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The Duchess of Sussex has said she is “devastated” following the death of her dog, Guy.

In a post on Instagram, Meghan said she had “cried too many tears to count” over the dog’s passing and thanked him for “so many years of unconditional love”.

The duchess said she had adopted the beagle from an animal rescue in Canada in 2015 and that he had been “with me for everything” ever since.

She did not say when the dog had died or its cause of death.

The post was accompanied by a montage of photos and video showing the duchess and her family playing with Guy.

In one, she is seen boiling fruit on a stove to make jam and telling the dog, “We’re jamming, Guy”. In another her husband, the Duke of Sussex, is seen running along a beach with him.

At the end, Meghan can be heard with one of the couple’s children singing: “We love you Guy, yes we do”.

The duchess said staff at the shelter from where she had adopted the dog “referred to him as ‘the little guy’ because he was so small and frail”.

“So I named him ‘Guy’. And he was the best guy any girl could have asked for,” she said.

“He was with me at Suits, when I got engaged, (and then married), when I became a mom….

“He was with me for everything: the quiet, the chaos, the calm, the comfort.”

The duchess added that Guy would feature in her upcoming Netflix series, titled With Love, Meghan.

“I hope you’ll come to understand why I am so devastated by his loss. I think you may fall a little bit in love too,” she said.

“I have cried too many tears to count – the type of tears that make you get in the shower with the absurd hope that the running water on your face will somehow make you not feel them, or pretend they’re not there. But they are. And that’s okay too.

“Thank you for so many years of unconditional love, my sweet Guy. You filled my life in ways you’ll never know.”

A former senior UK Special Forces officer has told a public inquiry into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan that the SAS had a “golden pass allowing them to get away with murder”.

The accusation was published by the Afghanistan Inquiry on Wednesday as part of a release of material summarising seven closed hearings with members of UK Special Forces.

The officer, a former operations chief of staff for the Special Boat Service (SBS) – the UK’s naval special forces – was one of several senior officers who registered concerns back in 2011 that the SAS appeared to be carrying out executions and covering them up.

The inquiry, which is examining night raids by UKSF between 2010 and 2013, follows years of reporting by BBC Panorama into allegations of murder and cover up by the SAS.

In one email from the time, the officer wrote that the SAS and murder were “regular bedfellows” and described the regiment’s official descriptions of operational killings as “quite incredible”.

Asked by the inquiry during the closed hearings whether he stood by his assertion that the SAS’s actions amounted to murder, the officer replied: “Indeed.”

Pressed by the inquiry counsel about his decision not to report his concerns further up the chain of command in 2011, he said he regretted his lack of action at the time. He agreed that there had been a “massive failure of leadership” by UK Special Forces.

The former SBS operations chief of staff was one of several senior officers from the Royal Navy’s special forces regiment who gave evidence to the inquiry behind closed doors in 2024.

Only the inquiry team and representatives from the Ministry of Defence have been allowed to attend the closed hearings. The public, members of the media, and lawyers for the bereaved families are not allowed to be present.

The material released on Wednesday summarises the testimony from these hearings. Taken together, the documents – totalling hundreds of pages – paint a picture of the SAS’s arrival in Afghanistan in 2009 and the way in which it took over hunting the Taliban from the SBS.

Senior SBS officers told the inquiry of deep concerns that the SAS, fresh from aggressive, high-tempo operations in Iraq, was being driven by kill counts – the number of dead they could achieve in each operation.

Another senior SBS officer who gave evidence was asked whether he stood by his concerns in 2011 that the SAS was carrying out extra-judicial killings.

“I thought and think that on at least some operations [the SAS] was carrying out murders,” he said.

A junior SBS officer who also gave evidence to the inquiry behind closed doors described a conversation in which a member of the SAS who had recently returned from Afghanistan told him about a pillow being put over the head of someone before they were killed with a pistol.

“I suppose what shocked me most wasn’t the execution of potential members of the Taliban, which was of course wrong and illegal, but it was more the age and the methods and, you know, the details of things like pillows,” the junior officer said.

He clarified that some of those killed by the SAS had been children, according to the conversation he relayed. Asked by the inquiry counsel if he meant some of those killed would be as young as 16, he replied: “Or younger 100%”.

The junior officer told the inquiry that he feared for his safety should his name be linked to testimony that the SAS had been allegedly murdering civilians.

These SBS officers were part of a small group that was privately raising doubts back in 2011 about the veracity of SAS operational reports coming back from Afghanistan.

In one email, one of the senior officers, who held a post at the SBS headquarters in Poole at the time, wrote to a senior colleague: “If we don’t believe this, then no one else will and when the next WikiLeaks occurs then we will be dragged down with them.”

The two senior officers were in a position to interpret the language in the regiment’s reports, having served with SBS operational units in Afghanistan prior to the arrival of the SAS, when the naval unit was forced to take what it saw as a back seat, pursuing anti-narcotics operations rather than hunting the Taliban.

As well as believing that the SAS may have committed murders, they described in their emails what they viewed as a cover-up in Afghanistan. The second officer told the inquiry chair: “Basically, there appears to be a culture there of ‘shut up, don’t question’.”

At the time, support staff in Afghanistan were sceptical about the SAS’s accounts of their operations, judging them not credible.

But rather than taking the concerns seriously, a reprimand had been issued “to ensure that the staff officers support the guys on the ground”, another senior SBS officer wrote.

He told the inquiry that in the eyes of the Special Forces’ commanding officer in Afghanistan, the SAS could do no wrong, and described the lack of accountability for the regiment as “astonishing”.

The documents released on Wednesday also reveal new details about an explosive meeting in Afghanistan in February 2011, during which the Afghan special forces that partnered the SAS angrily withdrew their support.

The meeting followed a growing rift between the SAS and the Afghan special forces over what the Afghans saw as unlawful killings by members of the SAS.

One Afghan officer present at the meeting was so incensed that he reportedly reached for his pistol.

Describing the meeting in a newly released email, the SBS officer wrote: “I’ve never had such a hostile meeting before – genuine shouting, arm waving and with me staring down a 9mm barrel at one stage – all pretty unpleasant.”

After intervention from senior members of UKSF, the Afghan units agreed to continue to working alongside the SAS. But it would not be the last time they withdrew their support in protest.

“This is all very damaging,” the SBS officer concluded his email.

Additional reporting by Conor McCann

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ChatGPT creator Sam Altman’s sister, Ann Altman, has filed a lawsuit alleging that he regularly sexually abused her between 1997 and 2006.

The lawsuit, which was filed on 6 January in a US District Court in the Eastern District of Missouri, alleges that the abuse started when she was three and Mr Altman was 12.

Mr Altman, who is the chief executive of OpenAI, the firm behind artificial intelligence (AI) software ChatGPT, denied the claims in a joint statement on X with his mother and two brothers.

“All of these claims are utterly untrue,” the statement said. “Caring for a family member who faces mental health challenges is incredibly difficult,” it added.

Mr Altman said he gives his sister monthly financial support, pays her bills and rent, and offered to buy her a house, but that she “continues to demand more money from us”.

But Ms Altman claims her brother “groomed and manipulated” her and performed sex acts on her over several years, including “rape, sexual assault, molestation, sodomy, and battery”, according to a court filing seen by the BBC.

Ms Altman said she sustained “great bodily injury”, severe emotional distress and depression.

She added that she had incurred numerous medical bills because of medical and mental health treatment for her injuries.

In the UK, victims or alleged victims of sexual offences have a right to lifelong anonymity. The UK legislation which creates this right does not apply to people in the US.

“Over the years, we’ve tried in many ways to support Annie and help her find stability,” Mr Altman said, adding that he had taken “professional advice” on how to “be supportive” without “enabling harmful behaviours”.

“This situation causes immense pain to our entire family,” the statement added.

The lawsuit added the last instance of the alleged abuse took place when Mr Altman was an adult and she was still a minor.

Ms Altman has previously made similar allegations against her brother on social media platforms such as X.

Billionaire Mr Altman, who married his partner Oliver Mulherin in 2024, is one of the technology world’s most high-profile figures.

In late 2022, OpenAI launched the ChatGPT generative AI chatbot. It has become widely used globally for its ability to create computer code, emails, recipes, and many other forms of text – as well as images – based on prompts.

In 2024, Mr Altman returned as OpenAI’s boss just days after he was fired by the board, surviving an attempt at a boardroom coup.

Additional reporting by Lily Jamali and Faarea Masud

If you’ve been affected by the issues in this story, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line.

President-elect Donald Trump has reiterated his desire for the US to acquire Greenland and the Panama Canal, calling both critical to American national security.

Asked if he would rule out using military or economic force in order to take over the autonomous Danish territory or the Canal, he responded: “No, I can’t assure you on either of those two.

“But I can say this, we need them for economic security,” he told reporters during a wide-ranging news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

Both Denmark and Panama have rejected any suggestion that they would give up territory.

Trump also vowed to use “economic force” when asked if he would attempt to annex Canada and called their shared border an “artificially drawn line”.

The boundary is the world’s longest between two countries and it was established in treaties dating back to the founding of the US in the late 1700s.

The president-elect said the US spends billions of dollars protecting Canada, and he criticised imports of Canadian cars, lumber and dairy products.

“They should be a state,” he told reporters.

But outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there isn’t “a snowball’s chance in hell” of the two countries merging.

Trump’s news conference – less than two weeks before he is sworn in for a second term – was initially billed as an economic announcement to unveil a $20bn (£16bn) investment from Dubai developer Damac Properties to build data centres in the US.

But in a free-wheeling appearance, the president-elect went on to criticise environmental regulations, the US election system, the various legal cases against him, and President Joe Biden.

Among other things, he suggested renaming the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and restated his opposition to wind power, saying wind turbines are “driving the whales crazy”.

His remarks came as his son, Donald Trump Jr, visited Greenland.

Before arriving by private jet in the capital Nuuk, Trump Jr said he was going on a “personal day trip” to talk to people, and had no meetings planned with government officials.

When asked about Trump Jr’s visit to Greenland, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told Danish TV that “Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders” and that only the local population could determine its future.

She said “Greenland is not for sale”, but stressed Denmark needed close co-operation with the US, a Nato ally.

Greenland – which has a population of just 57,000 – is the world’s largest island and is a strategically important part of the Arctic region.

It has wide-ranging autonomy, but its economy is largely dependent on subsidies from Copenhagen and it remains part of the kingdom of Denmark.

Greenland is also home to a large American space facility and has some of the largest deposits of rare earth minerals, which are crucial in the manufacture of batteries and high-tech devices.

Trump suggested the island is crucial to military efforts to track Chinese and Russian ships, which he said are “all over the place”.

“I’m talking about protecting the free world,” he told reporters.

Since winning re-election Trump has repeatedly returned to the idea of US territorial expansion – including taking back the Panama Canal.

During the news conference, Trump said the canal “is vital to our country” and claimed “it’s being operated by China”.

He previously accused Panama of overcharging US ships to use the waterway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino has rejected Trump’s claims and said there is “absolutely no Chinese interference” in the canal.

A Hong Kong-based company, CK Hutchison Holdings, manages two ports at the canal’s entrances.

The canal was built in the early 1900s and the US maintained control over the canal zone until 1977, when treaties negotiated under President Jimmy Carter gradually ceded the land back to Panama.

“Giving the Panama Canal to Panama was a very big mistake,” Trump said. “Look, [Carter] was a good man… But that was a big mistake.”

It’s unclear how serious the president-elect is about adding to the territory of the US, particularly when it comes to Canada, a country of 41 million people and the second-largest nation by area in the world.

During the news conference, Trump also repeated a number of falsehoods and odd conspiracy theories, including suggesting that Hezbollah, the Islamist militant group, was involved in the US Capitol riot of 2021.

Apple is facing fresh calls to withdraw its controversial artificial intelligence (AI) feature that has generated inaccurate news alerts on its latest iPhones.

The product is meant to summarise breaking news notifications but has in some instances invented entirely false claims.

The BBC first complained to the tech giant about its journalism being misrepresented in December but Apple did not respond until Monday this week, when it said it was working to clarify that summaries were AI-generated.

Alan Rusbridger, the former editor of the Guardian, told the BBC Apple needed to go further and pull a product he said was “clearly not ready.”

Mr Rusbridger, who also sits on Meta’s Oversight Board that reviews appeals of the company’s content moderation decisions, added the technology was “out of control” and posed a considerable misinformation risk.

“Trust in news is low enough already without giant American corporations coming in and using it as a kind of test product,” he told the Today programme, on BBC Radio Four.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ), one of the world’s largest unions for journalists, said Apple “must act swiftly” and remove Apple Intelligence to avoid misinforming the public – echoing prior calls by journalism body Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

“At a time where access to accurate reporting has never been more important, the public must not be placed in a position of second-guessing the accuracy of news they receive,” said Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary.

The RSF also said Apple’s intervention was insufficient, and has repeated its demand that the product is taken off-line.

The BBC complained last month after an AI-generated summary of its headline falsely told some readers that Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself.

On Friday, Apple’s AI inaccurately summarised BBC app notifications to claim that Luke Littler had won the PDC World Darts Championship hours before it began – and that the Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal had come out as gay.

This marks the first time Apple has formally responded to the concerns voiced by the BBC about the errors, which appear as if they are coming from within the organisation’s app.

“These AI summarisations by Apple do not reflect – and in some cases completely contradict – the original BBC content,” the BBC said on Monday.

“It is critical that Apple urgently addresses these issues as the accuracy of our news is essential in maintaining trust.”

The BBC is not the only news organisation affected.

In November, a ProPublica journalist highlighted erroneous Apple AI summaries of alerts from the New York Times app suggesting it had reported that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been arrested.

A further, inaccurate summary of a New York Times story appears to have been published on January 6, relating to the fourth anniversary of the Capitol riots.

The New York Times has declined to comment.

RSF said the false, AI-generated headline about Mr Mangione in December showed “generative AI services are still too immature to produce reliable information for the public”.

On Tuesday, it said Apple’s plan to update the feature to clarify when notifications are summarised with AI to users “doesn’t fix the problem at all”.

“It just transfers the responsibility to users, who – in an already confusing information landscape – will be expected to check if information is true or not,” said Vincent Berthier, head of RSF’s technology and journalism desk.

Apple said its update would arrive “in the coming weeks”.

It has previously said its notification summaries – which group together and rewrite previews of multiple recent app notifications into a single alert on users’ lock screens – aim to allow users to “scan for key details”.

“Apple Intelligence features are in beta and we are continuously making improvements with the help of user feedback,” the company said in a statement on Monday, adding that receiving the summaries is optional.

“A software update in the coming weeks will further clarify when the text being displayed is summarization provided by Apple Intelligence. We encourage users to report a concern if they view an unexpected notification summary.”

The feature, along with others released as part of its broader suite of AI tools was rolled out in the UK in December. It is only available on its iPhone 16 models, iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max handsets running iOS 18.1 and above, as well as on some iPads and Macs.

Apple is not alone in having rolled out generative AI tools that can create text, images and more content when prompted by users – but with varying results.

Google’s AI overviews feature, which provides a written summary of information from results at the top of its search engine in response to user queries, faced criticism last year for producing some erratic responses.

At the time a Google spokesperson said that these were “isolated examples” and that the feature was generally working well.

McDonald’s workers have said they are still facing sexual abuse and harassment, a year after the boss promised to clean up behaviour at the fast-food chain.

One 19-year-old worker, Matt, told the BBC some of his colleagues were scared of going into work, and that managers would “touch up” other members of staff.

Since the BBC’s original investigation into the company, the UK equality watchdog has heard 300 reported incidents of harassment. It now plans to intervene again.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said the company had undertaken “extensive work” over the past year to ensure it has industry-leading practices in place to keep its workers safe.

The UK boss of McDonald’s has been summoned on Tuesday to answer MPs’ questions for a second time, including over claims of sexual abuse.

Warning – this article contains distressing content

• A worker quit her job in the West Midlands at the end of 2023, after she says managers inappropriately touched her and customers sexually harassed her. When she raised it, she says she was told to “suck it up”.
• A 16-year-old current employee based in the West Midlands says he was bullied, shouted at and sworn at by managers.
• A female worker, 20, says a male manager sent her topless pictures. She left her McDonald’s branch in the East of England in August.

These claims all relate to events after November 2023, when the boss of McDonald’s UK, Alistair Macrow first appeared in front of parliament’s Business and Trade Committee.

Mr Macrow told MPs then that the firm was taking action to improve working conditions, after the BBC uncovered widespread concerns over the treatment of staff.

However, one current and two former workers from different parts of the country, claim that the restaurant audits that were promised, were stage-managed by the branches.

More than 700 current and former junior employees are now taking legal action against the firm, accusing it of failing to protect them.

Matt said he quit his McDonald’s branch in the Midlands last year because of what he calls a “toxic” work environment.

He said he was bullied for having a learning disability and an eye condition.

“And then it was stuff you noticed, managers and staff being racist to other staff. Managers trying to touch other staff up,” he said.

He said some staff members felt scared to go into work, because they feared something “horrible” happening.

Matt said the work culture had not changed by the time he left in May.

Alan, not his real name, said he has been repeatedly subjected to “degrading and humiliating” verbal abuse by his colleagues at a McDonald’s branch in southwest Scotland.

“It’s just homophobic slurs a lot, sometimes to my face, sometimes behind my back,” the 19-year-old said.

When he reported the problem to a senior manager, he says he was told it was “just a bit of banter”.

Alan has worked in other fast-food restaurants where he said homophobia was taken more seriously.

“It just seems like McDonald’s don’t care as much,” he said.

Claire, not her real name, who worked at a branch in the Midlands until May 2023, says a shift manager asked her for sex in return for extra shifts, which she refused. She was 17, he was in his 30s.

“You don’t expect that to happen,” she said. “It was totally inappropriate.”

Like most McDonald’s workers, Claire was employed on a zero-hours contract.

McDonald’s outlets are run as franchises, so local managers are responsible for employing the staff for their restaurants. Across the UK, 89% of their workers are on zero-hours contracts.

McDonald’s says workers can choose to switch to minimum guaranteed hours. But we have spoken to 50 workers across the country who say they were not given that choice.

Some workers told the BBC the insecure hours leads to an imbalance of power. Others, however, said zero-hours contracts worked well for them.

Claire says she felt “dependent” on her managers for work. “I was always asking for more shifts, as I needed more money,” she said.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said that in 2018, it offered all employees the choice of a flexible or guaranteed hours contract, and that every staff room should still display information on how to request one.

“Additionally, after four weeks in role, every new employee has a formal conversation with management – in which managers check that employees are aware of the option of a guaranteed hours contract,” the company said.

The company said it did not recognise the incident where a manager asked for sex in return for shifts. “If provided with sufficient information we would ensure a full investigation is carried out, and appropriate action taken if necessary,” the company said.

Liam Byrne, chair of the Business Select Committee, which will question Mr Macrow later on Tuesday, told the BBC the situation was “appalling”.

“There is a clear pattern of abuse here that suggests that McDonald’s has become a hotbed of harassment and it’s incredibly serious,” he said.

“And when the boss of McDonald’s came before us last year he promised that he would root out this problem and it’s quite clear that he’s failed.”

Most McDonald’s staff are aged between 16 and 25. For many, it is their first job.

Even senior managers are often young.

Elliott, not his real name, was in charge of a store in the South of England by his early twenties. He left last February.

“If I had a sister, or if I had a daughter, I wouldn’t want them working in McDonald’s,” he said.

When the McDonald’s boss spoke to MPs in 2023 he said the company had stopped a practice of moving managers around so they could avoid disciplinary action.

But Elliott says that days after Mr Macrow gave evidence, a manager was moved to his store to avoid being disciplined, following allegations they had sent sexually explicit messages to female colleagues who were 16-18 years old.

Following the BBC investigation, McDonald’s brought in outside consultants, Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC), to audit their restaurants and check on the wellbeing of their staff. But Elliott says the franchise he worked for “rigged” its inspection in February.

“They were meeting the best employees, hand-plucked from different stores,” he said. “The people that can be coached on the correct answers.”

According to Elliot the audit gave the restaurant a 100% rating. Yet, he told us, two months before the audit, a manager working there had been accused of performing a Nazi salute to a Jewish employee. He said PwC was not told of this allegation.

“I think I am a bit traumatised by it,” he said. “And I think I’ll continue to have bad memories of my employment for the rest of my life.”

PwC said that while it doesn’t comment on individual clients, its site visits are “subject to a stringent set of processes” and are refined as required.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said PwC’s independent site visits “play a crucial role” in assessing each restaurant against specific criteria and ensuring standards are met.

“In the few instances where our expectations have not been met, we have taken prompt corrective action,” the spokesperson said.

“The assessment procedures are under constant review by PwC and were refined early in the programme to ensure that employee interviews – which form part of the assessment – are selected randomly by independent assessors, further safeguarding the integrity of the process.”

The BBC first began investigating working conditions at McDonald’s in February 2023, after the company signed a legally binding agreement with the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), in which it pledged to protect its staff from sexual harassment.

After our investigation was published in July 2023, McDonald’s apologised and set up a new unit to deal with complaints.

The EHRC also set up a dedicated hotline for abuse claims.

More than 160 people approached the BBC with allegations after our initial investigation, while 300 incidents were reported to the EHRC.

Now, the watchdog says it is taking stronger action against the fast-food chain.

In a new statement provided exclusively to the BBC, the EHRC said: “We are actively working with McDonalds to update our ongoing legal agreement in light of serious allegations raised by our work with the company, and the BBC investigation.”

Its action plan will involve strengthening the existing measures – which included providing more training and conducting a survey of workers – as well as announcing new steps, the BBC understands.

McDonald’s said the agreement with the EHRC was signed “with the intention that it continues to evolve to ensure the robust measures we have in place are aligned with any updated guidance”.

Separately, law firm Leigh Day said it had been instructed to start legal action against McDonald’s by hundreds of staff and former staff, with more than 450 restaurants implicated in the claims.

A McDonald’s spokesperson said: “Ensuring the 168,000 people that work in McDonald’s restaurants are safe is the most important responsibility for both us and our franchisees, and we have undertaken extensive work over the last year to ensure we have industry-leading practices in place to support this priority.

“Any incident of misconduct and harassment is unacceptable and subject to rapid and thorough investigation and action.”

The company said: “Our relentless focus on eliminating all forms of harassment at McDonald’s is led by a newly created team and informed by the experience and guidance of external experts.”

It said it had rolled out company-wide programmes to improve safeguarding, drive awareness and enhance training, and in addition to the four existing channels, it had introduced an additional way for employees to speak up, confidentially, at any time, allowing employees to “instantly raise issues digitally”, and which was “specifically designed to ensure they feel empowered to speak up”.

It also said its new investigations unit was “dedicated to rooting out any behaviour that falls below the high standards” it demands of its workers.

“We are confident that we are taking significant and important steps to tackle the unacceptable behaviours facing every organisation,” the spokesperson added.

It said its latest anonymous employee survey showed that 92% of its franchisees’ people are now comfortable speaking up, and 93% believe management will act.

“However, we know that we must be constantly vigilant, and we will challenge and confront any behaviour that falls below those standards,” it said.

• Report it: The charity Victim Support suggests telling your manager, HR representative or trade union
• Keep a record: Include dates, times and details of any incidents. Save any relevant emails.
• Get help: Victim Support operates a free and confidential 24/7 helpline and live chat service. Call 0808 16 89 111 or use the live chat at: victimsupport.org.uk/live-chat.
• Call the police: If sexual harassment escalates into violence, threats or sexual assault, report this to the police by calling 101. If you are in danger, call 999.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, information and support is available via the BBC Action Line.

Some of the names in this story have been changed to protect identities.

Warning: This story contains distressing details.

Just before New Year, 21-year-old Shatha al-Sabbagh was out buying chocolate for her family’s children from a shop in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

The “fearless” journalism student – who wanted to shed light on the suffering of the Palestinians – was with her mother, two young nephews and another relative.

“She was laughing and saying we’ll be up all night tonight,” her mother recalls.

Then she was shot in the head.

For Shatha’s mother Umm al-Motassem, the pain is still raw. She stops to take a breath.

“Shatha’s eyes were wide open. It looked like she was staring at me while lying on her back with blood gushing from her head.

“I started screaming, ‘Stop shooting! My daughter is dead. My daughter is dead.’”

But the shooting lasted for around 10 minutes. Shatha died in a pool of her own blood.

Shatha’s family holds the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) security forces fully responsible for her killing, saying their area is controlled by the PA.

“It couldn’t have been anyone other than PA… because they have such a heavy presence in our neighbourhood – no-one else could come or go.”

But the PA blames “outlaws” – the term they use for members of the Jenin Battalion, made up of fighters from armed groups including Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Hamas.

The PA exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

It launched a major security operation in the refugee camp in Jenin last month targeting the armed groups based there, which they see as a challenge to their authority. Nearly four weeks on, it continues.

The Jenin Battalion is accused of blowing up a car in the camp and carrying out other “illegal activities”.

“We have confiscated large numbers of weapons and explosive materials,” says the PA’s Brig Gen Anwar Rajab.

“The aim is to clear the camp from the explosive devices that have been planted in different streets and alleyways… These outlaws have crossed all red lines and have spread chaos.”

Gen Rajab also accuses Iran of backing and funding the armed groups in the camp.

The Jenin Battalion denies links to Iran. In a recent video posted on social media, spokesman Nour al-Bitar said the PA was trying to “demonise” them and “tarnish their image”, adding that fighters would not give up their weapons.

“To the PA and President Mahmoud Abbas, why has it come to this?” he asked, holding shrapnel from what he claimed was a rocket-propelled grenade fired at the camp by security forces.

The PA, led by President Abbas, was already unpopular among Palestinians dissatisfied by its rejection of armed struggle and its security co-ordination with Israel.

This anger intensified with the PA’s crackdown on the armed groups in the camp, which has been unprecedented in its ferocity and length.

Israel sees those groups as terrorists, but many Jenin locals consider them to be a form of resistance to the occupation.

“These ‘outlaws’ that the PA is referring to – these are the young men who stand up for us when the Israeli army raids our camp,” says Umm al-Motassem.

At least 14 people have been killed in the crackdown, including a 14-year-old, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Now many Jenin locals say they fear the PA as much as they fear Israel’s military raids. Shatha al-Sabbagh’s death has only renewed their contempt.

Before she was killed, Shatha shared several posts on social media showing the destruction from the PA operation in Jenin – as well as Israeli raids on the camp last year.

Other posts showed pictures of armed young men who were killed in the fighting, including her brother.

Her killing was condemned by Hamas, which identified her brother as a slain member of the group’s armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

The group described her “murder… in cold blood” as part of an “oppressive policy targeting the Jenin camp, which has become a symbol of steadfastness and resistance”.

Mustafa Barghouti, who leads the political party Palestinian National Initiative, sees the fighting in Jenin as a consequence of the divisions between the main Palestinian factions – Fatah, which makes up most of the PA, and Hamas, which has governed Gaza since 2007.

“The last thing Palestinians need is to see Palestinians shooting each other while Israel crushes everyone,” he says.

Inside the camp, residents say daily life has ground to a halt.

Water and electricity supplies have been cut off and families suffer from a lack of food, bitterly cold weather and relentless gun battles.

Locals who spoke to us asked for their names to be changed, saying they feared reprisals by the PA.

“Things are dire here. We can’t move freely in the camp,” says Mohamed.

“All the bakeries, the restaurants and shops are closed. The restaurant I work in opens for a day and closes for 10. When it is open, no-one comes.

“We need milk for the children, we need bread. Some people can’t open their doors because of the continuous shooting.”

The UN humanitarian agency, the OCHA, has called for an investigation into what it describes as human rights violations by the PA forces.

Gen Rajab said some of the “outlaws” who had “hijacked” the Jenin camp had been arrested and that others with pending cases would be brought to justice.

But Mohamed describes the PA’s operation – with innocent people caught in the crossfire – as “collective punishment”.

“If they want to go after outlaws, that doesn’t mean they should punish the whole camp. We want our lives back.”

Even going out to get food or water is a risk, says 20-year-old Sadaf.

“When we go out, we say our final prayers. We prepare ourselves mentally that we may not come back.

“It’s very cold. We’ve taken down the doors in our home to use as firewood just to keep warm.”

The BBC has heard similar accounts from four residents in the camp.

My conversation with Sadaf is interrupted by the sound of gunfire. It is unclear where it is from or who is firing. It starts and stops several times.

“Warning shots maybe,” she suggests, adding it happens sometimes when PA forces are changing shifts.

Sadaf continues describing the camp, with “rubbish filling the streets and almost going into homes”. More gunfire can be heard.

Sadaf’s mother joins the call. “Listen to this… Can anyone sleep with this sound in the background?

“We sleep in shifts now. We’re so scared they might raid our homes. We’re as scared of this operation as we are when the Israeli soldiers are here.”

People say security forces have deliberately hit electricity grids and generators, leaving the camp in a blackout.

The PA again blames “outlaws” – and insists it has brought in workers to fix the grid.

The armed groups want to “use the people’s suffering to pressure the PA to stop the operation”, says Gen Rajab. He says the security operation will continue until its objectives are met.

Gen Rajab says the PA’s goal is to establish control over the Jenin camp and ensure safety and stability.

He believes stripping the armed groups of control would take away Israel’s excuse to attack the camp.

In late August, the Israeli army conducted a major nine-day “counter-terrorism” operation in Jenin city and the camp, which resulted in severe destruction.

At least 36 Palestinians were killed – 21 from Jenin governorate – according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Analysts say that the PA is trying to reassert its authority in the West Bank and show the US it is capable of taking a role in the future governance of Gaza.

“What would be the harm in that?” says Gen Rajab.

“Gaza is part of the Palestinian state. Gaza and the West Bank are not separate entities. There’s no Palestinian state without Gaza. The president [Mahmoud Abbas] has said that and that is our strategy.”

But Barghouti says this approach is an “illusion”. “All you need is to listen to what [Benjamin] Netanyahu says,” he adds.

Under the Israeli prime minister’s vision for a post-war Gaza, Israel would control security indefinitely, and Palestinians with “no links to groups hostile to Israel” – so none of the existing major Palestinian political parties – would run the territory.

But the US, Israel’s major ally, wants the PA to govern Gaza after the war. Netanyahu has previously ruled out a post-war role for the internationally backed PA.

For the residents of Jenin camp, there has been no let-up in the violence and loss.

“The PA say they’re here for our safety. Where’s the safety when my daughter was killed? Where’s the safety with the non-stop shooting?” Umm al-Motassem cries.

“They can go after the ‘outlaws’ but why did my daughter have to die? Justice will be served when I know who killed my daughter,” she says.

At least 53 people have been confirmed dead and 62 are injured after a major earthquake struck China’s mountainous Tibet region on Tuesday morning, Chinese state media reported.

The earthquake that hit Tibet’s holy Shigatse city around 09:00 local time (01:00 GMT) had a magnitude of 7.1 and a depth of 10 kilometres (six miles), according to data from the US Geological Survey, which also showed a series of aftershocks in the area.

Tremors were also felt in neighbouring Nepal and parts of India.

Earthquakes are common in the region, which lies on a major geological fault line.

Shigatse is considered one of the holiest cities of Tibet. It is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, a key figure of Tibetan Buddhism whose spiritual authority is second only to the Dalai Lama.

Tingri county, near the earthquake’s epicentre, is a popular base for climbers preparing to ascend Mount Everest.

Mount Everest sightseeing tours in Tingri, originally scheduled for Tuesday morning, have been cancelled, a tourism staff told local media, adding that the sightseeing area has been fully closed.

There were three visitors in the sightseeing area who have all been moved to an outdoor area for safety, they said.

Chinese state media reported the earthquake as having a slightly lesser magnitude of 6.8, causing “obvious” tremors and leading to the damage of over 1,000 houses. There have been several strong aftershocks.

Jiang Haikun, a researcher at the China Earthquake Networks Center, told CCTV, China’s national television broadcaster, that while another earthquake of around magnitude 5 may still occur, “the likelihood of a larger earthquake is low”.

Since China annexed Tibet in the 1950s, it has kept a tight control over the autonomous region, including its media and internet access.

Social media posts from the earthquake-affected area on Tuesday showed collapsed buildings.

A hotel resident in Shigatse told Chinese media outlet Fengmian News that he was jolted awake by a wave of shaking. He said he grabbed his socks and rushed out onto the street, where he saw helicopters circling above.

“It felt like even the bed was being lifted,” he said, adding that he immediately knew it was an earthquake because Tibet recently experienced multiple smaller quakes.

The Chinese air force has launched rescue efforts and drones to the affected area, which sits at the foot of Mount Everest and where temperatures are well below freezing.

Both power and water in the region have been cut off.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has also called for all-out search and rescue efforts to minimise casualties and resettle affected residents.

While tremors were felt in Nepal, no damage or casualties were reported, a local official in Nepal’s Namche region, near Everest, told AFP.

The region, which lies near a major fault line of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, is home to frequent seismic activity. In 2015, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake near Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, killed nearly 9,000 people and injured over 20,000.

The prime minister has attacked politicians and activists “spreading lies and misinformation” over grooming gangs.

It comes after multi-billionaire Elon Musk accused Sir Keir Starmer of being “complicit in the rape of Britain” during his tenure as director of public prosecutions (DPP) between 2008 and 2013, for failing to tackle grooming gangs.

Alongside Musk’s comments, senior Conservatives and Reform UK MPs have also spent the week calling for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation.

But Sir Keir accused opposition MPs of “jumping on a bandwagon” and “amplifying what the far-right is saying” to gain attention.

Sir Keir said Labour was addressing child sexual abuse after Conservative inaction “for 14 long years”.

Online debate around grooming gangs had now “crossed a line”, resulting in threats against MPs, including Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips, he said.

“We have seen this playbook many times – whipping up of intimidation and of threats of violence, hoping that the media will amplify it,” Sir Keir said.

“Those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they’re interested in themselves,” he added.

Debate around grooming gangs was reignited this week after it was reported that Phillips rejected Oldham Council’s request for a government-led inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation in the town, in favour of a locally-led investigation.

The decision was taken in October, but first reported by GB News on 1 January.

Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir of using “smear tactics from 20 years ago” against those calling for a national inquiry.

“That such a huge scandal could occur should prompt soul-searching not ranting that those of us who care about it are ‘the far-right’,” Badenoch said.

Reporters were briefed Sir Keir planned a bold defence of his record and his government – and his comments were the most impassioned he has been in his time as prime minister.

Describing child sexual exploitation as “utterly sickening”, Sir Keir defended his record in office as DPP, saying he tackled the issue “head on”.

“I changed the system because I could see some of the things that were going wrong,” he told reporters.

While DPP, Sir Keir introduced a special prosecutor for child abuse and sexual exploitation to oversee convictions; changed the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) guidance to encourage police to investigate suspects in complex sexual abuse cases and brought in court reforms aimed at making the process less traumatic for victims.

Sir Keir said he also reopened cases, brought the first prosecution of an “Asian grooming gang” in Rochdale and called for mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.

“When I left office, we had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted on record,” Sir Keir said.

“The victims here suffered terrible abuse,” he said, “and then they weren’t listened to.”

Phillips had also “done a thousand times more” to protect victims of child sexual abuse than those attacking her can “even dreamt about”, he said.

Sir Keir did not name any of those he thought were spreading lies in the debate, but his comments followed a series of questions about interventions by Musk.

Over the past week, the tech-entrepreneur has attacked the Labour government over grooming gangs – using his platform on his social media site X to accuse Phillips of being a “rape genocide apologist”, and calling for her and Sir Keir to be jailed.

Musk’s push to oust the PM could spark diplomatic trouble for Labour.

Alongside being one of the richest men in the world, Musk is also a key adviser for US President-elect Donald Trump.

Musk responded to Sir Keir’s comments, calling him “utterly despicable”.

In a series of posts on social media, Musk continued to attack Labour figures and the prime minister by name.

He also condemned what he saw as Sir Keir’s description of demands for a national inquiry into grooming gangs as far-right activism – calling it “an insane thing to say”.

After supporting Trump’s successful campaign in the US election, Musk has recently shifted his attention to British and European politics – largely supporting insurgent right-wing movements.

In the UK he has backed Reform UK, despite recently falling out with its leader Nigel Farage, and has come out in support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of a snap legislative election in the country next month.

Musk has also called for far-right activist Tommy Robinson to be released from jail.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is currently serving an 18-month prison sentence for contempt of court, after admitting he breached an injunction against repeating claims about a Syrian refugee schoolboy.

Sir Keir accused those “cheerleading” Robinson of not being interested in justice and said he would not tolerate discussion and debate on lies.

“Once we lose the anchor that truth matters, in the robust debate that we must have, then we’re on a very slippery slope,” he said.

The Liberal Democrats urged the government to “summon the US ambassador” to address Musk’s comments, given his role in the next White House administration.

Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “People have had enough of Elon Musk interfering with our country’s democracy when he clearly knows nothing about Britain.”

There have been numerous investigations into the systematic rape of young women by organised gangs, including in Rotherham, Cornwall, Derbyshire, Rochdale and Bristol.

Sir Keir admitted many of the victims had been “let down by perverse ideas about community relations or by the idea that institutions must be protected above all else and they have not been listened to and they have not been heard.”

A Rotherham inquiry uncovered the sexual abuse of 1,400 children over 16 years, mainly by British Pakistani men.

In Telford, up to 1,000 girls faced abuse over 40 years, with some cases overlooked due to “nervousness about race” as most suspects were men of south Asian heritage.

The Conservatives and Reform UK have been calling for a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs.

Last week Badenoch said: “Trials have taken place all over the country in recent years but no one in authority has joined the dots. 2025 must be the year that the victims start to get justice.”

But Sir Keir dismissed the calls, arguing the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) by Professor Alexis Jay, which concluded in October 2022, had been “comprehensive”.

While he agreed that “no stone should be left unturned” to end child sexual abuse, Sir Keir insisted that “action” is now needed, not another review.

The government has previously said it wants to implement Prof Jay’s recommendations, and on Monday evening Home Secretary Yvette Cooper set out action she would be taking on three of the report’s proposals.

She told MPs a recommendation for those working with children to face mandatory requirements to report abuse would be enacted via an amendment to the upcoming Crime and Policing Bill this spring.

Cooper also said grooming would become an aggravating factor in the sentencing of abuse cases, and promised an “overhaul” of the information and evidence gathered on child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp reiterated his party’s call for a full national public inquiry into sexual abuse of children by grooming gangs.

He added that calling for a new inquiry was “not far-right” and that “smearing people who raise those issues is exactly how this ended up being covered up in the first place”.

James Lee Williams, better known as drag queen The Vivienne, has died aged 32.

Publicist Simon Jones said the performer, who died over the weekend, was “an incredibly loved, warm-hearted and amazing person”.

The Vivienne starred in musical theatre and TV productions, and won the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019.

The show paid tribute to the drag star on social media, saying they were “deeply saddened” by the news of the performer’s death.

Cheshire Police say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the performer’s death.

In a post on X, RuPaul’s Drag Race said: “She will be dearly missed, but her legacy will live on as a beacon of creativity and authenticity – she embodied what it means to be a true champion”.

It added: “Our hearts go out to her family and fans during this difficult time.”

The show’s judge Michelle Visage also called the star “a beacon to so many”.

Writing on social media, Visage called the news “heartbreaking”, adding: “My darling The Vivienne, we go back to when I started coming over here to the UK.”

“You were always there, always laughing, always giving, always on point.”

“Your laughter, your wit, your talent, your drag. I loved all of it but I loved your friendship most of all.”

Drag Race UK star Bimini Bon Boulash also reacted to the news, writing on Instagram: “I’m so sorry I’m in total shock”.

Cheryl – who used to go by Cheryl Hole – took part in the same series of Drag Race as The Vivienne. The performer wrote on Instagram: “I will love you forever Viv.”

John Hyland, community partnerships lead at Sahir, a LGBTQ+ and HIV charity in Liverpool, also paid tribute. Drag fans have been donating to Sahir’s latest campaign as a mark of respect for The Vivienne, who posted about the appeal just days before their death.

John said: “It says a lot to Viv’s character that her last social post was about our Pound for Sahir campaign. She just wanted to give back.

“If you look at the response tonight, I think we’re going to be in mourning in this city for a long time. The Vivienne was an amazing character, an amazing influence.”

Dexter Clift, better known as River Medway, competed on the third series of Drag Race UK and went on to perform with The Vivienne in various projects including shows and music videos.

They told the BBC: “He was the blueprint of a drag superstar. So talented, so funny, so entertaining. I used to love getting a gig with Viv because it meant I would get to watch her.

“The Viv has been around doing drag for so long but I thought we were going to see the next Paul O’Grady. I was convinced The Viv was going to host Drag Race UK one day.

“I find it very difficult to think that this is the end of that story.”

Williams’ ex-husband, David Ludford, paid tribute on Instagram.

He wrote: “My heart literally sank when I got the call! My heart is shattered!”

Natasha Von Spirit, a Liverpool drag queen, said that The Vivienne had put British drag “in the mainstream” and that they would be playing songs in tribute to them throughout the night.

They said: “Whenever she was out on the scene after drag race she was just one of the Liverpool gays.

“I’m going to play all sorts for Viv tonight – definitely Walking in Memphis because before Drag Race she sung that none stop, and definitely a bit of her own music as well.”

Williams was born in Wales, and adopted the drag name because of a love for wearing Vivienne Westwood clothing.

Rydal Penrhos school in Colwyn Bay, where Williams was a former pupil, said it was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the star’s death.

“The Vivienne’s successful career as a performer and artist proved a source of inspiration and joy to so many”, the school said in a statement.

As well as winning Drag Race, The Vivienne came third on the 2023 edition of Dancing On Ice, and performed as the Wicked Witch of the West in a UK and Ireland tour of The Wizard Of Oz musical.

The performer reprised the role in the West End at the Gillian Lynne Theatre last year.

The Vivienne also competed on an all-winners season of the RuPaul franchise in the US in 2022, and starred in BBC Three show The Vivienne Takes On Hollywood in 2020.

In an Instagram post on Boxing Day, The Vivienne put up a series of photos, captioning it: “24′ highlights.”

“What a year it’s been. Here’s to reaching new heights and achieving dreams in 25,” the star wrote, before signing off: “Viv xxx.”

Mr Jones said words announcing The Vivienne’s death were ones he “never ever wanted to write”.

“No one has ever made me laugh in my life as much as Viv did. Their comic genius and quick wit was like no other,” he said.

“I’m so proud and lucky that Viv was such a big part of my life every day for the last 5 years.”

Mr Jones asked for privacy for the star’s family and said no further details would be released at this time.

Fiona Campbell, BBC controller of youth audience, called the news “deeply sad”, adding: “We are fiercely proud of The Vivienne’s achievements, including winning the first ever series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.

“Right now our thoughts are with their family and friends, the Drag Race sisterhood and their many fans.”

Four years to the day after a mob of Donald Trump’s supporters violently besieged the US Capitol, Congress formally certified the incoming president’s re-election in a special session.

Vice-President Kamala Harris, who Trump defeated in the 2024 election, presided over the event as required by the US Constitution.

But the shadow of 6 January 2021 lingered over Monday’s proceedings, despite Trump and his allies’ campaign to recast the attack as a “day of love.”

Heavy security was in place in Washington DC, and current President Joe Biden vowed there would be no repeat of the violence four years ago.

Trump celebrated the moment on Truth Social, writing: “Congress certifies our great election victory today – a big moment in history.”

The day was extraordinary in its normalcy, given the chaos of four years before. Harris stood at the front of the US House chamber with a sombre expression as lawmakers read out each state’s election results before formally declaring their authenticity.

Though the results declared Trump the victor, Harris received a standing ovation from the Democratic side of the chamber when she read out her own electoral vote tally.

Vice-president-elect JD Vance was in attendance. Seated directly next to him was Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, one of the few remaining Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in an impeachment trial stemming from the riot – that vote ultimately failed and Trump was acquitted.

Earlier, House Speaker Mike Johnson had promised to go ahead with the certification in spite of the inclement weather, telling Fox News: “Whether we’re in a blizzard or not, we’re going to be in that chamber making sure this is done.”

Harris, meanwhile, vowed to “perform my constitutional duty as Vice President to certify the results of the 2024 election”.

“This duty is a sacred obligation – one I will uphold guided by love of country, loyalty to our Constitution, and unwavering faith in the American people,” she said in a video statement.

Ordinarily there would be little need to remark on such procedures. The US Constitution requires the certification of a presidential election on 6 January, and for the vice-president to oversee the vote.

But last time the US Congress gathered to certify the election of a US president, the vote was delayed for several hours because rioters, animated by a false belief that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, smashed through windows, beat their way through lines of police officers, crashed the US House chamber, and ransacked the office of then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others.

In a speech in Washington DC that day, before the violence broke out, Trump told a crowd to “fight like hell” but also asked them to “peacefully” make their voices heard.

Lawmakers, including Republicans, were forced to take cover in the basement and Capitol staffers hid wherever they could find shelter. Then-Vice-President Mike Pence was whisked into hiding as rioters erected a gallows on the Capitol grounds and called for his hanging because he refused to inaccurately certify the results in Trump’s favour.

In the aftermath, Capitol Hill custodial workers worked furiously to clean up shattered windows and trashed corridors. Congressional staffers spent the next several months reckoning with the trauma of the attack.

The riot caused nearly $3m (£2.4m) in damage, injured more than 100 police officers, and shocked America’s political system.

In the immediate wake of the attack, which millions of Americans watched unfold on television and social media, there was little debate over who deserved blame.

The US House of Representatives impeached Trump on charges he incited the riot, but the US Senate did not achieve the two-thirds vote required to convict him. Then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, explicitly blamed Trump, saying rioters “did this because they had been fed wild falsehoods by the most powerful man on Earth – because he was angry he’d lost an election”.

Trump himself faced federal charges for allegations that he attempted to subvert the 2020 election, to which he pleaded not guilty. But the Department of Justice (DoJ) was forced to drop the case once he was elected last year, due to protocols that prevented the prosecution of a sitting president.

As Trump sought a return to power, he and his allies have worked to dramatically change the narrative around the riot and its cause.

Trump said there was “nothing done wrong at all,” at an October 2024 presidential campaign forum.

He has called the people convicted by the DoJ “hostages” and “political prisoners.” And his new vice-president, JD Vance, refused to acknowledge in a presidential debate that Trump lost the 2020 election.

Americans now have starkly divided perspectives on the day. A January 2024 Washington Post/University of Maryland poll suggested that a quarter of Americans believed a conspiracy theory that the FBI instigated the attack. While a majority of Americans believed 6 January 2021 was an attack on democracy, only 18% of Republicans thought so, the poll indicated.

Trump’s second term will begin after he is inaugurated on 20 January. It represents a stunning political comeback from his electoral defeat in 2020, and a criminal conviction in 2024 – a first for a current or former US president.

The president-elect has vowed to pardon people convicted of offences over the attack. He says many of them are “wrongfully imprisoned”, though has acknowledged that “a couple of them, probably they got out of control”.

Biden has called on Americans never to forget what happened.

“We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it,” Biden wrote in the Washington Post over the weekend.

For Trump’s Republican Party, the new Senate Majority Leader John Thune has signalled a desire to move on, telling the BBC’s US partner CBS News: “You can’t be looking in the rearview mirror.”

Under growing pressure from his own party, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he will step down and end his nine-year stretch as leader.

Trudeau said he would stay on in office until his Liberal Party can choose a new leader, and that parliament would be prorogued – or suspended – until 24 March.

“This country deserves a real choice in the next election and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” he said during a press conference Monday.

Trudeau’s personal unpopularity with Canadians had become an increasing drag on his party’s fortunes in advance of federal elections later this year.

“Last night, over dinner, I told my kids about the decision that I’m sharing with you today,” he told the news conference in Ottawa.

“I intend to resign as party leader, as prime minister, after the party selects its next leader through a robust nationwide competitive process,” he said.

The president of the Liberal Party, Sachit Mehra, said a meeting of the party’s board of directors would be held this week to begin the process of selecting a new leader.

Who might replace Trudeau as Liberal Party leader?

Why the Trudeau era has come to an end now

What happens next for Canada?

In a statement, he added: “Liberals across the country are immensely grateful to Justin Trudeau for more than a decade of leadership to our Party and the country.”

“As Prime Minister, his vision delivered transformational progress for Canadians,” he said, citing programmes his government has implemented like the Canada Child Benefit and the establishment of dental care and pharmacare coverage for some medication.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said “nothing has changed” following Trudeau’s resignation.

“Every Liberal MP and Leadership contender supported EVERYTHING Trudeau did for 9 years, and now they want to trick voters by swapping in another Liberal face to keep ripping off Canadians for another 4 years, just like Justin,” Poilievre wrote on X.

Trudeau, 53, had faced growing calls to quit from inside his Liberal Party, which ramped up in December when deputy prime minister and long-time ally Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned.

In a public resignation letter, Freeland cited US President-elect Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on Canadian goods, and accused Trudeau of not doing enough to address the “grave challenge” posed by Trump’s proposals.

Trump has promised to impose a tax of 25% on imported Canadian goods – which economists have warned would significantly hurt Canada’s economy – unless the country takes steps to increase security on its shared border.

Trudeau said Monday that he had hoped Freeland would have continued as deputy prime minister, “but she chose otherwise”.

Canada has since announced that it will implement sweeping new security measures along the country’s US border in response to the threat.

In an online post, Trump claimed that pressure over tariffs led to Trudeau’s resignation and repeated his jibe that Canada should become “the 51st State”.

“If Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them,” he wrote.

Since 2019, the Liberal Party has governed as a minority party.

Following Freeland’s resignation, Trudeau lost the backing of parties that had previously helped keep the Liberals in power – the left-leaning New Democrats, who had a support agreement with the Liberals, and the Quebec nationalist party, Bloc Quebecois.

The largest opposition party, the Conservatives, have maintained a significant two-digit lead over the Liberals in polls for months – suggesting that if a general election were held today, the Liberals could be in for a significant defeat.

Liberals will now choose a new leader to take the party into the next election, which must be held on or before 20 October.

A senior government official told the BBC that the race is an open contest, and that the Prime Minister’s Office will fully stay out of the process, leaving it to Liberal Party members to decide their future.

Speaking to reporters, the Bloc Quebecois leader Yves-François Blanchet suggested that an early election be called once the Liberals choose their new leader.

Trudeau is the son of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, who dominated the country’s politics in the 1970s and ’80s.

The younger Trudeau became prime minister after the Liberal Party won a sweeping majority in 2015 amid a promise to usher in a new, progressive era of “Sunny Ways”.

His record includes a commitment to gender equality in his cabinet, which continues to be 50% women; progress on reconciliation with Indigenous people in Canada; bringing in a national carbon tax; implementing a tax-free child benefit for families; and legalising recreational cannabis.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak praised Trudeau’s track record on indigenous issues following his resignation, saying in a statement that he “has taken meaningful steps to address issues that matter to First Nations”.

“While much work remains, these actions have laid a foundation for future governments to build upon.”

Clouds began to hang over Trudeau’s government in recent years, which weathered a series of often self-inflicted scandals, including a controversy over a deal with a Canadian firm facing corruption charges and photos that emerged of the prime minister wearing brownface makeup.

Vaccine mandates and other restrictions were also met with fierce backlash by some Canadians, leading to the Freedom Convoy truck protests in early 2022. Trudeau eventually used unprecedented emergency powers to remove the protesters.

As Canada began to emerge from the pandemic, housing and food prices skyrocketed, and his government pulled back on ambitious immigration targets as public services began to show strain.

By late 2024, Trudeau’s approval rating was at its lowest – just 22% of Canadians saying they thought he was doing a good job, according to one polling tracker.

In Ottawa, a small group of protestors danced outside Parliament Hill in celebration of his resignation.

One passer-by, however, said he thinks things were fine under Trudeau’s watch.

“I’m a carpenter,” Hames Gamarra, who is from British Columbia, told the BBC. “I mind my own business, I get my wages, I pay the bills. It’s been OK.”

Another Canadian, Marise Cassivi, said it feels like the end of an era. Asked if she feels any hints of sadness, she replied: “No.”

“It’s the right thing.”

The Golden Globes were a night to celebrate film, TV, and… love.

Last year, Timotheé Chalamet sent the internet into a frenzy as he piled on the PDA with his girlfriend Kylie Jenner at the ceremony, and this year it was date night again as the pair cosied up throughout the evening.

There was even more love in the air as A Different Man star Sebastian Stan is now officially officially dating Annabelle Wallis. He shouted out that he loved her during his acceptance speech for best actor in a musical or comedy film.

And if that isn’t enough romance for you then Zendaya has stolen the show with rumours of a potential engagement. Here’s more on that and eight other highlights from the awards ceremony that you may have missed.

Zendaya brought her usual effortlessly sleek style to the red carpet but the internet seemed less interested in her burnt orange gown and more about what was on her finger.

The Challengers star was sporting a large diamond ring on the fourth finger of her left hand and some thought it might be a sign that she’s engaged.

The 28-year-old has been dating Spider-Man actor Tom Holland for the past four years.

Fans immediately started speculating about their possible engagement, but one pointed out on X: “They’re very protective about their relationship, so would she actually wear the ring on the red carpet?”

If you’re hosting the Golden Globes, naturally you’ve got to look the part. For Nikki Glaser that meant a whopping a 10 dresses across the three hour ceremony.

The comedian started off the night wearing a strapless metallic dress on the red carpet before switching to a halter neck silver sequined gown to kick the ceremony off.

The 40-year-old seemed to use every advert break across the show to switch into something different backstage and some of her other outfits included a sparkly purple dress, a high-slit red gown and a tight-fitting black plunge number.

Our personal favourite outfit? A Wicked-inspired bright pink sequined dress that she wore with a pope’s hat as she sang “you’re going to be pope-ular”.

If you even go to the bathroom at The Beverly Hilton, you’re likely to run into a celebrity.

Turn the corner, bam – Melissa McCarthy. Turn another – Jean Smart and the rest of the cast of Hacks.

The hotel in the heart of swanky Beverly Hills had a large security perimeter with barriers, armed guards and patrols, but once a person is inside – it’s like a playground for Hollywood’s A-list.

Some hunted for drinks, others were wrangled by publicists to interviews and photo shoots with eager journalists.

Roaming around the hotel, Selena Gomez, hot off her film Emilia Pérez winning four awards, was seen with her new fiancé Benny Blanco. He kissed her shoulder as he trailed behind her in an intimate moment.

Shōgun, a series set in 17th century Japan, was a big winner at the Globes, taking home four awards.

Star Hiroyuki Sanada won best male actor in a drama TV series and backstage told the BBC that he hopes the show and their wins could “could break the wall of language” and open “doors much wider” not only for Japanese actors and projects but those across the globe.

His co-star Tadanobu Asano won best male supporting actor in a TV series and clearly shocked, jumped out of his seat and, in Japanese custom, bowed repeatedly – first to those at his table then everyone in the audience and then to the cameras, which had panned to him.

“Wow!” he said when handed the award on stage. He acknowledged that he’s a new talent in the US and started off by introducing himself to the crowd.

“Maybe you don’t know me, so I’m an actor from Japan and my name is Tadanobu Asano,” he said as the crowd laughed.

“I’m very happy!” he shouted through excited laughter, concluding his acceptance speech.

Backstage, he said his message to other Japanese actors: “If I can do this, anyone can.”

Irish actor Colin Farrell picked up his third Golden Globe, for playing the Batman villain in the HBO series Penguin.

Accepting his speech he mentioned some of the other nominees in his category including fellow Irishman Andrew Scott.

He recalled their first movie together, Drinking Crude, and said: “[Andrew] who I did my first film with 25, 30 years ago. You can’t even find it on Betamax. It doesn’t exist. But we go back that far.”

He added to Scottish actor Richard Gadd, whose experience of stalking and sexual assault inspired the Netflix hit series Baby Reindeer, that “you broke my heart with your work this year”.

In his speech, Farrell also spoke about the three hours it took to be fitted with prosthetics to make him the bloated villain in Penguin.

“In the morning, I drank black coffee, listened to 80s music, and I became a canvas for that team’s brilliance.”

Farrell also said: “Thank you for employing me. And yeah, I guess it’s prosthetics from here on out.”

Backstage, Mr Farrell acknowledged his lengthy Hollywood career and said despite his win, “I certainly don’t consider myself at the top of any pile”.

He said after his nearly 30 years acting, he doesn’t feel a sense of pride, but rather, just feels “very grateful”.

We’ve all been holding space for Wicked this year and Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum were providing us with our Wizard of Oz fix in classic boomer style.

“People have been calling me Zaddy but I don’t know what that means,” Goldblum said while Yeoh added that she was just as confused by people telling her that she’s been “serving mother”.

Despite being clueless to the meaning of the Gen Z language and looking even more baffled as Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande tried to explain the meaning behind these words, they both said they love it.

“Let’s see who ate,” Goldblum said as he introduced the nominees for a category.

Backstage the cast of Wicked spoke to the BBC about whether there was a future for the Land of Oz in a TV series.

The film’s producer Marc Platt joked that the film “is already a show” – on Broadway. Beyond that, though, he said: “It’s hard to predict.”

Asked by the BBC about the film transcending into a culture phenomenon with countless memes and viral clips, Platt said it speaks to the “timeless” material the film is based on.

“When something becomes a cultural phenomenon, you can’t really predict that. It’s very exhilarating,” he said.

Sir Elton John joked about his sight loss as he presented the award for best original film score with Brandi Carlile, who he sang the track Never Too Late with.

The 77-year-old singer revealed in September that his vision has been affected in his right eye after contracting an infection in the summer.

In December he said he had been unable to watch his own musical, The Devil Wears Prada, due to the infection.

But, on stage he told the audience: “There has been a lot of stories going around about my regressive eyesight, and I just want to reassure everyone it is not as bad as it seems.”

“I’m so pleased to be here with my co-host, Rihanna,” he joked.

Sir Elton cheered as it was announced that US musician Trent Reznor and English composer Atticus Ross won the award for the musical score for erotic tennis film challengers.

Fernanda Torres’s surprise win for best drama actress in the Brazilian political thriller I’m Still Here even surprised her.

She called the win over Hollywood heavyweights – including Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet – both “strange” and “weird”.

“I never thought I would win”, she said, because there were “so many great performances in English, so this tells so much about the difference in cinema nowadays.”

She was asked about the celebrations happening back in her home country of Brazil, with one reporter remarking that it was like she’d won the country the World Cup.

“It is something very patriotic that’s happening in Brazil with this film,” she said, noting the country was “very happy” thanks to the Golden Globes.

In her acceptance speech she noted that the only other Brazilian actor to be nominated at the Globes was her mother, Fernanda Montenegro.

Several winning actresses tackled the topic of age at the awards.

Demi Moore, 62, noted in her acceptance speech for best film actress in The Substance that she’d spent much of her career believing that while she was successful, she would never receive any major Hollywood accolades.

She said the award reflected the message of the film, a body horror about a woman who trades her body for a younger, more beautiful version of herself.

“I’ll just leave you with one thing that I think this movie is imparting is in those moments when we don’t think we’re smart enough or pretty enough or skinny enough or successful enough, or basically just not enough,” Moore said.

“I had a woman say to me, just know you will never be enough, but you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.

After winning her award, she told journalists backstage about how many women spend much of their lives as caretakers and don’t get to spend their energy outward. And now, at 62, she is and “it feels really damn good”.

Jodie Foster, who is the same age as Moore, won the award for best actress in a limited series and said the 60s are a “golden age” because there’s like “a hormone that happens when suddenly you go, ‘Oh, I don’t really care about all the stupid things anymore”.

She called this era the “most contented moment in my career.”

Fierce fighting is under way for a second day in Russia’s Kursk region after Ukraine launched a counter-attack on Sunday.

Moscow said it had met the attack with artillery and air power and on Monday stated that Russian troops thwarted a breakthrough attempt by Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Kursk operation, launched with a mass incursion in August, had established a buffer zone which prevents Russian forces from being deployed in key areas of the front in eastern Ukraine.

He said Russia had lost more than 38,000 soldiers in Kursk – nearly 15,000 of whom were unable to return to the front. It is not clear on whether he meant that they had been killed or severely injured.

The BBC cannot independently verify Zelensky’s figures for Russian losses.

Ukrainian forces entered the region of Kursk in August, seizing a chunk of territory, but Russian forces have since pushed them back in some areas without managing to eject them entirely.

According to the Russian defence ministry, a Ukrainian assault detachment consisting of two tanks, one military engineering vehicle and 12 armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) attacked near the village of Berdin around 09:00 (06:00 GMT) on Sunday.

Russian forces hit back, it said, destroying both tanks, the military engineering vehicle and seven armoured fighting vehicles. Fighting continued, it added.

Aerial video of a column of armour moving through snow-covered countryside in daylight and coming under fire, with vehicles taking hits, was published by Russian state news agency Ria.

Ukraine’s top counter-disinformation official Andriy Kovalenko said in a Telegram post: “The Russians in Kursk are experiencing great anxiety because they were attacked from several directions and it came as a surprise to them.”

One Russian blogger, Yury Podolyaka, suggested the operation might have been diversionary, while another, Alexander Kots, did not rule out that the main attack could be launched somewhere else.

Kyiv’s forces are reportedly suffering from manpower shortages and have been losing ground in the east of Ukraine in recent months, as Russian troops advance.

In November, Ukraine reported its troops had engaged in combat with North Korean troops in the Kursk region.

The reported appearance of North Korean soldiers was in response to a surprise attack launched across the border by Ukrainian troops in August, advancing up to 18 miles (30km) into Russian land.

Moscow evacuated almost 200,000 people from areas along the border and President Vladimir Putin condemned the Ukrainian offensive as a “major provocation”.

After a fortnight, Ukraine’s top commander claimed to control more than 1,200 sq km of Russian territory and 93 villages.

Some of that territory has been regained by Russia.

At the weekend, Zelensky said that security guarantees leading to an end to the war would only be effective if the US under Donald Trump provided them.

During a podcast interview with Lex Fridman, he praised the incoming US president’s influence and suggested Trump had the leverage to at least halt Russia’s continued invasion.

Trump pledged during his election campaign to end the war quickly, without giving details.

Zelensky said: “Trump and I will come to an agreement and… offer strong security guarantees, together with Europe, and then we can talk to the Russians.”

But on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine needed to have a “realistic” position on territorial issues and warned there would be no “quick and easy” solution to the conflict.