A two-year-old boy with breathing difficulties has been taken away from his parents partly because a health visitor found that they smoked too much.

The child will be placed for adoption after a judge ruled that the risk to his health was "far too high" at a family court hearing in Hull.

Judge Louise Pemberton said she was "afraid" that he had been harmed and that his parents' had fallen well below "good enough".

"I am afraid that all of these matters lead me to an unavoidable and difficult conclusion that the risks to (the little boy) in being placed with his parents are far too high," she said in a written judgement.

"Adoption really is the only option now available to (the little boy), in my view, nothing else will do...I want him to know that in my judgment his parents loved him very much and tried very hard but they were simply not able to meet his needs."According to new research, parents who smoke are plunging nearly half a million children into poverty

A health visitor had voiced concerns about the child's "smoky house", which she said was the worst she had seen in her 10-year career.

Julie Allen told the court that she found it difficult to breathe in the home and that the boy had been prescribed an inhaler the month before her visit because of breathing problems.

At least 385 people ranging in age from 16 to 83 have died at the hands of police across the US this year, The Washington Post revealed. One in six victims were unarmed, mostly black or Hispanic, and officers were charged in less than 1% of cases.

Using a variety of sources, including police reports, local news and one-to-one interviews the publication discovered that the daily officer-involved killing rate across the US since the beginning of 2015 stands at 2.6. This number stands contrary to the FBI statistics over the past decade that recorded 400 fatal police shootings a year, or an average of 1.1 deaths a day.

"These shootings are grossly underreported," Jim Bueermann, president of the Washington-based Police Foundation, told the paper. "We are never going to reduce the number of police shootings if we don't begin to accurately track this information."

In more than 80 percent of the cases the victims were armed at the time of the incident many of which started as minor incidents before escalating into violence. Gun assaults on police topped the list with 221 cases, followed by knives and blades with 68 cases.

However, roughly one in six victims were unarmed and could hardly pose any threat to officers. In 13 cases civilians were killed by cops after mistaking toy weapons for the real thing.

The publication discovered that two thirds of the unarmed people killed by police were either African American or Hispanic. The overall count for both armed and unarmed victims split in half between Caucasians and different minority groups.

As if to prove there are new depths to be plumbed in the world of reality television (because who knew?), CBS just debuted The Briefcase, a show which takes poverty porn, class anxiety, emotional manipulation and exploitation and packages them all neatly into a pretty despicable hour of primetime television. Kicking off each episode with the question, "What would you do with $101,000?" the show then deep-dives into a competition that asks two unwitting, financially strapped families to choose between two no-win options: being financially solvent yet appearing heartless and greedy, or drowning in debt yet having audiences recognize them as selfless and giving.

It's hard to imagine a network executive didn't get the idea for this show from the "Button, Button" episode of the Twilight Zone. The Briefcase focuses on two "middle-class" families—a questionable but highly American take on the phrase, since both are debt saddled, with one primary breadwinner, and essentially living on the edge of financial ruin. Both are told they'll be participating in a documentary about money. Instead, a producer from the show unexpectedly comes to their house with a suitcase full of cold, hard cash: $101,000 to be exact. That could be a life-changing - and in the case of families so near the financial cliff, nearly life-saving - sum of money. But this being reality TV, instead of just giving them the cash, there's a major catch.

How do you sell fast food to a nation? Apparently by creating a massive lie. In 1971, the man behind Japan's McDonald's franchise proclaimed that by eating McDonald's, Japanese citizens could 'grow taller, turn their skin white, and their hair blonde' by eating McDonald's burgers and fries for the rest of their lives.

It sounds absolutely insane — because it is. And, unfortunately, this is not satire.

It all started back in 1967 with a man named Den Fujita, who at the time was a businessman who sold imported bags and shoes to the Japanese public. But Fujita was growing tired of the importing business, and saw an opportunity to make some serious cash after finding out about the success of the McDonald's franchise in the United States.

In 1971, Fujita launched his McDonald's franchise in Japan, with a very unique marketing statement.

Defying a court order to take a mentally ill inmate to a state hospital for observation, a Kentucky police chief bought a one-way ticket to Florida for the man, sending him on a 28-hour bus ride, only to have the state extradite him back by saying he escaped.

According to investigation by the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, Carrollton Police Chief Michael Willhoite spent $18 of his own money to rid himself of 31-year-old Adam Horine, instead of following a judge's order to send him to Eastern State Hospital in Lexington for a thorough psychiatric assessment.

Defending himself while appearing before Judge Elizabeth Chandler for threatening a cab driver and "cussing in public," the itinerant Horine begged the court for help, claiming he was mentally ill and saying "things I shouldn't say."

Chandler ordered sheriff's deputies to take Horine to the hospital, but he was first transported back to county jail where a social worker evaluated him, reporting that Horine was hearing voices, felt suicidal, couldn't sleep, and wanted to hurt "certain people."

Despite the judge's order and the evaluation, Chief Wilhoite instructed officer Ron Dickow to drive Horine 50 miles in a police cruiser to Louisville where Dickow bought Horine a one-way bus ticket to Florida with money given to him by the chief.

On Friday, two brothers called police for help as they were trying to move their truck after it had stalled on a road that was quickly flooding. Soon after Oklahoma State Troopers arrive, one of the brothers is shot dead by the very people they called for help and the other brother finds himself arrested after he just watched his own brother being shot to death.

The local Tulsa World reports,

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has identified a Tulsa man who died late Friday after being shot by an OHP trooper who claimed he was attacked during a call southeast of Liberty.

OHP Capt. Paul Timmons confirmed Saturday evening that Nehemiah Fischer was killed in an alleged scuffle with troopers. His brother, Brandon Fischer, was booked into the Okmulgee County jail on accusations of assaulting an officer and public intoxication.

Timmons said the shooting occurred in the area of Hectorville and Bixby roads and that authorities received a stranded vehicle report from Bixby Road around 9:20 p.m. Friday. Troopers arrived to see Nehemiah and Brandon Fischer, who appeared to be pushing a vehicle that had stalled due to flooding, Timmons said.

"The water was already fairly deep, and it was starting to rise pretty quickly and it was running pretty rapidly across the road," he said. "They were concerned these guys would be swept away."

A trooper on scene told the brothers to get to higher ground, and a physical confrontation reportedly occurred soon after, Timmons said.

"For whatever reason, and this is where it gets a little cloudy, (the men) approached the troopers," he said. "Shots were fired."

It wasn't clear Saturday whether one or both troopers at the scene fired at the men, but Nehemiah Fischer was struck and died at the scene. Timmons said Brandon Fischer was uninjured and was taken to the Okmulgee County jail on one complaint of assaulting an officer and another complaint of public intoxication.

Authorities weren't yet sure whether either man had a weapon and did not describe what type of altercation may have occurred between them and the troopers. Both troopers are expected to be placed on leave while OHP investigates the incident, Timmons said, adding that investigators will attempt to talk to the man who survived.

Neither trooper was injured, Timmons said.

Nehemiah Fischer was an assistant pastor at Faith Bible Church and was loved by his family and his community.

It's a little hard to believe that the Oklahoma State Troopers were concerned for the safety of the two individuals like the police captain made it seem, especially since they end up shooting the man to death in front of his own brother and then arresting him after responding to a call for help. Is this protecting and serving? Time and time again, people have learned the hard way that calling the police often ends up in people getting killed rather than helped, which is why I say, if you care about yourself and your loved ones, DON'T CALL THE POLICE.

The former Deputy Children's Commissioner for England has warned that child sex abuse in the UK is so widespread that there is 'not enough land' to build all the prisons needed to incarcerate offenders.

Sue Berelowitz, who has been under fire after she received a six-figure payoff and was then promptly rehired as a £1,000 a-day consultant, made the claim while speaking at the Hay Literary Festival yesterday.

Mrs Berelowitz, who is currently chairing the government's inquiry into child sex abuse said the public will be 'shocked by the sheer scale of the problem' when she releases her report in November.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the Norwegian capital Oslo, to protest against the country's foster care system. They are angry at children being 'kidnapped' from their families, which the protesters say is a breach of family rights.

Driving rain in Oslo didn't put the several hundred protesters off from making their viewpoint heard, as they assembled by the city's Central Station, before marching towards the parliament building.

Banners were held aloft, with messages including: "Children are not business," and, "Bring back our children." They are angry at the Norwegian foster care system 'Barnevernet,' (Child Protection Service), which has seen families in the country lose their children for alleged abuses, such as accidentally dislodging a child's loose tooth.

The president of American Express died on board a plane bound for New York City on Friday.

According to the company, Ed Gilligan became seriously ill on a flight home from Tokyo and passed away. No other details about the incident were immediately released.

The 55-year-old, life-long company employee was returning from a business trip on a corporate jet.

In a letter to employees Chief Executive Officer Ken Chenault stated: "This is deeply painful and frankly unimaginable for all of us who had the great fortune to work with Ed, and benefit from his insights, leadership and enthusiasm. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his wife, Lisa, and their four children - Katie, Meaghan, Kevin and Shane. He was a proud husband and father, and his love for his family was evident in all that he did."

Gilligan started as an intern at the company 35 years ago. He became Vice Chairman in 2007 and President in 2013.

The company plans a memorial service for employees to share their memories of Gilligan. Details were still being worked out.

After Judy Jean Caquias died in Rikers Island custody last year, her youngest sister received a box from her old apartment with all of her personal belongings. Her whole life distilled into a pile of odds and ends: pictures of family, old papers from school, an iron-on patch of a woman with a rainbow flag flying. Yankees memorabilia, an Obama sticker, a political flier: "Demand housing for the homeless." A program for a community play she'd been cast in, and on the cover, a picture of her as a sad clown holding an American flag. And photos of herself: a grainy selfie she took in her bedroom wearing a gray tank top and gold chain, with close cut gray hair and reading glasses. Another where she's a little thinner, in a white baseball cap and gray hoodie, eyebrows raised and mouth slightly open as if she's about to say something.

On May 6 of last year, Caquias — who everyone knew as Jackie — was incarcerated at Rikers on a years-old warrant for having missed drug court dates. She was a tough lady at 61, according to the defense lawyer in her criminal case. But she had a history of liver disease, including a bout of Hep C, and in her 20s and 30s she had been addicted to heroin, which can also cause liver damage. Jackie had done time before on drug-related charges — but that was long ago. "She was very frightened of spending time in jail after all that time out," her former lawyer Ilissa Brownstein says.

On Jackie's second day at the Rose M. Singer Center, the island's only women's facility, the medical clinic ran lab tests that showed Jackie's liver was severely stressed. Blood work two weeks later showed the same. Yet the doctors at Rikers didn't send Jackie to a gastroenterologist for a liver exam. Instead, they prescribed her Tylenol 3 and iron, both dangerous for people with liver problems. The Tylenol 3 was discontinued after a week, but even after medical staff ordered the iron be stopped, the pharmacy continued dispensing it. Less than a month after Jackie arrived at Rose M. Singer, her system began to fail. She grew disoriented and delusional, and began vomiting so severely that blood and bodily tissue came up — all signs of acute liver failure. On June 25, 2014, after spending weeks in Elmhurst Hospital comatose and hooked up to machines, Jackie died. This according to a proposed amended notice of claim for a lawsuit to be filed this summer by her sister Daria Widing, and an analysis of health records by the medical expert hired for the case. The lawsuit, which will seek $20 million in damages, will charge that negligence by the City of New York contributed to Jackie's death.