Britain’s government has backed a tortured effort to build a third runway at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, throwing its weight behind a decades-old proposal that has been beset by political, legal and environmental challenges.

The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister), Rachel Reeves, gave a green light to the ambitious plan and a swathe of other infrastructure projects in a major speech on Wednesday, in a push for economic growth.

The announcement is a major moment for one of the world’s most expensive and controversial aviation projects. Since 2003, Heathrow has said its terminals and runways are running near capacity, and that a £14 billion ($17.3bn) expansion is needed to keep up with the pace of tourism and business travel.

But environmental campaigners have bitterly resisted the plans, arguing it would jeopardize Britain’s net zero commitments.

Reeves said on Wednesday that a third runway would “make Britain’s the world’s best-connected place to do business,” and insisted that ministers “cannot duck the decision any longer.”

A third runway is “badly needed,” she argued, adding: “There are emerging markets and new cities around the world that we aren’t connected to because there aren’t the slots at Heathrow – or indeed any other airport – to fly to.” Heathrow said it served 83.9 million passengers last year, its busiest year on record.

It could still be years until work starts on a new runway; the government will assess proposals from this summer, and the final plan will likely require a parliamentary vote and could see legal challenges. The pre-pandemic plan for a third runway was blocked by a court on environmental grounds in 2020, before the Supreme Court overturned that decision.

The UK has made a legally-binding commitment to reach net zero (where greenhouse gas emissions equal emissions removed from the atmosphere) by 2050. Non-profit organization Transport & Environment said Wednesday’s announcement was “dystopian,” insisting major airports like Heathrow should reduce flight numbers and focus on becoming hubs for sustainable aviation fuel.

Heathrow expansion was the centerpiece of a range of announcements made by Reeves on Wednesday. Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer have pledged to unpick the country’s labyrinthine planning laws, and Reeves took direct aim at environmental requirements that have stalled large-scale construction efforts.

Reeves said she would “stop blockers getting in the way of development” and reduce environmental requirements placed on developers if they pay into a centralized nature restoration fund, “so they can focus on getting things built, and stop worrying about the bats and the newts.”

“I have been genuinely shocked about how slow our planning system is,” Reeves said. “It’s ridiculous.”

Other plans backed on Wednesday include the building-up of the so-called Oxford-Cambridge Arc – the corridor of land between two of the world’s leading universities – which Reeves pitched as “Europe’s Silicon Valley.”

Britain has been plagued by low economic growth and a number of costly, high-profile projects, like a new high-speed rail line, have been announced, challenged, delayed and then shelved in recent decades.

Starmer’s Labour government, which came to power in July, has made the reversal of those trends its priority. But even those lofty aspirations succeed, the government must also tackle the short and medium-term grievances of a population dismayed by crumbling public services, comparatively low wages and crises in housing supply, migration and the cost of living.

Fourteen members of a small religious sect in Australia have been found guilty of the manslaughter of an 8-year-old girl, who died after they withheld insulin needed to treat her diabetes because of their unwavering belief that God would heal her.

Instead, as she lay dying, they turned to prayer and song, maintaining a vigil around her bed, and even after she’d stopped breathing, sought divine intervention to raise her from the dead.

Elizabeth Struhs’s parents were among members of the home-based church found guilty Wednesday after a nine-week, judge-only trial at Brisbane’s Supreme Court that heard evidence from 60 witnesses and examined hundreds of exhibits.

Handing down the verdicts, Justice Martin Burns said Elizabeth’s death was “inevitable” after the group failed to administer insulin or seek medical help as she lay dying over six days in January 2022 at her home in Toowoomba, west of Brisbane.

All 14 members had refused to enter a plea, which was formally accepted as not guilty, and the courtroom was adapted to seat all defendants so they could stand trial together.

In his ruling Wednesday, Burns said that, until her death, Elizabeth was a “vibrant, happy child” who was “lovingly cared for… and adored” by all members of the church, including the accused.

“However, due to a singular belief in the healing power of God which, to the minds of her parents and the other members of the Church left no room for recourse to any form of medical care or treatment, she was deprived of the one thing that would most definitely have kept her alive – insulin,” Burns wrote.

Elizabeth was diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes in 2019, but died on January 7, 2022 of diabetic ketoacidosis, a complication caused by a lack of insulin and medical treatment for the condition, according to the ruling.

The group’s spiritual leader Brendan Stevens and the girl’s father Jason Struhs were originally charged with murder by reckless indifference, but both were found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter because Burns wasn’t convinced beyond reasonable doubt that they “knew Elizabeth would probably die.”

Decline into “severe illness”

During the trial, the court heard the sect was almost completely confined to three families who at the time of Elizabeth’s death met three days a week.

They didn’t ascribe to any religious denomination, but saw themselves as Christians who followed the Bible. They believed that through prayer, a person could receive the Holy Spirit, which would enable them to speak in tongues.

A central tenet of their faith was the healing power of God, and they rejected conventional medicine, which some members described as “witchcraft,” the ruling said.

The court heard that Jason Struhs joined the church in August 2021, following his wife Kerrie Struhs, who’d become a firm believer in its teachings.

Just months later, on January 2, Jason Struhs declared to a church meeting that “God had healed Elizabeth of her diabetes,” according to Burns’ written ruling.

That night, Elizabeth had one last dose of slow-acting insulin, and the next morning her glucose levels were so normal that Jason Struhs became convinced God had intervened.

Struhs told his daughter to put away her glucometer because “she didn’t need it anymore,” and the group members praised the “miraculous” development, the ruling said.

Glucometers measure the amount of glucose in blood and indicate if a dose of insulin is needed. Elizabeth Struhs used hers for the last time on January 3.

Over the next four days, church members took turns monitoring Elizabeth’s condition, sitting by her bedside as she steadily deteriorated.

They shared text message updates, with some describing her as “restless.” She was vomiting and “fairly weak.” Yet, Stevens repeatedly reassured Elizabeth’s parents that “God shall prevail,” according to the ruling.

Justice Burns wrote that any belief that God had intervened “ought to have been dispelled” when church members watched Elizabeth decline “into severe illness.” Instead, the group called for prayers, sang and talked about the goodness of God.

Even after the 8-year-old stopped breathing early on January 7, the group gathered around her, singing “choruses” and praying for her “to be raised from the dead by God.”

One text message between defendants said: “Elizabeth does not appear to be breathing apparently, but we will see a victory very soon. God can do anything!”

Jason Struhs finally called emergency services 36 hours after his daughter’s death, telling others that “though God would still raise Elizabeth, they could not leave a corpse in the house,” the ruling said.

When police arrived at the house, they set up a crime scene, ushering church followers outside. One detective told the court that when she arrived, she saw about 20 people in the front yard playing music, singing and praying.

Outside court on Wednesday, Elizabeth’s older sister Jayde Struhs told reporters she was “relieved” that those responsible for her death had been found guilty.

“It’s been a long and hard three years. Not a moment has gone by that I haven’t thought about my little sister, Elizabeth,” Struhs said.

All 14 found guilty will be sentenced on February 11.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has inspected a facility that produces nuclear material and called for bolstering the country’s nuclear capability, state media reported Wednesday, as it ramps up pressure on the United States following the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

Kim’s visit suggests a continued emphasis on an expansion of North Korea’s nuclear arsenal, though Trump has said he’s willing to talk to Kim again to revive diplomacy. Many analysts view North Korean weapons moves as part of a strategy to win diplomatic talks with Washington that could result in aid and political concessions.

The official Korean Central News Agency reported that Kim visited the nuclear-material production base and the Nuclear Weapons Institute.

It didn’t say where those facilities are located, but North Korean photos of Kim’s visit indicated that he likely visited a uranium-enrichment facility that he went to last September. That visit was North Korea’s first disclosure of a uranium-enrichment facility since it showed one to visiting American scholars in 2010.

During the latest visit, Kim praised scientists and others for “producing weapons-grade nuclear materials and in strengthening the nuclear shield of the country.”

On Sunday, North Korea said it tested a cruise missile system, its third known weapons display this year, and vowed “the toughest” response to what it called the escalation of US-South Korean military drills.

North Korea views US military training with South Korea as invasion rehearsals, though Washington and Seoul have repeatedly said their drills are defensive in nature. In recent years, the United States and South Korea have expanded their military exercises in response to North Korea’s advancing nuclear program.

The start of Trump’s second term raises prospects for the revival of diplomacy between the United States and North Korea, as Trump met Kim three times during his first term. The Trump-Kim diplomacy in 2018-19 fell apart due to wrangling over US-led economic sanctions on North Korea.

During a Fox News interview broadcast Thursday, Trump called Kim “a smart guy” and “not a religious zealot.” Asked whether he will reach out to Kim again, Trump replied, “I will, yeah.”

Many experts say Kim likely thinks he has greater bargaining power than in his earlier round of diplomacy with Trump because of his country’s enlarged nuclear arsenal and deepening military ties with Russia.