A controversial proposed amendment to Iraq's family legislation would "open the door for marriage to be legalised for children as young as nine years old", said Middle East Eye.

The bill is backed by Coordination Framework – a coalition made up of conservative, Shia religious factions that have "dominated" Iraqi politics since 2021, said The Guardian.

What is the current law?
Iraq's Personal Status Law of 1959 established 18 as the legal age of marriage – though children can be married as young as 15 with permission from a judge or guardian. Unicef reports that 28% of Iraqi girls are married before 18, including thousands wed in unauthorised religious ceremonies.

The new bill is the latest of "several attempts to abrogate the law and revert to traditional Islamic rules" since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, said France 24.

What would change?
The proposed amendment doesn't explicitly legalise child marriage, but would mandate Muslim couples to select either the Sunni or Shia sect at the time of the registration of their marriage. They would then have the choice to have that sect "represent them in 'all matters of personal status' rather than the civil judiciary", said Middle East Eye.

Opponents say this paves the way for the children of these marriages to be married off by their parents according to the doctrine of their sect, potentially bypassing the secular mandatory minimum age.

What has the reaction been?
Around 500 women's rights advocates gathered in Baghdad's Tahrir Square last week to protest against the amendment. Some held signs reading "No marriage of minors" and "There is no Quranic verse that takes custody away from the mother". Further demonstrations have followed in several other Iraqi cities.

Razaw Salihy, Amnesty International's Iraq researcher, said that "no matter how it is dressed up, in passing these amendments, Iraq would be closing a ring of fire around women and children". The independent MP behind the bill, Ra'ad al-Maliki, said claims that it would allow child marriage were "lies fabricated by some out of hatred for applying the provisions of God’s law to those who want them".

With so much in-flight entertainment available on planes, many might question why someone would "challenge themselves to sit in silence", said The Sun.

But a new trend known as "rawdogging" a flight – no phones, films, reading or any other distraction of any kind – is "taking the world of social media by storm". Manchester City footballer Erling Haaland is the latest convert, posting a picture of himself on a seven-hour flight with "no phone no sleep no water no food only map". 

'Opportunity to recharge'
Once slang for sex without a condom, the term rawdogging is now being used online to mean doing something without protection or support. Rawdogging flights is a way for predominantly young men to showcase their ability to "handle solitude and discomfort with stoicism", said the BBC.

According to business psychologist Danielle Haig, rawdogging also "offers an opportunity to recharge mentally". Modern life contains a "constant barrage" of stimulation, said Sadhbh O'Sullivan on the i news site. But once I stopped wearing headphones, I felt engaged with the world and looked at my phone less. Being alone with my thoughts has become a "treat, not a punishment". Forget flights – I'm "rawdogging life". And "frankly, I am loving it".

'Never been so bored'
These rawdogging "tough nuts" remind me of "stylites", said Christopher Howse in The Telegraph – fifth century religious "ascetics" who sat on pillars during the early Byzantine Empire days. "Silent, fasting and weatherbeaten, but a bit show-offy."

Experts have warned that taken to extremes – such as refusing to stand, eat or drink during a long-haul flight – rawdogging can lead to dehydration, fatigue and even deep vein thrombosis. "They're idiots," GP Gill Jenkins told the BBC. "A digital detox might do you some good, but all the rest of it is against medical advice."

This trend has simply become "the latest way for men to prove their masculinity", said  The Guardian's Rich Pelley. After rawdogging a six-hour Megabus journey, my key takeaway was: "I've never been so utterly bored in my entire life."

It's good to have Freddie Flintoff back, said Anita Singh in The Telegraph. The England cricketer-turned-TV presenter has returned in his first show since his near-fatal crash in 2022. And I'll wager that this follow-up to "Freddie Flintoff's Field of Dreams" is "the most entertaining, touching series you'll watch this year".

The original saw Flintoff return to his hometown of Preston to create a cricket team from an unlikely bunch of teens. Now, Flintoff is "taking the boys on tour" to India. There is "dreadful foreboding" in watching an "upbeat" Flintoff planning the trip with no idea what's in store, said Jack Seale in The Guardian. Midway through filming, the open-topped Morgan Super 3 that Flintoff was driving for an episode of "Top Gear" flipped and slid along the track, leaving him with facial injuries and broken ribs.

For the first time since, we see Flintoff talk about the crash and the anxiety he suffered afterwards. If the "scarring on such a famous face is a shock", the change in Flintoff's demeanour is even more "concerning": he is visibly reeling.

"When it comes to sheer emotional stakes", said James Jackson in The Times, this series is "knocking the first one for six". The show is no longer focused on the boys; it's about Flintoff's road to recovery. It "threatens to make most other TV with 'personal journeys' look trite". And while it's "undoubtedly schmaltzy" and sometimes "rather predictable", said Nick Hilton in The Independent, the new series showcases the "power of sport" to "overcome hurdles".

Populist politicians will never 'control' immigration. Here are the humane alternatives
Filippo Grandi for The Guardian
In Europe's "febrile" immigration debate, writes the UN's Filippo Grandi, one word "crops up again and again: control". But the notion is "illusory", because "so many policies touted as the 'solution' to immigration flout the law and basic human rights" and also "fail to address the reasons why people move: conflict, violence, persecution, poverty, the climate crisis". The "most urgent and obvious" strategy is "brokering peace", and "fairer asylum systems and slashing backlogs are another must".

I miss my friends once they become parents
Kate Lister for the i news site
"Almost all of my friends are parents now" and  I "adore" their kids, writes Kate Lister. But I am also "acutely aware of the fact that I can no longer relate to the people closest to me when it comes to what is now the most important thing in their lives: being a mum". Nothing is the same "once that bundle of chaotic joy has landed", and "that has to include friendships".

Elites decide Hunter Biden can finally be a scandal now that Joe is out
Editorial Board in the New York Post
Hunter Biden is a "corrupt con artist" who "used his father's position to leverage the government and make himself millions", says the New York Post. But only now that Joe Biden has been "successfully pushed aside" are officials "allowed to admit" it. This is "rotten, unscrupulous, cynical hypocrisy". How "convenient" that damning messages "surface only after Biden Senior has been forced into the retirement home" and "the media can claim 'it doesn't matter'".