Singer Susan Boyle says she has been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism - and is relieved to finally have the right label for her condition. Boyle told the Observer newspaper that she saw a specialist a year ago, who told her she had Asperger’s and an above-average IQ. Boyle, 52, had learning difficulties as a child, which she was told were the result of brain damage from oxygen deprivation at birth. She struggled in school and was bullied by other children. “I have always known thatI have had an unfair label put upon me,” Boyle said in the interview published Sunday. “Now I have a clearer understanding of what’s wrong, and I feel relieved and a bit more relaxed about myself.” The church volunteer from a small Scottish town became a global sensation in 2009 when she sang the Les Miserables number “I Dreamed a Dream” on Britain’s Got Talent. She has since sold more than 14 million records worldwide and recently released her fourth album, Home for Christmas. She’s also making her big-screen debut in the holiday movie The Christmas Candle.

Organizers of an Antarctic charity race involving Prince Harry said Saturday that they are suspending its competitive element because of harsh conditions but plan to continue the journey to the South Pole. Harry, 29, is a member of one of three teams involving injured soldiers that set off last week on the 200-mile Walking with the Wounded South Pole Challenge. In a recorded message on the organization’s website, expedition director Ed Parker said the teams had “a pretty tricky couple of days. The weather remains good, but the terrain is very difficult, far harder than we had anticipated.” He said the teams would now be driven for part of the route and then finish the final 70 miles to the pole on foot, likely within a week. Harry and actors Dominic West and Alexander Skarsgard are on the trek with teams from Britain, the U.S. and the Commonwealth nations of Australia and Canada. Harry, an army Apache helicopter pilot who has served in Afghanistan, spent several days in 2011 trekking with wounded servicemen on a similar expedition to the North Pole.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 12/09/2013