Exclusive: Operation comes weeks earlier than expected and is thought to have been timed to coincide with local elections

The Home Office will launch a surprise operation to detain asylum seekers across the UK on Monday, weeks earlier than expected, in preparation for their deportation to Rwanda, the Guardian can reveal.

Officials plan to hold refugees who turn up for routine meetings at immigration service offices and will also pick people up nationwide in a major two-week exercise.

Prime minister says he is not distracted by poor personal ratings as rebel MPs are said to be plotting to oust him after local elections

Rishi Sunak has refused to quash speculation of a July general election as he insisted he was not “distracted” by his personal ratings lingering at record lows.

The prime minister said he would not “say anything more than I’ve already said” and that his “working assumption” was there would be an election in the second half of the year.

Israel has started to meet commitments it made to Joe Biden on allowing aid into the north of Gaza, says White House national security spokesperson

The Gaza health ministry on Sunday reported at least 66 Palestinians had been killed in the past 24 hours.

In central Gaza, Mohammed al-Hattab said he found his one-year-old baby in the rubble after an Israeli airstrike hit the Nuseirat refugee camp over the weekend.

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Ange Postecoglou is asked what Tottenham need to do well today. “Pretty much everything! A lot on the line for both clubs, but we need to embrace it, and focus on what we’ve done well this season. If you want to be challenging for things, every game at the end of the season is going to be big. Has it felt like a long time since Newcastle? “An eternity, mate. I would have preferred to have games, but we’ve tried to use our time wisely.”

Whether you’re an anxious Arsenal fan, a stressed Spurs supporter or just an invested neutral, get in touch and let me know your thoughts. Email niall.mcveigh@theguardian.com or tweet me over here.

Lorna Slater says she cannot imagine anything that would change party’s position after ‘spectacular breach of trust’

Humza Yousaf’s leadership hangs by a thread as he approaches a confidence vote this week, with the Scottish Greens remaining unequivocal that he no longer has their support after he axed their power-sharing agreement.

Scottish government sources have admitted they are not assuming the Greens will shift position after Yousaf precipitated a spiralling crisis in his government on Thursday morning. The first minister blindsided colleagues by ripping up the Bute House agreement, brokered by Nicola Sturgeon after the 2021 Holyrood election, which cemented a progressive pro-independence majority in the Scottish parliament.

Exclusive: School leaders say they have had to take on additional role as caretaker because they can no longer afford staff

Headteachers are being forced to mend desks and unblock toilets themselves after sacking school caretakers in the wake of budget cuts, the Guardian has been told.

School leaders in England said they could not afford to employ caretakers, and were having to change lightbulbs and clear playgrounds of dead rats themselves.

Two people still in hospital after major incident across Westward Ho!, Bideford and Barnstaple

A second man has died after being supplied with an “unusually strong batch” of heroin circulating in north Devon.

One man died after taking the substance on Friday and police confirmed a second man, who had earlier been admitted to hospital, died late on Saturday.

Labour former home secretary says imprisonment for public protection sentences have resulted in ‘deeply damaging outcomes’

David Blunkett, the former Labour home secretary, has said devising legislation that has left people languishing in prison for minor offences is the “biggest regret” of his eight years at the heart of government.

The Labour peer, a titan of the Brown-Blair era, said that imprisonment for public protection (IPP) – known as the 99-year sentence – is the greatest blot in his copybook.

Exclusive: Liz Bonnin’s face used on insect repellant advert after deal negotiated via WhatsApp and voice notes generated by AI

There was something strange about her voice, they thought. It was not unfamiliar but, after a while, it started to go all over the place.

Science presenter Liz Bonnin’s accent, as regular BBC viewers know, is Irish. But this voice message, ostensibly granting permission to use her likeness in an ad campaign, seemed to place her on the other side of the world.

Burnley FC says it was informed about ‘offensive footage’ on social media from some of its supporters

A football fan has been charged with causing harassment, alarm or distress over alleged tragedy chanting during a Premier League match between Manchester United and Burnley.

Burnley FC said it was informed about “offensive footage” on social media from some of its travelling supporters at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon.