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Sunday’s news briefing 

The long-awaited ceasefire in Gaza has come into force after a delay of nearly three hours, and thousands of Gazans are beginning to return home. The first three Israeli female hostages are expected to be freed later – Hamas has named them as 31-year-old Doron Steinbrecher, dual British-Israeli Emily Damari, 28, and 24-year-old Romi Gonen.

Several thousand Pro-Palestinian supporters have taken part in a demonstration in central London. The rally – the latest UK protest organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) since the war in Gaza began in 2023 – comes as Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

TikTok has gone offline in the US, hours before a new law banning the platform was due to come into effect. A message appearing on the app for US users said a law banning TikTok had been enacted, meaning “you can’t use TikTok for now”.

‘Student Tax’ to hit graduates on minimum wage by April

Thousands of graduates will find themselves stranded in their home town, unable to root out professional opportunities, when April’s hike in the minimum wage drags them into the threshold of student loan repayments, a top financial services firm has warned.

The government announced an above inflation rise in the National Living Wage of 5.6 per cent as part of October’s Budget, prompting warnings of price rises and hiring freezes from business lobby groups.

But according to Blick Rothenberg recent graduates will bear much of the brunt, with those earning as little as £12.21 per hour in a full-time job sucked into to student loan repayments.

A full-time employee on the National Living Wage is set to earn roughly £26,660 when April’s uplift is introduced, meaning they will surpass the £25,000 threshold at which student loan repayments kick in.

https://www.cityam.com/student-tax-to-hit-graduates-on-minimum-wage-by-april/

UK economy: Interest rate cut a ‘certainty’ in February after weak data

A February interest rate cut is a “certainty” after new data suggests that inflationary pressures are weaker than previously thought, but the path beyond remains unclear.

Economists expect the Bank of England to back a third rate cut next month after two important pieces of economic data were published this week.

Figures out on Wednesday showed that the headline rate of inflation fell to 2.5 per cent in December, down from 2.6 per cent previously and below expectations.

Rate-setters will likely have been paying particular attention to services inflation, which is a good gauge of domestic price pressures.

https://www.cityam.com/uk-economy-interest-rate-cut-a-certainty-in-february-after-weak-data/

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