Britain can't be trusted says the US, Lady Gaga has a wardrobe malfunction and why being too lonely is a bad thing

Charmain Naidoo found this interesting in the news today...

1. This from the New York Review of Books: “Almost from the beginning of its history, America has struggled to find a balance in its foreign policy between narrowly promoting its own security and idealistically serving the interests of others; between, as we’ve tended to see it in shorthand, Teddy Roosevelt’s big stick and the ideals of Woodrow Wilson. Just as consistently, the US has gone through periods of embracing a leading international role for itself and times when Americans have done all they could to turn their backs on the rest of the world. Two new books now join this never-ending debate: Henry Kissinger’s World Order and America in Retreat by Bret Stephens, a Pulitzer Prize – winning foreign affairs columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Both sound a call for more powerful and more engaged US leadership around the globe. Both Stephens and Kissinger appear to be worried about a return to isolationism, or at least a more inward-looking American policy, and are doing what they can to head it off. Both offer their own view of the relation between US interests and US values. Stephens’s formula, roughly speaking, is 90% interests, 10% values, when convenient. Kissinger frames the debate more elegantly as one of power vs principle, but he often comes down on both sides of the fence.” This is how Jessica T Mathews begins her review of these two books, aptly titled The Road from Westphalia. It’s a riveting read, rooted in recent history and woven into current events. Both books are on my Must Read list.

2. A ten-month-old baby girl, Aliya Saleen of Jharkhand in India weighs in at 18,5kg – apparently the average weight of a six year old – making her the heaviest child of her age anywhere in the world. Her birth weight was around 4kg, and then she began to put on weight at a rapid rate alarming her parents who are concerned about her health; another of their children died aged 18 months, after a similar rapid weight gain. Doctors in the Indian town are perplexed as to the cause, unsure if this is morbid obesity or a hormonal imbalance.

3. This from CNN online: “During his upcoming speech to Congress (later today) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will lay out the details of what he understands to be the nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran, hoping it will prompt lawmakers to question the administration and delay the March 24 deadline for a political agreement. A senior Israeli official traveling in Netanyahu's delegation, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said the Israeli government had "a good understanding of the agreement we can draw conclusions from. We know what we know. And believe me, we know a lot of information about this agreement," the official told reporters aboard the flight to Washington. "The Prime Minister is going to Congress to explain what they don't know about this agreement that it is a bad agreement." Meanwhile Netanyahu tweeted: “I am leaving for Washington on a fateful, even historic mission. I am the emissary of all Israelis, even those who disagree with me.” Watch this space!

4. It was a case of much, much more than the side boob showing that she seems to prefer. This time, the Mail Online has pictures to prove it, Lady Gaga had a major wardrobe malfunction and exposed a lot more of herself than she intended. The 28-year-old singer-turned-actress was spotted filming scenes in New York City - possibly for the upcoming season of American Horror Story - when she accidentally exposed her breast as she changed outfits in a car.

5. Is isolation becoming more and more part of the human condition? How else can one explain a Mail story that tells how a 44-year-old Michigan IT worker – with nine siblings – lay dead for five years before her mummified body was discovered? Pia Farrenkopf, who lived alone and was described as a little solitary, was found in the backseat of her car, her body so desiccated that the cause of death could not be established. Investigators believe she died in 2009 but wasn’t found until 2014 after the bank had foreclosed on her house!

6. “Britain is becoming a friend who can't be trusted,” top US general Raymond Odierno, US army Chief of Staff, exclusively told The Telegraph in an interview published today. He blamed Britain’s defence cuts which, he said, were eroding American confidence in the UK’s commitment to global security.

7. The Huffington Post on Russian Nemtsov’s murder: “For the tens of thousands bearing flowers and tying black ribbons to railings in honour of slain Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, the solemn march through the Moscow drizzle on Sunday was a time for silence, not slogans. The marchers occasionally broke into chants of "Russia without Putin," or "Say no to war," but often the only sound was the steady thwack of police helicopters overhead or the hum of police boats patrolling the shores of the Moscow River. While the killing of Nemtsov has shaken the Russian opposition, which sees the Kremlin as responsible, it is unclear whether his death will be enough to invigorate the beleaguered movement. Despite the Ukraine conflict and Russia's economic crisis, support for President Vladimir Putin has been above 80% in the past year.”

8. The Los Angeles Times reports that there’s a new potential police shooting row brewing: the LAPD were caught on video gunning down a homeless man. Police claim the man began attacking them, resisting arrest. He was then shot to death! There are fears of another Ferguson.

9. There’s an uplifting story in the Mail about 80-year-old Elizabeth Moore, who, despite all the protests from friends and family, went ahead and had a facelift. And she got her plastic surgeon to do some dermabrasion on her skin, as well as inject fat into her cheeks to fill them up a bit! There are pictures too, and she looks much improved!