Two people have been reported killed in riots against Humanist writer Taslima Nasrin in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. The rioters were protesting alleged "anti-Islamic" statements made in a local newspaper article attributed to Dr. Nasrin.

For the first time in history a US administration has met with the American nontheist community for a policy briefing. The Feb. 26 meeting between White House staff and leaders of the Secular Coalition for America focused on the top public policy issues of the nontheist community, including ending proselytizing in the US military, improving the government’s 'faith-based initiative', and protecting children from neglect and abuse that can occur due to a lack of government oversight over faith-healing treatment providers.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has welcomed the author, comedian, presenter, and director Stephen Fry to its membership and as a Distinguished Supporter of Humanism. The news comes during a busy membership drive month in which the BHA has announced that it has doubled in size in the last five years, to 10,000 members, and wants to double again--in just half the time.

Greece has a new Humanist group. The Humanist Union of Greece (HUG) was launched this month, January 2010, and already has 65 members.

Billboard adverts have gone up today in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, as the internationally renowned poster campaign which began this year on London buses launches its second phase. So much money was donated towards the campaign after the bus posters had been launched that the campaign organisers announced that any further money raised would be put towards new adverts later in the year.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) has expressed its sadness at the death of Sir Ludovic Kennedy (1919-2009), author, campaigner, Humanist and distinguished supporter of the BHA.

The Daily Telegraph of Australia reports: The secular Democratic party of Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono triples its share of the vote in parliamentary elections and support for religious parties nose-dived -- suggesting that the most populous Muslim nation is delinking faith and politics.

In his inaugural address, the new President of the United States Barack Obama called for a more inclusive and progressive America. The President’s speech suggested a remarkably humanistic agenda, with a commitment to "restore science to its rightful place." Significantly for Humanists, the new President said, "We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus – and non-believers." This is believed to be a first for a United States President.

The UK-based gay Humanist charity the Pink Triangle Trust has described the Pope's latest homophobic outburst as clear evidence of paranoia. The PTT was reacting to the Pope's Christmas message, in which he declared that saving humanity from homosexual behaviour was as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.