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I am amazed Lemmy lived as long as he did. In 1985, I would see him at the Marquee club or in a nearby pub with an endless parade of cigarettes in one hand, double shots of Jack in another, pumping coins into a slot machine. He lived 30 years longer than I ever imagined.

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By all means be excited the day your baby walks across the room to you, but don't forget that more obscure milestones might be worth celebrating too.

Abandoned half-built buildings, abandoned half-destroyed buildings and slums form the bulk of the cityscape of Goma, on the border with Rwanda. Nothing works. Corruption, power outages, and impassable roads - and the palpable threat of chaos - are part of daily life. One in six children born today in the Democratic Republic of Congo won't live to see their fifth birthday. Since the outbreak of fighting in 1998 almost three million children have died here. Within these dire conditions I saw the extraordinary work of War Child and met children who, despite every element working against them, astonished me with their warmth, intelligence, determination and desire to learn and build a better life.

Alamy

All of us need to forgive somebody in our lives. Only you know who that person is. Christmas is a good time to make the first move.

Masha Alekhina

If we in Europe call humanity one of our fundamental values, ​​then we cannot leave the people who are turning to us for help to freeze in the field.

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Kylie Minogue is relentless. She just goes on. She is like the Terminator of the entertainment industry. Just when you think she's done for, she comes rising out that molten metal swinging on a chain, ready to keep going.

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It is imperative to explore the phenomenon of sharing sacred religious spaces in modern cities, though this has to be done with an eye to the historical, practical and political considerations that are embedded in such practices.

Annette Bonnier

There is an unusual dichotomy in the role of the elephant in Indian society. The animal is seen both as an enlightened, spiritual being and a beast of burden. Ganesh, the elephant-headed god, is venerated as one of the highest deities in the Hindu religion. Many temples in southern India house an elephant for worshippers to visit. But elephants are also chained and used for logging and tourism.

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We've routinely proved ourselves to be 'unable to commit'. When it comes to business and politics our relationship with ambition isn't so warm and fuzzy. It's time Australia got down on bended knee and promised to love and cherish ambition til death do us part.

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The good thing about writing about smoking is that for once I don't have to watch my words. Nothing I say could possibly offend smokers more than the government's shock tactics and cigarette packets themselves.

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You will find me wrapped around your head. Especially when it's cold. It's really cool how your head gives off so much heat, by the way. You are awesome. I also do this to stop you hearing thunder, because thunder is scary.

JIM COLE/AP

People may think that women no longer face sexism in media or politics when they speak, but that ignores the very obvious fact that even before women say anything they have already, in split seconds, jumped through hundreds of "what if I said something about sexism" hoops.

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When I tell people I live with my boyfriend's family, I always get the same reaction. "Oh god, how's that going?" they say, like they'd rather eat crushed glass than sleep (ahem) a wall away from the almost in-­laws and their offspring.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

She is brave, skilled, resourceful, determined. She has a past that is not spelled out for us but rather is left as a tantalizing mystery. She is no one's love interest, and is not defined by her relationships with or unrequited longings for any particular man. And she kicks tremendous ass.

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This article will tell you what I know for sure, and wish I had known a long time ago, about abusive relationships, in the hope that it might empower and help anyone in a similar situation, whether it's early on or decades in.

James Brickwood, Fairfax Media

It's a term I've always loathed, and one that's dogged just about every working mother I know, for decades. The stunningly naïve belief that once we women had The Vote, The Pill, No-Fault Divorce and Equal Pay, that we could now go about the business of having The Job, The Marriage, The Kids, The Home we wanted, and -- some sanity.

I celebrate breastfeeding mothers everywhere. It's a tough and beautiful gig. I also celebrate those mothers who gave it a go and then made another choice -- because nothing is "best" for a baby if the mother is suffering.