Shagufta Kauser and her disabled husband Shafqat Emmanuel (pictured above) were sentenced to death in 2014 for allegedly sending blasphemous text messages in English. 

They were thought to have sent them to a local Imam and other Muslims, according to the British Pakistani Christian Association. 

Mr Emmanuel said at the time that he was tortured, forcing him to confess to the crime. 

Lord Alton raised this previously with Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, the government’s special envoy for freedom of religion and belief, in May and was told that the government is monitoring the case.

This week David Alton, a crossbench peer, returned to the issue asking Baroness Sugg, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development, how much aid the UK was sending to Pakistan and whether that was being used to support persecuted minorities at all.

Baroness Sugg replied: “My Lords, in the past 10 years, the UK has given £2.6 billion in aid to Pakistan, targeted towards the poorest and most excluded, who are often from minorities. We promote minority rights from grass roots to the highest levels of government. UK aid to Pakistan is declining but continues to focus on the poorest.

“Since 2011, UK aid has supported primary education for 10 million children, skills training for almost 250,000 people, and microfinance loans for 6.6 million people.”

Lord Alton thanked…

Currently 3 per cent of police officers in Northern Ireland are from the Catholic community, according to figures from the PSNI.

Mr Hamilton says the application rate and success rate falls well below what it should be.

Chief Constable, George Hamilton was on BBC News NI’s The View programme, and said it was up to leaders, both civic and political to get behind “advocating for a career in policing.

“That’s where the big gap is, that is where the big void is, we need people to be encouraged to take on the honourable profession of policing and that needs to come from leadership within the Catholic nationalist community.”

He continued by saying, changes the PSNI have already made to address the issue have had some impact but do not go far enough.

The PSNI replaced the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) in November 2001, and a 50-50 recruitment policy ran for its first ten years until 2011.

This meant that 50 per cent of all recruits had to be from a Catholic background, and 50 per cent from a Protestant or other background.

When the policy began, about 8 per cent of police officers were Catholics.

Mr Hamilton is retiring as chief constable later in June.

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Nancy Motsamai collapsed last year after the authorities ignored claims she was too ill to travel.

She passed away five days later from undiagnosed ovarian cancer, deep vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolism.

Nancy and her husband Fusi Motsamai were due to be deported to South Africa last March.

The authorities have since made a further attempt to deport Mr Motsamai, who claimed he’s had numerous problems with immigration.

Mr Motsamai has lived in the UK for 15 years and has argued he should be allowed to remain in the country after the grave injustices he has faced.

His minister Rev Lucy Brierley of Woking United Reformed Church is assisting him in his appeal and gave evidence on his behalf in a tribunal hearing in Harmondsworth on Wednesday.

The appeal is being made on the grounds that Mr Motsami has a right to a private life as Rev Brierley claims he has built a life in the UK.

Speaking to Premier, she said Mr Motsami has become part of their church family: “He has formed a life and a connection here, in the church family and with the community. We have become his family.

“He’s given so much to the life of the church, the life of our community, it’s become home for him.”

Reverend Lucy is praying that the judge will act with discretion and compassion in his ruling.

The court’s ruling is expected to be heard within the next fortnight.

Stay up to date with the…

The five minute programme is entitled “Hebdomada Papae”, which can be translated at “This week with the Pope”. It will cover news about Pope Francis – the people he meets, issues he speaks about and any trips to foreign countries.

The first edition this Saturday will include coverage of the Pope’s visit to Romania and an obituary for Cardinal Elio Sgreccia who died this week at the age of 90.

Vatican Radio currently broadcasts in 35 languages to different audiences around the world. With the launch of “Hebdomada Papae” that increases to 36.

The station’s editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, admits broadcasting in Latin has posed challenges for his team of journalists.

“We are not able to write in Latin or to speak in Latin. But we can get the help from the Vatican office that translates the speeches of the Pope into Latin.”

Mr Tornielli says his journalists are studying the Latin script in preparation for the launch of the new programme. “There is help from the (Vatican’s Latin experts) not only in the translation but also in the pronunciation.”

Vatican Radio can’t predict how many people will listen to the new programme but they’re encouraged by the popularity of the Twitter account where Pope Francis tweets in Latin. That account has over 900,000 followers around the world.

Mr Tornielli is optimistic that some of those Latin enthusiasts will want to…