A reader poll conducted by BBC History Magazine saw Marie Curie come out on top.

The Polish-born French scientist, who became the first person to win two Nobel prizes – one for physics and one for chemistry – carried out important research into radioactivity, a term that she coined.

Her discoveries launched effective cures for cancer and helped in the development of X-rays in surgery.

Civil Rights campaigner Rosa Parks was second while leader of the suffragette movement Emmeline Pankhurst was third.

BBC History Magazine deputy editor Charlotte Hodgman said: “The poll has shone a light on some truly extraordinary women from history, many of whose achievements and talents were overlooked in their own lifetimes.

“It is fitting that, in a year that has seen the 100th anniversary of the parliamentary Act that gave the vote to many British women, suffrage campaigners Emmeline Pankhurst and Josephine Butler have been voted into the top 20.

“Whilst it is unsurprising to see queens such as Victoria and Eleanor of Aquitaine place high, it is refreshing to see some more unfamiliar names make the top 20, such as 19th-century philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts. I’m sure the full list will provoke conversation and debate.”

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Monks at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire (pictured above) and Downside in Somerset hid allegations of “appalling sexual abuse” against pupils as young as seven to protect the church’s reputation.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) made the claims in a withering report on the English Benedictine Congregation, which has 10 monasteries in England and Wales.

Ampleforth and Downside are two schools linked to the monasteries, run at times by “secretive, evasive and suspicious” church officials who avoided reporting misconduct to police and social services.

Allegations stretching back to the 1960s encompassed “a wide spectrum of physical abuse, much of which had sadistic and sexual overtones”, according to the report.

Ten individuals linked to the schools, mainly monks, have been cautioned or convicted over sexual activity or pornography offences involving a “large number of children”.

“The true scale of the abuse however is likely to be considerably higher,” the investigation, led by Professor Alexis Jay (pictured below), found.

The report followed several weeks of evidence hearings at the inquiry last year, which included personal accounts from victims.

Victims were as young as 11 at Downside and seven at Ampleforth.

One alleged offender at Ampleforth abused at least 11 children aged between eight and 12 over a “sustained period of time”, but died before police could investigate.

“Many perpetrators…

In a statement on the church website the elders apologised to all the women who’ve made claims against Hybels.

They said his sins were beyond what he previously admitted and asked for forgiveness over the way they handled the situation.

“To all of the women who have come forward, the church should always follow in Jesus’ footsteps to help the wounded find healing, and we are sorry we added to your pain,” they said. “That was not our intention, and we regret that it has taken us this long to acknowledge that.

“While we will probably never know with certainty everything that’s true about each of your stories, we have no reason not to believe you.

“We are sorry that our initial statements were so insensitive, defensive, and reflexively protective of Bill. We exhort Bill to acknowledge his sin and publicly apologize.

Lead Pastor Heather Larson has also resigned suggesting trust has been broken by the church’s leadership and urgent action was required.

Steve Gillen – who has previously worked in numerous roles within Willow Creek – will now take up the role of lead pastor.

Bill Hybels has been accused of numerous counts of sexual misconduct, with the latest claim being made in the New York Times that he indecently touched a former assistant.

While Hybels stood down from church ministry when the allegations first surfaced, he denied wrongdoing but apologised for being “unwise” and potentially misleading…

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has investigated whether Ampleforth in North Yorkshire and Downside in Somerset failed to protect pupils from predators.

Lawyers representing former students allege the schools turned a blind eye to offending over many years.

Following several weeks of evidence hearings last year, the probe, led by Professor Alexis Jay, will publish its findings at midday on Thursday.

The inquiry carried out a case study on the English Benedictine Congregation as part of a wider investigation into the Catholic Church.

Counsel to the inquiry Riel Karmy-Jones said in her opening last November that there were many instances when church officials chose to keep abuse quiet.

A “wide spectrum of behaviour”, ranging from rape to voyeuristic beatings, was inflicted on school pupils over many years, she said.

Reasons for cover-ups included families being pressured not to report assaults, offenders getting shifted to different establishments but not punished and complaints simply being ignored, she added.

Predators from the two schools who were convicted include David Lowe, who taught at Ampleforth and was jailed for 10 years in 2015 for 15 indecent assaults on boys aged under 14.

During the same hearing, Richard Scorer, representing 27 core participants to the inquiry, said some schools concealed abuse out of fear for their…

Ruth Davidson – who’s the leader of the Scottish Conservatives – has been speaking out following the comments by Boris Johnson.

Speaking to the Telegraph, she said: “If you use the analogy of Christianity, would you ever write in the Telegraph that you should have a debate about banning Christians from wearing crucifixes?

“It’s the same argument but it’s in a different faith so why are the parameters different for one faith and not the other?”

She was speaking after the former foreign secretary compared the burka to a letter box and women who wear it to bank robbers.

He’s since been asked to apologise by Prime Minister Theresa May.

With no apology forthcoming, founder and president of the Conservative Muslim Forum Lord Sheikh told the BBC the party should take “severe action” against Mr Johnson.

Prominent backbench eurosceptic Jacob Rees-Mogg said there was no need for Mr Johnson to apologise.

Asked about Mrs May’s handling of the controversy, Mr Rees-Mogg told LBC radio: “She’s clearly wrong to have asked him to have apologised. It’s not the job of the Prime Minister to tell backbenchers what to do.

“We are not bound by collective responsibility or that type of discipline and it is the wrong approach to party discipline.”

An imam who has previously criticised the burka said Mr Johnson should not “apologise for telling…