The BBC and Demos have published an accidental case-study in why we should all stop using the meaningless and sinister word 'Islamophobia'.

As someone who works full-time to promote political secularism, to see what is now happening in France defended in these terms is deeply troubling.

The castigation of a British gymnast for 'mocking Islam' is illustrative of a troubling return of blasphemy, argues Stephen Evans.

When he said that he had only himself to blame for the death threats and abuse, he epitomised how morally redundant this whole controversy has become.

Rasheed Benyahia was in a hurry. Like so many young adults going places in Britain today, he needed to get a move on.

They're heavily veiled, believe in polygamy and have to follow thousands of rules. Yet increasing numbers of young and educated British women are converting.

Germany's defense minister refused to wear a traditional head covering during her visit with a Saudi Arabian prince, arguing that women have as much right as men do to wear whatever they choose.

Conservative MP Charles Walker has sharply criticised the media for "a torrent of venom" against Louis Smith, and said the Government should have been defending free expression.

A 12-year-old German-Iraqi boy tried to blow up a Christmas market in the town of Ludwigshafen. He left a rucksack with explosives which failed to detonate in November, and another by the town hall a few days later.

Saudi Arabia is launching a programme to "inoculate" children against Westernisation, atheism, liberalism and secularism. They were listed as threats to "ideological security", ahead of the danger from extremist groups including Isis and al-Qaeda and sectarianism.

Taliban militants in Afghanistan have shot dead a woman who divorced her husband and remarried, officials say. The killing took place in north-western Badghis province. There are some reports that the woman's husband had authorised the separation from abroad.

Under an ancient Hindu practice, called chhaupadi, women who have their periods or who have just given birth are seen as impure. Police in Nepal are investigating the death of a 15-year-old girl who was banished to a poorly-ventilated shed because she was menstruating.

A self-styled Russian campaigner for morality in schools has boasted about the dismissal of a teacher he describes as a "lesbian" and "satanist". He professes to be fighting decadence because he is a pious Muslim.

Forget believing in Santa - the tumultuous events of 2016 appear to have left Britons unable to believe in God. A YouGov poll for the Times has shown a 4-point decline in the percentage of people who believe in a higher power, from 32 per cent in Feb last year to 28 per cent now.

A female militant has blown herself up during a police raid in a militant hideout at Dhaka's Ashkona, in what appears to be the first suicide attack by a woman in Bangladesh.

A woman has been beheaded for visiting a city without her husband, officials in Afghanistan have said. The Middle East Press claims a government spokesman told them Taliban militants killed her for the "infidelity act" of going shopping without a male guardian.

Magistrates told him taxi drivers had a duty to know the law.

Kassim, 44, of Fountains Avenue, Leicester, pleaded guilty to refusing to convey a guide dog, an offence under the Equality Act 2010, and was fined £340 plus £200 costs and a £50 victim surcharge.

Mr Bloch, who is registered blind, explained the law but Kassim drove away.

He had booked the minicab for himself and his assistance dog, Carlo, and his girlfriend filmed Kassim saying he would not take them with the dog because of his religion.

Mr Bloch said he hoped the fine would send a message to others that disability laws must be respected.

The driver apologised outside Leicester Magistrates' Court and claimed he was "confused" at the time.

Abandi Kassim turned away Charles Bloch, 22, and his dog in Leicester in July 2016.

A taxi driver who refused to carry a guide dog because he claimed it was against his religion has been fined for breaching equality laws.

Germany's defense minister refused to wear a traditional head covering during her visit with a Saudi Arabian prince, arguing that women have as much right as men do to wear whatever they choose.

There were emotional scenes in court on the first day of the blasphemy trial of Jakarta's governor, a Christian of Chinese descent.

A Muslim convert is accused of breaking an Asbo by touring London preaching Sharia Law to members of the public, a court heard.

A bomb explosion in the Coptic Christian cathedral complex in the Egyptian capital Cairo has killed at least 25 people, officials say. Dozens of others were injured in the blast in a chapel adjoining St Mark's cathedral during a Sunday service.

Islamic leaders in Australia have backed a campaign to produce an alternative to Peppa Pig set in a "predominantly Muslim town". The ANIC encouraged parents to raise funds for TV that supports Islamic values.

Saudi Women are still not permitted to drive cars, with this being ruled by Wahhibist scholars as "haram", or forbidden, due to the requirement for women to maintain covering, and the threat that they would have to interact with men outside their families.

Today it was reported that a Saudi woman who posted a picture of herself in public without a hijab faced outrage. One man said, "Kill her and throw her corpse to the dogs."

Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who lives under constant protection, has told AFP that Islamic fundamentalism has destroyed Bangladeshi society.

Powerful testimony from Muslim women has been published by MPs as part of their investigation into sharia, while activists have warned that its approach so far has favoured those who support sharia councils.

An atheist's request for a personalized license plate saying "IM GOD" was denied by the state of Kentucky, which said it might distract other drivers, and would be in bad taste.

Pope Francis has declared that priests have the permanent right from now on to forgive abortions.

In a Facebook post, self-proclaimed prophet Lethebo Rabalago claims a pesticide called Doom can heal people.

Detained in Dubai, an organisation that assists victims of injustice in the UAE, has warned against reporting rape or other crimes in the country because of the "manipulation when it comes to criminal accusations" and "racist" preconceptions against Western tourists.

A British tourist has been arrested and charged with illegal "extra-marital sex" in Dubai after telling police she had been gang raped.

A Muslim police chaplain has faced criticism after he reportedly said women commit "a major sin" if they refuse to have sex with their husbands.

Pope Francis has ruled out a woman ever serving as a priest in the Roman Catholic church.

An Indonesian woman has been caned in front of a jeering crowd on Monday after being accused of "standing too close to her boyfriend".

Saudi Arabia,s highest Islamic figure, the grand mufti, denounced the call to abolish guardianship as a crime against Islam. On the other hand, a number of key religious figures supported ending guardianship on the basis that the system does not have a grounding in Islam; a conflicting scenario typical to every public demand to reform women's rights. State officials repeatedly attribute delays in enforcing gender equality to cultural beliefs.

Thousands of ex-Muslims in Britain are living in fear of violent revenge for abandoning the Islamic faith while others are afraid to admit they no longer believe, a support group for ex-Muslims has said.

An episode of Fireman Sam in which one character appears to tread on a page from the Koran has been withdrawn.

Thousands of people have circulated a short animation video designed to show the restrictions that Saudi Arabia's male guardianship system places on women. The video, published on Facebook by Human Rights Watch, depicts a Saudi woman being forced to reconcile with her abusive husband. It shows the woman being beaten by her husband before he orders her to leave the home. She then goes to a shelter and is told the best thing she can do is reconcile with her husband.

Catholics in Philadelphia who are divorced and civilly remarried will be welcome to accept Holy Communion as long as they abstain from sex.

Richard Dawkins has said people who think atheists are violent because of their lack of belief "don't know what violence means".

Religion is on the decline in the UK, but any attempt to suggest that non-believers simply have a different kind of faith is misplaced. Our values are rooted in everyday joys.

The number of people who say they have no religion is escalating and significantly outweighs the Christian population in England and Wales, according to new analysis.

A liberal blogger who criticised Islamism on his Facebook page has been hacked to death by attackers wielding machetes in Bangladesh.

A man who is facing jail in Russia for writing "there is no God" has dismissed his prosecution as an "absurd farce". Viktor Krasnov, 38, also added that the Bible consisted of "fairytales" during an heated online discussion

A US school district that allowed bibles to be distributed to students is considering whether to remove all religious materials from its schools - after a charity announced plans to also provide pupils with books on atheism and Satan, it has been reported.

A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a man to 10 years in prison and 2,000 lashes for expressing his atheism in hundreds of social media posts.

Religion brainwashed me into doing irrational and emotionally self-damaging things that I would have easily recognized as primitive and harmful were it not for my indoctrination. Of all the practices I look back on with horror, this was the worst.

I was raised in 3 Muslim majority countries and arrived in North America in my mid-20s. Two years after I settled in Canada, September 11 happened. Nineteen hijackers acting in the name of my parents' religion flew fuel-laden airliners into the World Trade Center, killing thousands.

Boys should not be circumcised until they are old enough to choose for themselves, doctors in Denmark have said. The Danish Medical Association said should be "an informed, personal choice".