Category: News

PARENTS of children with special educational needs are gearing up for a huge battle as Labour’s overhaul could strip them of key rights.

Councils are drowning in a £5 billion SEND funding black hole, with some, including Hampshire and West Sussex, on track to be more than £100 million in the red by next year, according to a Guardian analysis.

Without urgent action, local authorities say the crisis could spiral to £8bn by 2029, pushing dozens to the brink of bankruptcy.

To plug the gap, ministers are working on a white paper that will curb parents’ rights to appeal for extra support, limit SEND tribunals, and push more children into mainstream schools, according to local authority sources.

One insider told the Guardian the changes would be a “complete recalibration” of the SEND system.

But furious parents’ groups warned ministers would end up with a “massive fight on their hands” if they end up diluting children’s legal rights to SEND support.

Tania Tirraoro of the campaign group Special Needs Jungle said: “Reducing Send entitlement won’t make needs go away – you just end up with lots of children with needs but no support.”

Kate Foale, a Labour councillor and SEND spokesperson for the County Councils Network, said law changes must go hand in hand with reform and extra investment in special needs education.

She said: “It [the Send system] is adversarial, and it doesn’t work for children and their families.

“We are in a really bad place.”

The Department for Education insists it is “determined” to fix the system, pointing to £1bn of extra SEND funding and £740m for councils to create more specialist places in mainstream schools.

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Elon and the singer dated on-and-off for four years, starting in 2018. In September 2021, Elon told Page Six that he and Grimes “are, I’d say, probably semi-separated,” adding, “It’s mostly that my work at SpaceX and Tesla requires me to be primarily in Texas or traveling overseas and her work is primarily in LA. She’s staying with me now and Baby X is in the adjacent room.”

However, in March 2022, she told Vanity Fair that they “live in separate houses” and are “best friends.”

She later tweeted, “Me and E have broken up *again* since the writing of this article haha, but he’s my best friend and the love of my life, and my life and art are forever dedicated to The Mission now.” 

When news broke in September 2023 that the couple had three children together, the “Crystal Ball” singer confirmed that, yes, their most recent addition Techno Mechanicus had joined son X Æ A-12 and daughter Exa Dark Sideræl.

In November 2024, Grimes revealed that she had “spent a year locked in battle in a state with terrible mothers rights having my instagram posts and modeling used as reasons I shouldn’t have my kids,” all the while, “fighting and detaching from the love of my life as he becomes unrecognizable to me.”

Fighting with just a “fraction” of his resources, she was kept from one of her kids for five months, she continued, adding, “This is only what can be said publicly, since most of my experience these last years should remain behind closed doors.”

The father of an Israeli hostage has said Benjamin Netanyahu is “stalling” the deal with Hamas that could lead to the return of his son from Gaza.

Speaking at the Israeli embassy in central London, Yehuda Cohen, father of 20-year-old Israeli hostage Nimrod Cohen, said: “There is a deal on the table.

“The only thing is Netanyahu is stalling it and I’m here to say loud and clear: we need pressure on our government, on Netanyahu in particular, to go for the second part of the deal.”

Cohen added: “Everything stands on our prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who refuses to get to a permanent ceasefire.

“He’s not doing it because of ideological reasons. He’s doing it for personal reasons. He wants to stay in power.”

In the first phase of the ceasefire deal, 33 Israelis were freed – including the bodies of eight people who were killed in captivity or during the 7 October 2023 attack when Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages.

Israel released nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees during the first phase of the ceasefire in exchange for the hostages.

The Israeli government is reportedly planning to ratchet up its blockade on Gaza as part of what it has called a “hell plan” to pressure Hamas into further hostage releases without having to withdraw troops.

Hamas has rejected the proposal, saying it represents a violation of the original truce agreement in January.

Cohen said he has been told by other hostages released in the first phase that his son, who was captured on 7 October, is alive.

“He’s there, he’s alive, he’s well and the only thing left is to get him released,” he said.

British-linked families told reporters of the horror of waiting for their relatives to be returned.

Ayelet Kaufman, the sister of Hadar Goldin, has been waiting more than 10 years for the return of her brother’s body. Goldin, an Israeli soldier, was kidnapped and killed in 2014, she told reporters.British-Israeli citizen Ditza Or, mother of hostage Avinatan Or, said: “Before 7 October, I was Ditza Or, with a full life, a profession.

“But since 7 October, I’m only the mother of Avinatan – 24 /7 I advocate for him.”

Avinatan Or was kidnapped along with his girlfriend, Noa Argamani, at the Supernova music festival in southern Israel on 7 October. His girlfriend has since been returned, but was separated from Or.

She added: “It’s important to bring the world to its peace and harmony, but first, bring all our children home, and then go on.”

Israel said on Sunday that a new US proposal calls for extending the ceasefire’s first phase through Ramadan and the Jewish Passover holiday, which ends on 20 April.

Under that proposal, Hamas would release half the hostages on the first day and the rest when an agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire, Netanyahu said.

On March 1, 2025, Anthony took to TikTok to announce her new role.

“This is my first of probably many recordings on a series I am starting. I am a legal advocate. I am a researcher. I have been in the legal field since 2011, and in this capacity, I feel that it’s necessary if I’m going to continue to operate appropriately as a legal advocate that I start to advocate for myself and also advocate for my daughter.”

She stated that her initiative was not about her past or her family but rather an opportunity to “reintroduce” herself: “For those of you who don’t know, my name is Casey Anthony. My daughter is Caylee Anthony. My parents are George and Cindy Anthony. This is not about them. … The whole point of this is for me to begin to reintroduce myself.”

Anthony claims to be using her platform for advocacy, saying: “As a proponent for the LGBTQ community, for our legal community, women’s rights, I feel that it’s important that I use this platform that was thrust upon me and now look at as a blessing as opposed to the curse that it has been since 2008.”

Her TikTok video, which gained over 1.7 million views, received sharp criticism. While she disabled comments, social media users have voiced their outrage elsewhere. One person wrote: “Advocate on what really happened to your daughter, ma’am.”

Who is Casey Anthony?

Casey Anthony, now 38 years old, first gained national notoriety in 2008 when her mother, Cindy, reported her two-year-old daughter, Caylee, missing. Months later, the toddler’s remains were found in a wooded area near the Anthony home. The prosecution argued that Casey murdered her daughter using chloroform and duct tape, while the defense claimed Caylee accidentally drowned. After 11 hours of deliberation, a jury acquitted Casey of all major charges. To this day, Caylee’s cause of death remains unknown.

Anthony has spent years out of the spotlight but now hopes to be seen as a legal advocate. She also promotes her Substack, where she discusses legal topics. “My goal is to continue to help give a voice to people-to give people tools and resources they can utilize.” Despite her efforts at reinvention, she remains a polarizing figure.