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Top 10 Hague countries children are abducted to
The Hague Convention is an international agreement dealing with cross-border adoption, child trafficking and child laundering.
Top 10 Hague Convention countries snatched children have been taken to over the last year are:
- USA 32 children
- Poland 29
- Ireland 28
- Germany 18
- France 12
- Canada 11
- South Africa 10
- Spain 10
- Australia 9
- Turkey 8
Parental child abduction cases 'double in 10 years'
The number of children snatched by a parent in the midst of a custody battle has more than doubled in the space of a decade, the Government has said.
Figures from the Foreign Office revealed they were now involved in 580 custody cases, where as they had 272 new potential child abductions in 2003/4.
Charity Reunite, which specialises in assisting parents whose children has taken, have dealt with 447 new cases involving 616 children this year.
Christmas 2012 and the end of the summer holidays saw the caseload surge, the charity revealed.
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Golden Globe nominations to be announced
Stars of TV and film will find out today if they are in the running for a prestigious Golden Globe awards.
Nominations will be read out by Avatar actress Zoe Salanda, former House star Olivia Wilde and Parks and Recreation actor Aziz Ansari at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel at 1pm UK time.
Steve McQueen's "12 years a slave", Alexander Payne's "Nebraska" and Alfonso Cuarón's "Gravity" starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are all tipped for best category film nominations.
"Breaking Bad" is expected to win big after the series finished earlier this year and cleaned up at the Emmys.
Often seen as a precursor to the Oscars, the awards show will be hosted by returning co-emcees Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on Sunday 12 January next year.
Nigella Lawson's former PA to give evidence at her trial
A former personal assistant to Nigella Lawson and her ex husband Charles Saatchi is expected to give evidence at her trial today.
Elisabetta Grillo and her sister Francesca are accused of committing fraud by abusing their positions as PAs by using a company credit card for personal gain. They deny the charges.
Tougher sentences for sex crimes met with praise
Tougher sentencing guidelines for sex offenders have been met with praise by children's campaigners.
The NSPCC chief executive Peter Wanless praised the removal of "ostensible consent", the idea a child over the age of 13 can consent to sex, as "a step in the right direction".
– NSPCC chief executive Peter WanlessIt is important sentencing reflects the severe damage caused by highly manipulative and devious sex offenders, who may use positions of trust or celebrity status to target children.
Technology is playing a part in the way offenders seek out and groom children....It is right the guidelines reflect the harm caused and the people who cause this misery feel the full weight of the law.
The outdated view children can in some way be complicit in their abuse must be stamped out. The new guidance is a step in the right direction towards addressing this terrible myth.
Read more: Tougher sentences for grooming and online offences
Kate wears 3D glasses to watch Attenborough film
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wore 3D glasses as they watched the latest film by naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.
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Tougher sentences for grooming and online offences
Sex offenders will have no protection if they sleep with a child over the age of 13 and claimed they consented, according to new sentencing guidelines.
They see the removal of "ostensible consent" - the idea a child over the age of 13 can agree to sex - while greater emphasis will be placed on grooming by individuals and gangs.
According to the new guidelines:
- A new term has been spawned to take the effect of technology into account. An aggravating factor is "recording the crime", as filming and photographing victims has become more common.
- Offending committed remotely, such as via a webcam, is also included.
- Judges will also have to take into account aspects such as offenders lying about their age, grooming via social media or asking children to share indecent photos of themselves.
BMA: Majority of GPs provide high quality care
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association's general practice committee, has said anecdotes of poor practice must not be used to distort reality.
– Dr Chaand Nagpaul from the British Medical AssociationWhile most patients receive high-quality care from their GP, we need to understand where and why shortcomings in a small number of practices exist, and the BMA is committed to working with the chief inspector to improve standards.
It's important, however, that anecdotes of poor practice are not used to distort the reality, which is that the overwhelming majority of hard-working GPs provide high-quality care which is appreciated by patients.
GP practices to undergo tougher inspections
Professor Steve Field, of health regulator CQC, is to introduce new-style inspections of GP practices, which will start in April 2014 and will involve a CQC inspector, a GP, a practice nurse or practice manager and a trainee GP.
Inspectors will visit every clinical commissioning group area in England once every six months, inspecting a quarter of the practices in that area.Every practice will have been inspected by April 2016 and given Ofsted-style ratings.
From January, new inspections will also focus on GP out-of-hours services.
– Professor Steve FieldWe need to make sure that everyone, from the most well-off to the most disadvantaged, can get access to really good primary medical care; this is something which I intend to champion as chief inspector.
When something goes wrong in general practice, it has the potential to affect thousands of local people.
GPs don't work in isolation, so we will also be considering the quality of communication between out-of-hours care and other local services, including GP practices, care homes and emergency services.
Sex-offending celebrities to be 'made example of'
New sentencing guidelines could include tougher penalties for celebrities who commit sex crimes in order to make an example of them, the Sentencing Council has said.
The star's past behaviour may also work against them as "good character" may be seen as a means to commit a predatory sexual offence, the Sentencing Council said.
In practice, this means in the future the likes of disgraced Lost Prophets front man Ian Watkins, who used his fame to commit crimes against women and children, could receive more severe sentences.
The new guidelines place more emphasis on the long-term, psychological impact on the victims and cover over 50 offences, including rape, child sex offences and trafficking.
Sentencing Council chairman Lord Justice Treacy said: "This guideline will make real changes to the way offenders are sentenced for these very serious, sensitive and complex offences."
"It will help judges and magistrates sentence in a way which protects our communities from this kind of offending and the suffering it causes."
