New guidance for public bodies on single-sex spaces will be issued, after the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled a woman is defined by biological sex under equalities law.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) says it is "working at pace" to provide an updated code of conduct for services, including the NHS and prisons.

The ruling could have implications for spaces such as hospital wards, changing rooms and domestic refuges.

The case was brought by women's rights campaigners who challenged the Scottish government, arguing sex-based protections should apply only to people that are born female.

• Five key takeaways from Supreme Court ruling

On Wednesday judges ruled that when the term "woman" is used in the Equality Act it means a biological woman, and "sex" means biological sex.

This means a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) does not change a person's legal sex for the purposes of the Equality Act.

The Supreme Court justices argued this was the only consistent, coherent interpretation.

Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said the organisation was "pleased" the judgment addressed "difficulties" it highlighted in its submission to the court.

There is already Equality Act guidance which allows for women-only spaces, such as toilets, changing rooms and hospital wards in certain circumstances.

But under the new ruling a person who was born male but identifies as a woman does not have a right to use a space or service designated as women only.

That includes transgender women who have legally changed their gender and hold a GRC.

The equality watchdog says it expects its updated guidance to be in place by the summer.

The new guidance could also have an impact on women's sport, where the question over whether transgender women can participate has been a high-profile issue in recent years.

Sports have tightened up rules around transgender athletes at the elite levels. Athletics, cycling and aquatics have banned transgender women from taking part in women's events.

Other sports have put in place eligibility criteria. Earlier this month the English Football Association introduced stricter rules, but still allowed transgender women to continue to compete in the women's game as long as their testosterone was kept below a certain level.

Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman, a prominent campaigner for trans-rights, said: "This is a deeply concerning ruling for human rights and a huge blow to some of the most marginalised people in our society.

Trans rights campaigners have said they will be examining the judgment closely to decide on their next steps.

The UK government has welcomed the "clarity and confidence" for women and service providers brought by the judgement.

Health minister Karin Smyth said the government would be reviewing the ruling to "make sure we are fully compliant with it" and would be working with equality bodies to make sure organisations were fully compliant.

She said the government was not interested in "so-called culture wars" and believed that everybody should have "their dignity and privacy and their rights respected".

"I think now is the time to make sure that we look to the future, that rights are very clear for people and that service providers absolutely make sure they comply with the law," she said.

Scientists have found new but tentative evidence that a faraway world orbiting another star may be home to life.

A Cambridge team studying the atmosphere of a planet called K2-18b has detected signs of molecules which on Earth are only produced by simple organisms.

This is the second, and more promising, time chemicals associated with life have been detected in the planet's atmosphere by Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

But the team and independent astronomers stress that more data is needed to confirm these results.

The lead researcher, Prof Nikku Madhusudhan, told me at his lab at Cambridge University's Institute of Astronomy that he hopes to obtain the clinching evidence soon.

"This is the strongest evidence yet there is possibly life out there. I can realistically say that we can confirm this signal within one to two years."

K2-18b is two and a half times the size of Earth and is seven hundred trillion miles away from us.

JWST is so powerful that it can analyse the chemical composition of the planet's atmosphere from the light that passes through from the small red Sun it orbits.

The Cambridge group has found that the atmosphere seems to contain the chemical signature of at least one of two molecules that are associated with life: dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and dimethyl disulphide (DMDS). On Earth, these gases are produced by marine phytoplankton and bacteria.

Prof Madhusudhan said he was surprised by how much gas was apparently detected during a single observation window.

"The amount we estimate of this gas in the atmosphere is thousands of times higher than what we have on Earth," he said.

"So, if the association with life is real, then this planet will be teeming with life," he told me.

Prof Madhusudhan went further: "If we confirm that there is life on k2-18b it should basically confirm that life is very common in the galaxy".

There are lots of "ifs" and "buts" at this stage, as Prof Madhusudhan's team freely admits.

Firstly, this latest detection is not at the standard required to claim a discovery.

For that, the researchers need to be about 99.99999% sure that their results are correct and not a fluke reading. In scientific jargon that is a five sigma result.

These latest results are only three sigma, 99.7%. Which sounds a lot, but it is not enough to convince the scientific community. But it is much more than the one sigma result of 68% the team obtained 18 months ago,, which was greeted with much scepticism at the time.

But even if the Cambridge team obtains a five sigma result, that won't be conclusive proof that life exists on the planet, according to Prof Catherine Heymans of Edinburgh University and Scotland's Astronomer Royal, who is independent of the research team.

"Even with that certainty, there is still the question of what is the origin of this gas," she told BBC News.

"On Earth it is produced by microorganisms in the ocean, but even with perfect data we can't say for sure that this is of a biological origin on an alien world because loads of strange things happen in in the Universe and we don't know what other geological activity could be happening on this planet that might produce the molecules."

That view is one the Cambridge team agree with; they are working with other groups to see if DMS and DMDS can be produced by non-living means in the lab.

Other research groups have put forward alternative, lifeless, explanations for the data obtained from K2-18b. There is a strong scientific debate not only about whether DMS and DMDS are present but also the planet's composition.

The reason many researchers infer that the planet has a vast liquid ocean is the absence of the gas amonia in K2-18b's atmosphere. Their theory is that the ammonia is absorbed by a vast body of water below . But it could equally be explained by an ocean of molten rock, which would preclude life, according to Prof Oliver Shorttle of Cambridge University.

"Everything we know about planets orbiting other stars comes from the tiny amounts of light that glance off their atmospheres. So it is an incredibly tenuous signal that we are having to read, not only for signs of life, but everything else.

"With K2-18b part of the scientific debate is still about the structure of the planet," he said.

Dr Nicolas Wogan at Nasa's Ames Research Center has yet another interpretation of the data. He published research suggesting that K2-18b is a mini gas giant with no surface.

Both these alternative interpretations have also been challenged by other groups on the grounds that they are inconsistent with the data from JWST, which highlights the strong scientific debate surrounding K2-18b.

Prof Madhusudhan acknowledges that there is still a scientific mountain to climb if he is to answer one of the biggest questions in science. But he believes he and his team are on the right track.

"Decades from now, we may look back at this point in time and recognise it was when the living universe came within reach," he said.

"This could be the tipping point, where suddenly the fundamental question of whether we're alone in the universe is one we're capable of answering."

The research has been published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

King Charles has issued an Easter message trying to build bridges between different faiths and recognising the efforts of those who provide humanitarian aid in wars and disasters.

"One of the puzzles of our humanity is how we are capable of both great cruelty and great kindness," said the King, in a message ahead of the traditional Maundy Service, held this year in Durham Cathedral.

The King and Queen Camilla will attend the service in which specially minted coins, the Maundy Money, are presented to 76 men and women, the same number as the King's age.

The King has promoted links between different religions - and this Christian message also praises the goodness in the Jewish and Islamic faiths.

In his message on the meaning of Easter, the King talks of the "paradox of human life" in which the heroism of humanitarian workers is contrasted with terrible scenes of suffering in war.

A new Humanitarian Medal has been launched, honouring those who risk their own lives to help others in emergencies and war zones, and the King hailed their selflessness and compassion.

For Christians, the Maundy Thursday service marks the Last Supper - and the King's message speaks of the humility of Jesus who "knelt and washed the feet of many of those who would abandon him".

The King said that for people of all religions who "seek the good of others" the core message is one of love for others.

"There are three virtues that the world still needs - faith, hope and love. And the greatest of these is love," said the King's message.

King Charles is a man of faith and was said by Palace officials to have been deeply moved by the religious mosaics he saw in Ravenna on last week's state visit to Italy.

The King missed last year's Maundy Service because of his cancer treatment, with the Queen giving out the Maundy Money on his behalf.

This year's Maundy coins will include a £5 one commemorating the Queen Mother and a 50p commemorating World War Two, with the recipients being people who have helped their local churches and community.

This is one of the oldest royal ceremonies, dating back at least as far as the 13th Century and the reign of King John.

Sign up here to get the latest royal stories and analysis every week with our Royal Watch newsletter. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

A sloth has had pioneering dental surgery to cure toothache.

Rico is believed to be the first sloth to undergo such an operation, which was carried out by a team at Chester Zoo working alongside dental experts from Newcastle University.

The two-toed sloth went under the knife after keepers noticed swellings on the sides of its face, with investigations showing two root abscesses.

Dentist Fiona Beddis said the university's team had never carried out the procedure on a sloth so it "really was a step into the unknown, so we are all delighted with the successful outcome".

Ms Beddis said treating Rico had been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it was "a great privilege to treat such a rare and beautiful animal".

Rico, who is 25 years old, had a three-hour operation at Chester Zoo's animal care centre, with the infected tissue surrounding two of the sloth's teeth removed.

Unlike a typical root canal, the dental experts went in through the bottom of Rico's tooth.

Dave Edwards from Newcastle University's School of Dental Sciences said the surgery involved removing the end of the tooth root and "sealing it with special cement".

He said it was "very challenging working on a sloth due to their unique anatomy, but also a very rewarding experience".

Resident zoo vet, Charlotte Bentley said the teeth that they operated on were "highly specialised and sharp molars".

Ms Bentley said sloths had "very different teeth to humans, which makes dentistry challenging".

"Whilst we couldn't save both teeth, the great news is that since his procedure, the abscesses have not come back, and his latest X-ray shows his filling is still in place," she added.

"It's safe to say that the treatment worked at treating his toothache."

Rico, who lives with Tina, a female two-toed sloth, in the zoo's jaguar house, has been regularly monitored since the surgery.

Rico's keeper, Brittany Williams, said "it could be slow progress calling Rico for health checks following the surgery as "he goes at his own pace", but she added: "I don't mind working at sloth speed."

Two-toed sloths are found across South America, where they face threats including habitat loss, logging and hunting for the illegal wildlife trade.

Chester Zoo is part of a conservation breeding programme working to safeguard the species across Europe.

Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

US actress Michelle Trachtenberg died a natural death from complications caused by diabetes, according to the New York City medical examiner's office.

The 39-year-old actress was found "unconscious and unresponsive" in her New York City apartment in February.

Officials did not perform a post-mortem examination, but said toxicology tests determined Trachtenberg's cause of death.

The US actress was best known for playing Buffy the Vampire Slayer's younger sister Dawn Summers, and later took on the role of manipulative socialite Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl as an adult.

Trachtenberg's family, who are Orthodox Jews, had reportedly objected to an autopsy, citing religious reasons.

Because there was no sign of foul play, the medical examiner did not overrule the relatives' objection.

An unnamed source told NBC News the actress had received a liver transplant before her death. The exact timing or reasoning of the operation is unclear.

Trachtenberg's sudden death shocked her fans.

She rose to fame as a childhood star making her debut in a number of Nickelodeon projects including the film Harriet the Spy.

In the early 2000s, she was nominated for several acting awards - including a Daytime Emmy Award - for her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

She also starred in films including EuroTrip, Ice Princess, Killing Kennedy, and Sister Cities.

Following her death, fellow actors paid tribute.

Blake Lively, a Gossip Girl co-star, said everything Trachtenberg did "she did 200%".

"She laughed the fullest at someone's joke... she cared deeply about her work, she was fiercely loyal to her friends and brave for those she loved, she was big and bold and distinctly herself," Lively wrote on social media.