Maleforce

Soon after the love affair becomes public Christian, played by John Partridge, will suffer an anti-gay attack by a Muslim character.

The storyline is expected to spark a barrage of complaints from Muslim groups reports The Daily Star.

An EastEnders insider revealed to the newspaper: "Syed and Amira's wedding achieved one of the highest ratings of the year, so we're expecting viewers to again be gripped when this storyline reaches its dramatic climax. There will be lots of twists and turns along the way. And sadly for poor Christian, he'll be the one who ends up taking a battering. There will also be lots of complaints."

The Christian and Syed gay saga has already been criticized by senior Muslims.

A spokesman from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, told The Star: "EastEnders is famous for its gritty and realistic storylines but we cannot condone such violence from a Muslim character."

Last year Asghar Bokhari, founding member of the MPAC, told the BBC that EastEnders "really lost an opportunity to present a normal friendly Muslim character to the British public" when commenting on the Syed character.

Diedrick Santer, executive producer for EastEnders disgreed: "Sometimes there's a danger of being too careful with black or Asian characters that we might go into territories that might offend.

"But it seems to me if we steer away from any controversy, they don't stand a chance of being a great EastEnders family [the Masood family] - they'll just be in their kitchen unit making curries for years and years and that's not going to be very interesting."

The new offence of using threatening language with intent to provoke hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation came into effect this week and has been welcomed by gay rights groups.

Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, the UK's leading lesbian, gay and bisexual charity said: "The newly-extended criminal offence of incitement to hatred will go some way towards addressing the hatred and violence directed towards lesbians, gay men and bisexuals in Britain at a time when homophobic attacks are on the increase.

"It sends a strong signal that such behaviour is unacceptable in a civilised society. Just like race, a person's sexual orientation is an intrinsic characteristic for which no citizen should ever feel under threat of verbal or physical violence"

The new legislation is aimed at offenders who incite genuine hatred and does not extend to all criticism or the telling of jokes with a homosexual theme by comedians.

A 'free speech' amendment was recently included to the measure after religious leaders and comedians expressed concern that they could face prosecution under it.

Stonewall branded the concerns alarmist: "The important new offence will help prevent and tackle acts of serious hatred against individuals defined by reference to their sexual orientation, with a high threshold for prosecutions which must be approved by the Attorney General and heard before a jury" they explained.

"This new legislation will send a strong positive signal, encouraging more lesbian, gay and bisexual people to report hate incidents. Gay people are entitled to live without fear like everyone else"

Two of the countries gay citizens, Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga have been held in police custody since last December - their crime? - holding a traditional wedding ceremony.

Being gay is a criminal offence in Malawi. The couple is now facing up to 14 years in jail if convicted.

Information Minister Leckford Mwanza Thoto defended the decision saying: "Our laws criminalise homosexuality and what the two did was clearly breaking the laws of Malawi."

Malawi is a member of The Commonwealth.

Despite being dependant on foreign aid (mostly from the UK) the country's government has rejected international concern saying that Malawi is a sovereign country with its own laws and that it will not be influenced by the West in the running of its affairs of state.

Amnesty International is calling for immediate release of the couple. The group's UK Director Kate Allen said: "The arrest of the two men solely for their real or perceived sexual orientation amounts to discrimination and it is in violation of their rights to freedom of conscience, expression, and privacy."

A protest, organized by several gay groups, is being held in central London on Monday - the day a verdict on the case is expected.

"We want Steven and Tiowonge released, all charges against them dropped and the repeal of Malawi's anti-homosexuality laws" said gay activist and co-organiser of Monday's protest, Peter Tatchell.

"The Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma, has failed to speak out loudly against the arrest and jailing of Steven and Tiwonge, even though equality and human rights are supposed to be key Commonwealth principles," he added.

The protest is scheduled to take place outside the Commonwealth Secretariat's head office in central London.

Back then, In a statement issued by the company, Walt Freese, Chief Executive Officer of Ben & Jerry's said "At the core of Ben & Jerry's values, we believe that social justice can and should be something that every human being is entitled to. From the very beginning of our 30 year history, we have supported equal rights for all people. The legalization of marriage for gay and lesbian couples in Vermont (Ben & Jerry's home state) is certainly a step in the right direction and something worth celebrating with peace, love and plenty of ice cream."

In honour of the legalization of gay marriage in Wahington D.C last week resident Ben & Jerry's super-fans Keith Spangler-Vellios and Andreas Vellios decided to return the favour by tieing the knot at their local parlour.

The new law, approved in December, came into effect just last week. Ben & Jerry's cofounder David Catania attended the ceremony.

"Equal rights and treatment for all people was a founding principle of Ben & Jerry's when we started the company over 30 years ago," Jerry Greenfield, cofounder of Ben & Jerry's, said in a statement.

"We are proud that the District of Columbia is recognizing the rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry and are happy to celebrate the milestone with an ice cream wedding cake and best wishes for the happy couple."

The district now joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont as the only places in America where gay marriages can be conducted.

An amendment to the Equality Bill, tabled by out Muslim peer Waheed Alli, received overwhelming support in the Lords which includes senior clergy in the Church of England.

Still pending House of Commons approval, the amendment gives religious venues the option to host civil partnership ceremonies.

Currently legislation forbids religious premises to conduct gay unions; however various liberal denominations have been blessing gay partnerships once a civil ceremony has already taken place.

In an interview with The Independent Lord Alli rebuked suggestion that the amendment means churches will be eventually forced to accept gay marriage.

"Religious freedom cannot begin and end with what one religion wants," he said. "This amendment does not place an obligation on any religious organisation to host civil partnerships in their buildings. But there are many gay and lesbian couples who want to share their civil partnership with the congregations that they worship with. And there are a number of religious organisations that want to allow gay and lesbian couples to do exactly that."

Although the amendment was backed by senior bishops in the Lords it has been strongly opposed by conservative Christians.

Andrea Williams, of the Christian Legal Centre told The Times: "Homosexual activists have made clear that this is not the end. It is a step towards forcing churches to conduct same-sex unions that would go against their beliefs".

The Quakers, Liberal Judaism and The Unitarians have welcomed the amendment.