British Christian schools could face a European Commission investigation, following complaints from a humanist campaign group. The British Humanist Association (BHA) claims that faith schools breach European Union (EU) equality rules when hiring staff, because they say religious adherence is a ‘desirable’ quality. EU rules state that schools must prove there is a ‘genuine occupational requirement’ in preferring to recruit teachers of faith. Spokesman for The Christian Institute, Simon Calvert, said church schools are ‘hugely popular’, and their ethos is why they do such a good job of preparing children for life in 21st-century Britain’. ‘It’s disappointing that humanists seem to be so intolerant of religious organisations seeking to remain religious. There’s a relentless agenda to secularise religious organisations. ‘If they were to succeed, it would severely damage these church schools and undermine the great work that they do’. (See also British Isles and Ireland story.)

Imposing fines of up to £500,000 on the companies behind cold calls and nuisance text messages is to become easier under changes to the law being made by the Government. The move follows tens of thousands of complaints about cold calling. Currently, firms can only be punished if the Information Commissioner can prove a call caused ‘substantial damage or substantial distress’. But from 6 April, that legal requirement is to be removed. More than 175,000 complaints were made to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) last year about nuisance calls and text messages. The government says the number of complaints has risen in the past decade and the issue is particularly acute for the elderly and housebound as such calls can cause distress and anxiety. In a speech earlier this month, Information Commissioner Christopher Graham described the current law as ‘a licence for spammers and scammers’ and appealed for more powers

Christian environmentalists are calling on the public to buy Fairtrade products after sales fell for the first time in 20 years. The drop of nearly 4 per cent in sales of Fairtrade products reflects the success of cheap brands offered by Aldi and Lidl at a time when the Government's austerity cuts are affecting hundreds of thousands of people. Dr. Ruth Valerio, churches and Theology Director of A Rocha UK, the international Christian research, environmental and conservation charity, said switching to Fairtrade could change people's lives. The foundation was set up to help provide a fair deal for farmers and producers in the developing world. Dr. Valerio told Christian Today the fall in sales should not be ignored and she urged everyone to act.

Toxic fumes in cabin air pose a health risk to frequent fliers and aircrew, a coroner has said in a landmark report. Stanhope Payne, the senior coroner for Dorset, said people regularly exposed to fumes circulating in planes faced ‘consequential damage to their health’. Mr. Payne, who is inquiring into the death of Richard Westgate, a British Airways pilot, called on BA and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to take ‘urgent action to prevent future deaths’. Most airline passengers, who fly only occasionally, will not be affected by the problem, but some frequent travelers who are genetically susceptible to the toxins could fall ill. His report, obtained by the Telegraph, is the first official UK recognition of so-called ‘aerotoxic syndrome’, a phenomenon long denied by airlines but which is blamed by some for the deaths of at least two pilots and numerous other incidents where pilots have passed out in flight