• Labour adopts swathe of anti-Israel policies: The Labour Party conference showed keen support for a series of anti-Israel measures and formalised its support for the BDS movement. Read more here and here. Labour Friends of Israel were unable to exhibit at the conference due to safety concerns.
  
• Son who threw mother off balcony cleared of murder, described as ‘loving’: A 53-year-old man who threw his elderly mother, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, off a 13ft balcony to her death has been cleared of murder and described as ‘a devoted son’ who engaged in a ‘mercy killing’. Read more here.
  
• Stonewall under fire from founder over trans ‘fiction’: The founder of LGBTQ+ lobby group Stonewall has joined others in attacking the organisation for its no-compromise support of transgenderism. Read more here. Also this week, the NHS is reportedly investigating drugs used as transgender puberty blockers which, when used in other medical applications, have been linked to over 6,000 deaths. Read more here.
  
• A mother is still a mother, even when she becomes a ‘man’, court rules: England’s High Court ruled on Wednesday that a woman who has transitioned to live as a man and then gives birth to a child must legally still be considered the child’s mother, not the father. Read more here.

World Scene

• New South Wales votes to legalise abortion: The bill removes abortion from the criminal code and permits the killing of babies in the womb up to 22 weeks - or longer if two doctors agree. New South Wales was the last state in Australia where abortion remained illegal. Read more here. In the same week, 8,000 marched in central Berlin on behalf of the unborn child, while some 50,000 marched for life in Slovakia ahead of a government debate on abortion. Read more here.
  
• Religious freedom discussed at the UN: This week, Trump became the first US President to host a meeting on religious freedom at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Read more here. The President announced $25m extra funding for protecting religious freedom and also sent a strong pro-life message in his general address. At the UNHRC in Geneva, a report was released condemning the rise of anti-Semitism and encouraging member states to adopt the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. Read more here.
  
• Mattel launches gender-fluid doll: The toy giant has launched the world’s first gender-fluid doll, which can be a girl, or a boy, or neither, or both. Read more here. Also this week, in an essay for Quillette, a Canadian academic who used to promote a social constructivist understanding of gender admits "I made it all up".
  
• Chinese churches must replace Ten Commandments with President quotes: State-registered churches in Henan province have been instructed by the Government to take down public displays of the Ten Commandments and replace them with excerpts from Xi Jinping’s speeches. Read more here.

Israel & Middle East

• Rivlin taps Netanyahu to form a government: After unity negotiations between the ruling Likud Party and the rival Blue and White Party failed, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has asked incumbent PM Netanyahu to form a government in the next 28 days. Read more here.

Events

• ‘Our kids are being taught WHAT?!’ Saturday 12 October (north-west London): A one-day conference to discuss the Government’s new RSE curriculum. Hear from expert speakers and receive practical advice on how to respond. Masons Avenue, Harrow, 10am-6pm. Tickets £25 (£10 concessions). Click here for more information and to book.
• Brexit: the moment of truth. Monday 30 September (Manchester): Join the Bruges Group and a number of distinguished speakers including the Rt Hon Sir John Redwood and the Rt Hon Arlene Foster for a special Brexit press conference. The Brexit Hub, 1-2:30pm. Free, but booking advised. Find out more here.