The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames last week approved a plan to open a new Catholic school in the borough, despite spirited opposition from community groups and parents who fear that religious selection will bring discrimination against non-Catholic children.

Wakefield Council in West Yorkshire is considering scrapping free transport for pupils attending "faith schools" in the town.

The National Secular Society has accused the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of being inconsistent in dealing with complaints about ads using religious imagery after the watchdog cleared an advertisement that appeared to mock Jesus' second coming but had previously banned adverts for ice cream featuring a pregnant nun and apparently gay priests.

Norway's Ministry of Education has declined an application for a private school to be run according to humanist ideology.

A Christian psychotherapist has lost her appeal against suspension from her professional body after being struck off after attempting to convert a homosexual man to heterosexuality.

A Scottish council has dropped prayers at its meetings in order to eliminate discrimination. Dumfries and Galloway Council has decided to dump the formal prayers – which were the first item on the agenda – and replace them with a "time for reflection", 10 minutes before the meeting starts.

A survey of Northern Ireland's teenagers shows that religious and ethnic barriers are being gradually broken down, but another survey in the workplace shows that there is still a long way to go as sectarianism there is still rife.

A concerted campaign by churches has led to the Chancellor agreeing to set aside £30 million per annum to compensate places of worship following the removal of the zero VAT rating concession for alterations to listed buildings announced in the budget.

In an address at Leicester's Anglican Cathedral, the former leader of Catholics in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, said that "secular values" were behind the violence carried out in totalitarian states and some of the 20th century conflicts that have killed millions.

A religious conflict has arisen at a Dorset hospital over plans to convert its Christian chapel into a "multi-faith centre". The changes are part of a £30million refurbishment of St Ann's psychiatric hospital in Poole.

The National Secular Society has joined together with human rights campaigners and religious groups to launch a major new campaign to reform the 1986 Public Order Act, after mounting evidence suggests it is strangling free speech.

The Norwegian Parliament is planning to amend the country's constitution on Monday to continue the long, drawn-out effort to separate the church from the state.

Damian Thompson, high profile Catholic and editor of the Daily Telegraph's blog section, accidentally tweeted over the weekend that he was told it would be OK for Catholic schools to oppose same-sex marriage at a dinner party attended by Education Secretary Michael Gove.

The Government has gone ahead with its plan to send a free copy of the King James Bible to every state-sponsored primary and secondary school in the country.

The Catholic Church and other right-wing groups in France have given notice that they intend to resist the newly-elected President's progressive social agenda.

The National Secular Society says that the Queen's or any future Monarch's role as Supreme Governor of the Church of England is unsustainable – despite the results of a new poll showing that 79% of British adults think that the Queen still has an important "faith role".

Cheshire East is the latest council to axe free or subsidised transport to faith schools. The council took the decision despite fierce opposition from Catholic families who said they were being 'discriminated' against.

A British TV channel that broadcast a talk saying it is acceptable to murder someone who has shown disrespect to the prophet Muhammad is facing a heavy fine or potential closure by Ofcom.

Kuwait's parliament has passed a bill authorizing the death penalty for Muslims who curse their god, the Qu'ran, its prophets and the wives of Mohammed.

The Welsh Government has written to Catholic schools in Wales to warn them that they may be breaking the law in encouraging pupils to oppose equal marriage for LGBT people.