New measures on prostitution announced today by the government include a crackdown on kerb crawlers and pimps and provision for up to three women to work together legally in a brothel - considered to be much safer for them than working alone. You can read the full government strategy document here.
At last night's Golden Globes awards top honours went to Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, although this doesn't necessarily mean the film is now a shoo-in for the Oscars, writes film editor Xan Brooks. There were gongs too for a range of British actors including Sir Anthony Hopkins. Our Lib Dem blogger, Jody Dunn, watched last night's TV debate between the four leadership contenders. There was very little to divide them on many issues, she writes, but a strong performance from the dark horse candidate Chris Huhne leaves her wondering if there is a chance of another David Cameron moment.
In the US, a 76-year-old, blind, wheelchair-using multiple killer has been executed after California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, rejected calls for clemency. Western Russia is in the grips of Arctic weather, with temperatures of -36C (-33F). We hope to have an audio dispatch from our Moscow correspondent Nick Paton Walsh describing life in the deep freeze.
And our Middle East editor, Brian Whitaker, has filed us a fascinating World Dispatch on sex and Islam.
