Appearance and reality: there is a constant battle in Moscow between the two.

Despite nearly three years of war, life here can seem so normal: from the crowds of commuters on the Metro to the bars and clubs packed with young Muscovites.

Then, suddenly, something happens to remind you: there is nothing normal about Russia today.

That “something” can be a Ukrainian drone penetrating Moscow’s air defences.

Or – even more dramatic – what happened on Tuesday morning: the targeted assassination of a senior Russian general as he walked out of an apartment block.

When Lt Gen Igor Kirillov and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov were killed by a bomb concealed on an electric scooter, the reality of Russia’s war on Ukraine hit home.

At least to those Russians close to the crime scene.

“It’s one thing reading about it in the news, it feels far, but when it happens next door to you, that’s completely different and frightening,” Liza tells me. She lives one building from the site of the blast.

“Until now, [the war] felt as if it was happening a long way off – now someone is dead, here, you can feel the consequences.

“My anxiety has gone through the roof. Every sound you hear unnerves you – you wonder whether it’s a drone or something at a construction site,” Liza says.

This perception of Russia’s war in Ukraine as something distant – I’ve heard that so often here. I get the sense that, for a considerable portion of the population, this is a war they only experience on their TV screen or on their smart phone. In many ways, a virtual war.

Astonishing, really, considering the large number of dead and wounded.

But the killing of a Russian general in Moscow: that is a definite wake-up call; proof that this war is very real and very close to home.

Will it serve as a wake-up call for the Russian authorities?

Probably not. There is little sign of a Kremlin U-turn on Ukraine. Moscow is far more likely to intensify the war.

Just look at the signs.

Reacting to news of Kirillov’s killing, the host of a political talk show on Russian state TV blamed Ukraine and claimed that “with this attack President Zelensky has signed his own death sentence”.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said “investigators must find the killers in Russia.” He added: “We must do everything to destroy their patrons who are in Kyiv.”

From President Vladimir Putin there has been no public reaction so far to the killing of the general and his assistant.

But the Kremlin leader has said many times before that, faced with security threats, Russia “will always respond”.

Based on that pledge, retaliation is likely.

On Thursday, the Kremlin leader is due to hold his annual end-of-year press conference and phone-in. It’s normally a marathon affair broadcast live by all the main TV channels.

I wonder: will he use the event to comment on the dramatic early morning assassination of Kirillov?

Will he break his silence on Syria? The Russian president has so far said nothing publicly about the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Moscow’s key ally in the Middle East.

And what will he tell Russians about where their country is heading, as the war in Ukraine – what Putin still calls his “special military operation” – approaches the three-year mark?

The death toll from an earthquake that struck Vanuatu on Tuesday has risen to 14, as search teams claw through piles of rubble in an attempt to locate survivors.

Two hundred others are being treated for injuries, with powerful aftershocks from the 7.3-magnitude tremor reported overnight.

The earthquake damaged buildings, including the embassies of the US, France, the UK and New Zealand. It also cut power and mobile services.

Vanuatu police say a seven-day state of emergency has been declared to limit the movement of the public while search and relief operations are underway.

Four of the fatalities died at hospital in the capital city of Port Vila, the government said. Six were from a landslide, while four were from a collapsed building, where the toll was expected to rise further.

Two of the fatalities were Chinese nationals, Chinese Ambassador to Vanuatu Li Minggang told state media.

An estimated 116,000 people could be affected by the worst impacts of the quake, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

Neighbouring Australia will send teams to assist in the search and rescue effort, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told ABC News on Wednesday. The US and France have also pledged aid.

Photos shared by Vanuatu Police on Facebook showed rescuers sifting through rubble by hand and crawling under the floors of collapsed buildings.

At least 10 buildings in Port Vila sustained “major structural damage”, the government’s disaster management office said.

From the rubble of one three-storey building, rescuers heard the voices of at least three people, Vanuatu resident Michael Thompson told AFP news agency.

Thompson said rescuers used “everything we can get our hands on”, including jack hammers, grinders and concrete saws, to rescue people.

Images from state broadcaster VBTC showed many businesses in Port Vila closed on Wednesday, with debris scattered on the sidewalk and some roads cracked.

Some people could be seen looking for essential supplies.

The earthquake struck at 12:47 local time (01:47 GMT) on Tuesday and triggered a brief tsunami warning.

Vanuatu, a low-lying archipelago of some 80 islands in the South Pacific, is located west of Fiji and thousands of kilometres east of northern Australia.

The nation sits in a seismically active area, and is susceptible to frequent large earthquakes and other natural disasters.

Each morning, the queues began forming before dawn. Groups of women – always women – stood in the autumn chill on a pavement beside a busy ring road, outside Avignon’s glass and concrete courthouse.

They came, day after day. Some brought flowers. All wanted to be in place to applaud Gisèle Pelicot as she walked, purposefully, up the steps and through the glass doors. Some dared to approach her.

A few shouted: “We’re with you, Gisèle,” and “Be brave.”

Most then stayed on, hoping to secure seats in the courthouse’s public overflow room from where they could watch proceedings on a television screen. They were there to bear witness to the courage of a grandmother, as she sat quietly in court, surrounded by dozens of her rapists.

“I see myself in her,” said Isabelle Munier, 54. “One of the men on trial was once a friend of mine. It’s disgusting.”

“She’s become a figurehead for feminism,” said Sadjia Djimli, 20.

But they came for other reasons too.

Above all, it seemed, they were looking for answers. As France digests the implications of its largest rape trial, which is due to end this week, it’s clear that many French women – and not just those at the courthouse in Avignon – are pondering two fundamental questions.

The first question is visceral. What might it say about French men – some would say all men – that 50 of them, in one small, rural neighbourhood, were apparently willing to accept a casual invitation to have sex with an unknown woman as she lay, unconscious, in a stranger’s bedroom?

The second question emerges from the first: how far will this trial go in helping to tackle an epidemic of sexual violence and of drug-facilitated rape, and in challenging deeply held prejudices and ignorance about shame and consent?

Put simply, will Gisèle Pelicot’s courageous stand and her determination – as she has put it, to make “shame swap sides” from the victim to the rapist – change anything?

A long trial creates its own microclimate and, over the past weeks, a strange sort of normality developed inside Avignon’s Palais de Justice. Amid the TV cameras and the huddles of lawyers, the sight of dozens of alleged rapists – faces not always hidden behind masks – no longer provoked the shock it had at the start.

The accused strolled around, chatting, joking, grabbing coffee from the machine or returning from a café across the road, and, in the process, somehow emphasised the core argument of their various defence strategies: that these were just regular guys, a cross-section of French society, who were looking for a “swinging” adventure online and got caught up in something unexpected.

“[That argument is] the most shocking thing about this case. It’s harrowing to think about it,” says Elsa Labouret, who works for a French activist group, Dare to be Feminist.

“I think most people in long-term relationships with men think of their partner as someone trustworthy. But now there’s this sense of identification [with Gisèle Pelicot] for a lot of women. Like, ‘okay, so that can happen to me’.

“These are not criminal masterminds,” she continues. “They just went on the internet… So, it is possible similar things are happening everywhere.” It’s a view widely held, but also widely contested in France.

France’s Institute of Public Policies released figures in 2024 showing that on average, 86% of complaints of sexual abuse and 94% of rapes were either not prosecuted or never came to a trial, in the period between 2012 and 2021.

Ms Labouret argues that sexual violence happens when certain men know that they “can get away with it. And I think that’s a big reason why it’s so rampant in France.”

Throughout the four-month trial, at the end of each courtroom break, the accused would gather by the metal detector before muscling past the mostly female press corps, also waiting to enter the chamber. Inside, one by one, the men took their turn to share their accounts.

A court-appointed psychiatrist Laurent Layet testified that the accused were neither “monsters” nor “ordinary men”. Some wept. A few confessed. But most offered an array of excuses, with many saying they were simply “libertines” – as the French put it – indulging a couple’s fantasies, and that they had no way of knowing Ms Pelicot had not consented. Others claimed Dominique Pelicot had intimidated them.

There are very few clear patterns or shared characteristics among the 51 men on trial. They represent a wide spectrum in society: three-quarters have children. Half are married or in a relationship. Just over a quarter of them said they had been abused or raped as children.

There is no discernible grouping by age or job or social class. The two traits they all share are that they’re male, and that they made contact on an illicit online chat forum called Coco, known for catering to swingers, as well as attracting paedophiles and drug dealers. According to French prosecutors, the site, which was shut down earlier this year, has been cited in more than 23,000 reports of criminal activity.

The BBC has found that 23 of those on trial – or 45% – had previous criminal convictions. Although the authorities do not collect precise data, according to some estimates that is approximately four times the national average in France.

“There’s no typical profile of men who commit sexual violence,” concluded Labouret.

One person who has followed the case more closely than most is Juliette Campion, a French journalist who has been in court throughout the trial to report for the public broadcaster France Info. “I think this case could have happened in other countries, of course. But I think it says a lot about how men see women in France… About the notion of consent,” she says.

“A lot of men don’t know what consent actually is, so [the case] says a lot about our country, sadly.”

The Pelicot case is certainly helping to shape the contours of attitudes to rape across France.

On 21 September, a group of prominent French men, including actors, singers, musicians and journalists, wrote a public letter that was published in Liberation newspaper, arguing that the Pelicot case proved that male violence “is not a matter of monsters”.

“It is a matter of men, of Mr Everyman,” the letter said. “All men, without exception, benefit from a system that dominates women.”

It also sketched out a “road map” for men seeking to challenge the patriarchy, with advice such as “let’s stop thinking there is a masculine nature that justifies our behaviour”.

Some experts believe the huge public interest in the Pelicot case could already be producing benefits.

“This whole case is so useful for everyone, for all generations, for young boys, for young girls, for adults,” says Karen Noblinski, a Paris-based lawyer specialising in sexual assault cases.

“It has raised awareness in young people. Rape doesn’t always happen in a bar, in a club. It can happen in our home.”

But there is clearly much more work to be done. I went to meet Louis Bonnet, who is the mayor of the Pelicots’ home village, Mazan, early on in the trial. Although he was unequivocal in condemning the alleged rapes, he stated clearly and twice that he felt Gisèle Pelicot’s experience had been overblown, and argued that as she’d been unconscious, she had suffered less than other rape victims.

“Yes, I am minimising it, because I think it could have been much worse,” he said at the time.

“When there are kids involved, or women killed, then that is very serious because you can’t go back. In this case, the family will have to rebuild itself. It will be hard, but no one died. So, they can still do it.”

Bonnet’s comments provoked outrage across France. The Mayor later issued a statement, expressing his “sincere apologies”.

Online, many of the debates around the case have focused on the controversial suggestion that “all men” are capable of rape. There’s no evidence to support such a claim. Some men have pushed back against the argument, using the hashtag #NotAllMen.

“We do not ask other women to bear the ‘shame’ of women who behave badly, why should the mere fact of being a man qualify us to bear the shame?” asked one man on social media.

But the pushback was swift. Women reacted to the #NotAllMen hashtag with anger and, sometimes, with details of their own abuse.

“The hashtag has been created by men and used by men. It’s a way to silence the suffering of women,” wrote journalist Manon Mariani. Later, a male musician and influencer, Waxx, added his own criticism, telling the hashtag users to “shut up once and for all. It’s not about you, it’s about us. Men kill. Men attack. Period.”

Elsa Labouret believes French attitudes still need challenging. “I think a lot of people still think that sexual violence is sexy or romantic or something that is part of the way that we do things here [in France],” she argues.

“And it’s so important that we question that and that we don’t accept this kind of argument at all.”

In her small office just behind the French parliament building on the River Seine, Sandrine Josso, an MP, has a four-letter swearword on a poster beside her desk. It captures the spirit of defiance and determination that is driving her campaign against what’s known in France as “chemical submission”, or drugging in order to rape.

A year ago, in November 2023, she was at a party in the Paris apartment of a senator named Joel Guerriau. She claims that he put a drug in her champagne with the intention of raping her. Guerriau has denied attempting to drug her, blaming a “handling error” and telling investigators that the glass had been contaminated a day earlier.

In a statement, his lawyer has said: “We are miles away from the obscene interpretation that one might infer from reading initial reports in the press.” A trial is anticipated next year.

Josso is now campaigning, as she puts it, to “make victims’ journeys easier” when it comes to the French legal system.

“Today, it’s a disaster. Because very few victims who file complaints are able to have a trial, because of the lack of evidence. [There’s not] enough medical, psychological or legal support. We find shortcomings everywhere when it concerns sexual violence.”

Josso has now joined forces with Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter, Caroline, to put together a drug-testing kit that could be made available in pharmacies throughout France. It now has government backing for a trial rollout, helped by the publicity generated by the Pelicot case.

“I’m optimistic. The medical world and the French people want shame to change sides [from the victim to the accused],” says Josso, quoting the phrase made famous by Gisèle Pelicot.

But Dr Leila Chaouachi, a chemist and expert at the Paris Addiction Monitoring Centre, says that the trial in Avignon is just one step in a long struggle to make people more aware of drugs and rape.

“It needs to become a real major public health issue that everyone takes seriously, and which forces the authorities to urgently address these issues to improve care for victims.

“It’s important for all of us to think about the issue, to consider it a health issue, not just a justice issue. It concerns all of us.”

At present the word “consent” is not included in the definition of rape in French laws, so some have argued that it should be changed to make it more explicit. But Ms Noblinski believes the focus should be elsewhere.

“[It] should be on the police, on the investigations, on funding them properly, not on tinkering with the law,” she says. “They don’t have sufficient resources. They have too many cases, and that’s the real issue. When you have too many things to handle, it’s very hard to find evidence.”

On her daily commute to the courthouse, during the first weeks of the trial, Gisèle Pelicot walked with her shoulders hunched and her posture defensive. She seemed flustered by the sheer level of interest the case generated. By the closing arguments, however, her demeanour was entirely different and she sat perfectly poised.

That has coincided with a greater change: as the trial progressed, the prosecution, those watching – and Mrs Pelicot herself – came to understand the extraordinary impact of her decision to opt not just for an open trial, but for every detail to be shown in court.

“She’s showing us that… if you’re a victim… do your best not to carry shame. Keep your head high,” says Elsa Labouret.

“As a woman, you start by being doubted. You start off as a liar and you have to prove that it’s true. I don’t doubt that every woman has been through something. Something, you know. In that way she represents all the women in the world.

“[Gisèle Pelicot] decided to make this bigger than herself. To make this about the way that we, as a society, treat sexual violence.”

Emerging from yet another day in the courtroom, the French journalist Juliette Campion stopped to reflect on what impact the case might have. “It was difficult to see all those videos… As a woman, it’s complicated, and I feel tired,” she says.

“But at least we did our job, and we talked about it. It’s a very small step. It won’t be a big thing. The only thing I can hope for now is that it will be a game changer for some men. And some women too, maybe.”

It is striking how elaborate the operation was. Explosives were hidden in an electric scooter and they were detonated by remote control, Ukrainian sources have told the BBC.

The victim, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, is believed be the highest-ranking military official killed beyond the combat zone since its full-scale invasion began.

His assassination has shocked Russia’s military and political establishment. Sources from Ukraine’s SBU security service let it be known they were behind it.

There have been numerous Ukrainian operations targeting Russia’s forces on Ukrainian territory.

But the fact that Ukrainian intelligence can target the head of Russia’s military’s radiation, biological and chemical protection forces outside his home in south-eastern Moscow raises questions about Russian security and how far Ukraine’s capabilities can extend.

Choosing a scooter for the attack was a smart move. They lie abandoned all over the place on Moscow’s streets and attract little attention.

But as they detonated the device at precisely the right moment, in this case when Gen Kirillov was leaving his apartment block alongside his aide, the perpetrators must have had some sort of visual surveillance – either monitoring via camera or watching it in person.

It’s thought that his murder was not the SBU’s first on the streets of Russia’s biggest cities, so earlier attacks on politicians and military officials in Russia can shed some light on how such operations have been carried out.

It was in April 2023 that prominent war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was meeting supporters at a cafe in St Petersburg as part of a “creative evening”.

During the event at Street Food Bar No 1, Darya Trepova, who claimed to be an art student, presented him with a sculpture of a soldier’s head. Minutes later, as Tatarsky was putting the present back into the box, it exploded, killing him and wounding many of the others in the room.

Ms Trepova later went on to claim at her trial that she knew nothing about the explosives inside the bust. She admitted that she was against the war in Ukraine but, she said, she had been told that inside the bust was a microphone.

The court sentenced her to 27 years in prison.

Whatever she knew in advance, there is little doubt that Ukrainian security services use deception to lure local Russians who may perhaps be sympathetic to Ukraine’s cause.

Acts can range from organising sabotage to, in this case, priming a bomb.

The SBU is not above sending a hitman to achieve its goal, perhaps the most notorious spy means of assassination.

A year ago, a pro-Russian former Ukrainian MP, Ilya Kyva, was shot dead in a village outside Moscow. The killer managed to get unnoticed into the grounds of a hotel and shot Mr Kyva twice while he was walking in a park.

Again, Ukraine made no official statements, but sources in the SBU said it was them.

Only five days ago, a leading Russian missile scientist, Mikhail Shatsky, was shot dead in a forest outside Moscow. In that case, the killing was pinned on Ukraine’s military intelligence service, although there was no confirmation.

Shatsky was responsible for modernising Russia’s Kh-59 and Kh-69 cruise missiles that have caused so much destruction and loss of life in Ukraine.

The fact that Kirillov’s killing took place within days of Shatsky’s murder shows how deep Ukraine’s spies have penetrated into Russia.

It is not just politicians or Russians connected to the military who have come under attack.

In August 2022, Darya Dugina was murdered in a car bomb attack, in an apparent message to her father, Aleksander Dugin, regarded as the Russian ideologist justifying Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine.

According to the Russian investigation, two Ukrainian citizens were involved in the attack – an apparent example of Ukraine sending operatives deep into Russia to “eliminate” their target.

Natalia Vovk, 43, had crossed into Russia from occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. She later teamed up with another Ukrainian who rented a garage where they assembled the bomb. Both Ukrainians, as it was alleged during the trial, had managed to escape from Russia a day before Dugina was killed.

All these attacks show the wide range of methods available to Ukrainian special services, but some experts believe it might not be Kyiv that assassinated Lt Gen Kirillov at all.

It could be the result of an internal power struggle among the Russian military or the Kremlin’s attempt to remove one of the main witnesses of war crimes, says Yuriy Karin, a Kyiv-based military observer.

If it was the SBU, then the message is clear, he says. “Even within Moscow’s ring road, Russian generals cannot feel safe.”

Honda and Nissan are understood to have held exploratory talks about a potential merger to help them compete against electric vehicle (EV) makers, particularly in China.

In March, the two Japanese car makers agreed to explore a strategic partnership for EVs.

The firms responded to the BBC with identical statements, which said: “As announced in March of this year, Honda and Nissan are exploring various possibilities for future collaboration, leveraging each other’s strengths.”

It comes as many car brands grapple with growing competition as the industry shifts from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric, with production in China booming.

Honda and Nissan have not denied the story, which was first reported by Japanese business newspaper the Nikkei, but said it was “not something that has been announced by either company”.

The discussions are understood to be in the early stages and there is no guarantee that a deal will be agreed.

“If there are any updates, we will inform our stakeholders at the appropriate time,” they added.

A potential merger between Japan’s number two and number three car manufacturers could be complicated for several reasons.

Any deal is likely to come under intense political scrutiny in Japan as it may lead to major job cuts. Nissan is also likely to be faced with unwinding its alliance with French vehicle manufacturer Renault.

Honda and Nissan agreed in March to cooperate in their EV businesses, and in August deepened their ties, agreeing to work together on batteries and other technology.

In August, the two companies also announced an agreement with Mitsubishi Motors to discuss intelligence and electrification.

The Nikkei also reported that Nissan and Honda may eventually bring Mitsubishi into any potential partnership. Nissan is Mitsubishi’s biggest shareholder.

Nissan shares traded more than 20% higher in Tokyo following the reports. Honda shares fell about 2%, while Mitsubishi’s jumped 13%.

“The thought that some of these smaller players can survive and thrive is getting more challenging, especially when you add on the complexity of all the additional Chinese manufacturers who have come in and are competing quite strongly,” said Edmunds analyst Jessica Caldwell.

“It’s just sort of necessary to survive, not only to survive, but also just to afford the future.”

Honda and Nissan have been losing market share in China, which accounted for almost 70% of global EV sales in November.

The two brands had combined global sales of 7.4 million vehicles in 2023, but are struggling to compete with cheaper EV makers such as BYD, which has seen its quarterly revenues soar, beating Tesla’s for the first time in October.

Jesper Koll, from share trading platform Monex, questioned whether a merger could make the companies more competitive.

“Is this really just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic in the sense that neither Honda nor Nissan really have any products or any technologies that global consumers want?”

“From that perspective, it’s a nice rescue but it’s not creating a new national champion.”

Could this egg-shaped structure be what the future home of Indian astronauts in space looks like?

The Hab-1 – short for Habitat-1 – is Indian space agency Isro’s first-ever “analog mission” which means simulation of space conditions to prepare astronauts for real space missions. It was recently tested for three weeks in the high Himalayan mountains of Ladakh.

Space architect Aastha Kacha-Jhala, from Gujarat-based firm Aaka, told the BBC that these simulations help identify and address issues astronauts and equipment might face before space missions.

Built with space-grade Teflon and insulated with industrial-use foam, Hab-1 has a bed, a stowaway tray which can be pulled out and used as a workstation, storage space to keep supplies and emergency kits, a kitchenette for heating meals and a toilet. An astronaut in simulation spent three weeks holed up in the facility.

“Hab-1 is designed keeping in mind that space is going to be very limited on the Moon or Mars,” Ms Kacha-Jhala says. “The astronaut will also have very limited water so we designed a dry toilet. We also put in place a system for a proper disposal of waste and ensured that the habitat remained odour-free.”

She is now in talks with Isro to build India’s first permanent simulation space facility in Ladakh.

The mission comes at a time when India is preparing to send its first astronauts into space.

Isro’s Gaganyaan mission plans to place three astronauts into low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 400km (248 miles) for three days. If all goes according to plan, the mission will launch sometime next year. India also plans to set up its first space station by 2035 and send a man to the Moon by 2040.

Nasa, European Space Agency, Russia, China and other countries and private firms with space programmes run dozens of simulation missions and two of the four Indian astronauts selected for the Gaganyaan mission are being trained at Nasa at the moment.

“Once we have our own simulation mission, we won’t have to depend on foreign space agencies to train our astronauts,” says Prof Subrat Sharma, Dean of Research Studies at Ladakh University which collaborated on the project.

• Gaganyaan: India names astronauts for maiden space flight

Ladakh, he told the BBC, was chosen for the experiment because “from a geographical perspective, its rocky, barren landscape and soil have similarities with the material and rocks found on Mars and some parts of the lunar terrain which make it ideal for space research”.

The soil samples collected during the mission are being tested by the university to see if astronauts will be able to use locally-sourced materials to build homes in space.

The Himalayan region on the India-China border is located at a height of 3,500 metres (11,483ft) and has extreme climatic conditions and thin air. In a day, the temperature here can shift from a maximum of 20C to a minimum of -18C.

It’s no match for Mars (where temperatures can go below -153C) or Moon (where -250C is the norm in some deep craters), but still, it’s a test of human endurance. And as Prof Sharma says, “since you can’t go to space to test every time, you need these facilities where space-like conditions can be created”.

Also, he adds, Ladakh is one region of India where barren land stretches for miles and miles, “giving you the feeling of being alone on the planet”.

And that’s exactly how the simulation astronaut, who spent three weeks confined in the capsule in the icy cold desert, felt.

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“I was isolated from the human environment. Every move that I made was scheduled, when to wake up, what to do when and when to sleep? A 24×7 camera monitored every move and sent data about my activities and health to the back office,” the 24-year-old who did not want to be named told me.

“The initial few days,” he said, “were great, but then it began to feel repetitive and it started to get to me. It started impacting my daily performance. My sleep schedule was affected a little and my concentration deteriorated.”

The simulation astronaut wore biometric devices to monitor his sleep pattern, heart rate and stress levels. His blood and saliva were tested daily to see how he was coping.

Scientists say simulating psychological factors to see how they would impact humans in space is one of the most important parts of the mission.

With space agencies from across the world aiming to send astronauts to the Moon and set up permanent bases there in the coming years, simulation missions are expected to play a crucial role in research and training.

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In April, a team of scientists and engineers began trials in Oregon to prepare Nasa’s robot dog – Lassie – to walk on the Moon’s surface. In July, four volunteers emerged after spending a year at an “analog” facility, specially built in Texas to simulate life on Mars.

And according to the Economist magazine, Nasa hopes to 3D-print a base using only materials found on the Moon’s surface, while China and Russia are collaborating on their own plans.⁠

India doesn’t want to be left behind. Prof Sharma says once the data gathered in Ladakh is analysed, it “will help us develop medical technology to deal with the needs of our astronauts when they face a problem in space”.

“We need to know how our bodies will function on the Moon where days and nights are a lot longer than on Earth. Or in space where there’s not enough oxygen” he says.

Luigi Mangione has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the New York district attorney said on Tuesday.

Mr Mangione faces various charges, including first-degree murder, and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which describes the killing as an act of “terrorism”, Bragg said.

“The intent was to sow terror,” New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, calling the shooting a “frightening, well-planned and targeted murder”.

Mr Mangione is scheduled to appear for a court hearing on 19 December over whether he will be extradited to New York on the charges, though Mr Bragg suggested the suspect may not fight extradition.

“We have indications the defendant may waive that hearing,” Mr Bragg said.

The extradition proceeding is scheduled for the same day as Mr Mangione’s preliminary hearing on gun-related charges in Pennsylvania.

Appearing at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, both Mr Bragg and New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch lambasted the public for praising Mr Mangione in the wake of the 4 December shooting.

“In the nearly two weeks since Mr Thompson’s killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder,” Ms Tisch said. “We don’t celebrate murders and we don’t lionise the killing of anyone.”

In addition to murder, the suspect also faces weapons and forgery charges. If he is convicted on the most serious charges placed against him – first degree murder and second degree murder as an act of terrorism – Mr Mangione could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Asked about the specific terrorism charges, Mr Bragg replied that “in its most basic terms, this was a killing that was intended to evoke terror”.

Five days after Mr Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, was shot and killed, Mr Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, with a fake ID and so-called “ghost gun”, police said.

His lawyer, Thomas Dickey, has said he has not seen evidence that links Mr Mangione’s gun with the crime.

New York prosecutors began to share evidence in their case against Mr Mangione with a grand jury last week.

If extradited, the 26-year-old is likely to be held at Riker’s Island or another New York prison.

The evidence against Mr Mangione includes a positive match of his fingerprints with those discovered at the crime scene, Commissioner Tisch said.

According to District Attorney Bragg, the suspect arrived in New York City on 24 November, staying in a Manhattan hostel using a fake ID before carrying out the attack against Mr Thompson 10 days later.

In addition to the ghost gun – a gun assembled from untraceable parts – and fake ID, a passport and a handwritten document indicating “motivation and mindset” also were found on Mr Mangione when he was arrested, police said.

During Tuesday’s news conference announcing the New York charges, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny also described an interaction with the suspect’s mother, who in November filed a missing person report for her son in San Francisco.

After the manhunt for the shooting suspect had begun, that report was flagged to authorities, who contacted Mr Mangione’s mother. According to Mr Kenny, his mother said she did not identify her son as the suspect, but said “it might be something that she could see him doing”.

Mr Mangione was formally charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime and providing a false identification to police.

While Mr Mangione awaits his fate in the New York court system, he remains under maximum security at Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

He has been denied bail.

Veteran Australian broadcaster Alan Jones has pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing 10 young men over almost two decades.

The 83-year-old faces 34 charges over alleged incidents between 2001 and 2019, including 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault.

Mr Jones is one of Australia’s most influential media figures and a former coach of its national rugby union team. He has previously denied allegations of abuse, first published by The Sydney Morning Herald in 2023.

After appearing in court, he spoke publicly for the first time since his arrest last month, saying: “I have never indecently assaulted these people.”

“I want you to understand this: these allegations are all either baseless or they distort the truth, and you should know that prior to my arrest I was given no opportunity by police to answer any of these allegations.”

Mr Jones was taken into custody at his Sydney apartment on 18 November, as detectives from the New South Wales (NSW) Police Child Abuse Squad searched the harbour-front property and seized electronic devices.

Originally charged in relation to eight people – including a 17-year-old boy – police have since filed additional charges, and say investigations are continuing.

All the charges, except two of common assault, are sex offences.

Police said some of the alleged victims knew the radio and TV host personally, and that at least one had been employed by him.

Others were allegedly assaulted the first time they met him, NSW Police’s Michael Fitzgerald told reporters last month.

“The law assumes that I am not guilty, and I am not guilty,” Mr Jones told the media scrum waiting for him after his first court appearance in Sydney on Wednesday.

“That’s all I can say at the moment, but I am emphatic that I’ll be defending every charge before a jury in due course.”

A former teacher, Mr Jones coached the Wallabies between 1984 and 1988, before pivoting to a radio career.

He also, at times, worked as a speechwriter and advisor for Liberal Party figures – including former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser – and launched several failed bids to represent the party in both state and federal politics.

A staple of Sydney airwaves on local station 2GB for decades, Mr Jones juggled those duties with TV commentary gigs before he retired from full time work in 2020 citing health issues.

The broadcaster is a polarising figure, for years boasting one of the nation’s biggest audiences but often courting controversy.

He made headlines in 2012 for suggesting that then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s father had “died of shame”, and in 2019 faced a massive advertiser boycott after saying someone should “shove a sock” down the throat of New Zealand’s leader at the time, Jacinda Ardern.

Facebook has severely restricted the ability of Palestinian news outlets to reach an audience during the Israel-Gaza war, according to BBC research.

In a comprehensive analysis of Facebook data, we found that newsrooms in the Palestinian territories – in Gaza and the West Bank – had suffered a steep drop in audience engagement since October 2023.

The BBC has also seen leaked documents showing that Instagram – another Meta-owned platform – increased its moderation of Palestinian user comments after October 2023.

Meta – the owner of Facebook – says that any implication that it deliberately suppressed particular voices is “unequivocally false”.

Since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war, just a few outside reporters have been allowed to enter the Palestinian coastal territory of Gaza from the outside, and they were only able to do so escorted by the Israeli army.

Social media has filled the gap for those wanting to hear more voices from inside Gaza. Facebook pages for news outlets such as Palestine TV, Wafa news agency and Palestinian Al-Watan News – which operate out of the West Bank territory – became a vital source of updates for many around the world.

BBC News Arabic compiled engagement data on the Facebook pages of 20 prominent Palestinian-based news organisations in the year leading up to the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, and in the year since.

Engagement is a key measure of how much impact a social media account is having and how many people are seeing its content. It includes such factors as the number of comments, reactions and shares.

During a period of war, audience engagement might be expected to rise. However, the data showed a 77% decline after the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023.

Palestine TV has 5.8 million followers on Facebook. Journalists at the newsroom shared statistics with us showing a 60% drop in the number of people seeing their posts.

“Interaction was completely restricted, and our posts stopped reaching people,” says Tariq Ziad, a journalist at the channel.

Over the past year, Palestinian journalists have raised fears that their online content is being “shadow-banned” by Meta – in other words, restricted in how many people see it.

To test this, we carried out the same data analysis on the Facebook pages of 20 Israeli news organisations such as Yediot Ahronot, Israel Hayom and Channel 13. These pages also posted a large amount of war-related content, but their audience engagement increased by nearly 37%.

Meta has previously been accused by Palestinians and human rights groups of failing to moderate online activity fairly.

An independent report in 2021 commissioned by the company said this was not deliberate but because of a lack of Arabic-speaking expertise among moderators. Words and phrases were being interpreted as offensive or violent, when they were in fact innocuous.

For example, the Arabic phrase “Alhamdulillah”, which means “Praise be to God”, was sometimes being auto-translated as “Praise be to God, Palestinian terrorists are fighting for their freedom”.

To see if this explained the decline in engagement with Palestinian outlets, the BBC carried out the same analysis on Facebook pages for 30 prominent Arabic-language news sources based elsewhere, such as Sky News Arabia and Al-Jazeera.

However, these pages saw an average increase in engagement of nearly 100%.

Responding to our research, Meta pointed out that it had made no secret of “temporary product and policy measures” taken in October 2023.

It said it had faced a challenge balancing the right to freedom of speech, with the fact that Hamas was both US-sanctioned and designated as a dangerous organisation under Meta’s own policies.

The tech giant also said that pages posting exclusively about the war were more likely to see engagement impacted.

“We acknowledge we make mistakes, but any implication that we deliberately suppress a particular voice is unequivocally false,” a spokesperson said.

The BBC has also spoken to five former and current employees of Meta about the impact they say their company’s policies have had on individual Palestinian users.

One person, who spoke anonymously, shared leaked internal documents about a change made to Instagram’s algorithm, which toughened the moderation of Palestinians commenting on Instagram posts.

“Within a week of the Hamas attack, the code was changed essentially making it more aggressive towards Palestinian people,” he said.

Internal messages show that an engineer raised concerns about the order, worried that it could be “introducing a new bias into the system against Palestinian users”.

Meta confirmed it took the measure but said it had been necessary to respond to what it called a “spike in hateful content” coming out of the Palestinian territories.

It said that policy changes put in place at the start of the Israel-Gaza war had now been reversed, but did not say when this happened.

At least 137 Palestinian journalists are reported to have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the conflict, but a few carry on despite the dangers.

“A lot of information can’t be published as it is too graphic – for example if the [Israeli] army commits a massacre and we film it, the video won’t spread,” says Omar el Qataa, one of the few photojournalists who chose to stay in northern Gaza.

“But in spite of the challenges, the risks, and the content bans,” he says,”we must continue sharing Palestinian content.”

Less than 10km (six miles) from the busy city centre of Damascus, in the north-western suburb of Adra, an arid stretch of land is sealed off with cement walls.

As you drive in, on the left-hand side, a team of rescuers from the White Helmets humanitarian organisation are seen searching for mass graves.

Over the past few days, videos have been posted online about mass graves where Bashar al-Assad’s regime buried those tortured to death in Syria’s notorious prisons.

In Adra, the White Helmets had found a small hole where several big white plastic bags were filled with remains of bodies.

A message simply reads: “Seven bodies, eighth grave, unknown.”

The team was pulling out the remains, skulls and bones, which they collected. DNA samples were put separately in black body bags for documentation and further analysis.

Ismael Abdullah, one of the rescuers, says they are carrying a heavy burden on their shoulders.

“Thousands of people are missing. It is going to take time – a lot of it – to get anywhere near the truth about what happened to them,” he says.

“Today, after receiving a call about possible mass grave here, we found on the ground the remains of seven civilians.”

He adds that all the necessary procedures were carried out “so in the future we can identify those people who were killed”. The team are among a small number who have been trained to document and collect forensic evidence.

More than 100,000 people are thought to have disappeared in Syria since 2011.

In the past week, the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) – who ousted Assad after more than 50 years of his family’s rule – has opened up prisons and detention centres across Syria.

Rights group have concluded that more than 80,000 of the missing are dead. Another 60,000 people are believed to have been tortured to death, according to the UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

Local people are reporting more and more locations of mass graves across Syria, and the Syrian Emergency Task Force (SETF), a US-based NGO, says that nearly 100,000 bodies have so far been found.

Rights group Human Rights Watch says such graves should be protected and investigated.

At another site in Qutayfah town, further to the north-west of Damascus, the SETF says thousands of bodies are believed to be buried in different mass graves.

One local resident, who witnessed the burial of bodies over the years of Syria’s civil war, says they were packed in refrigerated containers brought in by security forces.

The ground would be filled with bodies – and then the site would be flattened by bulldozers, he told the BBC.

Qutayfah’s religious leader Abdul Kadir al-Sheikha witnessed one such mass burial.

He was asked by secret police to come and manage the burial, he said. He tried to conduct the religious rituals for the dead and prayed for them.

He tells me that in these 30 sq m, at least 100 people were buried. After that he was never called in again by the police, he adds.

“They called them terrorists who didn’t deserve burial. They didn’t want anyone to witness what they were doing,” Mr Sheikha says.

The secret police prevented people from passing by mass grave sites or even looking out from their windows when they carried out the burial, another witness who was forced to take part told me.

Many such mass graves exist in the suburbs of Damascus, the witness said.

At another site in Husseiniyeh, on the road that leads to the Damascus airport, satellite images show differences in the landscapes of areas where mass graves have been discovered.

As the Assad regime crumbled in the face of the rebels’ rapid advance, thousands of Syrian families rushed to prisons and detention centres following to search for their missing loved ones.

They need closure and to honour their dead with a proper burial.

At one detention centre, hundreds of IDs of Syrians detained by Assad’s security forces were scattered on the ground.

One woman was still searching for her missing brother who disappeared in 2014. A father was looking for his son who was detained in 2013. No one is ready to give up the search.

But locating and protecting mass graves and identifying the bodies they contain are tasks that few Syrians are currently able to perform – and international experts are urgently needed to help with the process.

A woman from the Philippines who spent almost 15 years on death row in Indonesia and was nearly executed by firing squad is finally home.

Mary Jane Veloso was sentenced to death in 2010 after she was found carrying 2.6kg (5.7lb) of heroin through an Indonesian airport.

But the 39-year-old mother of two has always maintained she was tricked into carrying the drugs.

She was flown back to Manila on Wednesday, after the two governments reached a deal that allowed her to return home.

“This is a new life for me and I will have a new beginning in the Philippines,” she told a news conference, adding that she wanted to spend Christmas with her family.

“I have to go home because I have a family there, I have my children waiting for me.”

While the agreement states that Veloso will return as a prisoner, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos could grant her a reprieve. She is now detained at the country’s main prison for women in Metro Manila.

Veloso was arrested in April 2010 at Yogyakarta airport.

She said she was convinced by the daughter of one of her godparents to travel to Indonesia to start a new job as a maid.

She claimed that the woman’s male friends gave her new clothes and a new bag, which she was unaware had heroin sewn into it.

She was due to face the firing squad in 2015, but Benigno Aquino III, who was Philippine president at the time, won a last-minute reprieve for her after the woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking. Veloso was named a prosecution witness in that case.

Her reprieve was so late that several newspapers in the Philippines went to print with front pages and headlines reporting it had happened.

Ms Veloso’s case drew widespread public sympathy in the Philippines, which does not have the death penalty.

Her circumstances were familiar to many in the Philippines, where it is common for women to escape poverty by seeking work abroad as domestic helpers.

“I bring a lot of things, such as guitar, books, knittings … even this T-shirt I’m wearing was given by my friends,” she said while leaving prison for the airport.

Her transfer comes just days after the five remaining members of the infamous “Bali Nine” drug ring returned home after serving nearly 20 years in Indonesian prisons.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has filed criminal complaints in France and Belgium against subsidiaries of the tech giant Apple, accusing it of using conflict minerals.

Acting on behalf of the Congolese government, lawyers have argued that Apple is complicit in crimes committed by armed groups that control some of the mines in the east of DR Congo.

Apple has said it “strongly disputes” the claims and that it is “deeply committed to responsible sourcing” of minerals.

The authorities in France and Belgium will now look at whether there is enough evidence to take the legal action further.

In a statement, the lawyers for the DR Congo talked about Apple’s supply chain being contaminated with “blood minerals”.

They allege that the tin, tantalum and tungsten is taken from conflict areas and then “laundered through international supply chains”.

“These activities have fuelled a cycle of violence and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups and have contributed to forced child labour and environmental devastation.”

Apple rejected the accusations saying it holds its “suppliers to the highest standards in industry”.

A spokesman told the BBC: “As conflict in the region escalated earlier this year we notified our suppliers that their smelters and refiners must suspend sourcing tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold from the DRC and Rwanda.

“We took this action because we were concerned it was no longer possible for independent auditors or industry certification mechanisms to perform the due diligence required to meet our high standards.”

The east of DR Congo is a major source of minerals and the global thirst for them has fuelled wars there for decades.

Rights groups have long alleged that large quantities of minerals from legitimate mines, as well as from facilities run by armed groups, are transported to neighbouring Rwanda and end up in our phones and computers.

Rwanda has in the past described the Congolese government’s legal action against Apple as a media stunt.

It has denied selling any conflict minerals to the tech company.

• We would vote for peace – if we had a vote’
• Refugees fleeing M23 rebels say they ‘feel powerless’
• A quick guide to DR Congo

Police say it appears the motive in a shooting that left two dead, along with the suspect, at a private school in Wisconsin was due to “a combination of factors”.

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes didn’t provide specifics on Tuesday as to what allegedly led a 15-year-old girl, named by authorities as Natalie Rupnow, to fire shots at the Abundant Life Christian School in the city of Madison.

Six people were also injured in Monday’s shooting. Rupnow is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Chief Barnes said during a press conference that investigators are asking anyone who knew the suspect to come forward with information.

“At this time, identifying a motive is our top priority,” he said. “But at this time it appears that the motive was a combination of factors.”

“We are asking anyone who knew her or who may have insights into her feelings leading up to yesterday to please contact the Madison-area Crime Stoppers.”

Police are looking into the suspect’s social media as part of the investigation.

Chief Barnes said investigators are also talking to students at Abundant Life Christian School to understand whether bullying could have been a factor.

The condition of the injured victims has not changed since Monday night. There are two people in hospital in a life threatening condition and two in stable condition. Another two have left hospital.

The two victims who were shot dead were a teenage pupil and a teacher. None of the victims have been named by authorities.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said that officials will share information when they can.

“It is absolutely none of ya’lls business who was harmed in this incident,” she said during a heated exchange following reporter’s question during the press conference.

“Please, have some human decency and respect for the people who lost loved ones or were injured themselves or whose children were injured.”

Chief Barnes on Tuesday also clarified that a 911 call reporting the shooting came from a second-grade teacher and not a second-grade student, as was previously stated.

He apologised for the error and said he misread a police log about the incident.

He also said that there were numerous schools in the area that had been targeted by hoax threats, known as swatting, on Tuesday morning. Police do not believe there are any current threats to those schools.

“As a community, we must not allow violence or any act of violence to define us,” he said.

“We refuse to allow hate, destruction to win in this city, but rather we will honour our survivors, our victims, through love and support in the Madison way.”

Over the last three decades, at least 565 children in the Indian state of West Bengal have been injured or killed by home-made bombs, a BBC Eye investigation has found.

So what are these deadly devices and how are they linked to political violence in West Bengal? And why are so many Bengali children paying the price?

On a bright summer morning in May 1996, six boys from a slum in Kolkata, the capital of India’s West Bengal state, stepped out to play cricket in a narrow alley.

Their shantytown, nestled in the middle-class neighbourhood of Jodhpur Park, thrummed with life. It was a holiday – voting day in a general election.

Nine-year-old Puchu Sardar, one of the boys, grabbed a cricket bat and quietly slipped past his sleeping father. Soon, the cracking noise of bat meeting ball echoed through the alley.

A ball batted out of the boundaries of their makeshift pitch sent the boys searching for it in a small garden nearby. There, in a black plastic bag, they found six round objects.

They looked like cricket balls someone had left behind, and the boys returned to the game with their spoils.

One of the “balls” from the bag was bowled at Puchu who struck it with his bat.

A deafening explosion tore through the alley. It was a bomb.

As the smoke lifted and neighbours rushed outside, they found Puchu and five of his friends sprawled on the street, their skin blackened, clothes scorched, bodies torn.

Screams pierced the chaos.

Seven-year-old Raju Das, an orphan raised by his aunt, and seven-year-old Gopal Biswas died of their injuries. Four other boys were wounded.

Puchu narrowly survived, having suffered serious burns and shrapnel wounds to his chest, face and abdomen.

He spent over a month in hospital. When he came home he had to use kitchen tongs to remove shrapnel still lodged in his body because his family had run out of money to pay for any more medical care.

Puchu and his friends are part of a long, tragic list of children killed or maimed by crude bombs, which have been used in West Bengal for decades in a bloody battle for dominance in the state’s violent politics.

There are no publicly-available figures on the number of casualties in West Bengal.

So the BBC World Service went through every edition of two prominent state newspapers – Anandabazar Patrika and Bartaman Patrika – from 1996 to 2024, looking for reports of children injured or killed by these devices.

We found at least 565 child casualties – 94 deaths and 471 injuries – as of 10 November. This means a child has fallen victim to bomb violence, on average, every 18 days.

However, the BBC has found incidents in which children were wounded by these bombs that were not reported by the two newspapers, so the real number of casualties is likely to be higher.

More than 60% of these incidents involved children playing outdoors – gardens, streets, farms, even near schools – where bombs, typically used during elections to terrorise opponents, were hidden.

Most victims the BBC spoke to were poor, the children of house-help, odd-jobbers, or farm workers.

West Bengal, India’s fourth-largest state with a population of more than 100 million, has long struggled with political violence.

Over the years, since India’s independence in 1947, the state has cycled through different rulers – the Congress party for two decades, the Communist-led Left Front for three, and the current Trinamool Congress since 2011.

In the late 1960s, the state was wracked by armed conflict between Maoist rebels – also called Naxalites – and government forces.

A common thread across all governments and rebel conflicts since then has been the use of bombs as tools of intimidation by political parties to silence opponents, especially during elections.

“Bombs have been [used to settle scores]. This has been happening in Bengal for a long time, more than 100 years,” Pankaj Dutta, a former Inspector General of West Bengal police, told us.

Bomb-making in Bengal has its roots in the rebellion against British rule in the early 1900s.

Early efforts were crude and accidents were common: One rebel lost a hand and another died testing a bomb.

Then a rebel returned from France armed with bomb-making skills.

His book bomb – a legal tome loaded with explosives hidden in a Cadbury cocoa tin – would have killed its target, a British magistrate, if he had opened it.

The first explosion rocked Midnapore district in 1907, when revolutionaries derailed a train carrying a senior British official by planting a bomb on the tracks.

A few months later, a botched attempt to kill a magistrate in Muzaffarpur with a bomb hurled into a horse-drawn carriage claimed the lives of two Englishwomen.

The act, described by a newspaper as a “tremendous explosion that startled the town,” had turned a teenage rebel called Khudiram Bose into a martyr and the first “freedom fighter” in the pantheon of Indian revolutionaries.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak, a nationalist leader, wrote in 1908 that bombs were not just weapons but a new kind of “magical lore,” a “witchcraft” spreading from Bengal to the rest of India.

Today, Bengal’s crude bombs are known locally as peto. They are bound with jute strings and stuffed with shrapnel-like nails, nuts and glass.

Variations include explosives packed into steel containers or glass bottles. They are used primarily in violent clashes between rival political parties.

Political activists, particularly in rural areas, use these bombs to intimidate opponents, disrupt voting stations, or retaliate against perceived enemies.

They are often deployed during elections to sabotage polling booths or to assert control over areas.

Children like Poulami Halder bear the brunt of such violence.

On an April morning in 2018, the-then seven-year-old was picking flowers for morning prayers in Gopalpur, a village in the North 24 Parganas district dotted with ponds, paddy fields, and coconut trees. Village council elections were barely a month away.

Poulami saw a ball lying near a neighbour’s water pump.

“I picked it up and brought it home,” she recalls.

As she stepped inside, her grandfather, sipping tea, froze at the sight of the object in her hand.

“He said, ‘It’s not a ball – it’s a bomb! Throw it away!’ Before I could react, it exploded in my hand.”

The blast shattered the quiet of the village. Poulami was struck in the “eyes, face, and hands” and fainted, as chaos erupted around her.

“I remember people running towards me, but I could see very little. I was hit everywhere.”

Villagers rushed her to the hospital.

Her injuries were devastating – her left hand was amputated, and she spent nearly a month in hospital.

An ordinary morning routine had turned into a nightmare, forever altering Poulami’s life in a single, shattering moment.

Poulami is not alone.

Sabina Khatun was 10 years old when a crude bomb exploded in her hand in April 2020 in Jitpur, a village flanked by rice and jute fields in Murshidabad district.

She had been taking her goat out to graze when she stumbled upon the bomb lying in the grass. Curious, she picked it up and began playing with it.

Moments later, it detonated in her hands.

“The moment I heard the explosion, I thought, who’s going to be disabled this time? Has Sabina been maimed?,” her mother, Ameena Bibi, says, her voice heavy with anguish.

“When I stepped outside, I saw people carrying Sabina in their arms. The flesh was visible from her hand.”

Doctors were forced to amputate Sabina’s hand.

Since returning home, she has struggled to rebuild her life, her parents consumed by despair over an uncertain future. Their fears are not unwarranted: In India, women with disabilities often face social stigma that complicate their prospects for marriage and jobs.

“My daughter kept crying, saying she would never get her hand back,” says Ameena.

“I kept consoling her, telling her, ‘your hand will grow back, your fingers will grow back.'”

Now, Sabina grapples with the loss of her hand and the struggle with simple daily tasks. “I struggle with drinking water, eating, showering, getting dressed, going to the toilet.”

The children of the bombs

In the Indian state of West Bengal, children are routinely maimed, blinded, or killed by home-made bombs. BBC Eye investigates the political violence that underlies this tragedy and asks why the carnage is allowed to continue.

Watch on iPlayer or, if you are outside the UK, watch on YouTube

Maimed by bombs yet lucky to survive, these children have had their lives changed forever.

Poulami, now 13, received an artificial hand but couldn’t use it – too heavy and quickly outgrown. Sabina, 14, struggles with failing eyesight.

Her family says she needs another operation to remove bomb debris from her eyes, but they cannot afford it.

Puchu, now 37, was pulled out of school by his fearful parents and spent years refusing to step outside, often hiding under his bed at the slightest noise.

He never picked up a cricket bat again. His childhood stolen, he’s now scraping by with odd construction jobs and bears the scars of his past.

But all hope is not lost.

Poulami and Sabina have both learned to ride a bicycle with one hand and continue to go to school. Both dream of becoming teachers. Puchu hopes for a brighter future for his son, Rudra, five, – a future in uniform as a policeman.

Despite the terrible toll it inflicts, there is no sign of crude bomb violence in West Bengal ending.

None of the political parties admit to using bombs for political gain.

When the BBC asked the four main political parties in West Bengal whether they were involved, directly or through intermediaries, in manufacturing or using crude bombs, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not respond.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) strongly denied being involved, saying it was “committed to upholding the rule of law…and that when it comes to protecting rights and lives, children are of the utmost concern”.

The Indian National Congress (INC) also strongly denied using crude bombs for electoral advantage, and said it had “never engaged in any violence for political or personal gain”.

Although no political party will admit responsibility, none of the experts who spoke to the BBC is in any doubt this carnage is rooted in Bengal’s culture of political violence.

“During any major election here you will see the rampant use of bombs,” Pankaj Dutta told us. “Extreme abuse of childhood is going on. It is a lack of care on the part of the society.” Mr Dutta passed away in November.

Poulami adds: “Those who planted the bombs are still free. No one should leave bombs lying around. No child should ever be harmed like this again.”

But the tragedy continues.

In May this year in the Hooghly district, three boys playing near a pond unknowingly stumbled upon a cache of bombs. The explosion killed Raj Biswas, nine, and left his friend maimed, missing an arm. The other boy escaped with leg fractures.

“Look what they have done to my son,” Raj’s grieving father sobbed as he caressed the forehead of his dead child.

As Raj’s body was lowered into a grave, political slogans crackled through the air from a nearby election rally: “Hail Bengal!” the crowd chanted, “Hail Bengal!”

It was election time. And once again, children were paying the price.

“Even now, I look back and wonder how we survived this nightmare,” Baraa quietly reflects.

Now 20 years old, the university student joined the joyous celebrations engulfing the streets of Syria last Sunday at the end of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.

Her two sisters, Ala and Jana, nod in agreement as we sit, squeezed together on this cold winter’s day, on an old lumpy sofa in their humble home in Homs.

Their white-bearded father, Farhan Abdul Ghani, sitting cross legged on the floor, chimes in. “We did not want war. We did not want a forever president who builds monuments to himself.”

Nearly a decade ago, we first met in the worst days of that war, waged in their president’s name.

Baraa, a deeply traumatised little girl whose eyes darted wildly back and forth, struggled to speak then.

“Sometimes people killed cats to eat,” she blurted out as she sat in a disused banquet hall milling with aid officials, Syrian security forces, and distraught families.

For months, many had little to eat except grass pulled from the ground, leaves from the trees, boiled in water with salt and sometimes cinnamon.

“Instead of learning to read and write, I learned about weapons,” Baraa told us then so matter-of-factly.

Homs was once called the “capital of the revolution” by peaceful protesters who first took to the streets in the spring of 2011 to call for change, before it turned into all-out war.

Baraa and her family were among a thousand civilians rescued from the Old City during a rare UN-supervised humanitarian pause in February 2014.

They somehow survived the agonising two-year-long siege of the old quarter where Syrian troops enforced their first “surrender or starve” cordon in this merciless war.

This medieval torture tactic turned into one of their cruellest weapons, unleashed against one rebel-held stronghold after another.

Months later, more civilians were also given safe passage out of the Old City, as well as the fighters who moved on to continue their fight in other parts of Syria.

The years until this week have been hard on this family and so many others.

“I felt as if I was asleep and I lost hope,” Baraa recalls as she adjusts the white headscarf worn by her and her sisters. “We were always afraid of saying the wrong thing, even at the university.”

Now, like so many Syrians, she is brimming with palpable joy and optimism in these early heady days of a new start.

“I am dreaming of so many things now, to finish university, to do a master’s degree, to improve my English.” Her voice trails off as her big goals fill this modest little room.

A frightened little girl whose name means “innocence” had matured into an impressively confident young woman in fashionable blue jeans and a powder blue fleece.

Her doting father, whose name means happy, beams with pride. He managed to raise his daughters on his own after their mother was slain by a rocket which slammed into their kitchen. It was the children who found her there, slumped over the stove.

His meagre earnings from his fruit and vegetable cart, as well as the kindness of friends, kept them striving for a better life.

“Everything is cheaper now, including food and electricity,” he enthuses, in a nod to prices falling in the markets because roads are now open and soldiers at checkpoints are no longer stopping goods or asking for bribes.

It is a blessing for a country where the UN says 90% of Syrians are living beneath the poverty line. “Today I could even afford to buy meat,” he gushes.

Old wounds are still open and painful. Like tens of thousands of other Syrians, he lost a loved one, a brother, in the secret torture cells of Saydnaya prison. When the doors of this notorious prison in Damascus were flung open last week, he did not emerge.

This aching hurt and exhilarating happiness is palpable, especially for Syrians now able to make a bittersweet return to Homs. Entire sections are still jagged cityscapes of grey rubble and gaping ruins.

“I needed to see this again but it brings painful flashbacks,” Dr Hayan al-Abrash remarks as his eyes scan the haunting landscape of loss in the neighbourhood of Khalidiyah, pulverised by Syrian firepower.

He points to the skeletal remains of a soaring building whose facade was shaved off by a scud missile. It brought two other buildings crashing to the ground.

He was also forced to leave the besieged Old City in 2014, leaving behind his makeshift underground hospital there and in nearby Khalidiyah.

He struggles to locate it until a shopkeeper shows up to unlock and unfurl a metal shutter. It reveals a gutted warehouse with rickety metal stairs leading into a dark dank basement.

“Yes, yes, this is it,” he declares excitedly as our flashlights illuminate the cavernous space, including another set of stairs. “This is where the patients entered,” he explains.

“Sometimes I brought friends, neighbours, my own cousin, down these stairs on my back.”

It is next to a wall daubed with arrows pointing to the “emergency room” as well as “the road to death” – humour even darker than this room.

The green and black flag of the opposition, now ubiquitous, stands out.

Empty medicine vials and dirty cardboard packets litter a far corner of the room where the wall is charred.

“The regime lit that fire in revenge,” he says with rising emotion. “They feared doctors, lawyers, political figures even more than they feared the fighters.”

“It makes me very angry to see this,” he emphasises.

I ask if it makes him want to take revenge.

“It’s not a time for revenge,” he says. “It’s a time to build Syria for everyone, but not for those who killed us and have blood on his hands who must be put on trial.

“We don’t forgive. It’s impossible for us.”

Everyone we spoke to in Homs said its residents, Muslims and Christians, would rebuild together – and the stories we heard seemed to confirm that.

Dr Hayan also takes us to see the site of another underground hospital in the Old City – it was in a spacious church basement where the walls are now lined with stacked chairs and tables for family gatherings.

Farhan and his daughters insisted on taking us to see where they took cover during most of their time during the siege – a shelter in the Jesuit monastery run then by the charismatic Father Frans der Lugt.

The Dutch priest, murdered in the Old City when he refused to leave its trapped and starving residents, is now buried on the grounds.

The current pastor Father Tony Homsy is taken by surprise when we suddenly appear with Farhan, flanked by his daughters, emotionally scrolling through his phone to find photographs from that time.

The Syrian Jesuit priest leads us down the stairs into the narrow room now used for daily mass, recently transformed into a Christmas grotto with a sparkling Nativity Scene.

“This is a very beautiful story,” he marvels as our little delegation almost fills the space. “In this grotto which symbolises how Jesus and the Holy Family found refuge, there is also the story of this Muslim family.”

Father Tony, who heads the Catholic Church in Homs, has also been able to see his own family in the northern city of Aleppo for the first time in years.

He too dares to dream big. “It’s time to go forward,” he asserts, quoting Father Frans, who he says inspired him to join the Jesuits.

But he cautions “it will take time to heal our wounds, to heal our memories”.

A man has been left baffled after a letter arrived at his door which should have been delivered more than 10,500 miles away to an address in Australia.

When Keith Georgiou from Penarth, Vale of Glamorgan, picked up the letter, he realised it should have been sent to an address in Penrith, New South Wales.

To add to the confusion, the Australian state had been abbreviated to NSW, meaning that only one word on the envelope matched Mr Georgiou’s address.

Royal Mail said mistakes were rare but did happen.

“How it got to Penarth instead of Australia is a joke, isn’t it,” the 60-year-old said.

Mr Georgiou spotted the letter over the weekend and saw from the envelope that it had been posted from the Exeter area.

“It’s obviously gone through a number of sorting offices and no-one has picked it up,” he said.

“It’s got the airmail sticker, everything correct on it, and it ends up in south Wales. It’s not even gone to Penrith [in Cumbria].”

Surprisingly, it is not the first time Mr Georgiou has received a letter that should have gone to Australia, but he said this week’s discovery was ironic, given the news about Royal Mail’s takeover and the fact that it was recently fined £10.5m for missing delivery targets.

“Even the postman delivering it to the house, you’d have thought he’d have gone ‘hang on a second’,” he said.

“It’s just not the same address. It’s sad that it’s got this far.”

Mr Georgiou has now re-posted the letter – having written a note on it informing Royal Mail of the mistake.

“Hopefully it doesn’t return back here!” he said.

Royal Mail said: “We deliver up to 35 million letters a day during December and occasionally mistakes happen.

“It appears that on this occasion a letter addressed for Penrith has been mistakenly read as Penarth… usually, any errors made by mail sorting machines are picked up by our team, but rarely, they are not noticed in time.”

“Can I give you some polar bear advice?” asks Tee, a confident 13-year-old we meet during a visit to Churchill’s high school.

“If there’s a bear this close to you,” she says as she measures a distance of about 30cm with her hands. “Make a fist and punch it in the nose.

“Polar bears have very sensitive noses – it’ll just run away.”

Tee has not had to put this advice to the test. But growing up here – alongside the planet’s largest land predator – means bear safety is part of everyday life.

Signs – in shops and cafes – remind anyone heading outside to be “bear aware”. My favourite reads: “If a polar bear attacks you must fight back.”

Running away from a charging polar bear is – perhaps counterintuitively – dangerous. A bear’s instinct is to chase prey and polar bears can run at 25mph (40kmph).

Key advice: Be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Don’t walk alone at night.

Churchill is known as the polar bear capital of the world. Every year, the Hudson Bay – on the western edge of which the town is perched – thaws, and forces the bears on shore. As the freeze sets in in Autumn, hundreds of bears gather here, waiting.

“We have freshwater rivers flowing into the area and cold water coming in from the Arctic,” explains Alyssa McCall from Polar Bears International (PBI). “So freeze-up happens here first.

“For polar bears, sea ice is a big dinner plate – it’s access to their main prey, seals. They’re probably excited for a big meal of seal blubber – they haven’t been eating much all summer on land.”

There are 20 known sub-populations of polar bears across the Arctic. This is one of the most southerly and best studied.

“They’re our fat, white, hairy canaries in the coal mine,” Alyssa explains. “We had about 1,200 polar bears here in the 1980s and we’ve lost almost half of them.”

The decline is tied to the amount of time the bay is now ice-free, a period that is getting longer as the climate warms. No sea ice means no frozen seal-hunting platform.

“Bears here are now on land about a month longer than their grandparents were,” explains Alyssa. “That puts pressure on mothers. [With less food] it’s harder to stay pregnant and to sustain those babies.”

While their long-term survival is precarious, the bears draw conservation scientists and thousands of tourists to Churchill every year.

We tag along with a group from PBI to search for bears on the sub-Arctic tundra – just a few miles from town. The team travels in a tundra buggy, a type of off-road bus with huge tyres.

After a few distant sightings, we have a heart-stopping close encounter. A young bear approaches and investigates our slow two-buggy convoy. He sidles up, sniffs one of the vehicles, then jumps up and plants two giant paws up on the side of the buggy.

The bear casually slumps back down onto all fours, then looks up and gazes at me briefly. It is deeply confusing to look into the face of an animal that is simultaneously adorable and potentially deadly.

“You could see him sniffing and even licking the vehicle – using all his senses to investigate,” says PBI’s Geoff York, who has worked in the Arctic for more than three decades.

Being here in ‘bear season’ means Geoff and his colleagues can test new technologies to detect bears and protect people. The PBI team is currently fine-tuning a radar-based system dubbed ‘bear-dar’.

The experimental rig – a tall antenna with detectors scanning 360 degrees – is installed on the roof of a lodge in the middle of the tundra, near Churchill.

“It has artificial intelligence, so here we can basically teach it what a polar bear is,” Geoff explains. “This works 24/7, it can see at night and in poor visibility.”

Polar bear attacks are rare, but they are a risk for people who live and work in isolated Arctic environments. Earlier this year, a Canadian worker was killed by two polar bears near a remote defence station in Canada’s northern Nunavut territory.

Co-existing with these ice-dependent predators, when the Arctic climate is changing faster than at any time in history, creates a paradoxical challenge for Churchill: The polar bear population here faces long-term decline. But, in the short term, the bears are spending more of their year on shore, increasing the probability of bears and people coming into contact.

Protecting the community is the task of the polar bear alert team – trained rangers who patrol Churchill every day.

We ride along with ranger Ian Van Nest, who is looking for a stubborn bear that he and his colleagues tried to chase away earlier that day. “It turned around and came back [towards] Churchill. He doesn’t seem interested in going away.”

For bears that are intent on hanging around town, the team can use a live trap: A tube-shaped container, baited with seal meat, with a door that the bear triggers when it climbs inside.

“Then we put them in the holding facility,” Ian explains. Bears are held for 30 days, a period set to teach a bear that it is a negative thing to come to town looking for food, but that doesn’t put the animal’s health at risk.

They are then moved – either on the back of a trailer or occasionally air-lifted by helicopter – and released further along the bay, away from people.

Cyril Fredlund, who works at Churchill’s new scientific observatory, remembers the last time a person was killed by a polar bear in Churchill, in 1983.

“It was right in town,” he says. “The man was homeless and was in an abandoned building at night. There was a young bear in there too – it took him down with its paw, like he was a seal.”

People came to help, Cyril recalls, but they couldn’t get the bear away from the man. “It was like it was guarding its meal.”

The polar bear alert program was set up around that time. No-one has been killed by a polar bear here since.

Cyril is now a technician at the new Churchill Marine Observatory (CMO). Part of its remit is to understand exactly how this environment will respond to climate change.

Under its retractable roof are two giant pools filled with water pumped in directly from the Hudson Bay.

“We can do all kinds of controlled experimental studies looking into changes in the Arctic,” says Prof Feiyue Wang.

One implication of a less icy Hudson Bay is a longer operating season for the port, which is currently closed for nine months of the year. A longer season during which the bay thaws and becomes open water could mean more ships coming in and out of Churchill.

Studies at the observatory are setting out to improve the accuracy of the sea ice forecast. Research will also examine the risks associated with expanding the port. One of the first investigations is an experimental oil spill. Scientists plan to release oil into one of the pools, test clean-up techniques and measure how quickly the oil degrades in the cold water.

For Churchill’s mayor, Mike Spence, understanding how to plan for the future, particularly when it comes to shipping goods in and out of Churchill, is vital for the town’s future in a warming world.

“We’re already looking into extending the season,” he says, gesturing towards the port, which has ceased operating for the winter. “In ten years’ time, this will be bustling.”

Climate change poses a challenge for the polar bear capital of the world, but the mayor is optimistic. “We have a great town,” he says, “a wonderful community. And the summer season – [when people come to see the Beluga whales in the bay] – is growing.”

“We’re all being challenged by climate change,” he adds. “Does that mean you stop existing? No – you adapt. You work out how to take advantage of it.”

While Mike Spence says “the future is bright” for Churchill, it might not be so bright for the polar bears.

Tee and her friends look out over the bay, from a window at the back of the school building. The polar bear alert team’s vehicles are gathering outside, trying to move a bear away from town.

“If climate change continues,” muses Tee’s classmate Charlie, “the polar bears might just stop coming here.”

The teacher approaches to make sure the children have someone coming to pick them up – that they’re not walking home alone. All part of the daily routine in the polar bear capital of the world.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s future looks uncertain following the sudden resignation of his most senior cabinet member, a once close ally.

Chrystia Freeland – the former deputy prime minister and finance minister – quit her posts on Monday with an open letter to Trudeau, in which she outlined disagreements she had with him on spending and “the best path forward for Canada”.

These disagreements, she said, were underscored by the threat of tariffs on Canadian goods from incoming US President Donald Trump – tariffs that economists say could deal Canada a devastating economic blow.

Questions are now being asked on Parliament Hill, including by some members of his own Liberal Party, about whether he is able to lead at this critical juncture.

He faces a few options on how to move forward.

Trudeau has been leader of the Liberal Party of Canada since 2013, and Canada’s prime minister for just over nine years, since 2015.

Under the party’s constitution, the leader can tender his or her resignation at any time. If it is effective immediately, an interim leader is appointed until party members can convene and vote on a new permanent leader.

Trudeau could also choose to stay in his post until that new leader is elected.

Once a new leader is appointed, Trudeau would have to relinquish his prime ministerial powers and hand them over to his successor.

Trudeau is not signalling that he will voluntarily resign any time soon.

In an emergency meeting with his caucus following Freeland’s departure, Trudeau told fellow Liberal members of parliament (MPs) – including some who had directly called for him to step down – that he would take time to reflect, according to multiple reports.

And in a holiday speech to Liberal Party faithful on Tuesday, he acknowledged politics came with “big challenges” but said: “In difficult times, it’s not time to stop. It’s time to be ambitious, audacious.”

Trudeau has been under pressure since the summer, due to his plummeting approval ratings and a series of special election losses of once-safe Liberal seats that suggest major troubles for his party.

In October, he faced a small caucus revolt, with 24 MPs signing a letter calling for his exit.

Polls indicate that if a Canadian federal election were to be held today, the official opposition Conservative Party would be handed a decisive victory.

Trudeau has held on despite these troubles and has repeatedly vowed to run again as Liberal leader in the next election.

Only 13 out of 153 Liberal MPs have so far openly called for him to leave – nearly half of them are not seeking re-election themselves, according to tracking by CBC News.

Still, under the party’s constitution, the leader’s position can only be formally put to a vote by members following an election loss.

Riding high in opinion polls with a double-digit lead, the Conservatives have tried for months to trigger an election by tabling a series of no-confidence votes in the House of Commons.

If a government loses a confidence motion or vote in the House, it is expected to resign or seek the dissolution of parliament, triggering a federal election.

The government needs the backing of a majority of the 338 members of parliament in a no-confidence vote. The Liberals are 17 seats shy of that.

The Conservative efforts failed after either the NDP or the Bloc Québécois backed the Liberals in return for support pushing forward their own respective political priorities.

With parliament adjourning for the holidays on Tuesday, Trudeau will not be facing the threat of another confidence motion until at least late January.

On Monday, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh for the first time called on Trudeau to resign, making the Liberal hold on power look increasingly shaky.

The NDP’s House leader told broadcaster the CBC that its members would vote in favour of a no-confidence motion if the prime minister was still leader in the New Year.

One way Trudeau could avoid the vote is by proroguing parliament – essentially a suspension that would stop all proceedings, including debates and votes, without dissolving parliament.

While a routine part of parliamentary procedure, it is sometimes used by governments to buy time during a political crisis.

Parliament was most recently prorogued by Trudeau in August 2020, when his government was facing an ethics scandal over its handling of a contract with a charity.

It was also used to avoid a no-confidence vote by Trudeau’s predecessor, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who prorogued parliament in December 2008 when federal opposition parties sought to form a coalition government.

Parliament resumed in January 2009. By then the coalition had fallen apart, allowing Harper to remain in power.

Whatever Trudeau decides to do, an election in the coming months is inevitable.

Canada must hold its next election on or before October, and ultimately, it may be voters who end up deciding his future.

Shop owners in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, are caught between a rock and a hard place over a government directive that they install CCTV cameras outside their businesses to intensify surveillance of Islamist insurgents who have a strong presence in the city.

The businessmen say if they put up the cameras they risk being gunned down by the al-Shabab insurgents, and if they do not, they could be arrested by the police.

“The CCTV cameras are why you now see me at home,” says former shop-owner Hamza Nuur, 48, as he sits on a sofa holding one of his children.

He tells the BBC that he took the painful decision to sell his business to avoid incurring the wrath of either side.

“You’re told not to remove the cameras by one side and then you’re told to remove the cameras by the other side. Depending on the choice you make, you’ll either have a bullet or prison cell waiting for you,” Mr Nuur adds.

The government issued a directive last year to shop-owners to install CCTV cameras – at their own cost – to deter attacks by al-Shabab.

Mogadishu’s Deputy Mayor Mohamed Ahmed Diriye tells the BBC Africa Daily podcast that the decision has paid off.

“There used to be four or five bombings per month in Mogadishu but that’s no longer the case,” he says.

The government has now ordered residents to install the cameras outside homes and apartment blocks, raising fears among many people that al-Shabab could bring its war into their homes.

Since October, al-Shabab has killed four businessmen in 10 attacks related to the installation of CCTV cameras, according to a leading violence monitoring group, Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (Acled).

The government’s directive was aimed at ultimately disrupting al-Shabab’s sources of funding as it extorts money out of shop-owners, but the retaliatory attacks by the insurgents “have forced many businesses in Mogadishu’s main markets to close their doors for days”, Acled adds in a report published on its website.

Mr Nuur says that at first he ignored the government’s directive but was forced to install the cameras after being confronted by members of the security forces.

“I tried to explain to them I was just a poor man and didn’t want to get involved with the government but they got angry and began threatening me, saying they’ll ruin my life,” he tells the BBC.

Mr Nuur says that once he installed a CCTV camera, he began receiving phone calls from unrecognisable numbers.

“My body started shivering from the inside. I knew who it was,” he says, referring to al-Shabab operatives who have a well-entrenched spy network, allowing them to get information about civilians like Mr Nuur.

Mr Nuur says he changed his number, only for a young man to walk up to him in his shop one morning.

“He lifted his shirt. He had a pistol in his waist. He ordered me to turn on my SIM card.”

Mr Nuur says he acquiesced, and the phone rang, with the anonymous caller wanting to know whether “the government’s demands are more important to you than ours”.

“I didn’t know what to do. The young man with the pistol was standing there the whole time. I was thinking, once I hang up this phone call is he going to shoot. So, I whispered a prayer under my breath,” Mr Nuur adds.

He says fortunately the man “walked out of the store without incident after I hung up the call”.

Mr Nuur says he decided to sell his business after two shopkeepers were gunned down in October.

“There is nothing more valuable than human life,” he says.

Critical of the government’s directive, Mr Nuur adds: “People trying to make ends meet are being pulled into a war against a powerful group that even the government has difficulties fighting. Just imagine how we feel as civilians.”

Diriye denies that businesses are shutting down or that owners are being forced to install CCTV cameras.

However, he acknowledges that some businessmen have fears, but says the government does its best to reassure them and to protect them.

“The city is calm and business is smooth,” Diriye adds.

But Asiyo Mohamed Warsame tells the BBC that masked gunmen killed her 40-year-old brother Dahir Mohamed Warsame in his shop in Mogadishu’s Yaqshid district in October after he installed CCTV cameras under pressure from the security forces.

“He left behind six children, with the youngest being only four months old,” she says.

Shopkeeper Ismael Hashi, 33, says he shut his business after anonymous calls from suspected al-Shabab operatives.

“They knew my name plus more. It was as if they already knew everything about me,” he tells the BBC.

Mr Hashi adds that he later received a call from the police telling him to open his shop – and when he ignored them he was detained for a few days before being released.

Mr Hashi says he has now reopened his business.

“I still have the CCTV cameras installed on the government’s orders but I know the government cannot protect me if someone were to decide to take my life,” he says.

“Every time I’m standing behind the counter and someone I don’t recognise walks in, I get nervous and wonder if this is the person sent to kill me,” Mr Hashi adds.

Sidow Abdullahi Mohamed, 39, tells the BBC that he was arrested for failing to install a CCTV camera at his home in Wajir district.

He adds that 14 other people on his street were also arrested.

“We were transferred to the Wadajir district police station where we were detained for hours. We were eventually released after someone with a government ID came and vouched for us and got us out,” Mr Mohamed says.

He adds that he and the other residents have now installed CCTV cameras – but they live in fear.

“As civilians we’re forced to buy the cameras, pay to install them in our homes and risk violence from al-Shabaab. Is this how the government expects to win hearts and minds?”

• ‘They threw her body into the ocean’
• ‘Why I spent my university fees on Somali TikTok battles’
• ‘I wanted my clitoris back’

“When you are showing your identity, you shine all the time,” says Elyanna.

The 22-year-old Palestinian-Chilean singer already has millions of views on YouTube and a collaboration with Coldplay under her belt.

This year she’s also doing her first European tour and tells BBC Newsbeat she is keen to spread the message of her home “through music and art”.

Elyanna was born in Nazareth, an Arab city in northern Israel.

Israeli Arabs descend from Palestinians who became citizens of Israel when the state was established in 1948, many of whom continue to strongly self-identify as Palestinian.

“I feel as a young Palestinian artist, if I have a voice and I have a platform, I [can] talk about where I come from,” says Elyanna.

“And talk about the beautiful things about back home, which is so needed.”

Elyanna and her family moved from Nazareth to California in 2017, but she still feels a strong connection to Palestine.

In April 2023 she made history at Coachella, becoming the first person to sing an entire set in Arabic at the Californian music festival.

Months later, on 7 October, Palestinian group Hamas launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel.

Israel’s massive military offensive against it still continues.

Last year Elyanna told fans she was “praying for” Gaza and chose to postpone her tour last year in solidarity with people affected by Israel’s military offensive.

One of her songs, Olive Branch, written with her brother and mum, include nods to the people of Palestine, and she says the song is dedicated to them.

“They’ve been going through so much for so long,” she says.

Despite some celebrities facing criticism for not speaking out about events in the Middle East, Elyanna says it’s not like that for her.

“I don’t feel like there’s any pressure because I am very proud of where I come from, who I am and my identity,” she tells Newsbeat after a gig in Michigan last month.

“And I want other people my age, young people and artists in general, I want them to be proud of where they come from.

“I feel like that’s my mission as an artist. It gives me so much purpose.

“I always believe in speaking your mind, and I do believe that everybody should feel free to express how they feel.”

Elyanna sings in Arabic, with one review of her Woledto album stating she “plays with Arab pop, R&B, EDM, and jazz to express the nuances of love, loss, and longing”.

And this year she teamed up with Coldplay, alongside Burna Boy, Little Simz and Tini, during their Glastonbury headline set.

The Coldplay collab is a teenage dream come true for Elyanna, who is now closing in on 10 million monthly Spotify listeners.

“I watched their show [when] I was 15 years old in San Diego with my siblings, and I was so inspired for like a week.

“And I remember I told my sister: ‘One day I feel like I’m going to perform with them’.

“I cannot believe that it’s true,” she says.

Working with the group was for her, as a young artist, “perfect inspiration and a perfect environment to be around”.

“They’re legends, and they are so sweet and humble in person, which makes it even more perfect.

“They stand for beautiful things, and I feel like they really inspired me,” she says.

Now that her tour is back up and running, she says the delay has taught her “to be patient”.

“It’s a process, and it’s just like you have to learn how to trust the process.”

And being on stage, her aim is to now “inspire people” in the same way she was by artists such as Amy Winehouse, Freddie Mercury and legendary Middle East singer Fairuz.

“As a little girl, I always wanted to feel inspired by artists, especially when they’re performing live,” she says.

“So I feel like I need to give that to other people, inspire them, give them hope.

“I have so many people that really inspired me in their own way, and I want to do the same for other people.”

Elyanna says she loves performing in the UK and seeing fellow Arabs at her concerts.

“I feel like there are so many Arabs that want to introduce their friends [to] their culture,” she says.

“I’m always so surprised and inspired that they’re all here to listen to Arabic music,” she says.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.

Tom Cruise has been awarded the US Navy’s highest civilian honour for “outstanding contributions” to the military with his screen roles.

Cruise’s lead role in the 1986 smash hit Top Gun shot him into celebrity status, and the film’s record-breaking success spiked military enlistment.

The Distinguished Public Service Award was presented to Cruise during a ceremony on Tuesday at the Longcross Film Studios in Chertsey, Surrey.

The 62-year-old star expressed his gratitude for the “extraordinary acknowledgement”.

“I admire all of the servicemen and women,” Cruise said, standing next to US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro who handed him a certificate and medal.

“I know in life, something that is very true to me, is that is to lead is to serve. And I know that to my core. And I see that in the servicemen and women.”

The Navy thanked the action hero, who it said had “increased public awareness and appreciation for our highly trained personnel and the sacrifices they make while in uniform”.

Cruise starred as the pilot Maverick in Top Gun, a movie about Cold War flying aces, and it was so influential that the Navy even set up recruitment tables in theatres.

The Oscar nominated star reprised his role as Lieutenant Pete Mitchell in the 2022 sequel Top Gun: Maverick, which the Navy said “reinvigorated” military interest from younger audiences.

On Tuesday, Del Toro said: “Tom Cruise has spent nearly four decades as an unwavering supporter of the men, women and families of the navy and marine corps.”

Cruise was also celebrated for his roles in action hits Born on the Fourth of July, A Few Good Men and the Mission: Impossible series.

Cruise was in Chertsey, Surrey while working on his next film Mission: Impossible: The Final Reckoning, due for release in May 2025.

The prestigious civilian honour was previously awarded to Academy Award winners Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks for their work in the World War II movie Saving Private Ryan.

After months of deadlock, there are new signs that Israel and Hamas could be moving closer to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.

A senior Palestinian official involved in the indirect negotiations told the BBC that talks were in a “decisive and final phase”.

Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, has also said an agreement is closer than ever.

In recent weeks, the US, Qatar and Egypt have resumed their mediation efforts – reporting greater willingness by both sides in this 14-month war to conclude a deal.

An Israeli delegation described as “working level” is currently in the Qatari capital Doha amid a flurry of diplomatic comings and goings in the region.

The Palestinian official outlined a three-phase plan which would see civilians and women soldiers held hostage in Gaza released in the first 45 days, with Israeli forces pulling out of city centres, the coastal road and the strategic strip of land along the border with Egypt.

There would be a mechanism for displaced Gazans to be able to return to the north of the territory, the official said.

A second stage would see remaining hostages freed and troops withdrawn before the third stage ending the war.

Of 96 hostages still held in Gaza, 62 are assumed by Israel to still be alive.

The plan appears to be based on the deal US President Joe Biden outlined on 31 May and reports from all sides stress there are key details to work out.

A round of talks in mid-October failed to produce a deal, with Hamas rejecting a short-term ceasefire proposal.

According to his spokesman, Katz told members of the Israeli parliament’s foreign affairs committee on Monday: “We have not been this close to an agreement on the hostages since the previous deal,” referring to an exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners in Israel in November 2023.

He has since written on X: “My position on Gaza is clear. After we defeat Hamas’s military and governmental power in Gaza, Israel will have security control over Gaza with full freedom of action,” comparing this to the situation in the occupied West Bank.

“We will not allow any terrorist activity against Israeli communities and Israeli citizens from Gaza. We will not allow a return to the reality of before 7 October.”

Such comments are likely to be seen as problematic by negotiators trying to bridge gaps with Hamas. However, in Israel, they are seen as vital to guarantee the support of far-right Israeli cabinet ministers who have previously warned they would not agree to what they have described as a “reckless” deal in Gaza.

The Palestinian Islamist armed group Hamas, which governed Gaza, carried out an unprecedented cross-border attack in southern Israel on 7 October 2023. About 1,200 people were killed and 253 others abducted.

More than 100 hostages have been freed through negotiations or Israeli military rescue operations.

On 7 December, it is understood from Palestinian sources that Israel stopped aircraft movement and drone surveillance over the territory for six hours at the request of mediators, allowing Hamas to collect information about the hostages.

Pro-Qatari newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeed then reported that Hamas had handed a list of sick and elderly Israeli hostages as well as those with US citizenship to Egyptian intelligence officials. The paper said there were also the names of Palestinian prisoners that the group was demanding as part of the deal.

At the outset of the war in Gaza, Israel pledged to destroy Hamas’s governing and military capabilities. More than 45,000 Palestinians have since been killed according to figures from the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, which are seen as reliable by the UN and others.

Most of the 2.3 million population of Gaza has been displaced, there has been widespread destruction and amid an ongoing struggle to get aid to those in need, there is now mass hunger.

Donald Trump’s victory in November’s US presidential election has given a new push to diplomatic efforts.

At a news conference on Monday, he again warned that a ceasefire deal should be reached before he takes office, saying otherwise, “it’s not going to be pleasant.”

Honda and Nissan are understood to have held exploratory talks about a potential merger to help them compete against electric vehicle (EV) makers, particularly in China.

In March, the two Japanese car makers agreed to explore a strategic partnership for EVs.

The firms responded to the BBC with identical statements, which said: “As announced in March of this year, Honda and Nissan are exploring various possibilities for future collaboration, leveraging each other’s strengths.”

It comes as many car brands grapple with growing competition as the industry shifts from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric, with production in China booming.

Honda and Nissan have not denied the story, which was first reported by Japanese business newspaper the Nikkei, but said it was “not something that has been announced by either company”.

The discussions are understood to be in the early stages and there is no guarantee that a deal will be agreed.

“If there are any updates, we will inform our stakeholders at the appropriate time,” they added.

A potential merger between Japan’s number two and number three car manufacturers could be complicated for several reasons.

Any deal is likely to come under intense political scrutiny in Japan as it may lead to major job cuts. Nissan is also likely to be faced with unwinding its alliance with French vehicle manufacturer Renault.

Honda and Nissan agreed in March to cooperate in their EV businesses, and in August deepened their ties, agreeing to work together on batteries and other technology.

In August, the two companies also announced an agreement with Mitsubishi Motors to discuss intelligence and electrification.

The Nikkei also reported that Nissan and Honda may eventually bring Mitsubishi into any potential partnership. Nissan is Mitsubishi’s biggest shareholder.

Nissan shares traded more than 20% higher in Tokyo following the reports. Honda shares fell about 2%, while Mitsubishi’s jumped 13%.

“The thought that some of these smaller players can survive and thrive is getting more challenging, especially when you add on the complexity of all the additional Chinese manufacturers who have come in and are competing quite strongly,” said Edmunds analyst Jessica Caldwell.

“It’s just sort of necessary to survive, not only to survive, but also just to afford the future.”

Honda and Nissan have been losing market share in China, which accounted for almost 70% of global EV sales in November.

The two brands had combined global sales of 7.4 million vehicles in 2023, but are struggling to compete with cheaper EV makers such as BYD, which has seen its quarterly revenues soar, beating Tesla’s for the first time in October.

Jesper Koll, from share trading platform Monex, questioned whether a merger could make the companies more competitive.

“Is this really just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic in the sense that neither Honda nor Nissan really have any products or any technologies that global consumers want?”

“From that perspective, it’s a nice rescue but it’s not creating a new national champion.”

Bluey, the puppy and star of the Bafta-winning children’s TV show, is hitting the big screen in her first feature film.

It will arrive in cinemas in 2027 and will then stream on Disney+, ABC iView and ABC Kids in Australia.

BBC Studios, the BBC’s commercial arm, is teaming up with Disney for the project.

Bluey is a blue heeler dog, who lives with her mum, dad and little sister, Bingo. She turns everyday events in her life into adventures.

The show’s creator, Joe Brumm, said: “I’ve always thought Bluey deserved a theatrical movie. I want this to be an experiential event for the whole family to enjoy together.”

The TV series was co-commissioned by ABC and BBC Studios in 2017 and is made by Australian production company Ludo (a blue heeler is an Australian dog breed).

It’s available in more than 140 countries, and is the top show on CBeebies and Disney+ in the UK. It’s also this year’s most-watched series globally on Disney+, according to Nielsen Media Research.

The series has also won numerous awards including Television Critics Association Awards in 2023 and 2024 and this year’s Peabody Award.

The series has been streamed for more than 20 billion minutes on Disney+ in the US over the last year, putting it in the country’s top 10 streaming programmes for minutes viewed.

The film will feature the vocal actors from the TV show, including Melanie Zanetti and David McCormack as Bluey’s parents, Chilli and Bandit Heeler, and music created by its composer Joff Bush.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has filed criminal complaints in France and Belgium against subsidiaries of the tech giant Apple, accusing it of using conflict minerals.

Acting on behalf of the Congolese government, lawyers have argued that Apple is complicit in crimes committed by armed groups that control some of the mines in the east of DR Congo.

Apple has said it “strongly disputes” the claims and that it is “deeply committed to responsible sourcing” of minerals.

The authorities in France and Belgium will now look at whether there is enough evidence to take the legal action further.

In a statement, the lawyers for the DR Congo talked about Apple’s supply chain being contaminated with “blood minerals”.

They allege that the tin, tantalum and tungsten is taken from conflict areas and then “laundered through international supply chains”.

“These activities have fuelled a cycle of violence and conflict by financing militias and terrorist groups and have contributed to forced child labour and environmental devastation.”

Apple rejected the accusations saying it holds its “suppliers to the highest standards in industry”.

A spokesman told the BBC: “As conflict in the region escalated earlier this year we notified our suppliers that their smelters and refiners must suspend sourcing tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold from the DRC and Rwanda.

“We took this action because we were concerned it was no longer possible for independent auditors or industry certification mechanisms to perform the due diligence required to meet our high standards.”

The east of DR Congo is a major source of minerals and the global thirst for them has fuelled wars there for decades.

Rights groups have long alleged that large quantities of minerals from legitimate mines, as well as from facilities run by armed groups, are transported to neighbouring Rwanda and end up in our phones and computers.

Rwanda has in the past described the Congolese government’s legal action against Apple as a media stunt.

It has denied selling any conflict minerals to the tech company.

• We would vote for peace – if we had a vote’
• Refugees fleeing M23 rebels say they ‘feel powerless’
• A quick guide to DR Congo

A stowaway who allegedly flew from New York to Paris without a ticket last month has been arrested again for trying to escape by bus from the US to Canada.

Svetlana Dali made the attempt after cutting off an ankle monitor that she had been given to wear after the earlier offence, US media reported.

A New York court mandated that she wear the monitor after allegedly flying on a Delta Airlines flight from New York’s JFK International Airport to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport without a boarding pass.

During a court hearing, she was ordered not leave Philadelphia unless she was going to New York for meetings regarding her trial.

She was arrested in Buffalo, New York, on Monday, and is due to appear in court Tuesday afternoon.

Ms Dali surprised many when she snuck onto a flight without a boarding pass. She used a special lane for airline employees to get into the security line without a boarding pass, a complaint filed in New York court alleged.

She blended in with a large Air Europa flight crew and, despite not having a ticket, was screened by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents.

The 57-year-old – a Russian national and US permanent resident – slipped past Delta Airline agents who were helping other passengers at the gate.

Ms Dali then boarded the plane and was later arrested in Paris, when the flight landed, after the Delta crew discovered she did not have a ticket.

While on board, she reportedly moved from one toilet to another and never took a seat – until flight attendants began to notice.

“This is the only reported case of unauthorised access when over 18 million passengers were screened at TSA security checkpoints during the busiest Thanksgiving travel season ever,” the TSA told CBS News, the BBC’s US news partner, days after her arrest. “No one has ever fully breached the TSA security screening process.”

After her arrest, Ms Dali unsuccessfully attempted to claim asylum in France, a source familiar with the matter told CBS.

She was flown back to New York earlier this month, where she was taken into custody and charged with obtaining transportation on an aircraft without consent or permission. She appeared in court earlier this month.

Climate change, nature loss and food insecurity are all inextricably linked and dealing with them as separate issues won’t work, a major report has warned.

The review of scientific evidence by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found governments are underestimating or ignoring the links between five key areas – biodiversity, water, food, health and climate change.

This “siloed” approach has unintended consequences, such as damaging biodiversity through tree-planting schemes, or polluting rivers while ramping up food production, the report said.

The latest assessment was approved by almost 150 countries meeting in Windhoek, Namibia.

Understanding the interdependencies between the different areas is “critical” in addressing the crises affecting the natural world, said the report’s co-chair, Paula Harrison, professor of land and water modelling at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology.

“Our current governance systems are often different departments, they’re working in silos, they’re very fragmented,” she said.

“Often these links are not even acknowledged or ignored and what that means is you can get unintended consequences or trade-offs that emerge because people just weren’t thinking in an holistic way.”

She said the report has identified more than 70 solutions to tackling the problems holistically, many of which are low cost.

Examples given in the report include the disease bilharzia, which causes long-term health issues for more than 200m people worldwide, especially in Africa.

Tackling the problem as a health issue through medication sees people get reinfected.

A different approach in rural Senegal tackled water pollution and the invasive plants that are habitat for the snails which host the parasitic worms which carry the disease, resulting in health and biodiversity gains.

Current decision making has prioritised short-term financial returns while ignoring the costs to nature, said the report’s co-chair, Prof Pamela McElwee, of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

“It is estimated that the unaccounted-for costs of current approaches to economic activity – reflecting impacts on biodiversity, water, health and climate change, including from food production – are at least $10-25tn per year,” she said.

Nature’s true value overlooked in decision making – IPBES

COP16: What is biodiversity and how are we protecting it?

Unsustainable logging, fishing and hunting ‘driving extinction’

The report also found:

• More than half of the world’s population – especially among developing countries – live in areas hit by the biggest impacts from declines in biodiversity, water and food
• Biodiversity – the richness and variety of all life on Earth – is declining everywhere, largely as a result of human actions, with “direct and dire impacts” on food security and nutrition, water, health and wellbeing, and resilience to climate change
• Delaying the action needed to meet policy goals will also increase the costs of delivering them. For example, delayed action on biodiversity goals could as much as double the eventual costs – while increasing the probability of species extinctions.

The report also looked at future challenges and scenarios, focussing on the periods up to 2050 and 2100.

It found that under current “business as usual” trends, the outcomes will be extremely poor for biodiversity, water quality and human health.

Dealing with only one area in isolation will probably lead to negative outcomes in other areas. Focusing only on climate change, for example, can lead to negative outcomes for areas such as biodiversity and food, reflecting competition for land.

“Future scenarios do exist that have positive outcomes for people and nature by providing co-benefits across the nexus elements,” said Prof Harrison.

“The future scenarios with the widest nexus benefits are those with actions that focus on sustainable production and consumption in combination with conserving and restoring ecosystems, reducing pollution, and mitigating and adapting to climate change,” she said.

The IPBES is often referred to as conservation scientists’ equivalent of the IPCC – the key UN group of climate scientists.

It provides policy makers with scientific assessments relating to the planet’s diversity of fauna and flora, and the contributions they make to people.

Previous reports have looked at how policy makers undervalue the true worth of nature and, in a hard-hitting 2019 report, how human activity was risking the extinction of a million species.

Sign up for our Future Earth newsletter to get exclusive insight on the latest climate and environment news from the BBC’s Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt, delivered to your inbox every week.

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Appearance and reality: there is a constant battle in Moscow between the two.

Despite nearly three years of war, life here can seem so normal: from the crowds of commuters on the Metro to the bars and clubs packed with young Muscovites.

Then, suddenly, something happens to remind you: there is nothing normal about Russia today.

That “something” can be a Ukrainian drone penetrating Moscow’s air defences.

Or – even more dramatic – what happened on Tuesday morning: the targeted assassination of a senior Russian general as he walked out of an apartment block.

When Lt Gen Igor Kirillov and his assistant Ilya Polikarpov were killed by a bomb concealed on an electric scooter, the reality of Russia’s war on Ukraine hit home.

At least to those Russians close to the crime scene.

“It’s one thing reading about it in the news, it feels far, but when it happens next door to you, that’s completely different and frightening,” Liza tells me. She lives one building from the site of the blast.

“Until now, [the war] felt as if it was happening a long way off – now someone is dead, here, you can feel the consequences.

“My anxiety has gone through the roof. Every sound you hear unnerves you – you wonder whether it’s a drone or something at a construction site,” Liza says.

This perception of Russia’s war in Ukraine as something distant – I’ve heard that so often here. I get the sense that, for a considerable portion of the population, this is a war they only experience on their TV screen or on their smart phone. In many ways, a virtual war.

Astonishing, really, considering the large number of dead and wounded.

But the killing of a Russian general in Moscow: that is a definite wake-up call; proof that this war is very real and very close to home.

Will it serve as a wake-up call for the Russian authorities?

Probably not. There is little sign of a Kremlin U-turn on Ukraine. Moscow is far more likely to intensify the war.

Just look at the signs.

Reacting to news of Kirillov’s killing, the host of a political talk show on Russian state TV blamed Ukraine and claimed that “with this attack President Zelensky has signed his own death sentence”.

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said “investigators must find the killers in Russia.” He added: “We must do everything to destroy their patrons who are in Kyiv.”

From President Vladimir Putin there has been no public reaction so far to the killing of the general and his assistant.

But the Kremlin leader has said many times before that, faced with security threats, Russia “will always respond”.

Based on that pledge, retaliation is likely.

On Thursday, the Kremlin leader is due to hold his annual end-of-year press conference and phone-in. It’s normally a marathon affair broadcast live by all the main TV channels.

I wonder: will he use the event to comment on the dramatic early morning assassination of Kirillov?

Will he break his silence on Syria? The Russian president has so far said nothing publicly about the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Moscow’s key ally in the Middle East.

And what will he tell Russians about where their country is heading, as the war in Ukraine – what Putin still calls his “special military operation” – approaches the three-year mark?

Canada has promised to implement a set of sweeping new security measures along the country’s US border, including strengthened surveillance and a joint “strike force” to target transnational organised crime.

The pledge follows a threat from President-elect Donald Trump to impose, when he takes office in January, a 25% tariff on Canadian goods if the country does not secure its shared border to the flow of irregular migrants and illegal drugs.

Economists say such tariffs could strike a blow to Canada’s economy.

Announcing details of the plan, Canada’s minister of finance and intergovernmental affairs said the federal government would devote C$1.3bn ($900m; £700bn) to the plan.

The measures “will secure our border against the flow of illegal drugs and irregular migration while ensuring the free flow of people and goods that are at the core of North America’s prosperity”, Minister Dominic LeBlanc said on Tuesday.

The five pillars of the plan cover the disruption of the fentanyl trade, new tools for law enforcement, enhanced coordination with US law enforcement, increased information sharing and limiting traffic at the border.

They include a proposed aerial surveillance task force, including helicopters, drones and mobile surveillance towers between ports of entry.

The government is also giving the Canada Border Service Agency funds to train new dog teams to find illegal drugs, and new detection tools for high-risk ports of entry.

And LeBlanc provided further detail on the so-called “joint strike force” for Canadian and US authorities, saying it would include “support in operational surges, dedicated synthetic drug units, expanded combined forces, special enforcement units, binational integrated enforcement teams, and new operational capacity and infrastructure”.

The new plan appears to correspond to the concerns publicly disclosed by Trump in recent weeks: the flow of fentanyl and undocumented immigrants into the US.

The number of crossings at the US-Canada border is significantly lower than at the southern border, according to US Border Patrol data on migrant encounters, as is the amount of fentanyl seized.

Mexico is also facing a 25% tariff threat.

LeBlanc said he and other officials had a “preliminary” conversation with Trump’s incoming “border tsar” Tom Homan about the new plan.

“I’m in encouraged by that conversation,” he said.

LeBlanc was present at a meeting last month between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Trump at Mar-a-Lago, a trip reportedly meant to head-off the levy.

The announcement comes on LeBlanc’s first day as Canada’s finance minister.

The longtime ally to Trudeau was hastily sworn in on Monday after the surprise resignation of Chrystia Freeland, who served as both finance minister and deputy prime minister.

Freeland quit her posts with a scathing open letter to Trudeau in which she outlined disagreements she had with him on spending and “the best path forward for Canada”.

Her abrupt exit from cabinet has put additional strain on Trudeau’s weakened minority government.

On Tuesday, in a speech to party faithful at a Liberal holiday event, a defiant Trudeau said there are “always tough days and big challenges” in politics.

“But this team doesn’t hold the record for the longest minority in Canadian history because we shy away from these moments, we put in the work, whether it’s easy or hard.”

• Canada’s finance minister quits over Trump tariff dispute
• Four paths Trudeau can take as his leadership faces scrutiny
• US-Canada agree to turn back asylum seekers at border

Honda and Nissan are understood to have held exploratory talks about a potential merger to help them compete against electric vehicle (EV) makers, particularly in China.

In March, the two Japanese car makers agreed to explore a strategic partnership for EVs.

The firms responded to the BBC with identical statements, which said: “As announced in March of this year, Honda and Nissan are exploring various possibilities for future collaboration, leveraging each other’s strengths.”

It comes as many car brands grapple with growing competition as the industry shifts from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric, with production in China booming.

Honda and Nissan have not denied the story, which was first reported by Japanese business newspaper the Nikkei, but said it was “not something that has been announced by either company”.

The discussions are understood to be in the early stages and there is no guarantee that a deal will be agreed.

“If there are any updates, we will inform our stakeholders at the appropriate time,” they added.

A potential merger between Japan’s number two and number three car manufacturers could be complicated for several reasons.

Any deal is likely to come under intense political scrutiny in Japan as it may lead to major job cuts. Nissan is also likely to be faced with unwinding its alliance with French vehicle manufacturer Renault.

Honda and Nissan agreed in March to cooperate in their EV businesses, and in August deepened their ties, agreeing to work together on batteries and other technology.

In August, the two companies also announced an agreement with Mitsubishi Motors to discuss intelligence and electrification.

The Nikkei also reported that Nissan and Honda may eventually bring Mitsubishi into any potential partnership. Nissan is Mitsubishi’s biggest shareholder.

Nissan shares traded more than 20% higher in Tokyo following the reports. Honda shares fell about 2%, while Mitsubishi’s jumped 13%.

“The thought that some of these smaller players can survive and thrive is getting more challenging, especially when you add on the complexity of all the additional Chinese manufacturers who have come in and are competing quite strongly,” said Edmunds analyst Jessica Caldwell.

“It’s just sort of necessary to survive, not only to survive, but also just to afford the future.”

Honda and Nissan have been losing market share in China, which accounted for almost 70% of global EV sales in November.

The two brands had combined global sales of 7.4 million vehicles in 2023, but are struggling to compete with cheaper EV makers such as BYD, which has seen its quarterly revenues soar, beating Tesla’s for the first time in October.

Jesper Koll, from share trading platform Monex, questioned whether a merger could make the companies more competitive.

“Is this really just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic in the sense that neither Honda nor Nissan really have any products or any technologies that global consumers want?”

“From that perspective, it’s a nice rescue but it’s not creating a new national champion.”

A woman from the Philippines who spent almost 15 years on death row in Indonesia and was nearly executed by firing squad is finally home.

Mary Jane Veloso was sentenced to death in 2010 after she was found carrying 2.6kg (5.7lb) of heroin through an Indonesian airport.

But the 39-year-old mother of two has always maintained she was tricked into carrying the drugs.

She was flown back to Manila on Wednesday, after the two governments reached a deal that allowed her to return home.

“This is a new life for me and I will have a new beginning in the Philippines,” she told a news conference, adding that she wanted to spend Christmas with her family.

“I have to go home because I have a family there, I have my children waiting for me.”

While the agreement states that Veloso will return as a prisoner, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos could grant her a reprieve. She is now detained at the country’s main prison for women in Metro Manila.

Veloso was arrested in April 2010 at Yogyakarta airport.

She said she was convinced by the daughter of one of her godparents to travel to Indonesia to start a new job as a maid.

She claimed that the woman’s male friends gave her new clothes and a new bag, which she was unaware had heroin sewn into it.

She was due to face the firing squad in 2015, but Benigno Aquino III, who was Philippine president at the time, won a last-minute reprieve for her after the woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking. Veloso was named a prosecution witness in that case.

Her reprieve was so late that several newspapers in the Philippines went to print with front pages and headlines reporting it had happened.

Ms Veloso’s case drew widespread public sympathy in the Philippines, which does not have the death penalty.

Her circumstances were familiar to many in the Philippines, where it is common for women to escape poverty by seeking work abroad as domestic helpers.

“I bring a lot of things, such as guitar, books, knittings … even this T-shirt I’m wearing was given by my friends,” she said while leaving prison for the airport.

Her transfer comes just days after the five remaining members of the infamous “Bali Nine” drug ring returned home after serving nearly 20 years in Indonesian prisons.

Luigi Mangione has been charged with first-degree murder in the killing of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the New York district attorney said on Tuesday.

Mr Mangione faces various charges, including first-degree murder, and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which describes the killing as an act of “terrorism”, Bragg said.

“The intent was to sow terror,” New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, calling the shooting a “frightening, well-planned and targeted murder”.

Mr Mangione is scheduled to appear for a court hearing on 19 December over whether he will be extradited to New York on the charges, though Mr Bragg suggested the suspect may not fight extradition.

“We have indications the defendant may waive that hearing,” Mr Bragg said.

The extradition proceeding is scheduled for the same day as Mr Mangione’s preliminary hearing on gun-related charges in Pennsylvania.

Appearing at a press conference Tuesday afternoon, both Mr Bragg and New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch lambasted the public for praising Mr Mangione in the wake of the 4 December shooting.

“In the nearly two weeks since Mr Thompson’s killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder,” Ms Tisch said. “We don’t celebrate murders and we don’t lionise the killing of anyone.”

In addition to murder, the suspect also faces weapons and forgery charges. If he is convicted on the most serious charges placed against him – first degree murder and second degree murder as an act of terrorism – Mr Mangione could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Asked about the specific terrorism charges, Mr Bragg replied that “in its most basic terms, this was a killing that was intended to evoke terror”.

Five days after Mr Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, was shot and killed, Mr Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, with a fake ID and so-called “ghost gun”, police said.

His lawyer, Thomas Dickey, has said he has not seen evidence that links Mr Mangione’s gun with the crime.

New York prosecutors began to share evidence in their case against Mr Mangione with a grand jury last week.

If extradited, the 26-year-old is likely to be held at Riker’s Island or another New York prison.

The evidence against Mr Mangione includes a positive match of his fingerprints with those discovered at the crime scene, Commissioner Tisch said.

According to District Attorney Bragg, the suspect arrived in New York City on 24 November, staying in a Manhattan hostel using a fake ID before carrying out the attack against Mr Thompson 10 days later.

In addition to the ghost gun – a gun assembled from untraceable parts – and fake ID, a passport and a handwritten document indicating “motivation and mindset” also were found on Mr Mangione when he was arrested, police said.

During Tuesday’s news conference announcing the New York charges, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny also described an interaction with the suspect’s mother, who in November filed a missing person report for her son in San Francisco.

After the manhunt for the shooting suspect had begun, that report was flagged to authorities, who contacted Mr Mangione’s mother. According to Mr Kenny, his mother said she did not identify her son as the suspect, but said “it might be something that she could see him doing”.

Mr Mangione was formally charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime and providing a false identification to police.

While Mr Mangione awaits his fate in the New York court system, he remains under maximum security at Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

He has been denied bail.

Could this egg-shaped structure be what the future home of Indian astronauts in space looks like?

The Hab-1 – short for Habitat-1 – is Indian space agency Isro’s first-ever “analog mission” which means simulation of space conditions to prepare astronauts for real space missions. It was recently tested for three weeks in the high Himalayan mountains of Ladakh.

Space architect Aastha Kacha-Jhala, from Gujarat-based firm Aaka, told the BBC that these simulations help identify and address issues astronauts and equipment might face before space missions.

Built with space-grade Teflon and insulated with industrial-use foam, Hab-1 has a bed, a stowaway tray which can be pulled out and used as a workstation, storage space to keep supplies and emergency kits, a kitchenette for heating meals and a toilet. An astronaut in simulation spent three weeks holed up in the facility.

“Hab-1 is designed keeping in mind that space is going to be very limited on the Moon or Mars,” Ms Kacha-Jhala says. “The astronaut will also have very limited water so we designed a dry toilet. We also put in place a system for a proper disposal of waste and ensured that the habitat remained odour-free.”

She is now in talks with Isro to build India’s first permanent simulation space facility in Ladakh.

The mission comes at a time when India is preparing to send its first astronauts into space.

Isro’s Gaganyaan mission plans to place three astronauts into low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 400km (248 miles) for three days. If all goes according to plan, the mission will launch sometime next year. India also plans to set up its first space station by 2035 and send a man to the Moon by 2040.

Nasa, European Space Agency, Russia, China and other countries and private firms with space programmes run dozens of simulation missions and two of the four Indian astronauts selected for the Gaganyaan mission are being trained at Nasa at the moment.

“Once we have our own simulation mission, we won’t have to depend on foreign space agencies to train our astronauts,” says Prof Subrat Sharma, Dean of Research Studies at Ladakh University which collaborated on the project.

• Gaganyaan: India names astronauts for maiden space flight

Ladakh, he told the BBC, was chosen for the experiment because “from a geographical perspective, its rocky, barren landscape and soil have similarities with the material and rocks found on Mars and some parts of the lunar terrain which make it ideal for space research”.

The soil samples collected during the mission are being tested by the university to see if astronauts will be able to use locally-sourced materials to build homes in space.

The Himalayan region on the India-China border is located at a height of 3,500 metres (11,483ft) and has extreme climatic conditions and thin air. In a day, the temperature here can shift from a maximum of 20C to a minimum of -18C.

It’s no match for Mars (where temperatures can go below -153C) or Moon (where -250C is the norm in some deep craters), but still, it’s a test of human endurance. And as Prof Sharma says, “since you can’t go to space to test every time, you need these facilities where space-like conditions can be created”.

Also, he adds, Ladakh is one region of India where barren land stretches for miles and miles, “giving you the feeling of being alone on the planet”.

And that’s exactly how the simulation astronaut, who spent three weeks confined in the capsule in the icy cold desert, felt.

• Chandrayaan-3: India makes historic landing near Moon’s south pole

“I was isolated from the human environment. Every move that I made was scheduled, when to wake up, what to do when and when to sleep? A 24×7 camera monitored every move and sent data about my activities and health to the back office,” the 24-year-old who did not want to be named told me.

“The initial few days,” he said, “were great, but then it began to feel repetitive and it started to get to me. It started impacting my daily performance. My sleep schedule was affected a little and my concentration deteriorated.”

The simulation astronaut wore biometric devices to monitor his sleep pattern, heart rate and stress levels. His blood and saliva were tested daily to see how he was coping.

Scientists say simulating psychological factors to see how they would impact humans in space is one of the most important parts of the mission.

With space agencies from across the world aiming to send astronauts to the Moon and set up permanent bases there in the coming years, simulation missions are expected to play a crucial role in research and training.

• Why it costs India so little to reach the Moon and Mars
• Why India’s latest Sun mission finding is crucial for the world

In April, a team of scientists and engineers began trials in Oregon to prepare Nasa’s robot dog – Lassie – to walk on the Moon’s surface. In July, four volunteers emerged after spending a year at an “analog” facility, specially built in Texas to simulate life on Mars.

And according to the Economist magazine, Nasa hopes to 3D-print a base using only materials found on the Moon’s surface, while China and Russia are collaborating on their own plans.⁠

India doesn’t want to be left behind. Prof Sharma says once the data gathered in Ladakh is analysed, it “will help us develop medical technology to deal with the needs of our astronauts when they face a problem in space”.

“We need to know how our bodies will function on the Moon where days and nights are a lot longer than on Earth. Or in space where there’s not enough oxygen” he says.

Police say it appears the motive in a shooting that left two dead, along with the suspect, at a private school in Wisconsin was due to “a combination of factors”.

Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes didn’t provide specifics on Tuesday as to what allegedly led a 15-year-old girl, named by authorities as Natalie Rupnow, to fire shots at the Abundant Life Christian School in the city of Madison.

Six people were also injured in Monday’s shooting. Rupnow is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Chief Barnes said during a press conference that investigators are asking anyone who knew the suspect to come forward with information.

“At this time, identifying a motive is our top priority,” he said. “But at this time it appears that the motive was a combination of factors.”

“We are asking anyone who knew her or who may have insights into her feelings leading up to yesterday to please contact the Madison-area Crime Stoppers.”

Police are looking into the suspect’s social media as part of the investigation.

Chief Barnes said investigators are also talking to students at Abundant Life Christian School to understand whether bullying could have been a factor.

The condition of the injured victims has not changed since Monday night. There are two people in hospital in a life threatening condition and two in stable condition. Another two have left hospital.

The two victims who were shot dead were a teenage pupil and a teacher. None of the victims have been named by authorities.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said that officials will share information when they can.

“It is absolutely none of ya’lls business who was harmed in this incident,” she said during a heated exchange following reporter’s question during the press conference.

“Please, have some human decency and respect for the people who lost loved ones or were injured themselves or whose children were injured.”

Chief Barnes on Tuesday also clarified that a 911 call reporting the shooting came from a second-grade teacher and not a second-grade student, as was previously stated.

He apologised for the error and said he misread a police log about the incident.

He also said that there were numerous schools in the area that had been targeted by hoax threats, known as swatting, on Tuesday morning. Police do not believe there are any current threats to those schools.

“As a community, we must not allow violence or any act of violence to define us,” he said.

“We refuse to allow hate, destruction to win in this city, but rather we will honour our survivors, our victims, through love and support in the Madison way.”

It is striking how elaborate the operation was. Explosives were hidden in an electric scooter and they were detonated by remote control, Ukrainian sources have told the BBC.

The victim, Lt Gen Igor Kirillov, is believed be the highest-ranking military official killed beyond the combat zone since its full-scale invasion began.

His assassination has shocked Russia’s military and political establishment. Sources from Ukraine’s SBU security service let it be known they were behind it.

There have been numerous Ukrainian operations targeting Russia’s forces on Ukrainian territory.

But the fact that Ukrainian intelligence can target the head of Russia’s military’s radiation, biological and chemical protection forces outside his home in south-eastern Moscow raises questions about Russian security and how far Ukraine’s capabilities can extend.

Choosing a scooter for the attack was a smart move. They lie abandoned all over the place on Moscow’s streets and attract little attention.

But as they detonated the device at precisely the right moment, in this case when Gen Kirillov was leaving his apartment block alongside his aide, the perpetrators must have had some sort of visual surveillance – either monitoring via camera or watching it in person.

It’s thought that his murder was not the SBU’s first on the streets of Russia’s biggest cities, so earlier attacks on politicians and military officials in Russia can shed some light on how such operations have been carried out.

It was in April 2023 that prominent war blogger Vladlen Tatarsky was meeting supporters at a cafe in St Petersburg as part of a “creative evening”.

During the event at Street Food Bar No 1, Darya Trepova, who claimed to be an art student, presented him with a sculpture of a soldier’s head. Minutes later, as Tatarsky was putting the present back into the box, it exploded, killing him and wounding many of the others in the room.

Ms Trepova later went on to claim at her trial that she knew nothing about the explosives inside the bust. She admitted that she was against the war in Ukraine but, she said, she had been told that inside the bust was a microphone.

The court sentenced her to 27 years in prison.

Whatever she knew in advance, there is little doubt that Ukrainian security services use deception to lure local Russians who may perhaps be sympathetic to Ukraine’s cause.

Acts can range from organising sabotage to, in this case, priming a bomb.

The SBU is not above sending a hitman to achieve its goal, perhaps the most notorious spy means of assassination.

A year ago, a pro-Russian former Ukrainian MP, Ilya Kyva, was shot dead in a village outside Moscow. The killer managed to get unnoticed into the grounds of a hotel and shot Mr Kyva twice while he was walking in a park.

Again, Ukraine made no official statements, but sources in the SBU said it was them.

Only five days ago, a leading Russian missile scientist, Mikhail Shatsky, was shot dead in a forest outside Moscow. In that case, the killing was pinned on Ukraine’s military intelligence service, although there was no confirmation.

Shatsky was responsible for modernising Russia’s Kh-59 and Kh-69 cruise missiles that have caused so much destruction and loss of life in Ukraine.

The fact that Kirillov’s killing took place within days of Shatsky’s murder shows how deep Ukraine’s spies have penetrated into Russia.

It is not just politicians or Russians connected to the military who have come under attack.

In August 2022, Darya Dugina was murdered in a car bomb attack, in an apparent message to her father, Aleksander Dugin, regarded as the Russian ideologist justifying Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine.

According to the Russian investigation, two Ukrainian citizens were involved in the attack – an apparent example of Ukraine sending operatives deep into Russia to “eliminate” their target.

Natalia Vovk, 43, had crossed into Russia from occupied Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. She later teamed up with another Ukrainian who rented a garage where they assembled the bomb. Both Ukrainians, as it was alleged during the trial, had managed to escape from Russia a day before Dugina was killed.

All these attacks show the wide range of methods available to Ukrainian special services, but some experts believe it might not be Kyiv that assassinated Lt Gen Kirillov at all.

It could be the result of an internal power struggle among the Russian military or the Kremlin’s attempt to remove one of the main witnesses of war crimes, says Yuriy Karin, a Kyiv-based military observer.

If it was the SBU, then the message is clear, he says. “Even within Moscow’s ring road, Russian generals cannot feel safe.”

Each morning, the queues began forming before dawn. Groups of women – always women – stood in the autumn chill on a pavement beside a busy ring road, outside Avignon’s glass and concrete courthouse.

They came, day after day. Some brought flowers. All wanted to be in place to applaud Gisèle Pelicot as she walked, purposefully, up the steps and through the glass doors. Some dared to approach her.

A few shouted: “We’re with you, Gisèle,” and “Be brave.”

Most then stayed on, hoping to secure seats in the courthouse’s public overflow room from where they could watch proceedings on a television screen. They were there to bear witness to the courage of a grandmother, as she sat quietly in court, surrounded by dozens of her rapists.

“I see myself in her,” said Isabelle Munier, 54. “One of the men on trial was once a friend of mine. It’s disgusting.”

“She’s become a figurehead for feminism,” said Sadjia Djimli, 20.

But they came for other reasons too.

Above all, it seemed, they were looking for answers. As France digests the implications of its largest rape trial, which is due to end this week, it’s clear that many French women – and not just those at the courthouse in Avignon – are pondering two fundamental questions.

The first question is visceral. What might it say about French men – some would say all men – that 50 of them, in one small, rural neighbourhood, were apparently willing to accept a casual invitation to have sex with an unknown woman as she lay, unconscious, in a stranger’s bedroom?

The second question emerges from the first: how far will this trial go in helping to tackle an epidemic of sexual violence and of drug-facilitated rape, and in challenging deeply held prejudices and ignorance about shame and consent?

Put simply, will Gisèle Pelicot’s courageous stand and her determination – as she has put it, to make “shame swap sides” from the victim to the rapist – change anything?

A long trial creates its own microclimate and, over the past weeks, a strange sort of normality developed inside Avignon’s Palais de Justice. Amid the TV cameras and the huddles of lawyers, the sight of dozens of alleged rapists – faces not always hidden behind masks – no longer provoked the shock it had at the start.

The accused strolled around, chatting, joking, grabbing coffee from the machine or returning from a café across the road, and, in the process, somehow emphasised the core argument of their various defence strategies: that these were just regular guys, a cross-section of French society, who were looking for a “swinging” adventure online and got caught up in something unexpected.

“[That argument is] the most shocking thing about this case. It’s harrowing to think about it,” says Elsa Labouret, who works for a French activist group, Dare to be Feminist.

“I think most people in long-term relationships with men think of their partner as someone trustworthy. But now there’s this sense of identification [with Gisèle Pelicot] for a lot of women. Like, ‘okay, so that can happen to me’.

“These are not criminal masterminds,” she continues. “They just went on the internet… So, it is possible similar things are happening everywhere.” It’s a view widely held, but also widely contested in France.

France’s Institute of Public Policies released figures in 2024 showing that on average, 86% of complaints of sexual abuse and 94% of rapes were either not prosecuted or never came to a trial, in the period between 2012 and 2021.

Ms Labouret argues that sexual violence happens when certain men know that they “can get away with it. And I think that’s a big reason why it’s so rampant in France.”

Throughout the four-month trial, at the end of each courtroom break, the accused would gather by the metal detector before muscling past the mostly female press corps, also waiting to enter the chamber. Inside, one by one, the men took their turn to share their accounts.

A court-appointed psychiatrist Laurent Layet testified that the accused were neither “monsters” nor “ordinary men”. Some wept. A few confessed. But most offered an array of excuses, with many saying they were simply “libertines” – as the French put it – indulging a couple’s fantasies, and that they had no way of knowing Ms Pelicot had not consented. Others claimed Dominique Pelicot had intimidated them.

There are very few clear patterns or shared characteristics among the 51 men on trial. They represent a wide spectrum in society: three-quarters have children. Half are married or in a relationship. Just over a quarter of them said they had been abused or raped as children.

There is no discernible grouping by age or job or social class. The two traits they all share are that they’re male, and that they made contact on an illicit online chat forum called Coco, known for catering to swingers, as well as attracting paedophiles and drug dealers. According to French prosecutors, the site, which was shut down earlier this year, has been cited in more than 23,000 reports of criminal activity.

The BBC has found that 23 of those on trial – or 45% – had previous criminal convictions. Although the authorities do not collect precise data, according to some estimates that is approximately four times the national average in France.

“There’s no typical profile of men who commit sexual violence,” concluded Labouret.

One person who has followed the case more closely than most is Juliette Campion, a French journalist who has been in court throughout the trial to report for the public broadcaster France Info. “I think this case could have happened in other countries, of course. But I think it says a lot about how men see women in France… About the notion of consent,” she says.

“A lot of men don’t know what consent actually is, so [the case] says a lot about our country, sadly.”

The Pelicot case is certainly helping to shape the contours of attitudes to rape across France.

On 21 September, a group of prominent French men, including actors, singers, musicians and journalists, wrote a public letter that was published in Liberation newspaper, arguing that the Pelicot case proved that male violence “is not a matter of monsters”.

“It is a matter of men, of Mr Everyman,” the letter said. “All men, without exception, benefit from a system that dominates women.”

It also sketched out a “road map” for men seeking to challenge the patriarchy, with advice such as “let’s stop thinking there is a masculine nature that justifies our behaviour”.

Some experts believe the huge public interest in the Pelicot case could already be producing benefits.

“This whole case is so useful for everyone, for all generations, for young boys, for young girls, for adults,” says Karen Noblinski, a Paris-based lawyer specialising in sexual assault cases.

“It has raised awareness in young people. Rape doesn’t always happen in a bar, in a club. It can happen in our home.”

But there is clearly much more work to be done. I went to meet Louis Bonnet, who is the mayor of the Pelicots’ home village, Mazan, early on in the trial. Although he was unequivocal in condemning the alleged rapes, he stated clearly and twice that he felt Gisèle Pelicot’s experience had been overblown, and argued that as she’d been unconscious, she had suffered less than other rape victims.

“Yes, I am minimising it, because I think it could have been much worse,” he said at the time.

“When there are kids involved, or women killed, then that is very serious because you can’t go back. In this case, the family will have to rebuild itself. It will be hard, but no one died. So, they can still do it.”

Bonnet’s comments provoked outrage across France. The Mayor later issued a statement, expressing his “sincere apologies”.

Online, many of the debates around the case have focused on the controversial suggestion that “all men” are capable of rape. There’s no evidence to support such a claim. Some men have pushed back against the argument, using the hashtag #NotAllMen.

“We do not ask other women to bear the ‘shame’ of women who behave badly, why should the mere fact of being a man qualify us to bear the shame?” asked one man on social media.

But the pushback was swift. Women reacted to the #NotAllMen hashtag with anger and, sometimes, with details of their own abuse.

“The hashtag has been created by men and used by men. It’s a way to silence the suffering of women,” wrote journalist Manon Mariani. Later, a male musician and influencer, Waxx, added his own criticism, telling the hashtag users to “shut up once and for all. It’s not about you, it’s about us. Men kill. Men attack. Period.”

Elsa Labouret believes French attitudes still need challenging. “I think a lot of people still think that sexual violence is sexy or romantic or something that is part of the way that we do things here [in France],” she argues.

“And it’s so important that we question that and that we don’t accept this kind of argument at all.”

In her small office just behind the French parliament building on the River Seine, Sandrine Josso, an MP, has a four-letter swearword on a poster beside her desk. It captures the spirit of defiance and determination that is driving her campaign against what’s known in France as “chemical submission”, or drugging in order to rape.

A year ago, in November 2023, she was at a party in the Paris apartment of a senator named Joel Guerriau. She claims that he put a drug in her champagne with the intention of raping her. Guerriau has denied attempting to drug her, blaming a “handling error” and telling investigators that the glass had been contaminated a day earlier.

In a statement, his lawyer has said: “We are miles away from the obscene interpretation that one might infer from reading initial reports in the press.” A trial is anticipated next year.

Josso is now campaigning, as she puts it, to “make victims’ journeys easier” when it comes to the French legal system.

“Today, it’s a disaster. Because very few victims who file complaints are able to have a trial, because of the lack of evidence. [There’s not] enough medical, psychological or legal support. We find shortcomings everywhere when it concerns sexual violence.”

Josso has now joined forces with Gisèle Pelicot’s daughter, Caroline, to put together a drug-testing kit that could be made available in pharmacies throughout France. It now has government backing for a trial rollout, helped by the publicity generated by the Pelicot case.

“I’m optimistic. The medical world and the French people want shame to change sides [from the victim to the accused],” says Josso, quoting the phrase made famous by Gisèle Pelicot.

But Dr Leila Chaouachi, a chemist and expert at the Paris Addiction Monitoring Centre, says that the trial in Avignon is just one step in a long struggle to make people more aware of drugs and rape.

“It needs to become a real major public health issue that everyone takes seriously, and which forces the authorities to urgently address these issues to improve care for victims.

“It’s important for all of us to think about the issue, to consider it a health issue, not just a justice issue. It concerns all of us.”

At present the word “consent” is not included in the definition of rape in French laws, so some have argued that it should be changed to make it more explicit. But Ms Noblinski believes the focus should be elsewhere.

“[It] should be on the police, on the investigations, on funding them properly, not on tinkering with the law,” she says. “They don’t have sufficient resources. They have too many cases, and that’s the real issue. When you have too many things to handle, it’s very hard to find evidence.”

On her daily commute to the courthouse, during the first weeks of the trial, Gisèle Pelicot walked with her shoulders hunched and her posture defensive. She seemed flustered by the sheer level of interest the case generated. By the closing arguments, however, her demeanour was entirely different and she sat perfectly poised.

That has coincided with a greater change: as the trial progressed, the prosecution, those watching – and Mrs Pelicot herself – came to understand the extraordinary impact of her decision to opt not just for an open trial, but for every detail to be shown in court.

“She’s showing us that… if you’re a victim… do your best not to carry shame. Keep your head high,” says Elsa Labouret.

“As a woman, you start by being doubted. You start off as a liar and you have to prove that it’s true. I don’t doubt that every woman has been through something. Something, you know. In that way she represents all the women in the world.

“[Gisèle Pelicot] decided to make this bigger than herself. To make this about the way that we, as a society, treat sexual violence.”

Emerging from yet another day in the courtroom, the French journalist Juliette Campion stopped to reflect on what impact the case might have. “It was difficult to see all those videos… As a woman, it’s complicated, and I feel tired,” she says.

“But at least we did our job, and we talked about it. It’s a very small step. It won’t be a big thing. The only thing I can hope for now is that it will be a game changer for some men. And some women too, maybe.”

Veteran Australian broadcaster Alan Jones has pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing 10 young men over almost two decades.

The 83-year-old faces 34 charges over alleged incidents between 2001 and 2019, including 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault.

Mr Jones is one of Australia’s most influential media figures and a former coach of its national rugby union team. He has previously denied allegations of abuse, first published by The Sydney Morning Herald in 2023.

After appearing in court, he spoke publicly for the first time since his arrest last month, saying: “I have never indecently assaulted these people.”

“I want you to understand this: these allegations are all either baseless or they distort the truth, and you should know that prior to my arrest I was given no opportunity by police to answer any of these allegations.”

Mr Jones was taken into custody at his Sydney apartment on 18 November, as detectives from the New South Wales (NSW) Police Child Abuse Squad searched the harbour-front property and seized electronic devices.

Originally charged in relation to eight people – including a 17-year-old boy – police have since filed additional charges, and say investigations are continuing.

All the charges, except two of common assault, are sex offences.

Police said some of the alleged victims knew the radio and TV host personally, and that at least one had been employed by him.

Others were allegedly assaulted the first time they met him, NSW Police’s Michael Fitzgerald told reporters last month.

“The law assumes that I am not guilty, and I am not guilty,” Mr Jones told the media scrum waiting for him after his first court appearance in Sydney on Wednesday.

“That’s all I can say at the moment, but I am emphatic that I’ll be defending every charge before a jury in due course.”

A former teacher, Mr Jones coached the Wallabies between 1984 and 1988, before pivoting to a radio career.

He also, at times, worked as a speechwriter and advisor for Liberal Party figures – including former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser – and launched several failed bids to represent the party in both state and federal politics.

A staple of Sydney airwaves on local station 2GB for decades, Mr Jones juggled those duties with TV commentary gigs before he retired from full time work in 2020 citing health issues.

The broadcaster is a polarising figure, for years boasting one of the nation’s biggest audiences but often courting controversy.

He made headlines in 2012 for suggesting that then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s father had “died of shame”, and in 2019 faced a massive advertiser boycott after saying someone should “shove a sock” down the throat of New Zealand’s leader at the time, Jacinda Ardern.