Arms sales are not apolitical acts. On one hand, they bolster the buyers by giving them a British endorsement as a fig-leaf of respectability, but they also buy the UK government's political support and compliance. As the crackdown continues to escalate it is becoming increasingly clear that decisions being made in support of arms sales are having serious consequences for the victims of state repression.
In many ways, Michael Vick represents the best of the justice system. He committed horrifying crimes, served his time, reclaimed his lost career, fortune and integrity, and changed himself after coming to terms with the wrongs of the life he was living.
My fear is the televised cases are only going to be those that draw in an audience because broadcasters are commercial animals. They need viewing figures. Thus the celebrity jungle, which has become more and more unedifying in recent years, will have another wild beast out of control and out of kilter with reality.
We need to talk about why the woman raped isn't considered an important part of this news story. We need to talk about why a woman who was raped, forced to leave her home and change her name isn't considered worthy of the same consideration as her rapist... Why are we more concerned with Evans' career but not that of the woman who was raped?
The law needs to be modernised and if we are to challenge the behaviour of perpetrators appropriately, we need an offence that reflects the reality of domestic abuse in all its guises. By criminalising this form of abuse and having specialist legislation, similar to the stalking law introduced in 2012, it would send a message that abusive and coercively controlling behaviour within a relationship is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
Malibu: home of Barbie, 27 miles of SoCal coast, and some of the world's wealthiest, its a playground for Hollywood's rich and famous. But what does it have for the everyday holiday maker? Well, quite a lot as it turns out.
87% of girls aged 11-21 believe that they are judged more on their looks than their ability. It's an unbelievable figure - but you can see why girls think this way. The belief that they don't look good enough and that they are judged most on how good they look is preventing girls from putting their hands up and saying 'I can do anything I want to do'
Many of us adopt an exercise and nutrition approach that involves us staying on the straight and narrow Monday to Friday, where we diligently exercise and eat our greens, but is then a bit more relaxed at the weekend, where we eat and drink most of the things that we have resisted for the previous five days.
Team SCA begins sailing around the world in the 2014-2015 Volvo Ocean Race, a 39,750 nautical mile ocean race reaching 10 countries over the next nine months. On the boat we are sailing with 12 women, including one onboard reporter (that's me), but our sailing team is made up of 14 women - all incredibly strong and intelligent on the art of sailing offshore.
Traditionally in Mauritius we make this with corned mutton which has a much stronger flavour and Iove it but I love corned beef as well and in the UK this is readily available and easier to get hold of. To be honest with you I love most tinned things, sardines, mackerel, anchovies and I suppose it's mostly out of nostalgia
It's been well documented that one of my best friends, Ross Hutchins, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma a few years ago. Ross and I had grown up together on the tennis circuit, and his diagnosis was devastating. He was treated with chemotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital and a year after his diagnosis, his cancer went into remission. He's now fit and well to this day - a testimony to the crucial advances we've made in cancer treatment thanks to ground-breaking research into the illness. But not everyone is so lucky. At the beginning Elena Baltacha, the former British number one, was diagnosed with cancer of the liver. She died in May, at the age of 30.
Do you want my alternative, semi-serious take on Lord Freud's latest gaffe, on the disabled and the minimum wage, on the ongoing Tory/Ukip love-in and on how Dave is trying to dodge the debates? Here's the political week in 60 seconds.
Hundreds of police officers, many in riot gear, swooped into Hong Kong's Mong Kok Occupy encampment in the early hours of this morning. Police and street cleaners removed barricades and tents, leaving pro-democracy protesters restricted a smaller area of Nathan Rd in Kowloon, occupying the southbound side only.
Bring on the debates. Nigel Farage should be in two or three debates, not one - and if that happens, why shouldn't the Greens have a go at one debate? If they have the support to justify it, then however bizarre their beliefs democracy dictates that they should be given the opportunity.
From prominent personalities of stage and screen, and to those who hold significant power and authority in industry. To me, my step father held this same air of authority, and like a good little girl, I never disclosed his actions to anyone, for many years. I loved him like daughters love their fathers; I was protective of him, and did not want to see any harm come by him.
These retiring MPs will be inspired by the likes of Ruth Kelly and James Purnell before them. All stepped down while still relatively young, having recognised that political comebacks here are few and far between. But what the likes of Kelly and Purnell have also shown is there is life away from the public eye, the media spotlight and well beyond the ruthless world of politics.
For years, I've been inching to get to the bottom of male suicide - not just an American thing or a British thing, but a problem worldwide. Statistically in the US and UK, men above 50 years of age have a high rate of suicide- roughly 75% of suicides in both the US and UK are male and worldwide there is an average of one suicide per 40 seconds.
In the media recently there has been, as their always is, people brandishing the 'public school' iron, tarnishing those of us who went to public school. The media is turning our education into a negative.
Suggesting (deliberately or not) that delaying child rearing is optimal for women who want to continue their careers is a backwards step, and completely at odds with everything that career-women with children have been trying to achieve. There's also an underlying assumption that egg-freezing is a simple process.
While not a carbon copy of Mourinho's 4-1-2-1-2, Manchester United, West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers and Liverpool have all, at one point or another deployed a diamond midfield in the 2014/15 campaign. The 4-3-1-2 allows teams to maintain numbers in the middle of the park, but means managers can field a creator in between the midfield and attack.
We start with the most delicious and light fettuccine you can imagine, from Jamie Oliver. It is full of traditional garden veggies, which give it an incredible freshness, whilst the smoked trout gives it a wicked twist. Make sure you serve this STRAIGHT away with a generous serving of parmesan for the ultimate dish.
While 500million smallholder farmers work to overcome the odds, a handful of global companies control the transport and distribution of our food supply. Rampant consolidation of food companies has created an 'hourglass economy' with millions of farmers selling to a handful of companies - who in turn sell to millions of consumers.