The FEI had said it had consulted national federations, riders and event organisers before deciding that Britain and Belgium would also be relegated.

BBC: Showjumping

Article 3 of the FIFA Statutes threatens stiff punishments for individuals or national federations if the code, which focuses on discrimination and racism, is broken.

CNN: FIFA queries Nigeria over reports of lesbian soccer ban

It is true that these are often meetings of the like-minded, of people with particular tastes in common, rather than universal gatherings of the old national federations that tied disparate groups together.

ECONOMIST: Americans are joining clubs again

This week the main trade union federations planned a national strike, though one of them pulled out at the last minute.

ECONOMIST: Universities desperately need reform��yet resist change

The bill was backed by several religious organizations, including the American Jewish Committee, the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops, the National Association of Evangelicals and the Jewish Federations of North America.

WSJ: House clears disaster aid for houses of worship

That will scarcely impress workers who, the same day, heeded a call by the biggest and most militant of Italy's trade union federations, the CGIL, to hold a national one-day strike.

ECONOMIST: The latest emergency budget scrapes over its first hurdle

The National Jewish Population Survey 2000-01, commissioned by the Jewish Federations of North America, the main umbrella organisation for the community, found that 43% of Jews who had no Jewish education intermarried.

ECONOMIST: Judaism in the diaspora: A buffet to suit all tastes | The