The tribute came as questions were raised about possible failures by French counter-terrorism officials in tracking the gunman, who was on a radicalisation watch list before he went on a rampage on Friday.

The coffin of Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Beltrame was driven through the morning drizzle in a procession across Paris from the Pantheon to the Hotel des Invalides, the final resting place of Napoleon.

Mr Macron delivered a patriotic public eulogy calling for national solidarity after last week’s attack, which together with myriad other extremist attacks on French soil have claimed over 200 lives since 2015.

Mr Beltrame symbolised “the spirit of French resistance”, Mr Macron said.

The officer died of his wounds on Saturday morning, hours after swapping himself for a hostage during a siege in a supermarket near the city of Carcassonne.

“We will prevail thanks to the resilience of the French… We will win by the cohesion of a united nation,” Mr Macron added.

After inspecting troops at the monument as a military band played a stirring rendition of the French national anthem, the Marseillaise, Mr Macron posthumously awarded Mr Beltrame the Legion of Honour, France’s highest award.

Two former presidents, Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy, also attended.

The tribute provided…

Max Hill QC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, made the recommendation in a review of the investigation launched following the Westminster attack in March last year, called Operation Classific.

Twelve people were arrested in the wake of the murderous rampage by Khalid Masood, who was shot dead after killing five people, but they were all released with no further action.

Those arrested included Masood’s relatives, friends and people who lived at Birmingham addresses that he had used.

Mr Hill’s report found that none of the suspects were arrested on the grounds of their ethnicity or religion, but that some were quizzed about their faith due to Masood’s extremist views and support of Islamic State.

He said: “I regard this as providing a justification for the religious context of some of the questions posed in interviews during Operation Classific.

“However, every interview is case specific and it does not follow that it would be appropriate to ask very detailed religious questions in every case where a Muslim has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism-related activity.

“I therefore recommend, in the interest of clarity, that the police take this opportunity to review training on the circumstances and extent to which such questions will be necessary in future interviews.

“I accept, however, that…

Tickle sticks appeared across Liverpool as the city said a final farewell him.

The props were made famous by the much-loved Christian comedian, who died earlier this month aged 90, and were placed on landmarks across the area.

Applause rang out as Sir Ken Dodd’s funeral cortege arrived at the Anglican Cathedral for the start of the service.

A horse-drawn carriage bore his wooden casket, with a bouquet of yellow sunflowers atop and a tribute to one of his trademark Diddymen alongside.

A band played melancholy ragtime jazz music before six pall bearers carried the coffin inside the cathedral with hundreds inside preparing to pay a final farewell.

As Sir Ken’s casket was carried inside the cathedral hundreds of mourners gathered under a big screen outside to watch as the service began, with opening prayers led by Canon Myles Davies, acting Dean of Liverpool.

Along with the comedian’s fans a Who’s Who of Liverpool comedians and celebrities have come to pay their last respects including, Jimmy Tarbuck, Les Dennis, Tom O’Connor and Stan Boardman.

Jimmy Tarbuck, who spoke before reading a passage based on Psalm 139, said: “What a perfect venue for our city’s hero, perhaps our city’s greatest hero and I’m pleased for Ken there’s yet another full house.”

He said he had met Sir Ken…

Sunil Saleem was visiting his sister who was having a baby when a row broke out over her treatment.

It was claimed that a doctor was slow to respond to the needs of Kiran Saleem – with some accusing the medic of discriminating because Kiran was a Christian.

When Sunil complained, reports suggest he was attacked over a 30 minute period and was only given limited treatment prior to his death.

Wilson Chowdhry, chair of the British Pakistani Christian Association, said: “Once again medical professionals have been found breaking the Hippocratic oath. The failure to adhere to international medical ethics should be deeply concerning to the Government of Pakistan as it highlights the failure by the nation to meet international laws for human rights that the nation has ratified.

“A family has been broken and the Christian community demoralised by another failure by a national institution. The systemic prejudice within the states statutory authorities and services are examples of an ongoing genocide which will one day eradicate Christianity from Pakistan if left unchecked.

Police in Lahore are said to be investigating the killing while the British Pakistani Christian Association is raising funds to pay for the funeral and legal costs.

Raising concern for all Christians in Pakistan, Nasir Saeed from religious freedom charity CLAAS, said: “I am very concerned by the…

The leader of the Oasis network has published a new eBook encouraging churches to include, welcome, support and accept transgender people.

The Gender Agenda: Towards a Biblical Theology on Gender Identity, Reassignment and Confirmation attempts to “heal the hurts” inflicted on people who are transgender. Its purpose is to also help Christians form an “inclusive theology”, which Rev Chalke argues is consistent throughout the Bible.

He said: “The subtle shift from viewing transgender people as ‘depraved sinners’ to ‘unfortunate victims of psychological pressures and mental illness’ camouflages the fact that, in the end, as numbers of trans people have learned to their cost, the environment it creates is just as toxic for them.”

The book also asserts that the world’s first Gentile convert to Christianity had gender and sexual minority status. It uses the example of Philip baptising an Ethiopian eunuch even though Jewish theology at the time would not have deemed him worthy of it due to his status as a foreigner and a eunuch.

Rev Chalke added: “For the record, I am not suggesting that a 1st century eunuch is the exact equivalent of a 21st century trans or intersex person. It is, however, an extraordinary example of the early Church’s understanding of the principle of radical inclusion as central to their mission and purpose.”

He also teamed up with LGBT rights charity…

After hearing how children were being trafficked for ‘cybersex’, Derek Seeker, whose name has been changed to protect him in his work, moved country to rescue children and catch perpetrators.

He now works with International Justice Mission (IJM), the largest anti-slavery organisation in the world, specifically to combat this type of abusive cybersex – which is when children are sexually abused by adults or other children in front of a webcam for paying customers around the world.

One day in church Derek – who was working as a policeman in California – was challenged.

“I started hearing about the work of IJM and the heart of God for justice and to protect the oppressed and it seemed like a gap in my life,” he said.

“I remember specifically one time the pastor asked the question, ‘if this was your child who was being trafficked what would you do?’ and I was really impacted and I knew that I would do anything.”

He works alongside the law enforcement in the Philippines and is embedded with the police who receive referrals from international law enforcement on cases where predators or child sex offenders in western counties are abusing kids online via a live web cam.

He went on to say: “They’ll transfer money to the Philippines and with the growth of the internet they now have access to vulnerable children in developing countries.”

Derek explained how his faith motivated…