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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UK risks becoming dumping ground for goods from exploited workers, MPs say

Committee says firms should be required to say how they will tackle modern slavery in supply chains

The government must close loopholes that enable firms exploiting workers to undercut British businesses or risk the UK becoming a “dumping ground” for goods made in poor conditions, MPs have said.

In a report published on Monday, the business and trade select committee calls on the government to make it mandatory for companies to say how they will tackle modern slavery in their supply chain and to introduce bigger penalties for firms that do not comply, including “naming and shaming” businesses.

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UK awarded its lowest ranking for workplace gender equality in a decade

‘Sluggish’ pace in tackling gender pay gap and worsening employment levels push UK back to 18th in PwC index of OECD countries

Women’s worsening unemployment and participation in the workforce has pulled the UK behind Canada to its lowest ranking for workplace equality among large economies in a decade.

The “sluggish” pace of change on women’s earnings relative to men’s – which means closing the gender pay gap could take more than 30 years at the current pace – has knocked the UK back one place to 18th in the Women in Work Index produced by advisory firm PwC.

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Ocean rower Aurimas Mockus stranded by cyclone off Australia’s east coast safely rescued

Lithuanian rower’s two-day wait to be rescued off Queensland comes to an end

A Lithuanian rower has been rescued off the Queensland coast after he was caught in a tropical cyclone’s 130km/h winds and monster waves.

Aurimas Mockus ran into trouble about 740km east of Mackay while attempting a 12,000km Pacific Ocean crossing from San Diego to Brisbane in his solo rowing boat.

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Greek PM vows to upgrade railways as government faces confidence vote

Kyriakos Mitsotakis says protests over train disaster emphasise the need for ‘safe and modern’ transport system

The Greek prime minister has vowed to upgrade the country’s railways as his embattled government braces for a vote of no confidence after huge protests over a 2023 train crash that killed 57 people.

Two days after hundreds of thousands took to the streets in fury over the response to the disaster on its second anniversary, Kyriakos Mitsotakis acknowledged that not enough had been done to build a “safe and modern” transport system, saying the largest protests in recent history had emphasised the demand for action.

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Europe vows to defend Ukraine, but prays for Trump’s support – The Economist

  1. Europe vows to defend Ukraine, but prays for Trump’s support  The Economist
  2. Europeans embrace Zelensky after he was vilified by Trump  CNN
  3. Starmer is helping to shape talks on Ukraine but the path to peace could be long  BBC.com
  4. UK's Starmer says Europe is at ‘crossroads in history’ as leaders agree to steps to Ukraine peace  The Associated Press
  5. UK prime minister announces framework for peace plan after summit with Zelenskyy  ABC News
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American Porn Star Whitney Wright Sparks Fury With Trip To Afghanistan – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty

  1. American Porn Star Whitney Wright Sparks Fury With Trip To Afghanistan  Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
  2. US porn actor visits Afghanistan in a trip unacknowledged by the Taliban  ABC News
  3. Halal or Haram: From visiting a “porn star” to the exclusion of women from society  Harici
  4. Trending News Today highlights on March 4, 2025 : Is US porn star Whitney Wright travelling in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan? Faceless Instagram show…  Mint
  5. Who is Whitney Wright, the porn star creating a stir for visiting Taliban-led Afghanistan?  Hindustan Times
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France, Britain propose partial one-month Ukraine truce, Macron tells Le Figaro – Yahoo

  1. France, Britain propose partial one-month Ukraine truce, Macron tells Le Figaro  Yahoo
  2. 'Are you aware of truce reports?' - BBC's Laura Kuenssberg asks Zelensky  BBC.com
  3. UK and France aim for new Ukraine peace deal involving initial 1-month truce  Financial Times
  4. Ukraine-Russia war: France and Britain to propose one-month truce in Ukraine, Macron says  The Telegraph
  5. France, UK working on one-month Ukraine truce, says Macron  FRANCE 24 English
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Defense promises but scant detail as Europe enters decisive week – POLITICO Europe

  1. Defense promises but scant detail as Europe enters decisive week  POLITICO Europe
  2. Europe must urgently rearm, EU's Von der Leyen says  Reuters
  3. Ukraine: Europe gears up for 'massive surge' in defense  DW (English)
  4. Eight injured after drone strikes apartment block in Kharkiv – as it happened  The Guardian
  5. 'We should have woken up earlier': Europe races to rearm as old alliances falter  FRANCE 24 English
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Cyclone Alfred forecast: people urged to prepare for the worst as storm bears down on south-east Queensland

Residents warned to stock up on food and water and secure properties as BoM predicts Alfred will make landfall near Brisbane

People have been warned to leave or prepare for the worst, with a tropical cyclone on track to cross a densely populated part of Australia’s coast for the first time in 50 years.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred is looming off Queensland’s coast, threatening to bring heavy rainfall, damaging winds and monster waves.

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‘Must be stopped’: Trump shipping migrants to Guantanamo Bay for ‘punitive, illegitimate reasons’ and ‘without statutory authority,’ lawsuit says – Law & Crime

  1. ‘Must be stopped’: Trump shipping migrants to Guantanamo Bay for ‘punitive, illegitimate reasons’ and ‘without statutory authority,’ lawsuit says  Law & Crime
  2. ACLU and other advocates sue to block migrants from being sent to Guantánamo Bay  NPR
  3. Lawyers sue to stop Trump administration from sending 10 migrants to Guantanamo Bay  PBS NewsHour
  4. Attorneys are suing to keep 10 migrants out of Guantanamo Bay as others say they were abused there  The Associated Press
  5. ACLU sues to block White House from sending 10 immigrants to Guantánamo  The Guardian US
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Trudeau to bring up Trump’s threat to annex Canada in meeting with King Charles – The Associated Press

  1. Trudeau to bring up Trump’s threat to annex Canada in meeting with King Charles  The Associated Press
  2. Canada PM Trudeau says protecting independence is his priority in talks with King Charles  Reuters
  3. Trudeau expected to meet with King Charles to discuss 'matters of importance to Canada'  CBC.ca
  4. Trudeau to talk with King Charles about Canada's 'sovereignty'  Yahoo
  5. PM urged to raise Trump's continued 51st state talk with king  Calgary Herald
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Defiant but tactful Zelenskyy seeks to move on from White House fiasco

Ukraine’s president says after Oval Office meltdown best ‘left to history’, adding minerals deal is ready to sign

A defiant but tactful Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to apologise to Donald Trump after Friday’s spat in the White House, and declared that the row in the Oval Office “did not bring anything positive” to peace for Ukraine.

Speaking to journalists only in Ukrainian at the end of a two-day visit to the UK, the Ukrainian president said that when such delicate negotiations are held in public “foes can take advantage of them” though he said he hoped the row would eventually pass.

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Trump invites freed Israeli hostage to White House

Israeli media reports Israeli American Trump donor will fly Eli Sharabi to Washington DC to meet president this week

The freed Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi has been invited to Washington to meet Donald Trump this week, his brother told Israeli media on Sunday.

Sharabi, who was released from Gaza after 16 months in captivity, expects to meet Trump with other freed hostages on Tuesday, after the US president watched him describe the severe hunger and violence he endured on Israeli television.

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Europe’s Moment of Truth: The Transatlantic Alliance Is Under Grave Threat—but Not Yet Doomed – Foreign Affairs Magazine

  1. Europe’s Moment of Truth: The Transatlantic Alliance Is Under Grave Threat—but Not Yet Doomed  Foreign Affairs Magazine
  2. Trump’s Embrace of Russia Rocks NATO Alliance  The Wall Street Journal
  3. 'NATO Is Dead,' Says Chatham House's Timothy Ash (Full Interview)  Bloomberg
  4. Will The US Leave NATO? Officials Push Back Against Rising Doubts  Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
  5. Can Europe go it alone? Future of NATO in doubt as Trump turns on Ukraine - The Debate  FRANCE 24 English
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