A posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre accuses the Duke of York of being "entitled - as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright", according to extracts published in the Guardian newspaper.

The book, Nobody's Girl, written by the prominent accuser of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is due to be published next week, almost six months after Ms Giuffre took her own life.

Her book, which calls Epstein a "master manipulator", describes three occasions where she alleges Prince Andrew had sex with her, including at Ghislaine Maxwell's house in London.

It's further embarrassment for Prince Andrew, who reached a financial settlement with Ms Giuffre in 2022, and has always denied any wrongdoing.

Nobody's Child: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, is the testimony of Ms Giuffre, who died by suicide in Australia in April, in a book co-written with author Amy Wallace.

Ms Giuffre, who met Jeffrey Epstein through Ghislaine Maxwell, claimed that she was one of many vulnerable girls and young women who had been sexually exploited by Epstein and his circle of wealthy connections.

The powerful friends were claimed to include Prince Andrew and the extract published in the Guardian gives her account of when they met in London in March 2001, when she was aged 17.

She says the day began by being woken by Ghislaine Maxwell: "It was going to be a special day, she said. Just like Cinderella, I was going to meet a handsome prince!"

When Andrew arrived later she claims that he was asked to guess her age.

"The Duke of York, who was then 41, guessed correctly: 17. 'My daughters are just a little younger than you,' he told me, explaining his accuracy. As usual, Maxwell was quick with a joke: 'I guess we will have to trade her in soon.'," says her memoir.

Like Epstein, she said she called him "Andy".

There is also an account of the notorious photograph from that evening.

"My mom would never forgive me if I met someone as famous as Prince Andrew and didn't pose for a picture.

"I ran to get a Kodak FunSaver from my room, then returned and handed it to Epstein. I remember the prince putting his arm around my waist as Maxwell grinned beside me. Epstein snapped the photo," she writes.

They went to dinner and then Tramp nightclub, she recalls, saying Andrew was a "bumbling dancer, and I remember he sweated profusely".

"On the way back, Maxwell told me, 'When we get home, you are to do for him what you do for Jeffrey'."

She says of what happened next: "He was friendly enough, but still entitled – as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright."

As has been reported before, she claimed he was "particularly attentive to my feet, caressing my toes and licking my arches". And that later Epstein gave her $15,000 for her time with Andrew.

The book also reports two other occasions on which she alleges she had sex with Andrew - in Epstein's townhouse in New York and on Epstein's private island in the US Virgin Islands.

All three of the claimed meetings with Andrew have been reported in detail before, including in her previous witness statements and accounts, but this brings them together and provides her own perspective.

"Don't be fooled by those in Epstein's circle who say they didn't know what he was doing. Epstein not only didn't hide what was happening, he took a certain glee in making people watch," she writes.

The book also reveals that she was taking tranquilisers to cope with her life working for Epstein.

"Sometimes, when I was really struggling, I took as many as eight Xanax a day," she writes.

She also explained why she didn't leave "Epstein's lair even after we knew what he wanted from us."

"How can you complain about being abused, some have asked, when you could so easily have stayed away? But that stance discounts what many of us had been through before we encountered Epstein, as well as how good he was at spotting girls whose wounds made them vulnerable," she writes.

"Several of us had been molested or raped as children; many of us were poor or even homeless. We were girls who no one cared about, and Epstein pretended to care."

After leaving Epstein, Ms Giuffre had settled in Australia where she lived with her husband and three children. She took her own life at the age of 41.

Epstein had killed himself in jail in New York in while awaiting trial. Ghislaine Maxwell was jailed on charges related to sex trafficking.

Prince Andrew made a financial payment to Ms Giuffre in an out-of-court settlement, after she had brought a civil case against him, and he denies all the accusations made against him.

He refutes Ms Giuffre's claims about having sex with him at the three locations: "I can absolutely categorically tell you it never happened," Andrew said in his BBC Newsnight interview.

"I can tell you categorically I don't remember meeting her at all. I do not remember a photograph being taken and I've said consistently and frequently that we never had any sort of sexual contact whatever," he said.

Prince Andrew has faced challenges over aspects of his own account.

He said he had cut all links with Epstein after seeing him in New York in December 2010, but an email later emerged from February 2011 which suggested Andrew was still in touch, with the promise to "play some more soon".

The Duke of York's office has been contacted for comment.

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Operations have been suspended at Kenya's main airport after thousands of mourners turned out to receive the body of former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a day after he died in India.

Large crowds of mourners carrying twigs and palm branches breached security at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) immediately after the body of the former leader arrived on Thursday morning.

Authorities said mourners gained access to restricted areas, prompting a "precautionary closure" to allow security teams to restore order and ensure safety.

"Members of the public and travellers are advised to remain calm and avoid the airport area until further notice," the aviation agency said.

Because of the unexpectedly huge crowds, the public viewing ceremony for his body has been moved to Nairobi's Moi International Sports Centre, rather than inside Parliament.

• Obituary: A founding father of Kenya's multi-party democracy
• How Odinga's court challenges have improved Kenya's elections

The 80-year-old former prime minister collapsed during a morning walk in India on Wednesday morning and he was taken to Devamatha Hospital, about 50km (30 miles) east of the port city of Kochi.

The hospital said he had suffered a cardiac arrest, did not respond to resuscitation measures and was "declared dead at 09:52" local time (04:22 GMT).

Kenyan politicians and world leaders have been sending their condolences, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who described Odinga as a "towering statesman and a cherished friend of India".

Kenya's President William Ruto said the veteran politician was a "beacon of courage" and "father of our democracy".

A seven-day period of mourning has been declared. Odinga will also be accorded a state funeral with full military honours, Ruto said.

Odinga spent many years as an opposition leader, losing five presidential campaigns, most recently three years ago.

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

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India's goods exports to the US, its largest foreign market, dropped sharply by 20% in September and nearly 40% in the last four months, as Trump's steep tariffs took effect, data shows.

September was the first full month of Washington's 50% tariffs on Indian goods, which kicked in on 27 August. This includes a 25% penalty for Delhi's refusal to stop buying oil from Russia.

"US has become India's most severely affected market since the tariff escalation began," said Ajay Srivastava of Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a Delhi-based think tank.

Negotiations for a trade deal between the two countries are under way, with the goal of concluding an agreement by next month.

According to GTRI, the most significant impact of the tariffs has been felt by labour-heavy sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, and chemicals, which have suffered the heaviest losses.

Shipments to the US have seen four consecutive months of decline, and are down 37.5% - from $8.8bn (£6.5bn) in May to $5.5bn in September.

The drop in exports have also contributed to India's trade deficit (the gap between what a country imports and exports), which widened to a 13-month high of $32.15 billion in September.

Some of the reduction in exports to the US was cushioned by improved trade with countries like the UAE and China.

Trade negotiations between India and the US resumed last month after months of stalling over a number of differences. An Indian delegation is currently in the US for talks.

On Wednesday, Trump said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to stop buying Russian oil, as the US seeks to put economic pressure on the Kremlin as part of efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

A spokesperson of the Indian foreign ministry said discussions were "ongoing" with the US administration which had "shown interest in deepening energy co-operation with India".

But major sticking points over trade still remain, including access to agriculture and dairy.

For years, Washington has pushed for greater access to India's farm sector, seeing it as a major untapped market. But India has fiercely protected it, citing food security, livelihoods and the interests of millions of small farmers.

Until recently, the US was India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn in 2024. Trump and Modi have set a target to more than double this figure to $500bn.

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OceanGate's Titan submersible imploded on its journey to the wreck of the Titantic because of poor engineering and multiple failures to test the vessel, according to an official report.

Titan imploded in June 2023, killing all five passengers on board including OceanGate's chief executive.

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) found the engineering process behind the vehicle was "inadequate", resulting in faults which meant it failed to meet strength and durability requirements.

The NTSB said because the firm did not adequately test Titan it did not know its actual strength. It was also unaware it was damaged and should have been removed from service before its last voyage.

Titan disappeared in the North Atlantic as it attempted to dive to the wreck of Titanic which lies some 372 miles from St. John's in Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada.

In August, the US Coast Guard released a damning report into the implosion which found that the incident was "preventable" and criticised OceanGate's "critically flawed" safety practices.

Stockton Rush, OceanGate's chief executive, operated the Titan on its final journey.

The passengers, who paid $25,000 each to take part in the dive, deep-sea explorer Paul-Henri Nargeolet, Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman Dawood and Hamish Harding.

South Korea's Supreme Court has struck down a lower court's order for billionaire Chey Tae-won to pay his ex-wife a 1.38tn won ($1bn; £788m) settlement, in a case dubbed by local media as the "divorce of the century".

Citing a miscalculation that increased the value of the couple's assets, it has ordered the case to be reviewed.

The case has gripped South Korea as Mr Chey heads the powerful SK Group conglomerate while his ex-wife Roh So-young is the daughter of a former president.

The marriage unravelled in 2015 after Mr Chey admitted to fathering a child with his lover.

The 1.38 trillion won payout was decided by a court in the capital Seoul in 2024. It was considered the largest divorce settlement in South Korea's history at the time.

The court said a 30bn won slush fund by Ms Roh's father, former president Roh Tae-woo, had helped contribute to the growth of SK Group and could be considered as her contribution to the couple's joint assets.

Mr Chey then appealed the settlement.

On Thursday the Supreme Court ruled that the slush fund "appeared to have originated from bribes illegally received" by the former president and thus could not be considered part of the couple's assets.

"I think it is very significant that the Supreme Court clearly declared that it was wrong to recognise that as a contribution to the couple's joint property," said Mr Chey's lawyer, Lee Jae-geun.

However, the Supreme Court upheld a 2bn won alimony payment for Ms Roh.

Shares of SK fell 5.4% after the ruling on Thursday, as it was seen to prolong Mr Chey's legal battle with his ex-wife.

But in the short term analysts believe a shake-up at SK Group is unlikely, as Mr Chey is not immediately compelled to raise funds for his divorce settlement.

He controls key subsidiaries of the group such as SK Telecom, SK Square and SK Innovation.

SK's businesses span the telecommunications, energy, pharmaceuticals and semiconductor sectors.

President Donald Trump has said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to stop buying Russian oil, as the US seeks to tighten financial thumbscrews on the Kremlin as part of efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump told reporters he had received assurances from Modi that India would halt its purchases "within a short period of time", which he called "a big stop".

A spokeswoman for the Indian embassy in Washington DC would not comment. The US president has sought to leverage India's purchases of Russian oil in his trade war, but New Delhi has resisted, creating a diplomatic rift.

Oil and gas are Russia's biggest exports, and Moscow's biggest customers include China, India and Turkey.

"Now I've got to get China to do the same thing," Trump said in the Oval Office on Wednesday.

His administration is also pushing Beijing, and other trading partners, to stop buying oil from Russia, part of a broader push to cut off Moscow's energy funding.

India cannot "immediately" halt oil shipments, Trump said, adding that the shift will be "a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over with soon".

The Trump administration has imposed 50% tariffs on goods from India, levies that Trump has characterised as punishment against New Delhi for buying Russian oil and weapons.

The tariffs – which took effect in August and are among the highest in the world – include a 25% penalty for transactions with Russia that are a key source of funds for its war in Ukraine.

Modi has for months stood his ground, arguing that India is neutral in the Russia-Ukraine war despite his country's ties with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Indian officials have called the Trump administration's accusations that Delhi profits from Russia's war in Ukraine a double standard, citing ongoing trade with Russia in the US and Europe.

India relies on Russian crude oil, which Delhi has continued to buy at a discount, to support its economy - the fifth largest in the world.

The dispute over Russian oil has strained the relationship between Trump and Modi, although the US president on Wednesday praised the Indian leader as a "great man".

Modi said last week that he spoke with Trump and that they "reviewed good progress achieved in trade negotiations".

India's goods exports to the US, its largest foreign market, dropped sharply by 20% in September and nearly 40% in the last four months, as Trump's steep tariffs took effect, data shows.

September was the first full month of Washington's 50% tariffs on Indian goods, which kicked in on 27 August. This includes a 25% penalty for Delhi's refusal to stop buying oil from Russia.

"US has become India's most severely affected market since the tariff escalation began," said Ajay Srivastava of Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI), a Delhi-based think tank.

Negotiations for a trade deal between the two countries are under way, with the goal of concluding an agreement by next month.

According to GTRI, the most significant impact of the tariffs has been felt by labour-heavy sectors such as textiles, gems and jewellery, engineering goods, and chemicals, which have suffered the heaviest losses.

Shipments to the US have seen four consecutive months of decline, and are down 37.5% - from $8.8bn (£6.5bn) in May to $5.5bn in September.

The drop in exports have also contributed to India's trade deficit (the gap between what a country imports and exports), which widened to a 13-month high of $32.15 billion in September.

Some of the reduction in exports to the US was cushioned by improved trade with countries like the UAE and China.

Trade negotiations between India and the US resumed last month after months of stalling over a number of differences. An Indian delegation is currently in the US for talks.

On Wednesday, Trump said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to stop buying Russian oil, as the US seeks to put economic pressure on the Kremlin as part of efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

A spokesperson of the Indian foreign ministry said discussions were "ongoing" with the US administration which had "shown interest in deepening energy co-operation with India".

But major sticking points over trade still remain, including access to agriculture and dairy.

For years, Washington has pushed for greater access to India's farm sector, seeing it as a major untapped market. But India has fiercely protected it, citing food security, livelihoods and the interests of millions of small farmers.

Until recently, the US was India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $190bn in 2024. Trump and Modi have set a target to more than double this figure to $500bn.

Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.

Last Friday Grace Jin Drexel received a text from her father in China, the prominent pastor Jin Mingri, telling her to pray for another pastor who had gone missing.

The text said that the other pastor had been detained while visiting the southern city of Shenzhen.

"Shortly after that, I got a call from my mum. She said she couldn't contact my dad," Ms Jin Drexel, who lives in the US, told the BBC.

Within hours her family realised that Mr Jin had also been caught up in what has been described by activists as China's largest arrest of Christians in decades.

Some now fear that last weekend's roundup of 30 Christians linked to the Zion Church network, which Mr Jin founded, marks the start of what could be a wider crackdown on underground churches.

They point to new laws passed in China which appear aimed at curbing underground church activity, and increasing pressure exerted by authorities on church members in recent months.

Despite being ruled by the atheist Chinese Communist Party, China has a sizeable Christian population. Government figures in recent years have stated there are about 38 million Protestants and nearly six million Catholics.

But these figures likely only account for members of churches registered with the officially approved Catholic Patriotic Association and the Protestant Three-Self Patriotic Movement, which emphasise loyalty to China and the Communist Party.

Rights activists and scholars estimate that tens of millions more Chinese attend unregistered churches, also known as house churches, which do not follow state-sanctioned ideologies.

Many of these churches have been impacted by the Chinese government's attempts to increase its control of religious groups over the years. Church buildings have been demolished and crosses have been removed from public view, while religious material has become more tightly policed, with some Christian apps banned in China.

In 2005 and again in 2018, the government revised and tightened regulations on religious groups, while in 2016, Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for the "sinicisation" of religion.

Underground churches such as Zion were especially affected by the 2018 rules, which required government approval for worshipping in public. Many were forced to stop public activities and turned to holding online services, or simply shut down.

The following years also saw the arrests and sentencing of a few prominent pastors.

In recent months, there have been signs of Chinese authorities once again tightening the screws.

In May, pastor Gao Quanfu of the Light of Zion Church in Xi'an was detained on charges of "using superstitious activities to undermine the implementation of law". The following month saw several members of the Linfen Golden Lampstand Church in Shanxi sentenced to years in prison for fraud, which rights groups have criticised as false convictions.

Then in September, authorities announced a new online code of conduct for religious personnel, which only allows online sermons to be conducted by licensed groups. This has been widely seen as an attempt to curtail underground churches' online services.

In the last few months, Zion church members have also faced increasing questioning by police officers, Ms Jin Drexel said.

Many in Zion saw the stepped-up pressure as a prelude to a crackdown, but few anticipated it would be as large as it turned out to be, she said.

Last Friday and Saturday, Chinese authorities launched what's been described as a sweeping crackdown across at least 10 cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. Besides Mr Jin who was taken from his main base in Beihai city in Guangxi province, they arrested other pastors, leaders and members of the congregation, according to the church.

The BBC has obtained a copy of what appears to be an official detention notice for Mr Jin, issued by the public security bureau in Beihai. It states that Mr Jin is currently held in the Beihai Number Two prison and that he is suspected of "illegal use of information networks".

The BBC has asked local authorities to confirm the detention.

Some of the arrested church members have since been released, but the majority are thought to still be in detention, with some housed in the same prison as Mr Jin.

Corey Jackson, founder of Christian advocacy group Luke Alliance, said the nationwide scale and co-ordination of the arrests across China were unprecedented.

"We anticipate that this is just the beginning of a larger crackdown," he said, adding that other underground churches in China were now preparing themselves for arrests.

Another Christian advocacy group, Open Doors, said the arrests were significant. "Zion Church was very well known and outspoken and it may have reached the level of organisation that authorities are getting nervous about organised social entities they do not control," a spokesperson said.

He warned that China's "policy of acting against house churches will continue" and that authorities may accuse more church members of fraud and economic crimes "as a strategy of intimidation".

Sean Long, a Zion Church pastor and spokesperson based in the US, said other churches will be targeted as there is "a new wave of religious persecution emerging quickly across China".

He called the latest arrests a "systematic roundup" to "unroot Zion", and quoted the Chinese idiom "killing the chicken to scare the monkeys".

"Zion is the chicken, we are the most influential... it's to scare other Christians and house churches in China."

When asked by the BBC for a response, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said: "We would like to stress that the Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of religious belief in accordance with law. Meanwhile, all religious groups and religious activities must comply with the laws and regulations of China."

Earlier this week, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said it "firmly opposes the US interfering in China's internal affairs with so-called religious issues", in response to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's condemnation of the Zion church arrests.

Zion's story began with Jin Mingri, also known as Ezra Jin.

Born in 1969 during the Cultural Revolution in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang, he was a believer in the Chinese state while growing up.

That changed in 1989 when, as a student in the prestigious Beijing University, he began taking part in the pro-democracy movement that was eventually crushed in the Tiananmen Massacre.

While he did not happen to be at Tiananmen on 4 June, the events at the square changed his life. "It was a pivotal moment. For his whole life, he had faith in the state. When that was betrayed, it shattered his entire world view. It was a big come-to-Jesus moment," Ms Jin Drexel said.

At first Mr Jin pursued his new Christian faith at a Three-Self church. In 2002 he moved to the US with his wife and daughter to study at a seminary in California, where his two sons were born.

The family moved back to China in 2007 for Mr Jin to continue his work. But he decided to set up an independent church, said Ms Jin Drexel, as he could no longer accept the Three-Self doctrine which calls for allegiance to the Chinese state. "He couldn't be a pastor there as it was not a God-pleasing church... you can't serve two masters."

Zion began as a small house church in Beijing with just 20 followers. But over the years it expanded and began holding services in a large hall in an office building.

As it grew in influence, so did the scrutiny. In 2018, Chinese authorities asked the church to install CCTV cameras in the building, saying it was for "security".

When it refused, followers began facing what church leaders say was harassment. Later that year, the church was shut down.

An exit ban was imposed on Mr Jin, who was placed under close surveillance. His family was able to leave for the US, as did some other church members such as Mr Long.

Zion then pivoted to what Mr Long called a "hybrid model" where they would hold large online church services coupled with small offline meetings in person. The church grew to about 100 branches across 40 cities in China, and has more than 10,000 followers now.

It is why, while the fate of Mr Jin and the other arrested church members remains uncertain and the possibility of a wider crackdown looms, Mr Long is confident that Zion and China's underground churches will survive.

"Persecution cannot destroy the church," he said. "If you look back to history, where there is repression, there's a revival."

Spain is kicking against the prevailing political mood among Western nations when it comes to migration and policies regarding the African continent.

At a time when the US, the UK, France and Germany are all cutting back their development aid budgets, Madrid remains committed to continued expansion, albeit from a lower starting point.

This week, the Spanish capital has been hosting an African Union-backed "world conference on people of African descent". AfroMadrid2025 will discuss restorative justice and the creation of a new development fund.

It is just the latest sign of how Spain's socialist-led government is seeking to deepen and diversify its engagement with the continent and near neighbour that lies just a few kilometres to the south, across the Straits of Gibraltar.

In July Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares launched a new advisory council of prominent intellectual, diplomatic and cultural figures, more than half of them African, to monitor the delivery of the detailed Spain-Africa strategy that his government published at the end of last year.

New embassies south of the Sahara, and partnerships in business and education are planned.

The contrast between Spain's approach and that of others in the West is not just in spending but in tone and mindset – and nowhere more so than in dealing with migration.

Similar to elsewhere in Europe, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is looking for ways to contain the influx of irregular arrivals.

Like other centre-left and centre-right leaders, he finds himself facing an electoral challenge from the radical right, largely driven by some voters' concern over migration, with the hardline Vox party well established in parliament and routinely ranking third in opinion polls.

In July, extra security forces had to be deployed against racist gangs roaming the streets of Torre Pacheco, in Murcia region – where many Africans work in the booming horticultural sector – after three Moroccans were accused of beating a pensioner.

While the opposition conservative People's Party remains favourable to some immigration, but for cultural reasons wants to prioritise Latin Americans rather than Africans, Vox has been more radical.

Responding to the Murcia incident Vox called for a crackdown on immigrants taking up less skilled jobs. The message largely targeted Africans working in fruit and vegetable production, now so crucial to the southern Spanish economy.

But for the government the migration presents challenges that are as much practical as political.

More than 45,000 people made the perilous sea crossing from Africa's west coast to the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands last year. Estimates of those who died while making the attempt range between 1,400 and a staggering 10,460.

Others make the shorter journey across the Gibraltar Straits or the Mediterranean to land on Andalusian beaches or try to scramble over the border fences of Ceuta and Melilla, the two Spanish enclave towns on the North African coast.

The Spanish administration has to accommodate new arrivals, process their claims and manage their absorption into wider society, whether temporary or more long-lasting.

However, in language markedly different from the hostile messaging that emanates from many European capitals, the Sanchez government openly acknowledges the hard economic realities on the ground in West Africa that push people to risk their lives in the effort to reach Europe.

And it is trying to move beyond simply saying "no" to new arrivals. Instead, it is developing creative alternatives, with a promise to foster movements of people that are safe, orderly and regular and "mutually beneficial".

On his trip to Mauritania last year, Sanchez stressed the contribution that migrants make to the Spanish economy.

"For us, the migratory phenomenon is not only a question of moral principles, solidarity and dignity, but also one of rationality," the prime minister said.

The Spanish government funds training schemes for unemployed youth in countries such as Senegal, especially for irregular migrants who have been sent back, to help them develop viable new livelihoods back home.

And it has expanded a "circular migration" programme that gives West Africans short-term visas to come to Spain for limited periods of seasonal work, mainly in agriculture, and then return.

These issues were at the heart of the agenda when Sanchez visited Senegal, The Gambia and Mauritania in August last year.

A circular migration agreement with the former had been in place since 2021, but similar accords with the Mauritanian and Gambian governments have since followed.

The underlying case for this singular approach was set out in detail in the foreign ministry's Spain-Africa strategy. This argued that Europe and Africa "form part of the same geopolitical space".

But the management of migration is only one motive for the Spanish decision to place emphasis on building relations with Africa – and indeed support a much broader related social-cultural agenda.

The fundamental premise underlying Madrid's outreach is that Spain, as the European country closest to the continent, has an essential self interest in Africa's progress towards inclusive and sustainable development, and peace and security.

That basic rationale might seem obvious.

Yet of course history had taken Spain down a quite different path.

Other than a few Maghreb footholds and a small tropical outpost – today's independent Equatorial Guinea – its colonial expansion in the 16th and 17th Centuries had mainly been directed across the Atlantic.

And over recent decades, European affairs and the Middle East had tended to dominate Madrid's foreign policy priorities, while the main beneficiaries of its development support were the countries of its vast former empire in Central and South America.

However, the past few years have seen the Sanchez government preside over a fundamental broadening of outlook.

Barely had Albares been installed as foreign minister in July 2021 than he launched a restructuring of his department, in part to strengthen its engagement not only with Latin America but also with the Sahel and North Africa.

Confirmation of the wider geographical emphasis came with a development co-operation plan for 2024-27, which for the first time, designated West Africa, including the Sahel, as one of three regions prioritised for assistance, alongside Central and South America.

Spain's Africa strategy lays heavy emphasis not just on economic sectors such as infrastructure, digitalisation and energy transition but also particularly on education and youth employment.

The cultural dimension includes not only promotion of the Spanish language, with an expanded presence of the Cervantes Institute, but also programmes to help the mobility of academic teachers and researchers.

Security co-operation, action on climate change, women's empowerment and an expanded diplomatic presence are unsurprising components in today's environment.

However, the strategy also lays very public stress it places on supporting democratic ideas, the African Union and, in particular, the West African regional organisation Ecowas.

This will be welcome public encouragement for the latter, which is currently under severe pressure after seeing its 50th anniversary year marred by the walk-out of the Sahelian states – Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger – whose ruling military juntas have refused to comply with its protocol on democracy and good governance.

Meanwhile, in a message targeted as much at Madrid's domestic audience as its sub-Saharan partners, the foreign ministry said "supporting the African diaspora and the fight against racism and xenophobia are also key priorities".

Fine words of course are only a first step. But in today's sour international climate such language really does stand out.

Paul Melly is a consulting fellow with the Africa Programme at Chatham House in London.

You may also be interested in:

• Spain looks to immigrants to drive economy
• 'Try or die' - one man's determination to get to the Canary Islands
• 'I found out on social media that my son had died'

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

A burly bearded man in a blue tunic moved swiftly through grassy stubble on a windswept road in rural Damascus, collecting bones with his bare hands.

He added a jaw to the pile, before gently picking up a skull. Briefly, he kissed it - a moment of tenderness for one of the many victims of Bashar al-Assad. Ten months after Assad was ousted from power last December, in a lightning rebel advance, mass graves are still being uncovered.

The Syrian dictator's legacy is embedded in the soil here - skeletal remains where crops should be. There are now more than 60 grave sites and counting.

One of the latest came to light in al-Otaiba village, in the district of Eastern Ghouta, where a shepherd stumbled on clothing and human remains after straw was burnt off.

The authorities believe as many as 175 bodies were bulldozed into a mass grave in this former opposition stronghold.

They are among the legions of the missing.

More than 181,000 people were forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily detained during the 14 years of Syria's civil war, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights monitoring group. It says 90% were taken by the Assad regime.

The families of the missing are now demanding answers and justice, from the new Syria – which held its first parliamentary election, of a sort, earlier this month.

A "people's assembly" was chosen but not directly by the people. One-third of the seats remain to be filled. The appointees will be hand-picked by Syria's Interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Depending on your viewpoint in this broken country, and perhaps on your religion or your sect, the election was either a sham or a first step on the road to democracy.

As Syria faces forward, President Sharaa - a jihadi fighter turned head of state - says the missing will remain "a national priority".

Bereaved relatives like Kasim Hamami are counting on that. They can do little else.

We found him digging by the roadside at the mass grave site, pulling secrets from the soil.

As we watched, he uncovered a frayed, brownish jumper covered in dirt. It was a last trace of Samer, his brother, who disappeared aged 21.

"Samer was a civilian," Kasim said softly, "and newly-wed, just 15 days into his marriage. He had nothing to do with armed groups. He didn't fight anybody," he said.

"Ghouta was under a blockade. The regime did not allow in any food. He left because of hunger."

Kasim's three nephews also left with Samer and shared his fate.

They were among around 400 people who set out from Eastern Ghouta on 27 February 2014, hoping to reach another rebel stronghold. On the way, they were attacked by the regime and its allies in Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia backed by Iran.

We know this because they filmed the slaughter and published the footage. The video - widely circulated online - is hard to watch.

It shows a column of people walking along a road, straight into an ambush.

Landmines are detonated along a 300m (985ft) stretch. The explosions are followed by a hail of bullets.

The convoy was mostly men, but included women and children, according to Mohammed Omar Hajjar, the newly appointed public prosecutor for rural Damascus. He believes they were civilians. The regime claimed at the time that the dead were fighters.

We met one of the survivors, who gave us a first-hand account of the attack.

Bilal, a nurse, was back at the mass grave site, glancing around at the sunlit landscape, reliving his darkest night.

"We left at around midnight," he told us. "I walked behind my colleague, 30m apart. After the mines went off, the wounded were screaming. They killed them in cold blood. I could hear two voices, and I could not help."

Bilal says he survived by hiding in a bush until the following day and is speaking out now for those who can't.

"I lost my nephew, friends and relatives. Those who set up the ambush should be held to account," he said.

Will that happen?

Many senior figures from the former regime are on the run, and Hezbollah has been devastated by Israeli attacks, and Israel's war on Lebanon in 2024.

A Syrian judge has issued an arrest warrant, in absentia, for Bashar al-Assad, in relation to other killings. But the former president has found refuge in Russia – which backed him during the civil war.

It's not known if his fate was discussed when President Sharaa held talks with President Putin in Moscow on Wednesday – the former enemies shaking hands in the Kremlin and discussing how to strengthen relations. If Assad was watching, it won't have been easy viewing.

Back home, there is one major change for families he destroyed. They can now share their anguish without risking their lives.

About an hour's drive from the mass grave, we joined a gathering of wives, mothers and daughters of the missing.

They met at a "Truth Tent" - a community-led forum where Syrians lay bare the horrors of the past. In this case the "tent" was a village hall.

More than a hundred women crowded in - so many there weren't enough chairs - many wearing black abayas and headscarves.

They gathered around us, holding out photos of husbands, fathers or sons - men who may live now only in their memory. More photos were hung in rows on the wall.

One woman paused before the display and raised her hand to caress an image.

A softly spoken 18-year-old called Bisan recalled how her father was taken away at gunpoint, when she was just four years old.

"They got my dad, handcuffed him and put him in the van," she said. "He asked them why he was being arrested. One of them pointed a gun against his head. We were so scared. We could not do anything back then. I was young and my mum kept crying."

Her cousin stood alongside as she spoke. Her father was also taken.

Around the room, voices rose and fell in a chorus of harrowing accounts of loved ones snatched from work or home and swallowed by the regime's notorious prison system.

"Prisons were filled with the blood, and lives of the innocent," shouted one woman from the back of the hall. "We spent a lot... sometimes even selling our houses, to pay some dog from the regime for information about our brothers, sons or husbands."

Another woman described being asked to choose between freedom for her son or her husband.

"They took me and my son to the security branch," she said. "They beat us both. They showed me my son on the camera and asked me if I wanted my husband or my son. I said I wanted my son."

The authorities asked her to sign a paper saying her husband was a terrorist, but she refused. "I never saw him carrying a weapon," she said. "He went out demonstrating because he was hungry."

Another veiled woman shouted her demand: execute Bashar al-Assad.

"We will get our rights when he is hanged," she said. "He's to blame for everything. When we cut the head off the snake, we will heal and make peace with each other."

Najwa, one of the organisers, took to the stage to urge the families to be patient.

Her husband Mohammed al-Hallaq was taken in January 2014. She was given his death certificate later that year but has never found his body.

"The son of a pig, Bashar, broke us for 14 years," said Najwa, her voice laden with anger. "The only thing I ask of you: don't give up, don't stop pushing. It's not going to happen overnight."

Some wonder if it will happen at all, including a bereaved father called Mohammed, one of the few men at the meeting. His son, Mazen, who worked at the electricity company, was taken by state security in 2013.

"All this talk is not useful, if we don't get action," he said tearfully. "What we need is for the people who took our sons to be on trial."

There is a now a National Commission for Missing Persons, but it is in its infancy and struggling with a lack of resources - including DNA testing facilities. Syria has only one DNA laboratory.

Ten months after the ousting of Assad, the ranks of the missing are still growing.

Some families are only now coming forward with accounts of loved ones who are long gone.

"We try to manage expectations," says Zeina Shahla, spokesperson for the commission. "We tell the families we have begun but unfortunately it will take years. In every Syrian village, there might be missing persons."

At best their loved ones can expect more years of waiting for truth, or justice, or bones to bury.

Additional reporting by Wietske Burema, Goktay Koraltan, Lana Antaki and Aref Alkrez.

Four Chinese officials have been dismissed over a fireworks display in the Himalayas last month by outdoor apparel brand Arc'teryx that drew heated criticism.

Videos of brightly coloured fireworks that apparently resembled a "rising dragon" erupting over a lush Tibetan landscape had sparked environmental concerns and a boycott campaign.

Arc'teryx and the Chinese pyrotechnics artist Cai Guo-Qiang, who designed the show, later apologised.

Authorities in Tibet's Shigatse city said in a statement on Wednesday that more officials had been investigated and given warnings. They added that Arc'teryx and Cai have to provide compensation and help "restore the environment".

Authorities said the fireworks, which lasted for nearly a minute and affected around 30 hectares (74 acres) of grassland, have caused limited short-term damage but said further monitoring was needed to assess "ecological risks".

"The incident created fireworks remnants, plastic debris and other things that were not thoroughly cleaned," the statement added.

"The instantaneous bright light and loud noise produced by the fireworks caused short-term disturbance to wild animals."

The four officials who have been sacked include Gyantse county's Communist Party secretary, public security chief and two senior members of county and city-level environmental agencies.

The artist who orchestrated the display, Cai, is best-known for his role behind fireworks for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He has said he would work with authorities in Tibet to help with the area's recovery.

Social media users, who said the stunt ran counter to Arc'teryx's conservation-focused image, had called for a boycott of the brand.

Arc'teryx was founded in 1989 and has more than 150 shops worldwide. It is now owned by a Hong Kong-listed fitness equipment company Anta Sports.

The firm claimed the display had been aimed to promote local mountain culture, but said in its apology that it was "out of line with Arc'teryx's values". It also said it had used biodegradable materials and would work with an external agency to assess the project's impact.

Propped up in her hospital bed, railway conductor Olha Zolotova speaks slowly and quietly as she talks about the day her train was hit by a Russian drone.

"When the Shahed [drone] hit I was covered in rubble. I was in the second car. People pulled me out," she says.

"My eyes went dark. There was fire everywhere, everything was burning, my hair caught fire a little. I was trapped."

Olha is a victim of Russia's increasingly frequent attacks on the Ukrainian railway system – vital infrastructure that keeps the country moving three and a half years since Moscow's full-scale invasion.

Ukraine's 21,000km-long (13,000-mile) railway system is not merely a mode of transport, it is a central pillar of Ukraine's war effort and a powerful national symbol of resilience.

Olha's injuries were severe, so she was transported more than 300km (185 miles) to a special hospital in the capital, Kyiv, dedicated to railway workers.

She has just had surgery on her hip and a metal plate inserted into her leg.

Her train was hit earlier this month at a station in Shostka in the northern Sumy region.

As rescue workers sought to tend to the injured, a second Russian drone struck the station – a type of hit known as a "double tap".

Ukraine says civilians and rescue teams were directly targeted, which would constitute a possible war crime under international law.

Thirty people in total were hurt. Of those treated in hospital, three were children, and one man was found dead, possibly from a heart attack.

According to national rail operator Ukrzaliznytsia (UZ), there were twice as many attacks in September as there were in August - not just on trains but on the infrastructure that supports the rail network.

In fact, half of the attacks on the railways since the beginning of the war have taken place in the past two months, says Oleksiy Balesta, a deputy minister at the department that oversees the rail network.

"Almost every day for the last two months, we have been experiencing targeted attacks on Ukrzaliznytsia infrastructure and on power transmission facilities," he says.

Balesta suggests Russia has been "hunting for locomotives - deliberately targeting both freight and passenger trains".

Behind the deputy minister is a wrecked locomotive, part of Ukraine's intercity fleet that was targeted in eastern Kyiv on one particularly devastating night at the end of August.

The attack also included a strike on a key rail junction in Koziatyn in the central Vinnytsia region, creating delays and forcing significant diversions.

As he speaks, Balesta receives a message from his assistant. There has been another attack on a train between Kramatorsk and Sloviansk in the eastern Donetsk region, close to the front line.

Already today there have been three bomb threats on other services, forcing staff to evacuate the trains until explosives experts have given the all clear.

Officials here point to two principal factors which they believe have led to this intensified spate of attacks.

First, Russia's increasing capacity to produce large numbers of relatively cheap Shahed-type drones each day, which are increasingly able to fly greater distances.

Then there is the near stalemate on the front line - and the consequent shift in focus by the Russian army to disrupt supply lines instead.

"It's a very clear battle for the railways," says Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, chief executive of UZ.

"The enemy is trying to stop us completely. This is part of a war tactic meant to cause panic among civilians, destroy our economy, and make the country unliveable."

Repairing damage as fast as possible, co-ordinating with the military and training its staff to recognise potential sabotage threats are all key to Ukraine's response, says Pertsovskyi.

"Lastly, we always have Plan B, C and D. The goal is never to cancel a single service or destination. If a train can't run, we combine trains and buses."

On top of the practicalities, there is also a clear eye on the morale of passengers.

"Recently, a train from Kyiv to Sumy had to be rerouted, adding six hours due to safety reasons," says the UZ chief.

"A passenger posted on social media that she'd be spending her birthday on the train instead of with her boyfriend - but said she understood. We sent her a cake and flowers."

The constant threat of missiles and drones means flying people and supplies around the country is nearly impossible.

Much of the grain and iron ore exports that Ukraine's economy depends on is moved by train to the southern Black Sea ports, and westward through Poland.

Visiting political leaders from all around the world also all enter the country by train – "iron diplomacy", as Ukrainians call it. The workers who have been caught up in attacks are called "iron heroes".

In the grandeur of Kyiv's central station, another government minister awards certificates of bravery to the latest group of Iron Heroes - those who fought the fires on the night the intercity depot was attacked.

"It was very scary because there was a lot of fire and damage," says Oleksandr Leonenko, who helped extinguish the flames. He proudly shows me his certificate and says it will mean some extra pay.

The uptick of attacks on the railway has coincided with Russia targeting Ukraine's power infrastructure. One recent set of attacks left hundreds of thousands without electricity.

Ukraine has meanwhile launched a series of attacks on Russian oil refineries and claims to have inflicted petrol shortages in many areas.

As Ukrainians eye their fourth winter since Russia's full-scale invasion began, UZ's Oleksandr Pertsovskyi believes the attacks on their infrastructure could bring about the hardest winter yet.

In a message echoed by many Ukrainian officials, he calls on the country's allies to supply stronger air defences.

"But we're not desperate. We're preparing mentally and practically. Ukrainians remain strong in spirit."

That spirit looks set to be tested to the limit in the coming months.

Additional reporting by Mariana Matveichuk and Anastasiia Levchenko

Warning: This piece contains details that some readers may find distressing

Touma hasn't eaten in days. She sits silently, her eyes glassy as she stares aimlessly across the hospital ward.

In her arms, motionless and severely malnourished, lies her three-year-old daughter, Masajed.

Touma seems numb to the cries of the other young children around her. "I wish she would cry," the 25-year-old mother tells us , looking at her daughter. "She hasn't cried in days."

Bashaer Hospital is one of the last functioning hospitals in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, devastated by the civil war which has been raging since April 2023. Many have travelled hours to get here for specialist care.

The malnutrition ward is filled with children who are too weak to fight disease, their mothers by their bedside, helpless.

Cries here can't be soothed and each one cuts deep.

Touma and her family were forced to flee after fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) reached their home about 200km (125 miles) south-west of Khartoum.

"[The RSF] took everything we owned - our money and our livestock - straight out of our hands," she says. "We escaped with only our lives."

With no money or food, Touma's children began to suffer.

She looks stunned as she recounts their old life. "In the past, our house was full of goodness. We had livestock, milk and dates. But now we have nothing."

Sudan is currently experiencing one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies.

According to the UN, three million children under the age of five are acutely malnourished. The hospitals that are left are overwhelmed.

Bashaer Hospital offers care and basic treatment free of charge.

However, the lifesaving medicines needed by the children in the malnutrition ward must be paid for by their families.

Masajed is a twin, she and her sister Manahil were brought to the hospital together. But the family could only afford antibiotics for one child.

Touma had to make the impossible choice – she chose Manahil.

"I wish they could both recover and grow," her grief-stricken voice cracks, "and that I could watch them walking and playing together as they did before.

"I just want them both to get better," Touma says, cradling her dying daughter.

"I am alone. I have nothing. I have only God."

Survival rates here are low. For the families on this ward the war has taken everything. They have been left with nothing and no means to buy the medicines that would save their children.

As we leave, the doctor says none of the children in this ward will survive.

Across the whole of Khartoum, children's lives have been rewritten by the civil war.

What began as an eruption of fighting between forces loyal to two generals – army chief Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti – soon engulfed the city.

For two years – until last March when the army retook control - the city was gripped by war as rival fighters clashed.

Khartoum, once a hub of culture and commerce on the banks of the River Nile, became a battlefield. Tanks rolled into neighbourhoods. Fighter jets roared overhead. Civilians were trapped between crossfire, artillery bombardments and drone strikes.

It is in this devastated landscape, amid the silence of destruction, that the fragile voice of a child rises from the rubble.

Twelve-year-old Zaher wheels himself through the wreckage, past burnt-out cars, tanks, broken houses and forgotten bullets.

"I'm coming home," he sings softly to himself as his wheelchair rolls over broken glass and shrapnel. "I can no longer see my home. Where's my home?"

His voice, fragile but determined, contains both a lament for what has been lost and a quiet hope that one day, he may finally go home.

In a building now being used as a shelter, Zaher's mother Habibah tells me about what life was like under RSF control.

"The situation was very difficult," she says. "We couldn't switch on our lights at night - it was as if we were thieves. We didn't light fires. We didn't move at all at night."

She sits next to her son in a room lined with single beds.

"At any moment, whether you were sleeping or taking a shower, standing or sitting, you find them [the RSF] breathing down your neck."

Many fled the capital, but Zaher and his mother had no means to get out. To survive, they sold lentils on the streets.

Then one morning, as they worked side by side, a drone struck.

"I looked at him and he was bleeding. There was blood everywhere," Habibah says. "I was losing consciousness. I forced myself to stay awake because I knew if I passed out, I would lose him forever."

Zaher's legs were badly damaged. After hours of agony, they made it to hospital .

"I kept praying: 'Please God, take my life instead of his legs,'" she cries.

But doctors could not save his legs. Both had to be amputated just below the knee.

"He would wake up and ask: 'Why did you let them cut my legs?'" She looks down, her face filled with remorse, "I couldn't answer."

Both Habiba and her son weep, tormented by the memory of what happened to them. It is made worse by knowing that prosthetic limbs could give Zaher a chance at his old childhood, but Habiba cannot afford them.

For Zaher, the memory of what happened is too difficult to talk about.

He only shares one simple dream. "I wish I could have prosthetic legs so I can play football with my friends like I used to. That's all."

• Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening

Children in Khartoum have been robbed not only of their childhoods but of safe places to play and be young.

Schools, football pitches and playgrounds are now shattered, with broken reminders of a life stolen by conflict.

"It was very nice here," says 16-year-old Ahmed looking around a destroyed funfair and playground.

Printed on his grey, tattered T-shirt is a huge smiley face - the word "smile" emblazoned beneath it. But his reality could not be further from that sentiment.

"My brothers and I used to come here. We played all day and laughed so much. But when I came back after the war, I couldn't believe it was the same place."

Ahmed now lives and works here clearing the debris left by war, earning $50 (£37) for 30 days of continuous labour.

The money helps support him, his mother, grandmother and one of his brothers.

There were six other brothers but, like so many in Sudan who have missing family members, he has lost contact with them. He looks at his feet as he tells us he doesn't know where they are or if any are still alive.

The war has ripped families like his apart.

Ahmed's work reminds him of that nearly daily. "I have found the remains of 15 bodies so far," he says.

Many of the remains found here have since been buried, but there are still some bones lying around.

Ahmed walks across the park and picks up a human jaw. "It's terrifying. It makes me shake."

He shows us another bone and holding it innocently beside his leg, he says: "This is a leg bone, like mine."

Ahmed says he no longer dares to dream of a future.

"Ever since the war began, I have been certain that I was destined to die. So I stopped thinking about what I would do in the future."

The destruction of schools has put the future of children in even more jeopardy.

Millions are no longer being educated.

But Zaher is one of the lucky few. He and his friends attend school in a makeshift classroom set up by volunteers in an abandoned home.

They call out answers loudly, write on the board, sing songs and there are even a few naughty kids messing around at the back of the class.

Hearing the sound of children learning and laughing, in a country where places to be a kid are so limited, is like nectar.

When we ask what childhood should be like, Zaher's classmates answer with innocence still intact: "We should be playing, studying, reading."

But the memory of war is never far away. "We shouldn't be afraid of the bombs and the bullets," interrupts Zaher. "We should be brave."

Their teacher, Miss Amal, has taught for 45 years. She has never seen children so traumatised.

"They've been really affected by the war," she says.

"Their mental health, their vocabulary. They are speaking the language of the militias. Violent curse words, even physical violence. They carry sticks and whips, wanting to hit someone. They have become so anxious."

The damage extends beyond behaviour.

With most families stripped of income, food shortages are biting.

"Some students come from homes with no bread, no flour, no milk, no oil, nothing at all," the teacher says.

And yet, amid despair, Sudan's children cling to fleeting moments of joy.

On a scarred football pitch, Zaher drags himself across the dirt on his knees, determined to play the game he loves most. His friends cheer him on as he kicks the ball.

"My favourite thing to do is football," he says, smiling for the first time.

When asked which team he supports, the answer is immediate: "Real Madrid." His favourite player? "Vinícius."

Playing on his knees is extremely painful and could lead to more infections. But he doesn't care.

Football and his friendships have saved him. They have brought him joy and an escape from his reality. Yet, he dreams of prosthetic legs.

"I wish they would just fix me, so I could walk home and go to school," Zaher says.

Additional reporting by Abdelrahman Abutaleb, Abdalrahman Altayeb and Liam Weir

More BBC stories on the conflict in Sudan:

• My son's whole body is full of shrapnel'
• A pregnant woman's diary of escape from war zone: 'I prayed the baby wouldn't come'
• Oil-rich Sudanese region becomes new focus of war between army and rival forces
• Medics under siege: 'We took this photo, fearing it would be our last'
• 'Our children are dying': Rare footage shows plight of civilians in besieged Sudan city

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

President Donald Trump has confirmed reports he authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela - and said he was considering strikes targeting drug cartels there.

US forces have already conducted at least five strikes on suspected drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean in recent weeks, killing 27 people. UN- appointed human rights experts have described the raids as "extrajudicial executions".

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said the US "is looking at land" as it considers further strikes in the region.

Trump has sought to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, who the US and others do not recognise as Venezuela's rightful leader following disputed elections.

The increased US military presence in the region has raised fears in Caracas of a possible attack.

According to the New York Times, Trump's authorisation would allow the CIA to carry out operations in Venezuela unilaterally or as part of any wider US military activity.

It remains unknown whether the CIA is planning operations in Venezuela, or whether those plans are being kept as contingencies.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump was questioned about the New York Times report.

"Why did you authorise the CIA to go into Venezuela?" a reporter asked.

"I authorised for two reasons really," Trump said in a highly unusual acknowledgement from a US commander-in-chief about a spy agency whose activities are typically shrouded in secrecy.

"Number one, they [Venezuela] have emptied their prisons into the United States of America."

He added: "And the other thing are drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea, so you get to see that, but we're going to stop them by land also."

The president declined to answer when asked whether the CIA authorisation would allow the agency to topple Maduro, for whom the US has offered a $50m (£37m) bounty.

"Wouldn't it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?" he said.

While Maduro's government has not commented on the CIA authorisation directly, Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez struck a defiant tone on television on Wednesday.

He said "let no aggressor dare because they know that here is the people of [Venezuelan liberator Simón] Bolívar, that here is the people of our ancestors with their swords raised to defend us under any circumstance".

In the most recent US strike on Tuesday, six people were killed when a boat was targeted near Venezuela's coast.

On Truth Social, Trump said that "intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known" drug-trafficking corridor.

As has been the case in previous strikes, US officials have not specified what drug-trafficking organisation was allegedly operating the vessel, or the identities of those aboard.

The strikes form part of a larger military effort to pressure Maduro's government, which has included the positioning of significant air and naval assets in the region as well as about 4,000 troops.

In a leaked memo recently sent to US lawmakers and reported by US media outlets, the administration said it had determined it was involved in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug-trafficking organisations.

US officials have alleged that Maduro himself is part of an organisation called the Cartel of the Suns, which it says includes high-ranking Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking.

Maduro has repeatedly denied the claims, and Venezuela's government has condemned the strikes.

(With additional reporting from Ione Wells)

Hamas says it has handed over the bodies of two more Israeli hostages under the terms of the US-brokered ceasefire deal, but says it needs time and specialised equipment to recover the rest of the deceased from the ruins of Gaza.

The group's armed wing said in a statement it was committed to the deal but had returned all the bodies of hostages it was able to reach.

US President Donald Trump has said Israeli forces could resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not uphold the agreement.

In a statement, the Israeli PM's office said Israel had received - through the Red Cross - coffins containing the bodies of hostages which were now awaiting official identification.

"The IDF urges the public to act with sensitivity and wait for official identification, which will first be communicated to the families of the deceased hostages," the statement said.

If the two bodies returned on Wednesday night are confirmed to be hostages, that would mean 19 are still unaccounted for in Gaza. Hamas is required to return all 28 dead hostages as part of the first phase of the Gaza peace plan.

But Hamas's armed wing said in a statement "the remaining bodies require significant efforts and specialised equipment to search for and retrieve, and we are making a great effort to close this file".

Earlier, Israel said it would "not compromise" on hostage returns, saying "the mission is not complete".

Israel's defence minister said he had instructed the IDF to prepare a "comprehensive plan" to defeat Hamas in Gaza in the event of a renewal of the war.

After meeting senior generals on Wednesday, Israel Katz said the military must be prepared to act if Hamas refuses to implement the peace plan.

The latest repatriations came after Israel said one of four bodies returned by Hamas on Tuesday was not one of the missing hostages.

The other three deceased were identified as Tamir Nimrodi, 20, Eitan Levy, 53, and Uriel Baruch, 35, the Hostages Families Forum said.

• Hostage families confirm identities of three of four bodies handed over by Hamas
• 'Worse than starting from scratch': how big is the task of rebuilding Gaza?
• Gaza experts work to identify bodies of 90 Palestinians returned by Israel

Earlier on Wednesday UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel to immediately open all crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid, as called for in the ceasefire plan.

In a post on X, Fletcher said Hamas must "make strenuous efforts to return all the bodies of the deceased hostages".

He added: "As Israel has agreed, they must allow the massive surge of humanitarian aid - thousands of trucks a week - on which so many lives depend, and on which the world has insisted."

He called for "more crossings open and a genuine, practical, problem-solving approach to removing remaining obstacles" and said "withholding aid from civilians is not a bargaining chip".

Trump's ceasefire plan, which both Israel and Hamas accepted, envisaged the handover of all 48 hostages would be completed by noon on Monday. Hamas returned all the 20 living hostages on Monday.

But the US-brokered ceasefire agreement appears to acknowledge that Hamas and other Palestinian factions may not have been able to find all hostage remains before the initial deadline on Monday.

Under the agreement, Israel also agreed to hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians in return for every deceased Israeli hostage.

Israel has returned the bodies of a further 45 Palestinians, the Hamas-run health ministry confirmed on Wednesday, bringing the total number of bodies released by Israel to 90.

Meanwhile in Gaza, residents report growing concern about the durability of the ceasefire - and food prices have surged as Palestinians stockpile food.

Traders and suppliers in the enclave have been hoarding food items to create shortages and drive up profits, fearing that the war could resume, local residents told the BBC.

"Every time we start to feel safe, new threats appear, and we fear the war will start all over again," says mother-of-six Neven Al-Mughrabi, a displaced resident from Gaza who lives in Khan Younis.

"I lost my house in Gaza City, I decided to stay here with my family because I don't trust the ceasefire and we're sick of displacement."

She added that a trader in Khan Younis's main market said demand for flour, oil and sugar had surged within hours. "Despite the sudden rise of prices by about 30%, people are buying as if they don't trust the calm will last long, everyone is afraid aid will stop," Neven says.

Hamas says it has handed over the bodies of two more Israeli hostages under the terms of the US-brokered ceasefire deal, but says it needs time and specialised equipment to recover the rest of the deceased from the ruins of Gaza.

The group's armed wing said in a statement it was committed to the deal but had returned all the bodies of hostages it was able to reach.

US President Donald Trump has said Israeli forces could resume fighting in Gaza if Hamas does not uphold the agreement.

In a statement, the Israeli PM's office said Israel had received - through the Red Cross - coffins containing the bodies of hostages which were now awaiting official identification.

"The IDF urges the public to act with sensitivity and wait for official identification, which will first be communicated to the families of the deceased hostages," the statement said.

If the two bodies returned on Wednesday night are confirmed to be hostages, that would mean 19 are still unaccounted for in Gaza. Hamas is required to return all 28 dead hostages as part of the first phase of the Gaza peace plan.

But Hamas's armed wing said in a statement "the remaining bodies require significant efforts and specialised equipment to search for and retrieve, and we are making a great effort to close this file".

Earlier, Israel said it would "not compromise" on hostage returns, saying "the mission is not complete".

Israel's defence minister said he had instructed the IDF to prepare a "comprehensive plan" to defeat Hamas in Gaza in the event of a renewal of the war.

After meeting senior generals on Wednesday, Israel Katz said the military must be prepared to act if Hamas refuses to implement the peace plan.

The latest repatriations came after Israel said one of four bodies returned by Hamas on Tuesday was not one of the missing hostages.

The other three deceased were identified as Tamir Nimrodi, 20, Eitan Levy, 53, and Uriel Baruch, 35, the Hostages Families Forum said.

• Hostage families confirm identities of three of four bodies handed over by Hamas
• 'Worse than starting from scratch': how big is the task of rebuilding Gaza?
• Gaza experts work to identify bodies of 90 Palestinians returned by Israel

Earlier on Wednesday UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher urged Israel to immediately open all crossings into Gaza for humanitarian aid, as called for in the ceasefire plan.

In a post on X, Fletcher said Hamas must "make strenuous efforts to return all the bodies of the deceased hostages".

He added: "As Israel has agreed, they must allow the massive surge of humanitarian aid - thousands of trucks a week - on which so many lives depend, and on which the world has insisted."

He called for "more crossings open and a genuine, practical, problem-solving approach to removing remaining obstacles" and said "withholding aid from civilians is not a bargaining chip".

Trump's ceasefire plan, which both Israel and Hamas accepted, envisaged the handover of all 48 hostages would be completed by noon on Monday. Hamas returned all the 20 living hostages on Monday.

But the US-brokered ceasefire agreement appears to acknowledge that Hamas and other Palestinian factions may not have been able to find all hostage remains before the initial deadline on Monday.

Under the agreement, Israel also agreed to hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians in return for every deceased Israeli hostage.

Israel has returned the bodies of a further 45 Palestinians, the Hamas-run health ministry confirmed on Wednesday, bringing the total number of bodies released by Israel to 90.

Meanwhile in Gaza, residents report growing concern about the durability of the ceasefire - and food prices have surged as Palestinians stockpile food.

Traders and suppliers in the enclave have been hoarding food items to create shortages and drive up profits, fearing that the war could resume, local residents told the BBC.

"Every time we start to feel safe, new threats appear, and we fear the war will start all over again," says mother-of-six Neven Al-Mughrabi, a displaced resident from Gaza who lives in Khan Younis.

"I lost my house in Gaza City, I decided to stay here with my family because I don't trust the ceasefire and we're sick of displacement."

She added that a trader in Khan Younis's main market said demand for flour, oil and sugar had surged within hours. "Despite the sudden rise of prices by about 30%, people are buying as if they don't trust the calm will last long, everyone is afraid aid will stop," Neven says.

As thousands of Gazans made the journey back to their neighbourhoods following the ceasefire, many of them already knew their homes were in ruins.

The prospect of rebuilding homes, businesses and all the institutions and services needed for a return to normal life in Gaza is daunting by any measure: the UN estimates that the damage amounts to $70bn.

As Prof Andreas Krieg, a Middle East security expert from King's College London, says: "It's worse than starting from scratch - here you aren't starting in the sand, you are starting with rubble."

The level of destruction on the strip is "now in the region of 84%. In certain parts of Gaza, like in Gaza City, it's even up to 92%", says Jaco Cilliers, UN Development Programme special representative for the Palestinians.

This damage has created colossal amounts of rubble. Assessments by BBC Verify based on recent satellite data suggest there could be over 60 million tonnes of debris waiting to be cleared in Gaza.

Any process of post-conflict reconstruction must begin by clearing the remnants of war.

Clearing the rubble

The many millions of tonnes of rubble now littering the Gaza Strip are not just piles of concrete and twisted metal. They also contain human remains and unexploded bombs.

"From a safety and humane perspective, the first thing you have to do is make the sites that have been bombed-out safe," says former JCB executive Philip Bouverat.

There follows a process of sorting, separation and crushing the debris. After materials like plastic and steel are removed, the remaining concrete can be ground up and reused.

This will lay the foundations of construction, but building efforts will require the mass import of materials.

"This isn't going to be done by trucks coming across the border. The first thing we need to do is build a deep-water port, because then you can bring thousands of container-loads in", Mr Bouverat added.

When the sites are cleared, then essential services such as water, sewerage and electricity can be restored, he says.

Water and sewerage

Clean water is a major immediate need for Gazans. According to estimates from Unicef, more than 70% of the territory's 600 water and sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed since 7 October 2023.

After the recent announcement of a ceasefire, Israeli soldiers posed in front of a wastewater treatment plant in Gaza City that had been set on fire. The damage came just before Israel's military withdrew from a position near this infrastructure.

Wastewater treatment is critical for preventing the build-up of sewage and the spread of disease. Doctors have said Gaza has high rates of diarrhoeal diseases, which can kill children, and a risk of cholera in some areas.

In satellite imagery, you can see damage to the bio-towers of the Sheikh Ejleen wastewater treatment plant, which are the main components used for treating sewage.

There are six wastewater treatment plants in Gaza. "All of them are damaged," said Maher Najjar, deputy director at Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) which oversees and manages repairs for Gaza's water infrastructure.

Since the beginning of the war, repairs have been hugely hampered by the immediate danger from Israeli air and artillery attacks and a shortage of tools, he said. Some facilities have been attacked again after being repaired.

The IDF said its actions are "based on military necessity and with accordance to international law", as it tries to prevent Hamas "threatening the citizens of Israel".

Alongside facilities that treat sewage, Gaza has separate plants that provide clean drinking water and which have also experienced major damage.

Satellite images from April 2024 show a seawater desalination plant which supplied northern Gaza and Gaza City still intact. But by early May, it had been destroyed.

"We are talking about damaged water wells, damaged networks, reservoirs, carrier lines. It's very hard to know where to start. To begin with we need at least $50m to return around 20% of the services to the population," Mr Najjar said.

"The total loss is around $1bn, maybe more."

Housing

Satellite images show the devastation in an area of Sheikh Radwan, a neighbourhood in the north-east of Gaza City.

In August before the IDF occupied the city, which it called the "last stronghold" of Hamas, many streets appeared largely intact. By last week, whole swathes of the neighbourhood had been flattened as the IDF established a base.

Over the course of the war, the UN's satellite centre Unosat estimates a total of 282,904 houses and apartments across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.

But these figures are likely to be an underestimate, because they do not yet include the recent military operations in Gaza City, such as the destruction in Sheikh Radwan.

The chart below shows how the rate of housing damage increased sharply in the middle of 2024 - coinciding with IDF operations in Rafah, which left much of the city in ruins. Another significant spike is likely to have occurred as a result of the Gaza City occupation.

Gaza City's Hamas-run Municipality has said that 90% of its roads have also been damaged.

According to Shelly Culbertson, a senior policy researcher at the Washington-based think tank, RAND Corporation, the rebuilding of Gaza's housing "could take decades."

"After the Israeli bombing of Gaza in 2014 and 2021 reconstruction of housing was slow because Israel wouldn't allow in a lot of construction materials because they had dual-use purposes," she said.

"If you rebuild now the way they did in 2014 and 2021 it will take 80 years. If there's good planning, it could take less time," she said.

"Good planning is designing camps that can turn into neighbourhoods and helping people move back into and rebuild damaged homes."

Power

Gaza's power system was under strain before the current war. Rolling blackouts were frequent, and most Gazans lived on limited hours of electricity each day.

Historically, most of Gaza's electricity supply comes from power lines connecting it to Israel and the diesel-fired Gaza Power Plant, with some rooftop and public-facility solar panels added in recent years.

Since 11 October 2023, Gaza has experienced a near-total electricity blackout after Israel cut external electricity. One exception was a direct feed to the South Gaza desalination plant, which supplies clean drinking water. Israel reconnected its feed to this plant on 14 November 2024 and then cut it again on 9 March 2025, before reconnecting it once more.

The Gaza Power Plant has been inoperable due to a lack of fuel, and solar facilities have suffered widespread damage.

With the grid largely down, essential services have depended on limited diesel generators and the remaining solar panels.

A joint assessment from earlier this year by the World Bank, European Union and UN estimated that more than 80% of power generation and distribution assets have either been destroyed or are non-operational since the start of the war, at an estimated cost in damages of more than $494m.

Gaza Electricity Distribution Cooperation (Gedco), the company responsible for managing electricity supply across the Gaza Strip, say 70% of its buildings and facilities have been destroyed since October 2023.

At the end of last month, we verified video of the company's headquarters being struck.

In a statement following the event, Gedco said the attack had "directly affected the company's ability to manage its administrative and technical businesses".

Agriculture

The satellite image below of one area east of Jabalia shows how 4 sq km of crops - likely olive and citrus trees - were wiped out over the course of the war.

Running through the razed ground is a road or track established by the IDF, probably to provide access to northern areas of nearby Gaza City.

Analysis by Prof He Yin of Kent State University found that across the Gaza Strip, 82.4% of annual crops and more than 97% of tree crops were likely to have suffered damage during the war up to 10 August this year.

The decline of agriculture, coupled with prolonged restrictions on aid, drove severe food insecurity throughout the conflict, culminating in a famine declaration in Gaza City in September.

Unosat attributes this decline to the "impact of activities such as razing, heavy vehicle activity, bombing, shelling, and other conflict related dynamics".

Mr Bouverat says that in order for agriculture to recover, the land needs to be cleared of unexploded bombs, shells and mines "pretty urgently". "If they can grow their own crops, they can feed themselves, and the sooner we do that the better," he says.

Education

About half of Gaza's population before the war was aged under 18, so rebuilding schools is essential for any return to normal life.

School buildings became shelters for displaced Palestinians throughout the conflict, and were frequently targeted by IDF forces with the justification that they housed "command and control" centres for Hamas and affiliated groups.

The UN relief agency for Palestine, Unrwa, which once operated 288 schools in Gaza, says 91.8% of all of school buildings will require "full reconstruction or major rehabilitation work to be functional again".

Higher education institutions have also not been spared.

For example, in December 2023, the al-Azhar University to the south of Gaza City was blown up by Israeli troops. The site is now part of the Netzarim Corridor, one of several miilitarised zones established by the IDF over the course of the war.

The same fate befell the Israa University less than 2km away. which was demolished by IDF troops after serving as a temporary base for several weeks.

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth's plane made an unscheduled landing in the UK, during a return flight headed for the US, the Pentagon said on X.

The plane carrying Hegseth on his way back from Nato's Defence Minister meeting in Belgium had a "crack in the aircraft windshield".

"The plane landed based on standard procedures and everyone onboard, including Secretary Hegseth, is safe," the government said.

Hegseth later wrote after landing: "All good. Thank God. Continue mission!"

The plane was off the coast of southern Ireland when it decided to turn back and landed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall.

Defence ministers had gathered in Belgium on Wednesday to discuss security in Ukraine.

In February a government plane carrying Secretary of State Marco Rubio had to turn back due to a crack in the window of the cockpit, as well.

President Donald Trump has confirmed reports he authorised the CIA to conduct covert operations inside Venezuela - and said he was considering strikes targeting drug cartels there.

US forces have already conducted at least five strikes on suspected drug-carrying boats in the Caribbean in recent weeks, killing 27 people. UN- appointed human rights experts have described the raids as "extrajudicial executions".

Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said the US "is looking at land" as it considers further strikes in the region.

Trump has sought to increase pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, who the US and others do not recognise as Venezuela's rightful leader following disputed elections.

The increased US military presence in the region has raised fears in Caracas of a possible attack.

According to the New York Times, Trump's authorisation would allow the CIA to carry out operations in Venezuela unilaterally or as part of any wider US military activity.

It remains unknown whether the CIA is planning operations in Venezuela, or whether those plans are being kept as contingencies.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office alongside FBI Director Kash Patel and Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump was questioned about the New York Times report.

"Why did you authorise the CIA to go into Venezuela?" a reporter asked.

"I authorised for two reasons really," Trump said in a highly unusual acknowledgement from a US commander-in-chief about a spy agency whose activities are typically shrouded in secrecy.

"Number one, they [Venezuela] have emptied their prisons into the United States of America."

He added: "And the other thing are drugs. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela, and a lot of the Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea, so you get to see that, but we're going to stop them by land also."

The president declined to answer when asked whether the CIA authorisation would allow the agency to topple Maduro, for whom the US has offered a $50m (£37m) bounty.

"Wouldn't it be a ridiculous question for me to answer?" he said.

While Maduro's government has not commented on the CIA authorisation directly, Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez struck a defiant tone on television on Wednesday.

He said "let no aggressor dare because they know that here is the people of [Venezuelan liberator Simón] Bolívar, that here is the people of our ancestors with their swords raised to defend us under any circumstance".

In the most recent US strike on Tuesday, six people were killed when a boat was targeted near Venezuela's coast.

On Truth Social, Trump said that "intelligence confirmed the vessel was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known" drug-trafficking corridor.

As has been the case in previous strikes, US officials have not specified what drug-trafficking organisation was allegedly operating the vessel, or the identities of those aboard.

The strikes form part of a larger military effort to pressure Maduro's government, which has included the positioning of significant air and naval assets in the region as well as about 4,000 troops.

In a leaked memo recently sent to US lawmakers and reported by US media outlets, the administration said it had determined it was involved in a "non-international armed conflict" with drug-trafficking organisations.

US officials have alleged that Maduro himself is part of an organisation called the Cartel of the Suns, which it says includes high-ranking Venezuelan military and security officials involved in drug trafficking.

Maduro has repeatedly denied the claims, and Venezuela's government has condemned the strikes.

(With additional reporting from Ione Wells)

The UN humanitarian chief has urged Israel to open more crossings into Gaza to allow a surge of aid, after Israel warned it would limit supplies into the territory over delays from Hamas in releasing the bodies of deceased hostages.

Tom Fletcher called on both Israel and Hamas to implement the terms of the ceasefire agreement, saying it was "essential that we do not squander the immense progress made" through the US-brokered deal.

There has been growing anger in Israel over the delayed return of hostages' bodies, and the key Rafah crossing between Egypt and southern Gaza remained closed on Wednesday.

In Gaza, people have been stockpiling food as prices surge over fears the ceasefire may not hold.

Humanitarian aid has been entering Gaza since the ceasefire deal took effect on 10 October, but Israel threatened to restrict supplies after Hamas did not return the bodies of all 28 deceased hostages by Monday, as agreed. Hamas says it has had difficulty locating the remains.

So far, seven hostages' bodies have been returned to Israel from Gaza. Hamas said it would return two more bodies later on Wednesday.

In a post on X, Fletcher said Hamas must "make strenuous efforts to return all the bodies of the deceased hostages".

He added: "As Israel has agreed, they must allow the massive surge of humanitarian aid - thousands of trucks a week - on which so many lives depend, and on which the world has insisted."

He called for "more crossings open and a genuine, practical, problem-solving approach to removing remaining obstacles" and said "withholding aid from civilians is not a bargaining chip".

The Rafah crossing has largely remained closed since fighting broke out after the 7 October 2023 attacks.

US President Donald Trump's 20-point peace plan stipulated that opening the crossing would be "subject to the same mechanism implemented" during a temporary ceasefire earlier this year. Then, it reopened briefly to allow wounded Palestinians to be evacuated for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, an official from Cogat, the Israeli military body in charge of aid for Gaza, said on Tuesday: "Humanitarian aid will not pass through the Rafah crossing. No such agreement has been reached at any stage."

The UN chief also said he was "gravely concerned by the evidence of violence against civilians in Gaza".

Reports of masked Hamas gunmen executing eight Palestinians in public have triggered fear and outrage among residents of Gaza.

Adm Brad Cooper, head of US Central Command, called on Hamas to "suspend violence and shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza" in a post on X. He urged the group to seize "an historic opportunity for peace" by "fully standing down, strictly adhering to President Trump's 20-point peace plan and disarming without delay". Hamas has said it is targeting "criminals and collaborators with Israel".

Food prices have surged in Gaza as Palestinians stockpile food, concerned that the ceasefire deal will not hold.

Traders and suppliers in the enclave have been hoarding food items to create shortages and drive up profits, fearing that the war could resume, local residents told the BBC.

"Every time we start to feel safe, new threats appear, and we fear the war will start all over again," says mother-of-six Neven Al-Mughrabi, a displaced resident from Gaza who lives in Khan Younis.

"I lost my house in Gaza City, I decided to stay here with my family because I don't trust the ceasefire and we're sick of displacement."

She added that a trader in Khan Younis's main market said demand for flour, oil and sugar had surged within hours. "Despite the sudden rise of prices by about 30%, people are buying as if they don't trust the calm will last long, everyone is afraid aid will stop," Neven says.

Father-of-six Khaled Halas, who lives in Deir al-Balah, said there was "no water, no electricity and no tents".

Halas was displaced from the Shuja'iyya area of Gaza City and has been forced to move many times.

"The Shuja'iyya [area] is completely closed. I went to the vegetable market where gunfire broke out, we have no protection," he said. "There is constant shooting in our area, and life there is completely destroyed."

The growing unease comes as mediators meet in Egypt in a bid to bridge differences between Hamas and Israel, and keep the first phase of the ceasefire deal on track.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Wednesday that one of four bodies handed over by Hamas overnight "does not match any of the hostages" following examinations at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine. The other three bodies have been identified as Tamir Nimrodi, 20, Eitan Levy, 53, and Uriel Baruch, 35, the Hostages Families Forum said.

The ceasefire agreement appears to acknowledge that Hamas and other Palestinian factions may not have been able to find all hostage remains before the initial deadline on Monday.

Under the agreement with Hamas, Israel agreed to hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians in return for every deceased Israeli hostage.

Israel has returned the bodies of a further 45 Palestinians, the Hamas-run health ministry confirmed on Wednesday. This brings the total number of bodies released by Israel to 90.

The delay in the return of the bodies of Israeli hostages has led to anger in Israel. The son of Amiram Cooper - one of the deceased Israeli hostages whose body is still being held in Gaza - said that he and other hostage relatives are trying "to find the strength somehow to pick ourselves up... and continue the fight".

"It's clear to us that they [Hamas] could have and should have released more and they're playing games," Rotem said.

As thousands of Gazans made the journey back to their neighbourhoods following the ceasefire, many of them already knew their homes were in ruins.

The prospect of rebuilding homes, businesses and all the institutions and services needed for a return to normal life in Gaza is daunting by any measure: the UN estimates that the damage amounts to $70bn.

As Prof Andreas Krieg, a Middle East security expert from King's College London, says: "It's worse than starting from scratch - here you aren't starting in the sand, you are starting with rubble."

The level of destruction on the strip is "now in the region of 84%. In certain parts of Gaza, like in Gaza City, it's even up to 92%", says Jaco Cilliers, UN Development Programme special representative for the Palestinians.

This damage has created colossal amounts of rubble. Assessments by BBC Verify based on recent satellite data suggest there could be over 60 million tonnes of debris waiting to be cleared in Gaza.

Any process of post-conflict reconstruction must begin by clearing the remnants of war.

Clearing the rubble

The many millions of tonnes of rubble now littering the Gaza Strip are not just piles of concrete and twisted metal. They also contain human remains and unexploded bombs.

"From a safety and humane perspective, the first thing you have to do is make the sites that have been bombed-out safe," says former JCB executive Philip Bouverat.

There follows a process of sorting, separation and crushing the debris. After materials like plastic and steel are removed, the remaining concrete can be ground up and reused.

This will lay the foundations of construction, but building efforts will require the mass import of materials.

"This isn't going to be done by trucks coming across the border. The first thing we need to do is build a deep-water port, because then you can bring thousands of container-loads in", Mr Bouverat added.

When the sites are cleared, then essential services such as water, sewerage and electricity can be restored, he says.

Water and sewerage

Clean water is a major immediate need for Gazans. According to estimates from Unicef, more than 70% of the territory's 600 water and sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed since 7 October 2023.

After the recent announcement of a ceasefire, Israeli soldiers posed in front of a wastewater treatment plant in Gaza City that had been set on fire. The damage came just before Israel's military withdrew from a position near this infrastructure.

Wastewater treatment is critical for preventing the build-up of sewage and the spread of disease. Doctors have said Gaza has high rates of diarrhoeal diseases, which can kill children, and a risk of cholera in some areas.

In satellite imagery, you can see damage to the bio-towers of the Sheikh Ejleen wastewater treatment plant, which are the main components used for treating sewage.

There are six wastewater treatment plants in Gaza. "All of them are damaged," said Maher Najjar, deputy director at Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) which oversees and manages repairs for Gaza's water infrastructure.

Since the beginning of the war, repairs have been hugely hampered by the immediate danger from Israeli air and artillery attacks and a shortage of tools, he said. Some facilities have been attacked again after being repaired.

The IDF said its actions are "based on military necessity and with accordance to international law", as it tries to prevent Hamas "threatening the citizens of Israel".

Alongside facilities that treat sewage, Gaza has separate plants that provide clean drinking water and which have also experienced major damage.

Satellite images from April 2024 show a seawater desalination plant which supplied northern Gaza and Gaza City still intact. But by early May, it had been destroyed.

"We are talking about damaged water wells, damaged networks, reservoirs, carrier lines. It's very hard to know where to start. To begin with we need at least $50m to return around 20% of the services to the population," Mr Najjar said.

"The total loss is around $1bn, maybe more."

Housing

Satellite images show the devastation in an area of Sheikh Radwan, a neighbourhood in the north-east of Gaza City.

In August before the IDF occupied the city, which it called the "last stronghold" of Hamas, many streets appeared largely intact. By last week, whole swathes of the neighbourhood had been flattened as the IDF established a base.

Over the course of the war, the UN's satellite centre Unosat estimates a total of 282,904 houses and apartments across Gaza have been damaged or destroyed.

But these figures are likely to be an underestimate, because they do not yet include the recent military operations in Gaza City, such as the destruction in Sheikh Radwan.

The chart below shows how the rate of housing damage increased sharply in the middle of 2024 - coinciding with IDF operations in Rafah, which left much of the city in ruins. Another significant spike is likely to have occurred as a result of the Gaza City occupation.

Gaza City's Hamas-run Municipality has said that 90% of its roads have also been damaged.

According to Shelly Culbertson, a senior policy researcher at the Washington-based think tank, RAND Corporation, the rebuilding of Gaza's housing "could take decades."

"After the Israeli bombing of Gaza in 2014 and 2021 reconstruction of housing was slow because Israel wouldn't allow in a lot of construction materials because they had dual-use purposes," she said.

"If you rebuild now the way they did in 2014 and 2021 it will take 80 years. If there's good planning, it could take less time," she said.

"Good planning is designing camps that can turn into neighbourhoods and helping people move back into and rebuild damaged homes."

Power

Gaza's power system was under strain before the current war. Rolling blackouts were frequent, and most Gazans lived on limited hours of electricity each day.

Historically, most of Gaza's electricity supply comes from power lines connecting it to Israel and the diesel-fired Gaza Power Plant, with some rooftop and public-facility solar panels added in recent years.

Since 11 October 2023, Gaza has experienced a near-total electricity blackout after Israel cut external electricity. One exception was a direct feed to the South Gaza desalination plant, which supplies clean drinking water. Israel reconnected its feed to this plant on 14 November 2024 and then cut it again on 9 March 2025, before reconnecting it once more.

The Gaza Power Plant has been inoperable due to a lack of fuel, and solar facilities have suffered widespread damage.

With the grid largely down, essential services have depended on limited diesel generators and the remaining solar panels.

A joint assessment from earlier this year by the World Bank, European Union and UN estimated that more than 80% of power generation and distribution assets have either been destroyed or are non-operational since the start of the war, at an estimated cost in damages of more than $494m.

Gaza Electricity Distribution Cooperation (Gedco), the company responsible for managing electricity supply across the Gaza Strip, say 70% of its buildings and facilities have been destroyed since October 2023.

At the end of last month, we verified video of the company's headquarters being struck.

In a statement following the event, Gedco said the attack had "directly affected the company's ability to manage its administrative and technical businesses".

Agriculture

The satellite image below of one area east of Jabalia shows how 4 sq km of crops - likely olive and citrus trees - were wiped out over the course of the war.

Running through the razed ground is a road or track established by the IDF, probably to provide access to northern areas of nearby Gaza City.

Analysis by Prof He Yin of Kent State University found that across the Gaza Strip, 82.4% of annual crops and more than 97% of tree crops were likely to have suffered damage during the war up to 10 August this year.

The decline of agriculture, coupled with prolonged restrictions on aid, drove severe food insecurity throughout the conflict, culminating in a famine declaration in Gaza City in September.

Unosat attributes this decline to the "impact of activities such as razing, heavy vehicle activity, bombing, shelling, and other conflict related dynamics".

Mr Bouverat says that in order for agriculture to recover, the land needs to be cleared of unexploded bombs, shells and mines "pretty urgently". "If they can grow their own crops, they can feed themselves, and the sooner we do that the better," he says.

Education

About half of Gaza's population before the war was aged under 18, so rebuilding schools is essential for any return to normal life.

School buildings became shelters for displaced Palestinians throughout the conflict, and were frequently targeted by IDF forces with the justification that they housed "command and control" centres for Hamas and affiliated groups.

The UN relief agency for Palestine, Unrwa, which once operated 288 schools in Gaza, says 91.8% of all of school buildings will require "full reconstruction or major rehabilitation work to be functional again".

Higher education institutions have also not been spared.

For example, in December 2023, the al-Azhar University to the south of Gaza City was blown up by Israeli troops. The site is now part of the Netzarim Corridor, one of several miilitarised zones established by the IDF over the course of the war.

The same fate befell the Israa University less than 2km away. which was demolished by IDF troops after serving as a temporary base for several weeks.

Emergency power outages have been brought in across almost all of Ukraine after a intensive campaign of Russian air strikes on energy infrastructure.

This will be the fourth consecutive winter of blackouts throughout Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The energy ministry said all but two regions were affected. Only the eastern Donetsk region at the forefront of the war is exempt, while the northern Chernihiv region is already facing hourly outages.

As well as targeting the power network, Russia has increasingly targeted Ukraine's railways. Ukraine has meanwhile ramped up attacks on Russian oil refineries, in border regions and beyond.

One oil depot in the Crimean peninsula - which Moscow illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014 - has been burning for three days following a second Ukrainian drone attack in a week.

The Marine Oil Terminal in Feodosia is the largest in Crimea and an important logistical link for Russian troops operating in Ukraine.

Kyiv's armed forces general staff said on Wednesday that 16 fuel tanks were damaged and that a large-scale blaze was continuing to burn.

The surge in drone attacks on oil refineries and pipelines has also led to fuel shortages and price rises in some parts of Russia - a development that Ukrainian leaders hope will hit Russia's war effort and help bring the Kremlin to the negotiating table.

The strikes have reduced Russian fuel exports to their lowest level since the start of the war, according to figures from the International Energy Agency.

Ukraine's energy ministry said emergency restrictions were being brought in "because of the complicated situation". Emergency work was taking place in all regions affected by Russian attack, grid operator Ukrenergo said, and it urged consumers who still had power to use it sparingly.

Temperatures in parts of Ukraine were forecast to fall to 3C overnight into Thursday.

The electricity company in Lviv in western Ukraine said that because the outages were under emergency conditions there was no possibility to warn consumers in advance.

Russia argues its attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are aimed at its military, but millions of civilians have already been affected by outages in recent weeks. On one night alone last week, on 9-10 October, a combined missile and drone attack caused power cuts in nine regions, from Kharkiv and Sumy in the north to Odesa in the south.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of aiming to "create chaos and apply psychological pressure on the population through strikes on energy facilities and railways".

Kyiv has long been pushing to be given more weapons that could allow it to strike deeper into Russia, and Zelensky this week vowed that long-range weapons would be used only on military targets, not civilians.

Ukraine's Western allies have been wary of providing long-range weaons through concern such a move would escalate the war.

Moscow has repeatedly said it would view the use of Western-made weapons to hit Russia as "direct participation" of Nato countries in the war in Ukraine.

However, Moscow's "red line" on Western missiles has already been crossed without any clear consequences.

US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly spoken of his impatience with Russia's failure to move towards ending the war, has said he is considering supplying Kyiv with Tomahawk missiles.

He is due to meet Zelensky in the US on Friday.

At a Nato summit on Wednesday, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US and its allies would "impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression" if the war in Ukraine did not come to an end.

The US stood ready to do its part "in ways that only the United States can do," Hegseth said, without elaborating further. He also encouraged Nato countries to contribute to the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (Purl) programme under which allies buy US-made weapons that are then sent on to Ukraine.

Several countries have already said they would take part in Purl. Germany on Wednesday said it would spend $500m (£374m) on weaponry for Ukraine, while the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries have collectively pledged $1bn.

Kyiv remains dependent on Western arms donations to push back Russian troops, although it has been developing its own defence industry.

Research published by the Kiel Institute in Germany this week showed that military aid sent to Ukraine had declined by 43% compared with the first half of the year.

US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth's plane made an unscheduled landing in the UK, during a return flight headed for the US, the Pentagon said on X.

The plane carrying Hegseth on his way back from Nato's Defence Minister meeting in Belgium had a "crack in the aircraft windshield".

"The plane landed based on standard procedures and everyone onboard, including Secretary Hegseth, is safe," the government said.

Hegseth later wrote after landing: "All good. Thank God. Continue mission!"

The plane was off the coast of southern Ireland when it decided to turn back and landed at Royal Air Force Mildenhall.

Defence ministers had gathered in Belgium on Wednesday to discuss security in Ukraine.

In February a government plane carrying Secretary of State Marco Rubio had to turn back due to a crack in the window of the cockpit, as well.

Syria's interim President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has held his first talks with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow since ousting Russia's ally Bashar al-Assad 10 months ago.

Putin spoke of the "special relationship" between both countries.

Sharaa suggested he would continue to allow Russia access to its military bases in Syria.

He was also expected to ask for the extradition of Assad, who was granted asylum after fleeing to Moscow.

For years they were enemies, on opposing sides of a bloody civil war.

Putin used brutal military force to prop up Bashar al-Assad. And Sharaa's armed Islamist group led the rebel offensive that eventually forced Assad from power.

But on Wednesday, the Russian and Syrian leaders sat down together for the first time, putting pragmatism ahead of past enmity.

"Over the past decades, our countries have built a special relationship," Putin said.

He added that there were "quite a few interesting and useful undertakings" on the agenda of their talks, and that Russia stood ready to "do everything to fulfil them".

Sharaa said he wanted Syria to re-establish its relations with all countries, but "chiefly with Russia".

"We are trying to restore and redefine in a new way the nature of these relations so there is independence for Syria, sovereign Syria, and also its territorial unity and integrity and its security stability."

They were warm words from two men seeking a good working relationship.

Russia wants continued access to its Tartous naval port and Hmeimim military airbase on Syria's Mediterranean coast.

Sharaa suggested he would allow this, saying Syria would "respect all agreements concluded throughout the great history" of their bilateral relations.

In turn, he wants help to consolidate his power in Syria, secure its borders and rescue a parlous economy with access to Russian energy and investment.

Russian ministers said they were ready to deliver foodstuffs and medication to Syria, and to help repair damaged power and transport infrastructure.

But amid the smiles, tensions remain.

Syrian sources said Sharaa would ask for Assad to be extradited so the exiled leader could face trial for war crimes. It is thought unlikely Russia would agree.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters that Russia had granted asylum to Assad because he and his family had "faced the risk of physical elimination".

Satellite images show how Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is flouting international law by intentionally targeting civilians in the besieged city of el-Fasher - actions that should be considered war crimes, a research team from Yale University says.

"We're looking at the growth of an entire new burial area with over 60 new mounds that have been built in just a two-week period," Caitlin Howarth, from the university's Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL), told the BBC.

People are now completely trapped with no hope of escape as the RSF recently completed a 57km (35-mile) earthen wall around the city.

Desperate residents in the army's last stronghold in Darfur say food has run out.

"There is nothing left to eat today - all food supplies have run out," the resistance committee for el-Fasher, made up of local citizens and activists, said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Even the alternatives that people clung to for survival have disappeared," it said, referring to "ambaz", a residue of peanuts after oil has been extracted, which is normally fed to animals.

Sudan plunged into a civil war in April 2023 after a vicious struggle for power broke out between the military and the RSF.

Since the conflict erupted, RSF fighters and allied Arab militia in Darfur have been accused of targeting people from non-Arab ethnic groups.

• Sudan war: A simple guide to what is happening
• Sudanese city under siege: 'My son's whole body is full of shrapnel'

El-Fasher came under siege 18 months ago and a communications blackout makes it difficult to confirm information from the city as only those with satellite internet connections are contactable.

The resistance committee warned that time was running out for the estimated 300,000 people who still live in the city.

"We write, we scream, we plead; but it seems our words fall into a void," it said. "There are no aid planes, no humanitarian airlifts, no real international movement and no ground efforts to break the siege."

Community kitchens have had to stop providing meals to people seeking refuge in shelters, traders inside the city told the Sudan Tribune news website.

They added that all food goods had completely disappeared even from shops, which used to get smuggled stock to sell at exorbitant prices.

Ms Howarth told the BBC's Newsday programme that in the last few months civilians had been driven by the RSF from the displacement camps around el-Fasher and other neighbourhoods by arson and in some cases by what looked like "house-to-house clearance operations".

They were now in their last places of refuge in "increasingly smaller zones", concentrated in shelters at mosques, near hospitals and markets - areas that were undergoing repeated bombardment.

Satellite images showed "burn scars" where specific buildings had been targeted with "horrific" results, according to Ms Howarth.

"We had air-deployed munitions - this could be a combination of drone and artillery that came in… through the roofs, exploding on impact and then burning everything that was within those structures," she explained, adding that ground sources had told them the people inside had been "burned alive".

The Yale HRL researchers found that over the last month attacks included those on two shelters, one of which was also a community kitchen, two mosques, one hospital and one market - killing at least 174 people and wounding at least 123 people.

"These incidents include only those that HRL corroborated through either remote sensing, open source documentation, or a combination of both methods and are likely an undercount," its report said.

"These actions are prima facie war crimes and may rise to the level of crimes against humanity."

The researchers also identified that between 26 September and 10 October, at least 60 burial mounds were created in a new cemetery in the Daraja Oula neighbourhood, one of the only areas still under the control of the army and their allies, local armed groups known as the Joint Forces.

Ms Howarth said there were now only four RSF-controlled exits out of the city.

"There should be calls for the immediate cessation of these hostilities, for civilians to be allowed to immediately and safely depart el-Fasher without harassment, without taxation, without the risk of extrajudicial execution," she said.

"And aid and humanitarian aid access should be allowed completely in without any threat of bombardment or attack."

More about Sudan's civil war:

• Medics under siege: 'We took this photo, fearing it would be our last'
• 'Our children are dying': Rare footage shows plight of civilians in besieged Sudan city
• Sudan in danger of self-destructing as conflict and famine reign

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

A health official in Gaza says experts are working to identify the bodies of the 90 Palestinians handed over by Israel in exchange for dead hostages held by Hamas.

If they were unsuccessful, photos would be posted online so families could search for missing relatives, Dr Mohammed Zaqout, director general of hospitals for the Hamas-run health ministry, said.

It is not clear whether the bodies - stored at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis - belong to Palestinians who died in Gaza or in Israeli custody.

Footage filmed by a freelance journalist working for the BBC at Nasser's mortuary appeared to show the body of a blindfolded man. Another body seemed to have a marks around the wrists and ankles.

The BBC has asked the Israeli military and justice ministry for comment. They have previously rejected accusations of widespread ill-treatment and torture of detainees.

Under last week's ceasefire agreement with Hamas, Israel has agreed to hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians in return for every deceased Israeli hostage.

So far, the Israeli military has said the remains of six Israeli hostages have been returned.

The body of another hostage - Nepalese - has also been returned from Gaza, along with the remains of another person who was not a hostage.

Israel has called on Hamas to "make all necessary efforts" to recover the bodies of the remaining 21 deceased hostages as agreed.

The last 20 living hostages were also handed over by Hamas on Monday in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and 1,718 detainees from Gaza.

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Israeli authorities handed over 45 Palestinians' bodies to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Monday - with another 45 on Wednesday.

The remains were transferred by the ICRC to Nasser hospital.

Speaking outside the facility on Tuesday, Dr Zaqout said the first group of bodies had been kept by Israeli authorities in refrigerators, and that "some are clearly recognisable, while others are difficult to identify".

"Once confirmed, we will publish the names for the families so they can come forward to identify and bury their loved ones."

However, Dr Zaqout said health officials had so far received no information to assist them, such as names or the circumstances of death.

"What we received are bodies with codes and numbers. However, we were promised that... we would be provided with the names. We are awaiting further clarification from our colleagues at the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"If we receive the names from [Israel], we will publish them. If not, we will be forced to create a link where photos of the identifiable martyrs will be posted."

Also outside Nasser hospital was Rasmieh Qdeih from Khuzaa, a town east of Khan Younis.

She was searching for her son Fadi, 36, who has been missing since 7 October 2023, when the Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.

At least 67,938 people have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory's health ministry, whose figures are seen by the UN as reliable.

"I don't know whether he was imprisoned or martyred. I contacted everyone; no-one told me anything," Ms Qdeih said.

"Every time a prisoner is released, I ask them - have you seen Fadi?... Is he a prisoner, a martyr, or missing? They say 'no'. Everyone in Negev prison says they haven't heard that name. Each one tells me something different."

She said the wait to learn her son's fate was the most difficult she had ever experienced.

"I'm not upset... I just want to know if my son is among them. If not, if they don't find my son among these martyrs, I will be shocked."

"If there's anything, I'll recognise him - my son's leg is amputated, and he has vitiligo... His hair is white. I'd know him," she added.

Plans to re-introduce military service in Germany have been thrown into chaos because of an 11th hour row amongst the governing parties.

A compromise, which was set to include the possibility of some mandatory conscription, has been shot down.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said he wants Germany to have the strongest conventional army in Europe.

But on Tuesday night, a press conference to announce the proposals was abruptly cancelled, ahead of a draft bill going before parliament on Thursday. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has denied accusations of "torpedoing" the plans.

Despite being the EU's largest economy, Germany's military has been poorly funded for decades following the end of the Cold War.

Berlin is now rushing to boost spending and personnel, with warnings that members of the Western Nato alliance must prepare for a possible Russian attack within four years.

However, military service remains a politically sensitive issue.

A significant section of German society remains deeply wary of conscription and re-armament given the catastrophic consequences of remilitarising in the 20th Century.

Nevertheless, a recent Forsa survey for Stern suggested that 54% of people favoured compulsory service while 41% opposed it.

Opposition rose to 63% among 18 to 29-year-olds.

Germany wants to expand its armed forces from the current 183,000 active servicemen and women to 260,000 by 2035 – plus 200,000 reservists.

Under draft plans announced this summer, 18-year-olds will be asked to fill out an online questionnaire about their background and willingness to serve for at least six months.

It will be compulsory for men to fill out the questionnaire but optional for women.

Read more: Voluntary military service deal opens door to return of German conscription

The government, made up of Merz's conservative CDU/CSU and the centre-left Social Democrat SPD, agreed in their coalition treaty to reintroduce military service which would be voluntary "to start with".

However, CDU politicians – including Chancellor Merz – have increasingly aired concerns that a purely voluntary system will not be sufficient.

This week, negotiators from the two coalition parties hammered out a complicated compromise which, according to German media, would have involved a multi-stage process.

Details are not entirely clear but reports suggested that, if not enough school-leavers volunteered, then a lottery system could be used.

A selection of young men could be summoned for a medical or even mandatory service, if required, should recruitment targets be missed.

However, there is resistance within the SPD's ranks to any form of compulsory service.

SPD Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is strongly behind ambitions for a beefed-up military, but believes the latest plans are impractical.

Rather than a lottery, he has backed proposals for all eligible young men to undergo a medical from July 2027, so the Bundeswehr has a clear snapshot of available manpower.

Pistorius has played down the political impasse and insisted that a new law will still be steered through in time for it to take effect from next year.

His original proposals, which focus on voluntary recruitment, are now expected to be tabled on Thursday – but will likely be subject to further fierce debate.

Germany's defence ministry faces a gargantuan logistical challenge in building the infrastructure that will be required to match its expanded military ambitions.

Conscription was suspended in Germany in 2011. Young men were able to choose either to serve or, if they were conscientious objectors, opt for social work.

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80, family sources have told the BBC.

Odinga died on Wednesday while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in India.

Indian police told the AFP news agency that he was walking with family members and a personal doctor "when he suddenly collapsed". He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.

In recent weeks, there has been speculation about his health, although family members and political allies had dismissed reports suggesting he was critically ill. Politicians and other leaders, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, have been sending their condolences.

A political mobiliser and towering figure in Kenyan politics, Odinga ran unsuccessfully for the presidency five times. He rejected the results on each occasion, often saying that victory had been stolen from him.

He was vindicated by Kenya's highest court after the 2017 elections, when it annulled Uhuru Kenyatta's victory and ordered fresh polls. However, he boycotted the rerun, demanding electoral reforms.

The disputed election of 2007, in which Odinga claimed he was cheated of victory by Mwai Kibaki, led to the biggest crisis in Kenya's history.

Violence erupted around the country, resulting in 1,200 deaths and about 600,000 people were forced to flee their homes.

To resolve the crisis, a power-sharing agreement was brokered by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, leading to the formation of a unity government in which Odinga became prime minister.

He has often reconciled with the incumbent president after contentious elections.

After his most recent defeat in 2022, he later joined President William Ruto in a so-called broad-based government, which brought several of his allies into key positions.

He defended the move as necessary for national unity, coming in the aftermath of watershed nationwide protests last year that culminated in the storming of parliament. Dozens of protesters were killed in confrontations with security officers.

The Ruto administration backed Odinga's bid to become chairperson of the African Union Commission, in elections held earlier this year. Despite strong regional support, he lost to Djibouti's Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.

Odinga inspired a passionate and loyal following throughout his political career, especially in western Kenya, where he was from.

His supporters called him "Baba" (Father), "Agwambo" (Act of God), and "Tinga" (Tractor) - drawn from his party's symbol during the 1997 elections.

He was widely regarded as a master strategist and mass mobiliser, often drawing huge crowds to his political rallies, and he had a deep ability to connect with ordinary people.

He will be remembered for his unwavering fight for democratic freedoms and human rights.

He was a former political prisoner, and holds the record for being Kenya's longest-serving detainee. His struggle against one-party dictatorship saw him detained twice (from 1982 to 1988 and 1989 to 1991) during the rule of Daniel arap Moi.

He was initially imprisoned for trying to stage a coup in 1982, which propelled him on to the national stage.

You may also be interested in:

• How Odinga's court challenges have improved Kenya's elections
• Tales of surviving the 2007 election violence
• How a handshake changed Odinga's heartland

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

Former Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has died at the age of 80, family sources have told the BBC.

Odinga died on Wednesday while receiving medical treatment at a hospital in India.

Indian police told the AFP news agency that he was walking with family members and a personal doctor "when he suddenly collapsed". He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.

In recent weeks, there has been speculation about his health, although family members and political allies had dismissed reports suggesting he was critically ill. Politicians and other leaders, including Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, have been sending their condolences.

A political mobiliser and towering figure in Kenyan politics, Odinga ran unsuccessfully for the presidency five times. He rejected the results on each occasion, often saying that victory had been stolen from him.

He was vindicated by Kenya's highest court after the 2017 elections, when it annulled Uhuru Kenyatta's victory and ordered fresh polls. However, he boycotted the rerun, demanding electoral reforms.

The disputed election of 2007, in which Odinga claimed he was cheated of victory by Mwai Kibaki, led to the biggest crisis in Kenya's history.

Violence erupted around the country, resulting in 1,200 deaths and about 600,000 people were forced to flee their homes.

To resolve the crisis, a power-sharing agreement was brokered by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, leading to the formation of a unity government in which Odinga became prime minister.

He has often reconciled with the incumbent president after contentious elections.

After his most recent defeat in 2022, he later joined President William Ruto in a so-called broad-based government, which brought several of his allies into key positions.

He defended the move as necessary for national unity, coming in the aftermath of watershed nationwide protests last year that culminated in the storming of parliament. Dozens of protesters were killed in confrontations with security officers.

The Ruto administration backed Odinga's bid to become chairperson of the African Union Commission, in elections held earlier this year. Despite strong regional support, he lost to Djibouti's Mahmoud Ali Youssouf.

Odinga inspired a passionate and loyal following throughout his political career, especially in western Kenya, where he was from.

His supporters called him "Baba" (Father), "Agwambo" (Act of God), and "Tinga" (Tractor) - drawn from his party's symbol during the 1997 elections.

He was widely regarded as a master strategist and mass mobiliser, often drawing huge crowds to his political rallies, and he had a deep ability to connect with ordinary people.

He will be remembered for his unwavering fight for democratic freedoms and human rights.

He was a former political prisoner, and holds the record for being Kenya's longest-serving detainee. His struggle against one-party dictatorship saw him detained twice (from 1982 to 1988 and 1989 to 1991) during the rule of Daniel arap Moi.

He was initially imprisoned for trying to stage a coup in 1982, which propelled him on to the national stage.

You may also be interested in:

• How Odinga's court challenges have improved Kenya's elections
• Tales of surviving the 2007 election violence
• How a handshake changed Odinga's heartland

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica