6:36 am, November 25, 2023
Hamas frees 24 hostages in ceasefire exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners
Hamas has released 24 hostages who had been held captive in the Gaza Strip for weeks, and Israel freed 39 Palestinians from prison in the first stage of a swap under a four-day ceasefire deal.
The freed hostages included 13 Israelis, 10 people from Thailand and one from the Philippines, according to Qatar.
The agreement opened the way for sorely needed aid to flow into Gaza for beleaguered residents. It was also a moment of hope for families in Israel and elsewhere worried about loved ones taken captive during the October 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war.
Irish police trawl thousands of hours of CCTV footage in probe into Dublin riots
Police in Ireland are trawling through 6,000 hours of CCTV footage as a major investigation into riots in Dublin city centre continues.
The violence in the Irish capital on Thursday – which involved far-right elements and saw Garda cars, buses and trams set alight and shops looted and damaged – flared after a knife attack on three children and their care assistant outside a school in the north inner city.
Amid criticism of the Garda response to the riots, government ministers met and heard that legislation to facilitate the use of body-worn cameras by police officers will be fast-tracked. Justice minister Helen McEntee also told colleagues that officers are trawling 6,000 hours of CCTV footage and vowed that further arrests would follow the 34 already made.
Rwanda plan ‘not the be all and end all’, says James Cleverly
The flagship Rwanda asylum plan is not the ‘be all and end all’ of government efforts to tackle illegal migration, the home secretary has said.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak remains under pressure to revive the policy after this month’s Supreme Court defeat, with some Tory MPs also angered by latest data on legal net migration showing a record number of arrivals last year.
James Cleverly, who replaced a sacked Suella Braverman as home secretary in Sunak’s reshuffle, has admitted being frustrated at the focus on the Rwanda policy. He has also made clear his reservations about any move to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is advocated by Tory right-wingers who see it as a major barrier to ending Channel crossings.
Lord Cameron says UK needs to engage with China
David Cameron has defended his pursuit of close ties with China as prime minister, as he insisted that ‘engaging’ with Beijing today is necessary.
The former PM, who was appointed foreign secretary this month in a shock return to frontline politics, said that the Asian power had become ‘much more aggressive, much more assertive’ since he left office in 2016.
As prime minister, Lord Cameron presided over the so-called ‘golden era’ of relations between Britain and China, hosting a state visit for Chinese president Xi Jinping and welcoming investment from Beijing into the UK. The years since have seen relations between the West and China deteriorate dramatically.
HSBC UK says banking services are returning after Black Friday outage
HSBC has said its digital services are returning to normal after UK customers were left struggling to access mobile and online banking on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
The bank said the disruption that had started just after 8am on Black Friday, which may also have been payday for some people, had stemmed from an issue with ‘our internal systems’.
A message posted by the bank on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday at 11pm said: ‘Online and Mobile Banking services are getting back up and running.’
Sharp cut in fuel prices after retailers given ‘good prod’ by regulator, AA says
Fuel retailers receiving ‘a good prod’ from the competition regulator has sparked a sharp cut in pump prices, according to new analysis.
Average petrol prices dropped twice as fast following a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report accusing retailers of not reflecting a decline in wholesale costs, the AA said.
It took 31 days for prices to decrease by 3.5p per litre from October 8. In just 14 days after the CMA issued its report on November 8, prices reduced by 3.75p.
Friday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Office for Budget Responsibility lowers EV forecasts as uptake continues to slow
- Boost for British car industry as Nissan confirms Sunderland base for electric Juke and Qashqai
- Half of buyers expect to spend longer when considering EVs than ICEs – study
- Black Friday deal slashes 30% off Car Dealer Live ticket prices for limited time only
Nearly 10,000 former Wilko staff paid £42m by Insolvency Service since collapse
Nearly 10,000 former staff of retailer Wilko have been paid more than £42m by the government’s Insolvency Service since the high street retailer went bust.
The government agency has covered redundancy pay and statutory notice pay owed to employees affected by the collapse of the 93-year-old chain.
Some 9,800 payments have been made so far, with each claim processed and paid within 24 hours on average, it revealed.
Weather
A chilly day but a bright one with plenty of Autumnal sunshine, reports BBC Weather. The far north will see patchy rain, however. Temperatures will be more normal for this time of year and will be between five and seven degrees – much colder than of late.
A clear night for most of the UK which will lead to a frost on Sunday morning. Cloud will build towards dawn in the west and south-west.
