NEW YORK - Rather than spending Valentine’s Day with their partner, one-fifth of adults would prefer to be with their pet. The survey of 24,000 people in 23 countries found 21 percent of adults would rather spend February 14 with their pet than their spouse.  Full Article

.

UK - Hair extensions should be banned, according to one of the biggest hair science groups in the UK. The Trichological Society says a growing number of salons are offering to do them at a cheap price and some hairdressers don’t have the qualifications to put them in properly and that’s leading to more young women suffering from hair problems such as bald patches and alopecia. Full Article

.

US Airways flight - A San Francisco man, accused of forcing a flight to divert because he was high on medical marijuana, picked the wrong flight attendant to freak out on. The flight attendant, Lorin Gorman of Chula Vista is a fourth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Those skills may have averted a serious situation in the air.  Full Article

.

Bethesda, Maryland - Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, a longtime fixture on the House subcommittee that oversees Pentagon spending, died after complications from gallbladder surgery. He recently underwent scheduled laparoscopic surgery at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, to remove his gallbladder. The procedure was “routine minimally invasive surgery,” but doctors “hit his intestines,” a source close to the late congressman told CNN.  Full Article

.

A new report by the International Planned Parenthood Federation is advocating that children as young as 10 be given extensive sex education, including an awareness of sex’s pleasures. The report, “Stand and Deliver,” charges that religious groups, specifically Catholics and Muslims, deny their young access to comprehensive sexual programs and education.  Full Article

.

UK - James Lockyear demonstrated ‘unprofessional, juvenile, inappropriate, disgusting and offensive’ behaviour, a disciplinary panel found. Not only did he put the testicle from a castrated dog in his mouth but he also put a medical tube up his nose and showed a nurse a photo of his erect penis on his mobile phone. Full Article

.

Japan - Japanese authorities have found the body of a man in the landing gear of a Delta airliner that arrived in Tokyo from New York.  Doctors say he probably froze to death and that he suffered a shortage of oxygen at an altitude of more than 30,000 feet. Full Article

.

Tampa, Florida - The 1.9-acre fenced site, however, has lost sand through the years. The city plans to replenish 200-plus feet of the coastline, but not before erosion safeguards are in place. An offshore rip-rap barrier will be installed to reduce the impact of waves and boat wakes. Then tons of sand will be trucked in, said city landscape architect Laurie Potier-Brown.  Full Article

.

New Orleans - Three people were wounded this morning near Iberville and Bourbon streets, the New Orleans Police Department reported. They found three people shot, all with non-life threatening injuries: a 25-year-old man, a 30-year-old woman and a 36-year-old woman. Full Article

.

Germany - It’s the main reason so many of us feel such trepidation when faced with a trip to the dentist. But the dreaded drill could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new technique in which teeth are treated with acid gel squirted from a syringe. Scientists say acid’s corrosive properties become an advantage when it comes to removing rotting parts of teeth.  Full Article

.

Costa Rica - Costa Ricans elected a former vice president, Laura Chinchilla, as the country’s first female president, giving the ruling party a resounding victory. The campaign has had its share of unusual moments. In response to questions over campaign financing, Mr. Guevara took a polygraph test on television. Mr. Solís also submitted to a test, but Ms. Chinchilla declined.  Full Article

.

The U.N.’s controversial climate report is coming under fire — again — this time by one of its own scientists, who claims that warnings of a climate-caused African food shortage is bogus. The statement comes from a key 2007 report to the U.N., and asserts that by 2020 yields from rain-fed agriculture could be reduced by up to 50% in some African countries thanks to climate change.  Full Article

.