Law

The Pentagon have revealed that hundreds of incidents involving sexual assaults with children of service members occur every year.  The revelation by the Defense Department shows that abuse is mostly committed by male enlisted troops and family members. Yahoo News reports: The figures offer greater insight into the sexual abuse of children committed by service members, a problem of uncertain scale due to a lack of transparency into the military’s legal proceedings. With more than 1 million military dependents, the number of cases appears statistically small.

A Sudanese man has been granted asylum in the UK after he was arrested walking the length of the Channel Tunnel from France to England last August. The Guardian reports: Abdul Haroun, who was arrested at the English end of the tunnel in August and charged with obstructing a railway under an obscure 19th-century law, has been held in prison since then. He was to face trial this month.

Gisela Mota Ocampo was assassinated this morning, a day after being sworn in as mayor for Temixco, Morelos. Fifty-eight other new mayors assumed office without incident in Oaxaca this week. Mexico News Daily reports: A federal deputy of the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) from 2012-2015, Mota was murdered at her home in Pueblo Viejo. She had won election for mayor last June.

A father of two suffocated his youngest son to death as punishment for not going to bed on time during Christmas Eve. The 19-stone dad sat playing computer games, as he used his weight to pin down and smother his six year old son against the couch, according to police. The Mirror reports: James “Rick” Dearman, 31, carried on playing games with his live-in girlfriend at the same time he was squeezing the life from his child, according to cops. Sarasota County Sheriff’s Deputies say the dead boy’s 7-year-old sibling watched the horrific incident.

British soldiers may face Iraq murder, torture and rape charges as claims have multiplied tenfold over the past five years. The unit established to test allegations of torture and unlawful killings has been overwhelmed with cases with investigators confirming that soldiers may face prosecution.