Once more Balmedie prepares to fight Trump on the beaches | Kevin McKenna

A record number of locals objected to the US president’s development near his Aberdeenshire golf course – to no avail. But the struggle goes on

The word “douce” sits easily alongside a place like Balmedie, but would never be seen within a million miles of Donald Trump or any of his enterprises. Yet this pleasant coastal village a few miles north of Aberdeen is at risk of forever being associated with America’s pantomime president and the locals are aghast at the prospect.

Last week planning officials at Aberdeenshire council signalled their assent for plans by the Trump Organisation to build a sprawling housing estate comprising 550 homes and golfers’ chalets on farmland adjacent to the US president’s exclusive golf facility a little further down the coast. The plans will now go before a full meeting of the council in April.

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Theresa May has failed to offer sound leadership in this toxic Brexit phase | Phillip Lee

The PM has brought us to this crisis with a series of calamitous decisions

How has it come to this? Theresa May and her husband, Philip, have long been friends of mine and I have in the past admired her sense of duty and commitment to her party and her country. So it grieves me that her stubborn choices have left both in peril.

At a time when our politics needs statesmanship, not brinkmanship, when our divided people need time to heal and come back together, and when our country needs honest leadership rooted in reality not ideology, Mrs May has embraced division. Rather than providing the calm, compassionate and unifying leadership we so desperately needed after a divisive EU referendum campaign, she rushed to own Brexit. She has clung to power in the process, but she is letting us all down.

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Corbyn’s team split over soft Brexit

Shadow cabinet will clash this week over Norway-style deal or second referendum

Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet is set to clash again over Brexit this week, with supporters of a second referendum concerned that the Labour leadership will opt to facilitate a soft Brexit. With senior Labour figures openly calling for another public vote at the anti-Brexit march in London on Saturday, other influential MPs believe Corbyn’s inner circle is actually warming to a Norway-style Brexit that would see Britain leave the EU, but remain closely aligned to it.

Tensions between Labour and its pro-Remain activists are already high after the party released a tweet on Friday evening asking if supporters had any “big weekend plans” and called on them to go out leafleting for May’s local elections.

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People’s vote Brexit rally draws 1 million marchers – video report

Official figures put the numbers at the people's vote Brexit march on Saturday at over 1 million. People from across the UK travelled to central London to demand a second vote on whether the UK should leave the EU

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One telling image: in a Brussels corridor, the EU takes back control of Brexit

A photo of an ad hoc crisis meeting gives an insight into the efforts made to cope with a floundering British government

As pictures go, it spoke volumes. On Thursday evening in Brussels, Bulgaria’s permanent representative to the EU, Dimiter Tzantchev, tweeted a photograph he titled “In the corridors of the European Council art 50”.

In a play of light and shadow, as if in a Golden Age painting by a modern-day Rembrandt or Frans Hals, a tight cluster of perhaps two dozen figures, some standing, some crouched, pored over a screen: senior EU officials, member state diplomats, Europe advisers to heads of government.

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UK fugitive arrested in Romania over murder of Josh Hanson

Shane O’Brien fled the UK after Hanson was stabbed to death in London in 2015

One of Britain’s most wanted fugitives has been arrested in Romania. Shane O’Brien, 31, is a suspect in the murder of 21-year-old Josh Hanson, who was stabbed to death in a bar in Hillingdon, west London, in 2015.

O’Brien fled the UK following Hanson’s death and last year was put on Interpol’s most wanted list, with a £50,000 reward offered for information leading to his arrest and prosecution.

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Revealed: no need to add cancer-risk nitrites to ham

Confidential meat industry report shows additives do not prevent food poisoning

A bombshell internal report written for the British meat industry reveals nitrites do not protect against botulism – the chief reason ham and bacon manufacturers say they use the chemicals.

The study, conducted for the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) by the scientific consultancy Campden, and marked “confidential”, examines the growth of the toxin Clostridium botulinum in the processing of bacon and ham.

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One man still held after windows smashed at Birmingham mosques

One of two men arrested over incidents reported at five mosques in the city released

One man is in custody after police made two arrests over attacks on five mosques in Birmingham, police have said.

The investigation, involving counter-terrorism officers, began in the early hours of Thursday morning after four of the mosques had their windows broken with a sledgehammer overnight. Police initially arrested the two men, but later released one and said he would face no further action.

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Macron accuses Brexiters of ‘lies’ over no-deal Brexit – video

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has accused Brexiters of telling 'lies' to British voters, and he claimed they would be hardest hit if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. 'They told the people, "It'll be easy, it'll be quick!,"' he said. 'It's awful, there were a lot of lies.'


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Leaders in the north: HS2 is vital for our growth | Letters

Northern council leaders say that HS2 will add billions to their economies and create half a million jobs; while Steve Rotheram, metro mayor of Liverpool, says it will be a game-changer for his city and region

HS2 is a once-in-two-century chance to rebalance the UK economy. It isn’t just about creating links to London. There are over 25 stops from Scotland to the south-east. It increases desperately needed capacity on existing lines, creating more space for extra commuter trains. It takes lorries off the road as freight moves to rail, creating more space for the driver on our motorways. There is something in HS2 for every traveller.

The report by the New Economics Foundation (Scrap HS2 and pour £56bn into regions, says thinktank, 20 March) ignores what cities including Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester and Birmingham have all been doing to make sure we benefit. Altogether, cities around the route have plans to create nearly 500,000 jobs, 100,000 new homes and add billions to the economy of the country. Poor connections between our major cities have been holding us back for far too long. Together HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail and Midlands Connect will give us the links that will unleash investment and bring prosperity to the Midlands and the north.

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UK will change tack on UN motions criticising Israel, says Jeremy Hunt

Policy will be to vote against claims of rights abuses by Israel brought under special protocol

The UK will oppose motions criticising rights abuses in the West Bank and Gaza that are brought to the UN’s human rights council under a special procedure dedicated to Israel’s behaviour in the occupied territories, Jeremy Hunt has said.

The move is likely to delight the Trump administration, which quit the human rights council in June last year, citing its approach to Israel. It also appears aimed at cementing the Conservative party’s relations with pro-Israel sections of the British Jewish community at a time when the Labour party is mired in criticism of its handling of antisemitism complaints.

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Celebrating Purim in Manchester – in pictures

Orthodox Jewish children in fancy dress and adults take to the streets of Broughton in Greater Manchester to celebrate the annual feast of Purim, celebrated by Jewish communities around the world with parades and costume parties. Purim commemorates the defeat of Haman, the adviser to the Persian king, and his plot to massacre the Jewish people, 2,500 years ago, as recorded in the biblical book of Esther.

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UK heading for no-deal Brexit if MPs reject agreement, says Macron – video

The French president has said that if British MPs reject Theresa May's withdrawal deal next week, it will 'guide everybody to a no-deal [Brexit]'. Emmanuel Macron also said the EU and the UK could agree a technical extension if the House of Commons were to vote in favour

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‘Bad boys of Brexit’ were guests at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club

Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore have drawn the scrutiny of investigators looking into possible Russian interference in the 2016 referendum vote

Two controversial backers of the Brexit movement were guests last year at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.

Arron Banks and Andy Wigmore, known as the “bad boys of Brexit”, visited the Palm Beach club in April, according to a review by the Palm Beach Post of Instagram posts tagged at the spot.

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Home Office has utterly failed in immigration detention, MPs find

Irresponsibility led to people being wrongly detained, committee chair says

The Home Office approach to immigration detention is careless and cavalier and has led to people being wrongfully detained, an influential parliamentary committee has concluded.

The home affairs select committee said in a scathing report that the department had overseen serious failings in almost every area of the immigration detention process.

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Rare super worm moon will loom large as it coincides with equinox

Phenomenon last occurred in spring 1905 and won’t happen again until the year 2144

Those gazing up into the sky on Wednesday night are set to witness an unusual event: a super worm moon that coincides with the equinox.

It will be the third time this year a full moon has occurred near to the moon’s closest approach to the Earth – making it a supermoon – and will be the last such event in 2019. Those venturing out can expect to see the moon looming larger than usual in the night sky.

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Britain’s arms export watchdog in danger of becoming toothless

As ministers and weapons manufacturers alike shun the body that oversees UK arms exports, its authority is at risk of being eroded

As Britain’s foreign secretary warns of “a shortening window of opportunity” for peace in Yemen, the hours are also counting down for weapons manufacturer Raytheon UK to explain its activities to the government’s committees on arms export control (CAEC).

Raytheon, the world’s third largest manufacturer, was called upon to give live evidence on Wednesday. However, the company has effectively avoided face-to-face scrutiny by simply declining to attend.

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Brexit: Theresa May says high time MPs vote for her deal – as it happened

Rolling updates on the day’s political events, including PM’s statement at Downing Street and Labour leader leaving meeting

I am going to wrap this up now. Here a few of tonight’s highlights at a glance:

Theresa May tells the British People ‘I’m on your side” ...which side is that? Leave, Remain, or Resign?

The summary of Beth Rigby, deputy political editor of Sky News, is blistering:

May’s national address badly misjudged. She has further angered the very people she needs to win over, MPs. Never before has the power of persuasion and art of compromise been so sorely needed and so clearly missing

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