Iran “is not going to buckle” in the face of Donald Trump’s threats against the country, a BBC expert has predicted.

Lyse Doucet, the corporation’s senior international correspondent, spoke out after the president’s spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, said America would “unleash hell” unless Tehran agrees to peace talks.

“If Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before,” Leavitt said on Wednesday.

But speaking on Radio 4′s Today programme, Doucet said that was a “fundamental misperception” of Iran’s position.

She said: “Iran does not want a ceasefire, it will not negotiate a ceasefire, even though President Trump, according to Israeli media, is now looking for a one month ceasefire.

“It wants an end to this war, but it’s also making maximalist demands to ensure that this doesn’t happen again.

“This is where we are in the war. It’s not going to buckle under any threats – another fundamental misperception in this war.”

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A cuddly Eurasian lynx toy representing “one of Scotland’s missing species” replaced the missing Conservative representative.

A stuffed toy representing “one of Scotland’s missing species” was used to stand in for the missing Scottish Conservatives at a recent Holyrood elections hustings event in Perthshire.

The Scottish Rewilding Alliance held the first ever hustings dedicated to debating rewilding issues at Pitlochry Festival Theatre to mark World Rewilding Day on Friday, March 20.

Introducing the final panellist – where a Conservative representative would have sat – the evening’s chairperson Jennifer Reoch said the Eurasian lynx was “notoriously shy and rests undercover during the day to avoid people”.

The scene was reminiscent of the famous Have I Got News for You episode when Roy Hattersley was replaced by a tub of lard. In June 1993 panellist Paul Merton was memorably joined by a tub of lard after the Labour MP reportedly pulled out of doing the BBC show at the last minute for the third time.

According to the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, which organised Friday’s election hustings in Pitlochry ahead of the May 7 elections, “the Scottish Conservatives declined to attend despite multiple invites.”

According to Steve Micklewright, co-convenor of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance and chief executive of charity Trees for Life, The Rewilding Nation: Hope for Nature Husting event was held in Perthshire “due to it being home to the most rewilding spaces in Scotland”.

Alongside the lynx on the panel were: Scottish Green Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Mark Ruskell, Reform Central Scotland MSP Graham Simpson, Scottish Labour candidate for Perthshire North Angela Bailey, SNP Stirling councillor Gene Maxwell and Scottish Liberal Democrat Edinburgh Central candidate Charles Dundas.

After introducing the panel, TV and radio presenter Jennifer Reoch – who was chairing the hustings – told the audience: “Unfortunately, the Conservative Party were unable to send a representative this evening, which leads me to my final panel member to represent one of Scotland’s missing species, the Eurasian lynx.

“It’s a medium-sized cat with tufted ears and a short tail. It is notoriously shy and rests undercover during the day to avoid people.”

The event was livestreamed and is available to watch on YouTube: Rewilding Nation: Hope for Nature Hustings – World Rewilding Day 2026.

A spokesperson said: “Immediate action on marine protections, how rewilding supports local economies, space for nature alongside development and lynx reintroduction were hot topics.”

A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “Unfortunately, a representative from our party was unable to attend this event.

“The Scottish Conservatives recognise the importance of protecting Scotland’s natural environment and believe that rewilding should proceed with community consent and in a way that does not affect the ability of farmers to continue to produce high-quality food.”

Matt Brittin has been named the new director general of the BBC. He joins the broadcaster after almost two decades working at Google: he was its president in Europe, the Middle East and Africa before leaving in 2024. He is already on the board of the Guardian Media Group.

The director general is the most senior executive at the BBC. The first director general was John Reith (later Lord Reith), a near legendary figure who dominated the organisation during its foundational period in the 1920s and 1930s.

Reith played a key role in establishing broadcasting in Britain and creating the BBC. He had an obsession with controlling all elements of the BBC’s work and was determined to increase his own power at the expense of subordinates and of the BBC’s board of governors.

Reith made the director general the most powerful office in the BBC. That power has since been diluted over the decades, but in theory the director general still has oversight of all the varied aspects of the BBC’s work. They must also defend the corporation from public criticism and take responsibility when things go wrong. Given the amount of criticism that the BBC has faced in recent years, this may be the hardest job in the UK media.

Crucially, the director general is regarded as editor-in-chief of BBC news content, and ultimately carries the can when problems arise in its current affairs coverage. This has brought down several directors general in the past.

In 2011, George Entwistle resigned over revelations concerning the BBC and the Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal, and his mishandling of unfounded allegations broadcast by the BBC concerning Lord McAlpine. Entwistle only served 54 days in post.

Tim Davie resigned from the top job last year amid accusations that BBC current affairs coverage had breached its own editorial code on impartiality. Most notably, footage of a speech by Donald Trump had been misleadingly edited when shown on Panorama. The BBC still faces an unprecedented $10bn (£7.5bn) lawsuit from the US president.

Brittin will need to deal with these editorial issues. One of his first tasks will be to hire a new CEO of News, as Deborah Turness resigned along with Davie.

He will also have to lead the BBC into a brave new world. The TV licence system, which provides the BBC with most of its funding, is likely to be drastically reformed or abolished entirely. This may be accompanied with major changes in how the BBC is run and functions, as its royal charter is renewed over the coming year.

More and more of us are replacing analogue radio and live television with streaming. With his tech background, Brittin may be well placed to lead the BBC through this transition. He also faces the unenviable task of defending the BBC against inevitably escalating criticism during the charter review period. Candidates for the job do not seem to have been lining up at the doors of Broadcasting House.

Changing the BBC

How have previous directors general fared in times of profound change? The BBC struggled to find an effective leader during the second world war until William Haley, an experienced newspaper editor and director, was appointed. Haley expertly steered the BBC through the final stages of the war and into peacetime, navigating difficult questions about government intervention, possible commercial competition and, with the rise of TV, technological change.

Haley significantly altered the BBC’s radio offering to provide listeners with more choice, and set out to reestablish its television service, fending off the threat of commercial competition for almost a decade.

In the 1960s, Hugh Carleton Greene (brother of the novelist Graham Greene), shook up British broadcasting yet again, helping the BBC adapt to the possibly existential challenge posed by a young and feisty ITV. Greene focused on providing crowd-pleasing entertainment, but also pushed the boundaries of taste and opinion by establishing the political satire show That Was The Week That Was, and supporting hard-hitting dramas like Cathy Come Home and Up The Junction.

Haley and Greene both demonstrated what a confident director general, intent on securing the changes that would allow the BBC to survive, could achieve.

A more divisive figure was John Birt, later Baron Birt, who held the post from 1992 to 2000. Birt had made his name working for the BBC’s competitors in commercial TV. He was a devotee of new ideologies of corporate leadership and change. At the BBC he was determined to break up the dominance of its powerful departmental leaders and to impose central control.

In the wake of scandals over public affairs coverage that toppled one of his predecessors, Alasdair Milne, Birt demanded adherence to a new editorial code. And in order to prevent Margaret Thatcher’s government privatising the BBC, he set up a complex system of internal markets and external programme commissioning. Business consultants and highly-paid senior managers were recruited from the private sector to spearhead reform. Over 10,000 staff were laid off. Some people thought that Birt saved the BBC, but the playwright Dennis Potter likened him to a Dalek.

Brittin, like Birt, is an outsider to the BBC. Will he be a Dalek, or The Doctor that the BBC needs to vanquish its political and commercial adversaries? Appointing a leader from the world of big tech might give the BBC a valuable weapon in a media landscape dominated by the US-based streaming giants.

Brittin may also have the corporate leadership skills needed to bring a large, fiendishly complex organisation full of independently minded people through the massive changes that seem necessary if the BBC is to survive and flourish. Whether he has the equally crucial skills needed to be the public face of the BBC, defending it on-air and in the press against its many assailants, remains to be seen.

Queues of two to four hours are expected at some airports

Brits looking to head abroad for a few days of sunshine over the Easter break are being reminded of a new change to travel rules within the EU.

The Foreign Office (FCDO) has advised UK holidaymakers to prepare for extra border checks if heading to destinations like Spain, France, Greece, and Italy in the coming weeks as the new Entry/Exit System (EES) is officially launched on 10 April.

Under the new rules, UK citizens must register biometric data upon first entry into the Schengen Area for visits up to 90 days in a rolling 180‑day period. They must do so again when they leave that country.

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The EES has been introduced to strengthen border security and detect overstayers. The process involves fingerprint scanning and a high-resolution digital photo at dedicated kiosks.

The countries in the Schengen area include:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malta
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland

The Republic of Ireland and Cyprus are not within the Schengen area, so EES is not applicable when travelling to either of these countries.

The Foreign Office warns: “EES may take each passenger a few minutes extra to complete so be prepared to wait longer than usual at the border.”

The registration is free but will add processing time for every traveller. Children under 12 are exempt from fingerprinting but must still have photos taken. Digital records will be stored securely for three years, after which only quick verification scans are needed.

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For travellers using Dover, Folkestone Eurotunnel, or St Pancras Eurostar, EES registration will take place on British soil before departure.

Local authorities have expressed concerns about significant congestion at these locations as a result. During the transition period, officials will continue manually stamping passports alongside the new digital system until EES is fully integrated across all border points.

Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Alex Norris, said: “The EU’s Entry Exit System will be a significant change for Brits travelling this Easter. Always check with your transport operator in case extra time may be needed, both for your return to the UK and travelling to the EU. We continue to engage with the European Commission on taking steps to help minimise disruption for Brits as much as possible.”

He added: “The government has also provided more than £10 million for Eurostar, Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover for those needing checks before departure.”

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Your annual spring clean ushers in a fresh lease on life – less clutter, more space, and (let’s be honest) a feeling of accomplishment.

But it can also make your home feel… kinda empty. If you ask us, the best part of getting rid of stuff is having space to buy more, and what better way to get into the mood for spring than by dotting seasonal touches around your home?

All it takes to brighten up your space is a few well-placed colours, and maybe some floral touches to boot.

These bargains in the DUSK sale are all you need to embrace a spring fling – and up to 50% off now! Don’t miss out, some are selling out already.

A paraplegic gang-rape victim said she will wear her “prettiest dress” and hopes to “finally rest” when she is euthanised today.

Warning: This article contains distressing content.

Noelia Castillo Ramos, 25, said she was raped on two occasions, once by her ex-boyfriend and the second time by three boys in 2022, describing this as a turning point in her life.

She jumped from the fifth-floor window of an apartment building in a cocaine-fuelled attempt to end her own life in October 2022 after previously overdosing on medication, according to legal rulings.

The fall left her paraplegic, and she is suffering severe, chronic and incapacitating pain with no possibility of improvement, her medical reports show.

Noelia, from Barcelona, Spain, will be euthanised today after a long legal battle with her father, which ended with a ruling in her favour from the European Court of Human Rights.

“I want to go now in peace and stop suffering, period,” Noelia told Spanish TV programme Y Ahora Sonsoles in her only interview, recorded at her maternal grandmother’s house.

Noelia, who is living in a Barcelona care home, said she has been “very clear” about her wish to die from the beginning.

“None of my family is in favour of euthanasia. But what about all the pain I’ve suffered during all these years,” she said.

“The happiness of a father, a mother, or a sister cannot be more important than the life of a daughter.”

She said she “always felt alone” and “saw my world as very dark”, even before requesting euthanasia. She doesn’t feel like “doing anything”, has back and leg pain and said sleeping was “very difficult”.

Her mother, Yolanda ‘Yoli’ Ramos, told the Spanish broadcaster that while she still hopes her daughter will change her mind, she will be by her side “until the very end”.

‘I want to die alone’

Noelia said she wants to “die looking pretty, I want to die beautiful”, adding that she will wear her prettiest dress and put on some makeup.

She said that while she has invited her family to say goodbye, she wants to be alone in her bedroom at the care facility at the moment of her death.

She will have four photos with her when she dies: one of her painting a portrait of her mother, one of her childhood puppy, another from her first day of school and a fourth from her childhood, which she said are reflecting “happy” moments in her life.

Noelia has been in psychiatric treatment since she was 13 and her parents separated. She was eventually diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD).

Her father witnessed her attempt to take her own life in October 2022.

“My father saw me fall and couldn’t do anything. But after everything he’s done, I don’t feel sorry for him anymore,” she told Y Ahora Sonsoles, referencing his legal challenge to stop her euthanasia.

“He hasn’t respected my decision and he never will.”

Two-year legal battle

Noelia’s euthanasia request was initially granted by a specialised expert committee in Catalonia in July 2024, with the procedure scheduled for 2 August 2024, but her father has blocked it ever since.

Geronimo Castillo, supported by the ultra-conservative advocacy group Abogados Cristianos or Christian Lawyers, argued that Noelia’s mental illness impaired her ability to decide to end her life.

During a nearly two-year-long legal battle, he took the case through Spain’s courts, finally reaching Spain’s highest tribunal, the Constitutional Court, in February. The court rejected his argument, ruling that there had been no violation of fundamental rights.

As the final instance, Mr Castillo took the case to the European Court of Human Rights, where his request for interim measures to stop Noelia’s euthanasia was rejected on 10 March, according to newspaper El Pais.

As a last-ditch effort, his legal team on Wednesday asked an investigating court looking into Noelia’s medical-legal team to introduce “urgent precautionary measures” to stop her euthanasia, but a judge rejected the request due to lack of jurisdiction.

“I’ve finally done it,” Noelia said, adding: “Let’s see if I can finally rest”.

According to several sources, Noelia Castillo Ramos’s euthanasia is scheduled for 5pm Spanish time (4pm UK time).

Read more from Sky News:
Scotland’s assisted dying bill rejected by MSPs
German twin sister die in ‘joint suicide’, police say

In 2021, Spain became the fourth European Union country to legalise euthanasia and assisted suicide for people with incurable or severely debilitating conditions who wish to end their lives.

The law was enacted after years of fierce opposition from conservative parties and the Catholic Church, which has historically shaped public attitudes on end-of-life issues.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK.

Alternatively, you can call Mind’s support line on 0300 102 1234, or NHS on 111.

In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

Lucy has been Head of the Wetherby Office since 2021 and brings extensive experience in residential property law.

The company, which has offices in York, Malton and Wetherby, says her promotion to Director is a key part of Ware & Kay’s ambitious strategy for growth and development across all its offices.

In her new role, Lucy will offer strategic direction, leadership and support to the Wetherby team.  

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Ware & Kay’s Malton office announces new leader of office

Lucy Gilman said: “Leading the Wetherby Office has been incredibly rewarding and I look forward to continuing to support our clients, develop our team and contribute to the firm’s future direction.”

David Hyams, Managing Director of Ware & Kay, said:  “I am delighted to congratulate Lucy on her well-deserved promotion as Director and welcome her to the Board.

“Not only is she an expert in her field of law, but she has also demonstrated exceptional leadership and client care.

“Lucy will make a valuable contribution to the firm’s future, actively participate in business planning, mentor staff, and ensure we continue to provide excellent service to our clients.”

GENEVA (AP) — Transgender women athletes are now excluded from women’s events at the Olympics after the IOC agreed to a new eligibility policy on Thursday which aligns with U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order on sports ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“Eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females,” the International Olympic Committee said, to be determined by a mandatory gene test once in an athlete’s career.

It is unclear how many, if any, transgender women are competing at an Olympic level. No woman who transitioned from being born male competed at the 2024 Paris Summer Games, though weightlifter Laurel Hubbard did at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 without winning a medal.

The eligibility policy that will apply from the LA Olympics in July 2028 “protects fairness, safety and integrity in the female category,” the IOC said.

“It is not retroactive and does not apply to any grassroots or recreational sports programs,” said the IOC, whose Olympic Charter states that access to play sport is a human right.

After an executive board meeting, the International Olympic Committee published a 10-page policy document which also restricts female athletes such as two-time Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya with medical conditions known as differences in sex development, or DSD.

The IOC and its president, Kirsty Coventry, have wanted a clear policy instead of continuing to advise sports’ governing bodies who previously have drafted their own rules.

“At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat,” Coventry, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming, said in a statement. “So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category.”

She set up a review of “protecting the female category” as one of her first big decisions last June as the first woman to lead the Olympic body in its 132-year history.

Female eligibility was a strong theme in a seven-candidate IOC election last year — held after a furor around women’s boxing in Paris — when Coventry’s main rivals pledged a stronger policy to leading on the issue.

Before the 2024 Paris Olympics, three top-tier sports — track and field, swimming and cycling — excluded transgender women who had been through male puberty. Semenya, who was assigned female at birth in South Africa and has high natural testosterone levels, won a European Court of Human Rights judgment in her years-long legal challenge to track and field’s rules which did not overturn them.

The IOC document details its research that being born male gives physical advantages that a working group of experts believes are retained.

“Males experience three significant testosterone peaks: In utero, in mini-puberty of infancy and beginning in adolescent puberty through adulthood,” the document said.

It added this gives males “individual sex-based performance advantages in sports and events that rely on strength, power and/or endurance.”

The IOC said its expert group agreed the current gene test is “the most accurate and least intrusive method currently available.” It screened for “the SRY gene, a segment of DNA typically found on the Y chromosome that initiates male sex development in utero and indicates the presence of testes/testicles.”

Still, the mandatory gender screening — already conducted by the governing bodies of track and field, skiing and boxing — is likely to be criticized by human rights experts and activist groups.

One of the two women’s boxing gold medalists at the center of the gender controversy in Paris, Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan, has passed her gene test and can return to competition, the World Boxing governing body said last week.

In the U.S., President Trump signed the executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” in February last year, and pledged to deny visas to some athletes attempting to compete at the L.A Olympics. The order also threatened to “rescind all funds” from organizations that allowed transgender athletes to take part in women’s sports.

Within months the U.S. Olympic body updated its guidance to national sports bodies citing an obligation to comply with the White House.

___

AP Winter Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

But Paul Quinn, now 51, denies a notorious rape that prosecutors say happened on an isolated embankment between Little Hulton and Farnworth in July 2003.

The attack led the arrest and conviction of Andrew Malkinson, a security guard who prosecutors say was completely innocent of the crime, who would serve 17 years in prison.

Several weeks into a trial at Manchester Crown Court, Quinn himself was called to give evidence in the witness box before the jury.

Dressed in a black jumper, white shirt, blue jeans and grey trainers and glasses Quinn told the jury he had been born and bred in the area and had married his wife Catherine in 1996.

The trial opened at Manchester Crown Court (Image: Anthony Moss)

He said: “It was a together community, people knew everyone.

“You could talk to people in the street.”

Asked by Lisa Wilding KC how he now viewed his behaviour when he would often be unfaithful to his wife with other women while on nights out, Quinn said he “disgraced myself.”

Pressed on how much of this had been without using protection, Quinn said this was “disgusting”.

Quinn told the court how he had been working as a fencer alongside his childhood friend Clifford Minor at the time and that the pair would often go on nights out in Farnworth.

He said this would usually involve going out to pubs in the centre of the town, where they would have around 10 pints in total, before heading to Chuffers nightclub.

He described this as a busy basement club hat would usually have music playing

Quinn said this would often involve “copping off” with women, which could mean anything from a kiss on the dancefloor to going home with them.

He said they would usually leave when the club closed at around 2am, normally by taxi, but that “on a very rare occasion” he would walk home across the motorway bridge to Little Hulton.

Paul Quinn in his police interview (Image: GMP)

Questioned further by Ms Wilding, Quinn accepted that his DNA had been found on the alleged victim but said he did not know how it could have got there.

Quinn told the court that he and his wife separated in 2016 and that he later moved to Exeter in the south west in 2017..

During lengthy questioning on his internet searches from 2019 onwards, Quinn said he had no memory and “no explanation” why he had searched an article about Andrew Malkinson.

This had been an article that had been deleted and was inaccessible on the Justice Gap website.

Asked why he had searched “wrongly convicted cases UK”, Quinn said he had always been interested in true crime.

He said: “I’ve always shown an interest in crime programmes, its something I’ve always engaged watching and reading about.”

Quinn admitted to several Google Maps searches around the Cleggs Lane area and that he had made searches about how long the police could keep DNA on a database.

Quinn, of Whipton Barton Road, Exeter, denies two counts of rape, one count of attempt to strangle, and one count of assault, intending to cause grievous bodily harm.

He denies two alternative counts of indecent assault.

The trial, before Mr Justice Robert Bright, continues.