There's something touchingly innocent about the argument put forward by many people that the BNP should be allowed space in the mainstream media as this will "expose their ignorant ideas". Because history doesn't necessarily prove this to be the case. I don't suppose that, in 1941, many people thought: "You see, this is all working to plan. Now he's invaded Russia everyone will see just what an idiot this Hitler really is."

Police officers will no longer have to fill out lengthy forms when they stop and search people in the street, the home secretary will announce.

The forms have been criticised for being complicated and bureaucratic.

Alan Johnson will say that in future only the ethnicity of the person stopped and the reason why will have to be recorded.

He will make the announcement at the Police Superintendents' Association annual conference on Wednesday.

This move will save 200,000 hours of officers' time a year, the home secretary will say.

Read more @ BBC News

England has become the "divorce capital of Europe", according to a senior family lawyer.

The system is paternalistic and unprincipled, says Lady Deech, chair of the Bar Standards Board.

Huge assets can be divided equally after only a few years of marriage, sending the wrong message, she says.

A leading defence lawyer says judges do recognise that women in short marriages should not be compensated in the same way as in long marriages.

Wrong message

Lady Deech says settlements that automatically keep ex-wives in comfort at the expense of ex-husbands are wrong.

Here Javed Iqbal from Hajiabad describes what happened when the army raided his village.

Pakistan's army says it has investigated the incident and denies Mr Iqbal's version of events.

Our village is called Hajiabad and is located in the Charbagh area of Swat.

The security forces came into our village on 20 June 2009 and blew up the house of a local Taliban Commander, Sher Mohammad Qasab.

After doing this, they searched my house and that of my sister, which are located side-by-side next to the Taliban commander's.

At that time I told the army officials that they must inform us before coming as the Taliban are hiding in the area.

Two rockets have been fired into northern Israel from Lebanon. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

Remnants of a Katyusha rocket were found in Israel, police said.

Israel and the Lebanese militant and political group Hezbollah fought a devastating 34-day war across the border in July 2006.

Read more @ BBC News

In the villages of Afghanistan, many young men are working for the government during the week, but fighting for the Taliban at weekends.

"We don't get paid," says Gul Mohammad.

"It's voluntary - all for the sake of God. We even buy fuel for the operations ourselves. And our own ammunition and bullets."

Gul Mohammad (his name changed to protect his identity) is not what you might think of as a typical Taliban fighter.

He is educated, in his 20s, married with children and, during the week, he works in a government office.

"I'm a civil servant - that's how I support my family, with my salary and by growing wheat, here in the village.

Youths have attacked a man outside a mosque in the same London suburb where an OAP was allegedly murdered by youths as he left a mosque.

The 30-year-old Asian man was attacked by a group of youths as he left the mosque in Gatton Road, Tooting, south-west London, at 2215 BST on Tuesday.

He suffered head injuries in what police describe as a racial attack.

It followed a fatal attack on Ekram Haque, 67, as he left Church Lane mosque in the area on 31 August.

Read more @ BBC News

The targeted boycotting of businesses involved in Israel's occupation of the Palestinian Territories is legitimate

The Norwegian government's divestment from Elbit Systems is an entirely appropriate response to Elbit's business involvement with the occupation of the West Bank. Despite the howls of protest from Israeli officials, the Norwegians' decision is a principled stand, which bears the closest of scrutiny, especially when viewed in the context of previous decisions by the country's council of ethics regarding state investments.

Russia today categorically denied media reports that the Arctic Sea ‑ the Russian cargo ship apparently hijacked by pirates ‑ had been carrying a secret cargo of anti-aircraft weapons destined for Iran.

Its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, dismissed claims made in Russian and British newspapers that the ship was concealing a delivery of the S-300, Russia's most advanced anti-aircraft system. The arms had been loaded on to the ship in Russia's Baltic port of Kaliningrad, the reports said.

Lavrov called the claims an "absolute lie". He promised that Moscow would carry out its own investigation into the boat, which vanished after passing through the Channel on 28 July, apparently carrying a £1.1m cargo of Finnish timber.

Pakistan's Supreme court is set to hear petitions seeking the prosecution of the main opposition leader, Nawaz Sharif, for murder.

According to documents obtained by the BBC, the court will hear the accusations against Mr Sharif and then decide whether to pursue the charges.

The petitions call for Mr Sharif's arrest and prosecution.

He has denied ordering the murder of an ex-army officer after an alleged political kickbacks deal turned sour.

Nawaz Sharif, twice elected as Pakistan's prime minister, has recently been acquitted of similar criminal charges by the Supreme Court.

The court's decision was made on 21 July but it is expected to begin its inquiries imminently.