secure. We don’t ever like to be separated,” she reveals.

“We have a wonderful home life. There’s always music. Keith plays the guitar and piano and drums. He’s always composing music.”

“It’s lovely when you have a baby who picks up the drumsticks and plays, wearing angel wings.”

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Brangelina’s luxury holiday cottage

Residents of sleepy English village, Ickham, couldn’t believe their eyes this week when they awoke to discover Hollywood’s most famous family holidaying in their midst!

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and their six-strong brood, were renting luxury cottage The Treasury, just outside Kent, whilst Brad filmed scenes for his upcoming blockbuster movie, World Z.

Private and immaculate

The beautifully presented bedrooms

Beamed vaulted ceilings are found throughout the property

Inside the luxury cottage

Plenty of space for the kids to play

A relaxation area for Angelina

The long and spacious dining room

Cute bedrooms for the kids

Luxurious and private

The Brangelina clan hit the streets

The relaxing bath spa

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Is Elton John selfish for wanting another baby at 65?

Is Elton John selfish for wanting another baby at 65?

Elton John with his partner David Furnish.

Exciting baby news from Sir Elton John and his David Furnish, who are expecting their second child with the help of a surrogate mother, has made for celebratory headlines and prompted an outpouring of gushing messages of congratulations.

But not everyone is happy about the famous couple’s decision welcome another child into their family via surrogacy.

Related: Meet the motherless generation

The announcement reignites an ongoing debate about the adoption of children by same sex couples, denying the babies a mother or father.

The discussion was previously fuelled in 2010 with the arrival of the couple’s first child, Zachary, with some saying the stage star’s decision to “buy” a baby was selfish.

Daily Mail columnist Andrew Pierce, who is gay and was adopted himself, wrote that he thought all children deserved a mother and father.

“Let me make my position clear,” he wrote.

“I am a gay man and I believe same sex couples should be allowed to adopt or have their own children — although I think that in ideal circumstances a child should be brought up by a mother and father.”

While Pierce’s position was unpopular, it was not totally unique, and as surrogacy and other forms of assisted reproduction available to gay couples grow in popularity and accessibility, the debate continues.

In an investigation in the November issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly, we look at the impact on children growing up in motherless households.

For the first time in history, says Professor Margaret Somerville, an Australian-born ethicist and the founding director at the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law and McGill University in Canada, society is becoming a willing accomplice in creating a “motherless” generation of so-called “stolen” children who, because of the anonymous nature of many overseas surrogacy agreements, may never be able to find the women who make up half their biological identity.

Professor Somerville is against surrogacy, saying that is breaks what is arguably the most intimate of all bonds, that of a mother and a child.

“To intentionally deprive someone of their heritage is wrong,” she says.

Yet other experts argue that concerns like those of Professor Somerville and Andrew Pierce, may be too pessimistic.

President of Surrogacy Australia, Sam Everingham, says such negative concerns are unfounded.

“As long as the parents are open and honest with the children about how they were created and they keep any books and records, then that is going to be the most important information the kids need as they grow up,” he says. “And this is an important debate for people to engage with and think about.

“We have large communities of gay dads and children in both Sydney and Melbourne, and most of those families have significant female influences, whether it’s grandmothers, aunties or even ex-girlfriends, who are part of these kids’ lives. So the fears that people have that there are not going to be women as role models are not usually born out.

Related: Sonia Kruger struggling with IVF at 47

“Families in Australia are changing and perhaps the old model of the nuclear family is changing, too. There are many, many families in Australia where only one parent has a biological link to the child and sometimes neither parent has that link. And that is a reality.”

Elton and David are reportedly “over the moon” at the prospect of becoming of parents for a second time.

Their second child is reported to be due in the new year.

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Kirstie Clements: In defence of Melissa George

Australian actress Melissa George has been criticised for speaking out against the Australian media's hang-up on her former tvcareer. Former Vogue editor Kirstie Clements speaks out in her defence.
Melissa George

Let me begin by stating that Melissa George is a friend of mine. I’ve known her for many years, since my days at Vogue Australia, as we featured her in the magazine on many occasions.

I’ve never seen an episode of Home and Away ever, so I missed that seminal, defining moment, according to the local media, of her career thus far.

I know that she left the country many years ago, and tried to make her mark on the international circuit, which is no walk in the park for any actor.

She had minor successes, she had straight to video moments, she worked on series that were not picked up, she had cameo appearances in important films.

That’s how the business works. She also had many major successes. It seems to have escaped the current critics that, amongst other triumphs, she was a Golden Globe nominee for In Treatment.

She won a Logie for her performance in The Slap just recently. She’s a very, very accomplished actress.

But in the time honoured tradition of provincial Australian media, no one ever wants her to forget her humble beginnings.

God forbid she should get above her herself.

Shock horror that she should want to talk about something else, maybe something relevant and contemporary.

For years I’ve seen her good naturedly acknowledge when asked by some lame journalist that yes, she was in a soapie a long time ago.

I guess at some point, say after two decades of patience, she thought it was going to stop.

She probably supposed that as she grew up and evolved and worked hard and gained a more global perspective, so would the media.

Apparently not.

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Prince Charles avoids manure attack

Prince Charles avoids manure attack

Anti-royalist Sam Bracanov attempting to throw manure on the royal couple on their visit to Auckland.

Charles and Camilla have been well-received throughout their tour of Papua New Guinea, Australia, and New Zealand, being greeted with gifts, applause, and enthusiastic handshakes at every stop. But one Kiwi crowd member wasn’t so welcoming.

Police arrested known anti-royalist and Sam Bracanov on suspicion of planning to attack the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall in Auckland on Monday.

Related: Charles and Camilla get rainy reception in Auckland

The 76-year-old New Zealand man was spotted on CCTV carrying an unidentified item, the man is said to be a known “anti-royal protestor”.

Bracanov appeared in Auckland District Court today and pleaded not guilty to a charge of preparing to commit an assault on the royal couple.

He told media of his bizarre protest plan while sitting on an upturned rubbish bin outside court after his appearance.

“I went to get a bag of horse manure for $2 and I make it liquid, like a porridge,” he said, and made a throwing motion with his hands.

“I would have done it.”

The “serial pest” tried to justify his attempted attack as he opposed the idea of the Prince being born into privilege rather than earning his position.

“He didn’t qualify with his brain. He qualified with his body, and what your body produces goes to the toilet, so I would hit him with what goes to toilet.”

Luckily, police foiled Bracanov’s plan ensuring he got nowhere near the royal couple. He was detained an hour before their arrival at Auckland quayside to meet well-wishers.

Bracanov was granted bail at his court appearance on the condition he stays at least 500 metres away from them.

This isn’t the first time Bracanov has tried to attack the royals, during the 1990s he tried to spray the prince and his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, with air freshener saying he wanted to “remove the stink of royalty”.

He agreed to comply to the bail conditions, for this visit, anyway.

“I’m not doing it again. There’s always next time. Next time I might be successful,” he said today.

Security is a top priority on royal tours, with the Australian police force holding principle responsibility in close consultation with the Metropolitan Police travelling with the royal party.

Related: Royals remember diggers in New Zealand

While the royal couple have had a mostly peaceful visit, they do occasionally face protests.

A small group of protesters were among well-wishers greeting the Prince and Duchess in Auckland on Tuesday, one holding a sign reading “get a job royal bludgers”.

Video: NZ police foil royal attack

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