Macho diets: from Lord Falconer’s Diet Coke and apples to Charles Saatchi’s nine eggs a day

Falconer’s five-stone weight loss is the latest in a string of unusual regimes – so what’s with the ostentatious suffering that goes with so many alpha male diets, asks Stuart Heritage

FGM: more than 1,700 women and girls treated by NHS since April

Public health minister heralds data collection on female genital mutilation as ‘major milestone’ on road to ending FGM in the UK

UK government commits further £330k to eradicate FGM

Having pledged £35m to halt the practice abroad the government is now allocating funds to deal with it in Britain

Can free school meals revive the Lib Dems?

The party’s £1bn policy allows all pupils in all infant classes to get a daily hot meal. Nick Clegg took a lot of flak when it was announced – but how is it working out? Jay Rayner joins him in the school dinner queue

Who are Europe’s happiest people – progressives or conservatives?

Andrew Brown: We may assume social democracies produce higher levels of wellbeing, but poll data suggests the reverse may be true

Can we solve Britain’s obesity crisis with gastric surgery? It worked for me

Emma Burnell: Of course prevention is preferable, but when that fails we need a second chance. Like Jenni Murray, I felt my health was at risk

Labour appoints shadow minister to tackle violence against women and girls

Ed Miliband says appointment of Seema Malhotra shows importance Labour government would place on tackling problem

David Smail obituary

Clinical psychologist and writer whose work focused on the damaging effects of an unequal society

Medicinal cannabis and the caregiving community giving it away for free

Sarah Whitehead: Marijuana legislation is being relaxed all over the world – but not in the UK, where the most unlikely of horticulturalists are taking the law into their own hands

Domestic violence refuge provision at crisis point, warn charities

Women's groups say broadscale closure of safe houses putting support for some of most vulnerable people back 40 years