French director Francois Ozon’s movie Grace A Dieu (By The Grace Of God) won the Berlin Film Festival’s jury grand prize on Saturday.

The film, which opens on Wednesday, portrays French priest Bernard Preynat, who has been accused of molesting dozens of boys during the 1980s and 1990s.

Preynat’s lawyers said the film depicted allegations against their client as facts and should have been blocked because it does not respect the presumption of innocence.

Preynat has been handed preliminary charges of sexual assaults on minors and prosecutors are determining whether he will be brought to trial.

He has confessed to abusing boy scouts and his victims say church hierarchy covered up for him for years, allowing him to work with children right up until his 2015 retirement.

His lawyer Emmanuel Mercinier said the judge ruled that messages in the film noting that people are presumed innocent until proven guilty were enough to guarantee Preynat’s rights.

“I’m bitterly ruing this decision. To depict a man as guilty for two hours, while he has not been convicted, infringes the presumption of innocence. That can’t obviously be erased by writing the opposite for two seconds,” Mr Mercinier said.

Preynat could go on trial accused of sexual violence against multiple children.

So far, 13 alleged victims are involved in that case, but he is accused of having abused as many as 70 children.

Excellent opening of a promising…

Robin Vadakkumchery’s crime only came to light after the victim gave birth to a baby in February 2017.

A child rights charity reported the delivery to the police, which led to the influential priest’s arrest at Kochi airport as he attempted to board a plane to Canada.

An orphanage employee and four nuns were also accused of trying to cover up the assault but were acquitted due to a lack of evidence.

Inspector Sunil Kumar investigated the case and told the AFP: “Almost all the independent witnesses proved non-cooperative, making it difficult for us to provide substantive evidence against all that the defence threw at us.”

The girl’s father had told the court he was responsible for impregnating his daughter and the mother claimed the victim was older than 18 when the rape occurred.

The victim also told the court that she had been in a consensual relationship with her father while she was an adult.

However, an official doctor’s record proved that the victim was a minor at the time of delivery.

Saturday’s verdict followed a number of allegations against senior Church figures in Kerala, including a bishop, Franco Mulakkal, who is accused of raping a nun thirteen times over two years.

He has denied the charges.

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A team of 26 Christians from Alberta had been working for the aid group Haiti Arise when they became stranded by the protests at a compound in Grand Goâve, about 31 miles from the capital of Port-au-Prince.

“It just has been escalating and building up,” Lisa Honorat, co-founder of the Christian group told Calgary Herald when she arrived at Calgary International Airport on Sunday.

“It started to get really scary and it was all over the country, not just in the city.”

Monday marked eleven days of the Caribbean country being gripped with unrest. Demonstrators are calling for President Jovenel Moise and Prime Minister Jean-Henry Céant to resign over soaring inflation and corruption allegations.

Honorat’s twelve-year-old daughter, Miesha, also required rescuing from Haiti.

Haiti needs our help now… pic.twitter.com/LP9me1zE4J

— Jana Turco (@TurcoJana) February 18, 2019

“I was sad to leave because I have family down there and friends,” the young missionary said.

“And it was different because I hadn’t been in that kind of situation before in all the times I’ve been to Haiti…It is scary because I know a lot of people in the general area where the riots are happening.”

Her father Marc Honorat, who runs the group with his wife, has remained in Haiti as “he didn’t want to send the wrong message, that anytime there’s something wrong we just all leave”.

In an open letter, the organisation joined Humanists International in suggesting an alternative; the launch of separate reviews into the treatment of other groups, such as the non-religious.

It said: “The UK has one of the highest proportions of non-religious people in the world and our culture is a cradle of the modern humanist tradition.

“If our Government does not commit to standing with the nonreligious globally, as much as with all other victims of persecution, who will?”

Last month, Premier reported how Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured below) promised the review – led by the Bishop of Truro, Rt Rev Phillip Mountstephen – would ask “tough questions”.

In a letter in the Telegraph, our President & Vice Presidents – @theAliceRoberts, @jimalkhalili, @ShappiKhorsandi, @acgrayling & @pollytoynbee – have called on the Government to broaden its review on international persecution of Christians to other groups https://t.co/v5A1WH37FQ

— Humanists UK (@Humanists_UK) February 17, 2019

While, arguing that persecution against Christians “must end”, humanist groups said the Government must not take a “narrow” approach when advocating for freedom of religion or belief.

The note continues: “It is correct to say that our country in recent years has a growing reputation as a principled advocate for the human right of religion or belief globally.

Asia Bibi, who was moved from Islamabad to Karachi after a legal challenge to her acquittal was dismissed, has spoken via phone to one of her daughters.

According to a friend quoted by The Times, the 47-year-old said: “No one is telling me when they will release me and send us abroad.”

The newspaper says Ms Bibi is being stopped from completing her asylum paperwork while authorities put pressure on her to refrain from criticising Pakistan during media appearances once she leaves.

It is understood the mother-of-five intends to be reunited with her children in Canada – which has already offered her sanctuary.

Pakistan has previously insisted that Ms Bibi is technically free to leave, despite concerns that her departure is being deliberately delayed.

Premier spoke last year with Asia’s husband, Ashiq (left), and one of her daughters, Eisham.

One senior official told The Times: “Bibi will leave soon once the documentation process is completed and we get the green lights from the host country.”

Ms Bibi spent eight years on death row after being convicted of insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She always denied any wrongdoing.

Her acquittal last October prompted protests by hard-line Islamists, who claim she should be publicly…

Asia Bibi, who was moved from Islamabad to Karachi after a legal challenge to her acquittal was dismissed, has spoken via phone to one of her daughters.

According to a friend quoted by The Times, the 47-year-old said: “No one is telling me when they will release me and send us abroad.”

The newspaper says Ms Bibi is being stopped from completing her asylum paperwork while authorities put pressure on her to refrain from criticising Pakistan during media appearances once she leaves.

It is understood the mother-of-five intends to be reunited with her children in Canada – which has already offered her sanctuary.

Pakistan has previously insisted that Ms Bibi is technically free to leave, despite concerns that her departure is being deliberately delayed.

Premier spoke last year with Asia’s husband, Ashiq (left), and one of her daughters, Eisham.

One senior official told The Times: “Bibi will leave soon once the documentation process is completed and we get the green lights from the host country.”

Ms Bibi spent eight years on death row after being convicted of insulting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She always denied any wrongdoing.

Her acquittal last October prompted protests by hard-line Islamists, who claim she should be publicly…

Workmen were seen removing the banner on Sunday, almost one year after a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned with the Novichok nerve agent in the city.

Very Rev Nicholas Papadopulos, the Dean of Salisbury Cathedral, said: “This was a remarkably stupid thing to do and makes light of the huge personal tragedies involved, and the damage done to the city by the unprecedented nerve agent attacks on Salisbury last year.”

The hanging of the flag, described as a “slap in the face” by one local councillor, reportedly took place overnight.

Thankfully it has been removed now – what a stupid stunt – mocking the serious events sadly experienced in Salisbury last year https://t.co/eDUBFhuOT4

— John Glen MP (@JohnGlenUK) February 17, 2019

John Glen, is a Christian and the MP for Salisbury.

Jo Broom, Conservative representative for the St Martin’s and Cathedral Ward, said: “My initial reaction was just one of shock and sadness that someone would choose to do this at any time, but particularly as we’re leading up to the first anniversary of the incident and the city is very much trying to be positive.

“Residents will just be very upset; it’s just a little bit of a slap in the face.”

Russian flag hung from Salisbury cathedral this morning, but quickly removed before services pic.twitter.com/x22kFYblbh

— james mcc (@james1mcc) February 17, 2019

A police inquiry…