Imogen Folks

Did your partner forget Valentine's Day this year? Did a man just spring to mind? Whilst it's commonly thought that men have a laissez-faire attitude towards romantic gestures, a new study finds the opposite to be true.

Did your partner forget Valentine's Day this year? Did a man just spring to mind? Whilst it's commonly thought that men have a laissez-faire attitude towards romantic gestures, a new study finds the opposite to be true.

Researchers from the Humboldt University of Berlin used anonymous surveys and more than 50 psychological and sociological studies to find, on average, heterosexual men tend to want a relationship more than women and are more likely to confess their love first. The main author of the paper, Iris Waring, explains one of the reasons why.

Researchers from the Humboldt University of Berlin used anonymous surveys and more than 50 psychological and sociological studies to find, on average, heterosexual men tend to want a relationship more than women and are more likely to confess their love first. The main author of the paper, Iris Waring, explains one of the reasons why.

But she says it's not just about wanting to get physical.

But she says it's not just about wanting to get physical.

The study also found that men are less likely to initiate breakups and more likely to suffer from them. So why then is there a stereotype that men are less romantic than women? Why do so many romantic movies have a female protagonist yearning for a male partner when this research shows it's the other way around? Maybe this is because they can.

The study also found that men are less likely to initiate breakups and more likely to suffer from them. So why then is there a stereotype that men are less romantic than women? Why do so many romantic movies have a female protagonist yearning for a male partner when this research shows it's the other way around? Maybe this is because they can.

Iris Waring is hopeful that the study can begin to change attitudes towards gender, romance and relationships.

Iris Waring is hopeful that the study can begin to change attitudes towards gender, romance and relationships.

Argentina's decision to leave, though nowhere near as financially damaging as Washington's, is still a slap in the face for the World Health Organization. Just two days ago, the WHO Director General urged member states to persuade the US to reconsider, pointing to global successes against polio and life-saving programs on HIV-AIDS, TB and malaria. But the WHO has become a political football.

Argentina's decision to leave, though nowhere near as financially damaging as Washington's, is still a slap in the face for the World Health Organization. Just two days ago, the WHO Director General urged member states to persuade the US to reconsider, pointing to global successes against polio and life-saving programs on HIV-AIDS, TB and malaria. But the WHO has become a political football.

The United States is the single biggest contributor to United Nations humanitarian aid. We're talking tens of billions of dollars in some areas. I mean, think about the Democratic Republic of Congo, where we've seen a really serious upsurge in the conflict in the last couple of weeks. The United States provided more than half of the aid funding there last year.

The United States is the single biggest contributor to United Nations humanitarian aid. We're talking tens of billions of dollars in some areas. I mean, think about the Democratic Republic of Congo, where we've seen a really serious upsurge in the conflict in the last couple of weeks. The United States provided more than half of the aid funding there last year.

We're talking about programs against sexual violence, support for victims, food, vaccination, all that kind of stuff. Interestingly, proportionately, though, in terms of its own wealth and in the size of its economy, the US is not the most generous contributor at all. But because it's such a big economy, the actual loss in cash jumps is absolutely huge.

We're talking about programs against sexual violence, support for victims, food, vaccination, all that kind of stuff. Interestingly, proportionately, though, in terms of its own wealth and in the size of its economy, the US is not the most generous contributor at all. But because it's such a big economy, the actual loss in cash jumps is absolutely huge.

Afghanistan was actually one of the countries we were hearing about this morning. Now, it is a country in humanitarian crisis. It has one of the highest levels of maternal mortality in the world. I mean, think about this. Every two hours, a woman dies in Afghanistan because of complications in pregnancy.

Afghanistan was actually one of the countries we were hearing about this morning. Now, it is a country in humanitarian crisis. It has one of the highest levels of maternal mortality in the world. I mean, think about this. Every two hours, a woman dies in Afghanistan because of complications in pregnancy.

A small UN agency, or one of the smaller ones, the UN Population Fund, it runs maternal health clinics in Afghanistan, and they serve hundreds of thousands of women. They are mostly women-led services, which is not easy to do in Afghanistan nowadays, but this agency does do it. They have been told not just that their future funds are cancelled, their current funds must not be spent anymore.

A small UN agency, or one of the smaller ones, the UN Population Fund, it runs maternal health clinics in Afghanistan, and they serve hundreds of thousands of women. They are mostly women-led services, which is not easy to do in Afghanistan nowadays, but this agency does do it. They have been told not just that their future funds are cancelled, their current funds must not be spent anymore.