A Jewish congressman has been backed by a Muslim politician in his fight to prohibit US cities from banning circumcision.

Brad Sherman, a Californian Democrat, is set to introduce a bill to counter the San Francisco campaign to make circumcision illegal for underage males.

The former Conservative leader Michael Howard has been made a Companion of Honour. He was honoured in the Queen's Birthday Honours List along with one of Britain's leading champions of interfaith relations, an Oscar-nominated actress and a rabbi.

Faded photographs of smiling young Londoners shortly before their lives were cut short are all that remains of victims of one of the capital's worst wartime disasters.

Two British Jews are among 30 young people who have been selected from more than 700 hopefuls to become fellows of Tony Blair's Faith Foundation.

From July Catherine Mansoor, from Middlesex, and Anthony Silkoff, from Essex, will be joined on the programme by three Jewish fellows from North America, as well as representatives from Christianity, Islam and other world religions.

A group of men and women in tracksuits and coloured bibs are dribbling footballs through cones, whooping and exchanging high-fives as they complete a circuit. It is a common enough sight on pitches up and down the country, but this training session, taking place at Brighton University's Chelsea School of Sport in Eastbourne, is different.