Justin Welby saw Mohammed bin Salman at Lambeth Palace in London as concern over Saudi Arabia’s role in the war in Yemen continued to cause controversy.

Amnesty International UK’s director Kate Allen said: “We hope Justin Welby used the meeting as an opportunity to personally communicate the Church’s concerns over the thousands of Yemeni civilians killed and injured in reckless and indiscriminate Saudi-led coalition air strikes.

“We also hope the Archbishop was able to express concern over the ongoing jailing of peaceful critics of the Saudi government, including the prisoner of conscience Raif Badawi.”

The meeting with the Archbishop came after Prime Minister Theresa May and the Crown Prince used Downing Street talks to lay out plans for a £65 billion trade and investment package.

The Prime Minister also raised the situation in Yemen with the Saudi royal.

The Crown Prince is holding further talks with the PM at Chequers on Thursday, including a private dinner with Mrs May at her official country residence.

Foreign policy issues, including Yemen and Iran, are expected to feature in the talks.

The first day of his visit saw the Crown Prince have an audience with the Queen, and dinner with the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge.

The Sophia Network, which wants to see women in more leadership positions in church, conducted a survey to find out what the experiences of women are in church in terms of leadership and sexism they may face.

Vicky Thompson, chair the Sophia Network, told Premier it found several barriers to women in church life.

“There are still women who are feeling undervalued, unlistened to and unwelcomed,” she said.

“One minster shared her story of being the only ordained minister in her town in a group of churches and yet she was never invited to the table because she was a woman.

“Some of it [the sexism] was listed as comments. One woman when wanting to pursue ordination was told to stay home and have children instead.”

The @sophianetwork wants to work with and support individuals and churches in this conversation #MindingtheGap2018 #IWD2018 pic.twitter.com/LfxeosRCaO

— Sophia Network (@sophianetwork) March 8, 2018

Thompson urged churches, organisations and denominations to make eradicating sexism a higher priority and to look again at “what they’re teaching, how they’re dealing with women in their churches. Are they making room for them”?

She added: “Sometimes we assume it’s being dealt with and it’s not an issue anymore. It is still a big issue in our churches.”

However, the survey did also produce some positive results Thompson said.

“We did produce a lot of hope filled…

The police officer who rushed to the aid of a Russian ex-spy targeted with a nerve agent in Salisbury on Sunday started talking in his hospital bed on Thursday afternoon as detectives race to discover who was responsible.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the use of a chemical weapon on UK soil was a “brazen and reckless act” and the Government stood ready to act as a clearer picture emerged.

The policeman was not in intensive care but was still in a serious condition following the attack, in which a nerve agent, described by Ms Rudd as “very rare”, was used in an attempt on the lives of Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia.

Glenn said people in his constituency are shocked that something like this could happen in their area.

“Never before have I had such an international focus [on my constituency] and it just shows how unusual these sorts of events are but also how outrageous it is as well,” he told Premier News Hour.

Counter-terror police are working to unravel what is now feared to be a sophisticated chemical weapon plot amid heightened tensions between Britain and the Kremlin.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said Russia was becoming an “ever-greater threat”, while a senior general warned the state was “capable of anything”.

Ms Rudd refused to say whether she regarded Russia as responsible,…

Rachael Maskell recited a section of Matthew 25 in the House of Commons when she asked how church leaders would use their resources to tackle homelessness.

Quoting verses 42 and 43, she said: “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was stranger and you didn’t invite me in, I need clothes and you did not clothe me.

“I would like to know how the Church of England will use its estate more to ensure that people have shelter this coming year.”

Responding on behalf of the Church of England, Dame Caroline Spelman said the Bible passage “always challenges me”, and she pointed to the growing number of churches offering space to rough sleepers on cold winter nights.

She said: “I think the best answer I can possibly give is the growing initiative within the Church for night shelters, and it has been remarkable.

“I’ve heard it in the news during the recent cold snap how often the Church was mentioned as the place where homeless people could shelter from those cold conditions.”

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.