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Acoss report finds 3.7 million people, or 14.2% of the population lived in poverty in 2022-2023. Follow today's news live

US president is due to arrive in Israel shortly after the expected release of 20 living Israeli hostages by Hamas. Follow the latest developmentsThousands of Palestinians have continued to travel north towards the ruins of Gaza City amid the ceasefire as aid agencies worked to rush in more desperately needed aid to the territory.UN officials said real progress was being made on Sunday - the third day of the truce holding - with the aid being allowed into GazaIsrael expects all 20 living hostages to be released by Hamas on Monday at the same time. Shosh Bedrosian, a spokesperson for Benjamin Netanyahu, said: Israel is prepared and is ready to immediately receive all of our hostages. The release of our hostages will begin early Monday morning."Hamas is insisting seven Palestinian leaders should be freed in the hostage-prisoner swap, sources close to negotiators told Agence France-Presse.Leaders from more than 20 countries will attend a Gaza peace summit" in Egypt's Red Sea resort city Sharm el-Sheikh. The summit will finalise the agreement aimed at ending Israel's war on Gaza.Trump departed late on Sunday to Jerusalem to speak at the Knesset - the Israeli parliament - roughly at the same time as the hostage-detainee swap is expected to happen, as well as meeting families of the hostages. He told reporters that the war is over" in Gaza as he boarded Air Force One.After the hostages were freed, Israel was ready to release about 2,000 Palestinian detainees and receive the 28 hostages believed to be dead. US vice-president JD Vance told Fox News: The reality is, some of the hostages we may never get back."At least 67,806 Palestinian people have been killed and 170,066 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement today. Most of the people killed have been civilians, many of whom were women and children.Aid agencies said that, in line with the terms in the ceasefire agreement, they were preparing to flood" Gaza with food and other essential supplies. Dozens of aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday amid hope for a surge in humanitarian relief.Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hoped for a similar agreement to the Israel-Hamas ceasefire to put an end to the ongoing war between his own country and Russia.Thousands of Palestinians have continued to travel north towards the devastated Gaza City - the focus of Israeli attacks over the past two months - hopeful the ceasefire will bring an end to the war. Continue reading...

This live blog is now closed, you can follow our coverage here.Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that Israel is ready for the immediate" reception of all Gaza hostages.Israel is prepared and ready to immediately receive all of our hostages," he said in a statement after a meeting with the coordinator for the hostage coordinator Gal Hirsch. Continue reading...

Surprise finding by Hamptons shows age group comprises 50% of all new shareholders in firms set up this yearMillennials now account for half of new buy-to-let investors in England and Wales, signalling a generational shift in landlords, while rents have dipped, according to a report.It is a surprise finding, as many millennials - people born between 1981 and 1996 - have struggled to afford a housing purchase, which means they are less likely than older generations to own their home. Even so, some have clearly fared better, and millennials are leading the charge in buy-to-let investment, according to analysis of Companies House data by the estate agent Hamptons. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Acoba's functions split between two regulators and new Ethics and Integrity Commission to oversee othersThe much-criticised watchdog that scrutinises the jobs UK ministers can take after leaving office will be formally scrapped on Monday as part of a wider shake-up of the ethics structure in government.The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), described by critics as fundamentally toothless, has been closed, a Cabinet Office announcement said, with its functions taken over by two existing regulators. Continue reading...

A 2% blend of low-carbon gas injected into gas grid to fuel Brigg power station in North Lincolnshire is a UK firstEnergy companies have injected green hydrogen into Britain's gas grid and used the low-carbon gas to generate electricity, in a landmark development for the UK's climate ambitions.For the first time in the UK, a 2% blend of green hydrogen was injected into the gas grid and blended with traditional gas to fuel the Brigg power station in North Lincolnshire which generated electricity for the power system. Continue reading...

Katie Mitchell had procedure at 15 after being diagnosed with Eisenmenger syndrome, a rare congenital diseaseAt the age of 15, medics feared Katie Mitchell was coming to the end of her life after suffering irreversible lung damage and heart failure from a rare congenital disease.But she defied the odds thanks to a heart and lung transplant, and at the age of 53 she has become the UK's longest-surviving recipient of such a procedure. Continue reading...

Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C as fast as possible', warm water coral reefs will not remain at any meaningful scale', a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warns

Bridget Phillipson says national security adviser was not involved in discussions before CPS abandoned its prosecutionThe government's national security adviser had no involvement in the prosecution being dropped against two British men accused of spying for China, a senior cabinet minister has said.Jonathan Powell had no connection to discussions about the substance or the evidence" of the case, Bridget Phillipson said on Sunday, adding that Keir Starmer had full confidence in him. Continue reading...

Green party in England and Wales has had near-50% rise in membership since Zack Polanski took over last monthThe Greens in England and Wales have more than 100,000 members for the first time, the party has announced, a near-50% rise since Zack Polanski took over as leader last month.It puts them on a potential course to overtake the Conservatives and comes little more than a week after the Greens announced they had moved past the Liberal Democrats in membership numbers, getting to 83,500. Continue reading...

Government says it is also preparing for release of 2,000 Palestinian detainees in crucial next phase of ceasefire deal

Representatives from Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Germany and Italy among those to attend conferenceThe UK is to host an international summit on the recovery of Gaza, Downing Street has said, as Keir Starmer prepared to attend a multi-nation event in Egypt intended to finalise a truce in the Palestinian territory.The prime minister will be among an estimated 20 national leaders, among them Donald Trump, who will gather in Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday, with Starmer saying the aim must be to ensure a lasting peace after two years of devastating loss of life. Continue reading...

Woman, 43, remains in custody after Meraj Ul Zahra and Abdul Momin Alfaateh found unresponsive with injuriesA girl and boy who were found dead in a home in Stafford have been named by Staffordshire police.Meraj Ul Zahra, two, and Abdul Momin Alfaateh, three, were found unresponsive with injuries inside the home on Sunday morning, police said. They died at the scene. Continue reading...

Senior PA leader confirms readiness to work with former UK PM on post-ceasefire recoveryThe former UK prime minister Tony Blair appears to have won the endorsement of the Palestinian Authority to be involved in the reconstruction of Gaza, after an exploratory meeting in Jordan.Blair met Hussein al-Sheikh, the deputy president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee, in Amman, Jordan, on Sunday. It was the first such meeting since Donald Trump announced Blair's role in his 20-point plan. Continue reading...

Using manual tools and their bare hands, people start the immense task of trying to find their loved ones' remainsGhali Khadr spent two days pleading with his parents to flee with him to southern Gaza, warning them that it was too dangerous to stay. His father, known for being stubborn, refused. Their argument was never finished - an Israeli airstrike hit his father's home, burying his parents beneath the rubble.On Sunday, two days after the ceasefire was announced, Khadr returned to search through the ruins of his parents' home. He spent the day sifting through shattered concrete and twisted metal for any sign of them. All he managed to find were some shards of their skulls and parts of their hands. Continue reading...

Charge from next month expected to have disproportionate impact after energy-intensive industries given exemptionBritish charities and small businesses have warned that a new levy on energy bills, intended to support the government's nuclear power ambitions, could raise their costs by thousands of pounds a year.The extra charge could mean a significant cost hike for charities and small businesses with high energy use, meaning community services may be cut and economic growth curtailed, according to trade groups. Continue reading...

Maria Corina Machado's Nobel award puts focus on country but analysts doubt it will produce democratic changeIn March 2019 as a nationwide blackout plunged Venezuela into darkness, hundreds of citizens huddled on a basketball court in the city of Maracaibo to hear their leader promise to guide them out of the gloom.We are, quite literally, living through our darkest hour. But these are also the brightest of times," Maria Corina Machado told supporters as they used mobile phones to illuminate the night. Continue reading...

Evoke considering the plans before expected tax increases in budget, with up to 1,500 jobs potentially affectedThe debt-laden company behind William Hill is considering closing up to 200 betting shops if Rachel Reeves's autumn budget raises taxes on the gambling sector.Evoke, formerly known as 888, which acquired William Hill in a 2bn takeover in 2022, is drawing up plans for different scenarios before expected gambling tax increases in the chancellor's budget on 26 November. Continue reading...

Royal sent email after Virginia Giuffre photo emerged but later claimed he had ceased contact with Epstein in 2010Prince Andrew told Jeffrey Epstein in an email we are in this together" after a picture of the British royal with his arm around a teenage Virginia Giuffre was first published in 2011.The email will pile further pressure on Duke of York and the royal family as he previously told the BBC he had ceased contact with the paedophile financier by that point. Continue reading...

Gala dinner to remember Conservatives' most successful leader puts spotlight on who will carry forward her ideasIt is a glittering annual dinner in honour of the Conservative party's most successful leader and, on the 100th anniversary of Margaret Thatcher's birth, one that is bigger than ever.Yet as Tory grandees, celebrity backers and wealthy donors prepare to sit down at a gala dinner at London's Guildhall on Monday evening, a battle for her legacy is under way between the party she once led and the insurgent threat to its survival, Reform UK. Continue reading...

Escalation comes after Pakistani airstrike in Kabul, with Taliban launching reprisals against military postsIntense clashes erupted along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on Saturday night, after an attack by the Afghan Taliban on Pakistani military posts led to a heavy exchange of fire and reportedly left dozens of soldiers dead.According to officials, Afghan troops opened fire on Pakistani army posts along the north-western border with Pakistan on Saturday night and seized several of the posts. The attacks came after the Taliban regime in Afghanistan accused Pakistan of carrying out airstrikes on Afghan territory, including in the capital, Kabul, earlier this week. Continue reading...

Roei Shalev, 30, whose girlfriend and best friend were killed in front of him at festival, took his own life on Friday nightAn Israeli man whose girlfriend and best friend were murdered in front of him at the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023 has killed himself days after the second anniversary of the terrorist atrocities.Roei Shalev, who was shot during the Nova attack and survived, was found dead in his burned car north of Tel Aviv on Friday night. Hours before his death, Shalev, 30, had posted a message on social media saying he felt he could not go on. Continue reading...

Experts and volunteers working at Castilly Henge have been trying determine if it is the county's lost great stone circleIt was a grey Cornish autumn day, but Henry Stevens's tough shift digging in a field next to the A30 was about to get very exciting.Her eye was caught by something glinting in the soil and she picked up a flake of flint that had lain for thousands of years within what might just turn out to be a Cornish version of Stonehenge. Continue reading...

We'll absolutely continue to protest for a free Palestine,' Sydney organiser says, as others express hope US-brokered deal will end the genocide'

Soldiers from elite Capsat unit have announced they are taking over after weeks of youth-led protestsMadagascar's president said an attempt to seize power illegally and by force" was under way, as an elite military unit that joined protesters on the streets on Saturday announced it was taking over the army.The Capsat unit's intervention comes after weeks of youth-led protests, which started on 25 September against water and electricity shortages and expanded to calling for the resignation of the president, Andry Rajoelina, an end to corruption and radical overhaul of the political system. Continue reading...

How author researched his plots and letters from Alec Guinness feature in Oxford exhibitionLamplighters, pavement artists, babysitters - they have taken on whole new meanings thanks to John le Carre. As his fans will know, they are part of tradecraft practised by the spies he wrote about so evocatively. Now, almost five years after his death, an exhibition, with the title Tradecraft, reveals the techniques and motivations of the characters' real creator, David Cornwell.As you enter the exhibition in Oxford University's Bodleian library you are greeted with a large portrait of Cornwell, wearing a black bucket cap, looking straight ahead with piercing eyes, his chin resting on his gently clasped hands. Accompanying the photo are two of his quotes. I am not a spy who writes novels, I am a writer who briefly worked in the secret world," one says. The second, after questioning whom, if anyone, we can trust, continues: What is loyalty - to ourselves, to whom, to what? Whom, if anyone, can we love? And what is the caring individual's relationship to the institutions he services?" Continue reading...

Manar al-Houbi's husband and children refused entry despite her winning a scholarship to cover tuition fees, living costs and housing for them allA Gaza PhD student who won a fully funded scholarship to the University of Glasgow has spoken of her heartbreak at her family being denied entry to the UK.In May, Manar al-Houbi received confirmation of her successful application. It felt almost too good to be true," she said. As well as her tuition fees, her scholarship from a charity, the Council for At Risk Academics (Cara), covers housing and living costs for her and all family members. Continue reading...

It's not yet known if Habib signed waiver as demanded by Israel before being taken to Jordan border on Sunday

Exclusive: GMB union's report also finds pay disparity for women and disabled, trans, non-binary and gay staffers working for MPs and peersA race and gender pay gap among parliamentary staff means people of colour earn on average 2,000 less each year than their white counterparts, research seen by the Guardian suggests.A study due to be released this week will say that parliamentary employees who have a range of protected characteristics under equality legislation are more likely to suffer disparities in pay. Continue reading...

A message of neighbourly solidarity is thriving in Birmingham against a backdrop of racist intimidationWhen Mus unfurled the leaflet lying on her driveway, she was left shocked, angry and upset. White Britons are already a minority in London ... it is clear that if these trends continue white people will become a minority in Britain," it read.The leaflet, written by a far-right group, was distributed along her street three years ago in Moseley, a leafy suburb of Birmingham. It went on to blame NHS waiting lists, a shortage of social housing and even traffic on the rising population". Continue reading...

The public display of artefacts looted by British colonial forces at the new Museum of West African Art was supposed to be the crowning glory of a decades-long restitution effort. What went wrong?In a corner of the new Museum of West African Art, visitors can marvel at a sample display of the cultural treasures that adorned the royal palace that once stood in its place: a proud cockerel, a plaque with three mighty warriors, a bust of a king with a glorious beaded collar.The artefacts, collectively known as the Benin bronzes, were looted by British colonial forces who went on to burn down the palace in a punitive expedition in 1897. In the decades that followed they were scattered across collections in Europe and America. Continue reading...

Netherlands and Hungary move towards designation as draft resolution reportedly backed by 79 MEPs in 20 countriesWhere Donald Trump leads, Europe's nationalists and far right follow. After a Truth Social post last month, when Trump announced the US would designate antifa, the decentralised anti-fascist movement, a major terrorist organisation", his international allies swung into action.That same day, the Dutch parliament, where the largest party is Geert Wilders' far-right PVV, passed a resolution, noting the US decision and calling on the government to declare antifa a terrorist organisation in the Netherlands. Continue reading...

Paul Biya, in power since 1982, has brushed off calls to retire but is rarely seen in publicCameroon goes to the polls on Sunday for a presidential election with Paul Biya, already the world's oldest head of state at the age of 92, the favourite to win an eighth term in power in the central African country.A fractured opposition of 11 candidates is standing against Biya, who, despite his advanced age and declining health, has dismissed calls for him to retire. Continue reading...

Witnesses call arrest of video editor Debbie Brockman, a US citizen, by masked federal agents absolutely horrifying'A video editor and producer for Chicago's WGN television station was arrested by masked federal agents on Friday morning, and later released, during an Ice raid on the city's North Side, as shown in videos shared widely on social media.Videos show Debbie Brockman being violently forced to the ground by two agents before she is handcuffed and put in a van. A local resident filming the incident asks her name while she is face down on the street being handcuffed. Continue reading...

More than 500,000 Palestinians return to destruction in Gaza City as 20 world leaders, including Trump, prepare for talks. This blog is now closed.Malak A Tantesh, a young reporter who has contributed to the Guardian's coverage, has written about a harrowing two years in besieged Gaza. You can read her account here:The Trump plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza. The US would lead a large internationally funded reconstruction effort, reports the Associated Press (AP).

Nigerian-American author tells Cheltenham literature festival audience having boys made her worry more'Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has said she is terrified that her young boys will join the manosphere".Speaking at Cheltenham literature festival on Saturday, the Nigerian-American author of works including Americanah told an audience that having two sons has made her worry more" about men and boys. Continue reading...

Four people were killed in an attack in Leland, while two were killed in Heidelberg, amid a third attack in Rolling ForkSix people were killed and 18 others injured in three separate shootings at high school football homecoming celebrations in Mississippi, according to a number of local officials on Saturday.The most fatal incident took place around midnight on Friday in Leland, where four people died, John Lee, the mayor of the small city in Washington county, western Mississippi, said on Saturday morning. At least 16 were wounded in that incident, with four in critical condition airlifted to the state capital of Jackson and 12 others treated at local hospitals. Continue reading...

Initial toll after explosions at plant near McEwen on Friday was believed to be 19 people but later revised to 18.There were no survivors in the blast that obliterated part of an explosives factory in rural Tennessee, authorities said on Saturday.The families of 18 people had been waiting anxiously on Saturday as their loved ones had been feared dead since explosions ripped through the plant near McEwen in western Tennessee early on Friday. The initial toll had been believed to be 19 people but that figure was later revised. Continue reading...

Demonstrators march alongside regiment, who earlier in the day said they would not fire on the crowdsMadagascar's prime minister called for calm after an elite group of soldiers joined thousands of protesters against the country's president on the streets of the capital on Saturday afternoon.Protesters marched alongside soldiers from the Capsat unit, who drove armoured vehicles, some waving Madagascar flags, from their base in Soanierana in the south of Antananarivo. Continue reading...

Forty-eight-year-old was serving 29-year prison sentence after admitting multiple child sex offencesThe convicted child sexual abuser and former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has died after being attacked in prison.He was attacked with a knife by another inmate on Saturday morning, sources confirmed to the PA news agency. Continue reading...

Members overwhelmingly endorse leadership motion that majority at next Holyrood election is only route to second voteSNP members have overwhelmingly backed leader John Swinney's clear and unambiguous" independence strategy that a majority election win is the only route to another referendum.On the first day of the party's annual conference in Aberdeen, the vast majority of members backed the leadership's motion that next May's Holyrood elections should be fought on a clear platform of national independence" and that winning a majority in the Scottish parliament - by securing 65 seats or more - would be the only uncontested way to deliver a new vote on Scotland's future". Continue reading...

Unicef says humanitarian crisis continues' and expects to scale up aid deliveries on Sunday

Drone and artillery strikes by RSF paramilitaries hit Dar al-Arqam shelter in western city, says resistance committeeMilitia drone and artillery strikes have killed at least 60 people at a displacement shelter in the besieged city of El Fasher in western Sudan, a local activist group has said.The resistance committee for El Fasher said the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group hit the Dar al-Arqam displacement centre, which is in the grounds of a university. Continue reading...

Exclusive: London council created an arm's-length body to manage some of its housing stockA Labour-run council is using a legal loophole to issue dozens of families with no-fault evictions, despite Keir Starmer's manifesto pledge to outlaw the practice.Scrapping no-fault evictions immediately" was one of Labour's main manifesto pledges before its 2024 election win, but more than a year on, the party's flagship renters' rights bill has not been made law. Continue reading...

Robert Dewar's widow, Susan, is a leading campaigner over multimillion-pound Norton Motorcycles fraudThe family of a deceased man, who was conned out of his retirement savings after investing in the Norton Motorcycles pension scam, is to lose almost half the subsequent compensation award because of a little-known tax rule.A long-running battle to win an award from the Fraud Compensation Fund (FCF) meant that Robert Dewar's pension was not reimbursed until 2024, five years after his death at the age of 64. Continue reading...

UK broadcasters used to rely on big audiences at 9pm, but as viewing habits change, figures are falling below the 1m markLast month something unusual happened in the television world. At 9pm, traditionally a crucial time slot for Britain's main broadcasters, none of their shows were able to attract an average audience of 1 million viewers.An ITV documentary about Madeleine McCann was the most popular in the slot, drawing a broadcast audience of less than 900,000 viewers. It happened again less than a week later when ITV's thriller Coldwater narrowly beat Channel 5's Fare Dodgers: At War With the Law. The unwelcome phenomenon has since happened for a third time. Continue reading...

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Reform deputy leader's trip, worth 1,400, to Lubov Chernukhin's property was for discussing gas power in UK'Reform UK's deputy leader, Richard Tice, accepted a 1,400 stay at the French Riviera home of Lubov Chernukhin, a Conservative donor and the wife of Russia's former deputy finance minister, new filings show.Tice enjoyed accommodation valued at 1,000 and meals worth 400 between 4 and 6 August at the Chernukhins' property on the Mediterranean coast, listing the purpose as discussing gas power in the UK", according to the register of MPs' interests. Continue reading...

Fayaz Khan, 26, made the threat in a TikTok video that Reform UK leader told the court was pretty chilling'A man who came to the UK on a small boat has been found guilty of making a threat to kill Nigel Farage in a TikTok video.Fayaz Khan, 26, an Afghan national, was found guilty by a majority of 10 jurors to two after almost 12 hours of deliberation at Southwark court court. He had made the threat to kill the Reform UK leader in October last year in a video that Farage told the court was pretty chilling". Continue reading...