The vast majority of faith schools are breaking the law when admitting pupils, according to Government research published yesterday. The study shows that some seek money from parents and fail to give priority to children in care. A survey of 106 voluntary-aided schools by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) revealed that 96 are in breach of a new statutory code on admissions. Of those, 87 are faith schools.

A woman was beaten up and shot dead by her father for talking online with a man she met on the website Facebook. The case was reported on a Saudi Arabian news site as an example of the “strife” the social networking site is causing in the Islamic nation. Facebook girl beaten and shot dead by her father for talking online | the Daily Mail. Yet another example of Islamic family values.

For the past eleven years the organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), representing the 57 Islamic States, has been tightening its grip on the throat of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yesterday, 28 March 2008, they finally killed it. With the support of their allies including China, Russia and Cuba (none well-known for their defence of human rights) the Islamic States succeeded in forcing through an amendment to a resolution on Freedom of Expression that has turned the entire concept on its head.

Go to the BHA site to read more. Tags: BBC, BBC+News+24, Embryology+Bill

Has the Easter holiday given you a headache? Not because of all that chocolate, but because it’s on a different date every year and messes up the school holidays, especially if you have kids at different schools in different areas. The National Secular Society is campaigning to have the Easter holiday fixed, while a parents’ organisation, The Day Care Trust, says the staggered holidays cost parents a fortune in child care costs.

Is there an issue you’d like to discuss? We all write something on a piece of paper, which goes into a hat (or suitable alternative), then the topics are picked at random. We’ll be in Room 4, next to the back door on the ground floor, at Castle Hill Community Centre, Highfield Road, Ipswich – not in The Hall, as previously stated. There was a muddle over bookings. If the front door is shut, press the buzzer to be admitted.

Jim Herrick is former editor of New Humanist and International Humanist News. His books include Vision and Realism – A History of the Freethinker; Against the Faith: Sceptics , Deists and Atheists; Humanism : an Introduction (new edition shortly). He has spent the greater part of his working life in the Humanist movement. He is editor of a revised edition of the Humanist Anthology and co-editor of Seasons of Life – readings for humanist ceremonies.

The BHA says, The Local Development Project exists because the BHA believes that there is a lack of representation in some areas for humanists and non-religious people. Our experience shows that local authorities communicate with their citizens about diversity, equalities and social cohesion via a complex web of forums, networks and consultations. These feed into higher level organisations eventually reaching national bodies. At a local level, the non-religious are often left out of this dialogue because of a lack of organised and recognised mechanisms of communication and a lack of resources.

We’ll be in Room 1 (next to the front door) at Castle Hill Community Centre, Highfield Road, Ipswich. If the front door is shut, press the buzzer to be admitted. To offer or request a lift, email us. The BTO aims to promote and encourage the wider understanding, appreciation and conservation of birds by: conducting high-quality, impartial research in field ornithology. - providing scientific evidence and advice on priority issues in bird conservation.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Is there a topical issue you’d like to discuss? Have you got a bee in your bonnet? The idea is that everyone writes down a topic, all the suggestions go in a hat (or similar container) and we draw them out at random to be discussed for 10 minutes. If there’s something that gets everyone fired up, we can go on for longer if we all agree.