Keith and Christine Rowbottom met at their church crèche, but they found love as teenagers after he asked her to see a Shakespeare play.

Semi-retired Methodist minister Keith wanted to surprise Christine by taking her back to the venue where love blossomed during a production of Hamlet on 22nd November 1969.

Mr Rowbottom, 68, contacted Exeter Northcott Theatre, who had an opening for a special event, and they helped Mr Rowbottom make the anniversary especially memorable.

The theatre discovered the couple married in 1974 on the night Abba won Eurovision so booked Abba tribute band Thank You For The Music for the special date.

Theatre staff provided the couple with dinner, wine and complimentary tickets to the concert; in the same row L they sat in 50 years ago.

Christine, 67, told the Daily Express the whole experience has been “totally overwhelming. I felt like the Queen – the Dancing Queen.

“I was thinking ‘this cannot be just for us’ because the warmth we felt from the crowd was wonderful and quite moving.

“We are just so very thankful to have had 50 years together. I think I am more in love now than when I first met him.”

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The Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Westminster Cathedral are among those that will be taking part in #RedWednesday.

The campaign was organised by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). To mark the occasion, a candlelit 15 minute Cross procession will leave Parliament Square in the evening at arrive at Westminster Cathedral in time for a liturgy.

Rehman Chishti, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, will be leading the procession before speaking at the liturgy.

ACN said this year’s #RedWednesday comes at the end of a year where the issue of religious freedom been taken increasingly seriously.

The findings of the Bishop of Truro’s Review into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office support for persecuted Christians found that 80 per cent of religiously motivated attacks in the world are against Christians and that this should now be called ‘Christophobia’.

Patricia Hatton from ACN (UK), explained that the procession shows solidarity to persecuted Christians – the world’s “most widely targeted” faith group according to Pew Research Centre.

She said: “Following the endorsement of #RedWednesday in the Bishop of Truro’s review into FCO support for persecuted Christians – commissioned by former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt – the procession is a real chance for Christians to stand together and in a very visible…

Religious freedom charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) said the police who arrested Rami Kamil refused to allow him to change his clothes, carry his medications or speak to a lawyer. They also confiscated his laptop, mobile phone and camera and books after the raids in the early hours of 23rd November.

Following his arrest, Mr Kamil, 33, was taken to an unknown location, where he went through intensive interrogation and was subjected to physical and psychological pressure, according to CSW.

He later appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) without legal representation, and was given 15 days in pre-trial detention.

Mr Kamil was accused of joining a terrorist organisation, receiving foreign funding, disturbing public order, inciting the public against the state, and using social media to incite sectarian tensions between Muslims and Christians.

Kamil is a prominent human rights activist, he is a founding member and the coordinator of a Coptic human rights group called Maspero Youth Union. The organisation emerged following the Maspero massacre of October 2011, in which over 20 Coptic protesters were killed when the Egyptian military attacked a peaceful civil rights demonstration.

CSW said the arrest happened a few days after Mr Kamil accompanied the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, Leilani Farha, on a…

Data released on Wednesday shows December 2018 was the busiest month for food banks last year. The Trussel Trusts network for food banks provided 186,185 three-day emergency food parcels to people in crisis; 78,536 of these went to children. This is 44 per cent higher than the monthly average for the 2018-19 financial year.

Just weeks ago, the charity published figures for April – September 2019, showing that there has already been a 23 per cent increase in the number of food parcels provided compared to the same period in 2018.

The new figures follow the recent publication of ‘State of Hunger’, the most in-depth study to date into hunger and the drivers of food bank use in the UK.

The research revealed the average weekly income of households at food banks is only £50 after paying rent. One in five have no money coming in at all in the month before being referred for emergency food, and 94 per cent of people at food banks are destitute.

‘State of Hunger’ shows there are three drivers hitting people simultaneously and leaving no protection from hunger and poverty. These drivers are problems with the benefits system, ill health or challenging life experiences, and a lack of local support.

The Trussell Trust has encouraged people to donate to their local food bank. The help is provided at food banks across the UK for people pulled into crisis by increased pressure…

A joint statement signed by 10 leaders also implores the public to treat those standing as candidates with respect.

It comes after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland issued a pastoral letter to be read out at services, calling on members of the congregation to elect MPs who “reflect as close as possible their beliefs”.

The statement said: “As the UK General Election approaches on 12th December, we would like to remind people of the hope that we share as we approach this special time of year – of new life and a new world, and the inspiration this gives us to create a better society for us all – one in which we truly care about those around us.

“We would urge people to treat those who are standing for public office with respect and to use a tone in our debates that recognises the human value in all of us – even, and especially when, we disagree.

“We are all entitled to our own opinions and strong beliefs, and debates sometimes do get passionate and vigorous. But let us ensure that truthfulness and integrity are at the forefront of what we say and do.”

The statement also said the creation of a more equal society is something people can all agree on.

It said: “As people of faith, we believe in the flourishing of local communities and the importance of acting to make sure this can become a reality.

“There are many issues which divide us but many more that can…

The documentary, “How to Brainwash a Million people” came out on Tuesday, revealing how Uighur Muslims are being “re-educated” at a network of high security detention centres there to change their behaviour, beliefs and language.

Religious freedom charity Open Doors places China at number 27 on a watch list for countries where Christians experience the most extreme persecution.

An analysist of the Open Doors’ world watch list, Julia Bicknell, told Premier that Christian beliefs are also seen as a “threat” to the state.

“China is suspicious of anything that does not put the Communist Party and the current president as the number one priority.”

According to Bicknell, even the chairman of the state-sanctioned Protestant church accused Christianity of trying to subvert China’s political power in a statement earlier this year.

“When you know that and you know the Government wants to control what people believe and how they respond to the Communist party, then that’s cause for concern,” she added.

Bicknell fears for the freedoms of Christians to express and demonstrate their faith as “mass control” continues to grow.

She said: “Chinese Christians, can’t even share a live sermon from a church online anymore. It’s forbidden. If you want to share something a Christian resource online, you have to get a licence.”

Bicknall went on to describe the level of surveillance many…