Laura Kuenssberg has confronted a senior Iranian officials over his government’s killing of thousands of protesters.

Up to 36,500 civilians are estimated to have been murdered by the regime following by ordinary people an uprising in January.

On the BBC this morning, Kuenssberg asked Seyed Ali Mousavi, Iran’s ambassador to the UK, how he could justify his government’s brutality towards its own people.

She said: “Since we last spoke, your government has killed thousands of its own people in the streets who had the courage to stand up to protest against the suffering that they have been experiencing at the hands of the regime.

“Thousands of people were killed. How on earth do you justify that, ambassador?”

Ali Mousavi admitted Iran “has our own problems”, which he blamed on western sanctions imposed on the country.

And he insisted all Iranians were now united following the military action launched on the country by America and Israel.

He said: “Our people are in a very painful and sensitive period of time, but they are supporting the government against the foreign invader, the foreign aggressors. If you go inside Iran, you see unity among the people.

But Kuenssberg told him: “Just this morning I looked at some of the images and watched some of the videos from what happened to protesters in your country in January.

“I looked at videos and images, verified by our colleagues at BBC Verify, that show body bags littered over the courtyard of a mortuary, I saw images of young, old, teenagers, people killed by your government – beaten faces, bloodied bodies, gunshot wounds.

“How on earth can you justify that and sit there today saying ‘our people have some complaints’? Your government killed thousands of their own people and the world saw that.”

The ambassador said: “I do not want to say that we do not have any problems. No, there are problems in our country. The way to solve those problems is according to Iranian laws and regulations without any interference from foreign countries against Iran.”

Kuenssberg went on: “This was about your own people taking to the streets to protest against their suffering, and if you had nothing to hide, why turn off the internet during the protests?

“If you had nothing to hide, why not allow people to report freely and fairly?”

Ali Mousavi warned her to “be very delicate regarding the Iranian circumstances and conditions in Iran”.

He added: “Iran is one of the peace-loving countries and I hope that you recommend these kind of activities.”

We’re weeks away from the clocks springing forward here in the UK – it’ll happen at 1am on Sunday, March 29.

Here, it always falls on the last Sunday in March. After that, British Summer Time, usually shortened to BST, begins.

But if your calendar has been telling you to prepare for earlier wake-ups sooner than that, it might be because it’s set to the US’ daylight saving times (DST) schedule.

This year, the US DST period starts on 2am Sunday, March 8, in most of the US (parts of Arizona and Hawaii don’t follow the same DST schedule).

That’s weeks before the UK’s BST begins, on Sunday, March 29.

In both countries, the clocks going forward at all is a relatively new phenomenon.

Though America’s Benjamin Franklin first called for something like DST in 1784, UK builder William Willett was to furst to popularise it here.

But in the UK, it took until 1916 for us to adopt a form of BST. And we didn’t do that until the Germans did it first – we took up the policy weeks after them.

The US followed suit with DST after it joined the First World War. This came into place on March 31, 1918. Both the UK and US followed DST and “double summer time” during the Second World War, too.

In the postwar years, though, the US’ use of DST became less unified; some places observed it, and others didn’t. The UK also toyed around with BST.

But in 1996, the EU decided that too many differing time zones were inconvenient and expensive. So member countries, including, at the time, the UK, all took on the last Sunday in March as the date clocks went forward.

And while US law had said DST should be state-wide in 1966, it was only after the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that US DST was moved forward by about a month, starting in 2007.

Since 2007, the US DST time has started a couple of weeks before the UK’s and Europe’s, and has ended a week or so sooner, too.

Heart attacks and accidents rise at the start of DST, some researchers say.

That’s part of the reason why some in both the EU and the US have called for their countries to abandon daylight saving time.

For now, though, our different dates remain.

Tony Blair has criticised Keir Starmer for not backing Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Iran.

The former prime minister said the UK should have been on America’s side “from the very beginning”.

His comments, at a private lunch hosted by the Jewish News, are a further blow to Starmer in the wake of his ongoing spat with Donald Trump.

Starmer turned down the US president’s initial request for US jets to use British bases to launch bombing raids alongside the Israelis in Iran.

He only changed his mind after Iran began bombing countries across the Gulf region, putting up to 300,000 British lives at risk.

Blair, who faced huge criticism for taking the UK to war in Iraq alongside the US in 2003, said: “I am not saying anything that I haven’t already said to the government. I think we should have backed America from the very beginning.”

He added: “We have got to be very clear about this as a country. We’re depending on the American alliance for our country. They are not just an ally, they are an indispensable ally, right?

“Every single time you test an alliance you never test it when things are easy. You test it when it’s hard. They were asking to use our bases to refuel. It’s not like it was in Vietnam, not like the Iraq campaign where we had thousands of British troops.

“The American relationship matters. It matters particularly today. It’s not a question of whether it’s this president or that president. If they are your ally and they are an indispensable cornerstone for your security, you had better show up.”

On the criticism Starmer has faced for allowing US jets to use British bases, Blair said: “People always complain. The problem for a leader is when you decide you divide. Of course it’s difficult.

“In the end, most of the MPs will know that going into the election it’s going to be decided on different things.”

He added: “On foreign policy, I think people would just prefer you to be strong and out there and clear, even if they don’t agree with you.”

This article features advice from Gee Eltringham, a Bristol-based psychotherapist and founder of parental support platform for ADHD, twigged.

Neurodiversity Celebration Week begins on 16 March this year, with an aim to challenge stereotypes and misconceptions about neurological differences.

If you’ve not really come across the term ‘neurodiversity’ before, you might be left scratching your head over what exactly it means – especially as it’s very similar to ‘neurodivergent’. Some people might even use the two interchangeably.

But they are different, and SEN psychotherapist Gee Eltringham says it’s important we get these terms right for the sake of our kids “because labels are powerful”.

Here’s her breakdown of what they mean.

“Neurodiversity is the big-picture concept. It describes the natural variation in how human brains think, learn and process information,” says Eltringham.

Just like biodiversity refers to the variety of living things on Earth, neurodiversity refers to “the variety of human minds”, she explains.

“It is not a diagnosis. It is not a label for one type of person. It is the umbrella term that recognises difference as natural.”

If we use a bird analogy here, she suggests neurodiversity is every kind of bird: flying birds, birds that swim, birds that stay on land. They are all part of the same group.

“Neurotypical describes people whose brain development and processing style align with what society expects and designs for,” continues the therapist.

“In our bird analogy, these are still birds. They have wings, feathers and beaks. In this version of the story, they are the birds that fly. They represent the ‘standard’ model that most systems are built around.”

But there is nothing superior about this group, she adds. It’s just the most common reference point.

In the human world, schools, workplaces and public systems are usually designed with neurotypical processing in mind.

“Neurodivergent means a brain that diverges from what is considered typical. Not better. Not worse. Just different,” says Eltringham.

Research suggests that around 15-20% of people are neurodivergent.

“In our bird world, these might be the birds that do not fly long distances. It could include the birds with webbed feet who swim, or the birds with talons who hunt, or the ones that do not fly at all. They may live out at sea rather than on land. They are all still birds. They simply function differently,” she explains.

If someone is neurodivergent, they might have ADHD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia or Tourette’s syndrome.

“Each represents a different way of processing information, managing attention, regulating emotions or interacting socially,” says the therapist.

“The difference is not about deficit. It is about divergence. Because if the world only had one type of bird it would be a very boring world indeed.”

According to Cambridge Dictionary, some people might use ‘neurodiverse’ to describe a group of people with different types of brain (for example, “we are a neurodiverse family”).

Others, meanwhile, might use neurodiverse as a way to describe someone who is not ‘neurotypical’ (ie. “I am learning every day from my neurodiverse child”).

The therapist points out that when children are not understood as neurodivergent, they are often labelled anyway. “Lazy. Disruptive. Odd. Difficult. Those words stick. And over time, children can start to believe them,” she explains.

But when we use the word neurodivergent, it changes the story. “It tells us that a child’s brain works differently, not wrongly. That understanding does not excuse behaviour, but it helps explain it. And when we understand behaviour, we can put the right support in place,” she adds.

“These words are now used in schools, workplaces and the media. They create a pause. A reminder that someone’s brain may process the world differently. That pause builds empathy.

“But awareness is not enough. We also need curiosity and understanding. Because neurodivergent does not mean everyone is the same.”

Coming back to her bird analogy, she explains that red kites, ostriches and hummingbirds are all birds. Yet they are all very different. An ostrich will never fly, for example, and a hummingbird will certainly never run like an ostrich.

“When we understand that, we stop trying to make every bird fly in the same way,” she says. “That is where real understanding begins. And that is where celebration of diversity can grow.”

It may have been over six years since Game Of Thrones aired that divisive finale, but in that time, the show has continued to dominate the pop culture conversation.

Over the last few years, several spin-off projects have been released, with even more in the pipeline, including the franchise’s first ever big-screen adaptation.

As the sprawling world of Westeros only continues to expand, here’s a quick guide to what fans can expect from the Game Of Thrones universe…

In early March 2026, Page Six reported that a Game Of Thrones feature-length film was “in the works”, which was later “confirmed” by The Hollywood Reporter.

Little is known about the film so far, other than that the script is being written by Beau Willimon, best known for his work on the TV series House Of Cards and the Star Wars off-shoot Andor.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the movie is being “envisioned as a mammoth, Dune-sized feature film”, which will centre around Targaryen dynasty founder King Aegon I, and his conquest of Westeros.

Hopefully, fans shouldn’t have too long to wait until their next fix of House Of The Dragon.

There were two years in between seasons one and two, and with production wrapping in the early autumn of 2025, the new episodes are expected to hit our screens later this year.

Joining series regulars Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans in the upcoming episodes will be newcomers James Norton, Tom Cullen, Tommy Flanagan and Dan Fogler.

Barry Sloane, Joplin Sibtain and Annie Shapero will also be playing new characters in the much-hyped third season.

Showrunner Ryan Condal also recently shared that the prequel series, set centuries before the events of Game Of Thrones, will come to an end after its fourth run.

Those who enjoyed seeing a more irreverent and comedic side to the Game Of Thrones world has reason to get excited – A Night Of The Seven Kingdoms has been renewed for a new season.

Filming is already underway on the new episodes, which will feature Lucy Boynton, Babou Ceesay and Peter Mullan as new characters, and are rumoured to be premiering in 2027.

HBO executive Francesca Orsi also claimed that the US broadcaster is eyeing a three-season run for this latest Game Of Thrones spin-off.

In November 2025, Thrones creator George R.R. Martin teased: “Apart from A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms and House Of The Dragon, there are other Game Of Thrones spin-off projects in development.

“The majority are prequels, and there are several in development – maybe five or six shows. And I’m not developing them alone, I’m working on them with other people.”

He added that these shows also include “a sequel or two”.

One of these was Aegon’s Conquest, though this would have followed a similar storyline to the recently-revealed feature-length film, so it’s safe to assume this is no longer moving forward.

There have also been two animated series teased in the past, titled The Golden Empire and The Sea Snake, while 10,000 Ships is another proposed live-action prequel, centring around the warrior queen Nymeria.

Even before House Of The Dragon was made, a Game Of Thrones spin-off set 10,000 years before the main show was piloted, starring the likes of Naomi Watts, Naomi Ackie, Jamie Campbell Bower and Miranda Richardson.

However, HBO ultimately decided not to go ahead with this series.

Meanwhile, a spin-off about Game Of Thrones hero Jon Snow was also widely rumoured, but during an interview in 2024, Kit Harington claimed he’d “backed out” of the project.

“What I can tell you is it was HBO that came to me and said, ‘Would you consider this?’,” he told British GQ. “My first reaction was no. And then I thought there could be an interesting and important story about the soldier after the war.

“I felt that there might be something left to say and a story left to tell in a pretty limited way.”

Ultimately, though, he noted that “nothing got us excited enough” to justify keeping on with the series, so he made the decision to pull away to avoid “end[ing] up with something that’s not good”.

It’s now been 15 years since the most recent instalment in George R.R. Martin’s A Song Of Fire And Ice series, which served as the original inspiration for Game Of Thrones.

Two final books, The Winter Of Winds and A Dream Of Spring, are still thought to be in the works.

In April 2025, the author described the daunting prospect of completing The Winter Of Winds as “the curse of my life”, but insisted he’s “still working on it”, with various TV commitments proving to be a distraction.

Meanwhile, in some good news for fans, the 77-year-old has reiterated several times that his books will have a different ending to the Game Of Thrones series,.

As recently as January 2026, he said one of his biggest regrets was that the last books in his series “aren’t done yet”.