Christian members of the ‘Kattunaickar’ Scheduled Tribe filed the case at the High Court at the Madras Madurai Bench in Tamil Nadu after facing years of hardship because of their beliefs.

There are approximately 100 Christian converts living among the predominantly Hindu tribe, based in the village of Sathyamoorthy Nagar in the Madurai District.

Local sources say that the hostilities towards the Christians started in 2004, but religious discrimination escalated when the local extremist group Hindu Munani, began to systematically target Christians in 2016.

The Hindu Munani have now imposed sanctions on Christian families there, preventing them from purchasing food, attending public ceremonies and accessing public roads and water supplies. Christian children are prohibited from mixing with Hindu’s in the playground and a tax of 50,000 rupees (approx £590) has been enforced for all families in the area who do not follow the Hindu faith.

The case at the High Court has been filed against 11 respondents, which includes members of the Hindu Munani, the District Collector, the Superintendent of Police, the Revenue Divisional Officer and the Inspector of Police.

An order to prevent the respondents from imposing penalties and excommunicating the Christians and request for police protection has been submitted.

The petitioner of the case, who cannot be named for security…

The Paris regional administration suspended the job of cleaning up the famed Paris cathedral last month under pressure from labour inspectors concerned about health risks from the tons of lead that burned in the April fire.

The administration planned to resume the work this week with stricter decontamination procedures and equipment “to prevent any release of polluting elements to the outside”.

But representatives from environmental groups and the CGT union said they do not think the safety measures go far enough.

They asked for a regularly updated chart showing the level of lead in the air.

Labour and environmental groups are also pushing for the creation of a medical centre to monitor the health status of firefighters, workers and residents.

Hundreds of tons of lead that was in Notre Dame’s spire and roof melted during the fire, which came close to destroying the cathedral.

Lead levels remain elevated at some spots inside Notre Dame and in the soil of the adjacent park and forecourt, according to the Paris regional health agency.

Those areas have been closed to the public since April 15.

During a news conference, the environmental activists and union officials called for a containment shield to be built over Notre Dame to keep more lead from being released into the air.

“For the efficiency of the decontamination…

Somer Umeed Bakhsh got four As and a B in his Scottish Highers, despite ongoing uncertainty about him and his family’s right to stay in the UK.

Somer (pictured on the right), who aspires to be an astrophysicist, is a pupil at Springburn Academy in Glasgow, where he achieved As in Maths, Chemistry, Physics and English and a B in Design and Manufacture.

He said: “I’m extremely pleased with my exam results.

“I want to thank my primary school teachers who provided me with a strong foundation and my secondary school teachers who put in the hard work and taught me.

“I am also very thankful for my parents who, despite the stressful situation, always encouraged and supported me.

“Above all, I want to thank God who helped me to stay focused on my studies in the midst of these tough times.”

Nearly 94,000 people have signed two petitions calling on the Home Office not to deport Somer and his brother, Areeb, 14, from Scotland as they fear they will be killed by Islamic extremists if they are forced to return to Pakistan, where blasphemy can carry the death penalty.

Somer and Areeb have lived in Glasgow with their parents, Parveen and Maqsood Umeed Bakhsh since their family fled the Muslim country in 2012 after their father was subjected to death threats due to his Christian faith.

The UK Government has repeatedly rejected the family’s plea for asylum, largely because officials…