Britain is to set up dedicated teams to investigate rape in conflict zones. The specialist "flying squads" will provide a range of services, from gathering evidence against perpetrators to provide counselling for the victims of sexual offences, under an initiative due to be announced by the Government today.

The child abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church in the United States turned a new page this week as Monsignor William Lynn, of the Philadelphia Archdiocese, below, testified at his trial on charges of child endangerment and conspiracy.

That's embarrassing. At the very moment when the nation is about to celebrate that emblem of British values, the monarchy, those values are revealed to be illiberal and stupid. While London prepares to become the focus of the sporting world, our Government, supported by our Opposition, makes a bold stand – against human and democratic rights.

The Oscar-nominated director of Precious said today that there are not enough roles for African American actors in films.

Two convicted criminals who attacked prison officers and held a mutiny inside their jail have been handed longer sentences.

Justice Secretary Ken Clarke today blamed the popular press for putting thousands of criminals in jail who do not need to be there.

David Cameron put the UK on collision course with Europe today as he signalled he will fight plans forcing the UK to give prisoners voting rights.

America divided over 30-day sentence in trial following suicide of Tyler Clementi

Sri Lanka's President has ordered the release of the jailed former army chief, a man credited with ending the country's long civil war but who later was imprisoned after challenging the President in elections.

His pen-name was created from two characters in Grimm's fairy tales, but his novels had little in common with the moralistic fantasies of mittel-Europe. Rudolf Ditzen was a magistrate's son, raised in Berlin and immersed in Dickens, Flaubert and Dostoevsky. He became one of the greatest German authors of the 20th century, but was not translated into English until 2009.

A man who murdered a drug addict over a £50 robbery and then had trial witnesses threatened has been jailed for life.

In retrospect, it is always easy to see the faultlines when a miscarriage of justice has occurred. In the case of Sam Hallam, who was wrongly convicted of murder, they were particularly clear. The evidence that he was part of the murdering gang was manifestly unreliable; one witness changed her story several times, both to police and in court, and another admitted his testimony was hearsay. Meanwhile, the police failed to pursue all reasonable lines of inquiry, Mr Hallam's alibi was not properly checked out, and his mobile phone data was not used to establish his whereabouts. Furthermore, there was material not disclosed to the defence which could have helped prove his innocence.

"Sam's free!" they shouted down their phones as the news came in.

Nearly 4,000 foreign criminals are still at large in the community despite being earmarked for deportation, it emerged last night.