A judge yesterday ruled that a couple will never see three of their children again even though he accepted that evidence suggesting they had physically abused one of the children was almost certainly false.

A five-year-old girl from Devon was left in tears after her teacher reprimanded her for talking about Jesus in class – and her mother could be facing the sack. The girl’s mother, who works part-time at the school, is being investigated by governors because she emailed friends at church asking them to pray about her daughter’s situation.

A man being charged with polygamy in Canada will argue that since the law there permits same-sex marriage, his multiple marriages should also be allowed.

Three Christian groups will run ads on London buses proclaiming the existence of God in response to the recent atheist campaign.

Faith-based organisations which receive funds from President Obama's new Office of Faith-Based and Neighbourhood Partnerships may be forced to hire workers who do not reflect their ethos under new ‘anti-discrimination’ measures, it emerged yesterday.

Under an order of the new President, the office, which replaces President George Bush's faith-based initiative scheme will require faith-based organisations to submit to a legal process on a case by case basis. This may require groups to hire people whose lifestyles are at odds with their ethos, for example, employees cohabiting with a partner.

Under the previous scheme, faith-based groups were allowed to hire people in accordance with their ethos for federally funded projects.

Dr. Joel Hunter, a senior pastor at Northland Church in Longwood, Florida, who will be part of a 25-member council of religious leaders in the faith-based office, said religious organisations can take federal money “on the condition that they will hire people who live a lifestyle contrary to what they teach," he said.

Under US Civil Rights legislation, faith-based organisations have a right to discriminate in hiring with respect to religion. Many of these organisations argue they risk losing their fundamental identity if the government forces them to hire individuals outside their faith.

"To us, it's not a matter of discrimination, it's a matter of our faith ethos," said Samuel Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. "What they are telling us is to negate who we are in order to acquire federal grants. ... That's just unacceptable."

Rodriguez, whose organisation represents more than 19,000 churches, said he and other religious leaders have directly communicated their concerns to the Obama administration and are confident the president will not seek to rescind the policy.

"President Obama understands he's at risk of alienating the vast majority of the evangelical community," Rodriguez said.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that a provision of President Obama's stimulus bill will prevent the money it provides for universities being used for religious buildings or facilities.

The provision prevents stimulus bill money being used for “sectarian instruction, religious worship, or a school or department of divinity; or in which a substantial portion of the functions of the facilities are subsumed in a religious mission.”

According to the American Center for Law and Justice, "Because the nature of a school’s mission determines the nature of every function that takes place on its property and in its facilities, subsection (ii) of the building funds provision would effectively bar every religiously-affiliated institution of higher learning from receiving federal building funds."

But according to Republican Senator Jim DeMint, who tabled a motion to remove the provision, the prohibition in the stimulus is far broader. It would affect every university or college in the nation (public or private) that takes federal funds from the stimulus to upgrade buildings or facilities. It says that any school that uses the funds cannot allow religious activities in that building.

Senator DeMint's amendment was defeated in the Senate yesterday.

People working in the UK's National Health Service (NHS) face losing their job if they discuss their religious faith with colleagues or patients, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.

A spokesperson for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has declared that the breakdown of traditional families, far from being a crisis, is actually a triumph for human rights.

A couple in Scotland who have seen their grandchildren taken from them and placed with a homosexual couple are set to receive financial help to challenge the move in the courts. And the council responsible for the decision to place the children with the homosexual couple could be facing an inquiry.

Children in the UK need lessons in love and moral responsibility to combat the growing culture of greed and individualism, according to a new report.

The religious freedom of Christians in the UK is under threat, according to the majority of churchgoers. According to new poll shows, 84 per cent of churchgoing Christians feel that religious freedoms, of speech and action, are at risk in the UK. They also think that Christians should engage more with politics.

Legislation which will give registered same-sex partnerships “marriage like” rights has been included in the list of Bills the Government intends to publish before Easter.

Married couples in the UK will be in the minority by next year according to new official figures. Increasing numbers are choosing to cohabit or not remarry. The new figures show that there were only 236,980 weddings in England and Wales in 2006, the lowest number since 1895.

The Health Service Executive (HSE) is facing a series of serious questions after a serious case of child abuse was revealed in the Roscommon circuit court yesterday.

Two-thirds of single mothers want more male role models for their children according to the new survey in the UK. It also found that 53 per cent of children in lone parent famiies have less than six hours contact with a man each week.

President Barack Obama's has unveiled his family policy agenda which includes removal of government marriage penalties, support for civil unions that give same-sex couples all the legal rights and privileges of married couples, adoption rights for same-sex couples and the repeal of the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Irish teenagers have the second-highest level of drunkenness among nine countries surveyed, according to new figures. The data, contained in the State of the Nation’s Children report, shows that 29 per cent of Irish 15-year-olds say they have been drunk at least once in the last month, according to a report in the Irish Times.

A radio presenter in the UK is suing a local radio station after being sacked for defending Christianity on air. The Rev Mahboob Masih, a Church minister, claims he was unfairly dismissed and that the action taken against him was a case of religious discrimination.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Michéal Martin, has reiterated the government's promise that legal guarantees ensuring Ireland's right to maintain its own family and education policy will be part of the Lisbon Treaty to be put before the Irish people again later this year.

The UK Government is attempting to overturn a crucial free speech protection added last year to a law prohibiting ‘hate crimes’ against homosexuals.

The European Parliament has adopted a resolution of its Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs welcoming a report published last year by the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) that called for binding EU regulations to force member states to abolish the differences between marriage and same-sex civil unions.