Experts were called to St Nicholas in Piddington this week to carefully remove approximately 50,000 bees from its roof after the sweet substance began dripping down walls.

Rector, Rev Andrew Hayes told Premier: “When people were coming to visit the church, they were uncomfortable with the number of bees that were there.

“So, that was what motivated us into action but we didn’t want to just eliminate the problem; we wanted to make sure they were looked after and cared for.”

The weight of the colony – measuring two metres by one metre in size – also prompted fears the ceiling above the pulpit might collapse. It has cost £5,000 to remove.

Rev Hayes continued: “It’s been a three-day operation, they did most of the extraction work [on Wednesday]. They reckon they’ve got 95 per cent of the bees.

“But, most importantly, they’ve got the queen bees, so the other bees won’t stay in the hive.”

The Tree Bee Society told Premier the bees have been released in a field in west Lancashire on Thursday evening.

Experts from the organisation have been encouraged by how well the insects have been adopting to their new home so far.

Five litres of honey retrieved from the colony is considered unsuitable for human consumption but other by-products…

Reverend Edmund Tillakaratne, spokesman for the Colombo diocese, said on Thursday that Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had cancelled all Sunday services in the diocese based on the latest security reports.

Muslims were told to stay home for Friday prayers last week and all of Sri Lanka’s Catholic churches were closed.

Instead of the usual Sunday Mass, Cardinal Ranjith delivered a homily before clergy and national leaders at his residence that was broadcast on television.

But Sri Lanka’s Muslim leaders are encouraging people to return to mosques for Friday prayers, according to N M Ameen, president of the Muslim Council of Sri Lanka.

Mr Ameen said the group had asked the government for extra security.

The April 21 bombings at churches and luxury hotels killed more than 250 people and officials have warned that suspects linked to the bombings are still at large.

Cardinal Ranjith has criticised the government’s apparent failure to share near-specific intelligence on the Easter plot and on some of the suspects involved.

A Cabinet minister said on Tuesday that intelligence warnings had indicated that government ministers could be targeted by the same group, which pledged its loyalty to Islamic State militants.

Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi postponed a trip to Sri Lanka this week because of security concerns, a senior foreign ministry official said.

The US embassy…

The believers were taken into police custody following accusations that they were converting people to Christianity and undermining the Hindu religion.

A Nepalese court has ruled that the allegations of proselytism against the four have not been proven but the matter has not yet been discharged by the court.

The suspects have been released without bail but will be required to attend further court hearings as the investigation continues.

In an interview with religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the senior lawyer Govinda Bhandi Sharma said: “The whole allegation and prosecution was baseless and biased.

“The Dang Superintendent of Police who initiated the arrest order has a bad track record of suppressing Christian minorities.”

CSW spokesperson Steven Selvaraj told Premier that although the anti-conversion law has not stopped churches from gathering, discrimination towards faith-groups has increased.

“Gatherings continue to take place and they take place in a legal way, but there is certainly a sense of concern about whether they can actually meet freely because you just never know when the authorities might barge into a meeting and accuse them of proselytization,” he said.

“We have seen a steady rise in cases that we’ve heard from the ground of false accusations of Christians and the accusations are usually around the issue of proselytization…

The conference, Nation, State, Nation-State, opened om Wednesday at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, a Vatican think tank.

German Cardinal Walter Kasper, an ally of Pope Francis, said in a keynote speech that 20th century nationalism produced two World Wars.

He said that international institutions created in their aftermath to promote peace had distanced ordinary citizens from decision-making power.

He warned that the resulting insecurities and fears fueled populist and neo-nationalistic ideologies “closed inside walls of isolation”.

Francis has denounced such isolationist trends, focusing in particular on the global responsibility for the environment and the plight of migrants.

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(You may find the contents of this article upsetting)

Aided by magician Martyn Smith, 32, Baptist minister’s son Benjamin Field, 28, plotted the deaths of churchgoers Peter Farquhar (pictured right), 69, and Ann Moore-Martin (pictured left), 83, jurors were told.

He had undergone a “betrothal” ceremony with gay Mr Farquhar while also having a string of girlfriends and was in a sexual relationship with spinster Miss Moore-Martin, who was 57 years his senior.

The pair “psychologically manipulated” the retired teachers, who lived three doors from each other in the picturesque village of Maids Moreton, in Buckinghamshire, making them believe they were losing their minds and left so desperate would kill themselves, the court heard.

Field also produced a list of local elderly “clients” whose homes he burgled and included a 101-year-old woman who he planned to deceive, jurors heard.

They have gone on trial at Oxford Crown Court accused of murder, conspiracy to murder and fraud, while Field’s younger brother Tom, 24, also faces an allegation of fraud.

Mr Farquhar, a former English teacher, author and part-time lecturer, died in October 2015 while retired teacher Miss Moore-Martin died in May 2017.

Oliver Saxby QC, prosecuting, told the jury Benjamin Field’s “project” was to befriend someone vulnerable, get them to change their…

Frank Sinatra’s My Way topped the chart drawn up by Co-op Funeralcare, followed by Time To Say Goodbye byand Sarah Brightman, and Over The Rainbow by Eva Cassidy.

New entries in this year’s study are Ed Sheeran’s Supermarket Flowers, and You Raise Me Up by Westlife.

No traditional hymns are in this year’s top ten, drawn up from research among the Co-op’s funeral directors, who conduct up to 100,000 services a year.

More adults are telling their families which songs they want played at their funeral, while a growing number ask a family member to sing at their farewell, said the Co-op.

We have two newcomers to our Funeral Music Chart this year, but can you guess who they are? #FuneralMusic pic.twitter.com/b4Afp9n3Kc

— Co-op Funeralcare (@CoopFuneralcare) May 1, 2019

David Collingwood, Director of Funerals at the Co-op said: “We all live such unique lives and funerals should completely reflect that.

“Each element of a funeral is a very personal decision which is why the music choice plays such an important and impactful role.

“We’re always encouraging people to be more open about their funeral wishes, making it clear to their loved ones what they would want for themselves when the time comes.

“Even knowing what song someone would have wanted can bring such comfort at an incredibly hard time.”

A survey of 2,000 adults by…