Copenhagen, Denmark | AFP | Gone are the days in Denmark when parents could get a divorce with a simple online click — now they have to complete a course before their marriage can be dissolved. As part of a new divorce law that entered into force on April …
Read More »Suffer the children: how air pollution hurts the youngest
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Air pollution can have devastating health effects for people of all ages, but children are more vulnerable and face specific risks that can last a lifetime, experts say. Why are children more vulnerable? Children breathe faster than adults and are smaller “so they end up …
Read More »Ugandan jailed after becoming first convicted of FGM in UK
London, United Kingdom | AFP | A British judge on Friday jailed a Ugandan woman for 11 years after she became the first person ever to be found guilty of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain. A jury in February convicted the 37-year-old, who lives in east London but cannot …
Read More »Cardinal Marx admits Church files on paedophile priests ‘destroyed’
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | A top Catholic cardinal admitted Saturday that Church files on priests who sexually abused children were destroyed or never even drawn up, a move which allowed paedophiles to prey on others. “Files that could have documented the terrible deeds and named those responsible …
Read More »Pope’s guidelines for concrete change over sex abuse
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis on Thursday handed the world’s top Catholic bishops guidelines to shape the debate at a landmark Vatican summit on tackling clerical sex abuse. “As a help, I would share with you some important criteria formulated by the various episcopal commissions and …
Read More »Ugandan mother becomes first convicted of FGM in UK
London, United Kingdom | AFP | A Ugandan woman became the first person ever to be found guilty of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Britain when she was convicted on Friday of harming her then three-year-old daughter in 2017. The 37-year-old, who lives in London but cannot be identified for …
Read More »Children and violent films
Watching violence on screens makes children more emotionally distressed Kampala, Uganda | CAROLINE FITZPATRICK | Researcher at Concordia’s PERFORM center and Assistant Professor of Psychology, Université Sainte-Anne Children today can access media through both traditional devices, like televisions, and portable devices like laptops and tablets. With more access, children are …
Read More »US ex-priest sentenced to up to 14 years in prison for child sex abuse
New York, United States | AFP | A former Catholic priest who had admitted to sexually abusing children in the US state of Pennsylvania was sentenced Friday to up to 14 years in prison — the second clergyman to be jailed in the wake of a damning statewide grand jury …
Read More »Deaths highlight children’s plight in migrant surge to US
Nentón, Guatemala | AFP | The death of two Guatemalan children in the United States within weeks of each other has highlighted why there are so many children among Central American migrants heading north: smugglers tell them families have a better chance of being allowed in by US border guards, …
Read More »Heavy screen time appears to impact childrens’ brains: study
Washington, United States | AFP | Researchers have found “different patterns” in brain scans among children who record heavy smart device and video game use, according to initial data from a major ongoing US study. The first wave of information from the $300 million National Institute of Health (NIH) study …
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