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A government-sponsored course will open in Sweden later in the year to teach clerics a "locally anchored" version of Islam to counter the influence of radical clerics trained abroad.
In the Autumn a course funded by a government grant will start in Kista Folkhoegskola adult education centre in north-western Stockholm. The one-year programme will teach Islamic theology and leadership to those who intend to become clerics.
The educational trust behind an independent Islamic school in Luton that has been criticised for segregating staff by gender and treating male and female pupils differently is being investigated by the Charity Commission.
The inquiry by the charities regulator into the Rabia Educational Trust comes after a series of adverse judgments by the school standards watchdog, Ofsted, following inspection of Rabia girls’ and boys’ school.
Lord Laming’s review for the Prison Reform Trust has found that children in care are six times more likely to be cautioned by police or convicted of a crime than others of the same age. It is a national shame that we allow these young people to fill young offender institutions and prisons after spending so much money “taking care” of them throughout their childhoods.
A TRADITIONALIST minister has opened a formal protest over the Church of Scotland’s move to back same-sex marriages among ministers.
Rev Mike Goss, of Barry Parish Church, Angus, lodged a notice of protest of “dissent” after the historic decision by the Kirk to recognise ministers and deacons in same-sex civil partnerships has been extended to cover same-sex marriage.
The police chief leading the fight to stop people becoming terrorists has said government plans targeting alleged extremists are so flawed they risk creating a “thought police” in Britain.
Simon Cole, the police lead for the government’s own Prevent anti-radicalisation programme, said that the plans may not be enforceable and risk making police officers judges of “what people can and can not say”.
His comments in a Guardian interview expose opposition in part of Britain’s security establishment against the planned Conservative government bill which was unveiled last week in the Queen’s speech.
Developers of a new housing estate in suburban Melbourne are only targeting Islamic families in what has been described as one of Australia's biggest faith-based developments.
Iqra Village, the residential project at Melton South in Melbourne's west, will be divided into 75 lots and marketed towards South Asian migrants.
There are also plans to build a mosque at the centre of the neighbourhood where two houses have already been built.
A teenage pregnancy prevention strategy that is credited for halving the rate of conceptions among teenagers in England is to be used as a blueprint in countries that want to emulate its success.
Alison Hadley, who led the 10-year programme resulting in record lows in teenage pregnancies, has been asked by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to share the lessons of the project so they can be applied globally.
The teenage pregnancy strategy was set up by the Labour government to address soaring rates of pregnancy in England among teenagers from deprived backgrounds. It resulted in a 51% drop in conceptions over a 16-year period. According to the WHO, very few other programmes worldwide have had such success.
The genetic engineering of humans has great potential to help those destined to inherit serious, incurable diseases, according to one of Britain’s most prominent scientists, who says the risks and benefits should be debated by society.
The invention of powerful new genome editing tools means researchers can now make precise changes to genetic material, and so consider correcting faulty DNA in human sperm, eggs and embryos.
While the procedure may prevent children from being born with serious disorders, the practice – known as “germline therapy” – is banned in Britain and many other countries, because the genetic changes would be passed down to future generations and the risks are largely unknown.
People may be asked about their sexuality and "gender identity" in the census for the first time, it has emerged.
Demographers are considering whether questions on the topics could be included in the next survey for England and Wales, which will be carried out in 2021.
The Office for National Statistics published the results of a public consultation for views on the contents of the questionnaire.
Three women have handed themselves into a police station in Derry, stating they have procured and taken illegal abortion pills and requesting that they be prosecuted, in protest at Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws.
Dozens of pro-choice campaigners gathered at Derry police station in support of the women as they handed themselves in for questioning. The women hope to trigger a trial to showcase the archaic nature of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act – the legislation which makes abortion in Northern Ireland illegal except in extremely rare circumstances.