The war Mr Hussein launched in 1980 to bleed the Iranian revolution, an upheaval that had rattled his secular regime by creating the first-ever Shia theocracy, cost 1m lives.
ECONOMIST: Shia Islam
2.
In Egypt and Syria, where secular despots gave Christianity a shield of sorts, political upheaval and Muslim zeal threaten ancient Christian groups.
ECONOMIST: Religious freedom
3.
Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, says the fall in the number of Christians showed a "huge upheaval" in attitudes towards religion.
BBC: 2011 Census: Changing lifestyles in England and Wales