I read with interest that recent news of Facebook and it’s effect on the divorce rate, has caused a senior islamic cleric in Egypt to issue a Fatwa against the use of the

ubiquitous social networking colossus.

It also shows how lazy journalists can be in that it cites 1 in 5 divorces in Egypt are blamed on facebook, which is clearly a blatent copy of the earlier telegraph article in December.

The story is here

The number of divorces in England and Wales has fallen for a fifth successive year to their lowest rate for 29 years.

In 2008, the divorce rate in England and Wales decreased by 2.5% to 11.5 divorcing people per 1,000 married people, compared with 11.8 in 2007.

Divorces in Scotland fell by 10% from 2007 to 2008, while divorces in Northern Ireland decreased by 4.8%.

The report, by the Office for National Statistics, did not analyse the reasons why divorce rates had fallen.

The 2008 divorce rate in England and Wales was the lowest since 1979, when there were 11.2 divorces per 1,000 married people.

However, for the fourth consecutive year, both men and women in their late 20s had the highest divorce rates in England and Wales.

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The proportion of divorcing men and women who had also had a previous marriage that ended in divorce, has almost doubled since 1981.

In 2008, of all decrees awarded to one partner, rather than jointly to both, more than half - 67% - were awarded to the wife.

Half of couples divorcing in 2008 had at least one child aged under 16.

As of 1st February 2010 all of the petitions issued by our clients will now be dealt with by a dedicated back office team in Worle, Somerset which is attached to Weston Super-Mare County Court.

We have been assigned a team of 5 dedicated staff who will deal with the bulk issuing of petitions and listing for hearings. the judicial side will be dealt with by the Distirct judges at Weston Super-Mare.

This will obviously take the pressure of Swindon County Court who have been amazing over the last few years and have had to adjust to a massive increase in work without dropping their standards for all their other users. They can now have some peace.

We thank the Court Service for their assistance, and hope we can help them learn how to adjust for life in the digital age.

European Union justice ministers were split Friday over a plan to use the bloc’s concept of “enhanced cooperation” to develop EU rules governing divorce between mixed-nationality couples.

The concept — created by the EU’s 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam — allows groups of at least eight member states to ask the Commission to apply EU-level laws to them if the bloc as a whole has failed to approve the legislation.

Earlier this month incoming EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding said she would present a demand for “enhanced cooperation” in this area within three months of taking office.

“Ten nations have asked for it. They are right and I will do it,” she told the European Parliament on January 12.

The 10 want to develop a law which settles the question of which law should be applied when citizens of two different EU member states who are married want a divorce.

But since Reding made he announcement, no new EU member states have added their support to the plan.

German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger said she was “open” to the project at a meeting on Friday of EU justice ministers in Toledo in central Spain but she needed to wait and see the proposition first.

“The European Parliament will only back this project if a strong majority backs it and we will do the same,” she said.

Her Belgian counterpart Stefaan de Clerck echoed her views.

“As a matter of principle we are in favour of it, but much will depend on the content of this proposition,” he said.

But Spanish Justice Minister Francisco Caamano, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said the “enhanced cooperation” concept should be used sparingly.

“It is an exceptional instrument, we must avoid considering it as an instrument of division,” he said.

French secretary of state for justice, Jean-Marie Bockel, said the goal though was not to divide the bloc but to encourage other nations to join the effort to create a common law on the issue.

“It is not about creating Europe within Europe,” she said.

The 10 nations which back using the “enhanced cooperation” concept to draw up a law on mixed-nationality divorces are: Austria, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Spain and Romania.

But Britain, Finland and Sweden are against it.

Some 350,000 marriages between mixed-nationality couples are celebrated each year in the 27-nation EU and while around 170,000 divorces are announced.

Tiger Woods’ wife Elin has called off her divorce from the golf superstar, according to a number of media outlets.

Elin is supposed to have spent last week visiting Tiger, and participating in his sex addiction rehab treatment, RadarOnline.com reported exclusively.

And while Elin had made up her mind to dump her husband after he was linked to more than 14 women and his secret life of cheating revealed, time - and Tiger’s actions - have caused her to call off the divorce for now.

She returned to Orlando Sunday night by private jet after spending last week with Tiger. “She was happy when she came home,” a source told RadarOnline.com exclusively. “Things went well.”

Elin has not filed divorce paper but has explored her options. Tiger sought treatment to save his marriage and so far it’s working, the source said.

“He’s told her he’s serious about making it work and doing whatever he can,” the source said.

She’s agreed to try to make things work.

Elin had removed her wedding rings after the scandal broke and the new photos. She was not seen in public all of last week. Photographed on Monday in Orlando she appeared much thinner than when the scandal broke and the source says that’s not a coincidence.

“The stress has taken a big toll on her,” the source said. “But she’s a strong woman.”

Tiger is still at Gentle Path receiving in-patient treatment in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

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• Elin Nordegren Visits Tiger Woods in Sex Rehab (blippitt.com)

Even Swans are getting divorced these days

Bewick’s swans are believed to be the birds that mate for life.

However, experts at Gloucestershire wildfowl sanctuary were stunned to discover that a pair of Bewick’s swans returned to winter at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust centre at Slimbridge - with new partners.

Normally, these birds tend to find new partner only when one of the pair has died.

The staff has described the new couplings as “bizarre”.

Over the past four decades, 4,000 pairs of Bewick’s swans have been studied at Slimbridge, with only one previous couple moving on to find new partners.

The first suspicions of the rare event were raised when male swan Sarindi turned up in the annual migration from Arctic Russia without his partner of two years Saruni and with a new female - newly-named Sarind - in tow, reports BBC News.

The pair’s arrival led conservationists to fear the worst for Saruni.

But shortly afterwards Saruni arrived at the wetlands site - also with a new mate, Surune.

As the experts observed, they found that the old relationship had ended.

Julia Newth, wildlife health research officer at Slimbridge, said the old pair had not acknowledged each other with any signs of recognition or greeting - even when they were together in a small lake.

“Failure to breed could be a possible reason, as they had been together for a couple of years but had never brought back a cygnet, but it is difficult to say for sure,” she said.

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• Swan couple surprises experts by splitting (telegraph.co.uk)

Facebook saves Rodney from the slammer

Not only does Facebook appear in 1 in 5 divorce petitions in England and Wales these days, it seems that it has been used as vital evidence in a criminal case in New York.

A 19 year old male was accused or burglary and was identified by witnesses in one (of those classic US style, no doubt) identity parades. The trouble was, he said he was staying at his Dad’s apartment.

I also have to mention that the aforementioned youth was of African American origin.

Luckily for him his facebook updates saved him from the slammer.

After Facebook records were produced to the court it appeared he was at his Dad’s within 1 minute of his update as the IP address of the computer on their records, said so!

For the full story see Time magazine

So the court had to let him go, probably much to their chagrin.

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• The Facebook Defense: Social-Networking as Alibi (time.com)

Debenhams have launched a divorce list for people who may want to receive presents after they have split up according to a number of newspapers.

The idea behind the register is similar to the wedding gift register that they currently supply to people wanting to give gifts to newlyweds.

A divorce may not be universally seen as an occasion for celebration, but the divorce gift list could become the 21st-century equivalent of the traditional wedding list.
With the first day back after the Christmas holidays thought to be the most common date for couples in the UK to decide to separate, this week is expected to see an increase in the number of divorce petitions filed.

Peter Moore, Head of Retail Services at Debenhams, said: “Divorcing can be an expensive time and registering for a Divorce Gift List means that family and friends can help the newly separated begin their new life.”

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Fake legal Advice

The Daily Mail reports that a legal adviser faked decree absolute certificates, leaving couples who though they had divorced, still married.
They thought they were free to move on with their lives and build again.

But couples who put their faith in legal advisor Lillian Rayne were shattered to discover the divorces she had arranged were not worth the paper they were printed on.

Some remained married for years and started new families after they were told their divorces had come through.

Devious Rayne had forged the divorce documents tricking her vulnerable victims then pocketed the cash handed to her for court costs.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242859/Legal-advisors-fake-divorce-scam-leaves-couples-thought-split-married.html#ixzz0cV3Yu23D