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The children of jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi have accepted this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf at a ceremony in Oslo.

The 17-year-old twins Kiana and Ali Rahmani collected the prize awarded to Ms Mohammadi by the Norwegian Nobel committee in October.

Ms Mohammadi, who is renowned for campaigning for women’s rights and democracy in Iran, as well as fighting against the death penalty, is currently in prison in Tehran.

In a speech read out by her children, Ms Mohammadi, 51, said the Iranian people would ultimately overcome authoritarianism.

“The Iranian people, with perseverance, will overcome repression and authoritarianism. Have no doubt, this is certain,” she said in her speech sent from Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

Her daughter, who lives in exile in Paris with her brother and father, said she had little hope of seeing her mother again.

“Maybe I’ll see her in 30 or 40 years, but I think I won’t see her again,” Ms Rahmani said.

“But that doesn’t matter because my mother will always live on in my heart, values that are worth fighting for.”

Ms Mohammadi’s husband Taghi Rahmani has previously said he has not been able to see his wife for 11 years, while their children haven’t seen their mother for seven years.

The women’s rights activist was symbolically represented on stage in Oslo City Hall by her portrait and an empty chair.

It is the fifth time in the 122-year history of the awards that the Nobel Peace Prize has been given to someone in prison or under house arrest.

Ms Mohammadi was awarded the prize just over a year after nationwide protests in Iran, triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of the Iranian morality police. She was accused of violating the country’s strict headscarf law which forces women to cover their hair and bodies.

The protests were put down with deadly force.

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In her message from prison, Ms Mohammadi said: “We believe that the mandatory hijab imposed by the government is neither a religious obligation or a cultural tradition, but rather a means of maintaining control and submission throughout society.

“The reality is that the Islamic Republic regime is at its lowest level of legitimacy and popular social support.

“Now is the time for international civil society to support Iranian civil society, and I will exert all my efforts in this regard.”

Iran has branded the protests Western-led subversion and has accused the Nobel committee of meddling.

Ms Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the peace prize and the second Iranian woman after human rights activist Shirin Ebadi won the award in 2003.

The gulf between Israel and the US on one hand – and Arab states and much of the rest of the world on the other – couldn’t really be greater.

With the US diplomatic backing, and with more of its ammunition supplies being shipped to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that to achieve his goals of rescuing hostages – but more importantly, in reality, the destruction of Hamas – then a ceasefire is a non-starter.

The UN secretary-general and the Qatari and Egyptian peace negotiators are clearly exasperated but insist that they’ll continue to look for a way to narrow the gulf between the two sides and find a solution.

Follow latest developments in the Israel-Hamas conflict

Despite their admirable work, in truth they won’t get very far for the time being because neither of the protagonists – Hamas and Israel – seem awfully interested in a ceasefire anyway.

That might change because the fighting is intensifying now, and while both sides are losing men, the Hamas numbers are significantly higher.

They are outnumbered and outgunned.

The Israel Defence Forces have certainly stepped up face-to-face confrontation with their enemy, and the fighting is taking place in new areas.

Pictures shared on social media from the heart of the city of Khan Younis show empty streets and the sounds of heavy fighting reverberating.

People have been told to evacuate the centre, which had until now been spared the same level of destruction seen in an around Gaza City to the north.

Both Hamas and the IDF say they are engaged in street-by-street fighting.

But away from the tactical nuances and shifts in strategy on the battlefield, the overwhelming concern of the international community isn’t who is winning, but what is happening to the civilian population.

And that is properly grim.

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People are now living on the sides of roads, outside hospitals – basically wherever they think is safe – in makeshift plastic tents.

Many feel it is simply too dangerous to be inside buildings.

Our team inside Gaza found Hassan al A’ajam living on the street with 21 other members of his immediate family.

They evacuated from Gaza City and are now in the central part of the Strip.

“We can’t even find a room let alone a house, there are no spaces even in the schools to go to,” he told Sky News.

“We live on the streets because we have nowhere else to go and don’t know where to go. We have found nothing, absolutely nothing.

“The children don’t know anything or see anything else apart from horror. Their state of horror is so extreme that life for them is dead.

“The most important thing is a truce, and that’s what we want right now, we want to go back to our homes.”

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Across Gaza, the few hospitals that are barely functioning are overflowing – some of them have put up tents outside to treat the steady stream of injured brought to their doors.

It’s clear that many here have had enough of the rising number of dead, the lack of aid, and the continuing fighting.

Some blame Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, himself.

“We are tired, it’s enough, I don’t have any breath left in me!” one man shouted at our camera inside Gaza.

“What resolution? Just give up and surrender!

“This is the act of idiots! He caused the death of his own people – Sinwar has killed his own people!”

Conditions really are intolerable, and there is simply not enough aid getting in. Aid agencies say that their whole operations are grinding to a halt.

The aid network is disintegrating.

And if that happens, then these people will have absolutely nothing.

Donald Trump has pulled out of giving evidence at his New York civil fraud trial.

The former US president had been expected to return to the witness stand on Monday.

He was due to be the last big defence witness in the case, which threatens his real estate empire.

Posting on social media, Trump said he “VERY SUCCESSFULLY & CONCLUSIVELY” testified last month and saw no need to appear again.

In the posts, written in capital letters, he said he had “nothing more to say”.

He went on to repeat his claim that the case was a “witch hunt” aimed at hindering his bid to retake the White House.

Trump is accused of inflating his net worth to secure loans and insurance policies on more favourable terms. He denies any wrongdoing.

The former president gave evidence in court on 6 November, where he repeatedly sparred with the judge who he described as “extremely hostile”.

Trump gave a series of lengthy answers to which the judge responded: “This is not a political rally”.

His defence lawyers had been due to lead questioning on Monday, although state lawyers could have cross-examined him.

The trial, which has lasted more than two months, was initiated last year when New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump over what she claimed was his pattern of misleading banks and insurers.

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The lawsuit accuses Trump, his company and top executives – including his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr – of inflating wealth.

The judge, Arthur Engoron, ruled before the trial that Trump and other defendants engaged in fraud.

He ordered that a receiver take control of some Trump properties, but an appeals court has paused that.

The judge is now considering six other claims made in the lawsuit, including allegations of conspiracy and insurance fraud.

Trump is the current frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination ahead of next year’s election.

This civil case is one of several ongoing legal battles he faces.

Three shepherd dogs have mauled a woman to death in her garden in Greece.

The woman, who was 50, was attacked at about midday in the village of Neochorouda – 10 miles (16km) northwest of Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city.

Police said the dogs escaped through a hole in their owner’s fence about 80m (262ft) away and ran to the woman’s garden where she was working.

A man who police said is deaf-mute was helping her at the time – but was too far away and could not hear the screams.

Emergency workers arrived with an ambulance to treat the woman, who was severely mauled and bleeding heavily, but she was confirmed dead at the scene.

The 37-year-old dog owner was arrested and faces a prosecutor on Monday morning, and the dogs are being held in a kennel and will be put down.

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According to Greek state broadcaster ERT, the woman’s two teenage sons – aged 17 and 18 – heard her screams but were too late to help.

Her ex-husband told the broadcaster the dogs were “huge, wild ones”.

“They have left many times and chased people many times,” he added.

“It is not the first time.”

Greek newspaper Ta Nea reports the woman had lived in the area for 20 years and was a candidate in local elections.

واس – أوتاوا:

التقى أعضاء اللجنة الوزارية المكلفة من القمة العربية الإسلامية المشتركة غير العادية، برئاسة صاحب السمو الأمير فيصل بن فرحان بن عبدالله وزير خارجية المملكة العربية السعودية، أمس الأول، في العاصمة الكندية أوتاوا، بدولة رئيس وزراء كندا السيد جاستن ترودو، وذلك بمشاركة ومعالي وزير الخارجية والمغتربين لدولة فلسطين رياض المالكي، ومعالي وزير خارجية جمهورية تركيا هاكان فيدان.

وجرى خلال اللقاء، مناقشة الأحداث المتسارعة والتطورات الخطيرة في قطاع غزة وتداعياتها، والتصعيد العسكري اتجاه المدنيين العزل، وأهمية الوقف الفوري لإطلاق النار، بما يضمن عودة الأمن والاستقرار لقطاع غزة.

وشدد أعضاء اللجنة على أهمية بذل المجتمع الدولي الجهود كافة للتحرك بشكلٍ فوري وعاجل نحو وقف الانتهاكات المستمرة من قبل قوات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي، للقانون الدولي والقانون الدولي الإنساني، بما يضمن حماية كاملة للمدنيين في قطاع غزة.

وأعرب أعضاء اللجنة عن امتعاضهم تجاه تعطيل قرارات مجلس الأمن والأمم المتحدة التي تطالب بوقف إطلاق النار، واتخاذ الخطوات الجادة والعاجلة لضمان تأمين الممرات الإغاثية لإيصال المساعدات الإنسانية والغذائية والطبية العاجلة لقطاع غزة.

كما طالب أعضاء اللجنة باضطلاع المجتمع الدولي بمسؤوليته نحو العودة إلى مسار السلام الشامل والعادل، بما يحفظ الأمن والسلم الدوليين، معربين عن قلقهم إزاء اتساع رقعة الاعتداءات السافرة التي تمارسها قوات الاحتلال على المدنيين، والمخالفات المتكررة للقانون الدولي.

وشدد أعضاء اللجنة على أهمية تهيئة الظروف السياسية الجادة لقيام دولة فلسطينية مستقلة على خطوط الرابع من يونيو لعام 1967م، وفقاً للقرارات الدولية ذات الصلة، معربين عن رفضهم لتجزئة القضية الفلسطينية ومناقشة مستقبل قطاع غزة بمعزل عن القضية الفلسطينية.