Syrian refugee says Home Office ‘breaking my heart’ by refusing dying mother entry to UK

Home Office intervened after initial ruling allowing grandmother with terminal cancer to join family in Glasgow

A Syrian refugee says the Home Office has “broken her heart” by trying to bar her mother, who has weeks to live, from coming to the UK to spend her final days with the grandchildren she has never met.

Ola Al Hamwi fled Syria with her husband, Mostafa Amonajid, in 2015. They had lost their baby after a bombing and were unable to take Al Hamwi’s mother, Soaad Al Shawa, with them.

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UK supreme court ruling on legal definition of woman ‘brings clarity and confidence’, says government – live

Judges say definition of women and sex in Equality Act 2010 act refers to biological women and biological sex

The definition of a woman and sex in the Equality Act relates to “a biological woman and biological sex”, the supreme court has ruled as it unanimously allowed an appeal from gender critical campaign group For Women Scotland.

A possible outcome of the case is that the court will agree with the previous interpretation of the law as it stands, but suggest parliament considers amending the Equality Act to deal with these previously unforeseen consequences.

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Gender critical campaigners win at UK supreme court over definition of woman

Judges rule that Equality Act definition excludes transgender women holding gender recognition certificates

Gender critical rights campaigners have won their supreme court challenge over the definition of a woman.

Five judges from the UK supreme court ruled unanimously that the legal definition of a woman in the Equality Act 2010 did not include transgender women who hold gender recognition certificates (GRCs).

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Travellers arriving in Great Britain face import ban on EU meat and dairy

Government introduces measure to prevent spread of foot-and-mouth disease after rise in cases across Europe

Tourists from Great Britain who travel to the continent to satisfy their epicurean desires for cured meats and fragrant cheeses will be frustrated in their attempts to bring home some of their favourite foods after a ban on meat and dairy imports from EU countries came into force this weekend.

From Saturday, holidaymakers will no longer be able to bring meat from cattle, sheep, goats or pigs, or dairy products, from EU countries into Great Britain for personal use, in a move aimed at preventing the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) after a rise in cases across Europe.

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Firefighters tackle wildfire spreading over large forest area in Scotland

Police urge people to stay away, as helicopters try to extinguish flames in Galloway and surrounding region

Firefighters are dealing with a wild blaze that has spread over a large area of forest in Scotland with police urging people to stay away from the area.

Emergency services were called to Glentrool in Galloway, southern Scotland, at about 11.50pm on Friday with fire crews still on the scene on Saturday afternoon.

Police Scotland said the wildfire was expected to reach the Loch Doon area of East Ayrshire at about midnight

Helicopters are being used in efforts to extinguish the flames which have also affected Merrick Hill, Ben Yellary and Loch Dee, police said. One appliance from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is at the scene.

Another wildfire had been reported in around the same area on Thursday and covered about 1.5 miles (2.4km).

On Wednesday, crews in Scotland tackled a large grass fire at Gartur Moss in Port of Menteith, Stirling.

The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) has warned it needs “long-term and sustained investment” to cope with the climate crisis and “increased demand” on its services, after firefighters battled wildfires across the UK this week.

This year has seen 286 wildfires hit the UK, according to the NFCC, more than 100 above the number recorded in the same period in 2022, a year that had record-breaking temperatures and unprecedented wildfire activity.

The NFCC warned the government that it could not continue to cope with “significant increases in wildfires” with current budgets “already under strain”.

Phil Garrigan, chairman of the NFCC, said: “There is no getting away from the fact that climate change is driving increases in extreme weather events, such as wildfires.

“Responding to wildfires requires a lot of resource, and often over long periods of time, which puts pressure on other fire and rescue service activities.

“Rising resilience threats mean there is an increased demand on fire and rescue services and that has to be met with long-term and sustained investment. This is really crucial to ensuring we can continue to keep our communities safe.”

Fire services in Scotland, Wales and England have all warned against barbecues and campfires in open spaces this weekend, as well as urging people to dispose of cigarettes properly.

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UK set for warmest day yet this year as firefighters warn of more wildfires

Temperature could hit 24C in central England on Friday with ‘very high to extreme’ risk of wildfires across Britain

The UK could experience its warmest day of the year so far, with temperatures higher than European holiday hotspots.

The Met Office said much of the country would be dry and sunny on Friday, and some of central England could hit 24C (75F) as weather “nearer to what we’d expect in July” continued.

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Dinosaur tracks uncovered at site of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s refuge

Jacobite leader was unknowingly ‘following the footprints’ of megalosaurs after escaping to the Isle of Skye in 1746

When Bonnie Prince Charlie fled the Scottish Highlands after defeat at the Battle of Culloden, his route may have crossed the fossilised footsteps of massive meat-eating dinosaurs, researchers say.

Newly discovered impressions at Prince Charles’s Point on the Isle of Skye, where the Young Pretender is said to have hunkered down in 1746, reveal that megalosaurs, the carnivorous ancestors of the T rex, and enormous plant-eating sauropods gathered at the site when it was a shallow freshwater lagoon.

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Asylum system risks ‘damaging social cohesion’, Glasgow city council warns

Council says cost running into tens of millions, as homeless refugees granted asylum across UK come to city for support

The asylum system risks “damaging social cohesion” with homeless refugees putting “unprecedented pressure” on Glasgow services, the city council has warned.

Glasgow city council, the largest asylum dispersal area outside London, had welcomed asylum seekers for decades, said the city convener for homelessness, Allan Casey.

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UK police to charge more abusers with manslaughter after suicide of partner

Change comes after death of Kiena Dawes, whose partner was cleared of manslaughter but convicted of domestic abuse

A senior police chief has unveiled a plan to charge more domestic abusers with manslaughter after their partners take their own lives. It comes after the death of Kiena Dawes, whose partner Ryan Wellings was cleared of manslaughter but convicted of domestic abuse.

Wellings had subjected Dawes to repeated assaults and verbal abuse before she killed herself and left a suicide note on her phone in which she described Wellings as a monster, stating: “Slowly … Ryan Wellings killed me.”

If you are experiencing domestic abuse you can contact the Refuge freephone 24-hour national domestic abuse helpline: 0808 2000 247 or visit www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Nicola Sturgeon no longer under investigation over SNP fraud claims

Police Scotland says former first minister not charged in party funding inquiry as husband appears in court for embezzlement

Nicola Sturgeon is no longer under investigation as part of the police case looking into alleged mishandling of Scottish National party funds.

Police Scotland said the former Scottish first minister would not face any charges after her former husband, Peter Murrell, appeared for a private hearing at Edinburgh sheriff court on a single charge of embezzlement on Thursday.

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Minister refuses to rule out more benefit cuts amid backlash over Liz Kendall move to slash disability payments – UK politics live

Stephen Timms, social security and disability minister, says ‘who knows what will happen in next five years’ as welfare bill is increasing even with cuts

Matt Hancock, the former Tory health secretary, has just started giving evidence to the Covid inquiry as part of its inquiry into PPE procurement.

There is a live feed here.

Of course people who can work should work - no one is questioning that - but for my relatives, friends and neighbours, and your constituents who have the misfortune to suffer from a chronic, debilitating, long-term condition that leaves them bed-bound, unable to leave their home or crushed by mental illness, these cuts will not motivate them to get back to work, it will instead scare and humiliate them and strip them of their dignity and self respect and for some it will send them to an early grave. The blame for this will lie squarely with you and the sycophants within your party who passively support these dreadful cuts.

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Minister refuses to say disability benefits for people unable to work won’t be cut – UK politics live

Stephen Timms, social security and disability minister, says government is ‘fully supporting’ people who would always be unable to work

The Reform UK press conference is about to start. There is a live feed here.

Nigel Farage is going to announce that 29 councillors have defected to his party, according to the Guido Fawkes website.

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UK weather: temperatures in southern England could hit 19C this week

Some areas forecast to have warmer weather than Ibiza and Corfu on Thursday’s spring equinox

Parts of the UK are expected to be warmer than Ibiza and Corfu this week on the first official day of spring.

This Thursday marks the spring equinox and temperatures could reach 19C (66F) in the south of England. The Met Office meteorologist Becky Mitchell said that was 8C hotter than the average for the time of year.

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UK politics: Unison attacks ‘shambolic’ announcement of NHS England’s abolition – as it happened

Union says staff will have been left reeling after surprise news that body will be scrapped

Starmer is now talking about regulatation, and giving examples of where he thinks it has gone too far.

l give you an example. There’s a office conversion in Bingley, which, as you know, is in Yorkshire. That is an office conversion that will create 139 homes.

But now the future of that is uncertain because the regulator was not properly consulted on the power of cricket balls. That’s 139 homes. Now just think of the people, the families, the individuals who want those homes to buy, those homes to make their life and now they’re held up. Why? You’ll decide whether this is a good reason because I’m going to quote this is the reason ‘because the ball strike assessment doesn’t appear to be undertaken by a specialist, qualified consultant’. So that’s what’s holding up these 139 homes.

When we had those terrible riots … what we saw then, in response, was dynamic. It was strong, it was urgent. It was what I call active government, on the pitch, doing what was needed, acting.

But for many of us, I think the feeling is we don’t really have that everywhere all of the time at the moment.

The state employs more people than we’ve employed for decades, and yet look around the country; do you see good value everywhere? Because I don’t.

I actually think it’s weaker than it’s ever been, overstretched, unfocused, trying to do too much, doing it badly, unable to deliver the security that people need.

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Watchdog suggests alleged ‘two-tier’ sentencing guidelines may breach Equality Act – UK politics live

Lady Falkner, chair of the EHRC, says moves run the risk of positive discrimination

Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

PMQs is about to start.

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Balance of power: why Loch Ness hydro storage schemes are stirring up trouble

As Scottish energy firms race to meet challenges of storing power, critics fear plans will affect delicate hydrology of loch

Brian Shaw stood at the edge of Loch Ness and pointed to a band of glistening pebbles and damp sand skirting the shore. It seemed as if the tide had gone out.

Overnight, Foyers, a small pumped-storage power station, had recharged itself, drawing up millions of litres of water into a reservoir high up on a hill behind it, ready for release through its turbines to boost the UK’s electricity supply. That led to the surface of Loch Ness, the largest body of freshwater in the UK, falling by 14cm in a matter of hours.

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Area around Big Ben closed as man with Palestinian flag climbs Elizabeth Tower

Pro-Palestine protesters also spray-painted clubhouse at Trump Turnberry golf course in Scotland overnight

Westminster Bridge remains closed to traffic after a six-hour standoff between emergency services and a protester who has scaled a building in the Houses of Parliament carrying the flag of Palestine.

A large crowd gathered in Parliament Square to show their support for the man who climbed the Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, on Saturday morning.

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Council tax in Scotland to reach record high with 15% rise in some areas

Levies on tourists and cruise ships considered by some local authorities in attempt to plug funding gaps

Council tax costs in Scotland will hit record levels next month after local authorities agreed to raise rates by up to 15%, with some planning new levies on tourists and cruise ships.

All of Scotland’s 32 local authorities have announced council tax increases from April of at least 6%, with the majority raising them by about 10%, after years of successive cuts to their grant funding.

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Mystery donor’s £17.5m gift could turn Scottish estate into rewilding showcase

Scottish Wildlife Trust plans to create rainforest, restore peatland and end deer stalking on Highland sporting estate

Scottish conservationists hope to convert a Highland sporting estate into a rewilding showcase after a mystery benefactor gave them more than £17.5m to buy it.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT), best known for its small nature reserves, has bought Inverbroom estate near Ullapool in north-west Scotland, complete with an 11-bedroom lodge that boasts an indoor swimming pool.

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Flood warnings issued in parts of UK after weekend of rain and wind

Environment Agency warns of risk of river and surface flooding, as climate crisis brings warmer and wetter winters

Flood warnings are in place across the UK after a weekend of heavy rain and high winds.

As sunshine and scattered showers moved in on Monday, flood warnings were issued across much of Wales, the south and south-west of England and a few in central Scotland.

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