The duty of repairing the family's reputation is often delegated to a youth, believing they will get the minimum jail sentence, the World Service's Assignment programme has learned.

Women are the main victims of a practice which is at odds with the country's pursuit of many Western standards and values as it seeks EU membership.

Despite the recent reform of Turkey's penal code, honour killings have continued, mostly in the east of the country where ancient traditions are strong.

"We staged this fair to explore the limits of freedom Westerners believe in," Masoud Shojai, head of the country's "Iran Cartoon" association and the fair organizer, said.

"They can freely write anything they like about our prophet, but if one raises doubts about the Holocaust he is either fined or sent to prison," he added.

Officers are investigating a small fire at a mosque in Chester but say it is too early to say whether it was in response to the alleged terror plot.

The head of the Muslim Council of Britain said Muslims were "fully behind" efforts to prevent attacks.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- A man accused of sexually assaulting nine boys with physical or mental disabilities told a judge that having sex with children is a sacred ritual protected by civil rights laws.

Phillip Distasio, who said he is the leader of a church called Arcadian Fields Ministries, represented himself at his pretrial hearing Wednesday. He is charged with 74 counts including rape, pandering obscenity to minors and corrupting another with drugs.

"I'm a pedophile. I've been a pedophile for 20 years," he said in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Wednesday. "The only reason I'm charged with rape is that no one believes a child can consent to sex. The role of my ministry is to get these cases out of the courtrooms.

Lawyers for Mary Norton and Wendy Becker told a Suffolk County Superior Court judge that a ban on non-resident gay couples from marrying in Massachusetts should not apply to them because Rhode Island does not expressly ban same-sex marriage.

"If we're successful on the present facts in Rhode Island, it's possible that other states that don't have a discriminatory marriage law against same sex couples might also be able to prove that they are entitled to marry in Massachusetts," Michele Granda, a lawyer at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders representing the couple, told Reuters after the hearing.

The United States Senate has defeated a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. The bill was defeated 48 to 49 and did not receive the minimum amount of 60 votes to that would allow the bill to to be taken to the full Senate. The bill fell 18 votes short of the 67 that were needed for approval. In order for the bill to become part of the U.S. Constitution, this bill would have had to be approved by a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, then be approved by the legislatures of three fourths (that is, 38) of the States.

However, senator David Vitter, R-LA who is a supporter of the bill says, "we're building votes."

"We are convinced that work with embryonic stem cells holds enormous promise," said Harvard provost Dr. Steven Hyman.

The privately funded work is aimed at devising treatments for such ailments as diabetes, Lou Gehrig's disease, sickle-cell anemia and leukemia. Harvard is only the second American university to announce its venture into the challenging, politically charged research field.

Noor Jehan was allegedly shot by relatives after being declared guilty of adultery under an ancient tribal tradition in southern Pakistan.

She managed to crawl for help after being left in the ditch last month.

Australia has violated the rights of a 16-year-old Aboriginal boy kept in isolation without clothes and blankets in a NSW adult prison, the United Nations has found.

Corey Brough, who has a mild intellectual disability, was 16 when he took part in a riot at the Kariong Juvenile Detention Centre in March, 1999.

After the riot, he was transferred to an adult prison, Parklea Correctional Centre, and kept in isolation, given anti-psychotic drugs, and had all his clothing removed.

MILWAUKEE -- Kelly Romenesko was teaching French at two Roman Catholic schools in Appleton when she and her husband decided to start a family using in vitro fertilization.

After asking for some time off in September 2004 to complete the procedure, the lifelong Catholic gave her boss an update about a month later: She was pregnant.

But only days after that, she said, she got a pink slip by the Catholic school system. Administrators, according to her lawyer James C. Jones, claimed Romenesko violated a provision of her employment contract saying a teacher has to act in accordance with Catholic doctrine.

Gay groups are applauding new laws passed by the [Australian Captial Terrority] ACT government that will allow homosexual civil unions in the territory.

"This is a very significant step forward in our push towards full legal equality under Australian law," said Peter Furness, national convener for the Australian Marriage Equality.

"Couples from around the country can also now receive formal recognition and can celebrate their love and commitment in a civil union ceremony sanctioned and approved by the state."

The body of 82-year-old Gladys Hammond was dug up and stolen from a churchyard in central England during one of the most sustained campaigns ever launched by animal rights protesters.

Britain is home to some of the world's most vociferous militant groups but police say the six-year campaign of violence, threats and intimidation against family business David Hall and Partners was one of the worst they had encountered.