‘I’ll kiss the ground’: chaos feared amid Gaza ceasefire as families head home

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Hundreds of thousands are now set to return to whatever remains of their houses or to claim bodies from the rubble

Aid agencies in Gaza are bracing for chaotic scenes this week as hundreds of thousands of people try to return to homes in the territory after the expected implementation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Sunday.

Before the ceasefire, which is due to begin at 8.30am local time, Israel has continued to carry out attacks inside Gaza. The local health ministry claimed on Saturday that 23 Palestinians had been killed in the previous 24 hours, while the Israeli army said it had conducted strikes on 50 “terror targets” on Friday.

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Trump says he will likely grant TikTok a 90-day reprieve from US ban when he takes office

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President-elect said he’d probably give the company an extension from US ban the supreme court recently upheld

Donald Trump has said he will “most likely” give the Chinese-owned TikTok app a 90-day reprieve from a potential ban in the US after he takes office on Monday morning.

The incoming president said on Saturday, in an interview with NBC News, that he was considering the extension on a Sunday deadline laid down for the parent company of the wildly popular app to sell TikTok to a non-Chinese-buyer or face a ban under US law.

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Seventy killed in central Nigeria after fuel tanker flips over and explodes

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Those who died had scrambled to take the fuel, which has rocketed in price amid an economic crisis

A fuel tanker exploded after flipping over in central Nigeria on Saturday, killing 70 people who had scrambled to take the fuel.

Kumar Tsukwam, the head of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Niger State, said a truck carrying 60,000 litres of gasoline had an accident at about 10am at the Dikko junction on the road linking the capital city, Abuja, to the northern city of Kaduna.

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UK to introduce digital driving licences to ‘transform public services’

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The digital option will be made available through a government app, but will not be mandatory

The UK is to introduce digital driving licences this year as the government looks to use technology to “transform public services”.

The digital version of driving licences will be available in a virtual wallet in a government app, instead of being added to existing Google or Apple wallets. It could be accepted as a form of ID when voting, purchasing alcohol or boarding domestic flights.

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Clean water campaigners claim victory in Windermere sewage case

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United Utilities has dropped legal fight to block access to data on the discharge of treated sewage in Lake District

The water company United Utilities has conceded defeat in its legal battle to block public access to data on treated sewage it is discharging into Windermere in the Lake District.

Company officials initially claimed that data from phosphorus monitors at a main sewage treatment works at the lake was not environmental information. The company also wanted to block access to data from Cunsey Beck, a site of special scientific interest, which flows into Windermere.

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Sadiq Khan warns western democracy at risk from ‘resurgent fascism’ ahead of Trump inauguration

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London mayor calls for stricter laws on harmful online content and takes aim at Elon Musk

The west must face up to a century-defining battle against a resurgent far right that is on the march across the developed world, Sadiq Khan warns today, as he calls on ministers to take on extremism ahead of Donald Trump’s second inauguration as US president.

In the most strident rallying call of any senior British politician against the march of the right in the US, France and Germany, the London mayor warns of a “resurgent fascism” online and says that stricter laws on harmful content will be needed to stem the tide.

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‘She would have been in awe of him’: how Laurence Olivier gave Margaret Thatcher private seduction lessons

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New drama, When Maggie Met Larry, reveals exactly how the world’s most famous actor coached the fledgling Iron Lady

In 1972, a nervous Margaret Thatcher went to Laurence Olivier’s London home for a lesson on presentational skills. The most famous actor of the 20th century told the then education secretary to put a book on her head and walk around to improve her deportment. He also advised her to take long confident strides, and to use her eyes to seduce and flirt.

The future prime minister went on to visit Olivier’s house for a further five lessons, details of which are revealed in a new Radio 4 play, When Maggie Met Larry. Starring Derek Jacobi, who joined Olivier’s fledgling National Theatre when only 24, and Frances Barber as Thatcher, the drama tells of the previously unknown advice on style and voice offered to the Tory politician.

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Reform deputy leader Richard Tice splitting time between Skegness and Dubai after partner leaves UK

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MP says he is totally committed to his constituency after Isabel Oakeshott moved to the Emirates

One weekend, it will be the straightforward delights of Skegness seafront; the next, the flashy private beach clubs of Dubai.

Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK and its MP for Boston and Skegness, is splitting his time not just between his Lincolnshire ­constituency and the House of Commons, but is also spending time 3,500 miles away in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). “We are spreading our international reach,” he said.

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UK’s TV workers exposed to ‘illegal or barely legal’ conditions and traumatic content

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Report cites low pay and overwork, and employees complain of receiving no warning before working on disturbing scenes

“Illegal or barely legal” working practices are rife in the UK’s TV industry, new research has revealed.

Workers in post-production roles, including editors, designers and special effects artists, are regularly being paid below the minimum wage and experiencing “unacceptable” conditions, such as hours spent in dark, unventilated rooms and exposure to traumatic content with no warning.

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