Marriage is officially good: Lonely? Feeling low? Try taking a walk - down the aisle. Getting married enhances mental health, especially if you're depressed, according to a new US study. The benefits of marriage for the depressed are particularly dramatic, a finding that surprised the professor/student team behind the study.
"We actually found the opposite of what we expected," said Adrianne Frech, a PhD sociology student at Ohio State University, who conducted the study with Kristi Williams, an assistant professor of sociology.
They expected to find that one spouse's depression weighed too much on the marriage, but "just mattering to someone else can help alleviate symptoms of depression". - (Reuters)
'Code' No 1 with MPs
The Da Vinci Code remains the top summer read for Britain's MPs three years after it was first published. Dan Brown's best-seller topped the annual House of Commons summer reading list compiled by book chain Waterstone's.
Second was a biography of William Pitt the Younger by former Tory leader William Hague.
Another political biography, Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang and Jon Halliday, was third. Over at the House of Lords, The Da Vinci Code is the second most popular holiday read. It was beaten by Antony Beevor's weightier tome The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939.
Waterstone's surveyed more than 200 MPs and peers. Several admitted that their summer reading would comprise "airport fiction", "anything in the top 10 best-seller lists" or "whatever my wife takes on holiday". - (PA)
'You're a Star' auditions
Organisers of You're A Star expect thousands to try their luck at the auditions in Dublin's Helix venue tomorrow.
Auditions for the talent contest, which will be seen on RTÉ 1, are at The Helix tomorrow; the Hillgrove Hotel, Monaghan, on August 20th; the Galway Bay Hotel, Salthill, on August 24th; the Clarion, Cork, on August 27th; and the RDS, Dublin, on September 3rd.
The auditions get under way as the winner of Charity You're A Star, John Aldridge, the least talented but most popular singer in the contest, came to terms with his victory. "I'm lost for words," said the former Ireland soccer player when the win was announced on Sunday evening.