Independent

Families led a mass rally demanding the immediate return of hostages and a definitive agreement to bring them home, as authorities moved to facilitate an anticipated prisoner exchange.

Tens of thousands of civilians are returning to damaged northern neighbourhoods in Gaza as a ceasefire begins, facing scarce essentials and a lengthy rebuilding effort.

A truce has been agreed in the region, with an armed group set to release remaining hostages as a nation’s leadership considers a ceasefire.

Kemi Badenoch pledged a £9bn plan to scrap stamp duty on main homes to help first-time buyers, with promises to reverse carbon taxes and VAT on private school fees and workers’ rights reforms and to ban doctors’ strikes.

Robert Jenrick defended controversial remarks drawing criticism from local and party figures.

Kemi Badenoch set out plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights and deport 150,000 people a year, prompting former attorney general Dominic Grieve to warn the strategy could spell the Conservatives’ demise as she marked a shift to the right at conference.

Police detained 442 people at a central London protest linked to an activist group banned under UK law, citing exhausted officers after carrying many demonstrators and saying the event proceeded despite appeals to cancel following a fatal incident in Manchester.

Former nursing chief Dame Sarah Mullally has been named as the Church of England’s first female Archbishop of Canterbury, making history in the role.

The PM has announced a major policy reversal on human rights laws, aiming to make it easier to deport asylum seekers who arrive in small boats by reviewing how British courts apply the European Convention on Human Rights.

The PM delivered a speech condemning the Reform leader, promising not to yield to divisive rhetoric, vowing to reclaim national symbols from extremists, ending the Blair-era university pledge in favour of apprenticeships, and announcing new online NHS services to reduce waiting times.