MJ: Tell us how you’re feeling then after hearing that verdict from the Supreme Court – you might be back in London soon.

DT: That’s true and I sincerely hope that it won’t disrupt the Conservative Party conference because I know that earlier in the year the leader of the House had actually approached the different political parties to see if they would be prepared to move their conferences this year and the answer was no. So, I hope that we get to run our conference and hear what the Prime Minister wants to do going forward. At the end of the day, the court is the court and we have to respect and honour their decision, and they found the Prime Minister was unlawful in his decision.

MJ: How do you think Boris Johnson will react to this verdict?

DT: Boris Johnson is a very intelligent man who understands Great Britain, believes in Great Britain and believes in our court system. I don’t think this will present him a particular challenge, I think we will return and get on with the job of trying to make a good date of Brexit. I think what he was attempting to do – and I have enormous sympathy for him – is that while there is important work to do, much of our time in Parliament for a long time now has been unnecessarily, in my view, disrupted by people who actually just want to frustrate the process of Brexit, maybe even stop it alltogether. I can see why he wanted us out of the way so they could actually get on with the work. Government has done enormous…

Under the WCC’s Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme, Christians live among communities in the disputed West Bank – the area occupied by Israel since the Six Day War in 1967. Israeli settlements on the West Bank are seen as illegal under international law, but Israel disputes that.

One of the volunteers, Sarah Donald, told Premier: “We are here by invitation of the churches to witness the violation of international human rights and law.”

Examples of the work include accompanying Palestinian shepherds as they move sheep onto land adjoining Israeli settlements, travelling to school with children in troubled areas and trying to calm other tense situations between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers or settlers. 

Another volunteer, Jane Foster, said: “By being there and being recognisably neutral but in support of international law and human rights, it makes the Israeli settlers and others think twice about behaving badly.”

EAs monitor and document the situation at many checkpoints in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and offer basic support if anyone is denied passage

Critics of the project say it sides with Palestinians and is unduly critical of the Israeli government. But the ecumenical accompaniers reject the criticism. 

The WCC’s guidelines insist on neutrality between the different…

During a pause in the battles of the Fifth Crusade in the 13th Century, Francis of Assisi crossed over from the Christian camp to the Muslim armies in an attempt to end the fighting by preaching to the Muslim leader, Sultan Malik al-Kamil.

Despite the assumption that he would be killed, the outcome was a peaceful conversation between the two leaders.

Just before he left the sultan’s camp, Francis of Assisi asked that they sit down together for a meal, believing that this would deepen the fellowship between them.

To commemorate this, the Third Order Anglican Franciscans is taking a meal into the Dar ul-Isra Mosque in Cardiff, and serving it to a group of Muslims and Christians, including Rt Rev June Osborne, Bishop of Llandaff.

The meal will be accompanied by a dramatic presentation of the encounter, based on a number of contemporary accounts from the 13th Century.

The Church in Wales said the hopes are the event will advance the cause of Muslim/Christian relations in Wales.

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He made the commitment at the Global Call to Protect Religious Freedom event at the UN General Assembly on Monday.

The purpose of the meeting was to urge world leaders to act and bring an end to religious persecution and stop crimes against people of faith.

Mr Trump said: “Each of us has the right to follow the dictates of our conscience and the demands of our religious conviction.”

On top of announcing the new $25 million fund, the president outlined efforts by his administration to protect victims of all faiths from religious violence.

They include hosting a summit on combating anti-Semitism in July, providing humanitarian aid to help Christians and Yazidis who suffered at the hands of ISIS and helping Rohingya Muslim refugees fleeing persecution.

“With one clear voice, the United States of America calls on the nations of the world to end religious persecution.” #UNGA pic.twitter.com/1hXbbaU74G

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 23, 2019

He highlighted that Christians are the most persecuted religious group in the world and his administration is “deeply concerned” for the more than 1 million Uighurs, a minority Turkic ethnic group, interned in Chinese internment camps.

Mr Trump added: “The United States in funded on the principle that our rights do not come from government, they come from God.

“Our founders understood that no right is more fundamental to…

Patrick Ryan helped secure munitions from Libya which were intercepted by the Irish navy off the coast of Ireland, according to BBC Northern Ireland’s Spotlight programme.

Ryan travelled with former IRA commander Joe Cahill to Tripoli. A five tonne shipment of weapons on board the Claudia was to follow.

He said: “I would have liked to have been much more effective than I was but we did not do too badly.”

The former East Africa missionary from the Republic of Ireland initially worked as a parish priest and contributed money to the republican cause while doing so.

He was approached by IRA leaders who asked him to work for them permanently. He was no longer a parish priest while associated with the Provisionals.

He told Spotlight: “They asked me to travel the world and try to get info.”

In 1973 he was sent to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s Tripoli along with IRA chief of staff Cahill.

Ryan spent the next 10 years visiting Libya and Europe, using a camper van to travel all over Europe raising money, the Spotlight programme said.

He deposited cash in a Swiss bank account for use by the IRA.

He said: “We were doing considerable business with the bank… exchanging unusual sums of money.”

He also discovered timers which made it easier for IRA men to arm their bombs without being killed themselves, Spotlight said.

Those became a component in the republican organisation’s bomb-making…

The artworks, some of which are older than those in the Sistine Chapel, are also often under threat because of the complexity of preserving them in the ancient, crumbling buildings they decorate.

English Heritage has launched an appeal to support the conservation of the artistic treasures in its care to stop them disappearing from view altogether.

The heritage charity cares for 77 wall paintings across the country, from the painted walls at Lullingstone Roman Villa in Kent to the Victorian gothic decoration at St Mary’s Church, Studley Royal in North Yorkshire.

Many decorate the walls of medieval abbeys, priories and churches, with religious scenes including the internationally-important art at St Mary’s Church, Kempley in Gloucestershire, English Heritage said.

But they are under threat of deterioration and decay for a number of reasons, not least the weather.

Unlike well-preserved paintings in France and Italy, which benefit from a warmer climate, the damp, wet conditions often found in England can cause damage to the fragile artworks.

English Heritage collections conservator (North) Caroline Rawson, conducts a condition audit of wall paintings at St Mary’s Church in North Yorkshire, as English Heritage launches an appeal to support the conservation of the artistic treasures in its care to stop them disappearing…