Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson confirms the news on social media

The Gaza ceasefire will come into effect at 8.30am Gaza time (6.30am GMT) on Sunday 19 January, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson has just said on social media.

Majed Al Ansari’s post on X said:

We advise the inhabitants to take precaution, exercise the utmost caution, and wait for directions from official sources.

Due to the fact that most homes in the northern strip are uninhabitable, “caravan cities” will be established in the area with international funding, expected to include tens of thousands of caravans, and work on them will begin once the agreement comes into effect.

Additionally, Israel has committed to significantly increasing the humanitarian aid entering the strip and allowing the entry of 600 food trucks every day. The products that will be allowed into the strip are those that were approved before the war.

British Transport Police say hiring freeze and £8.5m shortfall in funding will lead to a ‘reduced presence’

Dozens of British Transport Police (BTP) stations across Britain face possible closure, leaving fewer officers protecting the railway at a time when assaults on passengers have reached record levels.

BTP officials have imposed a hiring freeze and warned that some bases will have to close, signalling possible job losses after failing to secure enough funding to meet current commitments.

More sightings may be a positive sign for growing population but also indicative of effect of climate change

The slap of an enormous tail upon grey waters as a humpback whale leaps from the sea is becoming an increasingly possible – although still rare – natural thrill around Britain.

The 30-tonne, 15 metre-long migratory giants are being spotted in growing numbers and locations this winter from Kent to the Isles of Scilly.

• Brit outclassed in 6-1, 6-0 loss to second seed
• Swiatek eases into fourth round at Melbourne Park

Over the past few years of professional tennis, the sight of Iga Swiatek annihilating another poor, defenceless opponent has become as sure as the sun will rise. When Swiatek’s game is flowing and her mind is clear, the combined quality of her violent ball-striking, athleticism and unrelenting focus is so great that, at some point or another, she has rendered nearly all of the best players in the world spectators in their own matches.

On Saturday afternoon at Melbourne Park, it was Emma Raducanu’s turn to endure the unpleasant experience of entering the Swiatek bakery. Raducanu cut a lonely, solemn figure on one of the biggest tennis stadiums in the world in the face of a supreme Swiatek, who ploughed her way into the fourth round of the Australian Open by winning the final 11 games of her ruthless 6-1, 6-0 win.

Sound was also recorded in footage of space rock hitting house entranceway, producing cloud of smoke and a crackle

A doorbell camera on a Canadian home has captured rare video and sound of a meteorite striking Earth as it crashed into a couple’s walkway.

When Laura Kelly and her partner returned home after an evening walk, they were surprised to find their walkway littered with dust and strange debris, according to the Meteoritical Society, which posted the video with its report.

Local people criticise council over decision to raze hut built in 1909 to make way for work on nearby pier

Admittedly, it looks a little shabby. A wooden slat next to the front door and a window pane are missing and a lick of paint would definitely not go amiss.

But in the seaside town of Bournemouth there is disquiet at the prospect of the structure – beach hut number 2359 – being razed when structural work on the nearby pier begins.

Administration to send 100 to 200 officers to city on day two of new presidency, Wall Street Journal reports

Donald Trump’s incoming presidential administration plans to launch a large immigration raid in Chicago the day after he takes office, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing four people familiar with planning.

The raid, expected to start on Tuesday, would last all week, the newspaper said, adding that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) would send between 100 and 200 officers to carry out the operation.

Exclusive: Labour to announce delay to many of 40 planned projects as costs spiral to estimated £30bn

At least half of the 40 new hospitals pledged by Boris Johnson will not be built for many years, the Guardian has learned, in a move decried as “devastating” for staff and patients.

Labour is to announce that many of the crumbling NHS hospitals in England that were due to be replaced by 2030 will not be completed according to the original timeframe.

Asylum seekers formally held at Manston will get funded legal representation after challenging Home Office decision

Asylum seekers will receive funded legal representation at an inquiry into a catalogue of failures at a centre in Kent where small boat arrivals are processed, after a legal challenge by detainees.

Manston, a short-term holding facility outside Ramsgate, was established in January 2022 to deal with the increasing numbers of asylum seekers crossing the Channel to the UK in dinghies.

Rare spherical egg could fetch in region of £200, with proceeds of sale going to charity

A farm worker in Devon has discovered what she believes to be a “one-in-a-billion” spherical egg.

Alison Greene, who has worked as an egg handler on Fenton Farm near the Somerset border for three years and handled more than 42m eggs, said she had never found a perfectly round one before.