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There is a whole range of pills, devices and operations to help women control their fertility – but what about giving the boys a bit more choice?

At the moment all that the men have available to them in the form of contraception is either the condom or the extreme step of having a vasectomy. The third option is abstaining from sex all together – which would not be a popular choice!

Contraceptive Pill For Men!

New research and developments by pharmaceutical companies has suggested that a contraception pill for men could go on the market by 2005! Giving men another option when it comes to considering contraception.

How Does It Work?

The pill, which must be taken daily, contains desogestrel, a synthetic hormone that is the main component in the female pill, as well as the male hormone testosterone. This combination blocks the production of sperm while maintaining male characteristics and sex drive.

Possible Side Effects

In clinical trials, no major side effects were noted aside from weight gain in a small percentage of men, similar to what most women experience when on the pill. However, the results of the current testing and studying of the pill will ascertain if there are any other side effects.

Would Men Want To Take The Pill – And Would Women Trust Them To Take It?

Good news! A recent international survey found that two thirds of the men questioned said they would use the pill if it were available – and nearly all the women trusted their partners to take it.

Protection Against Sexually Transmitted Diseases

The development of a contraceptive pill is a great step forward for men. But remember that the pill would protect against unwanted pregnancies but using a condom is the best way of protecting yourself against a sexually transmitted disease.

And until the male pill is available, always use a condom to protect against unwanted pregnancies and STDs.

Plans for a private sex club in County Durham have been dropped after objections from hundreds of people.

A company wanted to turn the derelict King's Head hotel in Stanley, near Durham, into a private member's club for swingers, known as the Love Shack.

But councillors received a petition signed by more than 600 people, pointing out the site would be close to a children's skateboard park and open every afternoon until midnight.

Now the company behind the project says the development will go ahead - but only as a hotel and spa.

However, Derwentside District Council intends to press ahead with a special meeting to discuss the issue.

The venue will still have special features like a steam room and spa.

But Robin Rostron, of developers Archer and Rostron, said the hotel would no longer promote itself as a venue for swingers.

'Indulge in fantasies'

He said: The plan now is to open it as a hotel with spa facilities.

"We will not be running the swingers club within it.

"We were pretty sure we had the planning regulations on our side and we could have put two fingers up to the local populace and gone ahead with it.

"But we have decided now not to organise it as a swingers club.

"If people turn up, they will find themed bedrooms, but there are lots of hotels that have themed bedrooms.

"There will still be facilities for people who want to indulge in their fantasies."

Alex Watson, leader of Derwentside District Council said he was pleased at the latest move.

He said: "This is great news for the people of Stanley who had deep anxiety over what was proposed.

"However, there are still issues that need to be discussed and we will go ahead with a special planning committee meeting of the council to go through them."

BBC News

An exhibition of sex-related art in Beijing has been forced to close because it has proved too popular.

The show featured works of art from the past 2,000 years.

According to the Chinese newspaper Beijing Youth Daily, chaotic scenes ensued after 200 people crowded into a small exhibition room designed to hold half that number.

Security personnel had to watch helplessly as one of the glass panes of the exhibits was smashed, the paper said.

The organisers then decided to shut the exhibition, although it had been scheduled to last a week.

Many of the objects on show had taken years to collect by the deputy head of Beijing Sexual Health Research Association, Ma Shaonian, according to the paper.

A sex museum in Shanghai has had a very different reception.

China's Xinhua news agency reported earlier this month that Liu Dalin was being forced to shut his Ancient Chinese Sex Culture Museum because it receives an average of only 30 visitors a day, way below the minimum needed to pay its overheads.

Local authorities in a city labelled in colonial times as the "Whore of the Orient" are reported to have hindered Mr Dalin's attempts to publicise his museum.

It will move early next year to a Qing Dynasty women's school in Tongli, a town in neighbouring Jiangsu province.

Tongli is a popular cultural tourist spot and Mr Dalin hopes his 3,700 pieces will attract more visitors there.

BBC News

A 13-year-old girl who has become one of the country's youngest mothers has called for compulsory sex education in primary schools.

The Derbyshire teenager, known as Anne Marie, says sex lessons came too late for her.

She delivered an eight-pound boy at Nottingham's Queen's Medical Centre in September, after becoming pregnant to a 13-year-old boy.

Already pregnant

"I went through all the options to decide whether to keep him or not - and I thought if I got rid of him I would regret it later in life," she said.

Her mother told Anne Marie that the decision was up to her - but that she would receive her full support.

The Derbyshire family have had support from Anne Marie's school, the health service and from friends.

But the family says sex education in schools is behind the times - and should start earlier.

"I think it should have been a bit earlier than it was - because I was pregnant when I had sex education," Anne Marie said.

Liberal Democrats voted in favour of compulsory sex education for children as young as seven at their annual conference in Brighton in late September.

Critics of the call said compulsion was wrong and parents should be trusted to decide for themselves whether their child should go to sex education lessons.

Anne Marie's mother said: "I thought she would be a lot more sensible than that - I didn't even know that she had a boyfriend."

Anne Marie has returned to school and says she is determined to do well.

Her mother, who is 36, has decided to look after the baby boy while her daughter is at school.

BBC News

Most women hate their bodies and would go under the plastic surgeon's knife if it was free, according to a new survey.

Six in 10 of the 45,000 women questioned said they could not stand the way they looked, while just over one in three were "fairly happy" and only one in 25 was "completely happy".

The stomach is the body part most are aching to change (40%), followed by hips and thighs (24%), breasts (16%) and bottom (7%).

Some 56% would change one or two things with cosmetic surgery if it was free - and nearly one in 10 would change the lot.

Clothes shopping

Four in ten worry about their body shape every day and more than one in three dream of losing at least two stones.

Shopping for clothes fuels the most body angst for 26% of those who took part in the internet poll.

And 34% say any social situation makes them feel body shy, while 23% feel awkward sunbathing on the beach.

Sheila Sang, head of the Women's Channel at AOL, which carried out the nationwide survey, said: "We are living in a world obsessed by fad dieting, celebrity makeovers and image.

"So it's not surprising that people set themselves such high standards that can sometimes be unrealistic."

BBC News

American actor Robert De Niro has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his publicist has announced. However, his chances of beating the disease are reported to be good.

"Because of the early detection and his excellent physical condition, doctors project a full recovery," said Stan Rosenfield.

The publicist added that the 60-year-old actor intended to go ahead as planned with shooting his next feature, Hide and Seek, for 20th Century Fox early next year.

No details were released about the treatment De Niro is receiving.

"He's a private person and doesn't care to have his treatment out for public consumption," said Rosenfield.

Two Oscars

In a 40-year career, De Niro has made over 60 films, winning two Oscars, and receiving four other nominations.

He got best actor for his 1980 role as boxing champion Jake La Motta in Raging Bull, and best supporting actor in 1975 for the young mafioso Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II.

He used his traditional tough guy persona to comic ends more recently in Analyze This, in which he played a gangster opposite Billy Crystal's psychoanalyst.

He also founded the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002 as a way of promoting culture and tourism in the downtown districts of New York that were suffering in the wake of the 11 September attacks.

De Niro has lived in the arty Manhattan district for 20 years.

BBC News

Volunteers agreed to have sex while having their brains scanned for a Dutch scientific study.

They had to keep their heads perfectly still while having sex and had to finish within seven minutes.

The experiments were part of a study by researchers at Groningen University into sexual problems.

Professor Marc Holstege said the PET-scan would not have worked if the volunteers had not managed to meet the conditions.

He told De Telegraaf: "But as we asked them all to practise before the scan was made, they all succeeded. The men were also asked to ejaculate within seven minutes. And that was no problem at all either."

Among the study's findings was that an orgasm has the same effect on the brain as a dose of heroin.

Prof Holstege said the results of this survey could help develop a medicine to treat people with mental sexual problems in the same way that viagra helps people with physical problems.

Ananova.com

A quarter of gay people in Wales have been forced to leave their jobs because of their sexuality, according to a new survey.

The first survey of lesbian, gay and bisexual people in Wales, by campaign group Stonewall Cymru with Cardiff University, also found that more than a third said they had been the victim of physical violence or bullying.

The figure of 25% claiming they have had to leave their jobs due to discrimination is double the UK average and Stonewall Cymru has called on the Welsh assembly to fund a "homophobic hate crime officer" for Wales.

Welsh Social Justice Minister Edwina Hart is launched the survey, Counted Out, at the assembly on Tuesday.

"It is shocking that 25% of respondents reported having been dismissed from their jobs because of their sexuality, while many more face daily harassment." she said. The survey, carried out by Stonewall Cymru with Cardiff University, involved interviews with 364 lesbian, gay and bisexual people across Wales.

The key findings of the Counted Out report include:

More than one in three respondents reported being the victim of physical violence or bullying. More than half of those aged 18-25 had been physically assaulted or bullied. According to the survey, a quarter of respondents reported "having been dismissed" from a job because of their sexuality.

Derek Walker, of Stonewall Cymru, told BBC Radio Wales: "Lesbian and gay people are notoriously difficult to survey because of the discrimination found by those who come out, so we were pleased with the 364 who responded to the survey.

"We went to the Cardiff Mardi Gras in 2002, we went to community groups across Wales and we surveyed people in our annual conference - so those people are already out in the community.

Homophobic bullying

"People are finding it difficult to be out in today's Wales - we are finding it difficult to hear from them but the findings are still important.

"We think they flag up important issues to do with community safety, discrimination in the workplace and the situation in schools."

The survey found examples of homophobic bullying in schools and the workplace.

One anonymous quote said: "At school and college other students threw stones and spat at me and some other girls who were lesbians."

Another respondent said: "I currently live in my parents' home town. "We've experienced constant and extreme abuse. Eggs, mud and water balloons thrown at the house, names and obscene comments being shouted at us in the street."

Stonewall Cymru said a homophobic hate crime officer could provide support and advice to police forces and local community safety partnerships.

Mr Walker added: "In the job I do, I hear these stories every day of the week and it's very depressing that it still goes on. "But on the positive side I think things are getting better. "Fewer and fewer people are experiencing discrimination and we need to do more."

BBC News

The Catholic Church has been accused of telling people in countries with high rates of HIV that condoms do not protect against the deadly virus.

The claims are made in a Panorama programme called Sex and the Holy City to be screened on BBC One on Sunday.

It says cardinals, bishops, priests and nuns in four continents are saying HIV can pass through tiny holes in condoms.

The World Health Organization has condemned the comments and warned the Vatican it is putting lives at risk. The claims come just a day after a report revealed that a young person is now infected with HIV every 14 seconds.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, around 6,000 people between the ages of 15 and 24 catch the virus every day. Half of all new infections are now in people under the age of 25 and most of these are young women living in the developing world.

Condom advice

Health experts around the world urge people to use condoms to protect themselves from HIV and a host of sexually transmitted infections.

However, the Catholic Church has consistently refused to back such calls. The Vatican is opposed to contraception and has advocated that people change their behaviour instead. But according to Panorama, the Church is now telling people that condoms do not work.

In an interview, one of the Vatican's most senior cardinals Alfonso Lopez Trujillo suggested HIV could even pass through condoms.

"The Aids virus is roughly 450 times smaller than the spermatozoon. The spermatozoon can easily pass through the 'net' that is formed by the condom," he says.

The cardinal, who is president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family, suggests that governments should urge people not to use condoms. "These margins of uncertainty...should represent an obligation on the part of the health ministries and all these campaigns to act in the same way as they do with regard to cigarettes, which they state to be a danger."

The programme includes a Catholic nun advising her HIV-infected choir master not to use condoms with his wife because "the virus can pass through".

The Archbishop of Nairobi Raphael Ndingi Nzeki told Panaroma that condoms were helping to spread the virus.

"Aids...has grown so fast because of the availability of condoms," he said.

In Kenya, one in five people are HIV positive.

Gordon Wambi, director of an Aids testing programme in Lwak, near Lake Victoria, told the programme that he could not distribute condoms because of opposition from the Catholic Church.

"Some priests have even been saying that condoms are laced with HIV/Aids," he said.

According to Panaroma, the claims about condoms are repeated by Catholics as far apart as Asia and Latin America.

Claims condemned

Catherine Hankins, chief scientific advisor to UNAids, condemned the Church's comments.

"It is very unfortunate to have this type of misinformation being broadcast," she told BBC News Online. "It is a concern. From a technical point of view, the statements are totally incorrect. "Latex condoms are impermeable. They do prevent HIV transmission."

The WHO also attacked the Catholic Church's comments.

"Statements like this are quite dangerous, " a spokeswoman told BBC News Online. "We are facing a global pandemic which has already killed more than 20 million people and currently affects around 42 million. "There is so much evidence to show that condoms don't let sexually transmitted infections like HIV through. "Anyone who says otherwise is just wrong."

The aid agency Christian Aid also attacked the Vatican's attitude.

"Condoms are a straightforward and effective way of preventing HIV transmission and to suggest otherwise is dangerous," said Dr Rachel Baggaley, head of its HIV unit.

BBC News

Most newlyweds in China have had sex before they marry, a new government report has suggested. Research published by the State Family Planning Association showed that in most regions, 60-70% of people had lost their virginity before they applied to get married.

The findings underscored a dramatic shift in attitudes towards pre-marital sex in China, where in the 1970s and 1980s, such behaviour was still considered taboo.

The Family Planning Association's figures were based on 196 research reports issued between 1990 and 2000, and used information from medical examinations.

These check-ups were compulsory in order to obtain a marriage certificate - until changes in the law last week.

An official with the association said more studies needed to be done on attitudes towards sex.

"Knowledge, attitudes, capability and behaviour of the unwed towards sex is still outside the national survey of population and health", said Gu Baochang, deputy executive director of the association.

"This isn't good for making policies and launching programs on sex health," he told the French news agency AFP.

Correspondents say that many of the Chinese public are eager to find out more about sex themselves.

When a new sexual education textbook was put on sale in the university district of Beijing, earlier this year, it sold out overnight.

BBC News