Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas political leader killed in Theran, had watched the October 7 attacks unfold on television with delight from the safety of Qatar.

Footage from inside his Doha office showed Haniyeh and fellow Hamas officials prostrating themselves on the carpet and praising God in front of a flatscreen TV showing news of the terror attacks.

There were plenty of reasons to be cheerful: this was the single deadliest attack ever launched on Israel by Hamas, one that would define his legacy and the course of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

October 7 no doubt required meticulous planning and approval from the highest levels of Hamas’s leadership, both those in Gaza and the Doha office.

It may also have been coordinated with Hamas’s regional allies, such as Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, who could freely meet Haniyeh due to him being based outside of blockaded Gaza.

Qatar, which has said it holds Israel responsible for the Oct 7 massacre, had hosted Haniyeh in an office in Doha for several years, to the astonishment of Israeli officials. Qatar denied supporting Hamas and said the group was simply part of the reality on the ground.

The wealthy Gulf state had also hosted the Taliban, in what it said was an effort to foster mediation efforts between the Afghan group and the West.

Since the terror attacks of Oct 7, Haniyeh had been free to carry on as before, and had travelled to Iran to meet leaders of the “axis of resistance” there.

Haniyeh had also been a major power broker in the negotiations with Israel to release hostages and pause or end the war in Gaza. He was considered to be the more moderate voice of the Hamas team, compared with the more hardline military chief Yahya Sinwar in hiding in Gaza.

As the then-chairman of Hamas’s political bureau, Haniyeh might not have master-minded the military specifics of the Oct 7. assault, such as the training of fighters inside Gaza and the preparation for ground and naval incursions into Israel.

That job was probably handled by Hamas military chiefs based inside the Gaza Strip, such as Mohammed Deif, the supreme commander of its armed divisions.

Either way, Haniyeh emerged as the public face behind the attack, having given a speech hailing the massacre as the beginning of a new era in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“Enough is enough, the cycle of intifadas and revolutions in the battle to liberate our Palestinian land and our prisoners languishing in occupation prisons must be completed,” he said in the speech.

He then signalled that further violence was coming to Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, where Hamas has a much smaller presence but has carried out numerous attacks in the past.

Born in the al-Shati refugee camp in 1962, Haniyeh joined Hamas while studying Arabic literature at university and quickly rose up the ranks. 

His parents had fled their homes in what is now Ashkelon, a town near the Gaza border, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

As a senior Hamas figure, he was in and out of Israeli prisons throughout his earlier life including a six-month stint in 1988, followed by three years imprisonment in 1989 during the First Intifada, on terror group membership charges.

He was later deported to Lebanon before eventually returning to Gaza where he survived at least one Israeli assassination attempt in the early 2000s amid the Second Intifada.

But it was only in 2006 that he came to prominence worldwide, leading Hamas to an election victory over the Fatah movement – which prompted a civil war and the complete takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas.

Around 2016, Haniyeh relocated from the Gaza Strip to Qatar, where he no doubt considered himself beyond the reach of Israeli forces.

A security guard who was jailed over a plot to kidnap, rape and murder Holly Willoughby is trying to appeal against his convictions and his sentence.

Gavin Plumb was found guilty of soliciting murder and inciting rape and kidnap, following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

The 37-year-old, from Harlow in Essex, was sentenced at the same court earlier this month to life in prison – with a minimum term of 16 years.

Officials at the Royal Courts of Justice said on Wednesday that they have received applications for permission to appeal against the convictions and the sentence.

Typically, applications for permission to appeal against a crown court decision are considered by a judge without a hearing.

If this is refused, people have the right to renew their bid for permission at a full court hearing before two or three judges.

Mr Justice Edward Murray, the sentencing judge, told Plumb earlier this month: “There is no doubt that if you had genuinely found one or more accomplices who were seriously interested in and had been willing to join you in carrying your plan through then you would have put this plan into action.”

He sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 16 years, minus the 280 days he had spent on remand – taking the total to a minimum jail term of 15 years and 85 days.

The creator of Baby Reindeer, the hit Netflix series, has detailed in court papers the “exhausting and extremely upsetting” stalking he allegedly experienced.

Richard Gadd, who also stars in the show, wrote he had suffered “stalking, harassment, abuse and threats” at the hands of a woman who is now suing Netflix over her portrayal in the series.

Fiona Harvey is seeking at least $170 million (£133 million) in a lawsuit filed against Netflix after she claimed to be the inspiration behind the character of Martha Scott, who stalks Gadd’s character Donny Dunn after he serves her a free cup of tea in the pub where he works.

In a 21-page document filed to a California court on Monday, Gadd emphasised the series was a “dramatic work”.

He wrote: “It is not a documentary or an attempt at realism. While the Series is based on my life and real-life events and is, at its core, emotionally true, it is not a beat-by-beat recounting of the events and emotions I experienced as they transpired. It is fictionalized, and is not intended to portray actual facts.”

“Although these stage productions were emotionally true and based on real events in my life, they dramatized people, places, things, and events to tell a story,” Gadd wrote in the filing. “I did not write the Series as a representation of actual facts about any real person, including Fiona Harvey … Martha Scott is not Fiona Harvey.”

He also outlined the effect of Harvey’s actions towards him, claiming she followed him around London. 

“The cumulative effect of all of Harvey’s actions was enormous,” he wrote. “It was exhausting and extremely upsetting to deal with her constant personal interactions in the Hawley Arms, her following me around London including near where I lived and her relentless and deeply unpleasant communications.”

In her lawsuit, Harvey has accused Netflix of spreading “brutal lies”, including that she is a “twice convicted stalker who was sentenced to five years in prison”.

“Defendants told these lies, and never stopped, because it was a better story than the truth, and better stories made money,” the documents stated.

“As a result of defendants’ lies, malfeasance and utterly reckless misconduct, Harvey’s life had been ruined.”

The court documents alleged Netflix “did literally nothing” to confirm that the story represented was true, stating that “Harvey has never been convicted of any crime and has never been to prison”.

A statement from Netflix said: “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.”

The lawsuit seeks actual damages and compensatory damages of $50 million (£39 million) each; punitive damages at $20 million (£15 million); as well as “all profits” from Baby Reindeer at $50 million (£38 million).