Free Republic

Women and girls over the age of 12 have been banned by a mosque from taking part in a charity fun run, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. The 5km event being held in an East London park today – which has been billed as 'inclusive' and 'family-friendly' – is open to men and boys of all ages, but organisers insist that female teenagers and women can be forbidden from joining in. The fundraiser, called Muslim Charity Run and organised by East London Mosque, is being held in Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets.

Councillors in Tower Hamlets are proposing to twin the multi-cultural borough with the West Bank town of Jenin in a move Jewish leaders say risks bringing Middle East tensions to inner city London. The proposal has been condemned for encouraging anti-Semitism by showing support for a town that sheltered many of the Palestinian suicide bombers who attacked Israelis. But supporters of the plan said it was no more than a show of solidarity with ordinary people in the town, the site of an alleged massacre of Palestinians by Israeli troops in March. Councillors agreed to look at twinning with Jenin...