but officials say they too were in need of medical care. hello, i'm helena humphrey. we begin with breaking news from thailand, returned home. moments ago the five men received a warm after more than 500 days in captivity. the thai nationals were kidnapped during the hamas attack on israel on 7 october 2023. they had been working on farms in southern israel. they'd been in an israeli hospital for medical treatment following their release. who is in bangkok.

jonathan, very good to have you with us. you are there at the airport where there is five thai hostages have just arrived. just described was the scenes, how their were reacting. scenes, how their were reacting-— scenes, how their were reacting. scenes, how their were reactinu. , , , reacting. yes, they 'ust came throu . h reacting. yes, they 'ust came through a h reacting. yes, they 'ust came through a few _ reacting. yes, theyjust came through a few minutes - reacting. yes, theyjust came through a few minutes ago, l reacting. yes, theyjust came i through a few minutes ago, just through a fewrminutes age, just through a fewrminutes age, just through this through a fewrminutes ago, just through this gate. they are out through this gate. they are now actually speaking over to the left with the thai foreign minister and other thai officials. they are not saying very much about... they are not saying very much about their ordeal. obviously they've spent an awful of time captivity and the thais are making it clear they are not going to be able to talk a lot, but they are with their families. to talk a lot, but they are with theirfamilies. some to talk a lot, but they are with their families. some of the family saluted me them in israel, but there are other family members, some of these five thai farmworkers, who have not seen them in some cases for several years. so there were pretty emotional scenes on the stage when they met them just a few minutes ago, very tearful as they were brought back. they are in surprisingly good health. now, you referred there

to the state of some of the israeli these thai israeli hostages. these thai men have spent the last ten daysin men have spent the last ten days in an israeli hospital being checked, but from what we can see, they are in good health. their state of mind, of course, is something that will much harder to assess. so be much harder to assess. so from here they will be taken straight back to their families, their communities, in straight back to their fan north their communities, in straight back to their fan north and ' communities, in straight back to their fan north and north—east, s, in straight back to their fan north and north—east, and| the north and north—east, and will then obviously go through quite a process of readjustment being back here. find quite a process of read'ustment being back here._ being back here. and jonathan, we understand _ being back here. and jonathan, we understand that there - being back here. and jonathan, we understand that there is - we understand that there is still one thai national being held. what do we know about efforts to secure their release?— efforts to secure their release? ~ , ., release? well, there is not much they _ release? well, there is not much they can _ release? well, there is not much they can do. - release? well, there is not much they can do. you - release? well, there is notl much they can do. you have release? well, there is not - much they can do. you have to remember with even these five hostages there has been no information about them at all information about them at all in the last year. the thai foreign ministry said to me they had no idea they were alive until that agreement when israel and hamas last month, they were quite surprised and they were quite surprised when the discussion about hostage releases started when

they were told that actually there were five thais who would be released. it was the first they knew about it. they had no information about the last man, he is from the very far north—east, and we in the past have spoken to his wife. we spoke to her very soon after the hamas attack, so she has been holding out hope that he is still alive, but there has been literally know it information about him since his abduction. so at this stage they have no whether he is they have no idea whether he is alive and they are not getting any information either. they have simply got to wait for hamas or any other group to find him and say what... or to tell him what had actually happened to him. 50 tell him what had actually happened to him. so jonathan, how did so _ happened to him. so jonathan, how did so many _ happened to him. so jonathan, how did so many thai - happened to him. so jonathan, how did so many thai nationals end up being caught up in the events of seventh of october? well, there are thousands of thais who go every year to israel to work on farms there. this is something that goes

several decades, and back several decades, and they've become a very important part of israel's agricultural economy. and many of those farms, of course, were in kibbutz is close to the border with gaza. there were many thais working in the kibbutz is that were caught up and took the full brunt of the hamas attacks on the seventh of october. now, we don't know why, whether there was a deliberate decision to take them or or what hamas's them or not, or what hamas's view of the thais is. thailand is not a party to the conflict, but they just got is not a party to the conflict, but theyjust got caught up in those early attacks. a0 thais, around a0 were killed in those first attacks, and two of the hostages who were taken have died in captivity. and the we re were kept 7 w {at kept'in'itia’lly 7 w we}; kept'in'itia’lly in others were kept initially in pretty grim conditions. we spoke to some who got out after just more than 50 days, and their ordeal was very, very harsh. we don't know yet what the experience of these five men has been, over a much longer period of time. but looking at them today, it appears they... at least

certainly in the later stages they appear to have been treated reasonably humanely. our southeast asia correspondentjonathan our southeast asia correspondent jonathan head our southeast asia correspondentjonathan head at the airport in bangkok where those five nationals have those five thai nationals have just returned after almost 16 months in captivity. jonathan, good to talk to you. israel and hamas followed through with their fifth hostage exchange on saturday since the ceasefire agreement went into effect three weeks ago. israel's prime minister expressed shock at the condition of the three hostages that were released by hamas. they were freed in exchange for the release by israel of 183 palestinian prisoners, seven of whom had to be taken to hospital, according to the palestinian red crescent. israel says it is sending a delegation to doha for the next phase of ceasefire talks. our correspondent wyre davies reports. for the families of the three

hostages, held for a90 days in gaza, this date was the one they'd been waiting for. carrying ellie sharabi, ohad ben ami and or levy arrived at the handover point, watching from their tel aviv home, eli sharabi's family couldn't contain their excitement. but as the three emerged looking gaunt and weak, shadows of their former selves, celebration turned to shock. translation: it's mixed feelings. i i'm happy to see him standing on two feet, but he looks sad, he looks thin, he looks bad. at tel aviv�*s hostages square, the sight of what the men had been reduced to hit home. after seeing the conditions of the hostages released today,

the release of all the captives from gaza as quickly as possible, and that means an extension of the ceasefire — something that is by no means guaranteed. more than 180 palestinians were simultaneously released today under the ceasefire agreement. 70 had been convicted of serious crimes and were serving long sentences, but the majority were gazans detained during the war and held without charge. the palestinian red crescent said seven of those released after accusations they had been brutally treated in israeli jails. this prisoner said he was beaten on his hands and his legs, even as he was being transferred from jail. some, including thabet al—haddad, were taken to gaza's european hospital.

i've got many problems from the beating and the torture all over my body, he says. all of the prisoners suffered from hunger, beating and humiliation, even scabies. there have been many tragic stories on both sides of this conflict. for the hostages released today, the physical trauma of 15 months in captivity was obvious, the psychological impact impossible to quantify. for more on what these developments mean for the ongoing ceasefire talks, our correspondentjoe inwood sent this update from jerusalem. well, we are currently in stage i. that is holding, but it's feeling fairly fragile at this point. there are going to be talks taking place, the point. there are going to be talks ta are place, the point. there are going to be talks ta are sending he point. there are going to be talks ta are sending a 5 israelis are sending a delegation to qatar, it is there where the mediators are, and they going to talk and they are going to talk about some technical elements. and the hope is they will on to " " {toggling ’ " " " grafting aw? " on to talking aboutstage move on to talking about stage two. that will be a payment into the fighting and a release

71h; . s .. ,, s ,, , .,. , , the remaining 7 the remaining hostages. but of the remaining hostages. but that's much, much more delicate, and all of this is under the shadow of the recent statement by president trump that he thinks that because i should be handed over to the us and turned into a riviera of the middle east. and that's making anything uncertain, when it was already pretty difficult. —— everything uncertain. joining me live is mara rudman, former deputy envoy and chief of staff for the office of the special envoy very good to have you with us on bbc news. i want to begin with that further round that we saw today of hostage and prisoner releases, the red cross raising alarm about the way that these exchanges are happening, urging all sides to make them private and dignified. they have also been concerns about the welfare of people involved on both sides. ijust like people involved on both sides. i just like to get your reaction to those images that we've been seeing.— reaction to those images that we've been seeing. sure, thank ou for we've been seeing. sure, thank you for having _ we've been seeing. sure, thank you for having me. _ we've been seeing. sure, thank you for having me. well, -

we've been seeing. sure, thank you for having me. well, first, | you for having me. well, first, it's important that these hostages were released, that the ceasefire is proceeding, however much difficulty. with however much difficulty. it's also clear there's a lot of going on, i would of posturing going on, i would say particularly from hamas. the physical nature of what the hostages look like and how difficult their captivity had been was evident to all. but also paraded them on a hamas also paraded them on a stage. we've seen that in the past. i don't know that we have seen the incidents where they had to read statements, which is what occurred today. so there is a jockeying, posturing, an effort to portray, i guess, the degree of organisation and strength, perhaps, that hamas still has. but in fact, i think, as the red cross noticed, it's concerns pointed out, it does not reflect strength when you behave in that way. it reflects the opposite. behave in that way. it reflects the opposite-—

the opposite. and the israeli prime minister, _ the opposite. and the israeli prime minister, benjamin i prime minister, benjamin expressed his shock netanyahu, expressed his shock at how emaciated the released hostages appeared to be. do you think that could impact, for example, the prospect those example, the prospect of those ongoing ceasefire prospect and the need to get the remaining hostages out as quickly as possible? 50 hostages out as quickly as possible?— hostages out as quickly as ossible? ., ., , ., possible? so i would hope that the appearance _ possible? so i would hope that the appearance of— possible? so i would hope that the appearance of the - possible? so i would hope that| the appearance of the hostages and the fact that they were treated terribly is not a reason to not push very hard for the of all the for the release of all the remaining hostages. ithink for the release of all the remaining hostages. i think it was fairly clear that — by the ways in which hamas captured them, what happened on the seventh of october, that the treatment that these hostages have had to endure has been truly horrendous. and so in that sense, we shouldn't be surprised, upsetting as it is, to see the physical evidence of that horrendous treatment. those who are working towards negotiating the next phase of the ceasefire are deeply

committed to getting all of the hostages released, and in fact, it's only by entering and proceeding with the second phase of the ceasefire that all the hostages will come home — that we can start moving towards the type of future that israelis deserve and, frankly, that also palestinians, who have suffered so much in gaza and in the west bank, deserve. ijust wonder what you and in the west bank, deserve. i just wonder what you think the real chances are for that phase two of the ceasefire. of course, you would have had the comments from us president donald trump with regard to gaza into w w w gaza into the w w w gaza into the riviera turning gaza into the riviera of the middle east, prime minister netanyahu had also said during his visit gaza said during his visit in gaza that israel reserves the right to go back in at any time. what do think this means for the do you think this means for the prospects of a lasting peace? shaw, helena. well, first, i want to put president trump's comments aside for now. i'm happy to come back to them. i

just think, like a lot that he says, its noise, and noise that is intended to distract, as opposed to solve problems or make the world or the united states better or safer or stronger. so in terms of what prime minister netanyahu is facing, even before this facing. ovsnrbsfors this , , , . agreement began, he ceasefire agreement began, he had deep political problems at because he has two very w wte}; ideanogwicallyw far—right, very idea logically driven extremist radical — can't have enough adjectives for how far out these guys are — ministers who have been holding together his coalition, his ability to be prime minister. one of them left the coalition over the decision to go into the first ceasefire, and the other has said that he will leave if the ceasefire progresses to its second phase. and so prime minister netanyahu has yet again, as has been the case throughout an extended

period of time for prime minister netanyahu, has a choice to make between his own politics, his own immediate political survival, and what's in the best interests of his country and his people. find country and his people. and 'ust country and his people. and just coming _ country and his people. and just coming back, _ country and his people. and just coming back, then, to that idea of what donald trump had to say, to use your parlance, saying that it is noise, even if that is the case, even if it doesn't come to fruition, do words matter? do have an words matter? do they have an impact on a process, delicate process, like ceasefire negotiations?- process, like ceasefire negotiations? sure, words matter. negotiations? sure, words matter- i _ negotiations? sure, words matter. i am _ negotiations? sure, words matter. i am living - negotiations? sure, words matter. i am living here i negotiations? sure, words matter. i am living here inj negotiations? sure, words - matter. i am living here in the united states and seeing the impact of president trump's words and the actions of his cronies, including elon musk, who was in the white house with him far more than make sense to any human being. and so it is noise. it is sometimes accompanied by action. in the

case, though, of his statements about gaza, which were very quickly walked back by his white house press secretary, by his national security adviser, by a number of republicans in the senate who were willing to actually comment on it, it has for all sorts of reasons in the united states almost no chance of becoming reality. the challenge is — and i think that's what you are indicating — it also further inspires those on the israeli far—right who have wanted to ethnically cleanse gaza for some period of time. it further fosters or supports their and we've supports their aims, and we've seen prime minister netanyahu returning from his white house visit seemingly on that path, at least for now. so, yes, his words are very dangerous. the presidency of the united states is a prime bully pulpit, and we

have a bully occupying it. the r -:—, w w ww w www ww w there of maraw w there of marawwrudman, w view there of mara rudman, �*deputy envoy and view there of mara rudman, �* deputy envoy and chief former deputyenvo’y’ arrd'chisf staff in the us state of staff in the us state department. thank you very much for sharing your thoughts today. for sharing your thoughts toda . ., ~ a us federaljudge has blocked elon musk�*s department of government efficiency, also known as doge, of americans in treasury department records. on saturday ordering elon musk and his team to immediately destroy any copies of records. that is after 19 state attorneys—general sued the trump administration when doge was given access to these records last week. there was no immediate comment from the white house or elon musk. the united nations warned this week of grave consequences to women's rights if the international community by 2030.

several un agencies reported that more than 230 million girls and women alive today have undergone female genital mutilation. they expect this year nearly a.a million more girls will be at risk of this harmful practice. this means every day up to 12,000 women and girls around the world could suffer from fgm. it's a tradition that dates back for centuries, although health experts say there are no actual health benefits to the procedure. joinung me live now from chicago is dr lori post, director at the buehler center for health policy and economics at northwestern university's institute for public health and medicine. welcome to you. thank you for being with us here on the programme. fgm has been condemned globally as a violation of human rights, yet millions of girls, as we were just mentioning there, remain at risk. i know that you've on this issue firsthand. worked on this issue firsthand. just talk to us, about just talk to us, firstly, about

the impact and suffering the impact and the suffering that it exposes women and girls to through their lives.— to through their lives. thank ou for to through their lives. thank you for having _ to through their lives. thank you for having me. - to through their lives. thank you for having me. so, - to through their lives. thank you for having me. so, to i to through their lives. thank i you for having me. so, to begin with, when girls undergo female general mutilation, they oftentimes suffer from sepsis in the immediate aftermath or examination, and they die immediately. and so if they survive that then they go on to have urinary tract infections or infertility, and death over the course of their life, and they have trauma, ongoing trauma, throughout their life. now, in many communities fgm is deeply embedded in cultural or perhaps religious traditions. so how do you go about challenging these norms without alienating the communities themselves?— alienating the communities themselves? that's a great question- _ themselves? that's a great question. so _ themselves? that's a great question. so i _ themselves? that's a great question. so i think- themselves? that's a great question. so i think the - themselves? that's a great| question. so i think the first thing we have to do is z -—: ww wtherifferweaneww the difference between out the difference between cultural norms that are good things, religion,

things, like religion, traditions, food, language, that bind people together as opposed to a harmful tradition, where people are injured. and just because something was done doesn't mean you should pass it on, and those things need to be ended. and so it on, and those things need to be ended. and so it's also up oftentimes affiliated with religions, when in fact there is religion in fact there is no religion that supports fgm. it is counterintuitive to the bible, to the koran and to any formal religion that exists. nobody supports it, but oftentimes it is believed to be part of a religion or part of a culture, and therefore should be preserved, when it should not and it does not belong to these. �* ., ., these. and doctor laurie, there are many _ these. and doctor laurie, there are many survivors, _ these. and doctor laurie, there are many survivors, of - these. and doctor laurie, there are many survivors, of course, l are many survivors, of course, perhaps struggling with access to medical care or the kind of to medical carsror the kind of they need, to medical career the kihe of they need, whether that physiologwical w physiologwical orw is physiological or psychological. what kind of specialised services do they need? where are the biggest gaps in care?— need? where are the biggest gaps in care? so, the biggest ones are even _

gaps in care? so, the biggest ones are even cosmetic- gaps in care? so, the biggest. ones are even cosmetic surgery, just for women so that they can do things like give birth without having horrible they need mental outcomes. they need mental health support, many of health support, and many of these women are afraid to come forward because they w w w wwwwonbwewirwigww repercussions of being stigmatised or they worry about people from their communities banning them or seeking consequences for them to come forward. �* , i. ., forward. i'm sure you will have seen, forward. i'm sure you will have seen. of _ forward. i'm sure you will have seen, of course, _ forward. i'm sure you will have seen, of course, the _ forward. i'm sure you will have seen, of course, the un - forward. i'm sure you will havel seen, of course, the un putting out its call once again saying that it has the goal of ending genital mutilation by itww w itwwis w itwwis only five years 2030. it is only five years away, of course. do you think enough is being done to make that happen? if not, what urgently needs to be done here? so, i mean, it's about time. there have been advocates. human rights groups have been seeking the end of fgm since the i960s. seeking the end of fgm since the 19605. it's the i960s. it's been criminalised by most governments, condemned by

leaders, global leaders, and what they did was it drove it underground. it made it harder to vet out. and also another problem is we think of this has some problem that over some problem that happens over there, where this is a problem that happening at home too. and wwwtankwto w talk to us a wwwwtankwwtwo wuswanththe w "m; uswanththe £th just talk to us a little bit more about that, perhaps people's perception and that they might not be aware of the communities where may be communities where it may be happening, for example, potentially in immigrant communities as well. the support that's needed there, the awareness, the understanding. the awareness, the understandinu. ., �* , understanding. right, that's so there understanding. right, that's - so there are _ understanding. right, that's - so there are countries| true. so there are countries that have high rates of fgm, www many many ofw w many othhose w many othhose countries and many of those countries have immigrants that to the united states, to north america, australia, western europe. and in these communities, this practice is still done. its driven underground. you have doctors that are helping to do this. there are also people who cross

borders to do it or seek surgeries, return to their home country to have the surgery done, and then people are done, and then these people are afraid to seek help because they are migrants in other countries or they are worried about, again, stigma or causing problems for people and their families or their communities. doctor lori post, thank you so much for being with us to talk about this important issue. appreciated. us president donald trump has signed an executive after threatening to do so earlier this week. because of south africa's new land law, which he says is violating people's rights, and also because of its international court case accusing israel of genocide. south africa says the order lacks factual of apartheid. south africa's president has not yet responded to the order, but earlier this week alluded to threats made by the us in a speech

to the nation. we are witnessing the rise of nationalism, protectionism, the pursuit of narrow interests and the decline of common cause. we will not be deterred. we are, as south africans, a resilient people, and we will not be bullied. michelle gavin is the senior fellow for africa policy studies at the council on foreign relations — she explains more about the south african land law. this expropriation act now supersedes the old expropriation act that was on the books in south africa that was from the apartheid era. and land is a very politically contentious issue in south africa. a lot of the opposition to the anc elevates this issue in their critique of

what the anc has accomplished since liberation. and essentially this new law aligns expropriation methods with the constitution, but it also provides a new section that south africa has not had before that allows for expropriation without compensation. now, this is only allowable in very specific circumstances, and i think it will probably be tested in the south african courts, because this is a new idea. but i think this is the issue that has so alarmed a number of people. but has any land been expropriated without compensation yet? no. king charles and queen camilla hosted a black—tie dinner last night to celebrate italian cuisine ahead of their state visit to the country in the spring. high—profile guests including dame local food and traditional cooking methods. the feast included crab, ravioli and pork, along with english and italian wine.

before we go, some live pictures from the superdome in new orleans, where the kickoff for the super bowl is less than 2a hours away. the philadelphia eagles taking on the kansas city chiefs, who are looking to make history by winning their third super bowl in a row. stay with us here on bbc news. i will have more global news for you at the top of the hour. dromey then. goodbye for now. —— joined me then. hello there. a rather grotty day for many of us on saturday, with low, grey cloud, drizzle, further outbreaks of rain, and some of that rain turned to snow over the tops of the hills in the colder air. a different story, though, further north and west. lots of blue sky and sunshine here in argyll and bute. it's just more of the same as we head through the next few

days, so still feeling chilly, especially in exposure to that brisk easterly wind. more low grade cloud and some drizzle. further showers, but always sunnier in the north and the west in the shelter of that easterly wind, towards the east. the wind picking up across the southern half of the uk as we head through the day on sunday. this is how we'll begin the morning. so where you see the map tinged in blue, chance of a patchy frost. perhaps lows of minus seven degrees celsius underneath clear skies in the sheltered glens of scotland, but here some brightness and some sunshine to start the day. further south and east, across england and wales in particular, a lot of cloud is starting to fill in, again, some hill fog. the cloud producing some drizzle, showers perhaps across east anglia. maybe something a little brighter developing out towards western wales and south—west england. but temperature wise, we won't make it much past 5—8 degrees celsius. a little less cold than on saturday, but more showers as that easterly wind picks up on sunday night this is how we'll begin the new working week,

again with a bit of patchy frost, especially where we keep those clear skies in the north and the west. and then into the start of the week, where we'll keep that cold—feeling air, with high pressure out towards the north and the east. the easterly wind is picking up. it will drive in more showers. some of those showers wintry over the pennines, but some brighter skies, i think, for western wales, south—west england and certainly for northern western scotland and for northern ireland. but a drop in temperature again in that now—colder—feeling air, and there will be a lot of added wind chill to factor in too. it's more of the same again on tuesday. plenty of clouds, some breaks in the cloud towards the west. this area of rain not quite making it into south—west england, but do keep an eye on the forecast here. celsius, so below the seasonal average, and there won't be too much improvement either as we head through the rest of the week. so we are set to stay in that colder air, perhaps something a bit brighter later on through the week. you can check the weather for your local area,

bye for now.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. hello.

how are you? ricky sawyer. the man you just saw is ricky sawyer. he calls himself britain's biggest brazilian butt lift injector. he injects up to a litre of dermalfiller into people's bums to make them bigger. the pain i was in anyway, - i would have preferred to have died at that point, rather. than carry on with the pain. it was a sunday morning. mobile rang. it was louise. she said, "i'm going to die." that could potentially lead to cardiac arrest, death. . the vibe that i always get is "these are silly women "driven through vanity and it's their own fault." and that needs to change. there are hundreds of practitioners carrying this

treatment out in the back of salons, in hotel rooms, and even in office blocks.