An eight-year-old girl taken by her father to the US last year after he abducted her from her school playground in Ede must be returned to the Netherlands, a judge in the US has decided.

The disappearance of Katja Leendertz sparked a nationwide hunt. Her parents who divorced in 2007, have been embroiled in a bitter legal battle for custody.
The girl was born in the US but lived in the Netherlands with her mother who is Ukrainian.
The mother’s lawyer told news agency ANP the judge ordered Katja to be returned to the Netherlands within 10 days.