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A petition with more than 20,000 signatures calling for the legalisation of same sex marriage in Northern Ireland has been presented to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
The online petition, collated by LGBT news service The Gay Say, was handed to speaker Robin Newton by People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll on Tuesday.
Former prime minister Tony Blair has entered the controversy about tackling Isis - saying it is essential to recognise and acknowledge the rise of Islamic extremism if it is to be defeated.
“I actually use the word Islamist extremism. What I think is important is the need to distinguish Islamism which is political and at its extremes has violence,” he said. “What is important to recognise there is this totalitarian ideology, and balance that with saying that this is not what Islam is about.”
The Prime Minister Theresa May has reiterated her belief that the country needs more faith schools.
Earlier in September there was controversy when the government confirmed rules preventing the building of more Catholic schools would be relaxed.
The Church of England has appointed a senior figure to drive up the proportion of black and ethnic minority clergy against a backdrop of data showing the church is failing to match national demographics.
The proportion of black and minority ethnic (BAME) people among those embarking on the process of becoming a priest fell to 1.9% last year, compared with a share of the general population of about 15%.
Professor Eduard Verhagen, who is responsible for the Groningen protocol for the euthanasia of infants, has predicted that a centre for the euthanasia of children will open within a year in the Netherlands.
Under current Dutch legislation, euthanasia is legal for infants up to a year old, and for children over the age of twelve.
Romania's Constitutional Court on Tuesday again postponed ruling on a petition to recognize the same-sex marriage of a U.S. citizen and a Romanian man.
Romania currently does not recognize same-sex marriages or relationships amid opposition from the conservative Romanian Orthodox Church.
The delay was the second time the court has put off ruling on the marriage of Claibourn Robert Hamilton, an American graphic designer and Adrian Coman, a rights activist.
Coalition backbencher Andrew Hastie says 'religious liberty' could be limited if same-sex marriage is allowed.
Mr Hastie says marriage is the people's institution and people should have their say on what it means in a plebiscite.
Chinese social media users have been expressing doubts about the institution of marriage, prompted by a post on a popular Sina Weibo account about a New York Times report saying Chinese people were increasingly disinclined to get hitched.
This is because of better education, "but also because they have good incomes and have lost the economic incentive to marry", the post on "Sina Liaoning" declared on 17 September.
Reform is calling on the Government to make it possible for maintained schools and academies to financially reward governors for their time and effort.
A new report from the public services think tank said the "increasing complexity" of the role because of academisation means "the need to recruit skilled governors is overwhelmingly apparent".
A LEADING Free Church of Scotland minister has accused humanists of being “fundamentally dishonest” over their legal challenge to give pupils the right to opt out of religious observance in Scottish schools.
The former moderator of the Free Church of Scotland hit out at claims by the Humanist Society Scotland (HSS) that the Scottish Government’s refusal to update guidance in the wake of the UN review meant ministers had potentially acted unlawfully.