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Northern Ireland's top law officer cannot refer the "gay cake" case to the Supreme Court, senior judges have said.
They ruled that Attorney General John Larkin QC's bid came too late.
Mr Larkin sought to refer the verdict against Ashers bakery to the UK's highest court under devolution issues.
After more than nine hours of closed-door meetings, jawboning and complicated legislative stratagems, North Carolina legislators went home in frustration Wednesday after failing to repeal the state law that has prompted economic boycotts, lawsuits, political acrimony and contributed to the defeat of the Republican governor.
Republicans, who control both houses of the legislature, could not agree on a way to repeal the law, commonly known as House Bill 2. The legislation curbs legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and requires transgender people in public buildings to use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate.
A new pro-life bill has been passed in Poland by the Council of Ministers on December 20. The law, which will go into effect January 1, will pay mothers to go through with a pregnancy, even when serious disabilities or issues have been detected in the child.
Under current Polish law, abortion is permitted only when the mother's life is at risk, in cases of rape or incest, or when the child has serious disabilities such as Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, etc.
For those women who go through with the pregnancy under these circumstances, the Polish government will provide a one-time payment of €900 euros. In addition, the law would provide funding for psychological counseling for the mother, if necessary.
The Rt Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP
Secretary of State for Health
Department of Health
79 Whitehall London
SW1A 2NS
21/12/2016
Dear Mr Hunt,
Re: Withdrawal of approval for Marie Stopes International to perform abortion
I write to you on behalf of Life, a charity which cares for thousands of women every year who face crisis pregnancies or are psychologically hurt by abortion. We are deeply concerned at yesterday’s Care Quality Commission full report on the failings at Marie Stopes International abortion clinics. It is because of our deep concern about the safety of women who may use these clinics that we are requesting that the approval for Marie Stopes International to provide abortions be withdrawn.
Life is shocked at the Care Quality Commission’s full report on failings at Marie Stopes International abortion clinics and calls on the Secretary of State for Health to withdraw the abortion provider’s approval to practise in the UK.
The CQC report released yesterday details breaches of the law and a litany of safety issues which must raise alarm bells for all who care about the health and safety of women.
A new government report suggests that India's rising income levels are not helping to protect girls from abortion and infanticide.
Cultural preferences for male children have led to unnatural male-to-female population ratios in India, China and other Asian countries. Sex-selection abortions are illegal in India, but they still occur. In 2014, the gender ratio in India was 1,000 boys for every 887 girls, according to the report from the Census of India.
Contrary to what some may assume, wealth, not poverty, may be linked to the gender discrimination. An analysis of the data by India Spend found that the per capita income in India rose nearly 10 times at the same time as the ratio of boys to girls dropped.
Christian advocates in the United States have launched a global campaign to release Andrew Brunson, an American pastor jailed on erroneous allegations amid a crackdown on evangelicals in Turkey.
The North Carolina native led a congregation in the majority-Muslim nation for 23 years before being detained in early October and sent to prison in early December. In recent months, several fellow expatriate pastors have been deported.
A number of leading Anglicans have complained about the lack of ethnic minority clergy who make it to senior levels in the Church of England.
The Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin, the chaplain to the speaker of the House of Commons, blamed institutional racism.
On Tuesday, a new suffragan bishop of Woolwich was named - the first black man to be made a bishop in 20 years.
The Church is hiring a minority ethnic vocations officer to attract more black people into the clergy.
If shopping online looks likely to play a bigger part in your Christmas than singing carols or eating mince pies, the Church of England has a plan to reclaim some of its territory – via your phone.
The C of E has launched a website, A Christmas Near You, with details of more than 34,000 carol services across the country. Perhaps surmising that some possible attendees will not be motivated by faith alone, it includes full details of which services offer refreshments alongside O Come, All Ye Faithful – so that you can quickly find one of the 3,000 offering mulled wine, or 4,500 offering mince pies. And you can tap in your postcode and find a service that suits you – traditional, contemporary, or child-friendly – near your home, add it to your calendar or share it with friends and family.
The BBC’s Christmas Day schedules will feature the highest amount of religious programming in four decades, according to an analysis of yuletide television throughout the ages.
Families who settle down in front of BBC One on December 25 will notice a huge rise in religious programmes and high-quality dramas, while the amount of comedy has dipped to its lowest level in half a century.