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"It is not about punishment through force - but about ensuring that perpetrators cannot remove themselves from the consequences of their actions," said the families of murdered primary school teacher Sabina Nessa, law graduate Zara Aleena and mother-of-three Jan Mustafa.

Justice Minister Alex Davies-Jones said: "I would like to thank the remarkable families of Olivia Pratt-Korbel, Jan Mustafa, Sabina Nessa and Zara Aleena and countless others who have campaigned tirelessly for offenders to have to face the reality of their crimes by attending their sentencing."

Michael D Higgins will be among world leaders and dignitaries to attend the funeral of Pope Francis this weekend, along with his wife, Sabina.

Even while lying on a hospital bed, the Francis attended to pontifical duties, preparing an Ash Wednesday homily that a cardinal read on his behalf at Rome’s Basilica of Saint Sabina and calling a parish priest in war-torn Gaza, where 135 Catholics congregate at the Holy Family Church.

Sabina Khatun was 10 years old when a crude bomb exploded in her hand in April 2020 in Jitpur, a village flanked by rice and jute fields in Murshidabad district.