Prime minister congratulates newlyweds on Twitter as act of parliament comes into force in England and Wales
David Cameron has welcomed Britain's first gay marriages by claiming the coalition has honoured Britain's "proud traditions of respect, tolerance and equal worth" in changing the law.
As the Marriage (Same Sex) Couples Act was introduced on Saturday, Cameron tweeted: "Congratulations to all same-sex couples getting married today I wish you every possible happiness for the future."
In an open letter, the justice secretary says he was only involved in one discussion about reading material availability
There has been no attempt to curtail prisoners' access to books, Chris Grayling has insisted in an open letter to poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy.
The justice secretary said he had only ever been involved in one discussion on the availability of reading material behind bars and that was to allow EL James' erotic thriller Fifty Shades Of Grey to be circulated in women's prisons.
When Hunter Moore posted topless pictures of Charlotte Laws' daughter online, she decided to take him down
I don't realise quite how brave Charlotte Laws is until I see her in action at the United States Court House in Los Angeles. I'd met her at her home two days previously, but for most of the interview she'd been sitting down, and it's only amid the imposing gloom of the 1940s building that I realise how tiny she is less than 5ft tall, despite a pair of platform heels and what exactly it is that she has taken on. We're waiting for a bail hearing in the case of the United States versus Charlie Evens, and Laws is clutching a stash of printouts from the internet which she shows the prosecutor before the judge arrives.
"What are these?" the prosecutor asks.
Evidence from skulls in east London shows plague had to have been airborne to spread so quickly
Archaeologists and forensic scientists who have examined 25 skeletons unearthed in the Clerkenwell area of London a year ago believe they have uncovered the truth about the nature of the Black Death that ravaged Britain and Europe in the mid-14th century.
Analysis of the bodies and of wills registered in London at the time has cast doubt on "facts" that every schoolchild has learned for decades: that the epidemic was caused by a highly contagious strain spread by the fleas on rats.
Amid Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's talk of 'conscious uncoupling', more over-50s are splitting up. With damaging effects
Dr Penelope Leach has been a passionate defender of babies and children since the 1970s. But she is no upholder of the idea that adults should stay together regardless of the measure of misery; unhappy parents make for unhappy offspring. "Divorce and separation is a safety valve for marriage and cohabitation," she tells me. "And society cannot do without one." So when the break occurs she advocates what she calls "mutual parenting". It doesn't have the slightly sexual, semi-spiritual, yogic-infused ring of "conscious decoupling" but it amounts to something similar, albeit with the celebrity varnish scraped away.
In her latest book, Family Breakdown: Helping Children to Hang on to Both Parents, to be published in June, she advocates two enmity-free households, working together, to make the best of a bad job for children when their parents opt to go their separate ways. The key, she says, is to separate parenting from partnership; so much easier said than done, as she is the first to acknowledge. "Research tells us parents matter even more and for even longer than everybody knows already," she says. "No child is too young or too old to be affected."
Aircraft reported to have been completely alight after it went down in field between towns of Ongar and Writtle
Two men have been killed after a light aircraft crashed into a field in a rural area of Essex.
Emergency services were alerted to a major incident at around 2.55pm that a plane had gone down in a field between Ongar and Writtle.
Corporation to break 80-year tradition of commissioning oil paintings of outgoing director generals and take photos instead
In an attempt to cut costs as it faces a squeeze on the licence fee and head off further allegations of corporate extravagance the BBC is to scrap the controversial tradition of commissioning an oil painting of each outgoing director general.
Warm spring weather forecast for much of the UK next week, making parts warmer than Madrid and the French Riviera
Chinese aircraft spots objects in newly targeted zone more than 1,000km north-east of area previously being searched
Floating voters in dozens of key seats say their decision will be based on the parties' housing manifestos
The number of people who are forced to rent their homes from private landlords because they cannot afford to buy could determine the result of the next general election in dozens of key parliamentary seats, research reveals today.
Arsenal were outplayed in the first half, but came back strong in the second to stay in the title race
Lights in homes, buildings and famous landmarks will be turned off for an hour on Saturday to mark WWF's annual event
Ceremonies take place across England and Wales as couples take advantage of the first day of a new law that permits same-sex marriage. The prime minister, David Cameron, has hailed the change as sending a powerful message about equality in Britain
On March 30, 1939, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics No.27. To mark 75 years of the Caped Crusader, here are some of his greatest pop culture appearances
Tony Hall's arts programme proposals are aimed at a middle-class, middle-aged audience. We may as well still be in 1969
What is Civilisation? Within the last week, the question must have been asked more often than at any time in human history, or certainly by people still unborn 45 years ago, when the great arts programme went out. What is Civilisation? Why are people still going on about it? And why in God's name is the BBC's Lord Hall of Birkenhead so keen to bring it back ?
As so often, YouTube, undreamt of in 1969 when Kenneth Clark's last and strikingly pessimistic programme was broadcast, provides some clues to the world view that Hall finds so compelling. Confessing himself, after his protracted tour of Europe's glories, a "stick in the mud", Clark adds in his book of the series: "One must concede that the future of civilisation does not look very bright." One must concede? The line is characteristic of a "personal view" that, the formidably pained Clark does not trouble to conceal, should rightly be shared by everyone who had watched his 13 beautifully illustrated lectures. "The trouble is," he laments imagine Prince Charles with a brain "that there is still no centre."
Labour's two-point fall in Opinium/Observer poll leaves it just one point ahead of the Tories, with Ukip up to 15%
Labour's support has slumped to its lowest level since soon after the 2010 election, according to a new Opinium/Observer poll. Ed Miliband's party now has a lead of just one percentage point over the Conservatives.
The findings showing a clear bounce for the Tories after George Osborne's budget will put more pressure on Miliband, whose party was 10 points ahead of the Tories a year ago.
Top diplomats discuss Ukraine and agree to meet in Paris
Vladimir Putin calls Barack Obama late Friday
Halfway home from Saudi Arabia, US secretary of state John Kerry has abruptly changed course. He will now stay in Europe for talks on Ukraine.
The news followed reports from Russia that Kerry had spoken to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, by phone, a day after President Vladimir Putin called President Barack Obama. The Russian foreign ministry said Washington had initiated the call between Kerry and Lavrov, adding that they discussed Ukraine and plans for further contact.
Poll suggests 27% would pay £10 but 56% against, with only 12% saying they would pay to guarantee next-day appointment
Britons are overwhelmingly against paying to see a GP to help the NHS balance its books, even if that means their local surgery closing, an opinion poll reveals.
There is growing interest in charging as a way to help the NHS meet rising demand for healthcare at a time when it is likely to receive only tiny budget increases. Even the chairman of the NHS in England has said the next government will have to consider charging in order to help the health service survive. But while one in four (27%) said they would be willing to pay £10 for a GP visit rather than see their practice shutting down, more than double that 56% were against.
Chelsea's title challenge has run aground south of the river. This derby was supposed to be awkward rather than treacherous but, eclipsed by Crystal Palace's sheer refusal to wilt, the side who had led going into the weekend ended up feeling forlorn. José Mourinho strode from the pitch consoling a distraught Gary Cahill, one of the few visiting players to deserve better, and straight into the home dressing room to congratulate the victors.
This was a result to confound logic even in a gloriously unpredictable top flight. Palace had secured a solitary point from 14 games against the Premier League's top nine before this match, their winless streak stretching back to the start of February with goals having long since dried up. They had not managed one from open play since that last success though, befitting a contest that deviated from the prescribed script, Chelsea scored one for them here. John Terry's own goal early in the second half had Mourinho writing off his team's chances of regaining the title. He scribbled one word down on a piece of paper, preferring not to damn his own out loud, when asked what his team needs if they are to improve. "Balls," read the note. That summed it up.
The prime minister is not even standing in Sunday's local elections, but in the divided capital the talk is of no one else
Turkey may be in turmoil and the vast city of Istanbul in ferment, bridling at the antics of a government struggling to cope with scandal and sleaze, but in Kasimpasa quarter, the prime minister's troubles raise barely a shrug.
A conservative, lower-middle-class district bordering the Golden Horn and predominantly inhabited by Turks from the Black Sea coast, Kasimpasa loves Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the powerful prime minister increasingly reviled across Turkey and tarnished internationally.
Attack is the second in the Afghan capital in less than 24 hours, after insurgents targeted a guesthouse used by a US aid group
Taliban fighters attacked the Kabul headquarters of the Afghanistan's independent election commission (IEC) headquarters on Saturday, the latest in a spate of attacks ahead of next week's presidential vote.
No injuries were reported from in the initial stage of the attack, but security forces and Taliban fighters were still shooting at each other.
Rogue companies could be fined hundreds of thousands of pounds if they continue to flout the law
Ministers will announce a crackdown on nuisance phone calls by firms and charities this week, with some rogue companies set to face fines worth many hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Maria Miller, the culture secretary, wants to lower the threshold for taking action against companies, which are currently liable only if it can be proved that their calling has caused "substantial damage or distress".
South Africa 196-5; England 193-7
Three wickets by Wayne Parnell put Proteas in semi-finals
So England's little adventure to Chittagong is over. South Africa defeated them by three runs late on Saturday night. A second miraculous run chase was beyond them. The target of 197 was too much, no matter how wet the ball was.
They have never scored so many to win a T20 match and if they were going to do so here they needed a knock on the scale of Alex Hales's on Thursday. But that was an extra-special innings. They don't happen every day.