A man dies on a beach in West Sussex after going to the aid of two children in the sea.

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Man drowns rescuing two children

Gently, gently, the librarian opens the first of the five books displayed on the large wooden table, and age seems to rise up from the pages like a wavy distortion above heated pavement. It’s an English volume, “A New System of Modern Geography,” in its first American printing in 1794, bound in brown leather with marbled paper, and gold gilt along the top edge. On an inside right page is the neatly formal signature of its most famous owner — the first president of the United States. Read full article > >

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Mount Vernon replicates George Washington’s personal library

Say they shouldn’t be barred “solely on the basis of sex.”

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Female Soldiers Sue to Lift Combat Ban

Senior Conservative sources say the party’s MPs will be allowed a free vote on legalising marriage for same-sex couples.

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Free gay marriage vote for Tories

Tilda. Stop. On second thought, don’t. Ever. She’s too much, and never enough, and she made our week by blazing off the cover of the summer 2012 issue of Candy — “the first fashion magazine completely dedicated to celebrating transvestism, transexuality, crossdressing and androgyny in all their glory” — dressed as what appears to be a gold Rolls Royce hood ornament, subtitled by the words “extra extravagance.” Yes. Read full article > >

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Tilda Swinton on the cover of Candy magazine

A US senator challenges claims the Secret Service sex scandal was an isolated incident, at the first congressional hearing into the affair.

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Secret Service scandal in hearing

Public opinion continues to shift in favor of same-sex marriage, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll , which also finds initial signs that President Obama’s support for the idea may have changed a few minds. Read full article > >

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After President Obama’s announcement, opposition to same-sex marriage hits record low

A woman who killed her housemate by stabbing him after playing “sexual games” is convicted of culpable homicide.

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‘Sex games’ killing woman guilty

A Formula One-themed garden is one of three Essex displays to win gold medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower show.

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Topiary F1 car wins Chelsea gold

The Air Force said Monday that it had fined the former commander of the Dover Air Force Base mortuary $7,000 and suspended his top deputy for 20 days without pay for retaliating against whistleblowers, but it allowed both men to keep their jobs. Read full article > >

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Dover mortuary officials punished for retaliating against whistleblowers

The troubled Archdiocese of Philadelphia said Monday that it has ousted two priests due to allegations of sexual abuse of minors.

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2 priests out over sex abuse allegations

“ Fifty Shades of Grey ,” the erotic novel by E L James, features cliche characters, highly implausible plot turns and dialogue that alternately induces cringes and giggles. ( Sample line : “ ‘Look at me,’ he breathes, and I stare into his smoldering gaze . . . cold, hard and sexy as hell, seven shades of sin in one enticing look.”) But many of my friends — and, judging by the bestseller lists, millions of women across the country — can’t put the book down. Even I will admit to ignoring my children to read what’s being called “mommy porn,” which details the titillating adventures of the young, innocent Anastasia Steele, who is initiated into the world of kinky pleasures by one Christian Grey, a sexy older billionaire who woos her into a dominant-submissive relationship. Read full article > >

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‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ is seen as improving women’s sexual health and wellness

The NAACP’s board of directors voted Saturday to endorse same-sex marriage rights – adding the influential voice of the country’s leading black civil rights organization to a debate that has divided the African-American community. Read full article > >

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NAACP endorses same-sex marriage

Two men from Rochdale are arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation into grooming and child sexual exploitation in the town.

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Two further arrests over grooming

Palisades Park administrators say they rejected a request to remove a plaque in memory of “comfort women” forced into sexual slavery in World War II.

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Monument in Palisades Park, N.J., Irritates Japanese Officials