The News Agents

Palestinians have started to flee Gaza City after the IDF commenced its offensive on the largest city in the Strip.

The incursion has been condemned by aid agencies, international allies and hostage families. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the move is necessary to "shortening the timelines" to seize "the last terror strongholds" in Gaza from Hamas. What happens now? We speak to Leila Molana-Allen, special correspondent for PBS Newshour.

Later, Jon interviews the historian Andrew Lownie about his bombshell new book 'Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York'.

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Anti-migrant protesters are celebrating today, with The Bell Hotel in Epping set to close its doors to asylum seekers after becoming a battleground over the summer on the issue.

A High Court ruling ordered The Bell to stop housing migrants on a planning technicality. It did not receive the proper permission to switch its use from short-term stays to people living there for more than 30-day stretches, despite having run as such without incident for more than five years.

A failed last-minute attempt by the Home Office to get the case dismissed laid out the department's concerns. The government barrister warned that any injunction could lead to other councils following suit, a development "that would aggravate the pressures on the asylum estate."

He also warned that granting the injunction would “"run the risk of acting as an impetus for further violent protests".

Those appeals were unsuccessful. And now the government is having to work out where those asylum seekers will now live. If other councils follow suit - and succeed - it could become a major political crisis. Despite all the noise around this issue, are politicians giving any serious thought to alternatives?

Later, more gloomy news on the economy for Labour - is there any way for Rachel Reeves to wriggle out of the fiscal straightjacket she now finds herself in?

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There is a growing chorus of opinion - both inside the Labour party and out - which is increasingly uneasy about the recent mass arrests of demonstrators who have been showing their support for the now proscribed group Palestine Action.

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, banned the direct action group under terrorism legislation in July - but since then hundreds of people have been detained for expressing solidarity with the body and its aims. But that decision has been questioned, with Labour members opposed to the move, Labour MPs critical, and even the author Sally Rooney pledging to fund the organisation. Could the government rethink its strategy? Or does it need to do more to explain why it took the action it did?

We speak to Lib Dem leader, Sir Ed Davey, about why he is now calling for a review of the terrorism legislation following the Palestine Action arrests.

Later, as Donald Trump floats security guarantees "by air" for Ukraine on Fox News (where else?), Jon and Lewis take stock on where we are now the morning after the night before that dramatic evening in the White House.

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In a tone entirely different from Zelenksyy’s last visit to Washington in February, this evening saw Trump praising the Ukrainian president. Zelenksyy was on the charm offensive. And it seemed to work. Trump bestowed his other European guests with compliments and promised that America would play a key part in the security guarantees if there is a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

It was in some ways a remarkable event, with European leaders sat around the roundtable kissing the ring of President Trump. But will it amount to anything? Can the US really guarantee the security of Ukraine? Will it? And where does this leave peace talks now?

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There's plenty about the build up to this Trump-Zelenskyy summit which tells you that it is no normal meeting. The questions over whether President Zelenskyy will wear a suit and tie. The video from the plane where Keir Starmer pleads with Trump to secure a "just peace". And the Truth Social posts from President Trump, just hours ahead of their talks, where he pre-emptively told the world that NATO membership was off the cards for Ukraine, as was the prospect of Crimea being returned.

Why is Trump seemingly setting pre-conditions for Ukraine which look very much like Kremlin objectives? Can European leaders convince Trump to stand by Ukraine if the conflict continues? Or could we be set for a repeat of the ugly scenes we saw in the White House in February - where Trump and JD Vance openly berated their guest, accused him of disrespect, and told him he held none of the cards?

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President Zelenksyy is on his way to Washington to meet with President Trump. He's followed by several European leaders, including Keir Starmer. Rarely is international diplomacy carried out under these circumstances. So, what would a deal look like? Why are those European leaders choosing to go to with Zelenkyy? And is this Europe's final stand against Putin?

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From coast to coast, America’s towns and cities have been besieged by an opioid epidemic, a crisis which has wrought misery and wielded political consequence.

Deep in the Nevada desert, Las Vegas - a city renowned for its seedy underbelly, has some 1,500 people living in its 600 miles of flash flood tunnels - many addicted to fentanyl. Lewis meets some of the tunnels’ residents to find out how this years-long epidemic is still wreaking havoc and claiming lives.

Despite being insulated from the crisis for so long, British treatment services are sounding the alarm bell. Nitazenes, a family of extremely powerful synthetic opioids, are spiking the drug market with dealers carrying out dangerous experiments on their clients causing overdose after overdose on the streets of Britain.

Has the opioid epidemic, once thought of as a uniquely American problem, now landed in the UK?

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Gabby and Mark answer your Premier League questions ahead of the new season!

Which Match of the Day pundit is most fun to watch a match with? Best Premier League game we've ever watched live? And what's our wildest hot take for the season? (09:15)

Plus we look back at a big week on the podcast featuring Alan Shearer's Premier League predictions, Chris Wilder's survival guide for promoted sides, and David Ornstein's updates on the biggest transfers. (03:00)

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Barely a day goes by without a right-wing influencer proclaiming that London has fallen. Crime in the capital, it is said, is rampant, police nowhere to be seen - it's a grim picture painted by those who decry 'Sadiq Khan's London'.

But is any of this actually borne out in reality? Do the facts back up this portrait of the city? And if not, why are there so many on the hard right so determined to trash London's image?

Later, a report from Vegas about a jaw-dropping new AI product, which raises questions about life, death, and the commercialisation of grief.

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While the Vice President holidays in the Cotswolds, Donald Trump's administration has accused the British government of “repeatedly” imposing “serious restrictions” on free speech - and accuses the UK of backsliding on human rights.

The US State Department cites the Online Safety Act and abortion buffer zones, in its rationale for sounding the alarm about Britain's recent record - does it have a leg to stand on? LBC's political editor Natasha Clark joins Jon to explore that report.

Later, with European leaders meeting with President Zelenskyy today, capitals across the continent are bracing for impact ahead of the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska on Friday. Jon and Mark Galeotti, the historian and Russia-watcher, look ahead to that meeting and where it might leave Ukraine.

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