Daily media briefing

NSS human rights lead Dr Alejandro Sanchez responds to the sentencing of Mohammad Siddiqui, an ex-doctor convicted of actual bodily harm and child cruelty related to ritual circumcision.

British Medical Journal

An inquiry into a Brighton mosque has found it to be 'poorly managed' after a former trustee was convicted of encouraging terrorism.

The Argus

The Charity Commission has disqualified a trustee after investigating a charity where another former board member was convicted of encouraging terrorism.

Civil Society

The Listed Places of Worship Grant (LPWG) Scheme has been extended for one year only and capped at £23 million. Individual places of worship are eligible for a maximum of £25,000.

Church Times*

A growing number of parents are lying about where they live or their level of religious observance to get their children into top state schools because of Labour's decision to impose VAT on private schools, according to analysis.

The Times*

A Welsh preacher who protested with a religious banner outside an abortion clinic in London has been ordered to pay £7,500 in fines and costs.

Wales Online

Iraqi MPs and women's rights groups have reacted with horror to the Iraqi parliament passing a law permitting children as young as nine years old to marry, with activists saying it will "legalise child rape".

The Guardian

A court in the Indian capital, Delhi, has ordered the seizure of two "offensive" paintings by MF Husain, one of India's most famous artists.

BBC

The membership of the committee that will choose the next Archbishop of Canterbury is expected to be known by mid-March, before its first meeting in May.

Church Times*

Approval of stand-alone services of blessing for same-sex couples is unlikely to be put to the General Synod this summer, it has been announced.

Church Times*

A teenage boy from Hampshire has been charged with terror offences relating to extreme Islamist ideology.

ITV

Three Christian schools in Bristol have voted against supporting children with additional education needs in a row over funding.

Bristol Live

Iraq's parliament passed three divisive laws Tuesday, including amendments to the country's personal status law that opponents say would in effect legalize child marriage.

Associated Press

Pope Francis says women 'have been running things since the garden of Eden' as he appoints Sister Raffaella Petrini to run the Vatican city state.

The Times*

Australian detectives are investigating whether foreign actors are paying criminals to commit antisemitic attacks in the country, police said on Wednesday.

Associated Press

Trump reflected on the assassination attempts against him last year, saying he had been saved "for a reason".

LBC

Christian schools, parents and pupils who have launched a judicial review against Labour's VAT on private school fees claim the tax breaches their human right to freedom of religion.

The Times*

An advert promoting the controversial Scientology religion at a London Tube station has caused shock and disbelief among commuters.

Metro

A school in north Devon has partnered with a church to support young people through a mentoring programme.

BBC

"The Islamist challenge to the foundational norms of western societies is clear enough in the current debate over Islamophobia. But acknowledging you have a problem is the first step to resolving it. British governments continue to be reluctant to do even that."

The Spectator*

Dozens of sex abuse cases committed by members of the clergy over six decades emerged on Monday from an independent report into a northern Italian diocese that dug deeper into the past than others produced by the Italian Catholic Church.

Reuters

Sodalitium of Christian Life ended after investigation found sexual and spiritual abuses and financial mismanagement.

The Guardian

The Bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, José Ignacio Munilla, has once again stirred controversy by defending practices widely criticized as "conversion therapies."

The Leader

In Bangladesh, the constitution reform commission, appointed by the Nobel Peace laureate Dr Mohammad Yunus administration, recommended the removal of "secularism", "nationalism" and "socialism" from the Constitution.

The Indian Nawaaz

Craig, one of four survivors who were sexually abused by priest John Roberts, is now calling for an independent investigation into Justin Welby – and says the Church of England's safeguarding process is not fit for purpose.

Metro

Baroness Falkner, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission says that Labour needs to rediscover a burning concern for national integration even at the risk of further alienating its Muslim voter base.

The Times*

A woman who says she was sexually abused as a child by a priest says it is "absolutely outrageous" her alleged abuser was later praised by the man now leading the Church of England.

BBC

A man in his 70s and a woman in her 60s were arrested in November, police confirm

Third Sector*

The Anglican Church of South Africa (ACSA) has confirmed that Advocate Jeremy Gauntlett SC KC has stepped down from the inquiry panel investigating John Smyth's abuse, amid allegations of his own sexual misconduct.

Premier Christian

An Iranian court has sentenced the popular singer Amir Hossein Maghsoudloo, known as Tataloo, to death on appeal after he was convicted of blasphemy, according to local media reports.

The Guardian

British politicians have called for England's men to boycott their upcoming game with Afghanistan as the country's women players argue that the International Cricket Council has failed them.

Sky News

A senior Taliban figure has urged the group's leader to scrap education bans on Afghan women and girls, saying there is no excuse for them, in a rare public rebuke of government policy.

Associated Press

Church of England leaders named in an abuse scandal report should be removed from their jobs, according to former cabinet minister Gavin Williamson.

Independent*

Officials are investigating Labaik Ya Zahra's alleged ties to extremism and terrorism after The Times revealed that it gave a platform to Hamas and Hezbollah supporters at events and hailed a sanctioned Iranian general as a "martyr".

The Times*

Disciplinary action against individuals criticised in the Makin report is to be considered by a panel including a lawyer known for his work prosecuting Rochdale grooming gangs, it was announced on Thursday.

Church Times*

A former surgeon who carried out "unsafe" and "unsanitary" circumcisions as part of a private mobile service has been jailed.

ITV

Labaik Ya Zahra is being probed by the Charity Commission, which says any possible links between a charity and extremism are 'abhorrent'.

Third Sector

The Charity Commission has extended its inquiry into the Barnabas Fund (also known as Barnabas Aid) to four other charities connected to it, after identifying "possible risks due to their shared premises, trustees and/or founders, and the flow of funds with Barnabas Fund".

Church Times*

Sutton Council, located in south London, has instructed its employees to refrain from asking for people's "Christian" names, advising instead to use terms such as "first name," "forename," or "given name".

Premier Christian News

The French church has formally requested that prosecutors open an investigation into Abbé Pierre, a once-revered priest and humanitarian icon who died in 2007, following new revelations of sexual violence.

Associated Press

A former doctor has been jailed for five years and seven months after admitting he caused "painful cruelty to children" by running a mobile circumcision service.

BBC

The head of British charity Labaik Ya Zahrahas has glorified a terrorist chief, promoted extremists who celebrated October 7 and personally accepted an award from the Iranian leader known as the "Butcher of Tehran".

The Times*

Redress for survivors of church-related abuse is to be delayed, it was announced on Wednesday, to enable the eligibility criteria to be reviewed "in light of the Makin report".

Church Times*

A charity is being investigated by a regulator over an alleged misuse of funds after it was linked to another charity which was found to have serious failings.

BBC

A former Dominican priest has pled guilty to multiple charges, including breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, using aliases online, and encouraging or assisting the commission of an offense involving children.

Premier Christian News

A Spanish mayor is being investigated for "religious derision or harassment" after imitating the pope with a toilet brush.

Daily Express

Despite four years in prison for blasphemy, Mubarak Bala defends his atheist beliefs but says he keeps a low profile now in the face of threats in his mostly conservative Muslim region of Nigeria.

France24

The government is expected to reintroduce a piece of legislation aimed at protecting free speech on university campuses.

BBC