Fast bowler Brett Lee has confirmed his split with wife of two years, Liz Kemp.Lee has issued a statement expressing surprise at how quickly his marriage break-up had become public.

"We have been caught by surprise as to how quickly our situation has become public. It is with regret that I confirm today's media reports are correct and that Liz and I have decided to separate," Lee said.

"Given the personal nature of the matter I ask that you please respect our privacy as we attempt to deal with this sensitive situation."

Lee will miss Australia's one-day series against Bangladesh in Darwin starting on August 30 as he deals with the break-up.Lee and Kemp, both 31, have been married for two years and have one child, one-year-old son Preston.

Acting Cricket Australia chief executive Michael Brown said Lee had been granted short-term leave, allowing him to miss the matches.His place in the Australian squad will be taken by uncapped Tasmanian Brett Geeves.

"The selectors are comfortable this move will maintain the competitive edge for the Australian side and provide a wonderful opportunity for Brett Geeves to join the Australian group for the first time," Brown said."We look forward to Brett Lee rejoining the group as soon as possible."

It just got a little trickier to get a divorce in Missouri. That is, if you represent yourself. The state is seeing a growing number of people filing for divorce on their own. Legal Services experts in Springfield say it’s another side effect of the economy. However, the system to make things easier now makes it a little more complicated.

In the days of quickie marriages comes even quicker divorces, and many of us have known someone who's been through the latter.

But you might as well forget about getting a divorce online. Those days may be coming to an end in Missouri. That’s because there are forms out there that are being sold that don’t even comply with Missouri courts. And courts are not taking them.

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Divorce is not a simple act that ends a marriage.

Rather, divorce is an agonizing process that grinds on for months and months. It is painful and humiliating. There are conferences with attorneys, court appearances, continuances, arguments, disagreements and bitterness leaving each partner with the feeling, "Won't we ever get this thing over with?" If wounds from battles ever heal, they will leave ugly scars.

Finally, when emotions are exhausted and funds drained, the divorce is received leaving the lawyers the winners.

How can this be avoided? -1. Don't Marry! This is guaranteed to prevent divorce. Often when a couple comes to me for counseling and the problems are poured out, I say to myself, "These folks should never have married," by which I sometimes mean not simply that each should not have married the other, but that neither should have ever married anyone!

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Following in the footsteps of some of Hollywood’s most famous names, a recently married lesbian couple is about to become the first to divorce since California became the first state to fully recognize same-sex unions.

Theresa Ramirez and Adelita Guajardo of Fresno County, Califronia married on June 27, 2008 and filed for divorce just three days later on June 30. The ramifications of the divorce will however be no different for Ramirez and Guajardo under California law.

According to ABC News Legal Analyst Tony Capozzi, while a same-sex divorce in Fresno County is unprecedented, legally it is not significant. "The fact that it is a same-sex marriage and now a divorce is of no consequence to the court. They're going to be treated as equally as anyone who comes before that court," Capozzi said.

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No child wants to see their parents get divorced, it's scary and sad; I say that as a child of divorced parents.But like all things in life, there are a lot of gray areas when it comes to divorce. What I took away from the story we did on divorce Thursday is how much the outcome for children can vary -- depending on how the parents behave.

Divorce almost always comes with anger, recrimination and guilt. But parents can do a lot to mitigate those factors for children. It's simply a matter of protecting kids as much as possible, just as we would in any other situation.

The psychology professor we interviewed told me that if you look at parental conflict and the impact that has on children, it could be just as bad if not worse than the effects of divorce. That's pretty scary and sad too.

About a million or more children will see their parents split up each year. Given that tremendous number, it’s important to remember what it means to be a grown-up.

Too many Christians have sold their souls to the secular political state.From the early days of the Roman Catholic Church, when the temporal power of the Western Roman Empire collapsed in the 6th century, there has been continual tension in Christianity between the pull of political power and the essentiality of personal spirituality.

Jesus called us to follow him and reminded us that the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord God alone with all our strength and to love our fellow humans as we love ourselves. Too often the church has been tempted to ally itself with the prevailing political power to enforce secular laws that it sees as necessary for Christian life.

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Tennessee ranks 42nd in the nation, better than 43rd last year, with improved outcomes for older children, but faces challenges in the care of the very youngest, according to the 2008 Kids Count Data Book.

The 2008 Kids Count Data Book compares states on 10 core indicators of child well-being and shows Tennessee improved on six of the 10 measures.

"Tennessee has implemented good public policies and strategies to improve outcomes for older children," said Linda O’Neal, executive director of the Commission of Children and Youth, the Tennessee Kids Count Grantee, "resulting in more children graduating from high school and fewer adolescents dying.

"Tennessee must continue and strengthen significant emphasis on improving preconception maternal health to reduce the number of low birth weight babies and infant deaths, efforts that take several years before the outcomes are reflected in data reported in the book."

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Eight European Union nations have made an unprecedented move to boost cooperation on divorce laws with the aim of easing proceedings for couples of different nationality, a diplomat said Wednesday.

The eight -- Austria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovenia and Spain -- sent official letters to the European Commission, which will draw up a plan for them to work more closely together.

It is the first time the procedure -- known in Brussels as "enhanced cooperation" -- has been used in the European Union."The procedure has been launched. We will have to wait and see if other countries will rally to it, to create enough momentum," the diplomat said.

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Being single when you reach middle age could mean more than having the house to yourself - it could increase your risk of dementia. Swedish research, presented at a US conference, found that marriage or having a partner halved the risk of developing dementia.

Scientists believe social interaction between couples may ward off illness. The Alzheimer's Research Trust said the results were worrying, given the high divorce rates in the UK. The study by the Karolinska Institute suggested that the problem might be even greater for some people.

Divorcees who remained single, they noticed, had a trebled risk of dementia, while those widowed at a young age who stayed single faced a six times greater chance. The research looked at 1,449 people from a Finnish database, who were asked about their relationship status in mid-life, then revisited 21 years later to see if they had developed dementia.

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'My list of wants could easily be transformed into the cover lines that screamed out from every women's magazine on the planet'

In Up For Renewal: What Magazines Taught Me About Love, Sex, and Starting Over (Simon & Schuster, $28), Cathy Alter, a 37-year-old divorcee, tries to fix her life by following the advice in nine women's magazines: Elle, Marie Claire, O, Allure, Self, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, InStyle and Real Simple. Here, adapted from the introduction, is her mission statement, of sorts:

I sat down and asked myself what I did want ?I know what you're thinking. You're thinking the same thing I was thinking. Who would be dumb enough to believe that a bunch of magazines, women's magazines, would have the power to transform her life?

But why can't an undying devotion to Cosmo, Glamour and the slew of other glossies work wonders for my life? Why can't a cerebral, unconventional, authority-questioning woman still believe in the power of the perfect mascara? Can't I still retain my headstrong nature under a super-cute beret?

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