The often-brutal sport of rugby has become an unlikely international sports leader in forcing players to accept gay teammates […] but players such as Australian David Pocock, who will be in Saturday's final, have taken a gay rights stand on the pitch and the World Rugby governing body has backed a campaign by activists.

The British government has faced criticism for its lack of response to the huge numbers of refugees who are heading to Europe in search of safety, yet [...] a small but dedicated group of football fans, who originally met through their love of the Hamburg-based left-wing club, St Pauli, organize various football-related events with refugees and asylum seekers who are already in the UK.

Since 2004, Games for Change, a nonprofit group, has designed and promoted games that inspire players not to zap space aliens but instead to change the world for the better. In the first game released by the group, called PeaceMaker, gamers were invited to broker peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

University professors in the United Kingdom say they will halt all cooperation with Israeli schools in an effort to draw attention to Israel's violations of international law. In a statement released on Tuesday, 343 UK academics announced that they would no longer accept invitations to visit Israeli academic institutions, act as referees in any of their processes, or participate in conferences funded or organized by them.

[FC] Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu has threatened to take UEFA as far as the European Court of Human Rights after the club were fined for fans displaying flags supporting Catalan independence. European football's governing body fined Barca 40,000 euros ($44,000, £28,800) for the flags displayed during the European champions 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen last month.

Around the world people are celebrating the UN's 70th anniversary. Take a look at this selection of some of the celebrations taking place the world. Keep sharing your #UN70 moments […]

Facebook has announced a new system for alerting users when their accounts have been compromised by “state-sponsored actors,” the latest measure taken by the social network to convince users that it is a partner against unlawful government surveillance and espionage.

The U.K. has pledged to transition to at least 15 percent renewable energy by the year 2020 [...] the completion of such a prestige project would not only help the country meet its stated goal, but would usher in a new era of eco-minded design, and inspire other communities in search of new sources of green energy to cast their eyes, and their turbines, out to sea.