Newshour

US President Donald Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of his Gaza ceasefire deal.

We'll speak to the father of one of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza and get reaction from Gaza City. We also assess the chances and the many obstacles that remain in the way of a lasting peace deal.

Also on the programme: this year's Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded to the Hungarian writer Laszlo Krasznahorkai; and the celebrated Chinese pianist Lang Lang on his new album.

(Photo: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio updates President Trump on the Gaza proposal on September 22 at the White House. Credit: Reuters)

Former FBI director James Comey has pleaded not guilty in a US federal court to charges of making false statements to Congress and obstruction of justice.

Also on the programme: President Trump has called for the jailing of Illinois governor and Chicago mayor, accusing them of not doing enough to ensure the safety of federal immigration officers who are conducting raids in Chicago; France's outgoing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu says President Emmanuel Macron could nominate a new prime minister in the next 48 hours; and the award-winning musical 'Les Misérables’ turns 40.

(Photo:James Comey, former director of the FBI, is seen in a frame grab from a video feed as he is sworn in remotely from his home during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing exploring the FBI's investigation of the 2016 Trump campaign and Russian election interference in Washington, on the 30th of September 2020. Credit: U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary/Handout via REUTERS)

The price of gold has hit a record high of more than $4,000 an ounce as investors look for safe places to put their money over concerns about economic and political uncertainty around the world.

Also in the programme: Is time running out for France's President Emmanuel Macron? And we meet the woman trying to become the first person on record to walk the length of Saudi Arabia, from north to south.

(Photo: Gold bars at bullion house in Mumbai. Credit: Reuters/Arko Datta/File Photo)

The attacks saw over 1,200 people killed and 251 others taken back to Gaza as hostages. It was the single deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. Israel responded by launching a military offensive in Gaza which has killed more than 67,000 people, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Its figures are seen as reliable by the UN and other international bodies. We'll hear from Eli Sharabi, an Israeli hostage held for almost five hundred days in the tunnels of Gaza, and ask how the last two years have re-shaped the region.

Also on the programme: how the victims of the Mynanmar military junta are suing a Norwegian telecoms firm; and the newly-crowned Nobel Prize winner, Fred Ramsdell, recalls how his digital detox was interrupted by the news of his win.

(Photo: People attend a ceremony in Tel Aviv to mark the two-year anniversary of the Hams-led October 7th attacks on Israel. Credit: REUTERS/Shir Torem)

Israelis are marking two years since Hamas's attacks on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage. Meanwhile mediators at talks on the US Gaza peace plan are reported to have reached an understanding with Israel and Hamas on a five-point framework for negotiations.

Also in the programme: the Nobel Prize for Physics; and some good news about humpback whales in Australia.

(Photo: Israelis visit memorials at the site of the Nova music festival, near Re'im, on the second anniversary of the 07 October 2023 Hamas attacks, near the Gaza border, southern Israel, 07 October 2025. Credit: Atef Safadi EPA/Shutterstock)

France is facing further political chaos after the country's latest prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, resigned after just 26 days in the role. We'll hear from a French parliamentarian with the right-of centre party, Les Républicains - and we'll get the long view on French politics from veteran French journalist Christine Ockrent.

Also - as indirect talks begin between Hamas and Israeli delegations over the US-led peace plan for Gaza, we'll hear from an American go-between who knows the Hamas negotiators; and we look at what the appointment of Bari Weiss at CBS News says about the political weather surrounding journalism in the US.

(Photo: French outgoing Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who presented his government's resignation to the French president this morning, leaves after he delivered a statement at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, France, October 6, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe)

The chief negotiator for Hamas is reported to be meeting Egyptian and Qatari mediators in Cairo ahead of indirect talks, later in the day, with Israeli negotiators in Sharm El-Sheikh. They're looking to determine a date for the start of a Gaza truce and create conditions for the first phase of the peace plan, in which the remaining Israeli hostages would be swapped for hundreds of Palestinian detainees.

Also in the programme: The French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has quit. There is political turmoil caused by inconclusive snap elections; and this year's Nobel Prize for Medicine has been awarded to three researchers for discoveries on the human immune system.

(Photo: Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes at Tal Al Hawa neighborhood during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 06 October 2025. Credit: Mohammed Saber /EPA/Shutterstock)

The prime minister of Georgia has announced plans to outlaw the main opposition parties. Irakli Kobakhidze was speaking a day after anti-government protesters tried to storm the presidential palace. We hear from opposition activist Giga Lemonjava.

Also in the programme: Israel and Hamas prepare for indirect talks; and inside legendary guitar shop Regent sounds.

(Picture: Georgian opposition parties supporters clash with riot police during a rally after local elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, 04 October 2025. Credit: EPA)

Syria is holding its first parliamentary elections since the fall of Bashar al-Assad last December -- but the vast majority of the population can't vote and the president is choosing many of the candidates.

Also, can the US-led peace plan for Gaza work? We'll hear about the key negotiations due to begin in Cairo and ask whether it's feasible to expect Hamas to disarm. And a bigger question: when does anti-Zionism equate to anti-Semitism?

Plus a legendary guitar goes on display in a shop in London.

Picture: Voting begins for representatives of Syria's new parliament in Damascus on October 5, 2025. Credit: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi)

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that diplomatic and military pressure have forced Hamas to agree to free the hostages it is holding. As Israel and Hamas prepare to take part in indirect talks in Cairo, Mr Netanyahu thanked Donald Trump for his peace plan.

Also in the programme: protests in Georgia; and 50 years of the Rocky Horror Show.

(Picture: Hostages Square 2-Year Rally - a large banner reads: 'It's Now or Never' - displayed in response to Trump's Gaza peace plan to end the war and the return of all the remaining hostages: The rally was held at Hostages Square to mark two years since the October 7 attacks. Credit: Hostages Families Forum)