Not content with driving cigarette sales out-of-state with high taxes, New York Michael Bloomberg has begun a "partnership" aimed at “reducing alcohol retail outlet density" and "reduc[ing] the exposure to alcohol products and bar advertising and promotion in retail." Hey, it worked in the 1920s, right?

Three parents were arrested last week because their children had been truant too many times, officials said Wednesday. The consequences for parents arrested for their child's truancy include up to one year in county jail and/or a $2,000 fine for each child not in compliance. "Sometimes we have to reinforce the idea that it is a crime to not send your child to school," said Chief Deputy DA Karen Bell. "We don't want to take that route, but some parents force our hand and give us no other choice but to file criminal charges."

The San Francisco ban on providing free toys to entice children to eat unhealthy foods goes into effect Thursday, but McDonald’s plans to comply with the law by charging 10 cents a toy for their Happy Meals and donating the money to the nonprofit Ronald McDonald House.

Elaine Riddick was 13 years old when she got pregnant after being raped by a neighbor in Winfall, N.C., in 1967. The state ordered that immediately after giving birth, she should be sterilized. Doctors cut and tied off her fallopian tubes.

“I have to carry these scars with me. I have to live with this for the rest of my life,” she said.

The Children’s Secretary set out £400million plans to put 20,000 problem families under 24-hour CCTV super-vision in their own homes.