Israeli troops have withdrawn from the Netzarim Corridor – a military zone cutting off the north of the Gaza Strip from the south.

Hundreds of Palestinians in cars and on carts laden with mattresses and other goods began returning to northern Gaza following the pull-out – often to scenes of utter destruction.

The Israeli withdrawal is in line with the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement of 19 January under which 16 Israeli hostages and 566 Palestinian prisoners have so far been freed.

By the end of the first stage of the ceasefire in three weeks’ time, 33 hostages and 1,900 prisoners are expected to have been freed. Israel says eight of the 33 are dead.

• Rebuilding my home in Gaza as Trump wants me to leave
• What does the ceasefire deal contain?
• How 15 months of war has devastated Gaza

Hamas seized 251 hostages and killed about 1,200 people when it attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, triggering the Gaza war.

At least 48,189 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. About two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s attacks, the UN says.

On Sunday, crowds of Palestinians were seen traversing the Netzarim Corridor – mostly moving north – after the Israeli withdrawal.

Mahmoud al-Sarhi told the AFP news agency that for him “arriving at the Netzarim Corridor meant death until this morning”.

He said this was “the first time I saw our destroyed house”, referring to his home in the nearby Zeitun area.

“The entire area is in ruins. I cannot live here,” he added.

About 700,000 residents of northern Gaza fled to southern areas at the start of the war, when the Israeli military issued mass evacuation orders before launching a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory.

Many of those displaced were subsequently forced to move multiple times after Israeli forces pushed into southern Gaza, too.

They were also prevented from returning to their homes through the Netzarim Corridor, stretching from the Gaza-Israel border to the Mediterranean Sea.

Israeli forces partially withdrew from the west of the corridor last month and the first Palestinians – pedestrians – were allowed to walk along the coastal Rashid Street as they crossed into northern Gaza.

Those on vehicles have to use Salah al-Din Street and undergo screening for weapons by US and Egyptian security contractors.

The Israel Defense Forces have not officially commented on Sunday’s withdrawal from the eastern part of the corridor, which will leave it in control of Gaza’s borders, but not the road that had cut it in half.

The Haaretz newspaper says the Hamas-run Gaza interior ministry has been urging people to “exercise caution and adhere to the existing movement guidelines for their safety”.

• What will anger at sight of gaunt hostages mean for a fragile ceasefire?
• Stories of the people taken from Israel
• Bowen: Trump’s Gaza plan won’t happen, but it will have consequences

The troop withdrawal comes as an Israeli delegation is expected to fly to Qatar which has been moderating talks between the two sides in the Gaza war.

The Israeli government has previously said the delegation will initially discuss “technical matters” regarding the first phase of the ceasefire deal, rather than the more challenging second phase which is meant to lead to a permanent ceasefire, the exchange of all remaining living hostages in Gaza for more Palestinian prisoners and a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

That will require further direction from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently on his way back from the US.

Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to meet US President Donald Trump since his return to the White House on 20 January.

During the trip, in the most dramatic shift in US policy regarding Gaza in decades, Trump called for the removal of the territory’s entire civilian population and the development of what he called “The Riviera of the Middle East”.

That suggestion, which would be a crime under international law, has been almost universally rejected, including by Arab states.

The Saudi foreign ministry said on Saturday that it would not accept “any infringement on the Palestinians’ unalienable rights, and any attempts at displacement,” accusing Israel of “ethnic cleansing”.

Egypt has also rejected any idea of the removal of the Palestinian population and has said it is calling an emergency summit of the Arab League on 27 February to discuss what it called “serious” Palestinian developments.

Asked about Trump’s plan, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog told the BBC that it was time for new ideas from the US and Israel’s neighbours Egypt and Jordan – which the American leader wants to take in Gaza’s Palestinians.

“We’ll have to find the right way to make sure that what happened [7 October] will not recur again, meaning that Hamas will not rule Gaza any more,” Herzog told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.

China’s tit-for-tat import taxes on some American goods are set to come into effect on Monday as the trade war between the world’s two biggest economies escalates and US President Donald Trump threatens to hit more countries with tariffs.

Beijing announced the plan on 4 February, minutes after new US levies of 10% on all Chinese products came into effect.

On Friday, Trump said he was planning “reciprocal tariffs” on other nations in the coming days as he aims to reshape the US’ global trade relationships.

The president did not say which countries could be targeted but suggested it would a broad effort that may also help solve US budget problems.

From 10 February, China will charge a 15% border tax on imports of US coal and liquefied natural gas products. There is also a 10% tariff on American crude oil, agricultural machinery and large-engine cars.

Last week, Chinese authorities launched an anti-monopoly probe into technology giant Google, while PVH, the US owner of designer brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger, was added to Beijing’s so-called “unreliable entity” list.

China has also imposed export controls on 25 rare metals, some of which are key components for many electrical products and military equipment.

Speaking on Friday during a meeting at the White House with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on imports from more trading partners.

“I’ll be announcing that, next week, reciprocal trade, so that we’re treated evenly with other countries,” Trump said.

The move would fulfil an election campaign pledge to levy tariffs at the same rates that are imposed on US goods.

He also said import taxes for vehicles remained on the table after reports that he was considering exemptions to universal tariffs.

Trump has repeatedly complained that European Union (EU) tariffs on imports of American cars are much higher that US levies.

Last week, Trump told the BBC that tariffs on EU goods could happen “pretty soon” – but suggested a deal could be “worked out” with the UK.

The day after the latest US tariffs came into effect, Beijing accused Washington of making “unfounded and false allegations” about its role in the trade of the synthetic opioid fentanyl to justify the move.

In a complaint lodged with the World Trade Organization (WTO), China said the US import taxes were “discriminatory and protectionist” and violated trade rules.

But experts have warned that China is unlikely to secure a ruling in its favour as the WTO panel that settles disputes remains unable to function.

Trump had been expected to speak to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in recent days but the US president has said he was in no hurry to hold talks.

Some of the many measures brought in by Trump since he took office on 20 January have been subject to change.

On Friday, he suspended tariffs on small packages from China, which, along with the additional 10% tariffs, came into effect on 4 February.

The suspension will stay in place until “adequate systems are in place to fully and expediently process and collect tariff revenue”.

After the order ended duty-free treatment of shipments worth less than $800 (£645) the US Postal Service (USPS) and other agencies scrambled to comply.

USPS temporarily stopped accepting packages from China, only to U-turn a day later.

Last weekend, Trump said he was putting 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada but quickly paused those duties for a month while negotiations continue.

Power is being gradually restored across Sri Lanka after a nationwide outage left buildings including hospitals having to rely on generators.

Officials say it may take a few hours to get power back across the island nation, but medical facilities and water purification plants have been given priority.

Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody reportedly blamed a monkey for causing the power cut, saying the animal came into “contact with our grid transformer causing an imbalance in the system”, according to the AFP news agency.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said the power cut had been caused by an emergency at a sub-station, south of Colombo, and gave no further details.

“Engineers are attending to it to try and restore the service as soon as possible,” the minister said.

The CEB said “we are making every effort to restore the island-wide power failure as soon as possible”.

Hospitals and businesses across the island nation of 22 million people have been using generators or inverters.

Sri Lanka experienced widespread blackouts during its economic crisis in 2022.

It was a warm February night when an ominous message popped into Hannah Grundy’s inbox in Sydney.

“I will just keep emailing because I think this is worthy of your attention,” the anonymous sender wrote.

Inside was a link, and a warning in bold: “[This] contains disturbing material.”

She hesitated for a moment, fearing it was a scam.

The reality was so much worse. The link contained pages and pages of fake pornography featuring Hannah, alongside detailed rape fantasies and violent threats.

“You’re tied up in them,” she recalls. “You look afraid. You’ve got tears in your eyes. You’re in a cage.”

Written in kitschy word art on some images was Hannah’s full name. Her Instagram handle was posted, as was the suburb she lived in. She would later learn her phone number had also been given out.

That email kicked off a saga Hannah likens to a movie. She was left to become her own detective, uncovering a sickening betrayal by someone close to her, and building a case which changed her life – and Australian legal standards.

The web page was called “The Destruction of Hannah”, and at the top of it was a poll where hundreds of people had voted on the vicious ways they wanted to abuse her.

Below was a thread of more than 600 vile photos, with Hannah’s face stitched on to them. Buried in between them were chilling threats.

“I’m closing in on this slut,” the main poster said.

“I want to hide in her house and wait until she is alone, grab her from behind and… feel her struggle.”

It’s been three years now, but the 35-year-old school teacher has no trouble recalling the “pure shock” that coursed through when she and partner Kris Ventura, 33, opened the page.

“You immediately feel unsafe,” Hannah tells me, eyes wide as she grips a mug of peppermint tea in her living room.

Clicking through the website Kris had also found photos of their close friends, along with images depicting at least 60 other women, many also from Sydney.

The couple quickly realised the pictures used to create the deepfakes were from the women’s private social media accounts. And the penny dropped: this was someone they all knew.

Desperate to find out who, Hannah and Kris spent hours at the kitchen table, identifying the women, searching their social media friends lists for a common link, and methodically building a dossier of evidence.

Within four hours, they had a list of three potential suspects.

On it, but immediately discounted, was their close friend from university Andrew Hayler. The trio had met while working at a campus bar, and the staff there quickly formed deep friendships.

And Andy, as they called him – the supervisor – was the glue of the group.

He was considerate and affable, Hannah says – the kind of guy who looked out for women in the bar and made sure his female friends got home safely after a night out.

They all hung out regularly, went on holidays together, loved and trusted each other.

“I thought of him as a very close friend,” Hannah says.

“We were just so sure that he was a good person.”

But soon they’d whittled down the list to just one name: his.

When Hannah woke the next morning and went to the police station, mingling with her shock and horror was a “naive” sliver of optimism.

“We thought they’d go grab him that afternoon,” Kris says with a wry smile.

Instead, Hannah says she was met with disdain.

She recalls one New South Wales Police officer asking what she’d done to Andy. At one stage they suggested Hannah simply ask him to stop. Later, they pointed to a picture of her in a skimpy outfit and said “you look cute in this one”, she says.

New South Wales Police declined to comment to the BBC on the specifics of Hannah’s case.

But she says the way her complaint was handled made her feel like she was making “a big deal out of nothing”.

“And for me, it felt quite life-changing,” says Hannah.

Any faith she still held that police would help quickly dwindled.

Amid delays, she turned to Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, but under its powers as a regulatory body it could only offer help in taking the content down.

Desperate, the couple hired a lawyer and commissioned a digital forensics analyst to move things along.

In the meantime, to avoid tipping Andy off and to keep themselves safe, they retreated inwards.

“The world for you just gets smaller. You don’t speak to people. You don’t really go out,” Hannah says.

Intense fear and loneliness filled the void instead.

“We’d already had to suspend complete belief to understand that he’d done these things, so [the idea of] him actually coming to try and rape you or hurt you isn’t that much of a bigger stretch.”

The couple installed cameras all around their house and set up location tracking on Hannah’s devices. She began wearing a health watch 24/7, so someone would know if her heartbeat rose – or ceased.

“I stopped having the windows open because I was scared… maybe someone would come in,” Hannah explains.

“We slept with a knife in both of our bedside tables because we just thought: ‘What if?'”

Still feeling abandoned by police, Kris had taken on the burden of monitoring the site for the slightest sign of escalation towards Hannah and any of their friends – who, to protect the investigation, still did not know anything.

Guilt ate at the pair: “We had a constant battle about whether it was right to not tell them,” Hannah says.

At one point told the investigation had been suspended, Hannah and Kris forked out even more money for a detailed forensic report, and threatened to make a formal complaint to the police watchdog. All up, they spent over A$20,000 (£10,200; $12,400) trying to protect themselves and stop Andy.

Finally a new detective was assigned and within two weeks police were raiding Andy’s house. He admitted everything.

Filled with relief, then dread, Hannah began calling her friends to break the news.

“My stomach just dropped,” Jessica Stuart says, recalling the moment she learned what Andy had done to her photos.

“I felt really violated but… I don’t think I fully comprehended.”

For her, again, the sucker punch was that a friend who she loved like “family” was behind the crime. Andy had always appeared “so unassuming” and “really thoughtful” – someone she’d called for help through a difficult time.

“It’s been really hard to reconcile that those two people are actually the same person.”

The case was uncharted territory for Australia.

For at least a decade, experts have warned advances in technology would lead to a wave of AI crimes. But authorities have been caught on the back foot, leaving deepfake victims – overwhelmingly women – vulnerable.

At the time Andy was arrested in 2022, there was no offence for creating or sharing deepfake pornography in NSW, or anywhere else in Australia, and the country had never seen a case of this magnitude before.

The 39-year-old was charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence – a low-level catch-all offence for many internet crimes – and Hannah was warned to keep her expectations low.

“We were prepared to go to court and for him to get a slap on the wrist,” she says.

But she and the 25 other women who decided to be part of the case were determined Andy be held accountable. One after the other, several gave crushing statements at his sentencing hearing last year.

“You didn’t just betray my friendship, but you shattered the sense of safety I used to take for granted,” Jess told the court. “The world feels unfamiliar and dangerous, I am constantly anxious, I have nightmares when I am able to sleep.

“Forming new friendships feels impossible, burdened by the constant question: ‘Could this person be like you?'”

When it came time for Andy to apologise to the women he’d targeted, Jess and Hannah couldn’t stomach being in the room. They walked out.

“There is nothing that he can say to me that makes it better, and I wanted him to know that,” Hannah says.

Andy told the court that creating the images had felt “empowering” as “an outlet” for a “dark” part of his psyche, but that he didn’t think they would cause real harm.

“I have really done a terrible thing and I am so very sorry,” he said.

Judge Jane Culver was not convinced of his remorse, saying while there was “some contrition”, he didn’t seem to understand the clearly “profound and ongoing” suffering that his “prolific” and “disturbing” offending had caused.

She sentenced Andy to nine years in jail – in what has been called a landmark decision.

“The gasp that went through the court… it was such a relief,” Jess says.

“It was the first time I felt like we had actually been listened to.”

Andy will be eligible for parole in December 2029, but has told the court he intends to challenge his sentence.

Nicole Shackleton, a law expert who researches technology and gender, told the BBC the “unprecedented” case set a surprising, and significant, legal standard for future cases.

The judge had recognised “this wasn’t merely something that happened online” and that such behaviour was “tied to offline violence against women”, said Dr Shackleton, from Melbourne’s RMIT University.

But Australia and other countries remain poor at regulating the use of AI and proactively investigating its misuse, experts like her argue.

Australia has recently criminalised the creation and sharing of deepfake pornography at a national level. But many other countries have legislation accused of containing loopholes, or do not criminalise deepfake pornography at all. In the UK, sharing it is an offence, but creating or soliciting it is not – though this is about to change.

And in the face of under-trained and under-resourced police forces, many victims like Hannah or private investigators – like the one who tipped her off – are left to be de facto detectives and regulators.

In a statement, NSW Police said investigations into AI crimes are a challenging, “resource and time intensive process”, and training has recently been beefed up “with the goal that every officer… can respond to these types of crimes effectively”.

The force also works with the eSafety Commissioner and tech companies to take down deepfake abuse, the statement added.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said removal of the distressing material is the top priority for most victim-survivors, and eSafety had “an extremely high success rate in achieving it”.

But eSafety does not have the punitive powers to pursue criminal investigations and penalties, she added in a statement to the BBC.

“You can have whatever laws you like, [but] if you have a police force that are incompetent…” Kris says, trailing off.

“We’re obviously angry at Andy. But it is also disgusting that the only way you get justice with something like this is if you’re two people in your 30s that can afford to bully the police.”

They’re determined for things to be different for future victims. In the past six months alone, two schoolboys in separate cases in NSW and Victoria have been reported to police for allegedly creating mass deepfake nudes of their classmates.

After several years of hell, Hannah is also trying to move on.

But Andy’s looming appeal threatens the hard work she’s done to rebuild her life and mental health.

Knees at her chest and feet tucked under her on the couch, she says Andy got the sentence he deserved.

“Because for me, and for the other girls, it is forever… they will always be on the internet,” she says.

She still pays for a service which scours the web for the pictures, and she worries about future friends, employers, students – her own children – finding them.

One of her biggest fears is that her best memories will never be reclaimed.

“You post things on Facebook and Instagram because they’re the happiest moments of your life. You get a dog, you buy a house, you get engaged and you post a photo.

“He had turned every single one of those moments for us into porn. And so when you see that photo… well, now I see myself getting raped.”

Five Thai farm workers released by Hamas in Gaza last month have arrived home in Bangkok, after spending nearly 500 days in captivity.

Pongsak Thaenna, Sathian Suwannakham, Watchara Sriaoun, Bannawat Saethao and Surasak Lamnao had all been working in southern Israel when they were kidnapped during the attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023.

There were emotional scenes on Sunday morning as the five men were embraced by tearful relatives at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport’s arrivals hall.

“I don’t know how to put it into words,” released hostage Mr Pongsak said.

“I’d like to thank all the officials who were involved in helping us out until we’re standing here.

“We wouldn’t be here without you helping us. We’re very touched and very glad to have returned to our homeland. I am truly grateful.”

Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said it was “very inspiring” to witness their return following their release on 30 January.

Somboon Saethao, the father of Mr Bannawat, said he was “so happy” and that his family would welcome his son home with a traditional Thai ceremony.

“I don’t think I want him to be far from home again,” his father told AFP.

Mr Bannawat moved to Israel nine months before his kidnap in search of a better income for the family, he added.

His wife, Wiayada Saethao, told BBC Thai reporters that the 15 months her husband was held hostage were a period of suffering.

“Don’t be afraid anymore. We’re home now. We’re in Thailand. We’re going back home,” she said.

After landing in Bangkok at 07:30 local time (00:30 GMT), the five were met by a small group of overjoyed relatives and government officials.

They had spent past 10 days at an Israeli hospital so their health could be monitored.

The five men will now make their way to their home towns.

Boonsong Tapchaiyut, a labour ministry official, said each hostage would receive a one-time payment of around £14,510 (600,000 Thai baht), along with a monthly salary of £725 until the age of 80, to ensure they did not have to return to Israel.

One Thai hostage remains unaccounted for.

“For the sixth Thai hostage who still remains in Gaza, we never refrain from action, we do still have hope and will do whatever until we succeed,” said the Thai foreign minister.

• Hamas hostages: Stories of the people taken from Israel
• Who are Israeli hostages released and rescued from Gaza?
• What will anger at sight of gaunt hostages mean for a fragile ceasefire?

Last month, after the handover of the five hostages in Khan Yunis, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said she was “elated” that they were out of captivity.

She thanked Israel, as well as Qatar, Egypt, Iran, Turkey and the US for their work to secure the releases.

A total of 46 Thai workers have been killed since October 2023, according to the foreign ministry in Bangkok, the majority in the Hamas attack and some by rockets fired by the Hezbollah group in Lebanon.

Hamas seized 251 hostages and killed about 1,200 people when it attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, triggering the Gaza war.

At least 47,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. About two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s attacks, the UN says.

The release of the Thai hostages does not form part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal agreed on 19 January, under which 16 Israeli hostages and 566 Palestinian prisoners have been freed so far.

By the end of the first stage of the ceasefire in three weeks’ time, 33 hostages and 1,900 prisoners are expected to have been freed. Israel says eight of the 33 are dead.

Indian security forces have killed 31 Maoist rebels in the forests of Chhattisgarh state.

Two Indian commandos were also killed in the battle, and two other security force members were wounded, police said.

Chhattisgarh has seen a long-running insurgency by Maoists who say they are fighting for the rights of the poor.

Sunday’s clashes were among the deadliest clashes since the government ramped up efforts to crush the insurgency, which has been running since the 1960s.

“So far 31 dead bodies of the Maoists have been recovered,” senior police officer Sundarraj Pattilingam said.

The death toll could rise as police carry out operations in the area, he said.

Police said they had seized assault rifles and grenade launchers from the bodies of the dead rebels.

The clashes took place in the forests of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh.

Amit Shah, India’s interior minister, who says the government expects to crush the rebellion by 2026, said the operation had been a “big success”.

The rebels are inspired by the Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong. They claim to be fighting for communist rule and greater rights for tribal people and the rural poor.

The insurgency began in West Bengal state in the late 1960s and has since spread to more than a third of India’s 600 districts.

The rebels control large areas of several states in a “red corridor” stretching from north-east to central India.

Major military and police offensives in recent years have pushed the rebels back to their forest strongholds and levels of violence have fallen.

But clashes between security forces and rebels are still common, killing scores of people every year.

A crackdown by security forces killed around 287 rebels last year – the vast majority in Chhattisgarh – according to government data. More than 10,000 people are believed to have died since the 1960s.

If Japan needed reassurances it was indeed still the US’s top ally and friend in the increasingly unstable Asia-Pacific, it got that and then some.

But what was striking about the Trump-Ishiba meeting at the White House was what didn’t happen.

Unlike most of the Trump domestic and global dynamics so far, this was neither controversial nor confrontational.

“On television, he is very frightening,” Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told reporters after Friday’s meeting.

“But when I met him, he was very sincere, very powerful and strong willed,” he added.

There’s a lot that ties Washington and Tokyo. Japan has been the top foreign investor in the US for five consecutive years, creating thousands of jobs. And there are 54,000 US military personnel stationed in Japan.

But President Donald Trump has given his friends and foes a lot to worry about: from tariff wars against China, Canada and Mexico to his US “ownership” of Gaza proposal and his sanctions against the International Criminal Court.

“Trump has made some erratic decisions towards countries that believed themselves to be America’s friends,” said Jeffrey Hall, lecturer at Japan’s Kanda University of International Studies.

“There was a fear in Tokyo that the same might happen: that Trump might slap huge tariffs on Japan or start some dispute. But that didn’t happen,” he added.

While Trump didn’t rule out tariffs against Tokyo, it wasn’t the main feature of this meeting.

Ishiba went to Washington prepared. He’d studied. Literally. he held “study sessions” with staff and sought advice from his predecessor, Fumio Kishida.

He also had some help from the widow of the late former PM Shinzo Abe, who had a close relationship with Trump during his first presidency, forged on the golf course.

Ishiba’s homework paid off.

Apart from when Trump mistakenly referred to Nippon Steel as “Nissan”, there weren’t many eye-raising moment like the many other announcements by the US president.

In fact – as far as Japan is concerned – this meeting was reassuring.

Both leaders seemed to have met eye-to-eye on their countries’ plans to boost trade and defence ushering in a “golden-era” of Japan-US relations.

Ishiba announced his country’s plans to increase investment in the US to $1tn (£806bn), as the two economic powers rebalance trade relations.

Ishiba said Japanese car makers would boost investment, while Tokyo would expand imports of US liquified natural gas (LNG).

This would have been music to Trump’s ears and a boost to his “drill, baby, drill” announcement from his inauguration speech.

The two men also managed to find common ground on the controversial issue of Nippon Steel.

Trump said Nippon would “invest heavily” in the Pennsylvania-based US Steel without taking a majority stake.

The Japanese firm’s attempted takeover of US Steel had been previously blocked by President Joe Biden on national security grounds.

There were enough boxes ticked for Japan to breathe easy – but the main purpose of Ishiba’s visit was personal.

The Japanese PM has been in a fraught political position at home – with his minority government keeping a weak grip on power after it was humiliated in October’s general elections when they lost their ruling majority.

Ishiba was desperate for a win.

The man himself has not elicited much confidence in how he would fare opposite a notorious Trump.

“For weeks local media played up the idea that he would not succeed diplomatically – that he was clumsy, not a sociable person and that Trump would eat his lunch, if he made it to Washington,” said Mr Hall.

But Ishiba is walking away with what looks a lot like success.

The former Japanese defence minister is a veteran politician known for dense speeches in parliament. Observers have said such speeches manage to confuse some of his opponents and bore others.

But in a “Trump strategy meeting” with his staff, the biggest piece of advice he reportedly got was: “Conclusion first. Keep it simple.”

“Ishiba followed a play book to flatter Trump personally and offer him economic investments in the US instead of confronting him”, said Mr Hall.

There are several issues that Japan and the US could disagree on. Not least Trump’s proposal of a US takeover of the Gaza Strip, which sparked fierce criticism around the world.

Japan reiterated its long-standing position of supporting a two-state solution.

“We won’t change our stance,” said Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya last week.

Tokyo is also watching Trump’s trade war with China nervously.

But Hall said Japan would not be drawn into the US-China trade war if it could help it.

When it comes to China, Japan needs to strike a fine balance.

Beijing is Tokyo’s largest trading partner. China is one of the largest investment destinations for Japanese companies.

On the defence and diplomatic front both the US and Japan are challenged by China’s rising influence and assertiveness in the region and globally.

Not least with Chinese military’s now frequent and provocative moves in waters near Taiwan which Beijing sees as a renegade province.

In 2022, Japan, a pacifist nation, announced it would double its military spending by 2027, citing threats posed by China and North Korea, and saying it would acquire the ability to strike enemy bases.

The changes marked the most dramatic overhaul to Japan’s security strategy since it adopted a pacifist constitution after World War Two.

With North Korea continuing its nuclear program, South Korea in political meltdown, and the ongoing US-China rivalry, Japan has yet again presented itself as America’s least challenging and only unproblematic friend in the region.

“Japan will avoid any confrontation with Trump when possible. It will most likely become a ‘yes’ friend,” said Hall.

Vittorio Sella was a pioneering Italian photographer whose work at the turn of the 20th Century shaped both mountain photography and mountaineering history.

His rare images of the Himalayas remain some of the most iconic ever captured.

A new ongoing show in the Indian capital, Delhi, called Vittorio Sella: Photographer in the Himalaya brings to life the breathtaking grandeur of the Himalayas through his lens.

Curated by renowned British explorer and author Hugh Thomson and organised by Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), the show is likely one of the largest collection of Sella’s Indian views.

It features some of the earliest high-altitude photographs of Kanchenjunga, the world’s third-highest mountain, and K2, the world’s second-tallest mountain, captured over a century ago.

Born in Biella, a town known for its wool trade in northern Italy, Sella (1859–1943) made his first ascents in the nearby Alps.

“Throughout his career Sella made use of his skills in engineering and chemistry that the wool mills and his father had taught him,” says Thomson.

By his twenties, he had mastered complex photographic techniques like the collodion process, enabling him to develop large-format glass plates under harsh conditions.

His panoramic images, crafted with technical perfection, earned worldwide acclaim.

Sella’s Himalayan journey began in 1899 when he joined British explorer Douglas Freshfield on an expedition circumnavigating Kanchenjunga.

Any circumnavigation of the mountain also involved an incursion into Nepal, which was also a closed kingdom.

While the team’s climbing ambitions were thwarted by relentless rain, Sella seized the opportunity to capture pristine snow-dusted peaks. He experimented restlessly with technology, trying out telephoto pictures of Kanchenjunga. His images transported viewers to a world untouched by time.

A decade later, Sella reached new heights – both literally and artistically – on a 1909 expedition to K2 with the Duke of the Abruzzi.

His photographs of the world’s most difficult mountain stand as a testament to his skill and resilience. Carrying a camera system weighing nearly 30kg, Sella crisscrossed treacherous landscapes, creating images that defined mountain photography.

Jim Curran, author of K2: The Story of the Savage Mountain, calls Sella “possibly the greatest mountain photographer… his name [is] synonymous with technical perfection and aesthetic refinement”.

Sella was known for his extraordinary toughness, traversing the Alps at remarkable speed despite carrying heavy photographic gear.

His makeshift camera harness and boots – three times heavier than modern ones – are preserved at the Photographic Institute in Biella.

His clothing alone weighed over 10kg, while his camera equipment, including a Dallmeyer camera, tripod, and plates, added another 30kg – more than today’s airline baggage limits.

On the K2 expedition, Sella captured around 250 formal photographs with his Ross & Co camera over four to five months; on Kanchenjunga, about 200, notes Thomson.

“By modern digital standards, this number is nothing extraordinary – and even in the last days of analogue film, it would equate to some eight rolls, what a 1970s photographer could have used in a single morning on a single mountain – but when Sella was photographing, this was a considerable number.

“This meant enormous care and thought was given to each photograph, both because he had relatively few plates he could shoot.”

Years later, the famous mountaineer-photographer Ansel Adams would write that the “purity of Sella’s interpretations move the spectator to a religious awe”.

High-altitude photography came with risks – many of Sella’s most ambitious shots were ruined when humid conditions caused tissue dividers to stick to the negatives.

Yet those that survived reveal a masterful eye, notes Thomson.

“Sella was one of the first to recognise how tracks in the snow are as much part of the composition as the mountaineers who made them.”

An Israeli hostage freed from Gaza did not know his wife and daughters were killed in the 7 October attack until after his release on Saturday, his British family said.

Eli Sharabi was taken by Hamas 16 months ago and released on Saturday in Deir al-Balah, in Gaza.

His wife Lianne Sharabi, who was from Bristol, and daughters Noiya and Yahel were found murdered in their safe house “cuddled together” in 2023.

Lianne’s parents Gill and Pete Brisley told the BBC on Sunday that an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) soldier told Mr Sharabi what happened to his family.

His relatives had been unsure whether Mr Sharabi knew that Lianne, Noiya and Yahel were killed in the 7 October attack.

He was one of three hostages handed to the Red Cross by Hamas in a choreographed release on Saturday as part of an internationally brokered ceasefire deal.

Speaking on stage during his release, Mr Sharabi said he was “very happy today to return to… my wife and daughters”, adding to concerns that he was unaware of what happened to them.

Mr and Mrs Brisley said Mr Sharabi was “lucid” and his “voice a bit husky” when they spoke later on a video call.

“He got choked up a couple of times but managed a small smile for us. Such a brave man,” said the couple who are due to fly out to see him soon.

Mr and Mrs Brisley, who live in Bridgend, south Wales, said they cried watching their son-in-law’s release on a livestream.

They said Mr Sharabi’s face looked “gaunt”.

Mr Brisley said it left them “a bit wobbly” and it was a “very emotional morning”.

He said: “When we saw Eli it was to see the emaciated state that they’ve put him in.

“Eli’s got quite a chubby face normally. You see the film of him with hollow eyes, sunken cheeks and his wrists were sticks.”

Mrs Brisley said: “Seeing Eli come out now, it brought everything back. [We] sat and bawled our eyes out.

“I was sitting there cuddling Lianne’s teddy bear. I think I made him wet actually. It reminded us of what we lost.”

“The only thing that keeps us going is the fact we know Eli is back. At least there’s one member of our very close family that is still alive,” Mrs Brisley said.

“[We’re] grateful to him for our two beautiful granddaughters, didn’t have them for long enough. We need now to concentrate on all of the happy times.

“So we live in our memories, that’s all we can do. Think about them, talk about them, and make sure nobody forgets them.”

Mr Brisley said: “We hope to be a part of getting him back to some sort of normal.”

Lianne grew up in Staple Hill, on the outskirts of Bristol, and first moved to Israel as a volunteer on a kibbutz when she was 19, before relocating to the country permanently.

After just three months in Israel, she met Eli. They had two daughters, Noiya and Yahel, who were 16 and 13 when they were killed.

One of Eli’s brothers, Yossi, was also taken hostage on 7 October, but was later killed in captivity. Hamas said his death was the result of an Israeli airstrike, which Israel said was likely.

The release of the three hostages comes under the ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, which came into effect on 19 January.

Israel released 183 Palestinian prisoners on Saturday. The ceasefire deal will see a total of 33 hostages taken on 7 October released in weekly hand-overs in exchange for 1,900 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

So far, 16 Israeli hostages have been freed and 566 prisoners have been released since the ceasefire began.

On 7 October Hamas seized 251 hostages and killed about 1,200 people when it attacked Israel, triggering the war.

At least 47,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s offensive, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

About two-thirds of Gaza’s buildings have been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s attacks, the UN says.

Acrobatic catches and thumping hits are why American football fans watch the Super Bowl but for others the non-sporting spectacle is much more interesting.

We’ve selected a few things to look out for during the contest between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs, which kicks off at 23:30 GMT (18:30 EST) on Sunday, 9 February at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Kendrick Lamar will be the star turn during the half-time show and the unlikely ties binding David Beckham and Matt Damon will be revealed – oh, and Taylor Swift might be showing off a new ring too.

The Compton rapper will be headlining the musical interlude for a second time when he takes the stage on Sunday, during which he will be supported by SZA.

Lamar is fresh off a successful year at the Grammy Awards where he scooped five prizes, including song of the year for Not Like Us – a diss track directed at hip-hop rival Drake.

It may seem a certainty for the set list but Lamar might choose not to play it after Drake filed a lawsuit claiming defamation and harassment last month.

Will he back down or will the feud reach what might be the largest television audience in US history? Last year’s Super Bowl set the record with more than 123 million Americans tuning in.

Travis Kelce will be hoping to win his fourth Super Bowl ring and he may retire if he does – certain in the knowledge he will go down as one of the great gridiron players.

For many viewers he is better known as Taylor Swift’s boyfriend. Their relationship became public in 2023 and she joined him on the field to celebrate his team’s Super Bowl win last year.

Swifties will be keeping an eye on what happens after the final whistle, following online rumours about a proposal. Asked by journalists if such a plan was in the offing, Kelce replied rhetorically with a smile: “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Adverts broadcast during the Super Bowl are some of the most expensive money can buy.

This year at least 10 adverts have been sold for more than £6.4m ($8m) each, reported entertainment business magazine Variety – a new record.

So companies who bought a premium spot want to ensure they make them memorable.

This year beer brand Stella Artois have recruited David Beckham to star in theirs as himself, in which he learns he has a long lost twin brother (played by Matt Damon) in the US called, er, Dave Beckham.

Another due for broadcast comes from Hellman’s mayonnaise that recreates the orgasm scene in the deli from When Harry Met Sally and features Sydney Sweeney.

Haagen-Dazs have Fast & Furious actors promoting their ice cream, Barry Keoghan is appearing for website builder Squarespace, and Gordon Ramsay is selling cookware manufacturer HexClad.

Now in his second stint at the White House, Trump will be the first sitting US president to attend a Super Bowl.

He is no stranger to the NFL and attended a game last October in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania while campaigning in the presidential election.

In the past he has also been critical of league commissioner Roger Goodell – most recently because he didn’t like a rule change for kick-offs.

He also disapproved of Goodell’s handling of NFL players who chose to kneel during the national anthem, which was last done widely in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd.

Players explained the protest was intended to draw attention to racial injustice in the US but Trump said they should be fired or suspended for disrespecting the country.

Fox, who are broadcasting the Super Bowl in the US, will also air an interview with the president on his first 100 days in office during their pre-game show.

The NFL has said it will not use the slogan “End Racism” in the Super Bowl – it has used the phrase for the last four editions.

The league said the change was not in response to the political climate under the new Trump administration, which has ended the use of DEI schemes in the federal government, but recent tragedies in the US.

“Choose Love” and “It Takes All of Us” were deemed more appropriate following the terrorist attack in New Orleans on New Year’s Eve and the wildfires in California last month. These slogans were introduced by the NFL in 2020 and have appeared in various league games since then.

Goodell said he was proud of the league’s diversity efforts and would continue them. “We’ve not only convinced ourselves, we’ve proven it to ourselves,” he said. “It does make the NFL better.”

Jon Batiste, the Grammy-winning singer and songwriter, will perform The Star Spangled Banner this year.

Viewers will keep an ear out for any fluffed lyrics, as experienced by Christina Aguilera, while bettors will keep an eye on how long Batiste’s rendition takes.

Other songs will also be performed prior to kick-off including America the Beautiful, by Trombone Shorty and Lauren Daigle, as well as Lift Every Voice and Sing by Ledisi.

The BBC will provide live text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app, with live radio commentary on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds. It will be shown on ITV, Sky and Dazn.

The teams last met in the Super Bowl two years ago when the Chiefs pipped the Eagles by a single field goal.

Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes could guide his side to an unprecedented three championships in a row if Kansas City wins the rematch.

Crews are still working to recover the bodies of 10 people killed in a plane crash in Alaska, officials have said.

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, said the investigation into the crash was in its “early stages” and it was too soon to tell what caused it.

The Cessna Grand Caravan aircraft, operated by regional operator Bering Air, was travelling from Unalakleet to Nome on Thursday when it lost radar contact.

Nine passengers and a pilot were on board the plane when it came down in Norton Sound about 34 miles (55km) south-east of Nome, a city of about 3,500 on Alaska’s west coast.

Among the dead were Rhone Baumgartner and Kameron Hartvigson, two employees of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

They had travelled to Unalakleet to carry out maintenance work on a water plant, the non-profit organisation said on Friday.

Ms Homendy said that nine investigators are on the scene, backed up by specialists in Washington DC.

“Recovery efforts are still under way, with the priority being victim recovery,” she said during a news conference in Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city.

“I would like to take a moment and expend our deepest condolences to people who lost loved ones in this tragedy,” she said.

Ms Homendy said recovery workers were dealing with deteriorating weather conditions and that the wreckage had landed on an ice floe which is moving at a rate of five miles a day.

In a statement, Bering Air, which operates commercial and charter flights, expressed its condolences and said it would be cooperating with the investigation into the crash.

Alaska State Troopers said it had been notified of an “overdue” aircraft at 16:00 local time on Thursday (01:00 GMT).

The Nome volunteer fire department said the pilot had told air traffic controllers that “he intended to enter a holding pattern while waiting for the runway to be cleared”.

The US Coast Guard later said the plane had experienced a rapid loss in altitude and speed before contact was lost.

Footage showed low visibility in the area around the time of the crash.

Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski shared her condolences following the incident.

“Alaska is a big small town. When tragedy strikes, we’re never far removed from the Alaskans directly impacted,” she wrote online.

Alaska’s Governor, Mike Dunleavy, said he was “heartbroken” by the disappearance of the flight.

“Our prayers are with the passengers, the pilot, and their loved ones during this difficult time,” he said.

Unakleet and Nome are about 150 miles from each other across Norton Sound, an inlet of the Bering Sea on Alaska’s western coast.

The Duke of Sussex called on competitors to overcome a “moment of difficulty and division in many parts of the world” as he opened the latest edition of the Invictus Games in Canada.

Prince Harry was speaking at the opening ceremony in Vancouver with his wife Meghan, on Saturday.

The couple initially watched from the stands, cheering and clapping for the UK’s team as their competitors walked on the stage.

Their public appearance came just hours after US President Donald Trump spoke about the couple in an interview, saying “I’ll leave him alone” when asked whether he thought Prince Harry should be deported from the US.

“He’s got enough problems with his wife,” the president added. “She’s terrible.”

The prince founded the Invictus Games in London in 2014, with this year marking the seventh edition of the competition for wounded military veterans.

The next nine days of competition will see more than 500 athletes competing in 11 different events, including winter sports for the first time.

The ceremony included musical performances by Katy Perry, Coldplay’s Chris Martin and Nelly Furtado.

Giving an emotional speech at the ceremony, Prince Harry, who himself served in Afghanistan and saw some of his comrades suffer life-changing injuries, told the crowd of 40,000: “We gather here in Vancouver in a spirit of unity.

“Beyond any differences, here at the Invictus Games we are grounded in mutual respect, competing fiercely, but believing in one another.”

The prince honoured Canada’s indigenous First Nations peoples in his speech, thanking them for hosting the games.

And he told the competitors: “Over the past decade I’ve lost count of the times we’ve heard you tell us that the Invictus Games saved you.

“Respectfully, I disagree. Invictus didn’t save you. You saved yourself.”

The ceremony also saw British group Coldplay take the stage, with frontman Chris Martin playing the Invictus Anthem, which he penned in 2014.

Canadian singer Nelly Furtado performed her 2000s global hit I’m Like a Bird and invited dance crew ILL-Abilities on stage as part of her set.

Pop star Katy Perry closed off the show, performing some of her repertoire including chart-topper Roar.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump told the New York Post he would not be in favour of deporting the prince, who moved to the US in 2020.

Some activists have questioned the Prince Harry’s US visa status after he admitted previously taking illegal drugs in his memoir, Spare.

The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, filed a lawsuit asking for the prince’s immigration records, suggesting he had lied on his visa form or was given special treatment when he and the duchess moved to Southern California in 2020.

Trump has previously suggested that if Prince Harry was found to have lied “appropriate action” would be needed.

But when asked on Friday by the New York Post whether the prince would be deported, Trump said: “I don’t want to do that. I’ll leave him alone.

“He’s got enough problems with his wife. She’s terrible.”

He added that he believed “poor Harry is being led around by the nose”.

Former actress Meghan has in the past been a vocal critic of Trump, calling him “divisive” and a “misogynist”, while Trump has previously called Meghan “nasty”.

In the interview, the president also praised Prince Harry’s older brother, Prince William, “a great young man”.

Admitting past drug use does not automatically result denial of a US visa, but it can cause delays, and lying on a visa form can lead to deportation.

US presidents do not normally get involved in individual visa decisions. The couple have not responded to Trump’s comments.

The prince was inspired to set up the games after seeing the 2013 Warrior Games in the US, where injured and retired service personnel competed.

The first edition of the games was held in London in 2014, with subsequent competitions being staged in the US, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Germany.

The 2017 games in Toronto was also where Prince Harry was pictured with his then-girlfriend Meghan for the first time. She has joined him at every edition of the competition since.

Amanda Hope dreads to think how much she has spent on her collection of Jellycat soft toys but reckons it’s more than £3,000.

“They are just so cute and cuddly,” the 36-year-old software specialist from Surrey says. “There is something so irresistible about their happy little faces!”

Amanda is one of a rising number of adults buying toys for themselves.

And it’s not just Jellycats, it’s also the likes of Lego plastic bricks and Sonny Angels dolls filling up TikTok feeds as people post videos of their latest purchases.

One in five toys and games is now bought by over-18s for themselves, according to toy industry research group Circana.

The research found buying collectibles had positive mental health benefits that helped adults cope with turmoil.

From eggs with faces to smiley coffee cups, the Jellycat craze has made a big impact on the toy industry and a TikTok trend for unboxing Sonny Angels has put the tiny dolls in high demand.

These toys don’t necessarily come cheap though. Jellycats range in price from £11 to over £700, while Lego gift sets for adults can cost as much as £730.

So why are so many adults spending their disposable income on toys?

“The popularity of Sonny Angel and Jellycat illustrates the growing kidult trend,” says Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, who has covered the retail sector for many years.

“Although globally toy sales saw a small 0.6% decline overall in 2024, collectible toys saw record sales.”

Sonny Angels are sold in blind boxes so customers never know what they will get and therefore may buy more.

Ms Streeter thinks “a desire to be part of a fandom universe” is fuelling sales and the need for nostalgia “amid the stresses of adulthood”.

Elle Lynn, 23, estimates she’s spent £2,300 on her Jellycat collection and around £500 collecting Lego.

She thinks the building aspect of Lego can help adults switch off from their hectic lives.

“I find it quite therapeutic to build. It helps me switch off from a busy high-stress day,” says Elle, who works as a project co-ordinator.

“And it’s fun to have some of your favourite characters.”

Elle says she would probably have more Lego if it weren’t for the cost.

“For some of the larger Lego sets they do tend to come at a larger price so they aren’t as easily attainable,” she says.

As well as just selling the toys, Jellycats has started putting on pop-up “experiences”. Currently at London’s Selfridges you can buy exclusive fish and chips soft toys, sold to you by an assistant pretending to fry and put salt and vinegar on your selected teddies.

Amanda visited the pop-up twice, once for herself and once to get a present for a friend.

Videos of such experiences have millions of views online, with fans essentially advertising to each other – the same applies to the Sonny Angel unboxing trend.

Melissa Symonds, executive director of toys at analysts Circana, thinks social media is playing a big role in toy advertising and sales.

“Millions of people are watching social media,” she says.

“They’re rediscovering old favourites and even brands that are becoming involved in the current trends are starting to drive footfall through awareness on social media.”

Twenty-two-year-old Jessica buys Jellycats frequently and has built up a collection worth over £1,000, which she posts about on TikTok.

“On payday I treat myself to one or two, and a few more through the month,” says the sales assistant from Ipswich.

“When I’ve had a bad day and I know a Jellycat is on its way, I look forward to seeing it in real life and adding it to my overflowing shelf.”

She likens the soft toys to Ty Beanie Babies, one of the biggest toy trends of the 1990s.

“I feel like the fun of collecting and displaying the two are similar.”

Both Jellycats and Sonny Angels often sell out quickly with retailers.

“This in turn pushes up the prices which can be charged in private resales,” says Susannah Streeter.

This is something Jessica experienced when she wanted to buy the peach Jellycat that went viral last year but couldn’t find it in stock anywhere.

She ended up paying double the price for it on Vinted, and thinks you shouldn’t be allowed to resell toys online for sky-high prices.

According to Melissa Symonds from Circana, the kidult trend is showing no signs of slowing down.

While she thinks that Jellycat stands out for managing “to hit that sweet spot of getting collectibles across all ages but also appealing to adults and at a fairly premium pricing”, she says there are other brands snapping at its heels.

She points to Ty, Aurora and Posh Paws as the ones to watch for upcoming plush toys.

The expression Black Hawk Down, the title of a Hollywood film, has become shorthand for a 1993 US military disaster in Somalia.

Eighteen American soldiers lost their lives in the fighting that began on 3 October, but so did hundreds of Somalis.

As Netflix launches a documentary about those events, the BBC has spoken to some Somalis still scarred by what happened.

Despite being surrounded by the debris of an ongoing civil war, Mogadishu’s residents in the early 1990s embraced the moments of serenity.

The warm Sunday sunshine and cooling ocean breeze made for the perfect opportunity for Binti Ali Wardhere, 24 at the time, to visit relatives with her mother.

“That day was calm,” she remembers.

But like everyone else in the city she was unaware that the Americans were getting ready to attack warlord Mohamed Farah Aideed – and what happened would change her life forever.

The US had deployed soldiers to Somalia in 1992. They were there to support a UN mission that offered humanitarian assistance to alleviate a famine – in part caused by the collapse of the central government.

But after Aideed was blamed for being behind the killing of 24 UN peacekeepers in June 1993, he became a focus of military action.

This included a US raid in July in which at least 70 Somalis died, marking a turning-point in the way the Americans were viewed. It also led to the deployment of elite US Rangers.

On 3 October, the US got intelligence that Aideed would be at a meeting with his top officials at a hotel. The Americans launched an airborne operation that was supposed to take 90 minutes – in the end it lasted 17 hours.

For Binti, the first sign that something unusual was happening was the sound of deafening explosions that started just after 15:30 local time.

Mogadishu residents had become accustomed to the sound of fighting, but there was something about the magnitude of these blasts and the shockwaves they caused that felt abnormal.

People began fleeing in all directions.

Determined to understand what was happening, Binti climbed to the rooftop of her relative’s house. From there, she saw that the fighting was taking place in her own neighbourhood.

Two US Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, one at 16:20 and the other at 16:40. The taskforce was surrounded and then a rescue mission began.

Fearing for her family, Binti ran for home.

“To this day, I still see the bodies scattered in the streets,” she says.

• WATCH: The Somali battle that changed US policy in Africa
• WATCH: A military disaster remembered

Binti reached her house just after 18:00 and was relieved to find everyone safe.

The fighting eased a little bit, bringing a brief moment of calm.

She served tea as her husband discussed the war with a neighbour. But he did not have a chance to taste the tea as a shell hit their house.

Binti felt her hand get partially severed. She fell to the ground, a woman collapsed on top of her.

“There was hot water running over my head. I thought to myself: ‘Who opened the water pipe?'”

She then realised it was the blood of the person on top of her, who had died. It was Binti’s neighbour who had come to their house for safety.

That night, Binti also lost her husband, Mohamed Aden, and two sons – 14-year-old Abdulkadir Mohamed and 13-year-old Abdurahman Mohamed.

Four of her other children, along with her brother, who had been staying with them, were injured. Her brother later succumbed to his injuries.

Ifrah, who was just four years old at the time, was permanently blinded.

Binti’s eldest son, now a father himself, continues to struggle with mental health issues. To this day, the sight or sound of an aeroplane sends him into hiding.

He did not know it on that quiet Sunday morning, but prominent cameraman Ahmed Mohamed Hassan, also known as Ahmed Five, was to play a major role in how the events were seen.

Twenty-nine at the time, he had already documented clan wars, famine and the chaotic events of Mogadishu and its suburbs.

That day, he was not thinking about work when the explosions rattled the air.

The sounds of helicopter gunfire and heavy machine guns signalled something more intense than the crackle of AK-47 that he normally heard.

Ahmed always carried his camera, knowing that in Mogadishu anything could happen at any moment. He instinctively began documenting the unfolding chaos and headed towards the heart of the battle.

“Although this situation was completely different from the ones I had worked in before, I still decided to record these events and take on that responsibility,” he tells the BBC.

The closest event he had ever witnessed to this was the July raid which galvanised anti-American sentiment and set the stage for October’s confrontation.

On the first day, he filmed some of the fighting between the US soldiers and the Somalis.

Then on the second day, he was led to a house where US pilot Michael Durant was being held.

Mr Durant had been flying the second Black Hawk that had come down after it was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. After crashing, his three crew members were killed in the fighting along with two others who had gone to rescue them.

“It was a huge gun battle. They say that 25 Somalis were killed by gunfire at crash site two, so that gives you some insight into how much shooting was going on,” Mr Durant later told the BBC.

• Black Hawk survivor speaks of his time in captivity

He was saved when a gunman recognised that the pilot might have value as a prisoner.

Ahmed then filmed the nervous and battered American who had several scars on his face. He can be seen confirming his identity while breathing heavily and glancing to his side at an interrogator, who is out of shot.

Until that point, neither the US nor Aideed knew Mr Durant was being held, Ahmed says.

“I handed the videotapes to a UN plane that flew daily from Mogadishu to Nairobi [in neighbouring Kenya].

“The first report of the Mogadishu battle to reach the world was from the footage I recorded. At the time, I was working as a freelancer for CNN.”

The images captured by Ahmed made headlines around the world.

They also fed into the debate about US combat policy in the African continent, which shifted after the fighting in Mogadishu.

“This is something I take pride in – though at the time, I didn’t anticipate its impact,” Ahmed says.

Within six months, the US had withdrawn its forces from Somalia. The perceived failure of the Somali mission made the US wary of intervening in subsequent African crises.

The third of October started as a day of celebration in Saida Omar Mohamud’s household as that morning she gave birth to a baby girl.

Relatives and neighbours gathered at her home to congratulate her, as the family prepared for a traditional name-giving ceremony.

But the mood shifted once the fighting started.

Chaos erupted as the first helicopter crashed in front of Saida’s home.

Within moments, she remembers at least 10 US soldiers storming into the house.

They gathered everyone into the living room, ordering them not to move and turned it into an impromptu field hospital.

The family watched in shock as wounded soldiers were laid on their dining table, receiving emergency medical treatment.

“Although they were afraid, they made us scared as well. They turned our house into a stronghold,” Saida says.

As well as her own searing memories, Saida left a permanent reminder of that day with what she decided to call her daughter,

As Somalis say, “no name is given without a reason” and so Saida’s little girl is now known as Amina Rangers.

The Netflix documentary features “raw, immersive storytelling with first-person interviews from both sides of the Battle of Mogadishu”, according to the publicity. It sheds light on the horrors experienced by Somalis like Binti during the conflict.

“This time, Somalis were given the opportunity to share their account of events. It is crucial that both sides of the story are always told,” Ahmed Five says.

But for Binti Ali, simply telling the story is not enough.

She lost loved ones in the war. Yet she feels the devastation inflicted on Somali families like hers remains largely unacknowledged.

“It was the Americans who destroyed my house, killed my husband, my two sons, and my brother, and left my family in lasting misery,” she says, her voice breaking.

“At the very least, they must admit what they have done and compensate us.”

• Why Trump is on the warpath in Somalia
• Somalia’s men in sarongs taking on al-Shabab militants
• Somali piracy 2.0 – the BBC meets the new robbers of the high seas
• A quick guide to Somalia