E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Reports and elections, then a discussion. Ten Minute Topics is about everyone bringing a burning issue they’d like to discuss. We write them down, put the bits of paper in a hat (or equivalent), and discuss them in the order they come out of the hat. If something generates a lot of interest we may discuss it for longer, with everyone’s agreement. Guests and raffle prizes welcome.

E-mail: mail@suffolkhumanists.org.uk Event description: Margaret Nelson provides a Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Suffolk for 2 minutes sometime between 7.25 and 7.35 am. BBC Radio Suffolk’s FM frequencies are 103.9 (Ipswich), 104.6 (west Suffolk), 95.5 (Lowestoft), 95.9 (Aldeburgh). It’s not available on medium wave or DAB, but you can listen live online – see link below. Further info: http://www.bbc.co.uk/suffolk/local_radio/index.shtml

Gordon Brown says Labour MPs will get a free vote on the most controversial parts of the new embryology Bill. The MPs will be able to follow their consciences in three areas – including allowing scientists to create embryos with human DNA and animal cells. But the prime minister expects all Labour MPs to back the whole bill when it comes to the final Commons vote. The PM offered the deal after warnings that some Catholic Labour MPs and cabinet ministers were ready to rebel.

The National Union of Teachers has been having its conference, where teachers were inconsistent in their attitudes towards religion and the military. Head teachers should allow imams, rabbis and priests to offer religious instruction to pupils in all state schools, teachers’ leaders have said. The National Union of Teachers (NUT) said the move would be a way to reunite divided communities. The NUT said parents had a right to have specific schooling in their own faith, if that was what they wanted.

Society is ill-prepared to handle scientific breakthroughs because it lacks understanding of human life, the Archbishop of Canterbury has claimed … In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, he also criticised evolution theory as “limited”, urged politicians to be open about their faith, and attacked religious conspiracy theories such as the Da Vinci Code. Rowan Williams: Society can’t handle science – Telegraph. Tags: Archbishop+of+Canterbury, Rowan+Williams, Evolution

When the leaders of 27 countries meet in Berlin today to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the EU, there will be one significant absence. To the annoyance of many Poles, who have what is arguably the most crackpot right-wing government in Europe, God has not been invited to the party. Neither Christianity nor the deity feature in the declaration which Europe’s leaders will sign to mark the occasion, signalling the high point of what has been a fantastic week for secularism.

The long-awaited Humanist website for teachers is now online. It should prove very useful for teachers who include Humanism in their RE lessons, as they do in Suffolk. Andrew Copson, the BHA’s Education Officer, writes, The site will be a growing resource, and so do let me know of any themes that may be covered in your syllabuses that you think it would be good to cover in our resources.

A gay teenager who claims he faces the death penalty in Iran after his boyfriend was executed there two years ago has spoken of his anger and disappointment at losing his legal battle against deportation. Mehdi Kazemi, 19, who sought sanctuary in Britain in 2005 when he discovered that his partner had been hanged in Tehran for engaging in homosexual acts, is expected to be returned to Iran in the next few weeks.

The International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR), many of whose members are Christian, has issued a statement saying that Intelligent Design “is not science”: We believe that intelligent design is neither sound science nor good theology. Although the boundaries of science are open to change, allowing supernatural explanations to count as science undercuts the very purpose of science, which is to explain the workings of nature without recourse to religious language.

Saturday 8th March is International Women’s Day. Click on the image to go to the IWD website and find out about International Women’s Day, and what events are happening in your area. Tags: International+Women’s+Day, IWD, Women