At the age of 17, Simona Halep decided that nothing would stand in the way of  her ambition to make it to the top in  tennis. And that included her generous curves.
She underwent extensive breast  reduction surgery to take her from a 34DD to a more modest 34C and as a result rocketed up 450 places in the world rankings.
Two years on, she breezed through  her first-round match yesterday and said she was looking forward to a ‘successful Wimbledon’.
When she burst on to the scene as a  junior champion at the French Open in 2008, Miss Halep’s bountiful chest attracted lots of attention and a growing male fan base.
But she found it was uncomfortable, caused her severe back pain and hampered her movement on court, leaving her ranked 500 in the world.
Following the operation, the Romanian teenager spent several months resting before resuming her career last summer.
She had revealed her decision to fans before going under the knife – and many (presumably male) petitioned her in an attempt to persuade her to reconsider.
But she said her mind was made up.
‘My ability to react quickly was worse and my breasts made me uncomfortable.’
Her large chest guaranteed her attention - and won her a few male admirers - but for Romanian tennis hopeful Simona Halep it was a hindrance.
The extra weight on her chest was uncomfortable and caused severe back pain, which affected her performance on the court - so she decided to have breast-reduction surgery.
And the 19-year-old Romanian today continued to reap the rewards of her decision with a comfortable victory against her Serbian opponent, Bojana Jovanovski, 19, winning 6-1 6-2.
Halep was first noticed on her way to becoming junior champion at the French Open in 2008. In a bid to boost her game, she spent much of the following year recovering from the surgery, which took her cup size down from 34DD to a more modest 34C.

Released to coincide with World Refugee Day, a new U.N. report found that a staggering 80 percent of forcibly displaced people around the world are being hosted by developing nations rather than more economically-stable countries who would be better prepared to absorb them.

Prepared by the United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees (UNHCR), the 2010 Global Trends report shows that many of the world's poorest nations are also hosting massive refugee populations. With an estimated 1.9 million displaced persons within its borders, Pakistan hosts the refugees, with Iran and Syria coming in close behind, at about 1.1 million and 1 million respectively.

"In today’s world there are worrying misperceptions about refugee movements and the international protection paradigm,” UNHCR head António Guterres is quoted by the Christian Science Monitor as saying. “Fears about supposed floods of refugees in industrialized countries are being vastly overblown or mistakenly conflated with issues of migration. Meanwhile it’s poorer countries that are left having to pick up the burden.”

Of course, the data looks likely to shift in the coming year, as the report does not include those displaced by this year's conflicts in Libya or Syria, TIME reports.

Pakistan's army spokesman says a senior officer serving at army headquarters has been detained for suspected links with a banned militant group.
Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said Tuesday that Brig. Ali Khan is being questioned by army authorities over the links. He said Khan was detained recently but did not provide an exact date or specify the banned militant group involved.
The detention follows reports by U.S. officials that Pakistan detained five Pakistanis, including an army major, for helping the CIA carry out the American commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden last month. The Pakistani army denied an army major was arrested.

Tom Hanks is hitting the press junket hard, pitching his new comedy, "Larry Crowne," to anyone and everyone -- regardless of what language they speak. And it was during a four segment, lost-in-translation appearance on Spanish language Univision's "Despierta America" that Hanks may have actually trumped his comedic film with a bizarrely hilarious set of dance moves.
After roughly understanding what the hosts had to say, Hanks moved over to do the weather -- and show some flair. While reading the temperatures, he danced with the normal meteorological presenter in a non-step series of amazing -- and for his sake, hopefully unplanned -- dance moves.
And it tired him out.

This post originally appeared on The Good Men Project

Vicki Larson and I have been having a fairly heated conversation about what ugly has to do, or not do, with a man being marrying material. Her Huffington Post column got huge attention for claiming that women should choose ugly husbands, lest they be subject to the Weiner/Tiger/Arnold syndrome--appealing and powerful men who crash and burn.
I am not sure we will ever agree completely, but in my direct conversations with Vicki I get the sense that we actually agree, perhaps more than we disagree. Vicki and I thought it might be informative to engage in a spirited question and answer about her original piece and my sense of what manhood really is all about.
Tom: Vicki, everywhere I look, there are articles that attempt to summarize manhood (ironically most often written by women). Don't you think making sweeping stereotype-driven judgments about men is the same thing as making those judgments about women, or blacks or gays?
Vicki: You're surprised? Women love analyzing men! Sweeping stereotypes are horrible -- I hate being seen as a high-maintenance gold-digger living off my ex's hard-earned money just because I'm a divorced blonde. Intelligent people understand that the world doesn't work in absolutes -- "never" and "always."
What saddens me reading the comments here and elsewhere is that we still focus on how "bad" the other sex is. The studies I cite are old, they've been written about many times before, but because of social media, many people knee-jerk react and spread it faster, farther and wider than before. So much for thoughtful commentary.
Tom: I heard an interesting interview with Jon Hamm, who plays Don Draper on "Mad Men," in which he talked about how difficult it is for him to be objectified. He was serious about it and appeared to be an honest and sweet man despite his good looks. Should we be feeling sorry for him?
Vicki: We all want to feel attractive, not objectified. Still, Hamm chose a career that feeds off of good looks and he's being paid well and has many opportunities because of it. But it's great he's talking about it because women don't know how men feel about being lust objects. Most women, however, do; even women who aren't "beautiful" are drooled over because they might have great breasts or a butt. We need to be empathetic to how the other sex experiences things; Louanne Brizendine's books on male and female brains are great.

The "You're Beautiful" singer enraged fans by posing outside a dilapidated building near former Nazi death camp Auschwitz, and writing on his Facebook page: "Uh, this is my hotel in Poland," reports The Daily Mail.

Since the photo went up on Saturday, Blunt's Facebook page has been flooded with more than 17,000 comments and complaints regarding the bizarre remark made during his stay in Oświęcim, where Auschwitz is located.

According to The Daily Mail, the singer was actually staying in five-star accommodations throughout his tour, which included a stop at the Life Festival at Mosir Stadium, just a few miles from the site where hundreds of thousands were killed more than 60 years ago.

While "Hallelujah," his ABC pilot didn't pan out, it didn't take long for Emmy-winning "LOST" alum Terry O'Quinn to find his way back to television.

In a fitting move, O'Quinn will feature in an island-set show filmed in Hawaii once again, as TV Line reports that he'll have a very important recurring role on "Hawaii 5-0." O'Quinn will take on the role of a Navy Seal Lt. Commander, who, having trained McGarrett (played by Alex O'Loughlin), "holds some of the answers to the mysteries surrounding the respective murders of McGarrett’s mother and father."

The role will reunite him with "LOST" cast mate Daniel Dae Kim, who plays Chin Ho Kelly.

O'Quinn has plenty of experience playing a military man, as he played General Nicholas Alexander in seven episodes of "The West Wing," Col. Will Ryan in a guest appearance on "NCIS" and also played F.B.I. Assistant Director Kendall in "Alias."

Since leaving "LOST," O'Quinn featured in the TV movie, "Taken from Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story."

It may be Father’s Day, but that doesn’t mean Kim Kardashian has forgotten about another important person in her life — her grandma!

The reality star and her maternal grandmother, MJ, were spotted out and about in Beverly Hills while getting lunch on Sunday afternoon. We can see where the Kardashian ladies get their good looks and sense of style!

In addition to Kim’s family time, she was also able to squeeze in a bit of party time as well.

Kim attended the birthday party of Scooter Braun (Justin Bieber‘s manager) last night, and tweeted about the good time!

In addition to sharing a twitpic with the caption, “2 legit 2 quit,” she said: