Pastor Elfren Martínez Pérez, age 55, was shot and killed on 16th September outside his home in Antioquia.

He led Nueva Filadelfia Church in the hamlet of La Ilusión near the city of Caucasia. The church belongs to the Association of Evangelical Churches of the Caribbean (AIEC) – one of the largest denominations in northern Colombia.

According to partners of the religious freedoms charity Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), the pastor had challenged the presence of the illegal armed group believed to be a neo-paramilitary group which is active in the region.

A member of the community told CSW partners: “[Pastor Martínez Pérez] would confront [the neo-paramilitary group], they would always approach him to tell him that they had arrived to protect the community, that only they could do it, he would reply saying that the community did not need this form of protection”.

Earlier in the day on 16th September, the pastor had refused demands by the men from the illegal armed group to transport them on his boat.

The men left but returned at 7pm accompanied by two others on motorbikes.

After calling Pastor Martínez Pérez out of his home, they reportedly said: “As you are a pastor, we will only shoot you once”. One of the men then shot and killed the pastor in front of his home.

Pastor Martínez Pérez is survived by his wife and five adult children. They fled the…

According to Voice of the Martyrs, an organisation that serves persecuted Christians, it’s claimed the Christians were convincing people to attend a church in Baldeh village.

The court heard that the Christians allegedly distributed “prohibited medicines and drugs” and then evangelised while users were under the influence of narcotics.

Todd Nettleton from Voice of the Martyrs told Mission Network News: “The court, instead of saying that’s ridiculous, they actually allowed the charges to go forward.

“So now we have a First Information Report against 271 people for this charge of talking bad about Hinduism and it all goes back to those anti-conversion laws that are written to keep Christian groups and other groups from talking to Hindus about changing their faith.”

Anti-conversion laws have been used many times to target Christians and other religious minorities in India. They are also used to prevent Hindus converting to other faiths.

Nettleton added: “That’s what these anti-conversion laws are, they are completely unreasonable, they completely undermine the promise of religious freedom that the Indian Constitution contains, and yet here we are again with a case where 271 people have been charged based on these completely unjust laws.”

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Andy Kerr, chairman of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee, was speaking from the stage and invited a question from a female delegate.

He then appeared to mock her for crossing herself, saying: “Did you cross yourself, there? In that case, I might not.”

Asked if it was “bigoted”, Mr Leonard told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “That might be one way of describing it.”

The Scottish Labour leader said: “There is absolutely no room inside the Labour Party for that kind of remark, whether it’s meant as a form of humour or not.

“It’s completely unacceptable and Andy Kerr has unreservedly apologised for the remark that he made.”

He added: “There should be no space for it inside the Labour Party and I condemn it.”

Former Scottish Parliament Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick had called on Mr Leonard to take action.

She tweeted him: “Maybe it is about time you united people regardless of religion, creed or colour.

“The sectarian remarks today against Catholics by your chair Andy Kerr in an open session of your conference were disgraceful.

“What are you going to do about that?”

Questioned on his comment, Mr Kerr, a deputy general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said: “I apologise unreservedly.

“I was trying to be lighthearted but what I said was ill-judged and wrong.”

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Fr Paul Kalchik has been forced to step down for the time being from Resurrection Catholic Church in the Avondale neighbourhood of Chicago, following the incident on 14th September.

In a letter to parishioners, Archbishop of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich said: “It has become clear to me that Fr Kalchik must take time away from the parish to receive pastoral support so his needs can be assessed.”

According to local newspaper the Chicago Sun Times, Fr Kalchik has claimed he suffered abuse at the hands of a priest as a young man and considered church sex abuse as a “gay thing”.

Fr Kalchik torched the banner, which he found kept in storage at Resurrection Church, during a private service – despite a warning from Cardinal Cupich against such a move.

The 56 year old had advertised the event in a church news bulletin two weeks beforehand.

The Chicago Sun Times reported sources who claimed Kalchik and his family had received death threats since he burned the flag.

Meanwhile, a protest staged outside Resurrection Church last Wednesday was led by Democrat politician and Chicago City Council member Deb Mell.

Responding on Twitter to Fr Kalchik’s removal, she wrote on Twitter: “Thank you to Cardinal Cupich for taking swift action and listening to the concerns of our community tonight by removing Fr. Paul.”

In his letter, Cardinal…

The actress and reality TV star, whose battle with substance abuse issues has been highly-publicised over the years, said she does not want to die and that she is determined to get better, but that she took cocaine to cope with the news initially.

Westbrook, 44, said that her thoughts turned to her late friend Jade Goody, who died in 2009 from cervical cancer.

She told the Sunday Mirror: “I’ve always said I am not scared of dying. But when the doctor said, ‘You have cancer’, straight away my thoughts turned to Jade and that I don’t want to die. I know I need to fight.”

Westbrook, who once spoke to Premier about how she became a Christian, said her mother was diagnosed with womb cancer 30 years ago, and that she is “still here” thanks to undergoing treatment on the NHS and that she will follow suit.

She added: “They are taking me in in three weeks for a full hysterectomy. Before they take it out they won’t know to what extent the cancer has grown.”

Westbrook said her doctors believe the cancer is “containable so I’m hopeful”.

Westbrook, who rose to fame in the 1990s playing Samantha Mitchell in EastEnders, said the cancer was diagnosed by a doctor in Spain, where she lives, after weeks of heavy bleeding and being unwell.

She said she was told the cancer is “behind the uterus wall and that’s why it’s not being…