An 18-year-old Dalit woman from the southern India state of Kerala has accused 64 men of sexually abusing her since she was 13 years old.

Police have arrested 28 people in connection with the case so far – the men are in custody and have not made any public statement.

The accused, who range between 17 and 47 years of age, include the woman’s neighbours, sports coaches and her father’s friends, police told the BBC.

The woman reported the alleged abuse after a team of counsellors working under a government scheme visited her house.

Police have registered about 18 cases under India’s various crime laws as well as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act – which is a law to prevent crimes against people belonging to lower castes and tribes in India.

Dalits lie at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy and face widespread discrimination in India despite laws to protect them.

Cases have also been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, since the abuse took place when the woman was a minor, senior police official Nandakumar S told BBC Hindi.

More cases are expected to be registered in the coming days as the police are still investigating the matter. A 25-member team has been set up.

Police say that the alleged abuse began when the girl was 13 years old. Her neighbour allegedly molested her and took sexually explicit photographs of her, the News Minute website reported.

Her neighbour allegedly sexually abused her again when she was 16 years old, recorded videos of the abuse and shared it with several others who continued to assault the woman over many years.

A lawyer who heads the district’s Child Welfare Committee (CWC) told the Indian Express newspaper that the woman was an athlete and attended various sports camps, which could have facilitated further abuse.

Police say that the woman was allegedly gangraped three times in the past five years.

Her alleged abusers reportedly used her father’s phone number to contact her and the woman stored their contacts in the phone. The police are now using the phone to trace the accused.

The woman’s family was reportedly unaware of the alleged abuse.

The matter came to light when a team of counsellors visited the woman’s home last month. The counsellors alerted the CWC about the matter and the woman was asked to appear before the committee along with her mother.

“She was given counselling, and she opened up before a psychologist, narrating the sexual abuse she has been facing since the age of 13,” the CWC chief told the Indian Express.

He added that the woman had been shifted to a shelter associated with the CWC for her protection.

The woman’s allegations have sent shockwaves across the country. She is expected to give a detailed statement about the alleged abuse to a woman police officer.

Two women have been arrested after climate protestors spray-painted over the grave of Charles Darwin inside Westminster Abbey.

Climate protest group Just Stop Oil (JSO) said two activists used spray chalk paint on the grave of the famous naturalist, who is best known for his theories on evolution.

The Met Police was called after the incident on Monday at 09:30 GMT and said two women were arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage and remained in police custody.

Westminster Abbey said it was taking “immediate action” to clean the memorial.

Alyson Lee, 66, a retired teaching assistant from Derby, and Di Bligh, a 77-year-old former chief executive of Reading Council, from Rode, were involved in the action, JSO said.

A Westminster Abbey spokesperson said: “The Abbey’s conservators are taking immediate action to clean the memorial and do not anticipate that there will be any permanent damage.”

They added it remained open for visiting and worshipping.

Ms Lee told the PA news agency: “We are trying to get the government to act on climate change. They are not doing enough.”

The other activist, Ms Bligh, told PA: “We’ve done this because there’s no hope for the world, really.

“We’ve done it on Darwin’s grave specifically because he would be turning in that grave because of the sixth mass extinction taking place now.”

Ms Lee added: “I believe he would approve because he was a good scientist and he would be following the science, and he would be as upset as us with the government for ignoring the science.”

The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) confirmed on Friday that last year was the warmest on record globally and the first calendar year that the average temperature exceeded 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Pursuing efforts to prevent the world warming more than 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures is one of the key commitments of the global Paris Treaty which countries agreed to in 2015, in a bid to avert the most dangerous impacts of climate change.

The scientists said human-caused climate change was the primary driver for record temperatures, while other factors such as the Pacific Ocean’s “El Nino” weather phenomenon, which raises global temperatures, also had an effect.

Analysis from the Met Office, University of East Anglia and the National Centre for Atmospheric Science also found 2024 was the hottest on record, and “likely” the first year exceeding 1.5C.

The hum of sewing machines is a constant in parts of Guangzhou, a thriving port on the Pearl River in southern China.

It rattles through the open windows of factories from morning until late at night, as they finish the t-shirts, shorts, blouses, pants and swimwear that will be shipped to fill wardrobes in more than 150 countries.

This is the sound of Panyu, the neighbourhood known as the “Shein village”, a warren of factories that power the world’s largest fast fashion retailer.

“If there are 31 days in a month, I will work 31 days,” one worker told the BBC.

Most said they only have one day off a month.

The BBC spent several days here: we visited 10 factories, spoke to four owners and more than 20 workers. We also spent time at labour markets and textile suppliers.

We found that the beating heart of this empire is a workforce sitting behind sewing machines for around 75 hours a week in contravention of Chinese labour laws.

These hours are not unusual in Guangzhou, an industrial hub for rural workers in search of a higher income; or in China, which has long been the world’s unrivalled factory.

But they add to a growing list of questions about Shein, once a little-known Chinese-founded company that has become a global behemoth in just over five years.

Still privately-owned, it was valued at about £54bn ($66bn) in a fundraising round in 2023. It is now eyeing a potential listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Its meteoric rise, however, has been dogged with controversy about its treatment of workers and allegations of forced labour.

Last year it admitted to finding children working in its factories in China.

The company declined to be interviewed but told the BBC in a statement that “Shein is committed to ensuring the fair and dignified treatment of all workers within our supply chain” and is investing tens of millions of dollars in strengthening governance and compliance.

It added: “We strive to set the highest standards for pay and we require that all supply chain partners adhere to our code of conduct. Furthermore, Shein works with auditors to ensure compliance.”

Shein’s success lies in volume – the inventory online runs into the hundreds of thousands – and deep discounts: £10 dresses, £6 sweaters, prices that hover below £8 on average.

Revenue has soared, outstripping the likes of H&M, Zara and the UK’s Primark. The cut-price sales are driven by places like the Shein village, home to some 5,000 factories, most of them Shein suppliers.

The buildings have been hollowed out to make way for sewing machines, rolls of fabric and bags brimming with cloth scraps. The doors to their basements are always open for the seemingly endless cycle of deliveries and collections.

As the day passes, the shelves fill up with warehouse-bound, clear plastic bags labelled with a now-distinctive five-letter noun.

But even past 22:00, the sewing machines – and the people hunched over them – don’t stop as more fabric arrives, in trucks so full that bolts of colour sometimes tumble onto the factory floor.

“We usually work, 10, 11 or 12 hours a day,” says a 49-year-old woman from Jiangxi unwilling to give her name. “On Sundays we work around three hours less.”

She is in an alleyway, where a dozen people are huddled around a row of bulletin boards.

They are reading the job ads on the board, while examining the stitching on a pair of chinos draped over it.

This is Shein’s supply chain. The factories are contracted to make clothes on order – some small, some big. If the chinos are a hit, orders will ramp up and so must production. Factories then hire temporary workers to meet the demand their permanent staff cannot fulfil.

The migrant worker from Jiangxi is looking for a short-term contract – and the chinos are an option.

“We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high,” she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to send back to her two children who are living with their grandparents.

“We get paid per piece,” she explains. “It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece and I can make around a dozen in an hour.”

Examining the stitching on the chinos is crucial for making that decision. All around her, workers are calculating how much they will get paid to make each piece of clothing and how many they can make in an hour.

The alleys of Panyu function as labour markets, filling up in the mornings as workers and scooters rush past the breakfast dumpling cart, the cups of steaming soybean milk and the hopeful farmer selling chicken and duck eggs.

Standard working hours appear to be from 08:00 to well past 22:00, the BBC found.

This is consistent with a report from the Swiss advocacy group Public Eye, which was based on interviews with 13 textile workers at factories producing clothes for Shein.

They found that a number of staff were working excessive overtime. It noted the basic wage without overtime was 2,400 yuan (£265; $327) – below the 6,512 yuan the Asia Floor Wage Alliance says is needed for a “living wage”. But the workers we spoke to managed to earn anywhere between 4,000 and 10,000 yuan a month.

“These hours are not unusual, but it’s clear that it’s illegal and it violates basic human rights,” said David Hachfield from the group. “It’s an extreme form of exploitation and this needs to be visible.”

The average working week should not exceed 44 hours, according to Chinese labour laws, which also state that employers should ensure workers have at least one rest day a week. If an employer wants to extend these hours, it should be for special reasons.

While Shein’s headquarters are now in Singapore, there is no denying the majority of its products are made in China.

And Shein’s success has drawn the attention of Washington, which is increasingly wary of Chinese firms.

In June, Donald Trump’s pick for US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said he had “grave ethics concerns” about Shein’s “deep ties to the People’s Republic of China”: “Slave labour, sweatshops, and trade tricks are the dirty secrets behind Shein’s success,” he wrote.

Not everyone would agree with Rubio’s choice of words to describe the conditions at Shein’s suppliers. But rights groups say that the long working hours, which have become a way of life for many in Guangzhou, are unfair and exploitative.

The machines dictate the rhythm of the day.

They pause for lunch and dinner when the workers, metal plates and chopsticks in hand, file into the canteen to buy food. If there is no more space to sit, they stand in the street.

“I’ve been working in these factories for more than 40 years,” said one woman who spent just 20 minutes eating her meal. This was just another day for her.

Inside, the factories we visit are not cramped. There is enough light and industrial-sized fans have been brought in to keep workers cool. Huge posters urge staff to report underage workers – likely a response to finding two cases of child labour in the supply chain last year.

The BBC understands that the company is keeping a closer eye on its suppliers ahead of plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange.

“This is about their reputation,” says Sheng Lu, a professor in Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware. “If Shein can successfully achieve an IPO then it means they are recognised as a decent company. But if they are to keep the confidence of investors, they have to take some responsibility.”

One of the biggest challenges Shein faces is accusations that it sources cotton from China’s Xinjiang region.

Once touted as among the world’s best fabric, Xinjiang’s cotton has fallen out of favour after allegations that it is produced using forced labour by people from the Muslim Uyghur minority – a charge that Beijing has consistently denied.

The only way to get around this criticism is to be more transparent, Prof Sheng says.

“Unless you fully release your factory list, unless you make your supply chain more transparent to the public, then I think it’s going to be very challenging for Shein.”

A major advantage, he adds, is that Shein’s supply chain is in China: “Very few countries have a complete supply chain. China has this – and nobody can compete.”

Aspiring rivals like Vietnam and Bangladesh import raw materials from China to make clothes. But Chinese factories rely entirely on local sources for everything, from fabric to zippers and buttons. So it’s easy to make a variety of garments, and they are able to do it quickly.

That especially works for Shein whose algorithm determines orders. If shoppers repeatedly click on a certain dress, or spend longer looking at a wool sweater, the firm knows to ask factories to make more – and fast.

For workers in Guangzhou, this can be a challenge.

“Shein has its pros and cons,” one factory owner told us. “The good thing is the order is eventually big, but profit is low and it’s fixed.”

Shein, given its size and influence, is a hard bargainer. So factory owners have to cut costs elsewhere, often resulting in lower staff wages.

“Before Shein, we produced and sold clothes on our own,” said an owner of three factories. “We could estimate the cost, decide the price and calculate the profit. Now Shein controls the price, and you have to think about ways to reduce the cost.”

When orders peak, however, it’s a bonanza. The company ships around one million packages a day on average, according to data from ShipMatrix, a logistics consultancy firm.

“Shein is a pillar of the fashion industry,” said Guo Qing E, a Shein supplier.

“I started when Shein started. I witnessed its rise. To be honest, Shein is an awesome company in China. I think it will become stronger, because it pays on time. This is where it is most trustworthy.

“If payment for our goods is due on the 15th, no matter whether it’s millions or tens of millions, the money will be paid on time.”

Shein, with its gruelling hours and sometimes lower wages, may not be a source of comfort to all its workers. But it is a source of pride for some.

“This is the contribution we Chinese people can make to the world,” said a 33- year-old supervisor from Guangdong, who didn’t want to give her name.

It’s dark outside and workers are filing back into factories after their dinner for the final stretch. She admits the hours are long, but “we get on well with each other. We are like a family”.

Hours later, after many workers head home for the night, the lights in several buildings stay on.

Some people work until midnight, one factory owner told us. They want to earn more money, he said.

After all, in London, Chicago, Singapore, Dubai and so many other places, someone is hunting for their next bargain.

The outline of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal currently being discussed by Israel and Hamas at indirect talks in Doha has been on the table since May. So why is there fresh anticipation that it could work, after being frozen for eight months of the war?

There are several things that have shifted – both politically and on the ground.

The first is the election of Donald Trump as the next US president.

He has threatened that “all hell” would break loose if the hostages were not released before he took office on 20 January.

Hamas may well read that as a sign that even the flimsy brakes the Biden administration used to try and rein in the Israeli government would be lifted, though it is hard to imagine what that might mean for a territory already so shattered by 15 months of war.

Israel too is feeling the pressure from the incoming president to end the conflict in Gaza, which threatens to interfere with Trump’s hopes to secure a wider regional deal, and his desired image as a president who ends wars.

• Biden and Netanyahu discuss Gaza ceasefire talks as momentum builds

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces continued pressure from his far-right coalition allies to continue the war.

But Trump could also be an asset for him in persuading his allies to swallow the deal and stay in the government; the new US president and the man he picked as Israeli ambassador are seen as supportive of Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank, which Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has said he wants to annex.

But after a meeting with the prime minister last night, Smotrich appeared unconvinced, writing on social media that the current deal was “a catastrophe” for Israel’s national security and that he would not support it.

Some in Israel, though, believe that both Smotrich and his far-right ally, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, see their current role in Israel’s government as their best chance to cement control over the West Bank, especially with Trump returning to the White House, and that they are unlikely to follow through with their threats to quit.

The second thing that has shifted is growing pressure on Netanyahu from his own military establishment.

Key figures are widely reported to have challenged him repeatedly on the dwindling military goals in continuing the war, after the killing of the top Hamas leadership, and the decimation of Gaza.

Last week, 10 Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, shining a fresh spotlight on the costs of the war to Israel, and on the perennial question of whether the “total victory” over Hamas that Netanyahu has promised is achievable.

Some analysts now suggest that Hamas is rebuilding faster than Israel is defeating it, and therefore Israel needs to reconsider its strategy.

And there’s a third – regional – shift playing into the shift in expectations here too: the weakening and erosion of Hamas allies in Iran’s “Axis of Resistance”, from Hezbollah in Lebanon to Bashar al-Assad in Syria, along with killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

For all these reasons, now is seen as the best chance in months to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas and bring an end to the war.

What has not shifted in the eight months since they were last negotiating are the gaps between them.

Key among them is a direct conflict between the key concern of Hamas, which wants to end the war, and that of Israel, which wants to keep the door open to resuming the conflict, whether for political or military reasons.

The deal, as outlined by President Joe Biden in May, is divided into three phases, with a permanent ceasefire only coming into effect in phase two.

Success now will likely depend on whether guarantees can be found to allay Hamas fears that Israel will pull out of the deal after the first phase of hostage releases.

Questions over how to administer territory that Israel pulls back from are also unclear at this stage.

But the web of diplomacy criss-crossing the region over the past week, and the fact that Netanyahu has sent the heads of Israel’s security agencies to the talks in Doha, along with a key political adviser, are encouraging signs.

So too is the departure for Doha of the Palestinian detainee co-ordinator, Qadoura Fares.

The deal is not yet done – and talks have fallen apart before.

This old deal is fuelling fresh hopes partly because negotiations are taking place in a new regional context, with growing pressures both internally and from key allies abroad.

Millions of people are gathering in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state to participate in the Mahakumbh Mela, the world’s largest gathering of humanity.

Devout Hindus from all parts of the world have arrived here (and will continue to do so) over the course of six weeks to take a holy dip at Sangam – the confluence of India’s most sacred Ganges river with the Yamuna river and the mythical Saraswati.

Hindus believe taking a dip in the sacred waters cleanses people of sins.

Authorities have set up a sprawling tent city spread across 4,000 hectares of open land along the banks of the rivers to accommodate the visitors, who are arriving at the grounds in colourful large processions, singing and dancing along the way.

Photojournalist Ankit Srinivas brings you some sights from the festival:

Norway is the world leader when it comes to the take up of electric cars, which last year accounted for nine out of 10 new vehicles sold in the country. Can other nations learn from it?

For more than 75 years Oslo-based car dealership Harald A Møller has been importing Volkswagens, but early in 2024 it bid farewell to fossil fuel cars.

Now all the passenger vehicles for sale in its showroom are electric (EV).

“We think it’s wrong to advise a customer coming in here today to buy an ICE [internal combustion engine] car, because the future is electric,” says chief executive Ulf Tore Hekneby, as he walks around the cars on display. “Long-range, high-charging speed. It’s hard to go back.”

On the streets of Norway’s capital, Oslo, battery-powered cars aren’t a novelty, they’re the norm. Take a look around and you’ll soon notice that almost every other car has an “E” for “electric” on its licence plate.

The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has adopted EVs faster than any other country, and is on the cusp of becoming the first to phase out the sale of new fossil fuel cars.

Last year, the number of electric cars on Norway’s roads outnumbered those powered by petrol for the first time. When diesel vehicles are included, electric cars account for almost a third of all on Norwegian roads.

And 88.9% of new cars sold in the country last year were EVs, up from 82.4% in 2023, data from the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) showed.

In some months sales of fully electric cars were as high as 98%, as new petrol or diesel car purchases almost fizzled out.

By contrast, in the UK electric cars made up only 20% of new car registrations in 2024. Although this was a record high, and up from 16.5% in 2023.

In the US, the figure was just 8% last year, up from 7.6%.

Norway is undoubtedly an EV pioneer, but this electric revolution has been three decades in the making.

“It started already in the early 1990s,” says Christina Bu, the secretary general of the Norwegian EV Association, as she took me for a spin around Oslo in an electric minivan.

“Little by little taxing petrol and diesel engine cars more, so they have become a lot more expensive to purchase, whereas electric cars have been exempted from taxes.”

The support for electric vehicles was first introduced to help two Norwegian manufacturers of early EVs, the Buddy (previously Kewet) and TH!NK City. While they went out of business, the incentives for greener vehicles remained.

“It’s our goal to see that it’s always a good and viable choice, to choose zero emission,” says Norway’s Deputy Transport Minister, Cecilie Knibe Kroglund.

Even though it’s a major oil and gas producer, Norway aims for all new cars sold to be “zero emission”, starting at some point in 2025. A non-binding goal was set back in 2017, and that milestone now lies within reach.

“We are closing up on the target, and I think that we will reach that goal,” adds Kroglund. “I think we have already made the transition for passengers cars.”

Key to Norway’s success has been long-term and predictable policies, she explains.

Rather than banning combustion engine vehicles, the government has steered consumer choices. In addition to penalising fuel fossil vehicles with higher taxes and registration fees, VAT and import duties were scrapped for low-emission cars.

A string of perks, like free parking, discounted road tolls and access to bus lanes, then followed.

By comparison, the European Union plans to ban sales of new fossil-fuel cars by 2035, and the UK’s current government wants to prohibit their sale in 2030.

Petrol and diesel car sales are still permitted in Norway. But few are choosing to buy them.

For many locals, like Ståle Fyen, who bought his first EV 15 months ago, going electric made economic sense.

“With all the incentives we have in Norway, with no taxes on EVs, that was quite important to us money wise,” he says while plugging in his car at a charging station in the capital.

“In the cold, the range is maybe 20% shorter, but still, with the expansive charging network we have here in Norway, that isn’t a big issue really,” Mr Fyen adds. “You just have to change your mindset and charge when you can, not when you need to.”

Another driver, Merete Eggesbø, says that back in 2014 she was one of the first people in Norway to own a Tesla. “I really wanted a car that didn’t pollute. It gave me a better conscience driving.”

At Norwegian petrol stations many fuel pumps have been replaced by fast-charging points, and across Norway there are now more than 27,000 public chargers.

This compares with 73,699 in the UK – a country 12 times bigger in terms of population.

That means that, per 100,000 people, Norway has 447 chargers while the UK has just 89, according to a recent report.

Tesla, VW and Toyota, were Norway’s top-selling EV brands last year. Meanwhile, Chinese-owned marques – such as MG, BYD, Polestar and XPeng – now make up a combined 10% of the market, according to the Norwegian Road Federation.

Norway, unlike the US and EU, has not imposed tariffs on Chinese EV imports.

Ms Bu says there’s “not really any reason why other countries can not copy Norway”. However, she adds that it is “all about doing it in a way that can work in each country or market”.

Norwegians aren’t more environmentally-minded than people elsewhere, she reckons. “I don’t think a green mindset has much to do with it. It has to do with strong policies, and people gradually understanding that driving an electric car is possible.”

Yet Norway is also a very wealthy nation, which thanks to its huge oil and gas exports, has a sovereign wealth fund worth more than $1.7tn (£1.3tn). This means it can more easily afford big infrastructure-build projects, and absorb the loss of tax revenue from the sale of petrol and diesel cars and their fuel.

The country also has an abundance of renewable hydro electricity, which accounts for 88% of its production capacity.

“A third of cars are now electric, and it will pass 50% in a few years,” says Kjell Werner Johansen from the Norwegian Centre for Transport Research. “I think the government accepts that a few new petrol or hybrid cars will still be on the market, but I don’t know anybody who wants to buy a diesel car these days.”

German-Iranian woman Nahid Taghavi has been released from prison in Iran, her daughter says.

“It’s over. Nahid is free! After more than four years as a political prisoner in the Islamic Republic of Iran my mother… was freed and is back in Germany,” Mariam Claren wrote on X.

Taghavi, 70, was arrested in Tehran in October 2020 and sentenced to 10 years in prison the following August after being convicted of forming a group “with the purpose of disrupting national security” and “spreading propaganda against the system”.

Amnesty International said the charges, which she denied, were apparently related to a social media account about women’s rights and that the trial was grossly unfair.

Responding to a photograph of Taghavi and her daughter embracing at an airport on Sunday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote: “A great moment of joy that Nahid Taghavi can finally embrace her family again.”

There was no immediate comment from the Iranian judiciary.

Amnesty International said Taghavi’s health deteriorated considerably while she was detained at the notorious Evin prison – in Iran’s capital Tehran – where it said conditions were “cruel and inhuman” and the medical care was “inadequate”.

She spent seven months in solitary confinement between her arrest and conviction, during which time she was forced to sleep on the floor, it said.

Taghavi also suffered from herniated discs, osteoporosis, diabetes and high blood pressure, according to her daughter.

In July 2022, Taghavi was granted urgent medical leave from prison for treatment for back and neck problems. However, she was sent back to Evin four months later.

A fellow inmate at Evin, Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi, warned in June 2023 that Taghavi’s life was “in danger”, saying she was in such severe pain that “she can barely get out of her bed”.

Taghavi was allowed medical leave another two times during 2024.

The first began in January and lasted several weeks but she was recalled to prison before she had completed her medical treatment, the second began at the end of September. During those periods she had to wear an electronic ankle tag and had to remain within 1km (less than a mile) of her home in Tehran.

Amnesty said Taghavi had flown back to Germany on Sunday.

“Words cannot describe our joy,” Taghavi’s daughter said in a separate statement published by the human rights group on Monday.

“At the same time, we mourn the four years that were stolen from us and the horror she had to endure in Evin prison.”

Amnesty called on Iran to release the dozens of other dual nationals, and many other non-violent political prisoners, who it said were being arbitrarily detained.

Taghavi’s release comes months after the death of another imprisoned German-Iranian dual national sparked a diplomatic row between Berlin and Tehran.

At the end of October, Baerbock ordered the closure of all three Iranian consulates in Germany after Iranian state media reported that Jamshid Sharmahd – a US-based dissident who was sentenced to death in 2023 following a trial that rights groups said was unfair – had been executed.

However, the Iranian judiciary’s spokesman claimed days later that Sharmahd had “died before the sentence was carried out”. His family said she did not trust anything said by Iranian authorities and demanded an international investigation.

Millions of people have taken a holy bath at the Hindu festival of Kumbh Mela (also known as Mahakumbh) – described as humanity’s biggest gathering – in northern India’s Prayagraj city on Monday.

The event – held once every 12 years – starts on Monday and over the next six weeks, the devout will bathe at Sangam – the confluence of India’s most sacred Ganges river with the Yamuna river and the mythical Saraswati.

Hindus believe that taking a dip in the sacred river will cleanse them of sins, purify their soul and liberate them from the cycle of birth and death – as the ultimate goal of Hinduism is salvation.

About 400 million pilgrims are expected to attend the 45-day spectacle, which is so large it can be seen from space.

• In photos: World’s biggest religious festival begins in India
• WATCH: Sea of humanity at world’s largest religious gathering

Authorities said that on Monday, until 4pm local time, 16 million people had taken a bath. On Tuesday, numbers are expected to exceed 20 million, and the spectacle will be special as it will see ash-smeared naked Hindu holy men with matted dreadlocks, known as Naga sadhus, take a dip at dawn.

But authorities are racing against time to get the city ready to host millions who will continue to pour in throughout the festival.

To accommodate the pilgrims and tourists, a vast tent city, sread over 4,000 hectares, has been set up on the banks of the river.

But on Sunday, just hours before proceedings were due to begin, many parts of the sprawling grounds in Prayagraj still appeared to be a work in progress.

Some of the camps set up by saints and other worshippers had no water and intermittent power supplies.

Thousands of toilet cubicles were still yet to be set up and many already installed were unusable because of missing water connections.

Administration official Vivek Chaturvedi told the BBC that organisers were hampered by the fact that this year the monsoon waters took longer to recede which narrowed the window for construction activities.

But, he insisted, “preparations are almost complete and all systems will be in place to welcome the visitors”.

“We have laid 650km (403 miles) of temporary roads and set up tens of thousands of tents and toilets. More than 100,000 people, including over 40,000 police and security officials, are working round-the-clock to make it a success,” Mr Chaturvedi said.

The festival, which concludes on 26 February, has been recognised as an Intangible Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations agency Unesco.

Its origin is rooted in a mythological story about a fight between the gods and demons over a Kumbh (a pitcher) of nectar that emerged during the churning of the ocean.

As the two sides fought over the pot of elixir that promised them immortality, a few drops spilled over and fell in four cities – Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nasik.

As the fight went on for 12 celestial years – each equal to 12 years on Earth – Kumbh Mela festival is held every 12 years in the four cities. An ardh or a half Kumbh is organised halfway between two festivals.

The mela is organised in all the four cities, but the biggest festivals, where previous attendance records are broken, are always held in Prayagraj.

Hindu seer Mahant Ravindra Puri said the festival this time round was “extra special” and described it as “a Maha [great] Kumbh”.

“That’s because the current alignment of planets and stars is identical to what existed at the moment of the spill,” he told the BBC.

“Such perfection is being observed after 12 Kumbh festivals or 144 years,” he said.

For festival-goers, a major attraction is the presence of naked Naga sadhus, or ascetics, and it is a spectacle to watch as they hurl themselves into the icy waters.

But for the devout, it holds special significance – they believe that the waters get imbued with the purity of the saints’ thoughts and deeds.

Over the weekend, groups of holy men arrived at the mela grounds in large noisy processions.

One group of ash-smeared men, some naked and some dressed in just loin cloth or marigold garland draped around their necks, marched in holding tridents, swords and small two-headed drums.

Another group had its leaders on chariots escorted to their campsite in a large procession with a music band, dancers, horses and camels.

The bathing dates and auspicious times are decided by astrologers, based on the alignment of specific planets and constellations.

There are six particularly auspicious days to bathe this time:

• 13 January: Paush Purnima
• 14 January: Makar Sankranti
• 29 January: Mauni Amavasya
• 3 February: Basant Panchami
• 12 February: Magh Purnima
• 26 February: Maha Shivaratri

Three of these – 14 and 29 January, and 3 February – have been designated as Shahi Snan (or the royal bath) days when the Naga sadhus will bathe.

The largest gathering is expected on 29 January when 50 to 60 million worshippers are expected to take to the waters.

Away from the riverside, the city of Prayagraj has been decked up for the mega event.

Officials said about 200 roads had been widened and a fresh coat of paint had been applied to facades leading to Sangam, while walls have been decorated with colourful paintings and murals depicting stories from Hindu mythological texts.

• Kumbh Mela: Millions of Indians take holy dip
• India transgender gurus in landmark Hindu procession

Tens of thousands of pilgrims, including many from foreign countries, have already reached the city.

Sebastian Diago, visiting as part of a 90-member group from Argentina, said he made the journey to “experience the devotion first hand”.

“I felt the pull of the Ganges so I came,” he said.

“I will bathe in the river because I feel the need to connect with the Ganges.”

• Area: 4,000 hectares
• 160,000 tents
• 40,000 police and security officials
• 15,000 sanitation workers
• 99 parking lots for over half a million vehicles
• 30 floating pontoon bridges over the river
• 67,000 street lights
• 150,000 toilets; 25,000 bins
• 200 water ATMs and 85 tube wells

The Indian government said it was spending 70bn rupees ($812m; £665m) on organising the festival and according to local media reports, the state government will earn a revenue of 250bn rupees ($2.9bn; £2.3bn).

Saints and leaders of big campsites said they understood the complexities of organising a festival on such a large scale, but some pilgrims complained about a lack of facilities.

• Kumbh Mela: How to plan a festival for 100m people
• Kumbh Mela: Lost and found at the world’s biggest gathering

Baba Amarnathji, a 60-year-old saffron-robed monk, showed the BBC a small tent he had set up for himself with cloth and plastic sheets draped over three bamboo poles.

On earlier occasions, he said, he could sleep for free in tents set up by the administration, but this time there was no such facility.

“The police try to chase me away from here. But where will I go? Everyone says this festival is meant for sadhus like me, but I see that all the arrangements are being made for tourists.”

Germany’s far right is in a buoyant mood.

On Saturday, while its conference was under way in the eastern town of Riesa, in Saxony, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) laid out ambitions to close Germany’s borders, resume buying Russian gas and, in effect, dismantle the EU.

German media reported that party’s agreed manifesto includes plans to quit the Paris climate deal, exit the Euro currency and create a new confederation of states.

The AfD’s leader, Alice Weidel, even publicly embraced the term “remigration” – a word that’s widely understood to mean the mass “return” or deportation of people with a migrant background.

Thousands of anti-AfD protestors swarmed the streets in Riesa on Saturday, seeking to obstruct access to the conference venue.

When Alice Weidel eventually took to the stage, she described the activists outside as a “left-wing mob.”

And, in front a delighted conference hall of delegates, spoke of “large-scale repatriations”.

“And I have to be honest with you: if it’s going to be called remigration, then that’s what it’s going to be: remigration,” she said.

It’s a striking departure from just a year ago when she sought to distance herself from a scandal that centred on the highly controversial concept.

There were nationwide anti-AfD demonstrations after it emerged that senior party figures had been among those at a meeting where “remigration” was allegedly discussed with Martin Sellner, an Austrian far-right activist who has a neo-Nazi past.

Sellner has written about “remigrating” asylum seekers, some foreigners with residency rights and “non-assimilated” citizens.

A buzzword in Europe’s far-right, some claim legal residents wouldn’t be forced to leave. Critics say “remigration” is simply a euphemism for an overtly racist mass deportation plan.

But Alice Weidel’s decision to personally coin the term, weeks out from a snap federal election, demonstrates her party’s growing radicalism and confidence.

She also pledged to tear down wind farms which she called “windmills of shame”, leave the EU’s asylum system and “throw out” gender studies professors.

The AfD is consistently polling second in Germany and made gains in recent regional elections in the country’s east – where the party is strongest.

However, it’s highly unlikely to win power because other parties won’t work with the AfD.

Sections of the AfD have been classed by domestic intelligence as right-wing extremist.

In 2024, a talisman of the AfD’s hard-right – Björn Höcke – was fined twice for using a banned Nazi SA paramilitary phrase, “Alles für Deutschland” (“everything for Germany”).

He’s called it an “everyday sentence” and denied being aware of its origins, despite formerly being a history teacher.

• German far-right AfD in disarray after Nazi remark
• Germany: Court says far-right AfD is suspected of extremism

Reports that members of the conference in Riesa this weekend chanted “Alice für Deutschland” drew quick comparisons in German media.

However, AfD figures have frequently complained that they are demonised and persecuted by a biased media and establishment.

And Alice Weidel’s party – of which she is the co-leader and now Chancellor candidate – has ridden out repeated storms to now hover around or even above 20% in national polls.

The 45-year-old economist, who previously worked for Goldman Sachs and is in a same-sex relationship, has sought to polish the rougher edges of her party.

But for those strongly opposed to the AfD she is a fig leaf or – as one Social Democrat put it – a “wolf in sheep’s clothing”.

Regardless, she’s enjoying a new spotlight after being invited by tech billionaire – Elon Musk – for a live talk on his X platform last week, where he wholeheartedly endorsed the party.

Her declaration during this discussion that Adolf Hitler was, in fact, a communist sparked condemnation, given the Nazi leader’s well-known anti-communism.

Critics warned of Nazi revisionism – something the AfD has been accused of before.

Björn Höcke once called for a “180-degree turnaround” in Germany’s handling of its Nazi past while a former co-leader, Alexander Gauland, described the Nazi era as “just a speck of bird’s muck in more than 1,000 years of successful Germany history”.

Nevertheless, the AfD’s anti-establishment, anti-immigration and anti-“woke” agenda is finding followers in Germany who go to the polls on 23 February.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is willing to hand over two captured North Korean soldiers to Pyongyang in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.

“For those North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return, there may be other options available,” Zelensky said on X. Those who want “to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean will be given that opportunity”, he added.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said one of the two soldiers told officials he thought he was going to Russia for “training”, rather than to fight.

He was found with a Russian military ID card issued in the name of another person. The other soldier had no documents.

SBU said the two men, who were taken prisoner on 9 Jan, are in Kyiv and receiving medical care.

They only speak Korean and are being questioned with the assistance of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, SBU said.

Russia has not denied using North Korean troops in its war against Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin said in October that it was his country’s “sovereign decision” whether or not to deploy such troops.

On Saturday, Zelensky posted photographs of the two captured soldiers, showing one of them with his head and chin in bandage, while the other had both his hands fully wrapped up.

Zelensky also shared a photo of a red Russian military ID card that gives the place of birth as Turan, in the Russian republic of Tuva, which shares a border with Mongolia.

SBU said that the soldier found with the ID card told interrogators he had been issued the document during the autumn of 2024, in Russia.

According to SBU, he also said that some of North Korea’s combat units had undergone a one-week training at the time.

“It is noteworthy that the prisoner…emphasises that he was allegedly going for training, not to fight a war against Ukraine,” the SBU statement said.

Zelensky’s office said in a statement on Saturday that the Russians “are trying to hide the fact that these are soldiers from North Korea by giving them documents claiming they are from Tuva or other territories under Moscow’s control”.

The intelligence service reported that the soldier carrying the ID card said he was born in 2005 and had been serving North Korea as a rifleman since 2021.

The second prisoner is reported to have given some of his answers in writing because he had an injured jaw, according to SBU.

SBU said it believed he was born in 1999 and had been serving North Korea as a scout sniper since 2016.

The Geneva Conventions state that the questioning of prisoners should be carried out in a language they understand and prisoners must be protected against public curiosity.

BBC News and other international media have not yet verified Ukraine’s account of the prisoners and their capture.

Ukraine and South Korea reported late last year that North Korea had sent at least 10,000 troops to Russia.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said on Monday that more than 300 North Korean soldiers have died while fighting for Russia, and at least 2,700 of them have been wounded.

In December, South Korea’s intelligence agency reported that a North Korean soldier believed to have been the first to be captured while supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine had died after being taken alive by Ukrainian forces.

Zelensky said on Sunday “there should be no doubt left that the Russian army is dependent on military assistance from North Korea”.

At least 24 people have died in the Los Angeles fires as two major blazes continue to burn across the sprawling Californian city.

Firefighters made progress over the weekend in containing the Palisades and Eaton fires but warn that the return of high winds – forecast until Wednesday – could see them spread again.

They are already among the most destructive in LA’s history in terms of buildings destroyed.

The largest fire is in the Palisades and it has burnt through more than 23,000 acres. But over the weekend thousands of firefighters made progress in containing about 11% of it.

The blaze is moving east, threatening the exclusive neighbourhood of Brentwood, home to the Getty Center, a world-famous art museum that has now evacuated its staff.

A red flag warning – indicating a high level of fire danger – will be in place until 18:00 (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday, with the strongest Santa Ana winds expected on Tuesday.

• Follow live updates
• What are Santa Ana winds?

The other fire, Eaton, is more deadly than Palisades so far – responsible for 16 of the 24 dead, with many more still missing.

The number of people under evacuation orders in LA County has decreased since Saturday, but the destruction is immense.

More than 12,000 structures – homes, outbuildings, sheds, mobile homes and cars -have been destroyed including 7,000 in the Eaton fire.

The fires could turn out to be the costliest in US history, with damage projected at up to $150bn, according to a preliminary estimate by AccuWeather.

Celebrities who have lost their homes include Mel Gibson, Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, who attended the Golden Globes just days ago, and Paris Hilton.

Tens of thousands of homes are also without power.

There are two active fires in the wider area, while a smaller fire is nearly contained say California fire officials:

• Palisades: The first fire to erupt a week ago and the biggest in the region. It has scorched more than 23,654 acres, including the upmarket Pacific Palisades neighbourhood. It was 11% contained as of Sunday morning
• Eaton: Affecting the northern part of LA, blazing through areas such as Altadena. It is the second biggest fire in the area, burning more than 14,000 acres. It is 27% contained
• Hurst: Located just north of San Fernando, it began burning last Tuesday night. It has grown to 799 acres, and is almost fully contained

The earlier Kenneth, Archer, Sunset, Lidia, Woodley and Olivas fires have been contained.

A political row about the city’s preparedness has erupted after it emerged some fire crews’ hoses ran dry.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to hydrants and why the Santa Ynez Reservoir was closed for maintenance and empty when the fire broke out.

“Losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors,” he wrote.

• Fact-checking criticism of California Democrats over fires

Mayor Karen Bass, who was on a previously arranged trip to Ghana when the fires began, has faced intense questions about the region’s preparedness and the water issues.

On Saturday, she deflected questions about her handling of the emergency, telling a news conference: “Right now, our first and most important obligation to Angelenos is to get through this crisis.”

Before the fires broke out, the city of LA’s fire chief warned in a memo that budget cuts were hampering the department’s ability to respond to emergencies.

But LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone has denied that his department had been unprepared.

“I did everything in my power to make sure that we had enough personnel and resources before the first fire started,” he said.

LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said detectives are continuing to investigate the possible causes.

“Everything is absolutely on the table,” he said.

Lightning – the most common source of fires in the US – has been ruled out as a cause for the Palisades and Eaton fires.

• ‘I have nothing to go back to’ – heartbreak in LA
• How one street went up in flames

Nor has there been any official indication so far that arson or utility lines – the next two biggest culprits in sparking fires – caused any of the conflagrations.

California’s very wet years of 2022-23 brought about a huge growth of vegetation, which dried out in the drought of last year, creating abundant kindling.

A combination of an exceptionally dry period – downtown LA has only received 0.16 inches (0.4cm) of rain since October – and powerful offshore gusts known as the Santa Ana winds have also created ripe conditions for wildfires.

Although strong winds and lack of rain are driving the blazes, experts say climate change is altering the background conditions and increasing the likelihood of such fires.

Much of the western United States including California experienced a decades-long drought that ended just two years ago, making the region vulnerable.

“Whiplash” swings between dry and wet periods in recent years created a massive amount of tinder-dry vegetation that was ready to burn.

US government research is unequivocal in linking climate change to larger and more severe wildfires in the western US.

“Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says.

Fire season in southern California is generally thought to stretch from May to October – but the governor has pointed out earlier that blazes had become a perennial issue. “There’s no fire season,” he said. “It’s fire year.”

• A simple guide to climate change
• Stuck in traffic as flames approached: Why LA is hard to evacuate

Have you been affected by the fires in California? Get in touch here.

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

At least 24 people have died as wildfires rage in Los Angeles – and there are fears the number will rise.

Officials say it may take several weeks to identify victims as traditional methods – such as fingerprinting and visual identification – may not be possible.

Here is what we know about those who are reported to have died, according to their family members and international media.

Victor Shaw died trying to defend his home from the wildfire in Altadena, his family said.

The 66-year-old’s body was found on the side of the road by his property, with a garden hose in his hand, according to TV network KTLA. The property had been in Mr Shaw’s family for nearly 55 years, it reported.

Mr Shaw lived at the home with his younger sister Shari, who said she tried to get him to evacuate with her on Tuesday night as the fire moved closer.

She told KTLA that he refused because he wanted to try to fight the fire, adding that she had to flee because “the embers were so big and flying like a firestorm”.

Ms Shaw told CBS News she would miss her big brother.

“I’ll miss talking to him, joking about, travelling with him and I’ll just miss him to death,” she said. “I just hate that he had to go out like that.”

Miod died in his Malibu home, his mother Carol Smith told CNN.

The 55-year-old told Smith on Tuesday that he had a garden hose ready to protect the house, where he had been living for decades, from the encroaching fire, CNN reports.

“[His home] was his prized possession. That’s the one and only house he ever owned,” Smith said, according to the news outlet.

“Now that I’m realising how many memories he had in that home, I can understand why he didn’t want to leave.”

Friends of Randall have been posting tributes to the long-time Malibu resident on social media, sharing photos of him surfing and his red beach house.

Anthony Mitchell and his adult son Justin died at their home in Altadena as they tried to escape the wildfires, their family said.

Hajime White told the Washington Post she received a call from her 67-year-old father, in which he said “the fire’s in the yard”.

Mr Mitchell, a 67-year-old retired salesman and amputee, lived with his son Justin, who was in his early 20s and had cerebral palsy, the newspaper reported.

Another one of Mr Mitchell’s sons, Jordan, lived with the pair but he was in hospital with an infection, the Washington Post reported.

Ms White told the newspaper she had received the news that Mr Mitchell and Justin had died, adding: “It’s like a ton of bricks just fell on me.”

Mr Mitchell was a father of four, grandfather of 11, and great-grandfather of 10, Ms White said.

• Follow live updates on the LA wildfires
• What’s the latest on the fires and what caused them?
• In maps: Thousands of acres on fire in LA
• Mel Gibson latest celebrity to lose home in wildfires

Rodney Nickerson, 83, died at his home in Altadena, according to his daughter, who said her father believed the wildfire would “pass over”.

Kimiko Nickerson told KTLA her father had bought the property in 1968 and had experienced previous fires over the decades.

Rodney worked as a project engineer at Lockheed Martin for 45 years.

Ms Nickerson told CBS News that the last comment her father made to her was: “I’ll be here tomorrow.” She confirmed to the broadcaster that his body had been found.

Annette Rossilli, 85, refused to leave her Pacific Palisades home after she was told to evacuate following the start of the Palisades fire, CNN reported, citing Luxe Homecare, the company that provided in-home care for her.

She was staying in her home with her five pets: a dog, a canary, two parrots and a turtle.

Firefighters found Rossilli’s body in her car on Wednesday, according to CNN, which cites her relatives and Luxe Homecare president Fay Vahdani.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify this report and has contacted Luxe Homecare for comment.

The 32-year-old Australian citizen died after the Palisades fire broke out on Tuesday, his mother Shelley Sykes said in a post on X.

Shelley said her son, who had cerebral palsy, died in a cottage on their 17-acre Malibu estate, adding she had tried to put out the flames.

“He was my baby, and he died needlessly,” she told Australian TV newscast 10 News First. “He said ‘Mum, leave me,’ and no mum can leave their kid, and I’ve got a broken arm. I couldn’t lift him. I couldn’t move him.”

British-born Rory was a former child actor, having appeared on the 1998 British TV series Kiddy Kapers.

He was born blind and had difficulty walking, but was able to regain his sight and learn to walk with the help of surgeries, going on to become an “inspirational speaker”, Shelley said.

The family of 83-year-old Erliene Kelley found out late on Thursday that she was among the victims, the Los Angeles Times reports.

According to the newspaper, Ms Kelley’s granddaughter Briana Navarro said her grandmother was “adamant” that she did not want to evacuate because previous fires had never reached their house in Altadena.

On Thursday evening, the family learned that authorities had found a body in the rubble of the home. It had been more than 48 hours since Ms Navarro last heard from her grandmother.

According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, 84-year-old Charles Mortimer was one of the victims of the Palisades fire.

He died of a heart attack in hospital on 8 January after suffering from fire-related injuries.

The medical examiner’s office lists his causes of death as acute myocardial infarction, effects of smoke inhalation, thermal injuries and coronary artery atherosclerosis.

Known to friends and family as “Momma D”, former actress Dalyce Curry, 95, died when her home in the Altadena area was destroyed by the Eaton fire.

Her granddaughter, Dalyce Kelley, was the last person to see her alive, having dropped her off at home shortly before the blaze struck.

“It was total devastation,” she told ABC News after revisiting the scene. “Everything was gone except her blue Cadillac.”

Curry’s career as an extra – someone who helps to populate the background of TV and film to make scenes feel and look more realistic – spanned several decades.

She appeared in films such as The 10 Commandments, The Blues Brothers and Lady Sings the Blues.

Arthur Simoneau, a hang-gliding pilot for four decades, died in the Palisades fire while trying to save his home in Topanga, according to his loved ones.

Friends and neighbours paid tribute to the 69-year-old on Facebook, describing him as a “spirited” figure who was one of the pillars of the Bohemian mountain community in which he lived.

Long-time friend and fellow hang-gliding enthusiast Steve Murillo told the LA Times that Simoneau was returning to the area from a skiing trip when he heard that his home was subject to an evacuation order, but decided not to turn back.

Simoneau was “heading home to save it if he could,” said his friend, who spoke to Simoneau by telephone as he was driving towards Topanga.

“Arthur was the kind of guy that once he put his mind to something, you couldn’t really talk him out of stuff.”

Officials found his body near the doorway of his home last Thursday.

Firefighters are battling to control huge wildfires in Los Angeles that have killed at least 24 people, devoured thousands of buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

It’s a rapidly changing situation – these maps and pictures show the scale of the challenge, where the fires are and the damage they have caused.

The largest blaze, in the Pacific Palisades area is the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history. More than 23,000 acres have now burnt.

Placing the area affected on to maps of New York and London gives a sense of how big that is, stretching from Clapham to Greenwich in the UK’s capital, or across large areas of lower Manhattan and Queens.

Three fires are currently burning in the Los Angeles area.

• Palisades fire: The largest active fire is burning between Santa Monica and Malibu. Burnt area: 23,713 acres.

• Eaton fire: Second largest fire burning north of Pasadena. Burnt area: 14,117 acres.

• Hurst fire: To the north east of the city. Burnt area: 799 acres. It’s 89% contained, according to LA officials.

But six other fires have been contained.

Kenneth fire: In the West Hills area, just north of the Palisades. It was contained on Sunday afternoon, after burning through 1,052 acres since Thursday.

Lidia fire: Reported in the hills north of Los Angeles. Burnt area: 395 acres.

Archer fire: Small fire that started on Friday and burned through 19 acres.

Woodley fire: Small fire reported in local parkland. Burnt area: 30 acres.

Olivas fire: Small fire first reported in Ventura county about 50 miles (80km) east of Los Angeles. Burnt area: 11 acres.

Sunset fire: Reported in the historic Hollywood Hills area near many famous landmarks, including the Hollywood sign. Burnt area: 43 acres.

Officials say more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed by the two biggest fires – about 5,000 each in the Palisades and Eaton blazes.

As the maps below show, the fires are largely burning uninhabited areas but they have spread into populated areas and many more buildings could be at risk depending on how the infernos spread.

Among the buildings already destroyed in the Palisades blaze are many of the exclusive properties that line the Malibu waterfront.

Slide your cursor across the image below to see an aerial view of what the area used to look like and what it looks like now.

Both the Palisades and Eaton fires can be seen from space, as shown in the satellite image below.

A combination of an exceptionally dry period – downtown Los Angeles has only received 0.16 inches (0.4cm) of rain since October – and powerful offshore gusts known as the Santa Ana winds have created ripe conditions for wildfires.

Santa Ana winds flow east to west through southern California’s mountains, according to the National Weather Service.

Blowing across the deserts further inland, they create conditions where humidity drops, which dries out vegetation. If a fire does start, the winds can fan smouldering embers into an inferno in minutes.

The map below shows just how rapidly the Palisades fire spread, intensifying in a matter of hours. At just after 14:00 on Tuesday it covered 772 acres and within four hours it had approximately tripled in size.

The Palisades fire now covers more than 23,000 acres and thousands of people have been forced to evacuate the area, as more than 1,400 firefighters try to tackle the blaze.

The Eaton fire has also grown rapidly from about 1,000 acres on Tuesday to more than 14,000 acres, forcing thousands more people to flee.

• Follow latest updates on the LA wildfires
• What’s the latest on the fires, and what caused them?
• Watch: Smoke billows as thousands evacuate in LA
• Timelapse shows rapid spread of Palisades wildfire
• Watch: Inside a neighbourhood totally lost in inferno
• Pacific Palisades: The celebrity LA area ravaged by wildfire

Photographers have also been capturing the heartbreaking level of damage the fires have caused on the ground – as these before-and-after photos demonstrate.

The Jewish Temple in Pasadena was destroyed by the Eaton fire. The Centre’s website says it has been in use since 1941 and has a congregation of more than 400 families.

With authorities still working to contain the fires, the scope of the losses is still unfolding but they are on track to be among the costliest in US history, with losses already expected to exceed $135bn (£109.7bn).

There is a glimmer of hope for firefighters, as the fire weather outlook for southern California has been downgraded from “extremely critical” to “critical”.

But BBC weather forecaster Sarah Keith-Lucas says there is no rain forecast in the area for at least the next week, so conditions remain ripe for fire.

Millions of people are gathering in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state to participate in the Mahakumbh Mela, the world’s largest gathering of humanity.

Devout Hindus from all parts of the world have arrived here (and will continue to do so) over the course of six weeks to take a holy dip at Sangam – the confluence of India’s most sacred Ganges river with the Yamuna river and the mythical Saraswati.

Hindus believe taking a dip in the sacred waters cleanses people of sins.

Authorities have set up a sprawling tent city spread across 4,000 hectares of open land along the banks of the rivers to accommodate the visitors, who are arriving at the grounds in colourful large processions, singing and dancing along the way.

Photojournalist Ankit Srinivas brings you some sights from the festival:

For years Russia and Syria were key partners – Moscow gained access to Mediterranean air and sea bases while Damascus received military support for its fight against rebel forces.

Now, after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, many Syrians want to see Russian forces leave but their interim government says it is open to further cooperation.

“Russia’s crimes here were indescribable,” says Ahmed Taha, a rebel commander in Douma, six miles north-east of the capital Damascus.

The city was once a prosperous place in a region known as the “bread basket” of Damascus. And Ahmed Taha was once a civilian, working as a tradesman when he took up arms against the Assad regime following the brutal suppression of protests in 2011.

Entire residential districts in Douma now lie in ruins after some of the fiercest fighting in Syria’s almost 14-year civil war.

Moscow entered this conflict in 2015 to support the regime when it was losing ground. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov later claimed that, at the time of the intervention, Damascus was just weeks away from being overrun by rebels.

The Syrian operation showed the ambition of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to be taken more seriously after the widespread international condemnation of his annexation of Crimea.

Moscow claimed to have tested 320 different weapons in Syria.

It also secured 49-year leases on two military bases on the Mediterranean coast – the Tartus naval base and the Hmeimim air base. This allowed the Kremlin to rapidly expand its influence in Africa, serving as a spring board for Russian operations in Libya, the Central African Republic, Mali, and Burkina Faso.

Despite the support of Russia and Iran, Assad could not prevent his regime from collapsing. But Moscow offered refuge to him and his family.

Now, many Syrian civilians and rebel fighters see Russia as an accomplice of the Assad regime that helped destroy their homeland.

“The Russians came to this country and helped the tyrants, oppressors, and invaders,” says Abu Hisham, as he celebrated the fall of the regime in Damascus.

The Kremlin has always denied that, saying it only targeted jihadist groups like IS or al-Qaeda.

But the United Nations and human rights groups accused the regime and Russia of committing war crimes.

In 2016, during an assault on densely populated Eastern Aleppo, Syrian and Russian forces conducted relentless air strikes, “claiming hundreds of lives and reducing hospitals, schools and markets to rubble,” according to a UN report.

In Aleppo, Douma and elsewhere, the regime forces besieged rebel-held areas, cutting off food and medicine supplies, and proceeded to bomb them until armed opposition groups surrendered.

Russia also negotiated ceasefires and deals for the surrender of rebel-held towns and cities, such as Douma in 2018.

Ahmed Taha was among the rebels there who agreed to surrender in exchange for safe passage out of the city following a five-year siege by the Syrian army.

He returned to Douma in December as a part of the rebel offensive led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

“We are back home in spite of Russia, in spite of the regime and all those who supported it,” says Taha.

He has no doubt the Russians should leave: “For us, Russia is an enemy.”

It’s a sentiment echoed by many people we speak to.

Even leaders of Syria’s Christian communities, who Russia vowed to protect, say they had little help from Moscow.

In Bab Touma, the ancient Christian quarter of Damascus, the Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church says: “We did not have the experience of Russia or anybody else from the outside world protecting us.”

“The Russians were here for their own benefits and goals,” Ignatius Aphrem II tells the BBC.

Other Syrian Christians were less diplomatic.

“When they came in the beginning, they said: ‘We came here to help you,'” says a man called Assad. “But instead of helping us, they destroyed Syria even more.”

Sharaa, now Syria’s de facto leader, said in a BBC interview last month that he would not rule out allowing the Russians to stay, and he described relations between the two countries as “strategic”.

Moscow seized on his words, with foreign minister Lavrov agreeing Russia “had much in common with our Syrian friends”.

But untangling the ties in a post-Assad future may not be easy.

Listen: Russia’s gateway to Africa in jeopardy

Rebuilding Syria’s military will require either a completely new start or a continued reliance on Russian supplies, which would mean at least some kind of relationship between the two countries, says Turki al-Hassan, a defence analyst and retired Syrian army general.

Syria’s military cooperation with Moscow predates the Assad regime, Hassan says. Virtually all the equipment it has was produced by the Soviet Union or Russia, he explains.

“From its inception, the Syrian army has been armed with Eastern Bloc weapons.”

Between 1956 and 1991 Syria received some 5,000 tanks, 1,200 fighter aircraft, 70 ships and many other systems and weapons from Moscow worth over $26bn (£21bn), according to Russian estimates.

A lot of this was in support of Syria’s wars with Israel, which has largely defined the nation’s foreign policy since it gained independence from France in 1946.

More than half of that sum was left unpaid when the Soviet Union collapsed but in 2005 president Putin wrote off 73% of the debt.

For now, Russian officials have taken a conciliatory but cautious approach towards the interim rulers who toppled Russia’s long-standing ally.

Vassily Nebenzia, Moscow’s UN envoy, said recent events had marked a new phase in the history of what he called “brotherly Syrian people”. He said Russia would provide both humanitarian aid and support for reconstruction to allow Syrian refugees to return home.

The sun is rising over the ice-covered mountains of Nuuk fjord and we are travelling along one of the world’s last wild frontiers.

But there are shadows gathering here and across the rest of the frozen spaces of Greenland.

With Donald Trump about to become president of the United States, his refusal to rule out taking Greenland by force is reverberating through conversations across the island.

“He’s welcome to come visit for sure,” says the skipper of the converted fishing boat taking us east. Conscious that he needs to do business with people of all political hues, he asked not to be named, but used a phrase I hear repeatedly here.

“Greenland belongs to Greenlanders. So, Trump can visit but that’s it.”

The waters are flat calm as we pull into the isolated settlement of Kapisillit – population about 40 – where a few hunters are setting out to shoot seals.

It’s -16C (3F), and with wind chill effect feels more like -27C.

But near the harbour I meet a local church elder, Kaaleeraq Ringsted, 73, a great-grandfather, who is out drying fillets of cod caught in the fish-rich waters beside his front door.

When I ask about President-elect Trump buying or invading Greenland, he chuckles at first. Then his tone becomes serious.

“It is not acceptable that he says this. Greenland is not for sale.”

Then he tells me how he learned to fish and hunt here with his father and grandfather, and how he wants to preserve this life for his children and grandchildren.

Crossing the bay, the boat nosed through the broken surface ice. Two eagles perched on a rock, scanning for fish in the clear waters.

We were heading to the farm of Angutimmarik Hansen who keeps sheep as well as hunting seals, wildfowl and rabbits.

All of his winter feed for the sheep needs to be imported from Denmark, a reminder of how a harsh climate defines the possibilities of life here.

Inside his front door is a rack of hunting rifles. He notices me looking at them.

“Those are in case there’s an invasion,” he jokes.

But his attitude to the bellicose rhetoric from Mar-A-Lago is far from relaxed.

“What a stupid person in the world like Trump,” he says. “Never will we sell Greenland.”

This little farm is about 3,000 miles (4,828km) from Florida where the incoming US president gave his now infamous press conference last week.

“But Trump is not the USA. We can work with the people of the USA,” Mr Hansen says.

The Trump effect went into overdrive with the arrival in Greenland of Donald Trump Jr, hot on the heels of his father’s pronouncements. He flew into the capital Nuuk on the family’s 757 jet – Trump Force One – and stayed for four hours and thirty-three minutes, meeting some locals and offering only polite remarks.

“It’s been incredibly nice to meet people, and people were very happy to meet with us,” he said, after lunch at a local hotel. “Dad will have to come here.”

Then it was back to the sunnier climes of Florida.

Trump Jr was welcomed by local businessman Jorgen Boassen, who once campaigned for the president-elect.

He told local media that he was Trump’s “biggest fan” and that “of course they are interested in our country, and they are welcome to come and see what our country is like. It is also about opening up for trade and cooperation.”

The city of Nuuk is the world’s most northerly capital. It has a thriving civil society and a robust press. And there is some satisfaction here that the Trump comments have propelled the debate about Greenland’s independence onto the international stage.

There must be a Greenland that is nobody’s colony, say campaigners like Kuno Fencker, an MP with the governing coalition and member of the local parliament’s Foreign and Security Committee.

We meet by the harbour, under the bronze statue of Hans Egede, the 18th century missionary widely seen here as the man who opened the way to colonisation.

“Donald Trump is a politician,” says Mr Fencker.

“He’s a hard businessman, and we know his rhetoric, and that rhetoric is something we have gotten used to since 2019, and it’s just a matter of talking to a peer, an ally, on how we can solve things here in the Arctic and also in Nato.”

Mr Fencker offers the central argument of pro-independence campaigners.

“What is necessary here is that Greenland as a sovereign state should negotiate directly with the United States and not Denmark doing that for us.”

Independence from Denmark could come at a significant financial cost.

Greenland receives subsidies from Copenhagen worth roughly a fifth of its GDP every year. Mr Fencker suggests, as have other leading figures here, that the island would negotiate with America and Denmark for support.

“We are not naïve in regard to that. We need support in defence, security, and also economic development. We want a sustainable and self-sufficient economy.”

The editor of the local newspaper Sermitsiaq, Maasana Egede, admits he was worried by the implied threat of force from Donald Trump, but wants to see how reality matches the rhetoric.

As for independence, Mr Egede has been frustrated by what he sees as a polarised debate in the media – local and international.

“We are very much telling this story that it has to be about independence or not independence. But there’s all of this story that is in between, that people want independence, but not at any cost. There’s a living standard that has to be maintained. There’s trade that has to be maintained. There are living ways that have to be maintained.”

There is an expectation that at some point – not in the immediate future – there will be a vote in favour and Denmark will accept the result.

The island’s Prime Minister, Mute Egede, addressed a joint press conference with the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, in the wake of the latest Donald Trump comments.

“We do not want to be Danish, we do not want to be American, we want to be Greenlandic,” he said. The Danish PM took care not to offend anybody, least of all the incoming US president.

“The debate on Greenlandic independence and the latest announcements from the US show us the large interest in Greenland,” she said. “Events which set in motion a lot of thoughts and feelings with many in Greenland and Denmark.”

Ms Frederiksen knows well how deep feelings run in Greenland. Memories of injustice and racism remain fresh here among the indigenous Inuit people.

Scandals like the campaign to insert IUDs (Intrauterine devices) to prevent pregnancies in thousands of Inuit women and girls in the 1960s and 70s, haunt the relationship between Greenland and Denmark.

It’s not known how many of these procedures were carried out without the permission of those involved, but the numbers are considerable. The aim was to reduce the Greenlandic population.

Maliina Abelsen is a former finance minister in Greenland’s government, and now a consultant for companies and organisations working on the island. She’s also worked for UNICEF Denmark and leading Greenland businesses, like the seafood group, Royal Greenland.

Ms Abelsen believes far more needs to be done to address the injustices of the past.

“I think a lot of people are saying, maybe also the Danish government and state have said, ‘Oh well, you know this happened in the past. This is so many years ago. How are we going to be responsible for that? It’s time to move on.’

“But you cannot move on if you have not been healed, and if you have not been acknowledged to what happened to you. That is a job that we have to do together with Denmark, not something Greenland can do on its own.”

And despite her own high profile in civil society and business, Maliina Abelsen says that when it comes to racism – for example jokes about Inuit people – she “can speak for most Greenlanders, that we have all experienced that in our life”.

The issues of self-determination and facing the past are intimately intertwined.

Now the intervention of Donald Trump has placed both before the eyes of the world.

But the message we heard – from the remote settlements on the fjord to the capital city Nuuk – is that Greenland’s destiny must be decided here, among people whose voices have been too long overlooked.

Standing at a lectern at Washington’s National Cathedral last Thursday, Joe Biden delivered the eulogy for former President Jimmy Carter while three other former presidents – Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama – and the once and future president, Donald Trump, looked on.

Each spectating president had achieved the validation of the American people (re-election to a second term) that has eluded Biden. And as Biden, whose term comes to an end next week, paid tribute to Carter, a fellow one-term president, it was hard not to draw other parallels too.

“Many think he was from a bygone era, but in reality, he saw well into the future,” Biden said of Carter. He went on to note Carter’s accomplishments in advancing civil rights, his work on peace and nuclear non-proliferation, and his efforts to protect the environment.

Earlier in the week, however, Biden was making the case for his own legacy and how history should judge him.

“I hope that history says that I came in and I had a plan how to restore the economy and reestablish America’s leadership in the world,” he said in a television interview. “And I hope it records that I did it with honesty and integrity; that I said what was on my mind.”

Whether that happens is subject to vigorous discussion – but he exits the White House with his approval ratings near their lowest mark of his presidency. Only 39% have a positive view, according to the latest Gallup survey, down from 57% at the start of his term.

Next week, the man he defeated in 2020 returns to power, marking what must feel to him like a dour end to a presidency.

Biden had his accomplishments – adroitly shepherding complex investment and infrastructure legislation through Congress despite narrow majorities, strengthening and expanding Nato, and appointing a remarkable number of diverse judges to the federal bench – but at least for now, that is overshadowed.

His current place in history is as the Democratic interregnum between the two Trump presidential terms. A blip, rather than a pivot.

“He’d like his legacy to be that he rescued us from Trump,” says author and Democratic strategist Susan Estrich. “But sadly, for him, his legacy is Trump again. He is the bridge from Trump One to Trump Two.”

It didn’t have to be this way. Biden and his team were buffeted by events – some within his control and some outside it. Many of the most damaging developments were entirely predictable, however – and, in fact, predicted – yet the president and his administration appeared to be caught flat-footed.

For that, they paid a high price.

Biden’s first misstep as president came half a world away, in the chaos that unfolded during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

The exit had been negotiated during the final months of the Trump administration, but Biden backed it – despite warnings from some of his military advisors.

Those dire predictions proved prophetic, as Kabul descended into panic and unrest.

By the end of that month, Biden’s Gallup approval rating had dipped below 50% for the first time – a mark it would never again reach.

On the domestic front, the situation for the president was equally inauspicious. By summer, US inflation had surpassed 5% for the first time in 30 years.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that she believed the spike was “transitory”. Biden called it “temporary”. Some outside the administration, most notably Obama’s economy adviser Larry Summers, thought otherwise.

By the time inflation reached its peak a year later, at 9.1% in June 2022, Yellen and Biden had admitted they miscalculated.

Americans did not forget or forgive, however. And although the monthly inflation numbers had dropped below 3% by summer 2024, unemployment remained low, economic growth was steady and the US had outperformed the world’s other industrialised nations, voters continued to have a pessimistic view of the economy.

Other issues followed this pattern: The Biden administration was slow to respond to the post-Covid spike in undocumented migration at the US-Mexico border.

And it was seemingly caught off-guard by the disruptive impact the Republican-backed programme of relocating migrants to Democratic-run northern cities would have on government services far from the border.

Shortages in Covid tests and infant formula, a dramatic increase in the price of eggs, the end of Roe v Wade abortion protections, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza – for every seemingly unanticipated fire the Biden administration addressed, two new ones would emerge.

The challenges were, in fact, daunting – ones that felled incumbent leaders in democracies around the world.

But for Biden and the Democrats, hoping to prove that they were a competent and effective counterpoint not just to Trump but to global authoritarian regimes, the stakes were high.

Amid all of this, responses from the administration were sometimes glaringly off-key. When asked during a television interview about raising oil production in America to reduce gas prices, in November 2021, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm responded with a laugh.

“That is hilarious,” she said. “Would that I had the magic wand.”

Biden – once regarded as a gifted communicator and orator – appeared less able to connect with the American people. Signs of his advancing years were also showing.

“Watching Biden speak, I’m like, oh my God, this is a different person,” said a senior White House official who served in the early years of the Biden administration and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“Maybe it’s simply that when you’re there every day, you don’t see it.”

A report by Robert Hur, a special counsel appointed to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents, referred to the president as an “elderly man with a poor memory”, setting off a round of hand-wringing among Democrats.

Biden’s interactions with the media were curtailed, and his public appearances tightly scripted. His verbal miscues and stumbles became fodder for Republican attacks. But Biden pressed on, determined to seek and win a second term in office.

During his presidency, Biden surrounded himself with veterans of government service. His secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had been one of his top foreign policy advisors since his days in the Senate. Merrick Garland, a distinguished appellate court judge and Barack Obama’s ill-fated 2016 pick for the Supreme Court, was tabbed for attorney general. Yellen, his pick for treasury, had previously chaired the Federal Reserve.

Within the White House, Biden chose Ron Klain – who had worked in Democratic presidential administrations for decades – as his chief of staff. Mike Donilon, another Biden veteran, served as a senior advisor.

The team was particularly successful at managing the narrow majorities in the House and the Senate, notching early legislative victories even in the face of unified Republican resistance and reluctance from centrists in his own party.

Biden’s “American Rescue Plan”, which passed just two months after he took office, included nearly $2 trillion in new government spending. It expanded healthcare subsidies, and funded the distribution of Covid vaccines and a payment programme that cut child poverty in half, to 5%.

Later that year, Democrats and some Republicans joined to pass an infrastructure investment bill, which included $1tn in new spending on transportation, clean energy, water, broadband and other construction programmes.

Others followed, marking a legislative agenda that few first-term presidents in the modern era could match – but it came with what some critics see as a fatal flaw.

Brent Cebul, an associate professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, argues that Biden’s efforts were too focused on shifting policies that take years to translate into economic benefits for average American workers.

“I think that the time horizon associated with those big pieces of legislation was way out of sync with the exigencies of the presidential election,” he said.

Biden would have been better served finding ways to bring the tangible benefits to voters more quickly – a sentiment Biden himself expressed during a recent newspaper interview.

His team also proved less able when success was measured not in laws enacted but in the daily messaging battle against a political opposition that was growing increasingly assertive.

A senior Biden official said that the White House team was more decisive early on in his presidency.

“As things started to become a grind and you lose that sense of getting big things done, it can give way to infighting and frustration,” they admitted, adding that it was their sense that the circle around Biden became more insular as the pressure built.

After a two-year respite, his political opponents launched investigations, held hearings (into the Afghanistan withdrawal, the Biden family’s business dealings and more) and, in September 2023, formally initiated a presidential impeachment inquiry. All the while, Biden’s public approval languished in the low 40s.

Biden’s presidency should be seen in two halves, says Mr Cebul. The first was more accomplished. The second was less focused.

“Biden’s sense that the US was macro-economically doing quite well led him and his advisors to take their eyes off the ball when many, many Americans were still very much hurting.”

On 25 April, 2023, Biden made his presidential bid official in a campaign video warning that Trump “extremists” were threatening America.

Over the following months, there would be more warnings of the danger Trump posed to American democracy. He would tout his economic plan – embracing the label “Bidenomics” – and point to how inflation was dropping while the economy was still growing.

I travelled with Biden on a June 2023 trip to Chicago, where he held a reception for deep-pocketed donors and gave a speech on the economy in an historic downtown post office.

“Bidenomics is about the future,” he said.”Bidenomics is just another way of saying: Restore the American dream.”

Mr Cebul believes that was a bad move.

“For him to then spend most of the spring and the early summer basically talking about how he’s the most successful economic president in modern history, it was just so discordant,” he said.

“Not only was the message out of sync, he was also just a terrible messenger.”

In Chicago, as in many of his speeches, Biden’s delivery was at times halting. His words sometimes mumbled and his syntax mangled.

Through it all, however, Biden was telling aides that he believed he was the man best positioned to defeat Trump – that he had done it once, and he would do it again. And those aides vigorously pushed back whenever anyone questioned Biden’s abilities.

“I’m not a young guy, that’s no secret,” Biden said in a campaign advert. “But here’s the deal: I understand how to get things done for the American people.”

In the autumn, Biden confronted yet another crisis – following the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, he quickly cautioned Israel not to overreact or overreach in its response to the bloodshed.

As with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the president turned his attention to world affairs. But unlike Ukraine, during which Biden assembled a unified western coalition against the invasion, the continued US support of Israel eroded enthusiasm and support for Biden in some quarters at home.

At the same time, Biden was confronting his son Hunter’s growing legal troubles – a June trial and conviction on gun charges and, perhaps more concerning for the president, an indictment on tax-related violations that involved Hunter’s foreign business dealings.

The airing of family discord and pain was, at the very least, a distraction and an emotional drain on the president. His ultimate decision to pardon his son, made after November’s election, was condemned by many, including some allies.

Ultimately, Biden’s presidential bid – and his presidency – came crashing down in late June on a stage in Atlanta during a debate with Trump. His confused and at times incomprehensible performance dealt his campaign a mortal blow that seemingly confirmed Republican attacks – and Democratic fears – about his advancing age.

But eventually, after Trump defiantly responded to a failed assassination attempt and held a boisterous, unified national party convention in mid-July, Biden dropped out of the race.

Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris, Biden’s hand-picked successor, ensured that the final electoral judgement on Biden’s half-century political career would be one of rejection and defeat.

What would Biden’s legacy have been if he had simply stepped aside – “passed the torch” in his words – without seeking a second term? No video campaign launch. No grasping for campaign messages or Trump debate disaster. Instead, a robust race for the Democratic nomination with Biden floating above it all.

“We should have had primaries,” argues Ms Estrich. “His successor would have had time to make the case.”

In the end, Biden’s age and Trump’s enduring appeal were the fires that his administration could never put out, and the ones that ultimately consumed his presidency.

In exactly one week, Trump will take the oath of office and will likely set about dismantling much of what Biden accomplished over the past four years. How effective he is at doing this will go a long way towards determining Biden’s lasting legacy.

A few weeks ago, I asked Attorney General Garland how he thought history would judge Biden and this administration.

“I’ll leave that to the historians,” he replied.

That, in the end, is all Biden has left.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of US politics in his twice weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

A remote Shetland island is celebrating its traditional New Year’s Day – two weeks after other parts of the world.

Foula – which is home to fewer than 40 people – never fully adopted the modern Gregorian calendar, preferring instead to follow some of the traditions of the Julian calendar.

So this sees islanders celebrate Christmas on 6 January rather than 25 December, and New Year’s Day on 13 January.

“It is how we have always done it,” one islander told BBC Scotland News.

More than four centuries ago, Pope Gregory XIII designed the calendar used today to replace the Julian calendar, which had miscalculated the number of days it takes for the Earth to revolve around the sun.

Foula residents do not follow the Julian calendar as a strict daily rule due to the practicalities of island life, as they have to fit in with things such as plane and ferry timetables.

However Christmas Day and New Year’s Day are different.

Foula is about 16 miles from the Shetland mainland and lays claim to being Britain’s most remote inhabited island.

It is less than five miles long, and is powered by wind turbines, hydro energy and solar panels, with generators for back-up.

It is served by a ferry which runs between the island and Shetland, and there are also regular flights from Tingwall Airport, just outside Lerwick, to the island.

The island was one of the last places in Shetland where the old Norn language, a relic of Norse times, was spoken.

The most recent population headcount was 36.

Like many of those islanders, Robert Smith, 27, has a number of roles.

These include crewing the ferry, working at the water treatment plant, doing tours, and delivering mail if needed.

“We do anything and everything,” he said. “You have got to keep busy. Everyone chips in.”

He spent some of his life on mainland Shetland during his education, and has experienced the “best of both worlds” by getting to celebrate two Christmas days and two New Year days in a single 12-month period.

On Foula’s calendar differences, he said: “I think growing up it felt unique.

“But our new year has similarities with first-footing. You go round houses with a drink, stay a while, and catch up. Then maybe home for dinner and then somewhere for a party into the small hours.

“In Foula it’s family-focussed, it’s more intimate, and we are always playing music together. It’s something the island is known for. It’s a good bonding thing.

“It is how we have always done it.”

He started off on the guitar, then moved onto the mandolin, and is now trying to learn the fiddle, all “just for enjoyment”.

He added: “Christmases are similar, most people stay at home in the morning for presents and spending time together.

“In the past there were maybe different traditions that have slipped away – the men would go out shooting birds to cook.”

Population levels can fluctuate but Mr Smith described things as being in a healthy place at the moment.

“Most small islands can be older people but we are doing good,” he said.

“We have got a lot of children and young people.

“I think Foula has a very relaxed and independent feel, there is no-one breathing down your neck.”

For New Year’s Day he said he would follow in the traditions he had learned from his mother and grandmother – doing a bit of something you want to do well in for the rest of the year.

This could perhaps include crofting work, or gardening, or fishing.

“It’s a token effort to bring good fortune,” he said.

“I have a croft house I am trying to do up, so I might do some plastering.”

Another islander, who preferred not to be named, said: “Yule Day on the 6th works in a fairly similar way to the 25th for most folk.

“The things that are unique are we make an effort to go round every house for music and singing, and a big party.

“It feels less commercialised, and rooted in traditions. It’s important to maintain these old traditions.”

Islanders were lucky enough to have a “kind of” white Christmas this year amid a thaw, he said, with some snow still on the hills.

“And new year is not Hogmanay like the rest of the country, with the 13th being the equivalent of the 1st,” he explained.

“Everything is the same as Yule Day, with a big party at the end of the evening.”

The crofter echoed: “We try to do a little bit of everything for the year ahead, a small amount of each job you are involved in.

“And I would go and collect some driftwood from the shore, which is a tradition, for good luck.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says he is willing to hand over two captured North Korean soldiers to Pyongyang in exchange for Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russia.

“For those North Korean soldiers who do not wish to return, there may be other options available,” Zelensky said on X. Those who want “to bring peace closer by spreading the truth about this war in Korean will be given that opportunity”, he added.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said one of the two soldiers told officials he thought he was going to Russia for “training”, rather than to fight.

He was found with a Russian military ID card issued in the name of another person. The other soldier had no documents.

SBU said the two men, who were taken prisoner on 9 Jan, are in Kyiv and receiving medical care.

They only speak Korean and are being questioned with the assistance of South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, SBU said.

Russia has not denied using North Korean troops in its war against Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin said in October that it was his country’s “sovereign decision” whether or not to deploy such troops.

On Saturday, Zelensky posted photographs of the two captured soldiers, showing one of them with his head and chin in bandage, while the other had both his hands fully wrapped up.

Zelensky also shared a photo of a red Russian military ID card that gives the place of birth as Turan, in the Russian republic of Tuva, which shares a border with Mongolia.

SBU said that the soldier found with the ID card told interrogators he had been issued the document during the autumn of 2024, in Russia.

According to SBU, he also said that some of North Korea’s combat units had undergone a one-week training at the time.

“It is noteworthy that the prisoner…emphasises that he was allegedly going for training, not to fight a war against Ukraine,” the SBU statement said.

Zelensky’s office said in a statement on Saturday that the Russians “are trying to hide the fact that these are soldiers from North Korea by giving them documents claiming they are from Tuva or other territories under Moscow’s control”.

The intelligence service reported that the soldier carrying the ID card said he was born in 2005 and had been serving North Korea as a rifleman since 2021.

The second prisoner is reported to have given some of his answers in writing because he had an injured jaw, according to SBU.

SBU said it believed he was born in 1999 and had been serving North Korea as a scout sniper since 2016.

The Geneva Conventions state that the questioning of prisoners should be carried out in a language they understand and prisoners must be protected against public curiosity.

BBC News and other international media have not yet verified Ukraine’s account of the prisoners and their capture.

Ukraine and South Korea reported late last year that North Korea had sent at least 10,000 troops to Russia.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said on Monday that more than 300 North Korean soldiers have died while fighting for Russia, and at least 2,700 of them have been wounded.

In December, South Korea’s intelligence agency reported that a North Korean soldier believed to have been the first to be captured while supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine had died after being taken alive by Ukrainian forces.

Zelensky said on Sunday “there should be no doubt left that the Russian army is dependent on military assistance from North Korea”.

An 18-year-old Dalit woman from the southern India state of Kerala has accused 64 men of sexually abusing her since she was 13 years old.

Police have arrested 28 people in connection with the case so far – the men are in custody and have not made any public statement.

The accused, who range between 17 and 47 years of age, include the woman’s neighbours, sports coaches and her father’s friends, police told the BBC.

The woman reported the alleged abuse after a team of counsellors working under a government scheme visited her house.

Police have registered about 18 cases under India’s various crime laws as well as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act – which is a law to prevent crimes against people belonging to lower castes and tribes in India.

Dalits lie at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy and face widespread discrimination in India despite laws to protect them.

Cases have also been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, since the abuse took place when the woman was a minor, senior police official Nandakumar S told BBC Hindi.

More cases are expected to be registered in the coming days as the police are still investigating the matter. A 25-member team has been set up.

Police say that the alleged abuse began when the girl was 13 years old. Her neighbour allegedly molested her and took sexually explicit photographs of her, the News Minute website reported.

Her neighbour allegedly sexually abused her again when she was 16 years old, recorded videos of the abuse and shared it with several others who continued to assault the woman over many years.

A lawyer who heads the district’s Child Welfare Committee (CWC) told the Indian Express newspaper that the woman was an athlete and attended various sports camps, which could have facilitated further abuse.

Police say that the woman was allegedly gangraped three times in the past five years.

Her alleged abusers reportedly used her father’s phone number to contact her and the woman stored their contacts in the phone. The police are now using the phone to trace the accused.

The woman’s family was reportedly unaware of the alleged abuse.

The matter came to light when a team of counsellors visited the woman’s home last month. The counsellors alerted the CWC about the matter and the woman was asked to appear before the committee along with her mother.

“She was given counselling, and she opened up before a psychologist, narrating the sexual abuse she has been facing since the age of 13,” the CWC chief told the Indian Express.

He added that the woman had been shifted to a shelter associated with the CWC for her protection.

The woman’s allegations have sent shockwaves across the country. She is expected to give a detailed statement about the alleged abuse to a woman police officer.

At least 10 people have died after landslides swept through two cities in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, state officials have said.

The Bethania neighbourhood in the city of Ipatinga was the worst affected by the mudslides, which were triggered by torrential rain.

The mayor’s office said that 204mm (8in) of rain fell in Ipatinga on Sunday morning.

Landslides following torrential rains are not uncommon in the rainy season, with neighbourhoods precariously built on steep hillsides the worst hit.

Ipatinga Mayor Gustavo Nunes declared a state of emergency.

At least 150 people have been left homeless in the city, which is located some 570km north of Rio de Janeiro.

The mayor said the city had been surprised by the intense rains. “There was no time for people to prepare,” according to Nunes.

At least nine people are confirmed to have died in Ipatinga, while another body was found half-an-hour’s drive north in Santana do Paraíso.

Local media reported that two youths managed to escape alive from a home where five of their relatives died buried under the mud.

The city’s health centre was also damaged by the landslides, Ipatinga’s health minister said.

“At this time, the health centre is in no state to attend to people and all the patients who were here waiting to be transferred have been moved,” Walisson Medeiros said.

He thanked neighbouring cities for offering to help.

The governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema, said he would visit the affected area later on Monday.

At least 24 people have died in the Los Angeles fires as two major blazes continue to burn across the sprawling Californian city.

Firefighters made progress over the weekend in containing the Palisades and Eaton fires but warn that the return of high winds – forecast until Wednesday – could see them spread again.

They are already among the most destructive in LA’s history in terms of buildings destroyed.

The largest fire is in the Palisades and it has burnt through more than 23,000 acres. But over the weekend thousands of firefighters made progress in containing about 11% of it.

The blaze is moving east, threatening the exclusive neighbourhood of Brentwood, home to the Getty Center, a world-famous art museum that has now evacuated its staff.

A red flag warning – indicating a high level of fire danger – will be in place until 18:00 (02:00 GMT) on Wednesday, with the strongest Santa Ana winds expected on Tuesday.

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The other fire, Eaton, is more deadly than Palisades so far – responsible for 16 of the 24 dead, with many more still missing.

The number of people under evacuation orders in LA County has decreased since Saturday, but the destruction is immense.

More than 12,000 structures – homes, outbuildings, sheds, mobile homes and cars -have been destroyed including 7,000 in the Eaton fire.

The fires could turn out to be the costliest in US history, with damage projected at up to $150bn, according to a preliminary estimate by AccuWeather.

Celebrities who have lost their homes include Mel Gibson, Leighton Meester and Adam Brody, who attended the Golden Globes just days ago, and Paris Hilton.

Tens of thousands of homes are also without power.

There are two active fires in the wider area, while a smaller fire is nearly contained say California fire officials:

• Palisades: The first fire to erupt a week ago and the biggest in the region. It has scorched more than 23,654 acres, including the upmarket Pacific Palisades neighbourhood. It was 11% contained as of Sunday morning
• Eaton: Affecting the northern part of LA, blazing through areas such as Altadena. It is the second biggest fire in the area, burning more than 14,000 acres. It is 27% contained
• Hurst: Located just north of San Fernando, it began burning last Tuesday night. It has grown to 799 acres, and is almost fully contained

The earlier Kenneth, Archer, Sunset, Lidia, Woodley and Olivas fires have been contained.

A political row about the city’s preparedness has erupted after it emerged some fire crews’ hoses ran dry.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has called for an independent investigation into the loss of water pressure to hydrants and why the Santa Ynez Reservoir was closed for maintenance and empty when the fire broke out.

“Losing supplies from fire hydrants likely impaired the effort to protect some homes and evacuation corridors,” he wrote.

• Fact-checking criticism of California Democrats over fires

Mayor Karen Bass, who was on a previously arranged trip to Ghana when the fires began, has faced intense questions about the region’s preparedness and the water issues.

On Saturday, she deflected questions about her handling of the emergency, telling a news conference: “Right now, our first and most important obligation to Angelenos is to get through this crisis.”

Before the fires broke out, the city of LA’s fire chief warned in a memo that budget cuts were hampering the department’s ability to respond to emergencies.

But LA County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone has denied that his department had been unprepared.

“I did everything in my power to make sure that we had enough personnel and resources before the first fire started,” he said.

LA County Sheriff Robert Luna said detectives are continuing to investigate the possible causes.

“Everything is absolutely on the table,” he said.

Lightning – the most common source of fires in the US – has been ruled out as a cause for the Palisades and Eaton fires.

• ‘I have nothing to go back to’ – heartbreak in LA
• How one street went up in flames

Nor has there been any official indication so far that arson or utility lines – the next two biggest culprits in sparking fires – caused any of the conflagrations.

California’s very wet years of 2022-23 brought about a huge growth of vegetation, which dried out in the drought of last year, creating abundant kindling.

A combination of an exceptionally dry period – downtown LA has only received 0.16 inches (0.4cm) of rain since October – and powerful offshore gusts known as the Santa Ana winds have also created ripe conditions for wildfires.

Although strong winds and lack of rain are driving the blazes, experts say climate change is altering the background conditions and increasing the likelihood of such fires.

Much of the western United States including California experienced a decades-long drought that ended just two years ago, making the region vulnerable.

“Whiplash” swings between dry and wet periods in recent years created a massive amount of tinder-dry vegetation that was ready to burn.

US government research is unequivocal in linking climate change to larger and more severe wildfires in the western US.

“Climate change, including increased heat, extended drought, and a thirsty atmosphere, has been a key driver in increasing the risk and extent of wildfires in the western United States,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says.

Fire season in southern California is generally thought to stretch from May to October – but the governor has pointed out earlier that blazes had become a perennial issue. “There’s no fire season,” he said. “It’s fire year.”

• A simple guide to climate change
• Stuck in traffic as flames approached: Why LA is hard to evacuate

Have you been affected by the fires in California? Get in touch here.

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

The hum of sewing machines is a constant in parts of Guangzhou, a thriving port on the Pearl River in southern China.

It rattles through the open windows of factories from morning until late at night, as they finish the t-shirts, shorts, blouses, pants and swimwear that will be shipped to fill wardrobes in more than 150 countries.

This is the sound of Panyu, the neighbourhood known as the “Shein village”, a warren of factories that power the world’s largest fast fashion retailer.

“If there are 31 days in a month, I will work 31 days,” one worker told the BBC.

Most said they only have one day off a month.

The BBC spent several days here: we visited 10 factories, spoke to four owners and more than 20 workers. We also spent time at labour markets and textile suppliers.

We found that the beating heart of this empire is a workforce sitting behind sewing machines for around 75 hours a week in contravention of Chinese labour laws.

These hours are not unusual in Guangzhou, an industrial hub for rural workers in search of a higher income; or in China, which has long been the world’s unrivalled factory.

But they add to a growing list of questions about Shein, once a little-known Chinese-founded company that has become a global behemoth in just over five years.

Still privately-owned, it was valued at about £54bn ($66bn) in a fundraising round in 2023. It is now eyeing a potential listing on the London Stock Exchange.

Its meteoric rise, however, has been dogged with controversy about its treatment of workers and allegations of forced labour.

Last year it admitted to finding children working in its factories in China.

The company declined to be interviewed but told the BBC in a statement that “Shein is committed to ensuring the fair and dignified treatment of all workers within our supply chain” and is investing tens of millions of dollars in strengthening governance and compliance.

It added: “We strive to set the highest standards for pay and we require that all supply chain partners adhere to our code of conduct. Furthermore, Shein works with auditors to ensure compliance.”

Shein’s success lies in volume – the inventory online runs into the hundreds of thousands – and deep discounts: £10 dresses, £6 sweaters, prices that hover below £8 on average.

Revenue has soared, outstripping the likes of H&M, Zara and the UK’s Primark. The cut-price sales are driven by places like the Shein village, home to some 5,000 factories, most of them Shein suppliers.

The buildings have been hollowed out to make way for sewing machines, rolls of fabric and bags brimming with cloth scraps. The doors to their basements are always open for the seemingly endless cycle of deliveries and collections.

As the day passes, the shelves fill up with warehouse-bound, clear plastic bags labelled with a now-distinctive five-letter noun.

But even past 22:00, the sewing machines – and the people hunched over them – don’t stop as more fabric arrives, in trucks so full that bolts of colour sometimes tumble onto the factory floor.

“We usually work, 10, 11 or 12 hours a day,” says a 49-year-old woman from Jiangxi unwilling to give her name. “On Sundays we work around three hours less.”

She is in an alleyway, where a dozen people are huddled around a row of bulletin boards.

They are reading the job ads on the board, while examining the stitching on a pair of chinos draped over it.

This is Shein’s supply chain. The factories are contracted to make clothes on order – some small, some big. If the chinos are a hit, orders will ramp up and so must production. Factories then hire temporary workers to meet the demand their permanent staff cannot fulfil.

The migrant worker from Jiangxi is looking for a short-term contract – and the chinos are an option.

“We earn so little. The cost of living is now so high,” she says, adding that she hopes to make enough to send back to her two children who are living with their grandparents.

“We get paid per piece,” she explains. “It depends how difficult the item is. Something simple like a t-shirt is one-two yuan [less than a dollar] per piece and I can make around a dozen in an hour.”

Examining the stitching on the chinos is crucial for making that decision. All around her, workers are calculating how much they will get paid to make each piece of clothing and how many they can make in an hour.

The alleys of Panyu function as labour markets, filling up in the mornings as workers and scooters rush past the breakfast dumpling cart, the cups of steaming soybean milk and the hopeful farmer selling chicken and duck eggs.

Standard working hours appear to be from 08:00 to well past 22:00, the BBC found.

This is consistent with a report from the Swiss advocacy group Public Eye, which was based on interviews with 13 textile workers at factories producing clothes for Shein.

They found that a number of staff were working excessive overtime. It noted the basic wage without overtime was 2,400 yuan (£265; $327) – below the 6,512 yuan the Asia Floor Wage Alliance says is needed for a “living wage”. But the workers we spoke to managed to earn anywhere between 4,000 and 10,000 yuan a month.

“These hours are not unusual, but it’s clear that it’s illegal and it violates basic human rights,” said David Hachfield from the group. “It’s an extreme form of exploitation and this needs to be visible.”

The average working week should not exceed 44 hours, according to Chinese labour laws, which also state that employers should ensure workers have at least one rest day a week. If an employer wants to extend these hours, it should be for special reasons.

While Shein’s headquarters are now in Singapore, there is no denying the majority of its products are made in China.

And Shein’s success has drawn the attention of Washington, which is increasingly wary of Chinese firms.

In June, Donald Trump’s pick for US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said he had “grave ethics concerns” about Shein’s “deep ties to the People’s Republic of China”: “Slave labour, sweatshops, and trade tricks are the dirty secrets behind Shein’s success,” he wrote.

Not everyone would agree with Rubio’s choice of words to describe the conditions at Shein’s suppliers. But rights groups say that the long working hours, which have become a way of life for many in Guangzhou, are unfair and exploitative.

The machines dictate the rhythm of the day.

They pause for lunch and dinner when the workers, metal plates and chopsticks in hand, file into the canteen to buy food. If there is no more space to sit, they stand in the street.

“I’ve been working in these factories for more than 40 years,” said one woman who spent just 20 minutes eating her meal. This was just another day for her.

Inside, the factories we visit are not cramped. There is enough light and industrial-sized fans have been brought in to keep workers cool. Huge posters urge staff to report underage workers – likely a response to finding two cases of child labour in the supply chain last year.

The BBC understands that the company is keeping a closer eye on its suppliers ahead of plans to go public on the London Stock Exchange.

“This is about their reputation,” says Sheng Lu, a professor in Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware. “If Shein can successfully achieve an IPO then it means they are recognised as a decent company. But if they are to keep the confidence of investors, they have to take some responsibility.”

One of the biggest challenges Shein faces is accusations that it sources cotton from China’s Xinjiang region.

Once touted as among the world’s best fabric, Xinjiang’s cotton has fallen out of favour after allegations that it is produced using forced labour by people from the Muslim Uyghur minority – a charge that Beijing has consistently denied.

The only way to get around this criticism is to be more transparent, Prof Sheng says.

“Unless you fully release your factory list, unless you make your supply chain more transparent to the public, then I think it’s going to be very challenging for Shein.”

A major advantage, he adds, is that Shein’s supply chain is in China: “Very few countries have a complete supply chain. China has this – and nobody can compete.”

Aspiring rivals like Vietnam and Bangladesh import raw materials from China to make clothes. But Chinese factories rely entirely on local sources for everything, from fabric to zippers and buttons. So it’s easy to make a variety of garments, and they are able to do it quickly.

That especially works for Shein whose algorithm determines orders. If shoppers repeatedly click on a certain dress, or spend longer looking at a wool sweater, the firm knows to ask factories to make more – and fast.

For workers in Guangzhou, this can be a challenge.

“Shein has its pros and cons,” one factory owner told us. “The good thing is the order is eventually big, but profit is low and it’s fixed.”

Shein, given its size and influence, is a hard bargainer. So factory owners have to cut costs elsewhere, often resulting in lower staff wages.

“Before Shein, we produced and sold clothes on our own,” said an owner of three factories. “We could estimate the cost, decide the price and calculate the profit. Now Shein controls the price, and you have to think about ways to reduce the cost.”

When orders peak, however, it’s a bonanza. The company ships around one million packages a day on average, according to data from ShipMatrix, a logistics consultancy firm.

“Shein is a pillar of the fashion industry,” said Guo Qing E, a Shein supplier.

“I started when Shein started. I witnessed its rise. To be honest, Shein is an awesome company in China. I think it will become stronger, because it pays on time. This is where it is most trustworthy.

“If payment for our goods is due on the 15th, no matter whether it’s millions or tens of millions, the money will be paid on time.”

Shein, with its gruelling hours and sometimes lower wages, may not be a source of comfort to all its workers. But it is a source of pride for some.

“This is the contribution we Chinese people can make to the world,” said a 33- year-old supervisor from Guangdong, who didn’t want to give her name.

It’s dark outside and workers are filing back into factories after their dinner for the final stretch. She admits the hours are long, but “we get on well with each other. We are like a family”.

Hours later, after many workers head home for the night, the lights in several buildings stay on.

Some people work until midnight, one factory owner told us. They want to earn more money, he said.

After all, in London, Chicago, Singapore, Dubai and so many other places, someone is hunting for their next bargain.

Standing at a lectern at Washington’s National Cathedral last Thursday, Joe Biden delivered the eulogy for former President Jimmy Carter while three other former presidents – Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama – and the once and future president, Donald Trump, looked on.

Each spectating president had achieved the validation of the American people (re-election to a second term) that has eluded Biden. And as Biden, whose term comes to an end next week, paid tribute to Carter, a fellow one-term president, it was hard not to draw other parallels too.

“Many think he was from a bygone era, but in reality, he saw well into the future,” Biden said of Carter. He went on to note Carter’s accomplishments in advancing civil rights, his work on peace and nuclear non-proliferation, and his efforts to protect the environment.

Earlier in the week, however, Biden was making the case for his own legacy and how history should judge him.

“I hope that history says that I came in and I had a plan how to restore the economy and reestablish America’s leadership in the world,” he said in a television interview. “And I hope it records that I did it with honesty and integrity; that I said what was on my mind.”

Whether that happens is subject to vigorous discussion – but he exits the White House with his approval ratings near their lowest mark of his presidency. Only 39% have a positive view, according to the latest Gallup survey, down from 57% at the start of his term.

Next week, the man he defeated in 2020 returns to power, marking what must feel to him like a dour end to a presidency.

Biden had his accomplishments – adroitly shepherding complex investment and infrastructure legislation through Congress despite narrow majorities, strengthening and expanding Nato, and appointing a remarkable number of diverse judges to the federal bench – but at least for now, that is overshadowed.

His current place in history is as the Democratic interregnum between the two Trump presidential terms. A blip, rather than a pivot.

“He’d like his legacy to be that he rescued us from Trump,” says author and Democratic strategist Susan Estrich. “But sadly, for him, his legacy is Trump again. He is the bridge from Trump One to Trump Two.”

It didn’t have to be this way. Biden and his team were buffeted by events – some within his control and some outside it. Many of the most damaging developments were entirely predictable, however – and, in fact, predicted – yet the president and his administration appeared to be caught flat-footed.

For that, they paid a high price.

Biden’s first misstep as president came half a world away, in the chaos that unfolded during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

The exit had been negotiated during the final months of the Trump administration, but Biden backed it – despite warnings from some of his military advisors.

Those dire predictions proved prophetic, as Kabul descended into panic and unrest.

By the end of that month, Biden’s Gallup approval rating had dipped below 50% for the first time – a mark it would never again reach.

On the domestic front, the situation for the president was equally inauspicious. By summer, US inflation had surpassed 5% for the first time in 30 years.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that she believed the spike was “transitory”. Biden called it “temporary”. Some outside the administration, most notably Obama’s economy adviser Larry Summers, thought otherwise.

By the time inflation reached its peak a year later, at 9.1% in June 2022, Yellen and Biden had admitted they miscalculated.

Americans did not forget or forgive, however. And although the monthly inflation numbers had dropped below 3% by summer 2024, unemployment remained low, economic growth was steady and the US had outperformed the world’s other industrialised nations, voters continued to have a pessimistic view of the economy.

Other issues followed this pattern: The Biden administration was slow to respond to the post-Covid spike in undocumented migration at the US-Mexico border.

And it was seemingly caught off-guard by the disruptive impact the Republican-backed programme of relocating migrants to Democratic-run northern cities would have on government services far from the border.

Shortages in Covid tests and infant formula, a dramatic increase in the price of eggs, the end of Roe v Wade abortion protections, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza – for every seemingly unanticipated fire the Biden administration addressed, two new ones would emerge.

The challenges were, in fact, daunting – ones that felled incumbent leaders in democracies around the world.

But for Biden and the Democrats, hoping to prove that they were a competent and effective counterpoint not just to Trump but to global authoritarian regimes, the stakes were high.

Amid all of this, responses from the administration were sometimes glaringly off-key. When asked during a television interview about raising oil production in America to reduce gas prices, in November 2021, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm responded with a laugh.

“That is hilarious,” she said. “Would that I had the magic wand.”

Biden – once regarded as a gifted communicator and orator – appeared less able to connect with the American people. Signs of his advancing years were also showing.

“Watching Biden speak, I’m like, oh my God, this is a different person,” said a senior White House official who served in the early years of the Biden administration and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

“Maybe it’s simply that when you’re there every day, you don’t see it.”

A report by Robert Hur, a special counsel appointed to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents, referred to the president as an “elderly man with a poor memory”, setting off a round of hand-wringing among Democrats.

Biden’s interactions with the media were curtailed, and his public appearances tightly scripted. His verbal miscues and stumbles became fodder for Republican attacks. But Biden pressed on, determined to seek and win a second term in office.

During his presidency, Biden surrounded himself with veterans of government service. His secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had been one of his top foreign policy advisors since his days in the Senate. Merrick Garland, a distinguished appellate court judge and Barack Obama’s ill-fated 2016 pick for the Supreme Court, was tabbed for attorney general. Yellen, his pick for treasury, had previously chaired the Federal Reserve.

Within the White House, Biden chose Ron Klain – who had worked in Democratic presidential administrations for decades – as his chief of staff. Mike Donilon, another Biden veteran, served as a senior advisor.

The team was particularly successful at managing the narrow majorities in the House and the Senate, notching early legislative victories even in the face of unified Republican resistance and reluctance from centrists in his own party.

Biden’s “American Rescue Plan”, which passed just two months after he took office, included nearly $2 trillion in new government spending. It expanded healthcare subsidies, and funded the distribution of Covid vaccines and a payment programme that cut child poverty in half, to 5%.

Later that year, Democrats and some Republicans joined to pass an infrastructure investment bill, which included $1tn in new spending on transportation, clean energy, water, broadband and other construction programmes.

Others followed, marking a legislative agenda that few first-term presidents in the modern era could match – but it came with what some critics see as a fatal flaw.

Brent Cebul, an associate professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, argues that Biden’s efforts were too focused on shifting policies that take years to translate into economic benefits for average American workers.

“I think that the time horizon associated with those big pieces of legislation was way out of sync with the exigencies of the presidential election,” he said.

Biden would have been better served finding ways to bring the tangible benefits to voters more quickly – a sentiment Biden himself expressed during a recent newspaper interview.

His team also proved less able when success was measured not in laws enacted but in the daily messaging battle against a political opposition that was growing increasingly assertive.

A senior Biden official said that the White House team was more decisive early on in his presidency.

“As things started to become a grind and you lose that sense of getting big things done, it can give way to infighting and frustration,” they admitted, adding that it was their sense that the circle around Biden became more insular as the pressure built.

After a two-year respite, his political opponents launched investigations, held hearings (into the Afghanistan withdrawal, the Biden family’s business dealings and more) and, in September 2023, formally initiated a presidential impeachment inquiry. All the while, Biden’s public approval languished in the low 40s.

Biden’s presidency should be seen in two halves, says Mr Cebul. The first was more accomplished. The second was less focused.

“Biden’s sense that the US was macro-economically doing quite well led him and his advisors to take their eyes off the ball when many, many Americans were still very much hurting.”

On 25 April, 2023, Biden made his presidential bid official in a campaign video warning that Trump “extremists” were threatening America.

Over the following months, there would be more warnings of the danger Trump posed to American democracy. He would tout his economic plan – embracing the label “Bidenomics” – and point to how inflation was dropping while the economy was still growing.

I travelled with Biden on a June 2023 trip to Chicago, where he held a reception for deep-pocketed donors and gave a speech on the economy in an historic downtown post office.

“Bidenomics is about the future,” he said.”Bidenomics is just another way of saying: Restore the American dream.”

Mr Cebul believes that was a bad move.

“For him to then spend most of the spring and the early summer basically talking about how he’s the most successful economic president in modern history, it was just so discordant,” he said.

“Not only was the message out of sync, he was also just a terrible messenger.”

In Chicago, as in many of his speeches, Biden’s delivery was at times halting. His words sometimes mumbled and his syntax mangled.

Through it all, however, Biden was telling aides that he believed he was the man best positioned to defeat Trump – that he had done it once, and he would do it again. And those aides vigorously pushed back whenever anyone questioned Biden’s abilities.

“I’m not a young guy, that’s no secret,” Biden said in a campaign advert. “But here’s the deal: I understand how to get things done for the American people.”

In the autumn, Biden confronted yet another crisis – following the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, he quickly cautioned Israel not to overreact or overreach in its response to the bloodshed.

As with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the president turned his attention to world affairs. But unlike Ukraine, during which Biden assembled a unified western coalition against the invasion, the continued US support of Israel eroded enthusiasm and support for Biden in some quarters at home.

At the same time, Biden was confronting his son Hunter’s growing legal troubles – a June trial and conviction on gun charges and, perhaps more concerning for the president, an indictment on tax-related violations that involved Hunter’s foreign business dealings.

The airing of family discord and pain was, at the very least, a distraction and an emotional drain on the president. His ultimate decision to pardon his son, made after November’s election, was condemned by many, including some allies.

Ultimately, Biden’s presidential bid – and his presidency – came crashing down in late June on a stage in Atlanta during a debate with Trump. His confused and at times incomprehensible performance dealt his campaign a mortal blow that seemingly confirmed Republican attacks – and Democratic fears – about his advancing age.

But eventually, after Trump defiantly responded to a failed assassination attempt and held a boisterous, unified national party convention in mid-July, Biden dropped out of the race.

Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris, Biden’s hand-picked successor, ensured that the final electoral judgement on Biden’s half-century political career would be one of rejection and defeat.

What would Biden’s legacy have been if he had simply stepped aside – “passed the torch” in his words – without seeking a second term? No video campaign launch. No grasping for campaign messages or Trump debate disaster. Instead, a robust race for the Democratic nomination with Biden floating above it all.

“We should have had primaries,” argues Ms Estrich. “His successor would have had time to make the case.”

In the end, Biden’s age and Trump’s enduring appeal were the fires that his administration could never put out, and the ones that ultimately consumed his presidency.

In exactly one week, Trump will take the oath of office and will likely set about dismantling much of what Biden accomplished over the past four years. How effective he is at doing this will go a long way towards determining Biden’s lasting legacy.

A few weeks ago, I asked Attorney General Garland how he thought history would judge Biden and this administration.

“I’ll leave that to the historians,” he replied.

That, in the end, is all Biden has left.

North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher makes sense of US politics in his twice weekly US Election Unspun newsletter. Readers in the UK can sign up here. Those outside the UK can sign up here.

Millions of people are gathering in the northern Indian city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state to participate in the Mahakumbh Mela, the world’s largest gathering of humanity.

Devout Hindus from all parts of the world have arrived here (and will continue to do so) over the course of six weeks to take a holy dip at Sangam – the confluence of India’s most sacred Ganges river with the Yamuna river and the mythical Saraswati.

Hindus believe taking a dip in the sacred waters cleanses people of sins.

Authorities have set up a sprawling tent city spread across 4,000 hectares of open land along the banks of the rivers to accommodate the visitors, who are arriving at the grounds in colourful large processions, singing and dancing along the way.

Photojournalist Ankit Srinivas brings you some sights from the festival:

Norway is the world leader when it comes to the take up of electric cars, which last year accounted for nine out of 10 new vehicles sold in the country. Can other nations learn from it?

For more than 75 years Oslo-based car dealership Harald A Møller has been importing Volkswagens, but early in 2024 it bid farewell to fossil fuel cars.

Now all the passenger vehicles for sale in its showroom are electric (EV).

“We think it’s wrong to advise a customer coming in here today to buy an ICE [internal combustion engine] car, because the future is electric,” says chief executive Ulf Tore Hekneby, as he walks around the cars on display. “Long-range, high-charging speed. It’s hard to go back.”

On the streets of Norway’s capital, Oslo, battery-powered cars aren’t a novelty, they’re the norm. Take a look around and you’ll soon notice that almost every other car has an “E” for “electric” on its licence plate.

The Nordic nation of 5.5 million people has adopted EVs faster than any other country, and is on the cusp of becoming the first to phase out the sale of new fossil fuel cars.

Last year, the number of electric cars on Norway’s roads outnumbered those powered by petrol for the first time. When diesel vehicles are included, electric cars account for almost a third of all on Norwegian roads.

And 88.9% of new cars sold in the country last year were EVs, up from 82.4% in 2023, data from the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) showed.

In some months sales of fully electric cars were as high as 98%, as new petrol or diesel car purchases almost fizzled out.

By contrast, in the UK electric cars made up only 20% of new car registrations in 2024. Although this was a record high, and up from 16.5% in 2023.

In the US, the figure was just 8% last year, up from 7.6%.

Norway is undoubtedly an EV pioneer, but this electric revolution has been three decades in the making.

“It started already in the early 1990s,” says Christina Bu, the secretary general of the Norwegian EV Association, as she took me for a spin around Oslo in an electric minivan.

“Little by little taxing petrol and diesel engine cars more, so they have become a lot more expensive to purchase, whereas electric cars have been exempted from taxes.”

The support for electric vehicles was first introduced to help two Norwegian manufacturers of early EVs, the Buddy (previously Kewet) and TH!NK City. While they went out of business, the incentives for greener vehicles remained.

“It’s our goal to see that it’s always a good and viable choice, to choose zero emission,” says Norway’s Deputy Transport Minister, Cecilie Knibe Kroglund.

Even though it’s a major oil and gas producer, Norway aims for all new cars sold to be “zero emission”, starting at some point in 2025. A non-binding goal was set back in 2017, and that milestone now lies within reach.

“We are closing up on the target, and I think that we will reach that goal,” adds Kroglund. “I think we have already made the transition for passengers cars.”

Key to Norway’s success has been long-term and predictable policies, she explains.

Rather than banning combustion engine vehicles, the government has steered consumer choices. In addition to penalising fuel fossil vehicles with higher taxes and registration fees, VAT and import duties were scrapped for low-emission cars.

A string of perks, like free parking, discounted road tolls and access to bus lanes, then followed.

By comparison, the European Union plans to ban sales of new fossil-fuel cars by 2035, and the UK’s current government wants to prohibit their sale in 2030.

Petrol and diesel car sales are still permitted in Norway. But few are choosing to buy them.

For many locals, like Ståle Fyen, who bought his first EV 15 months ago, going electric made economic sense.

“With all the incentives we have in Norway, with no taxes on EVs, that was quite important to us money wise,” he says while plugging in his car at a charging station in the capital.

“In the cold, the range is maybe 20% shorter, but still, with the expansive charging network we have here in Norway, that isn’t a big issue really,” Mr Fyen adds. “You just have to change your mindset and charge when you can, not when you need to.”

Another driver, Merete Eggesbø, says that back in 2014 she was one of the first people in Norway to own a Tesla. “I really wanted a car that didn’t pollute. It gave me a better conscience driving.”

At Norwegian petrol stations many fuel pumps have been replaced by fast-charging points, and across Norway there are now more than 27,000 public chargers.

This compares with 73,699 in the UK – a country 12 times bigger in terms of population.

That means that, per 100,000 people, Norway has 447 chargers while the UK has just 89, according to a recent report.

Tesla, VW and Toyota, were Norway’s top-selling EV brands last year. Meanwhile, Chinese-owned marques – such as MG, BYD, Polestar and XPeng – now make up a combined 10% of the market, according to the Norwegian Road Federation.

Norway, unlike the US and EU, has not imposed tariffs on Chinese EV imports.

Ms Bu says there’s “not really any reason why other countries can not copy Norway”. However, she adds that it is “all about doing it in a way that can work in each country or market”.

Norwegians aren’t more environmentally-minded than people elsewhere, she reckons. “I don’t think a green mindset has much to do with it. It has to do with strong policies, and people gradually understanding that driving an electric car is possible.”

Yet Norway is also a very wealthy nation, which thanks to its huge oil and gas exports, has a sovereign wealth fund worth more than $1.7tn (£1.3tn). This means it can more easily afford big infrastructure-build projects, and absorb the loss of tax revenue from the sale of petrol and diesel cars and their fuel.

The country also has an abundance of renewable hydro electricity, which accounts for 88% of its production capacity.

“A third of cars are now electric, and it will pass 50% in a few years,” says Kjell Werner Johansen from the Norwegian Centre for Transport Research. “I think the government accepts that a few new petrol or hybrid cars will still be on the market, but I don’t know anybody who wants to buy a diesel car these days.”

The outline of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal currently being discussed by Israel and Hamas at indirect talks in Doha has been on the table since May. So why is there fresh anticipation that it could work, after being frozen for eight months of the war?

There are several things that have shifted – both politically and on the ground.

The first is the election of Donald Trump as the next US president.

He has threatened that “all hell” would break loose if the hostages were not released before he took office on 20 January.

Hamas may well read that as a sign that even the flimsy brakes the Biden administration used to try and rein in the Israeli government would be lifted, though it is hard to imagine what that might mean for a territory already so shattered by 15 months of war.

Israel too is feeling the pressure from the incoming president to end the conflict in Gaza, which threatens to interfere with Trump’s hopes to secure a wider regional deal, and his desired image as a president who ends wars.

• Biden and Netanyahu discuss Gaza ceasefire talks as momentum builds

On the other hand, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces continued pressure from his far-right coalition allies to continue the war.

But Trump could also be an asset for him in persuading his allies to swallow the deal and stay in the government; the new US president and the man he picked as Israeli ambassador are seen as supportive of Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank, which Israel’s far-right Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, has said he wants to annex.

But after a meeting with the prime minister last night, Smotrich appeared unconvinced, writing on social media that the current deal was “a catastrophe” for Israel’s national security and that he would not support it.

Some in Israel, though, believe that both Smotrich and his far-right ally, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, see their current role in Israel’s government as their best chance to cement control over the West Bank, especially with Trump returning to the White House, and that they are unlikely to follow through with their threats to quit.

The second thing that has shifted is growing pressure on Netanyahu from his own military establishment.

Key figures are widely reported to have challenged him repeatedly on the dwindling military goals in continuing the war, after the killing of the top Hamas leadership, and the decimation of Gaza.

Last week, 10 Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, shining a fresh spotlight on the costs of the war to Israel, and on the perennial question of whether the “total victory” over Hamas that Netanyahu has promised is achievable.

Some analysts now suggest that Hamas is rebuilding faster than Israel is defeating it, and therefore Israel needs to reconsider its strategy.

And there’s a third – regional – shift playing into the shift in expectations here too: the weakening and erosion of Hamas allies in Iran’s “Axis of Resistance”, from Hezbollah in Lebanon to Bashar al-Assad in Syria, along with killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Gaza.

For all these reasons, now is seen as the best chance in months to bridge the gaps between Israel and Hamas and bring an end to the war.

What has not shifted in the eight months since they were last negotiating are the gaps between them.

Key among them is a direct conflict between the key concern of Hamas, which wants to end the war, and that of Israel, which wants to keep the door open to resuming the conflict, whether for political or military reasons.

The deal, as outlined by President Joe Biden in May, is divided into three phases, with a permanent ceasefire only coming into effect in phase two.

Success now will likely depend on whether guarantees can be found to allay Hamas fears that Israel will pull out of the deal after the first phase of hostage releases.

Questions over how to administer territory that Israel pulls back from are also unclear at this stage.

But the web of diplomacy criss-crossing the region over the past week, and the fact that Netanyahu has sent the heads of Israel’s security agencies to the talks in Doha, along with a key political adviser, are encouraging signs.

So too is the departure for Doha of the Palestinian detainee co-ordinator, Qadoura Fares.

The deal is not yet done – and talks have fallen apart before.

This old deal is fuelling fresh hopes partly because negotiations are taking place in a new regional context, with growing pressures both internally and from key allies abroad.

An 18-year-old Dalit woman from the southern India state of Kerala has accused 64 men of sexually abusing her since she was 13 years old.

Police have arrested 28 people in connection with the case so far – the men are in custody and have not made any public statement.

The accused, who range between 17 and 47 years of age, include the woman’s neighbours, sports coaches and her father’s friends, police told the BBC.

The woman reported the alleged abuse after a team of counsellors working under a government scheme visited her house.

Police have registered about 18 cases under India’s various crime laws as well as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act – which is a law to prevent crimes against people belonging to lower castes and tribes in India.

Dalits lie at the bottom of the Hindu caste hierarchy and face widespread discrimination in India despite laws to protect them.

Cases have also been registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, since the abuse took place when the woman was a minor, senior police official Nandakumar S told BBC Hindi.

More cases are expected to be registered in the coming days as the police are still investigating the matter. A 25-member team has been set up.

Police say that the alleged abuse began when the girl was 13 years old. Her neighbour allegedly molested her and took sexually explicit photographs of her, the News Minute website reported.

Her neighbour allegedly sexually abused her again when she was 16 years old, recorded videos of the abuse and shared it with several others who continued to assault the woman over many years.

A lawyer who heads the district’s Child Welfare Committee (CWC) told the Indian Express newspaper that the woman was an athlete and attended various sports camps, which could have facilitated further abuse.

Police say that the woman was allegedly gangraped three times in the past five years.

Her alleged abusers reportedly used her father’s phone number to contact her and the woman stored their contacts in the phone. The police are now using the phone to trace the accused.

The woman’s family was reportedly unaware of the alleged abuse.

The matter came to light when a team of counsellors visited the woman’s home last month. The counsellors alerted the CWC about the matter and the woman was asked to appear before the committee along with her mother.

“She was given counselling, and she opened up before a psychologist, narrating the sexual abuse she has been facing since the age of 13,” the CWC chief told the Indian Express.

He added that the woman had been shifted to a shelter associated with the CWC for her protection.

The woman’s allegations have sent shockwaves across the country. She is expected to give a detailed statement about the alleged abuse to a woman police officer.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he has “full confidence” in Chancellor Rachel Reeves as she faces criticism over the falling pound and rising government borrowing costs.

The pound fell to $1.21 on Monday, its lowest level since November 2023, while one measure of the rate at which the government can borrow money hit its highest level since 2008.

Borrowing costs are rising for many countries across the world, but some have argued that decisions made in the Budget appear to have made the UK more vulnerable.

Sir Keir said Reeves was “doing a fantastic job”, but the Conservatives said she was “hanging on by her fingernails”.

When confronted over the chancellor’s future at a press conference on Monday, Sir Keir did not publicly confirm that Reeves would still be in post by the next election.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said: “The prime minister just refused to back his chancellor staying in her job.

“The markets are in turmoil and business confidence has crashed, yet the chancellor is nowhere to be seen.”

However, senior members of the government have since told the BBC that the prime minister “will be working with her in her role of chancellor for the whole of this parliament”.

The row comes after the chancellor defended her decision to travel to China to improve economic ties with the country, despite the uncertainty in the financial markets.

The Conservatives said she had “fled to China”, but Reeves said agreements reached in Beijing would be worth £600m to the UK over the next five years.

Reeves is a central figure in the Labour government, presented to the voters as a safe pair of hands in the run up to the election. She also led the work to build bridges with business.

But business and some other observers were shaken by her first Budget in October, which they fear could knock the wind from the economy further, rather than spur the growth Labour has promised.

Market jitters over the past week have increased concerns over the government’s economic strategy.

Rising borrowing costs will have a knock-on effect on the government’s tax and spending plans, because it will have to pay more interest to finance its existing debt. That leaves less to spend on public services and investment.

Governments generally borrow money by selling bonds to big investors, such as pension funds. UK government bonds are known as gilts.

The yield on the 10-year gilt – the interest rate at which the government pays back a decade-long loan to investors – rose to 4.86% on Monday, its highest level for 17 years.

The 30-year gilt yield climbed to 5.42%, its highest in 27 years.

Government debt costs in Germany, France, Spain and Italy also rose on Monday.

Some experts say investors are reacting to the re-election of former US President Donald Trump and his talk of tariffs.

There is concern this will lead to inflation being more persistent than previously thought, and therefore interest rates will not come down as quickly as expected, both in the US and elsewhere.

Strong US jobs data released on Friday added to expectations that US rates will stay higher for longer, and this has helped to strengthen the value of the dollar against other currencies.

However, Emma Wall, head of platform investors at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the UK’s problems were not purely caused by global issues, arguing that measures announced in the Budget have stoked inflation.

“If you can get inflation under control, you will see interest rates come down in the UK,” she added.

Reeves also faced questions over her self-imposed rules on government debt and spending, which she said on Saturday were “non-negotiable”.

Despite her commitment, some have questioned whether she will be able to achieve the targets without making further spending cuts or tax rises because of how government debt costs have risen.

On Monday, Sir Keir said the government was going to keep to its fiscal rules.

However, he added that the government would be “ruthless” in its decisions for the upcoming spending review.

The government has made growing the UK’s economy a key objective, but recent figures indicate the economy saw zero growth between July and September, while it contracted during October.

Businesses have warned that Budget measures, such as the rise in employer National Insurance contributions, together with the higher National Living Wage could lead to job cuts and price rises.

Rupert Soames, chair of the Confederation of British Business (CBI), said the picture was “not good” but insisted that firms were still somewhat upbeat.

“I wouldn’t say confidence is gone,” he told the BBC’s Today programme. “I’d say it’s bruised.”

However, he said the government was making the situation worse by introducing the Employment Rights Bill, which he said contained “powerful dissuaders to employment”.

Unions argue the protections introduced in the bill, such as banning fire and rehire, make employees safer, while the government has said it “represents the biggest upgrade in employment rights for a generation”.

However, Mr Soames said the bill would lead to job losses. “Businesses will not only not employ, they will let people go,” he said.

As part of its push for growth, the government revealed plans on Monday to make the UK the global capital of artificial intelligence through measures such as building a new supercomputer.

Sir Keir said the technology has “vast potential” for rejuvenating UK public services, but the Conservatives called the plans “uninspiring”.

Firefighters are battling to control huge wildfires in Los Angeles that have killed at least 24 people, devoured thousands of buildings and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

It’s a rapidly changing situation – these maps and pictures show the scale of the challenge, where the fires are and the damage they have caused.

The largest blaze, in the Pacific Palisades area is the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history. More than 23,000 acres have now burnt.

Placing the area affected on to maps of New York and London gives a sense of how big that is, stretching from Clapham to Greenwich in the UK’s capital, or across large areas of lower Manhattan and Queens.

Three fires are currently burning in the Los Angeles area.

• Palisades fire: The largest active fire is burning between Santa Monica and Malibu. Burnt area: 23,713 acres.

• Eaton fire: Second largest fire burning north of Pasadena. Burnt area: 14,117 acres.

• Hurst fire: To the north east of the city. Burnt area: 799 acres. It’s 89% contained, according to LA officials.

But six other fires have been contained.

Kenneth fire: In the West Hills area, just north of the Palisades. It was contained on Sunday afternoon, after burning through 1,052 acres since Thursday.

Lidia fire: Reported in the hills north of Los Angeles. Burnt area: 395 acres.

Archer fire: Small fire that started on Friday and burned through 19 acres.

Woodley fire: Small fire reported in local parkland. Burnt area: 30 acres.

Olivas fire: Small fire first reported in Ventura county about 50 miles (80km) east of Los Angeles. Burnt area: 11 acres.

Sunset fire: Reported in the historic Hollywood Hills area near many famous landmarks, including the Hollywood sign. Burnt area: 43 acres.

Officials say more than 12,000 structures have been destroyed by the two biggest fires – about 5,000 each in the Palisades and Eaton blazes.

As the maps below show, the fires are largely burning uninhabited areas but they have spread into populated areas and many more buildings could be at risk depending on how the infernos spread.

Among the buildings already destroyed in the Palisades blaze are many of the exclusive properties that line the Malibu waterfront.

Slide your cursor across the image below to see an aerial view of what the area used to look like and what it looks like now.

Both the Palisades and Eaton fires can be seen from space, as shown in the satellite image below.

A combination of an exceptionally dry period – downtown Los Angeles has only received 0.16 inches (0.4cm) of rain since October – and powerful offshore gusts known as the Santa Ana winds have created ripe conditions for wildfires.

Santa Ana winds flow east to west through southern California’s mountains, according to the National Weather Service.

Blowing across the deserts further inland, they create conditions where humidity drops, which dries out vegetation. If a fire does start, the winds can fan smouldering embers into an inferno in minutes.

The map below shows just how rapidly the Palisades fire spread, intensifying in a matter of hours. At just after 14:00 on Tuesday it covered 772 acres and within four hours it had approximately tripled in size.

The Palisades fire now covers more than 23,000 acres and thousands of people have been forced to evacuate the area, as more than 1,400 firefighters try to tackle the blaze.

The Eaton fire has also grown rapidly from about 1,000 acres on Tuesday to more than 14,000 acres, forcing thousands more people to flee.

• Follow latest updates on the LA wildfires
• What’s the latest on the fires, and what caused them?
• Watch: Smoke billows as thousands evacuate in LA
• Timelapse shows rapid spread of Palisades wildfire
• Watch: Inside a neighbourhood totally lost in inferno
• Pacific Palisades: The celebrity LA area ravaged by wildfire

Photographers have also been capturing the heartbreaking level of damage the fires have caused on the ground – as these before-and-after photos demonstrate.

The Jewish Temple in Pasadena was destroyed by the Eaton fire. The Centre’s website says it has been in use since 1941 and has a congregation of more than 400 families.

With authorities still working to contain the fires, the scope of the losses is still unfolding but they are on track to be among the costliest in US history, with losses already expected to exceed $135bn (£109.7bn).

There is a glimmer of hope for firefighters, as the fire weather outlook for southern California has been downgraded from “extremely critical” to “critical”.

But BBC weather forecaster Sarah Keith-Lucas says there is no rain forecast in the area for at least the next week, so conditions remain ripe for fire.

Weather forecasters in California are warning fierce winds which fuelled the infernos around Los Angeles are expected to pick up again this week, as fire crews on the ground race to make progress controlling three wildfires.

Officials warned that after a weekend of relatively calm winds, the notoriously dry Santa Ana winds would pick up again from Sunday night until Wednesday, reaching speeds of up to 60mph (96km/h).

Ahead of the wind’s uptick, some progress has been made in stopping the spread of the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires, which are burning on opposite ends of the city. Local firefighters are being assisted by crews from eight other states, as well as Canada and Mexico, who continue to arrive.

The LA County medical examiner updated the death toll on Sunday to 24, while officials said earlier at least another 16 remain missing.

Sixteen of the dead were found in the Eaton fire zone, while eight were found in the Palisades area.

Three conflagrations continue to burn around Los Angeles.

The largest fire is the Palisades, which has now burnt through more than 23,000 acres and is 13% contained.

The Eaton fire is the second biggest and has burnt through more than 14,000 acres. It is 27% contained.

The Hurst fire has grown to 799 acres and has been almost fully contained.

The wildfires are on track to be among the costliest in US history.

On Sunday, private forecaster Accuweather increased its preliminary estimate of financial losses from the blazes to between $250bn-$275bn.

While crews have managed to start containing the largest fires, authorities have warned the incoming wind event could lead to “potential disastrous wind conditions”, with the whole of LA County put under fire threat.

“Unfortunately, we’re going right back into red flag conditions with some potential disastrous wind conditions between now and Wednesday, with the peak winds expected to be on Tuesday,” Pasadena fire chief Chad Augustin told the BBC.

“While we’re making some progress, the end is not even close yet,” he said.

The National Weather Service has issued a rare ‘particularly dangerous situation’ alert for Tuesday, warning of “extreme fire behaviour” – running from 04:00 local time, until midday on Wednesday.

Kristin Crowley, the fire chief for the city of LA, called for residents near evacuation zones to be prepared to flee if an order is issued, and to stay off the roads as much as possible in order to not hinder crews.

Despite the dire forecast, all schools except those in mandatory evacuation zones would reopen on Monday, the LA Unified School District announced.

Topanga Canyon resident Alice Husum, 67, told the BBC a new fire that began in the area overnight was quickly contained, but that she and her neighbours are all “dreading Tuesday” when the wind speeds are likely to peak.

But Ms Husum, who has stayed behind despite evacuation orders, notes that the forecast “is a little better than the 100 mile-gusts that were hammering us” earlier in the week.

New fires continued to flare up on Sunday, threatening communities in the San Fernando Valley and near Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).

On Sunday, firefighters were able to quickly stop the spread of new fires in the Angeles National Forest, which surround the facility that is at the heart of the US space programme and contains top secret technology.

• Follow live updates about LA fires
• What’s the latest on the fires and what caused them?
• Maps and images reveal scale of devastation
• Celebrities who have lost their homes

At least 29 people have been arrested for looting in mandatory evacuation zones. Two people were caught posing as firefighters in order to steal from evacuees.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said in a news conference Sunday he had requested more National Guard troops to bolster the 400 already in the area. California Governor Gavin Newsom has since announced that 1,000 additional members of the National Guard would be deployed.

“When I was out there in the Malibu area, I saw a gentleman that looked like a firefighter. And I asked him if he was okay because he was sitting down. I didn’t realise we had him in handcuffs,” Sheriff Luna told reporters.

“We are turning him over to LAPD because he was dressed like a fireman, and he was not. He just got caught burglarising a home. So those are issues that our front-line deputies and police officers are dealing with.”

There are now 14,000 firefighters in the southern California region, being assisted by 84 aircrafts and 1,354 fire engines, said Sheriff Luna.

Evacuation numbers have dropped, with around 105,000 residents still under mandatory evacuation orders and 87,000 under evacuation warnings.

Deanne Criswell, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), told CNN on Sunday that a significant threat remained.

“I know that so many people probably want to get back into the area and check on their homes, but with winds picking back up, you never know which way they’re going to go,” she said.

LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell said that limited access had been allowed to evacuated residents over the weekend, but that his officers are once again barring all residents from returning.

Officials have issued repeated orders for drone operators to not fly near fire zones, and are now seeking information after a drone crashed into a vital plane.

The FBI has shared photos of the small drone which on Thursday collided with a plane known as a “Super Scooper”, one of the world’s most affective firefighting aircrafts, briefly grounding it.

The drone ripped a 3-by-6-inch (8-by-15cm) hole in the plane.

Officials have also warned of scammers seeking to take advantage of victims, and issued a stern warning that anyone caught price gouging will be prosecuted.

Meanwhile the spat between California Governor Newsom and President-elect Donald Trump continues.

Trump, who takes office on 20 January and has been invited by the governor to come tour the fire damage, on Saturday blamed “incompetent” politicians for “one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our country”.

Newsom, who is a Democrat, has in turn attacked Trump for sharing “inexcusable” misinformation about the fires.