Excerpt:
Dutch writer Ayaan Hirsi Ali is to receive a special award from German publishing house Axel Springer in recognition of her "courage and commitment to freedom as a women's rights campaigner and critic of Islam."
The publisher of Germany's biggest selling daily Bild said Hirsi Ali will be awarded the €25,000 ($32,375) prize Thursday in Berlin.
Somali-born Hirsi Ali is a former Dutch lawmaker and best-selling author of the autobiography "Infidel: My Life."