Britain's Quakers appear to be on the brink of a decision to put same-sex and heterosexual marriage on an equal footing. This morning will see the final stage of their discussions on the issue at their Yearly Meeting in York.

Britain's Quakers formally began their discussions on same-sex partnerships at their Yearly Meeting yesterday. They are considering whether to carry out commitment ceremonies for same-sex couples on the same basis as heterosexual weddings.

British Quakers have given a warm response to a call by the academic and writer Richard Wilkinson for a more economically equal society. Speaking at their annual conference in York, he insisted that more equal societies almost always do better.

Around 1,600 Quakers will gather in York tomorrow for their week-long annual conference. The event is likely to be dominated by a decision on whether to carry out same-sex commitment ceremonies on the same basis as heterosexual weddings.

A a simple integrity can rebuke our culture's debased and profligate way with words, say Jill Segger. Restraint in communication is counter-cultural. Humanity is wisest when it recognises the best words as those taking flesh rather than fury.

British Quakers will join others in marking the seventieth anniversary of the first train carrying Jewish children away from Nazi persecution to leave Berlin on 1 December 2008. They played a significant role in this evacuation.

Hundreds of peace demonstrators, including Christian groups and nonviolence activists, blockaded the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston yesterday, to protest Britain's weapons of mass destruction.

Building bridges with storytelling is the focus for an information week beginning on Saturday, when Quakers in Britain will profile their life, faith and practice as a distinct and viable commitment in a divided world.

A new charity is being launched in London tomorrow to pioneer an award-winning community response to sex offending, in the UK. Circles UK aims to support the development and effectiveness of Circles of Support and Accountability.

British Quakers today lent their support to the concerns of the two human rights campaigners arrested off Diego Garcia after protesting about the island's use in British and US military operations.