Ex-BBC Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood has been charged with four counts of rape, the Metropolitan Police has said.

The 68-year-old has also been charged with nine counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual assault.

The charges related to seven women, with the allegations spanning from 1983 to 2016.

Westwood is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 11 November.

Lionel Idan, Chief Crown Prosecutor, said: "Our prosecutors have established that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.

"The Crown Prosecution Service reminds everyone that criminal proceedings are active, and the defendant has the right to a fair trial.

"It is extremely important that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings."

Madeleine McCann's sister has told a court that a woman claiming to be her missing sibling "played with my emotions" and sent "creepy" messages.

Amelie McCann said Julia Wandelt had told her she had memories of playing Ring a Ring o' Roses with her and feeding her brother Sean.

The 24-year-old wanted to prove she was the missing youngster with a DNA test, but Ms McCann told Leicester Crown Court: "I always knew that she wasn't Madeleine, so I didn't need to do one."

Ms Wandelt and Karen Spragg, who the court heard met Ms Wandelt online before helping to orchestrate her approaches, deny stalking Kate and Gerry McCann - the parents of missing Madeleine, who disappeared on 3 May 2007 in Portugal.

Ms McCann said Ms Wandelt first tried to contact her in January 2024 over Facebook.

She told the court she was aware of Ms Wandelt as "she had been in the media", but as she used the name Julia Julia, Ms McCann "hadn't clocked" it was the same person.

She said: "I was used to getting messages from people about the case and was used to ignoring messages."

At first, she said she "didn't really tell anyone about it".

"I just thought I could deal with it myself and ignore it," she added.

Over the course of the first day of messages, Ms McCann said Ms Wandelt told her she had used "hypnosis sessions", and had "flashbacks" of childhood memories of being Madeleine, feeding Sean and playing with Amelie.

The defendant also talked about the night of Madeleine's disappearance, police corruption and DNA in a series of messages, prosecuting lawyer Nadia Silver said.

The witness was then asked about a line in another message, which the court heard said that Ms Wandelt recalled playing the playground game Ring a Ring o' Roses.

"Again, it makes me feel quite uncomfortable because it is quite creepy and playing with my emotions and my memories that she claims that happened," she said.

"It put a lot of stress on me."

Ms Wandelt, Ms McCann said, continued to message over Instagram and Facebook.

The court was told Ms Wandelt had asked Ms McCann to do a DNA test with her, but the witness said: "I always knew she wasn't Madeleine, so I didn't need to do one."

Ms Wandelt, the jury heard, urged Ms McCann to get her parents to respond to her messages about a DNA test, and said: "Make them believe there is still a hope. I will do whatever it takes."

Another message, sent on 29 April 2024, contained images of the pair and said: "Give me a chance to prove it."

Ms McCann said: "She'd clearly altered pictures to make me more like her, which was quite disturbing."

She said she never responded to any of Ms Wandelt's messages.

Ms Wandelt, the court heard, also sent a letter to the McCanns' family home, in Rothley, Leicestershire, addressed to Amelie McCann, which contained photos of both her and Ms Wandelt.

It said Ms McCann was "her last hope" and that she "really needed" her.

Describing the toll the alleged stalking had on the family, Ms McCann added: "My mum found it the hardest and was harassed by Julia more than the rest of us."

She also spoke of her mother being "stressed and on edge" after the defendants turned up at the family home on 7 December 2024, demanding a DNA test.

Ms McCann concluded her evidence by saying that increased security measures at the home - such as a panic alarm to alert Leicestershire Police, new CCTV and a Ring doorbell camera - were "not normal".

Meanwhile, Amelie's twin brother Sean had a statement read out in court.

He said he had been contacted over Instagram in November 2024 by two of Ms Wandelt's accounts.

He said he did not respond and blocked the accounts, but said he found it "strange and upsetting".

He changed his social media profiles following the contact to remove his surname to make him harder to find, the court heard.

The statement added: "I'm aware Julia may be suffering from some sort of mental health.

"If, however, she's fully aware she is not Madeleine, yet makes these claims she is, that will be very upsetting for me.

"I do not believe she is my sister. The fact Julia is doing this has caused me a great deal of stress and I find it deeply disturbing."

Neighbour's statement

The court also heard evidence from family friends Linda McQueen and her daughter Ellie, who both said they received messages from Ms Wandelt.

Linda said: "It's really upsetting, we've all got memories of Madeleine. It's appalling."

Ring doorbell footage from a neighbour was also played to the jury showing two women approaching and leaving the McCanns' home on 7 December 2024, the same night Mr and Mrs McCann were "accosted".

Neighbour Dr Alex Milton added, via a statement, he saw a blonde woman sitting in a car with the internal light on when he went to walk his dog, and later when he went to pick up a curry.

When he returned with his takeaway, the car was there but the woman was not.

The trial of Ms Wandelt, of Jana Kochanowskiego in Lubin, Poland, and Mrs Spragg, 61, of Caerau Court Road, Cardiff, continues.

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Ten Met Police officers based at Charing Cross station are facing accelerated misconduct hearings, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IPOC) said.

The watchdog's investigation into the officers' conduct was sparked after a BBC report laid out behaviour that included calling for immigrants to be shot, revelling in the use of force and being dismissive of rape claims.

Investigators say they have sufficient evidence to show the officers breached police standards of professional behaviour.

The IOPC director general said she was "appalled" at the actions revealed in the report, adding that "immediate action" to enable the officers' dismissal would be taken at the "earliest opportunity".

The 10 officers facing disciplinary proceedings are: Eight serving Met officers, a former Met Police constable, and a police constable who moved from London to serve with Gloucestershire Police, the IOPC said.

One of the officers, a police constable, remains under criminal investigation for the potential offence of perverting the course of justice, they added.

An investigation into the conduct of an 11th individual - a designated detention officer - is ongoing, the IOPC said.

There is also a separate ongoing investigation into the conduct of a serving Met Police sergeant, also based at Charing Cross, which follows a referral after the officer was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice.

The sergeant was arrested by the Met's directorate of professional standards, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Andy Valentine, who said in a statement that the force would be "unrelenting" in "tackling issues at Charing and anywhere else across the Met".

"Internal reporting mechanisms" brought the "fresh matter" to light, he added.

After Panorama concluded its investigation, the BBC sent a detailed list of allegations to the Met before the report was broadcast. The force then suspended eight officers and one staff member, and took two more officers off front-line duties.

Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley previously said the behaviour outlined by the programme was "disgraceful, totally unacceptable and contrary to the values and standards" of the force.

The debate around stamp duty is intensifying. When Kemi Badenoch said a future Conservative government would abolish it on the purchase of main homes, it went down well at the Tory Party conference.

There has also been speculation that the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is considering replacing it.

Scrapping stamp duty would be popular among some home buyers, including first-time buyers.

But, analysts say there would be some significant consequences of scrapping stamp duty for primary residences, affecting buyers, sellers and the wider UK economy.

1. House prices might rise

Whenever there has been a temporary easing of stamp duty, such as in the immediate aftermath of the Covid lockdowns, house prices have then risen.

It is more difficult to judge whether a permanent abolition would have the same long-term impact on prices as the short-term sweetener of a stamp duty holiday.

However, greater demand is likely to feed through to asking prices.

"If, and this is a big if, it is a simple tax giveaway, the likelihood is that the current stamp duty bill simply passes through into prices," says Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills.

In turn, that could mean first-time buyers paying less in stamp duty, but having to find a bigger deposit.

"Given the way stamp duty works, this would be unevenly distributed across the country," Mr Cook added.

The most obvious point here is that the government in Westminster can only control stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales have their own land and transaction taxes overseen by the devolved administrations.

2. Tax cut for the wealthy

A swathe of first-time buyers do not pay stamp duty. That's because, in England and Northern Ireland, they are exempt when buying properties of up to £300,000.

"For them, the enormous challenge is raising a deposit," says Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown.

Data from property portal Rightmove suggests that 40% of homes for sale in England are stamp duty free for first-time buyers.

While the vast majority of movers pay stamp duty, the rate increases at certain price thresholds.

So, the bigger the home, the bigger the benefit, if stamp duty was scrapped.

This will also mean a big regional difference in the impact of such a policy.

At the moment, 76% of properties on sale in the North East of England are free of stamp duty for first-time buyers, according to Rightmove's figures. In London, it is only 11%.

Richard Donnell, from Zoopla, points out that 60% of all stamp duty is paid in southern England - so the majority of the benefit of abolition would be felt in the south.

3. Easier to find somewhere to move to

One of the great selling points of stamp duty abolition is the extra mobility it should provide for workers, buyers, sellers and downsizers, according to experts.

"Homeownership is the foundation of a fairer and more secure society - but stamp duty has denied that opportunity to too many for too long," says Paula Higgins, chief executive of the Homeowners Alliance.

"Our research shows over 800,000 homeowners have shelved moving plans in the past two years, and stamp duty is a major barrier."

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), an independent economic think tank, says the winners will be those who want to move frequently, to more or less expensive homes.

It should, for example, clear an obstacle for older homeowners, who want to sell a family home but are discouraged by stamp duty. If they are more likely to move, then their homes become available to younger families and the whole market becomes more fluid.

However, others suggest the influence of stamp duty could be overblown.

"Take someone downsizing, from a £750,000 property to a £300,000 one. In England and Northern Ireland, they'd pay £5,000 in stamp duty. It's a fraction of what they're likely to pay in estate agency fees, and sits along a huge range of costs from conveyancing to removals," Ms Coles from Hargreaves Lansdown says.

"It begs the question of whether removing the cost of the tax is a gamechanger."

4. Potential tax rises elsewhere

Stamp duty raises a lot of money for the Treasury, so scrapping it would leave a gap in the public finances.

The IFS said that the direct cost of the Conservative policy might be around £10.5bn to £11bn in 2029-30, although the Tories' own estimate is about £9bn.

The question for any administration tempted to scrap or reduce stamp duty is how else it finds the money.

The Conservatives say they will make savings elsewhere. The other option is to raise other taxes.

As some analysts have said, the main consideration is not what is scrapped, but what replaces it.

5. Bad news for renters

The idea of scrapping stamp duty for primary residences could end up meaning less choice for renters.

The IFS suggests it could discourage the purchase of rental properties by landlords, as they would still have to pay stamp duty.

The think tank says it would increase the more favourable tax treatment of owner-occupation relative to renting.

Sally Wainwright has said she aimed to create a "uplifting" portrayal of midlife, including menopause, through the story of a female rock band in her new TV series Riot Women.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour on Thursday, the Happy Valley writer said the show, which starts on Sunday, draws from her own midlife experiences.

"It's very personal for me this," she said. "It's a lot about what I was going through at what [actress] Tamsin (Greig) very eloquently called 'the middle squeeze'."

She added: "It's just about midlife - menopause is just an aspect of that - and I wanted to find a way of writing about this part of your life in a way that was uplifting and engaging and interesting."

She continued: "It's about women who find something very creative and very engaging to do together and how it changes their lives."

Riot Women tells the tale of five menopausal women who form a punk rock band to take part in a local talent contest.

It features stage and screen star Rosalie Craig as the chaotic Kitty Eckerson, alongside an ensemble cast of bandmates including Friday Night Dinner star Grieg, Gentleman Jack's Amelia Bullmore, Lorraine Ashbourne from Alma's Not Normal and The Thick of It comic actress Joanna Scanlan.

Together the women foster a sense of solidarity and address their experiences candidly.

Wainwright, the Bafta-winning writer from Huddersfield, said she'd always wanted to write something as a sort of tribute to the 1970s musical drama Rock Follies.

She started to think about it properly about 10 years ago when she working on the one-off BBC drama To Walk Invisible, about the lives and literary achievements of the Brontë sisters.

"At around that time, my mum started to develop dementia, and I felt I was being pulled in so many different directions," she explained to presenter Anita Rani.

"I still had two boys at home, one just about to go to university, the other one thinking about what he was going to do, education wise."

She added: "You know that adage about if something needs doing, ask a busy woman?... I was that woman who just was being expected lots of - in a good way. You're often at the height of your career.

"And so you've been pulled in all sorts of directions and balancing a huge amount of things, and in the middle of that the menopause started."

She noted how along with hot flushes, brain fog and a low mood, it had brought with it a kind of "low self esteem that you don't expect".

"It just seemed well worth writing about," she said, noting how it had been like "therapy" to do so.

The writer felt it was neccessary and useful for the cast to learn to play their instruments live for the series, on songs such as Just Like Your Mother and Seeing Red.

Craig - who starred in Stephen Sondheim's Company on the West End - told the same programme it was "phenomenal" to be asked to portray the carefree and at-times shameless frontwoman, Kitty.

"She's constructed somebody who doesn't have a filter, and that's partly because of what she's been through in life, and being the victim of aggression," said Craig.

"She faces the world like that, with two fists," she went on. "She exorcises herself through the use of song, which was really brilliant to do."

Riot Women begins BBC One and iPlayer on Sunday 12 October at 21:00 BST.

It is a major moment in this most grievous Gaza war.

Most of all, it is a human moment. The first sparks tell this story: the dancing in the dark in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square, the eruption of joy in the dead of night in the ruined streets of Gaza.

In the coastal enclave where so much of life as they knew it has been smashed by war, Palestinians went through the streets, like medieval town criers, waking people up with shouts of "good news, the war has stopped, a ceasefire deal has been reached".

If all unfolds as it should on Thursday, the last of the Israeli hostages will be home within days and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will also return to their loved ones. The guns will fall silent in Gaza, more aid will flow into the ravaged enclave, and Palestinians won't live each day fearing it could be their last.

• LIVE REACTION: Trump announces Gaza agreement
• World reacts to first stage of Gaza peace deal
• 'Joy and pain': Palestinians celebrate ceasefire deal
• What we know about the 'first phase' of the Gaza peace deal

But even now some details, including the names of the Palestinian detainees to be freed, are being argued over. And there's strident opposition to this agreement inside Israel's cabinet.

Still, there is a collective sigh of relief across this region, and around a world pulled passionately into this conflagration more than any other conflict.

But this is just the beginning, it is not the end. It is a ceasefire, not a peace deal. The toughest of issues are still on the table.

Will Hamas agree to give up its guns? Will Israel eventually pull its troops out of Gaza? What about the vague "political horizon" mentioned in US President Donald Trump's 20-point plan, which much of the world translates as the establishment of a Palestinian state and which Israel's government still firmly rejects?

And, more immediately, will both sides implement their side of this agreement?

Those are issues for tomorrow.

President Trump likes to take credit and this time credit is due. It's already been announced that he will travel to Israel this weekend. Never has the first phase of what is certain to be a tortuous process of negotiations, of breakthroughs and breakdowns, been marked by such fanfare.

But never has a US president wielded such pressure on allies and enemies – and the list is long of leaders who tried to clinch a deal to achieve a lasting peace in the Middle East.

Former state department official Aaron David Miller, who worked on this file with both Republican and Democratic presidents, marvelled at this moment when he spoke to the BBC in the early hours of Thursday.

Only weeks ago, as President Trump backed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence on the need to intensify Israel's military operations, this Gaza war of unprecedented human cost was expected to drag on until the end of this year, even into the next one.

Only weeks ago, when I asked a senior Arab official "who has President Trump's ear?", the answer was "no one".

Then the emboldened Israeli leader took a step too far in early September when he authorised an attack on Hamas leaders living in the Gulf state of Qatar.

It infuriated Qatar, which has played a pivotal role in trying to mediate an end to this crisis. It infuriated President Trump who cherishes his strong, many-faceted relationship, including colossal investment deals and close personal friendships, with the leaders of Qatar, as well as many other Arab states.

His meeting in New York in mid-September with Arab and Islamic leaders accelerated this momentum as the US leader finally focused on ending this fight.

And, crucially, the families of Israeli hostages finally got his full attention too.

By early October, President Trump was posting photographs on social media of Tel Aviv's Hostages Square packed with people and impassioned pleas to him personally to bring every hostage home, alive or dead. "Now or never" was their rallying cry. And he heard it.

Much has been said too of his burning desire to be awarded the top prize for peacemakers, the Nobel Peace Prize. He doesn't hide it and has even called Norwegian leaders, including the former Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, about it. Such is the shape of our world today.

Behind the scenes of ceasefire talks, others working in the shadows made a major difference too. Qatar, Egypt and Turkey exerted huge pressure on Hamas, persuading even the most hard-line commanders in its ranks that there was more to be gained now in freeing the hostages, than in holding on to them. Keeping them would only keep a war going which has significantly weakened them in every way even if it has not destroyed their movement.

This moment is also bittersweet.

There is grumbling that this first phase is roughly the same plan US President Joe Biden had put on the table last May. How many lives could have been saved, including the lives of Israeli hostages? How much suffering of the Palestinians could have been avoided had all sides come to the table last year instead of this year?

What matters now is the October 7th war, in the week of its terrible two-year mark, has reached a major turning point. It may still falter and even fail in the months to come. Palestinians will agonise, in the rubble of their homes, over how long it will take to build what is left of their lives.

Those living in the occupied West Bank fear for their future too. And Israeli politicians are already plotting over the next elections and arguing over the next stages of this deal to ensure there is never another October 7th.

But long-awaited serious negotiations over how to move forward, not further back, have started, and are succeeding.

This is a moment to celebrate.

When Mike Barley almost died in a motorbike crash on the way home from work, he did not think his biggest worry during recovery would be the council tax bill he had been sent that same day. But after he missed a payment reminder letter while in hospital, his debts rocketed out of control.

Mr Barley, 26, from Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, had a "well-paid" job as a software developer, and owned his own home, but the accident in March 2021 put him in hospital for a month with broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and severe injuries to his arms and legs.

The same day as the accident, Mr Barley was sent a council tax bill for an instalment of £101.71. He missed the payment and was still in hospital when a reminder letter was sent to his home, so he missed that, too.

Mr Barley said he was "stuck" on sick pay of £90 a week at the time and remembered thinking: "I've got no income any more - I can't work, I can't walk. Where is this money going to come from?"

He says after telling his local council he would not be able to pay, they sent another letter, in June 2021, setting out a payment plan. It included two months of reduced payments but then demanded Mr Barley pay the rest of the year's payments in advance – a total of about £1,000.

Mr Barley's council acted in line with the usual process for unpaid council tax in England.

If you do not pay your monthly bill after three weeks, or you have three late payments, councils can demand the remainder of the year's bill in full, and can send in bailiffs to collect the debt.

Charities have long claimed the method of council tax debt enforcement in England punishes people who are genuinely struggling to pay - while the government says it is taking action against "archaic and aggressive" practices.

After further reminder letters and warnings, Mr Barley's case was passed to bailiffs, who sent a "threatening letter" telling him they would be coming over to seize and sell his belongings to help pay off his debt.

"It was scary to be honest," he said.

Council tax funds public services such as care for the elderly, libraries and bin collections.

It must be paid by anyone who owns a home, or lives in rented accommodation, unless they are eligible for exemptions.

When councils bring in bailiffs to try to recover council tax debt, the person who owes money is charged an additional £75 for the initial bailiffs' letter, £235 plus costs if a bailiff comes to their home to remove or sell goods, a £110 sale fee if goods are taken for sale, and 7.5% of the debt value over £1,500.

Mr Barley said he tried to dispute the charges he faced because of the late bill, but received no support and bailiffs continued to deliver letters to his home.

"It just makes you trapped, depressed," he said.

Mr Barley said his relationship broke down under the strain of trying to cope with his escalating council tax debt, which he estimates reached a total of about £6,000.

He fell behind on his mortgage and other payments too. He managed to get a credit card cleared, but his home was eventually repossessed, and he said he had such little money to spend on food that his meals consisted of bread smeared with ketchup.

He said his council tax debt was "probably the worst" to deal with because of the speed with which the total amount increased.

Mr Barley still owes about £1,700 of the £6,000, including £700 of bailiffs' fees.

• Listen to Mike Barley's story on BBC Sounds

He wants councils to stop bringing in bailiffs when the person in debt cannot pay.

"It just adds charges," he said. "If [people] can't pay it in the first place, giving it to a bailiff is then going to make it harder."

Councils in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire referred about 38% more people to bailiffs in the most recent year of data than the previous 12 months, our research found.

North East Lincolnshire Council said it could not comment on individual cases but had set aside a £100,000 hardship fund to support some of those unable to pay off their council tax debt.

The council said on a case-by-case basis it sometimes gives people extra time to pay back their council tax, or helps them find ways to reduce their bill. Councils can decide to write off some debt too.

Matt Sheeran, of free-to-use debt advice service Money Wellness, said people should seek help straight away if they did have problems paying their council tax.

"It's just so fast and so aggressive, so a lot of people are taken aback," he said. "They just don't realise how quickly [it] can escalate."

Peter Tutton, policy director at the StepChange charity, which also offers free debt advice, added the pressure some councils put on people when they chased payments could make people's financial difficulties "worse".

"People respond to payment demands by missing other bills, turning their heating down, borrowing," Mr Tutton said.

Figures published in June showed local authorities in England are owed £6.6bn in council tax in total, up 50% from £4.4bn five years ago - despite councils writing off more council tax debt than they used to. In the most recent year of data, £250m such debt was written off, in comparison to £134m five years ago.

Further data obtained by the BBC through Freedom of Information requests revealed:

• Councils are increasingly referring people to bailiffs to help retrieve outstanding debt.
• Across the 253 councils that provided us with information, 1.4 million accounts were referred to bailiffs in the past year – 46% more than four years ago.
• But the average amount they have been able to retrieve per account has gone down slightly, suggesting bailiff action may not be as effective as it used to be.

In Bradford, West Yorkshire, the council referred 41% more people to bailiffs in the most recent year of data than the previous 12 months, our research found.

The council put up council tax rates by almost 10% this year, as it tries to deal with rising debts which will see it owe more than £1bn by 2030.

Those affected include Edmund Davies, who owes about £1,800 in council tax and is struggling to make ends meet with the £295 he receives in benefits each month.

He said the council tax increase has made things much more difficult for people in his position.

"I'd like to pay it - it's just trying to come to an actual affordable agreement with the council that's difficult," said Mr Davies, who also pays £20 a month towards council text debt he owed from his previous address.

"To pay any more… do I eat today, do I eat this week?" he said.

Mr Davies recently received groceries from the Bradford North Foodbank, where demand has risen by 30% over the past year.

Foodbank manager Franco Biancardo said some of this increase was down to council tax debt. He is calling for the council to collect the debt "in a softer way" instead of going through the courts process.

Bradford Council said it was committed to helping those struggling to pay council tax and has given an extra £1.2m in support this year.

A spokesperson added that the rise in enforcement visits in the past year was due to reasons including new charges for homes left empty over a year, and clearing a backlog of cases.

Central government is currently reviewing council tax debt-enforcement practices.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it was "taking robust action to tackle the archaic and aggressive collection practices that have seen vulnerable people who miss payments subjected to unmanageable lump sum payments and liability orders".

A spokesperson for the Local Government Association said councils had "a duty to residents to collect taxes" and that bailiffs and other enforcement were "a last resort".

Palestinians in Gaza have celebrated the agreement of a ceasefire and hostage release deal - but many fear confronting the grief that has built up over two years of war.

"This morning, when we heard the news about the truce, it brought both joy and pain," 38-year-old Umm Hassan, who lost his 16-year-old son during the war, told the BBC.

"Out of joy, both the young and the old began shouting," he said. "And those who had lost loved ones started remembering them and wondering how we would return home without them."

Mr Hassan added: "Every person who lost someone feels that sorrow deeply and wonders how they'll return home."

• LIVE REACTION: Trump announces Gaza agreement
• Fireworks and a toast to life: Israelis' delight at deal to return hostages

The deal announced by US President Donald Trump - which still must be agreed by Israel's war cabinet - will see the release of 20 living hostages and the bodies of 28 dead hostages in return for 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails and 1,700 detainees from Gaza.

It is the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that could lead to an end to the war - though the latter phases still need to be negotiated.

"We, the civilians, are the ones who've suffered - truly suffered," Daniel Abu Tabeekh, from the Jabalia refugee camp, told the BBC.

"The factions don't feel our pain. Those leaders sitting comfortably abroad have no sense of the suffering we're enduring here in Gaza."

"I have no home," he said. "I've been living on the streets for a year and a half."

Israel launched the war in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, when around 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, were killed and 251 others taken hostage.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, most of whom are civilians, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures are seen as reliable by the UN and other international bodies.

More than 90% of Gaza's housing has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

"God rewarded us for our patience," said Umm Nader Kloub from northern Gaza, who lost seven relatives during the war, including her sons.

"God willing, he will help [the negotiators] and allow us all to return to our homes, and for their hostages to return safely," she said. "We don't want war."

Mousa, a doctor in Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Strip, said: "We have lost a lot during the two years of war. The Gaza Strip is destroyed. A difficult time still awaits us, but the important thing is we hope to be safe."

As news of a possible ceasefire deal broke over the weekend, Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, told the BBC: "The worst part in the last two years, is that while you are losing loved ones, your relatives, your friends, your neighbours, you are unable to allow yourself to grieve, or to feel the deep sadness and to process your human feelings.

"Because your main focus is to try and stop what's happening."

He added: "When our people and our families were being killed, the feeling was: how do you stop this? How do you bury your dead and how do you tend to your wounded?

"But after the event, which I hope to be very soon, the main feeling will be grief, mourning, and a deep, deep sense of loss. Because what we've lost is huge."

Palestinians in Gaza have celebrated the agreement of a ceasefire and hostage release deal - but many fear confronting the grief that has built up over two years of war.

"This morning, when we heard the news about the truce, it brought both joy and pain," 38-year-old Umm Hassan, who lost his 16-year-old son during the war, told the BBC.

"Out of joy, both the young and the old began shouting," he said. "And those who had lost loved ones started remembering them and wondering how we would return home without them."

Mr Hassan added: "Every person who lost someone feels that sorrow deeply and wonders how they'll return home."

• LIVE REACTION: Trump announces Gaza agreement
• Fireworks and a toast to life: Israelis' delight at deal to return hostages

The deal announced by US President Donald Trump - which still must be agreed by Israel's war cabinet - will see the release of 20 living hostages and the bodies of 28 dead hostages in return for 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli jails and 1,700 detainees from Gaza.

It is the first phase of a 20-point peace plan that could lead to an end to the war - though the latter phases still need to be negotiated.

"We, the civilians, are the ones who've suffered - truly suffered," Daniel Abu Tabeekh, from the Jabalia refugee camp, told the BBC.

"The factions don't feel our pain. Those leaders sitting comfortably abroad have no sense of the suffering we're enduring here in Gaza."

"I have no home," he said. "I've been living on the streets for a year and a half."

Israel launched the war in Gaza in response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023, when around 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, were killed and 251 others taken hostage.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, most of whom are civilians, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures are seen as reliable by the UN and other international bodies.

More than 90% of Gaza's housing has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

"God rewarded us for our patience," said Umm Nader Kloub from northern Gaza, who lost seven relatives during the war, including her sons.

"God willing, he will help [the negotiators] and allow us all to return to our homes, and for their hostages to return safely," she said. "We don't want war."

Mousa, a doctor in Deir al-Balah in the centre of the Strip, said: "We have lost a lot during the two years of war. The Gaza Strip is destroyed. A difficult time still awaits us, but the important thing is we hope to be safe."

As news of a possible ceasefire deal broke over the weekend, Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, told the BBC: "The worst part in the last two years, is that while you are losing loved ones, your relatives, your friends, your neighbours, you are unable to allow yourself to grieve, or to feel the deep sadness and to process your human feelings.

"Because your main focus is to try and stop what's happening."

He added: "When our people and our families were being killed, the feeling was: how do you stop this? How do you bury your dead and how do you tend to your wounded?

"But after the event, which I hope to be very soon, the main feeling will be grief, mourning, and a deep, deep sense of loss. Because what we've lost is huge."

A Dutch beekeeper has spoken of his shock after his 10 beehives were burned down in a park in the central city of Almere, with the loss of an estimated half a million bees.

Harold Stringer said each hive had a colony of 40-60,000 bees, and the thought that anyone could kill them was horrific.

"It really hurts that my 10 hives have died," he told local broadcaster Omroep Flevoland.

Police in Almere, which sits to the east of Amsterdam, have appealed for witnesses after the arson attack on Tuesday evening in the city's scenic Beatrixpark. They posted pictures of the fire on social media.

The Dutch government says more than half of the country's 360 species of bee are at risk of extinction, as the population of bees declines around the world.

Mr Stringer said police had told him an accelerant had been used to burn the hives, which were sitting on pallets in a wooded part of the park.

Barely any of the bees survived and he said that he had little faith the arsonist would be caught.

Fellow beekeeper Heleen Nieman told Dutch radio that she had three bee colonies and wanted to give him one of them.

For Mr Stringer, who looked after the bees for about nine years, the fire means starting a new colony in the park from scratch.

But he insists he will not give up.

At least 13 people have been killed after an attack on one of the last remaining hospitals in el-Fasher, a Sudanese city trapped under siege.

Sixteen others, including a doctor and nurse, were injured after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) shelled Saudi hospital several times on Tuesday night, a source there told the BBC.

Pictures showed shattered windows, cracks from shrapnel, a gaping hole in the mud-brick wall and twisted metal from hospital beds covering the floor.

A group of Sudanese medics has called the attack a war crime. The RSF has been besieging el-Fasher for more than 17 months, leaving hundreds of thousands of people stuck in the city facing starvation.

The paramilitary group is fighting the army for full control of el-Fasher, the last military stronghold in the vast Darfur region.

This is the second strike on the Saudi hospital this year - the first in January killed three children and injured three others.

The latest shelling ripped through part of the hospital, destroying wards.

In recent weeks, the RSF has intensified its assault on the city, leading experts to believe the city could soon fall unless the army receives immediate reinforcements.

The two sides have been engaged in a ferocious civil war for more than two years, causing the world's worst humanitarian crisis and tens of thousands of deaths.

The incessant fighting in el-Fasher has forced most health facilities to shut. Aid convoys carrying food and healthcare have been blocked from reaching civilians.

"After over 500 days of unremitting siege by the RSF and incessant fighting, El Fasher is on the precipice of an even greater catastrophe if urgent measures are not taken [to] loosen the armed vice upon the city and to protect civilians," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said last Thursday.

More BBC stories about the war in Sudan:

• Medics under siege: 'We took this photo, fearing it would be our last'
• A simple guide to what is happening in Sudan
• A front-row seat to my country falling apart

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