The August issue of Youthspeak is now available. This issue includes: Presidential Note - Thinking of October; Editorial - For the Sake of Yesterday, Today and the Future; Russian Pupils to have a choice of religion, ethics; Swine Flu Scare: Communion wafer banned, Saudi bans pilgrims; Talibans attack four northern Nigerian states; Placenta-derived stem cells may help sufferers of lung diseases; Homosexuals left traumatised by ceremonial 'cure'; Natalia Estemirova, Russian rights activist, found murdered; Project of the Month - Are you warming up for October? Column/Opinion - Come and let’s share ideas on Secularism; Humanist Portrait - Michael Jackson: Award-Winning Supporter of Charities; Member in Focus - Tarksheel Society Punjab; Book Review/Resource - The MDG Youth Report; and Humanist Humour - Welcome to Hell!

The latest issue of G&LH has been published at www.gayandlesbianhumanist.org

International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organisation">IHEYO has published the July 2009 edition of its newsletter Youthspeak, with articles on Summer and Climate Change, Accessing the Media, how Benny Hinn Lost Sh4 Billion in a Uganda Crusade, Kenyan Government Hires 'Prophet' to Lead Nationwide Prayer Campaign in Kenya, Age matters for muscle stem cells, Vatican should learn from Galileo mess, prelate says, India decriminalises gay sex, IHEU announces the IHEU-Hivos grant programme, YHN Youth Secular Leadership Training, Marketing Your Humanist Event by Matt Cherry, Humanist Portrait: Levi Fragell: A Humanist Icon that knows the Media so well, Member in Focus: British YHN, and Book Review: The Philosophy of Humanism by Corliss Lamont

George Broadhead writes: The latest issue of G&LH is now available free at www.gayandlesbianhumanist.org

IHEU has responded to the attack on IHEU by the Benin Mission to the UN in Geneva. The response is in the form of a letter to the Mission and a paper made available at the informal meeting to discuss the upcoming conference on Racism in Geneva.

In a written statement to the UN Human Rights Council, Sixty years after the UDHR: threats to the universality of human rights, IHEU has highlighted the overriding, universal status of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the wide divergence between the UDHR and the 1990 Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam.

Can the ongoing fighting in the Darfur region of Sudan be called a genocide? Phyllis and Sylvain Ehrenfeld (“Does the UN Have the Power to do its Job?”, IHN May 2008) have no doubts. However, the Darfur conflict has been called the first Climate Change war - and for good reasons.

IHEU and member organization the National Secular Society have sent a message to the European Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian rights, meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 14 November 2007. The message calls for human rights and gay communities to recognise the strength of the threat from organised religion and to renew their efforts against it.

IHEU has followed up its presentation to the Council of Europe’s San Marino conference “The religious dimension of intercultural dialogue” with a massive written submission containing 40 specific recommendations. The paper was prepared in conjunction with the UK National Secular Society. It is also available in the original form, complete with contents and footnotes, as a PDF file for download below.

Member Organizations keep the democratic structure of IHEU alive. All IHEU member organizations accept IHEU’s purpose and definition of Humanism as set out in the IHEU Bylaws as the common minimum base.