Saudi women in drive for justice
Saudi women leading a campaign against the kingdom's ban on female driving are calling on the courts to take up their cases.
Manal al-Sherif said yesterday that she and other activists are urging judicial authorities to launch proceedings based on complaints they lodged after being refused driving licences. Ms Al-Sherif was detained for nearly two weeks last year after posting an online video of herself driving.
Pupil suspended for Jackson dance
A Catholic school in Minnesota has suspended a nine-year-old boy for performing a crotch-grabbing Michael Jackson dance move during a fundraising event.
Mindy Boberg said the head of St Stanislaus school informed her that her son Lenny was being suspended because his performance of 'Billie Jean' constituted gross misconduct.
Perry gets flirty with quarterback
Newly single Katy Perry may have set her sights on a rookie quarterback.
The singer, who is getting divorced from comedian Russell Brand, was at the Associated Press NFL Awards to serve as a presenter. She flirted playfully with co-presenter Cam Newton, who won the 2011 offensive rookie of the year award.
Young not up to Dickens' standard
Modern-day children are not being educated to read with the attention span necessary for a Dickens novel, a leading expert has said, as England prepares to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of the revered author tomorrow.
Claire Tomalin, acclaimed biographer of Dickens, said that his novels and their depiction of an unfair society were "amazingly relevant" to the current day.
Shakespeare gets musical upgrade
An album of Shakespeare's sonnets set to music and played on Elizabethan instruments will be released on the bard's birthday (April 23) this year.
Singers including folk star Eliza Carthy are backed by musicians playing replica instruments.
Virus leaves 92 sea sick on cruise
A stomach virus has stricken more than 100 people on a Princess Cruise Lines ship sailing from South Florida in the US.
Ninety-two passengers and 13 crew aboard the Ruby Princess have been affected by Norovirus which causes vomiting and diarrhoea.
Irish Independent
