Amnesty International in partnership with a local LGBT group warned that Northern Ireland's power-sharing government will soon face a human rights legal case over its continual refusal to legalize marriage equality.

In October 2012 members of Northern Ireland's Stormont assembly rejected a motion by the Greens and Sinn Féin to legalize marriage equality.

A short 25-minute ferry ride from Malta, where GSN spent days exploring the architectual and gastronomic wonders of the island, lies the more rural and secluded island of this Mediterranean archipelago: Gozo.

I’m not good with early morning flights - I seem to spend most of the night wondering what the time is, worrying that I’ve slept through my alarm.

My Swiss flight was departing from London City - my favorite airport in London. It was a fairly subdued bunch of passengers that scuttled from the shelter of the terminal through the grey, steady rain and onto the small and nifty Avro RJ100 jet.

When Alex Charles and his partner moved to the Languedoc, on France’s Mediterranean coast, they never expected to start a hotel.

But now they have converted a grand house, built by one of Napoleon’s generals, into Cinq et Sept; a haven for the stressed traveler and a base for guests to explore the area.

We asked him to share his top tips on an area that boasts UNESCO World Heritage Sites, golden sandy beaches, historic towns, one of France’s best gay cities and 300 days of sunshine a year.

Lithuanian MP, Petras Gražulis, part of the governing coalition, will seek to introduce a bill prohibiting ‘homosexual propaganda’ in Lithuania anew.

According to the MP, the ban is a response to the planned Pride (known as the March for Equality) in Vilnius - the country’s capital, organized by the Lithuanian Gay League (LGL), and set to take place in July, 2013.

Gražulis is planning to propose a new bill this spring, when the Lithuanian parliament will start its new sessions.

Serbian gay rights campaigners are suing a far-right organization after it claimed they were being indirectly funded by America’s CIA.

The Serbian National Movement Naši (SNP Naši; Naši means ‘ours’ in English) put Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) on a ‘blacklist’ of ‘foreign agents’.

The on-going hate campaign peaked on 13 January when they displayed posters in public spaces in several Serbian cities, naming those on the blacklist.

A Swedish football club has fired all of their players after complaints they had hurled homophobic remarks at members of a rival team.

During a recent Division Seven match with the Stockholm Snipers, players from Sörskogens IF were heard shouting insults such as ‘you suck cock for 50 kronor’, ‘all of you have HIV’, and ‘we’re probably going to get infected’.

Club chair Ketil Torp said: ‘We had no choice but to suspend the entire team. That kind of language isn't appropriate for football or anywhere else.’

A Greek play which depicts Jesus and the Apostles as gay faces blasphemy charges.

Written by American playwright Terrence McNally in 1998, a production of Corpus Christi in Athens was forced to close this month after it was dogged by religious and neo-Nazi protests.

The play's actors, director and producer now face charges of 'insulting religion' and 'malicious blasphemy', following a lawsuit by Bishop Seraphim of Piraeus.

With plans for gay and lesbian marriage developing fast in England, Scotland and Wales, the struggle for equality in Northern Ireland has received far less attention.

But a new executive committee has been elected to run Equal Marriage Northern Ireland and its chair, John O’Doherty is confident of success.

It won’t be the same strategy as in the rest of the United Kingdom. A political debate is under way but the constitution in NI and its conservative make-up – including some virulent homophobes – prevent a political resolution to the issue.

A bad reputation for years, a vibrant present and a bright future with brand new museums and with the city of Derry being UK capital of culture in 2013 - that's today's Northern Ireland.

It's the place to be now, and tourists are flocking here to enjoy the welcoming atmosphere and the spirit of challenge. The challenge is of a country torn between its Britishness and its Irishness but making a massive effort to carve its own modern identity.

Copenhagen. Population: 1.2million. Residents who commute to work by bicycle: 36%.

The Danish capital is a city that is defined by light, space and water.

As a harbor city, encircled by lakes and canals, the combination of ever-present water and a low-rise planning scheme seems to bring the sky closer and make the air fresher. Also, the pace of life in Copenhagen is relaxed and unhurried - and everyone cycles everywhere.

Perhaps it’s this magic combination that leads to Copenhagen being a leader in lifestyle innovations and trends: