News 04/10/25

Donald Trump has commented on ongoing efforts to implement his peace plan in a new Truth Social post.

“I appreciate that Israel has temporarily stopped the bombing in order to give the Hostage release and Peace Deal a chance to be completed,” he writes. He urges Hamas to “move quickly”, threatening in an ultimatum that otherwise “all bets will be off”.

“I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again.

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Nearly 500 people have been arrested over protests supporting the proscribed group Palestine Action, as demonstrators defied calls to reconsider in the wake of the Manchester synagogue terror attack.

Two days after the attack in Crumpsall, crowds of people gathered in central London on Saturday to call on the government to reverse the ban on the proscribed group.

Organisers of the protest, Defend Our Juries, said 1,000 people attended the event to “oppose genocide and the Palestine Action ban”.

The Metropolitan Police said 492 people had been arrested, with the youngest being 18 and the eldest 89. The force said 297 remain in custody and the rest have been bailed.

The Conservatives say they would task officials with removing 750,000 illegal immigrants from the UK within five years if they win the next election.

Under plans unveiled as its annual conference begins, the party has pledged to ban people who enter the UK without permission from ever claiming asylum. It would also prevent those whose claims are rejected from challenging decisions in the courts, with appeals instead handled by Home Office officials.

Border officials would be instructed to remove people “within hours or at most a few days”, the Tories say, with a reformed “Removals Force” unit seeing their funding doubled to £1.6bn per year.

French air traffic controllers have called off their planned strikes, averting widespread travel disruption across Europe next week.

The SNCTA union says its industrial action, due from Tuesday to Thursday, has been suspended following progress in talks and the French prime minister’s decision to delay a key finance bill debate. The dispute centred on pay and working conditions, and airlines had warned passengers in the UK to expect flight cancellations and diversions during the stoppage.

More than 350 people have been arrested in central London during protests in support of the banned group Palestine Action.

Police say the demonstrations went ahead despite warnings from ministers to postpone them following Thursday’s deadly synagogue attack in Manchester. Around a thousand protesters took part, according to organisers, with Sir Keir Starmer urging demonstrators to “respect the grief of British Jews.” The government outlawed the group in July, making any show of support or affiliation a criminal offence.

Storm Amy is continuing to batter much of the UK with severe winds and heavy rain.

An amber warning remains in place for northern Scotland, where tens of thousands of homes are without power. Trains and ferries have been cancelled across Scotland and Northern Ireland, and gusts of nearly 100 miles an hour were recorded overnight in the Inner Hebrides. A man has died in a weather-related incident in Ireland.

A British teenager who was jailed in Dubai for a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl has died in a car crash just months after being released.

Nineteen-year-old Marcus Fakana was a passenger in a car that hit a truck in Tottenham early on Friday. He’d received a royal pardon in July after serving part of a one-year sentence.

Hamas has given its response to Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza.

The group says it has accepted several proposals seen as key to ending the conflict, with Mr Trump urging Israel to “stop the bombing” and release hostages safely, calling it “a very special day.”

Hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been sentenced to just over four years in prison after being convicted on prostitution-related charges involving his two ex-girlfriends.

Prosecutors had sought an 11-year sentence, citing his history of domestic violence, while defence lawyers argued for just 14 months, saying he was reformed. The court heard emotional testimony from Combs’ children, as well as supporters who described him as inspirational. Combs himself apologised before sentencing. Judge Arun Subramanian said a longer term was necessary as both punishment and deterrent.

Storm Amy has battered parts of the UK, bringing heavy rain, strong winds and travel disruption.

Gusts of up to 96 miles per hour were recorded in the Inner Hebrides overnight, with an amber wind warning remaining in place across northern Scotland. The Met Office is warning of possible power cuts and flying debris posing a risk to life. A yellow warning covers the rest of the UK through Saturday evening. In Ireland, a man in his 40s died in what police described as a weather-related incident.

Electric vehicle sales in the UK have hit record levels.

3The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says sales of fully electric cars rose nearly a third in September to more than seventy-two thousand, while plug-in hybrid sales grew even faster. Combined, electric and hybrid vehicles made up more than half of all new car registrations last month — boosted by greater model choice, discounts, and the government’s new grant scheme.

In Slough, the owners of a Windsor Road property have been ordered to pay almost forty thousand pounds for illegally converting an outbuilding into a home.

Inspectors found it fitted with a shower room, kitchenette, and sleeping area.