Morning briefing Monday 13th October

0:00This episode of the Times Radio News Briefing is sponsored by PwCWC. Staying competitive means getting ahead, not just keeping up. So how do business leaders cut through the noise and focus on what really matters. PwC takes you further with tech, from optimising the systems that put your data to work, to scaling AI from proof of concept to competitive edge. PwC helps you meet tomorrow's tech demands, so you can compete at a speed that rewrites the rules. Discover more at pwc.co.uk This is the Times Morning Briefing on Monday the 13th of October. I'm Daryl Jackson. The US president has declared the war in Gaza over during a conversation with reporters on board Air Force One.

0:47On his way to Israel, Donald Trump said the ceasefire is going to hold and the so-called Board of Peace, an interim administrative body, will be set up quickly. His comments come just three days into a ceasefire and during the initial phase of his 20-point peace plan. He spoke to reporters ahead of travelling to Israel.

1:30Hamas is expected to release all hostages still in captivity as part of the ceasefire deal. The 20 living captives, who are all men, have been held for more than two years after they were among 251 people kidnapped when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on the 7th October 2023. The bodies of another 28 hostages who were killed in captivity are also expected to be returned to Israel. Dan Shapiro, a former US ambassador to Israel, told Times Radio what we could expect when the hostages are handed over. Many of them are in terrible shape. Already there are reports coming out and we've seen earlier videos and other evidence that they've been abused and tortured and starved.

2:14I think the Israeli public will be very shocked and outraged and very aggrieved by the condition of these hostages. So there's an initial feeling of relief and joy from behalf of their families and then a wave of anger and bitterness that follows. Sakhir Starmer has arrived in the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh ahead of attending a summit where the Gaza peace plan will be signed. The British government will also fund a£20 million humanitarian aid package to deliver essential water, sanitation and hygiene services to tens of thousands of civilians in the enclave. Number 10 says the Prime Minister wants the UK to play a leading role in the next phase of the peace plan by hosting a three-day conference on Gaza's reconstruction once the war is over.

3:02In other news, a Conservative leader has written to Sir Keir Starmer asking him to address unanswered questions in Parliament over the collapse of a case against two alleged Chinese spies. Kemi Badenoch says she's insisting on clarity and honesty from the Prime Minister, with a call for the government to make a statement to the Commons about the dropped prosecution today. And leading economists say Rachel Reeves could pass a one-off wealth tax to avoid half-baked fixes that risk breaking Labour's manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, VAT or national insurance. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has published a detailed list of options for the Chancellor to raise tens of billions of pounds in her budget next month.

3:42The think tank says that a windfall tax on existing wealth would be better. And you can hear more on all of these stories throughout the day on Times Radio.

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