Israel and Hamas have agreed a deal which would halt the war in Gaza and see the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the US and mediators Qatar have said.

It is the most significant breakthrough in 15 months of war, which began when the armed Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.

Details of the deal reportedly approved by both sides have not yet been officially announced.

As it stands, a completed deal would see the war in Gaza stop, an exchange of hostages and prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and return of displaced Palestinians.

Hamas seized 251 hostages when it attacked Israel in October 2023. It is still holding 94 captive, although Israel believes that only 60 are still alive.

Israel is expected to release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some jailed for years, in return for the hostages.

• Why is there a war in Gaza?
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This ceasefire is expected to happen in three stages.

And while both sides are now said to have agreed to it, Israel’s security cabinet and government will need to approve the deal before it can be implemented.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said the agreement would come into effect on Sunday should it be approved.

Here is what is understood to be in the deal.

First stage

The first stage would last six weeks and see “a full and complete ceasefire”, US President Joe Biden said as he confirmed a deal had been reached on Wednesday.

Hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israel would be freed, and Gazans who have been displaced allowed to start returning home.

“A number of hostages” held by Hamas, including women, the elderly and the sick, would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Biden said.

He did not specify how many hostages would be released during this first stage – but Qatar’s Al Thani told a news conference on Wednesday that it would be 33.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer previously said most but not all of the 33 – which include children – were thought to still be alive.

Three hostages would be released straight away, a Palestinian official previously told the BBC, with the rest of the exchange taking place over the six weeks.

During this stage, Israeli troops would pull out of “all” populated areas of Gaza, Biden said, while “the Palestinians [could] also return to their neighbourhoods in all the areas of Gaza”.

Almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have had to leave their homes as Israel has carried out continuous strikes across the territory and issued mass evacuation orders for large residential areas.

There would also be a surge in humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, with hundreds of lorries allowed in each day.

The Palestinian official previously said detailed negotiations for the second and third stages would begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire.

Biden said the ceasefire would persist “as long as the negotiations continue”.

Second stage

Stage two would be “a permanent end to the war,” according to Biden.

The remaining living hostages, including men, would be released in return for more Palestinian prisoners.

Of the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel is thought to have agreed to release overall, about 190 are serving sentences of 15 years or more.

An Israeli official previously told the BBC that those convicted of murder would not be released into the occupied West Bank.

There would also be a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Third stage

The third and final stage would involve the reconstruction of Gaza – something which could take years – and the return of any remaining hostages’ bodies.

Getting to this point has taken months of painstaking indirect negotiations, not least because Israel and Hamas completely distrust each other.

Hamas wanted a complete end to the war before it would release the hostages, something which was unacceptable to Israel.

The ceasefire will in effect pause the war while its terms are carried out.

However, it is unclear whether it will mean the war is over for good.

One of Israel’s key war aims has been to destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities. Although Israel has severely damaged it, Hamas still has some capacity to operate and regroup.

It is also unclear which hostages are alive or dead or whether Hamas knows the whereabouts of all those who remain unaccounted for.

For its part, Hamas has demanded the release of some prisoners which Israel says it will not free. This is believed to include those who were involved in the 7 October attacks.

It is also not known whether Israel will agree to pull out of the buffer zone by a certain date, or whether its presence there will be open-ended.

Any ceasefire is likely to be fragile.

Ceasefires between Israel and Hamas which have halted previous wars have been shaken by skirmishes and eventually broken down.

The timetable and complexity of this ceasefire means even a small incident could turn into a major threat.

Hundreds of Hamas-led gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, bursting through the border fence and targeting communities, police stations and army bases.

About 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were taken back to Gaza. Hamas also fired thousands of rockets into Israel.

Israel responded with a massive military campaign, first by air and then a ground invasion. Since then, Israel has attacked targets across Gaza by land, sea and air, while Hamas has attacked Israel with rockets.

Israel’s offensive has devastated Gaza and led to severe food shortages, with aid struggling to reach those most in need. More than 46,700 people – the majority of them civilians – have been killed by Israel’s attacks, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Tears, dismayed cries and shocked faces: that was the reaction among the supporters of South Korea’s suspended president Yoon Suk Yeol outside his home on hearing that he had been arrested.

It was a moment that had been in the making for weeks – ever since the last attempt to arrest Yoon on 3 January had failed after a dramatic standoff.

Yet, when the news of his arrest came on Wednesday morning, it only seemed to create more uncertainty – and highlight the divide in a country that has already been deeply polarised by Yoon’s short-lived martial law order and impeachment by parliament.

“This country is in crisis,” said one pro-Yoon woman, tears streaming down her face. “I’ve been praying since last night for a stable and peaceful South Korea.”

It’s what both sides say they want but they cannot agree on how to get there.

For the past month, a defiant 64-year-old Yoon was holed up inside his presidential compound in central Seoul, as his supporters and detractors rallied outside. They had turned Yongsan in central Seoul into an epicentre of protest, with tensions often running high.

Hundreds of them had camped out overnight on Tuesday, as the arrest appeared imminent, in temperatures that plummeted to -8C. The only thing they shared was the food trucks keeping them warm with steaming drinks and instant noodles.

Yoon’s supporters jostled with the police officers – numbering 3,000 – who assembled to take him into custody. “Don’t call us stupid far-rights,” one protester shouted, reflecting the frustration in the Yoon camp.

A starkly different scene unfolded on the other side of the street. Opponents of Yoon, who had long called for his arrest, celebrated with chants and cheers.

Their jubilation only made the pro-Yoon camp angrier, with some yelling: “Don’t taunt us – this is not funny.”

The gulf is not restricted to this corner of Yongsan. It has loomed over the whole country for more than a month.

Yoon’s shock announcement of martial law on 3 December almost instantly divided public opinion into two camps.

While some believed his claims the country was under threat, a larger group viewed the move as an opportunistic abuse of power. This sentiment was reflected even within Yoon’s own party, as several of its lawmakers voted to impeach him.

The growing opposition to Yoon’s actions has cast a pall over the nation.

The year-end season in South Korea is usually vibrant. But this year has been noticeably different. The political turmoil – along with the devastating Jeju Air crash on 29 December – has created a subdued and sombre atmosphere.

Yoon himself had largely avoided the public since he was impeached by parliament in mid-December.

He never stepped out of his residence to meet his supporters. On New Year’s Day, he sent them a note, saying he was “closely watching [them] via a YouTube livestream”. He skipped the first hearing of his impeachment trial on 14 January, delaying the proceedings.

Before that he had refused to comply with multiple summonses as part of the criminal investigation on insurrection charges, which led to the arrest warrant.

On Wednesday, he released a video statement saying he would co-operate with the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) to avoid “bloodshed”, while claiming their arrest warrant was not legally valid.

It was a massive operation, which followed a warning from the CIO that the presidential security team could also be arrested if they tried to block Yoon’s arrest again. Unlike last time, the CIO and police were successful in detaining Yoon, although it still took hours to negotiate.

Once he left the presidential compound, the streets surrounding it began to empty. Protesters dispersed and the police barricades were removed.

Some of Yoon’s supporters moved to the CIO office where he is being questioned. They need another warrant to detain him for more than 48 hours.

While Yoon’s arrest has concluded the security standoff, it has not ended the rift that exists well beyond it in South Korea, which in recent decades has emerged as a leading global economy and beacon of democracy in Asia.

“Arresting the country’s leader does not even make sense,” declared one protester outside the presidential compound.

An opposing voice countered: “Executing the arrest warrant is a necessary step – Yoon attempted to undermine the country’s democracy.”

Yoon himself continues to question whether the CIO has the right to arrest him – his lawyers say no, because insurrection is not a charge of corruption. But the CIO says that the insurrection is a form of abuse of power – a charge that is within their remit to investigate.

What may appear to be a legal debate has veered deep into political territory, with both sides seeking to control the narrative.

The swift impeachment of Yoon’s immediate successor – Prime Minister Han Duck-soo – has already led to allegations that impeachment is being used as a political tool against Yoon’s allies. And Yoon’s impeachment trial getting under way this week has created more uncertainty.

Public attention will be on what statements, if any, Yoon makes while he is detained or under trial.

The fear is that the whatever comes next for Yoon, the polarisation that has come to define South Korean politics is here to stay.

A US-based short-seller which had published reports accusing top financial entities in India and abroad of financial wrongdoings and fraud is set to shut down.

Nate Anderson, the founder of Hindenburg Research, announced on Wednesday that he was disbanding the company almost eight years after starting it.

The firm had made headlines in India in 2023 after publishing explosive reports about billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, sparking political rows and major losses for the company.

Mr Anderson didn’t share a specific reason for his decision, but expressed a desire to spend more time with friends and family in the future.

Started in 2017, Hindenburg Research shot to fame for exposing alleged financial irregularities in some big-name businesses. The firm’s reports have led to businesses, both in India and abroad, losing billions of dollars in market value.

“Nearly 100 individuals have been charged civilly or criminally by regulators at least in part through our work, including billionaires and oligarchs. We shook some empires that we felt needed shaking,” Mr Anderson wrote in the statement where he announced his decision.

In 2020, the company accused electric truck maker Nikola Corp of misleading investors about its technologies. In 2022, the company’s founder, Trevon Milton, was found guilty of lying to investors and convicted of fraud.

In 2023, it published a report accusing the Adani group of decades of “brazen’ stock manipulation and accounting fraud”. Mr Adani and his company denied the allegations, calling them “malicious” and an “attack on India”.

In the days following the report, the Adani group saw about $108bn wiped off their market value but firm’s financial health has bounced back since.

Last year, Hindenburg Research accused Madhabi Puri Buch – the chief of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) – of having links with offshore funds used by the Adani group. Both Ms Buch and the Adanis denied any wrongdoing.

Allegations by the firm have sparked furious political rows in the country, with India’s main opposition Congress party accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of not taking action against the Adani group.

Mr Adani, who is one of Asia’s richest men, is perceived as being close to Mr Modi and has long faced allegations from opposition politicians that he has benefited from his political ties, which he denies.

In his statement, Mr Anderson expressed a desire to open-source Hindenburg’s research methodology in the future.

“Over the next six months or so I plan to work on a series of materials and videos to open-source every aspect of our model and how we conduct our investigations,” he wrote.

Short-sellers like Hindenburg bet against stocks of companies that they believe have been involved in fraud or other financial wrongdoings, based on their investigations. The process involves borrowing a stock, immediately selling it and then repurchasing it when its value goes down to pocket the difference.

A senior Palestinian official told the BBC that Hamas would release three female soldiers on the first day of the ceasefire. Mediators in Doha are trying an earlier start to the ceasefire, Thursday evening instead of Sunday.

Until the ceasefire does come into effect, the war that started when Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 goes on. At least 12 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes on northern Gaza around the time the ceasefire was announced.

In what has been at times even an hourly ritual over the last 15 months, video has come out of northern Gaza showing their bodies being carried out of ambulances in sheets and laid out in a line outside a hospital.

The ceasefire is a considerable diplomatic achievement. It’s long overdue. Versions of the deal have been on the table since it was announced by US President Joe Biden in May last year. Hamas and Israel have blamed each other for the delays.

In Khan Younis in Gaza, journalists working for the BBC filmed Palestinians dancing and chanting as it became clear that the ceasefire had been agreed.

Israel does not allow international journalists to enter Gaza to report freely, so the BBC and other news organisations rely on valiant Palestinian journalists to gather news for us. Reporting of the last 15 months of war would have been impossible without them. Israel has killed more than 200 Palestinian journalists in Gaza.

Umm Muhammad, an elderly Palestinian woman, told one of our journalists she felt happy and relieved.

“The pain has disappeared a bit, though it’s still there. Hopefully it will be overcome by joy. Let our prisoners get freed and the injured get treated. People are exhausted.”

Apart from survival there is not much to celebrate for Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has killed almost 50,000 people at least. More than two million people have been forced out of their homes by Israeli military action.

Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 that killed around 1200 people, mostly Israeli civilians, has left Gaza in ruins. According to the Hamas run health ministry, Israeli attacks have killed almost 50,000 people, both combatants and civilians. A recent study in the Lancet medical journal says that might be a major underestimate.

In Tel Aviv, it was also a bittersweet moment for the families and supporters of Israeli hostages, living and dead. In the first phase of the ceasefire, 33 women, older men and the sick and wounded are due for release in the next six weeks in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees and prisoners – but the future of the rest of the hostages depends on more negotiations.

Negotiations on the second phase of the agreement, to free the remaining Israeli hostages in return for imprisoned Palestinians and an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza are due to start 16 days into the agreement.

The first big challenge is making sure that the ceasefire holds. Senior western diplomats fear that after the first phase of 42 days the war could resume.

The Gaza war has had immense consequences across the Middle East. It did not, as many feared, lead to a general war in the region – the Biden Administration has claimed credit for that – but it has led to geostrategic upheaval.

Hamas is still able to fight but it is a shadow of what it was. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister have been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court. The International Court of Justice is investigating a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.

After Hezbollah in Lebanon intervened in the war, it was, eventually, crushed by an Israeli offensive. That was a factor that led to the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. Iran and Israel exchanged direct attacks – weakening Iran. Its network of allies and proxies that Tehran called the Axis of Resistance has been crippled.

The Houthis in Yemen have halted much of the shipping between Europe and Asia that passes the Red Sea. Now reports say that they have announced their own ceasefire. Since they started attacking shipping early in the war they have said that only a ceasefire in Gaza would stop them.

With luck, political will and hard diplomatic effort the ceasefire will hold despite inevitable violations. With luck, it can stop the killing and get Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees and prisoners back to their families.

But after 15 months of war in Gaza, the conflict which has lasted more than a century is as bitter and intractable as ever.

The ceasefire doesn’t end the conflict. The consequences of so much destruction and death will be felt for a generation, at least.

Popular Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has undergone surgery and is out of danger after he was stabbed by an intruder in his home overnight, his team has said.

The attack took place early on Thursday morning in an upscale neighbourhood in the Indian city of Mumbai, where Khan lives with his family.

City police told BBC Marathi that the actor was injured after a scuffle broke out between him and an unidentified man who entered his house sometime after midnight.

Police have formed teams to investigate the matter.

“Khan has come out of surgery and is out of danger. He is currently in recovery and the doctors are monitoring his progress,” Khan’s team said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters after the surgery, Dr Nitin Dange of Lilavati Hospital, where Khan is admitted, said that the actor “sustained a major injury to the thoracic spinal cord due to a lodged knife in the spine”.

“A surgery was performed to remove the knife and repair leaking spinal fluid. Two other deep wounds on his left hand and one other on his neck were repaired by the plastic surgery team,” he said.

Khan is married to Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan and the couple have two children. The family have not made any public statements yet but Khan’s team said they were safe.

The exact details of the assault are not clear yet. Police have said that “an unknown person” had entered the actor’s home.

“After that, an argument broke out between Khan and the intruder,” Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police Dixit Gedam told BBC Marathi.

Khan’s team said it was a case of “attempted burglary” but did not share more details.

“We request the media and fans to be patient. It is a police matter,” they said.

Khan, who made his Bollywood debut in 1993, primarily works in Hindi cinema and is known for his quick wit and comic timing.

Among his popular movies are romantic comedies such as Dil Chahta Hai and Kal Ho Naa Ho and recent action dramas such as Tanhaji and Devara: Part 1.

His role as an antagonist in Omkara, a 2006 critically acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello, was widely appreciated.

Khan comes from a family of erstwhile Nawabs who ruled Pataudi, a small princely state on the outskirts of Delhi, and is married into a family of film stars.

His father Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was a cricketer who captained the Indian team in the 1960s. His mother Sharmila Tagore is a veteran actress who has featured in prominent Hindi and Bengali films from the age of 14.

His sister Soha Ali Khan also acted in films for some years.

Khan’s wife Kareena comes from a family of celebrated actors, directors and producers who have been active in Bollywood for almost a century.

Indian space agency Isro has for the first time successfully conducted space docking by joining together two small craft in space.

The technology is essential for the country’s future ambition to build an Indian space station and put a person on the Moon.

The mission called SpaDeX blasted off from Sriharikota launch pad in southern India on 30 December. The two spacecraft, launched on a single rocket, separated in space. The docking process, initially scheduled for 7 January, was rescheduled a number of times.

On Thursday morning, the space agency announced that it had created history by becoming only the fourth country in the world with such technology after United States, Russia and China.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was at the Isro office in Bangalore as scientists carried out the test.

“It is a significant stepping stone for India’s ambitious space missions in the years to come,” he later posted on X.

Federal Science Minister Jitendra Singh expressed relief that the docking had “finally” happened.

The two spacecraft on SpaDeX (short for Space Docking Experiment) are called SDX01 or the Chaser and SDX02 or the Target. Each weigh about 220kg (485lbs) and since their launch, they were travelling in space at a carefully chosen speed.

“They were thrown into space together but at the time of separation, they were placed with different velocity to allow them to build a distance of 10-20km between them,” Mila Mitra, a former Nasa scientist and co-founder of Delhi-based space education company Stem and Space, told the BBC.

“During docking, scientists manoeuvred them to close that distance allowing them to mate,” she added.

• Why it costs India so little to reach the Moon and Mars
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The docking was initially scheduled for 7 January, but Isro later delayed it by two days saying they “needed to carry out some more testing through simulations” before the actual docking.

The second time, it said there had been a glitch while trying to bring the satellites closer, but added that the spacecraft were safe.

On Sunday, Isro said scientists had managed to reduce the distance between the Chaser and the Target first to 15metres and then to 3metres. They said after the trial attempt, the spacecraft were “moved back to safe distance” and that they were analysing data.

S Somanath, who was Isro chief when SpaDeX (short for Space Docking Experiment) was launched and was monitoring its progress until his retirement a few days ago, had described docking as “a very complex process” that needed extreme precision and coordination.

To begin with, the two spacecraft had to be in the same orbit so that the Chaser could start to approach the Target.

On Thursday morning, scientists began by gradually reducing the speed of the two spacecraft – bringing them ever closer until they were just 3 metres apart. Then their connectors were latched together.

In the next step, the two spacecraft were screwed on perfectly, creating an airtight passage for safe transfer of material or crew, completing space docking.

An Isro official told the BBC that over the next two-three days, the mission will carry out what is being billed as one of its most important experiments – it will transfer electrical power from the Chaser to Target.

This, Ms Mitra, says is to demonstrate that a spacecraft can be sent to service another in space.

The experiment will then demonstrate “undocking and separation of the two satellites”.

Ms Mitra says the mission will also test India’s capabilities for inter-satellite communication as during the docking and undocking, the spacecraft will have to communicate with the Earth station and also with each other so that they know each other’s position and velocity.

The spacecraft are also carrying scientific instruments and cameras which will then be deployed. Over the next two years, they will measure radiation in space and monitor natural resources on Earth.

Isro, known for economising its missions, is also using a part of the rocket that carried SpaDeX to space – which in normal circumstances would become space debris – to conduct some important experiments in orbit for three months.

Poem – short for PS4-Orbital Experiment Module – is carrying 24 payloads and has already carried out two successful experiments.

The first demonstrated seed germination. Last week, Isro tweeted a video saying that “cowpea sprouts have unveiled their first leaves in space in micro-gravity”. Micro-gravity is the near-weightless condition experienced aboard spacecraft.

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Scientists say it’s great news as it means that future astronauts could produce food during long-duration missions.

The second experiment involves the robotic arm which, Ms Mitra says, is among the rocket’s most important payloads. A video on Isro’s X account shows the robotic arm moving to grab a piece of space debris.

Ms Mitra says this arm will play “a crucial role during the building of the space station as it could be used to capture and put things in place”. It will also come in handy in Chandrayaan-4 – India’s next mission to the Moon which will aim to collect and bring back lunar soil samples, she adds.

An Australian influencer has been charged with poisoning her baby girl to elicit donations and boost online followers.

The Queensland woman claimed she was chronicling her child’s battle with a terminal illness on social media, but detectives allege she was drugging the one-year-old and then filming her in “immense distress and pain”.

Doctors had raised the alarm in October, when the baby was admitted to hospital suffering a serious medical episode.

After months of investigation, the 34-year-old woman was charged with torture, administering poison, making child exploitation material and fraud.

“[There are] no words for how repulsive offences of this nature are,” Queensland Police Det Insp Paul Dalton told reporters on Thursday.

Between August and October, detectives say that the woman – from the Sunshine Coast region – gave the child several prescription and pharmacy medicines, without approval.

She went to great lengths to obtain the unauthorised medications and cover up her behaviour, they alleged, including using leftover medicine for a different person in their house.

Police began investigating on 15 October, when the baby was brought into hospital experiencing “severe emotional and physical distress and harm”. Tests for unauthorised medicines returned a positive result later in January, they said.

The woman raised A$60,000 (£30,500; $37,300) through GoFundMe donations – which the site is attempting to repay, Det Insp Dalton said.

Police had investigated other people over the alleged abuse, but there was no evidence to charge anyone else, he added.

The woman is due to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden warned of the dangers of an oligarchy gaining power as he delivered his farewell address and brought a decades-long career in politics to an end.

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedom,” he said on Wednesday.

Biden, 82, took aim at an ultra-wealthy “tech-industrial complex” which he said could wield unchecked power over Americans.

He also used his final televised speech from the White House to issue warnings about climate change and social media disinformation.

Speaking from the Oval Office where his family had gathered to watch, he touted his single-term administration’s record, referencing job creation, infrastructure spending, healthcare, leading the country out of the pandemic, and making the US a safer country.

He added, however, that “it will take time to feel the full impact of all we’ve done together, but the seeds are planted, and they’ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come”.

• How Biden tarnished his own legacy
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Biden wished Donald Trump’s incoming administration success, but then issued a series of pointed warnings, with the president stating “so much is at stake right now”.

On climate change, he said “powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis to serve their own interests for power and profit”.

On misinformation, Biden warned that “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power”.

He also took a swipe at social media companies such as Meta, which has recently announced it will get rid of independent fact checkers. “Social media is giving up on fact checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit,” Biden said.

And his attack on an ultra-wealthy “tech-industrial complex” was a veiled reference at Silicon Valley executives such as Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is close to Trump and provided huge financial backing to his campaign.

His language echoed that of President Dwight Eisenhower who famously warned of a “military industrial complex” in his 1961 farewell address.

Biden appeared to have Musk in mind when he warned of a “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people”.

The term oligarchy refers to a government that is run by a handful of people, often for their own gain.

The president went on to say there could be “dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked”.

• Biden hails Gaza ceasefire deal
• WATCH: 24 hours on Elon Musk’s timeline

Other tech bosses such as Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have also made efforts to improve relations with Trump ahead of his return to the White House.

Closing his exit speech, which is a longstanding presidential tradition, Biden called on Americans to “stand guard” of their country: “May you all be the keeper of the flame.”

His farewell address came on the same day he announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which he referenced in his opening remarks.

Biden said the negotiations had been some of the toughest of his career, and took credit for helping get the deal over the line.

The deal will see a ceasefire take effect on 19 January, a day before Trump is due to take office. The incoming president has also taken credit for the agreement, saying it was only possible because he won the election in November.

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

Pakistan’s flag carrier has drawn widespread criticism for putting out an advertisement that showed a plane flying towards the Eiffel Tower.

The ad was meant to promote the resumption of Pakistan International Airlines’ flights to the French capital and had the caption “Paris, we’re coming today”.

Some social media users noted the ad’s resemblance to the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001.

“Is this an advertisement or a threat?” one user wrote on X. Another called for the company to “fire your marketing manager”.

The image has been viewed more than 21 million times on X since it was published last week and has drawn swift backlash.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation into the matter, while Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has also criticised the ad, Pakistan’s Geo News reported.

The 9/11 attacks saw hijackers crash passenger jets into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC, killing nearly 3,000 people.

The alleged mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, was arrested in Pakistan in 2003.

Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaeda extremist network which planned the attacks, was killed by US troops in Pakistan in 2011.

Pakistani journalist Omar Quraishi said PIA’s ad left him “truly speechless”.

“Did the airline management not vet this?

“Do they not know about the 9/11 tragedy – which used planes to attack buildings? Did they not think that this would be perceived in similar fashion,” he wrote on X.

The airline has not commented on the incident.

The PIA, however, is no stranger to controversy.

Some X users pointed out that in 1979, the airline published an advertisement showing a passenger jet’s shadow over the twin towers.

In 2017, the airline was mocked after staff sacrificed a goat to ward off bad luck following one of the country’s worst air disasters.

And in 2019, PIA caused a stir when it told flight attendants to slim down or get grounded. Staff were told they had had six months to shed “excess weight”.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has told Donald Trump that it is up to Greenland to decide its own future.

The US president-elect sparked turmoil in Copenhagen and Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, last week when he signalled that the US wanted to acquire the huge arctic island, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.

In a 45-minute phone call on Wednesday, Frederiksen told Trump that Denmark was prepared to increase its responsibility for security in the Arctic.

She also reiterated the statements of the Greenland PM, Mute Egede, who recently said that Greenland was not for sale.

Trump did not react to the call publicly. However, he reposted on his TruthSocial account a 2019 poll that indicated 68% of Greenlanders supported independence from Denmark.

A referendum on independence is thought to be on the cards and Denmark has said it would respect any result.

When he was last president, Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland. When Frederiksen called the proposal “absurd”, he abruptly cancelled a trip to Denmark.

The Danish government said that in her phone call with Trump, Frederiksen also emphasised that “Danish companies contribute to growth and jobs in the US, and that the EU and the US have a common interest in strengthened trade.”

Last week, Trump threatened Denmark with high tariffs if the country did not give up Greenland.

The suggestion set off alarm bells among Danish industry leaders, as the US is Denmark’s second largest export market and any targeted tariffs would have a significant impact on the Danish economy.

• Trump wants to take Greenland: Four ways this saga could go

On Thursday, Frederiksen will hold what Danish media dubbed a “crisis meeting” with business leaders, including the CEOs of beer giant Carlsberg and drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which produces obesity and diabetes drugs popular in the US.

She is also due to host an extraordinary Foreign Policy Council meeting with members from across parliament.

Greenlandic member of parliament Aaja Chemnitz said she was satisfied with Frederiksen’s line that any decision about Greenland should be taken by Greenlanders.

“I have great confidence in the prime minister’s task, and I also have great confidence in Egede. I think it is important that they have a close dialogue,” she said.

Earlier this week, Egede said his government was ready to start a dialogue with the incoming Trump administration.

But opposition MP Rasmus Jarlov said that he disapproved of Frederiksen’s approach.

Writing on X, he said: “It is completely unacceptable that [Frederiksen] renounces Denmark’s rights in Greenland and places sovereignty solely with the [Greenlander] self-government when she talks to the President of the United States.”

Trump’s comments and his son’s visit to Greenland last week sparked huge concern in Denmark. Faced with the prospect of angering what she repeatedly called “Denmark’s closest ally”, Frederiksen measured her words while emphasising Greenland’s right to self-determination.

Hans Redder, TV2’s political editor, said the fact that Trump had set aside 45 minutes for a phone call with Frederiksen indicated that “this Greenland thing is really something that is on Trump’s mind – it’s not just a passing thought”.

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to put Ukraine in the “strongest possible position” this year as he made his first trip to Kyiv as prime minister.

He said the UK would “never let up” on giving the necessary support to Ukraine in signing what Downing Street says is a “landmark 100-year partnership” pact with Ukraine.

“Today is a truly historic day, our relationship is closer than ever,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters. The agreement formalises economic and military support already pledged to the country.

Zelensky is keen to firm up security guarantees from key allies, wary that Donald Trump’s new US administration could start pushing Ukraine to make peace with Russia.

The deal announced on Thursday includes economic aid, support for healthcare, and increased military collaboration on maritime security and drone technology.

Unlike other prime ministers who rushed to Kyiv, Sir Keir took his time to visit, having visited previously as opposition leader.

But after six months in office he came to Ukraine pledging long-term support to help fight what he called Russia’s “illegal and barbaric invasion”.

In Kyiv, the two leaders walked behind an honour guard which carried wreaths in the national colours of the UK and Ukraine.

After soldiers set down the wreaths, Sir Keir and President Zelensky placed their bouquets at the foot of the wall outside St Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery.

The Kyiv landmark is covered in photos of the dead and has become a place of pilgrimage for grieving families to pay tribute.

As the leaders met for talks inside Kyiv’s Mariinsky palace, multiple explosions and air raid sirens could be heard.

The air raid was “a reminder of the daily attacks and the resolve of the Ukrainian people in the face of it”, Sir Keir said.

Shortly after, when asked by reporters at a press conference what he thought about the ‘hello’ from Russia, Zelensky replied that Ukraine would send its own ‘hello back’.

“We are with you not just today, for this year or the next – but for 100 years – long after this terrible war is over and Ukraine is free and thriving once again,” Sir Keir told the Ukrainian president.

The prime minister also visited an apartment building damaged in a New Year’s Day drone attack, which killed a couple who had been prominent scientists.

The apartment is just down the street from the president’s office.

“They were sending us a message,” the head of Kyiv’s military administration told Sir Keir. “No one is safe”.

Sir Keir also visited a school, partnered with a sister school in Liverpool, and a hospital in Kyiv specialising in treating burns.

On the tour of the intensive care unit, he met wounded Ukrainians on a rehabilitation ward supported by the British Red Cross.

“If Ukraine falls, so does Europe,” an injured civilian who had burns across both hands and arms told the prime minister.

Sir Keir said the injuries he saw were “a grim reminder of the heavy price that Ukraine is paying”.

“One of the consequences of this conflict has been to draw Nato more strongly together,” he said.

The prime minister added support for Ukraine was “bigger and stronger than it has been, and we must stand behind Ukraine for as long as it takes”.

“We must never let up on that and we’ve been leading the way,” he said.

Trump’s choice to become secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said earlier this week that Russia and Ukraine would both have to make concessions to see an end to the war.

Zelensky has previously said he is looking to the UK for help getting security guarantees to deter future attacks.

Joining Nato is near the top of his wish list, but Ukraine also wants its allies to send peacekeepers to the country if fighting does stop, to patrol the current frontline which could become a buffer zone in any peace agreement.

Ahead of the visit, Zelensky had said he would discuss with the prime minister.

The latest pledges build on £12.8bn of support the UK has already given to Ukraine. It has also already committed to giving the country £3bn in military aid every year for “as long as it takes”.

Russian forces are gaining ground more quickly than at any time since the country launched its full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, despite Ukrainian strikes on Russia.

According to latest reports from reputable Ukrainian open source material, Russia has cut off a key highway and railway to the south-west of Pokrovsk, a strategically important hub in eastern Ukraine. Ukraine says most of Russia’s attacks in the past 24 hours focused on the town.

They have also made big advances in other big population centres in the east – in Toretsk and Chasiv Yar.

As the invasion reaches the end of its third year, with an estimated million people either killed or wounded, Ukraine is losing territory in the east.

Ukraine has already been using British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to attack Russian military facilities far from the border.

The change to allow their use in Russian territory late last year was welcomed by Kyiv, and slammed by Moscow.

The partnership, formed of a treaty and a political declaration, is due to be presented to Parliament in the coming weeks.

Plans for it began under the previous Conservative government.

While this is his first visit as prime minister, Sir Keir visited Ukraine when he was leader of the opposition in 2023, and has hosted President Zelensky twice at Downing Street since entering office.

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Firefighters battling two fires that have wreaked destruction across Los Angeles for nine days could get some respite on Thursday from the weather.

The hurricane-strength winds that initially fanned the flames and hampered rescue efforts have weakened into much lighter gusts.

Progress has been made in containing the two largest fires burning across a combined total of about 40,000 acres.

At least 25 people have been killed and more than 12,000 structures destroyed in some of the worst fires in memory to engulf America’s second biggest city.

The two largest fires, Eaton and Palisades, are still burning after more than a week – and firefighting help has been sought from Mexico and Canada.

Red flag warnings have been lifted by the National Weather Service (NWS), but could return in a few days.

There will be “a big improvement for tonight and tomorrow, though there’ll still be some lingering areas of concern,” Ryan Kittell of the NWS told news agency AFP.

• What’s the latest on the fires, and how did they start?
• What we know about the fire victims
• What is the pink powder being used to fight fires in California?

Fire warnings remain critical with parts of southern California continuing to see an elevated risk despite the weakening winds and rising humidity, says BBC Weather forecaster Paul Goddard.

There is no rain forecast for California over the next week.

Officials are also keeping an eye on the Santa Ana winds, which have been blamed for stoking the blazes. The winds are forecast to return early next week, bringing a high risk of further red flag warnings.

Winds could bring gusts of 30-50mph (48-80km/h).

The Palisades Fire, the largest to burn, has seen no fire growth as firefighters work to contain the flames, according to Jim Hudson, a Cal Fire incident manager.

It has burned 24,000 acres. Over 20% has been contained as of Thursday morning.

“There are extreme hazards and extreme heat that still lie around the perimeter and the interior of this fire,” Mr Hudson said during a news conference in Malibu on Wednesday.

Mr Hudson added that 5,100 personnel had been assigned to contain the blaze.

“As we move forward we will continue to increase our containment when we feel it’s safe and that safety comes down to not only life and property, but also fire growth as well,” he added.

The 25th death from the fires was confirmed by the LA County Medical Examiner’s Office earlier this week. A number of other people remain missing.

Most of the victims have died in the Eaton Fire which has burned more than 14,000 acres to the city’s north. Firefighters have contained 45% of the fire.

Some of the victims of the Eaton Fire have now been allowed to return to their homes, but tens of thousands of people are still under evacuation orders – where night-time curfews also apply.

Thousands of homes have been destroyed in one of the costliest natural disasters in American history.

An extreme weather attribution study from climate scientists at ‘Climameter‘ has concluded that the Californian wildfires have been fuelled by meteorological conditions strengthened by human-induced climate change.

The study found that current conditions have been warmer, drier and windier compared with the past, in the areas affected by the fires.

• Climate change: What role has it played in the fires?

Just before dawn on Wednesday, 3,000 police officers arrived at the heavily-fortified residence of South Korea’s suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol.

Their mission: to arrest him.

Investigators used ladders to scale over buses and bolt cutters to get through barbed wire as they broke through multiple blockades designed to stop them. Others hiked up nearby trails to reach the presidential residence.

Hours later, they took him into custody for questioning over an alleged act of insurrection.

This was their second attempt. Their first, which took place earlier this month, had seen some 150 officers face a six-hour deadlock with the president’s security detail.

They were helplessly outnumbered, first by the large number of pro-Yoon supporters who had gathered outside his residence to stop the police, and then by a human wall of security officers inside the property.

Eventually, investigators concluded that it was “practically impossible” to arrest him – and left.

Many now see Yoon as a disgraced leader – impeached and suspended from his presidential duties for trying to impose martial law, while he awaits the decision of the Constitutional Court, which can remove him from office.

So why has it been so difficult to arrest him?

It has been an unprecedented few weeks for South Korea since Yoon’s shocking yet short-lived martial law order on 3 December.

Lawmakers voted to impeach him, then came a criminal investigation and his refusal to appear for questioning, which was what sparked the arrest warrant.

One key roadblock for the arresting officers had been Yoon’s presidential security team, which on 3 January had formed a human wall and used vehicles to block the officers’ path.

Analysts said they could have acted out of loyalty to Yoon, pointing to the fact that Yoon himself had appointed several leaders of the Presidential Security Service (PSS).

“It may well be the case that Yoon has seeded the organisation with hardline loyalists in preparation for precisely this eventuality,” says US-based lawyer and Korea expert Christopher Jumin Lee.

It is unclear why they reportedly put up less resistance this time, though Mr Lee believes the team may have been partly deterred by the “overwhelming show of force by the police”.

“At the end of the day I think they were simply unwilling to engage in the sort of large-scale violence against law enforcement officers that a full-throated defence of Yoon would have demanded,” he said.

Earlier this week, the Corruption Investigation Office (CIO) had warned the PSS that they risked losing their pensions and their civil servant status for obstructing the arrest.

In contrast, it reassured those who “defy illegal orders” to block the arrest that they “will not face disadvantages”.

On Wednesday, Yonhap news agency reported that a number of PSS members were either on leave or had chosen to stay inside the residence.

The right-wing leader also has a strong support base. Some of Yoon’s supporters had earlier told the BBC that they were prepared to die to protect him and repeated unfounded allegations that Yoon himself has floated, including that the country had been infiltrated by pro-North Korea forces.

On 3 January, thousands of them, undeterred by freezing temperatures, had camped outside his home to stop the arrest team from moving in. They had cried with joy when they found out that the team had given up.

It was a similar story on Wednesday, with a large crowd of pro-Yoon supporters showing up and some aggressively confronting the police to stop the arrest.

On hearing that Yoon had been arrested, some of them cried.

But the organisation that has really come under the spotlight is the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials, to give it its full name, which is jointly leading the investigation with the police.

There have been questions raised about how the CIO failed to arrest Yoon on its first try, with critics accusing it of being unprepared and lacking co-ordination.

The agency was created four years ago by the previous administration, in response to public anger over former president Park Geun-hye who was impeached, removed from office and later jailed over a corruption scandal.

This month’s failed attempt was a “further black eye” for the CIO, which already “does not have a great reputation, for both political and capability reasons”, says Mason Richey, an associate professor at Seoul’s Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

The CIO may book today’s successful arrest as a win, but it remains to be seen how they will handle the investigation going forward, says Prof Richey.

“Many people do not trust their messaging about the investigation,” he adds.

“We’ve entered this mess after various organisations scrambled to spearhead the probe for their own gain,” says lawyer Lee Chang-min, a member of the activist organisation Lawyers for a Democratic Society.

“Even if the joint investigative body is retained, the case should be handed over to the police, which should assert its authority,” he adds.

The CIO has no power to bring charges and is expected to hand over the case to state prosecutors after its investigation.

Despite its name, the CIO has a wider remit than corruption. Its duties extend to investigating high-level officials more generally – for abuse of power. The CIO has argued that Yoon abused his power to conduct an insurrection.

But Yoon’s lawyers argue the CIO is an anti-corruption agency and its powers do not extend to investigating insurrections. They are reported to be considering filing an appeal in the Supreme Court to test this, according to Yonhap news agency.

South Korea is now in uncharted territory, with Yoon being the first sitting president to be arrested.

And the investigations into him have also “mobilised the far-right, populist elements” within the conservative coalition, who may “exert an outsize influence over” the country’s conservative politics going forward, Mr Lee says.

“Please come to my city!”

A familiar cry from music lovers all over the world hoping their favourite artists come to their hometown.

Fans in India, though, have often seen that plea fall on deaf ears.

Artists including Sabrina Carpenter, Gracie Abrams and Arctic Monkeys appear on the country’s weekly Spotify album chart, where Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) has spent 217 consecutive weeks.

Many world-famous musicians have tended to skip the country.

But that now appears to be changing.

Dua Lipa’s recent performance in Mumbai went viral and Coldplay will soon kick off their tour – nine years after their last visit to India.

Their dates include two shows in Ahmedabad where more than 100,000 people are expected to attend each night.

“To have that experience in our own country, it’s really cool to see that it’s happening more and more,” music fan and aspiring artist Anoushka Maskey tells BBC Newsbeat.

Demand for live music appears to be increasing in India, with ticketing platform BookMyShow reporting 18% growth in 2024.

Ed Sheeran is due to play his biggest-ever tour of the country, and artists including Shawn Mendes and Louis Tomlinson will appear at Lollapalooza festival in March.

Marketing professor Dr Sourindra Banerjee, from Leeds University Business School, says India’s 1.4 billion population – and their age – is a big draw for artists.

“You have a large portion of the world, of youth, living in India,” Dr Banerjee tells Newsbeat.

“So if I were in the music business that would be the place I would target, to reap the benefits of the demographic.”

According to the global market research company Statista, the value of the Indian music industry in 2021 was 19 billion rupees (£178 million).

By 2026, it is estimated to have grown to 37 billion rupees (£346 million).

Dr Banerjee says the rise of K-pop in India has shown Western artists the potential of the country for finding new fans.

“Major music labels have research teams who would have seen that someone else [can] take over a large market,” he says.

More broadly, he feels India’s growing wealth and links with the wider world makes it an important place for artists to get a foothold and “collaborate”.

“Not only to access the Indian market, but also access the large Indian [population] which lives outside the country.”

For local Indian artists, there is hope that big names could bring big opportunities for them.

Pop/folk singer Anoushka has been making music since 2020 and feels Western artists offer a chance for homegrown acts to find greater visibility.

She has experience herself after opening for Brit Award winner Ben Howard.

“That’s an opportunity that I never thought I would have within the country,” she says.

Independent singer-songwriter Anumita Nadesan says the chance to collaborate with bigger-artists “puts you on the map”.

“It’s very inspiring as well, because before when a mega artist came to India, we had to travel to another country to see their concerts.

“And you get to learn a lot as an artist by going to these concerts,” the Hindi artist says.

Pop artist Frizzell D’Souza, from Bangalore says seeing acts from abroad who started from humble beginnings can send a strong message to Indian audiences that homegrown talent can achieve global fame.

She describes Ed Sheeran as her “songwriting hero” and says his background of busking and playing in grassroots venues is relatable.

“It’s very reassuring to know that someone like him can actually do it,” says Frizzell.

“Even though he’s such a big superstar right now, he did start kind of at the same place that I did.”

Frizzell also sees an opportunity for cultural exchange, with western music figures being exposed to Indian sounds.

She points to rapper Hanumankind, who has charted globally with Big Dawgs and teamed up with A$AP Rocky.

“And that is proof that having international acts come to India is also helping Indian artists [globally] break through,” she says.

But, the artists point out some possible drawbacks to the influx of global stars coming to India.

The biggest risk Frizzell sees is around money – and audiences budgeting mainly for bigger artists.

“I hope I’m wrong about this, but maybe [they] would prefer the bigger international acts and not want to risk it on younger or upcoming acts.”

Anumita adds there is also a chance of artists overshadowing the attention smaller artists get.

“But then it also challenges smaller artists to maybe raise the bar.”

According to Peony Hirwani, music journalist at Rolling Stone India, the risk of being overshadowed is low as companies involved with events often ensure local artists are the main support acts.

She gives G-Eazy’s 2024 tour as an example, which had only Indian support artists – helping to boost their careers.

Instead, she tells Newsbeat, the focus should be on improving infrastructure to attract the biggest of names such as Taylor Swift and Beyonce – both of whom did not bring their tours to India.

Fans have often complained about facilities, concerts often held in sports stadiums used during India’s lengthy cricket season and not always available year-round.

“So we need more, bigger venues, and a better system in place for music,” Peony says.

Lollapalooza Festival takes place at a horse racing track in Mumbai – the only venue with enough space to safely host it.

“Even some of the [notable] stadiums we have right now… there definitely needs to be conversations about what everyone needs to make our infrastructure and venues better,” says Peony.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.

Gabriel Hoces repeats a word seven times when he discusses what it’s like to work in Denmark – “trust”.

“No one is trying to micromanage you, or look over your shoulder,” says Mr Hoces, who works for a tech firm in Copenhagen. “Bosses aren’t coming in to check if you put in eight or nine hours a day, as they mainly only care if you completed your projects.

“There’s a lot of trust in Denmark in that way, and I don’t feel a hierarchy at my job. It’s all very democratic.”

It is no surprise to Mr Hoces, a married father of two young daughters, that Denmark is consistently among the top-five countries in the world for work-life balance rankings.

Only 1.1% of Danes have to work 50 or more hours a week, according to the most recent global figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). That’s a significantly lower proportion than the world average of 10.2%.

By contrast, the figure for the UK is 10.8% and the US is 10.4%.

Meik Wiking, author of the book The Art of Danish Living, has long regarded his home country as a shining example of what other countries should aspire to mimic with their workplace policies.

“Danes are actually happy at work,” he tells the BBC. “Almost 60% of Danes say they would continue to work if they won the lottery and became financially independent.”

Mr Wiking, who is also the boss of Danish think tank The Happiness Research Institute, shares several policies that help generate a strong work-life balance in Denmark.

These include the right to a minimum five weeks of paid vacation per year, in addition to public holidays. In the UK most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid leave, but in the US it can be as low as just 11 days.

Denmark also offers a very generous six months of paid maternity and paternity leave. In the UK the father, or non-birthing partner, typically gets one to two weeks of paid leave.

In the US there is only a federal guarantee of unpaid parental leave, although some states, such as California, now offer paid time away from work after the birth of a child. And federal employees can get 12-weeks of paid leave.

Mr Wiking is another Dane who cites the concept of bosses trusting their employees to do the right thing. He uses the example of staff at the Tivoli Gardens amusement park in Copenhagen, where they follow the three-metre rule.

The idea is that you are CEO of everything within a radius of three metres. “If you see garbage within your three-metre radius you pick it up, and if you see a guest looking for something, you stop and ask them if you can help,” says Mr Wiking.

He adds that when staff take ownership of their own space it can help them feel empowered and appreciated, which goes a long way to contributing to a healthy sentiment about their workplace.

Janine Leschke, a professor in the department of management, society and communication at the Copenhagen Business School, says Denmark is definitely “not a work culture where you have to show up and be available all day, all evening, to show that you’re working hard all the time”.

Instead, she says flexibility during the workday gives employees the time they need to, say, pick up their children from school or day care. “The day doesn’t have to officially end at five or six, and that’s appealing to a lot of Danes with kids.”

Mr Hoces has noticed how some employers in the US may expect their staff to be available over weekends, to answer the odd email or message. That kind of overtime doesn’t fit with his outlook on a positive work-life balance.

“If I was expected to take calls on the weekend, that would be a huge red flag to me, and I would likely change jobs,” he says. “But so far that hasn’t happened to me or anyone I know.”

Casper Rouchmann, a Copenhagen-based CEO and founder of tech firm SparkForce, says his relaxed leadership policy would be familiar to most Danes. “You don’t need to ask me to leave early,” he says. “No one takes advantage of my kindness.”

Mr Rouchmann adds that the element of trust is so ingrained in Danish culture, visitors to Denmark are often aghast at how far it can go. He also highlights Denmark’s generous welfare state, and the fact that firms have to give financial compensation to staff who are made redundant.

“If you lose your job, the government is there to help,” adds Mr Rouchmann.

As much as other countries can learn from Denmark’s work-life balance, he says it has some downsides. “Some people can rely too much on that safety net, and it might say to them that they don’t have to take real risks, which is why we can be less entrepreneurial compared to the US.”

Samantha Saxby, an American human resources expert, says Denmark has such a good work-life balance because the country “prioritises collective well-being”.

By contrast, she says the US “has long emphasised individual achievement and ambition, which has driven tremendous innovation, but often at the cost of work-life balance”.

Yet Ms Saxby, who is director of marketing for the US National Human Resources Association, says that companies in the US and elsewhere around the world may be finally following the lead of Denmark and the other equally happy Nordic nations.

“Progressive organisations are introducing benefits like unlimited paid time off, mental health days, and wellness programs, to encourage employees to prioritise self-care,” she says. “These measures not only alleviate pressure, but also demonstrate that employers value their workforce’s overall well-being.

“More companies are recognising that well-rested and balanced employees bring fresh ideas, better problem-solving skills, and greater engagement. Employees are beginning to feel empowered to take the time they need without sacrificing career growth.”

As light snow fell outside, worshippers gathered at Lincoln United Methodist Church in Chicago to pray and plan for what will happen when Donald Trump takes office next week, when the president-elect has promised to begin the largest expulsion of undocumented immigrants in US history.

“The 20th [of January] is going to be here before we know it,” Reverend Tanya Lozano-Washington told the congregation, after passing out steaming cups of Mexican hot chocolate and coffee to warm the crowd of about 60.

Located in Pilsen, a mostly Latino neighbourhood, the church has been a long-time hub for pro-immigration activists in the city’s large Hispanic community. But Sunday services are now English-only, since in-person Spanish-language services were cancelled.

The decision to move them online was made over fears that those gatherings might be targeted by anti-immigration activists or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The incoming president has said he will deport millions of illegal immigrants, threatened workplace raids, and reports suggest that he could do away with a longstanding policy that has made churches off-limits for ICE arrests.

According to one parishioner, American-born David Cruseno, “the threat is very real. It’s very alive”.

Cruseno said his mother entered the country illegally from Mexico but has been working and paying taxes in the US for 30 years.

“With the new administration coming in, it’s almost like a persecution,” he told the BBC. “I feel like we’re being singled out and targeted in a fashion that’s unjust, even though we co-operate [with] this country endlessly.”

• Are 300,000 migrant children missing in the US?
• Undocumented migrants hope Trump mass deportations only ‘for criminals’
• How would Trump’s promise of mass deportations of migrants work?

But across the country, over 1,400 miles (2,253km) to the south in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, another mostly immigrant community has a very different take on the impending inauguration – a sign of how Latino communities have become starkly divided on illegal immigration and Donald Trump’s approach to the US-Mexico border.

“Immigration is essential… but the right way,” said resident David Porras – a rancher, farmer and botanist.

“But with Trump, we’re going to do it correctly.”

The region is separated from Mexico only by the dark, shallow, narrow waters of the river and patches of dense vegetation and mesquite – locals say that the day-to-day realities of living on the border have increasingly opened their eyes to what many see as the dangers of illegal immigration.

“I’ve had families [of migrants] come knocking on my backdoor, asking for water, for shelter,” said Amanda Garcia, a resident of Starr County, where nearly 97% of residents identify as Latino, making it the most Latino county in the US outside of Puerto Rico.

“We had once incident where a young lady was by herself with two men, and you could tell she was tired – and being abused.”

Over dozens of interviews in two of the Rio Grande Valley’s constituent counties – Starr and neighbouring Hidalgo – residents described a litany of other border-related incidents, ranging from waking up to migrants on their property to witnessing busts of cartel stash houses used for drugs, or dangerous high-speed chases between authorities and smugglers.

Many in the overwhelmingly Latino part of Texas are themselves immigrants, or the children or grandchildren of immigrants. Once a reliable Democratic stronghold in otherwise “Red” Texas, Starr County swung in Trump’s favour in the 2024 election – the first time the county was won by Republicans in over 130 years.

Nationally, Trump garnered about 45% of the Latino vote – a mammoth 14 percentage-point bump compared to the 2020 election.

• ‘It’s simple, really’ – why Latinos flocked to Trump’s working-class coalition
• Here’s what to know about Donald Trump’s inauguration

The victory in Starr County, locals say, was in no small part due to Trump’s stance on the border.

“We live in a country of order and laws,” said Demesio Guerrero, a naturalized US citizen originally from Mexico who lives in the town of Hidalgo, across the international bridge from the cartel-plagued Mexican city of Reynosa.

“We have to be able [to say] who comes in and out,” added Mr Guerrero, speaking in Spanish just metres from a brown, tall metal barrier that represents the end of the US. “Otherwise, this country is lost.”

Like other Trump supporters in the Rio Grande Valley, Mr Guerrero said – repeatedly – that he “is not against immigration”.

“But they should do it the right way,” he said. “Like others have.”

Trump “is not anti-immigrant, or racist at all,” agreed Marisa Garcia, a resident of Rio Grande City in Starr County.

“We’re just tired of them [undocumented immigrants] coming and thinking they can do whatever they want on our property or land, and taking advantage of the system,” she added. “It’s not racist to say that things need to change, and we need to benefit from it also.”

Support for deportations is so strong that the Texas State Government offered Donald Trump 1,400-acres (567 hectares) of land just outside Rio Grande City to build detention facilities for undocumented migrants – a controversial move the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas described as “mass caging” that will “fuel civil rights violations”.

While the patch of land – nestled between a peaceful farm-to-market road and the Rio Grande – is currently quiet, officials in town believe it could ultimately be a boon for the area.

“If you look at it from a developmental way, it’s great for the economics of the city,” Rio Grande City manager Gilberto Millan told the BBC.

“It’s got some negative connotations to it, obviously, being a detention area,” he said. “You can see it that way, but obviously you need a place to house these people.”

The number of migrants coming in through Mexico has been trending sharply downwards – with last month’s crossings at the lowest they’ve been since January 2020

But the issue is still very much alive on the streets of cities like Chicago, far from the southern border.

It is one of several Democrat-run cities which have enacted so-called “sanctuary city” laws that limit local police co-operation with federal immigration authorities.

In response, since 2022, Republican governors in southern states like Texas and Florida have sent thousands of immigrants northward in buses and planes.

Tom Homan, who was chosen by Trump to lead border policy, told a gathering of Republicans in Chicago last month that the midwestern city would be “ground zero” for mass deportations.

“January 21st, you’re going to look for a lot of ICE agents in your city looking for criminals and gang members,” Homan said. “Count on it. It will happen.”

Many local politicians, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the state’s governor, JB Pritzker, have continued to back sanctuary city laws, dubbed the “Welcoming City” ordinance here.

But the policy is not universally loved. In November, Trump made gains in many Latino neighbourhoods.

Recently, two Democratic Hispanic lawmakers attempted to change the ordinance and allow some co-operation by Chicago police with federal authorities. Their measure was blocked Wednesday by Johnson and his progressive allies.

For now, the worshipers at Lincoln United Methodist are making plans and watching carefully as they see how Trump’s plans play out.

“I’m scared, but I can’t imagine what people without papers are feeling,” said D Camacho, a 21-year-old legal immigrant from Mexico who was among the congregation at the church on Sunday.

Mexican consular officials in Chicago and elsewhere in the US have also said they are working on a mobile app that will allow Mexican migrants to warn relatives and consular officials if they are being detained and could be deported.

Officials in Mexico have described the system as a “panic button”.

Organisers at Lincoln United are also reaching out to legal experts, advising locals on how to take care of their finances or arrange childcare in case of deportation and helping to create identification cards with details of an immigrant’s family members and other information in English.

And several second-generation immigrants here said they were working to improve their Spanish, in order to be able to pass along legal information or translate for migrants being interviewed by authorities.

“If someone with five children gets taken, who will take the children in? Will they go to social services? Will the family be divided?” said Rev Emma Lozano – Reverend Tanya Lozano-Washington’s mother and a long-time community activist and church elder.

“Those are the kinds of questions people have,” she said. “‘How can we defend our families – what is the plan?'”

Many people in Somaliland are convinced that the United States, under the incoming presidency of Donald Trump, is poised to become the world’s first country to recognise the self-declared republic.

The territory declared independence 33 years ago after Somalia descended into civil war – and in many ways has functioned as a de facto nation-state ever since.

“Donald is our saviour. He is a wise and practical man. God bless America,” says university student Aisha Ismail, whose voice trembles with delight at the prospect.

She is speaking to me from Hargeisa, Somaliland’s capital – a city 850km (530 miles) north of Mogadishu, the seat of Somalia’s government.

For those in Mogadishu, Somaliland is an indivisible part of Somalia.

“I doubt Donald Trump knows what Somaliland is, never mind where it is,” says Abdi Mohamud, a data analyst in Mogadishu, whose voice starts to shake.

“I am spitting fire.”

He is so angry because Ms Ismail’s great expectation is not necessarily a pipe dream, at least in the long term.

Powerful and influential Republicans are pushing for the same thing, including Congressman Scott Perry who last month introduced a bill proposing formal US recognition for Somaliland.

It followed the publication in April 2023 of Project 2025, a roadmap for the second Trump presidency compiled by the prominent right-wing Heritage Foundation and more than 100 other conservative organisations

The document mentions only two African territories in its sub-Saharan Africa section – Somaliland and Djibouti – and proposes “the recognition of Somaliland statehood as a hedge against the US’s deteriorating position in Djibouti”.

However, the fact that sub-Saharan Africa takes up less than two pages in the 900-plus page plan suggests the continent is very low on the priority list.

Also, there is no guarantee the incoming administration will follow the blueprint, some of which Trump has already disavowed.

But one thing is clear. The US has already started to change its stance on Somaliland, moving away from its Mogadishu-focused approach, known as the “one-track” Somalia policy.

Somalia has cost the US dearly in financial, resource and human terms since the early 1990s when the bodies of 18 American servicemen were dragged through the streets of Mogadishu after US helicopters were shot down by Somali clan fighters.

The battle, known as “Black Hawk Down”, was America’s worst in terms of casualties since the Vietnam War.

“Any move towards recognising Somaliland’s independence would not only contravene Somalia’s sovereignty but also destabilise the region by setting a dangerous precedent,” says Somali State Minister for Foreign Affairs Ali Mohamed Omar.

The African Union and other global powers believe territorial integrity is paramount. Recognising Somaliland could set off a chain reaction with separatists across the world demanding recognition for the territories they claim.

Omar also highlighted concerns about a possible repeat of the first Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from Somalia most American troops who have been fighting al-Shabab, regularly described as al-Qaeda’s most successful affiliate.

Under Joe Biden’s presidency about 500 US troops have been stationed in Somalia – carrying out special operations and training an elite Somali force, Danab, which means “Lightning” and has proved more effective than the regular Somali army at rooting out al-Shabab.

The Americans have an airbase at Baledogle, north-west of Mogadishu, and conduct regular airstrikes against Islamist insurgents.

“A withdrawal would create a significant security vacuum, emboldening terrorist groups and threatening the stability of not only Somalia but the broader Horn of Africa,” Omar warned.

The minister’s remarks are in a similar vein but more measured than Somalia’s response to a deal between Somaliland and Ethiopia whereby recognition would reportedly be granted in exchange for sea access.

I received late-night calls from Somalis who said they were unable to sleep over the controversial proposal.

Somalia’s then-Environment Minister Aden Ibrahim Aw Hirsi told me at the time: “You are always going on about ‘political bombshells’ in your reporting.

“People here are talking about a political earthquake. This is far more serious. It is a tsunami.”

Turkey has since mediated an end to the feud but the fact that Somalia recently signed a $600,000 (£492,000) a year deal with top Washington lobbying firm, the BGR Group, suggests it is worried about relations with the incoming Trump administration.

The US last month abstained from voting on a UN Security Council resolution to fund the latest incarnation of the African Union intervention force in Somalia.

A key architect of Republican Africa thinking, especially when it comes to Somali issues, is Joshua Meservey, who recently moved from the Heritage Foundation to the right-leaning Hudson Institute.

“The case for Somaliland in US terms is very compelling,” he argues. “I think the question of recognition will definitely be discussed, although the guiding north star is what is best for US national interests in practical terms.”

Senior Africa officials under Trump mark one, including the former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Tibor Nagy, and Africa envoy, Peter Pham, are energetic supporters of Somaliland’s independence.

Like many American Republicans, Somaliland’s Foreign Minister Abdirahman Dahir Adan sees the relationship in transactional terms.

“If the deal is good for us, we will take it. If the US wants a military base here we will give it to them.”

Recognition sympathisers argue that Somaliland is located at the site of several converging US interests – economic, military and strategic.

Mr Meservey adds that the territory should be “rewarded” for adhering to democratic principles, not relying on foreign aid and having a small government.

Its long coastline runs along one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels may have replaced Somali pirates as the main disruptor of traffic in the area but the attacks remain a major threat to global trade and draw the region closer to the war in the Middle East.

The scramble for foreign bases along the Horn of Africa’s coast is of concern to the US, which established its largest military facility on the continent in Djibouti in 2002.

Russia has its eyes on Port Sudan; the United Arab Emirates (UAE) used Eritrea’s Assab to fight the Houthis and Djibouti is chock-a-block with foreign forces, including the Chinese, who not only have a well-placed military facility but also run the huge port.

Turkey’s largest base on foreign soil stretches along Somalia’s coastline just south of Mogadishu.

Dealing with a rising China is a top Trump priority.

The US has accused the Chinese of interfering with its activities in Djibouti by shining lasers into the eyes of its air force pilots and is keen to move elsewhere.

It also wants to disrupt China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which is taking over much of Africa.

The Red Sea port of Berbera, whether you see it as part of Somaliland or Somalia, has much to offer as an alternative.

China is not there; indeed it is outraged that Taiwan in 2020 established diplomatic relations with the breakaway republic.

The UAE, a key US ally, runs the recently expanded port and hopes it will rival Djibouti.

During the Biden administration, top American officials, including the chief of US Africa Command (Africom), conducted site visits of Berbera, which has a 4km runway ironically constructed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

This was later identified by the US as an emergency landing site for space shuttles – interesting given Trump’s ally Elon Musk’s obsession with space.

In 2022, the US National Defence Authorisation Act was amended to include Somaliland, enhancing security co-operation and potentially paving the way for stronger diplomatic and economic ties.

Pro-recognition Republicans have presented Somaliland as a good business case, hoping to appeal to Trump’s deal-making approach. Project 2025 used the term “hedge”.

A US-based Somaliland diplomat said: “It depends how they sell it to him. They have to make it attractive; they have to seduce him.”

Whether he means it or not, bringing up the explosive issue of recognition would likely suit Trump the disruptor.

It would certainly bring him attention and he could boast about being first.

It would also enrage Somalia, a country he included in his reported 2018 list of “shithole” nations and a place to which he wants to deport undocumented Somalis, failed asylum seekers and criminals.

There is already talk in Somaliland that the territory will be used as a “dumping ground” for such people in exchange for US recognition.

US academic Ken Menkhaus, who has followed Somali issues for decades, brings much-needed balance to the debate.

“It is very likely we will see significant shifts in US policy towards Somaliland and Somalia,” he says.

“Mr Trump has a deep suspicion of foreign aid, is sceptical about state-building and is a neo-isolationist.”

The Horn of Africa needs to be braced for change.

• What does Trump’s win mean for Africa?
• How a small African territory has upset China
• Somalia’s Christmas birthdays and lost memories
• A quick guide to Somaliland

Donald Trump’s nominee to be attorney general, Pam Bondi, said she would not use the US justice department to target people based on their politics during her confirmation hearing on Wednesday.

“There will never be an enemies list within the Department of Justice,” she told senators as she was repeatedly pressed on her loyalty to Trump. “I will not politicise that office.”

But Bondi, who would become the nation’s top law enforcement official if confirmed to the role by a Senate vote, did not directly rule out launching investigations into those the president-elect has clashed with.

“It would be irresponsible of me to make a commitment regarding anything,” she said when asked whether she would investigate Jack Smith, who led two criminal cases against Trump.

Trump repeatedly threatened to investigate and potentially prosecute his political enemies during the election campaign.

Bondi, who is likely to be confirmed as the 87th US attorney general given the Republican majority in the chamber, stressed throughout the hearing that she would remain independent.

But she echoed Trump’s view that federal prosecutions against him were political persecution, saying the department “had been weaponised for years and years and years”.

Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican, said the department had become “infected with political decision-making” and said it has been “weaponised” under the Biden administration, particularly against Trump.

These descriptions were repeated by other Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and Bondi agreed with their assessment.

Questions from Democratic senators, meanwhile, focused on whether Bondi would say no to the president-elect.

“The concern is that weaponisation of the justice department may well occur under your tenure,” Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse told Bondi. “We want to make sure that’s not the case, that you remain independent.”

They also focused a portion of their questioning on FBI director nominee Kash Patel who, if confirmed, would report to Bondi.

The FBI nominee has said he has an “enemies list” of people he will pursue if confirmed. Multiple senators asked Bondi about those comments, but she said she had not heard them and the justice department would not have such a list.

Bondi also told the committee that she would look at potential pardons of Capitol rioters on a “case by case basis” but added that she condemned “any violence on a law enforcement officer in this country”.

The attorney general serves as the head of the Department of Justice, which enforces federal laws. If confirmed to the role, Bondi would give legal advice and opinions to the president and heads of executive departments.

Her confirmation vote has not yet been scheduled, but is expected in the coming days.

On Wednesday, Senators also quizzed Marco Rubio who is expected to be confirmed as Trump’s secretary of state.

He warned that Washington must change course to avoid becoming more reliant on China and promised to overhaul US foreign policy to focus on American interests.

Universal Music Group has fired back at Drake’s attempt to sue it over the release of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us last year.

The Canadian musician filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, accusing the company of defamation by allowing the song to be published, claiming it had spread the “false and malicious narrative” that he is a paedophile.

In response, Universal, which has been Drake’s label for more than a decade, said: “Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist – let alone Drake – is illogical.”

It also accused the star of trying to “silence” Lamar by taking their rap battle to the courts.

“Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists,” the label said.

“He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from [Universal] for distributing that artist’s music.”

In response to claims that Universal had deliberately harmed Drake’s career, the label noted it had “invested massively” in his music, helping him “achieve historic commercial and personal financial success”.

“We have not and do not engage in defamation – against any individual,” the statement concluded.

Drake’s lawsuit was filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Wednesday, and marks the latest chapter in his long-running feud with Lamar.

The pair butted heads on a series of rap tracks last year. In one, Drake accused Lamar of domestic abuse. Lamar responded with Not Like Us, in which he characterised Drake and his entourage as “certified paedophiles” who should “be registered and placed on neighbourhood watch”.

In court documents, Drake claimed that Universal knew that Lamar’s lyrics were false but “continued to fan the flames” of the controversy for profit.

He claimed the label launched “a campaign to create a viral hit” out of the song, and suggested that a shooting at his Toronto mansion last May was directly linked to those actions.

Universal, he said, “chose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists”.

However, the legal case did not take aim at Lamar himself.

“This lawsuit is not about the artist who created Not Like Us,” the court documents said.

“It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.”

US President-elect Donald Trump will be consulted on the UK’s deal to hand over the Chagos Islands – where there is a joint US-UK military base – to Mauritius.

The UK announced in October it would cede sovereignty of the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, but maintain control of the base on the largest island Diego Garcia under a 99-year lease.

There had been efforts to get the treaty signed before Trump’s inauguration on Monday, the BBC understands, and the Mauritian cabinet was expected to approve the deal on Wednesday.

But “overnight the British position changed”, a Mauritius source close to the negotiations told the BBC.

The deal had already been greenlit by the Biden administration but the UK prime minister’s office on Wednesday said the incoming Trump government would now “consider” the deal.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was “perfectly reasonable for the US administration to consider the detail” of any agreement.

But shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel said the latest development was “complete humiliation” for the prime minister because Labour had been “desperate to sign off the surrender of the Chagos Islands before President Trump returns to office”.

In October, President Biden had previously praised the “historic agreement” which he said secured the future of a base which “plays a vital role in national, regional, and global security.”

It is unclear if Trump’s administration would have any objection. The incoming president has not publicly commented on the deal.

But the incoming US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said it poses a “serious threat”, arguing it gives the islands to a country aligned with China. Mauritius has a trade agreement with China.

Reform UK leader and Trump ally Nigel Farage said he believed the agreement would damage Sir Keir’s relations with the US president-elect.

“When the Americans realise that… Diego Garcia, their most important military base in the world, may effectively be rendered pretty useless, I think the special relationship will be fractured in a way that will not be mended during the course of this government,” he told the BBC.

But on Wednesday at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir defended the deal, pointing out the negotiations had started under the last Tory government. He insisted the deal was the best way to safeguard the military base.

Reports had suggested Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam would sign off an agreement on Wednesday as he attended a cabinet meeting, but it was later announced his attorney general was travelling to London to continue talks.

The UK took control of the Chagos Islands, or British Indian Ocean Territory, from its then colony, Mauritius, in 1965 and went on to evict its population of more than 1,000 people to make way for the Diego Garcia base.

Mauritius, which won independence from the UK in 1968, has maintained that the islands are its own, and the UN’s highest court has ruled, in an advisory opinion, that the UK’s administration of the territory is “unlawful”.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the prime minister was “negotiating a secret deal to surrender British territory and taxpayers in this country will pay for the humiliation”.

Badenoch said there was “no way we should be giving up British territory in Chagos”, claiming Sir Keir was “rushing a deal which will be disastrous” and it would cost British taxpayers billions of pounds.

The cost of the proposed deal to the UK has not been officially announced.

In response to Badenoch, Sir Keir told PMQs the planned agreement would ensure the military base on Diego Garcia can continue operating effectively.

• What I found on the secretive tropical island they don’t want you to see
• Hundreds protest against Chagos Islands deal
• On secret military island, a mother strives to raise her children normally
• Chagossians criticise lack of say in UK deal to hand over islands

A deal over the Chagos Islands was first announced in October following years of negotiations.

But weeks later, after his election, Mr Ramgoolam said he had reservations about the draft treaty and asked for an independent review.

In a joint statement in October, Mauritius and the UK said the deal would “address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians”.

The Chagos islanders – some in Mauritius and the Seychelles, but others living in Crawley in Sussex – do not speak with one voice on the fate of their homeland.

Some have criticised the deal, saying they were not consulted in the negotiations.

Under the proposed deal, Mauritius will be able to begin a programme of resettlement on the Chagos Islands, but not on Diego Garcia.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has previously played down the criticism, saying it is a “very good deal” for “our national security” because it secured the legal basis of the Diego Garcia military base.

On Wednesday, diplomats said the decision to put the deal on hold until it was considered by the Trump administration made sense as the UK would not want its first engagement to be a row over islands deep in the Indian Ocean.

The Biden administration and US military and intelligence agencies had agreed to the original deal, accepting it put the legal status of the Diego Garcia on a more stable footing.

But there were still questions within the US system about how much the new agreement might open the way for China to establish a strategic foothold in the islands.

It is unclear how incoming president Trump will act, what advice he might get in office and whether he would have time to consider an issue seen as second-order compared to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Canadian political leaders say “nothing is off the table” when it comes to responding to potential 25% tariffs from the US, days before they could come into force.

But strains are showing in “Team Canada” when it comes to whether energy supply should be a tool in a possible tariff war with the US.

President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday, has threatened to immediately impose levies on Canadian goods in an effort to force the country to crack down on illegal immigration and drug smuggling into the US.

On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met provincial and territorial premiers to discuss the country’s coordinated response.

“Nothing is off the table,” Trudeau said at a news conference with the premiers after the day-long meeting.

“What we’ve agreed on is we have to respond to the challenge we’re facing and that the burden is shared across the country.”

“We will stand up for Canada, we will protect Canadians,” he added.

The prime minister also said there would “absolutely” be support for sectors affected should the tariffs materialise.

Roughly 75% of Canadian exports go to the US, and economists say the levies would be devastating for the country.

Canada is preparing a number of counter measures should the Trump administration move forward either with a blanket 25% levy on all goods or with a more targeted approach.

Canadian legislators have been lobbying US counterparts in recent weeks in a bid to avoid the tariffs, including personal visits to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Ottawa also promised to implement C$1.3bn ($900m; £700m) in sweeping new security measures along the country’s nearly 9,000km-long (6,000 mile) border with the US to allay some of Trump’s concerns.

But there has been a growing worry that the tariffs – at least in some form – are inevitable.

Trump has long been a proponent of trade tariffs, calling them the “greatest thing ever invented”.

They are a central part of his economic vision. He sees them as a way of growing the US economy, protecting jobs and raising tax revenue.

Canadian officials argue they would undermine the US economy, increase inflation for American consumers – including raising prices at the petrol pump – and hamper investment.

They also warn tariffs could undermine national security, given Canada, a US ally, is a key source of energy and critical minerals.

• Would Donald Trump’s tariffs hurt US consumers?
• Canada’s oil patch rattled by Trump’s tariff threat
• Trump tariff threat puts a strain on Canada-Mexico ties

While there has been a push for a unified approach to the threat, cracks in the coalition were apparent on Wednesday.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith did not sign the joint statement released after the meeting, which she attended virtually.

On social media, she said the oil-rich province will not agree to export tariffs on energy or other products, or a ban on their exports.

“We will take whatever actions are needed to protect the livelihoods of Albertans from such destructive federal policies,” she said.

Trudeau and the premiers of Ontario, Quebec, and Newfoundland are among those open to either imposing counter tariffs on energy or cutting off energy exports to the US.

“I see energy as Canada’s queen in this game of chess,” said Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey prior to the meeting.

“We don’t need to expose our queen too early. The opposition does need to know the queen exists but they don’t need to know what we do with the queen.”

Around 40% of the crude that runs through US oil refineries is imported, and the vast majority of it comes from Canada.

It also supplies the US with natural gas and electricity.

“We’re all united in that we have to act in the robust way,” said Trudeau when asked about Smith’s response.

According to various analyses, Canada’s GDP could take a hit of between 1.8% and 3.38% and 2.6% to 5.6% if 25% blanket tariffs are imposed on Canadian goods, depending on how, and whether, Canada retaliates.

The US GDP would be pinched by between 0.9% to 1.6%, according to those reports.

Knowing the pain of responding is not proportional “means that we have to be smarter in how we [Canada] respond – and that’s tricky,” said Drew Fagan, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.

“It’s hard to be strategic with an administration like this whose thinking is often a little bit more off the cuff.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has suggested up to 500,000 jobs could be lost in his province – which forms core part of the country’s auto sector – under the current proposed tariffs.

Alberta could see 50,000 jobs lost, according to financial forecasts.

The expected tariff fight comes as Canada is facing domestic political challenges.

Trudeau will step down as prime minister once his governing Liberal Party selects a new leader in March.

He said on Wednesday he would not run in the next election.

An election will be held this year in Canada, possibly as early as this spring.

Cuba has started to release the first of hundreds of prisoners it agreed to free following a deal with the United States.

Under the agreement brokered by the Catholic Church, President Joe Biden removed Cuba from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism just days before his term ends.

In return, the Cuban government said it would free 553 people, many of whom were detained during anti-government protests that swept through the Communist-run island in 2021.

While Havana has cautiously welcomed the deal, there are doubts as to how long it will last after President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Marco Rubio, appeared to hint that it could be reversed.

Speaking at his Senate nomination hearing on Wednesday, Rubio said referring to some of the sanctions on Cuba that the Biden administration rescinded on Tuesday that “the new administration is not bound by that decision”.

Earlier, Trump’s choice for national security adviser, Mike Waltz, had said on Fox News that “anything they [the Biden administration] are doing right now, we can do back, and no one should be under any illusion in terms of a change in Cuba policy”.

Despite the doubts raised by Trump administration officials, Cuba released about 20 prisoners on Wednesday, according to local NGOs.

One of those released was 53-year-old Donaida Pérez Paseiro, who had been sentenced to eight years in prison for taking part in the 2021 anti-government protests, during which citizens demanded that the Cuban government do more to ease widespread food shortages and lower spiralling prices.

In a video she posted on social media, Ms Pérez Paseiro said that the Cuban government had used her and her fellow prisoners as “a bargaining chip” to leverage Cuba’s removal from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

In the recording, she also said she would continue to “fight for Cuba’s freedom”.

Dariel Cruz García was also among those who were freed on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old had been sentenced to 15 years in prison for sedition after joining in the 2021 protests.

He told Reuters that officials had announced that he could serve the remainder of his sentence – which has been reduced since he was originally sentenced – at home.

“I escaped from hell to be with my family. I’ll behave myself so I can move on,” he told the news agency.

The vice-president of Cuba’s highest court, Maricela Sosa, said on TV that those freed had neither received an amnesty nor had they been pardoned and warned that they could be re-arrested if they broke the terms of their parole.

There are also still hundreds of families awaiting news as to whether their loved ones will be among the 553 the government has agreed to release.

“They’re desperate, all waiting with tremendous anxiety for a call from their children,” Dariel Cruz García’s mother told Reuters.

Nintendo has unveiled its next console after weeks of rumours and leaks about the machine.

Purported images and details of the successor to the Switch – one of the best-selling games consoles of all time – have been increasingly appearing online since the start of the year.

The Japanese video gaming giant finally broke its silence with a short video showing off the new console that confirmed some, but not all, of the unofficial information.

As predicted, the new machine will be named Switch 2 and closely resemble its predecessor, with similar, detachable controllers but boasting a larger screen.

No price or release date was revealed, but the company will release further details during a showcase on 2 April.

The company also repeated one of the few pieces of official information known prior to the reveal – that the new console will be backwards-compatible.

It means existing Switch games can be played on the new machine, but a disclaimer said that not all titles would be cross-compatible.

Switch 2 will remain a hybrid console, allowing users to play the machine “docked” to a TV or as a portable device.

A glimpse of what appeared to be a new Mario Kart game was also shown, and the video hinted that rumours about magnetic controller attachments and upgraded joysticks were true.

But Nintendo said further details would come at a Direct showcase on 2 April.

The first Switch has been a huge success for Nintendo – as of September 2024 it had sold 143 million units, making it one of the best-selling home consoles of all time.

Sales of the Switch marked a massive turnaround in Nintendo’s hardware fortunes.

The Wii U – its follow-up to the enormously successful Wii – was widely seen as a flop, and some analysts even predicted the company could follow former rival Sega into becoming a software publisher at the time.

But the Switch’s hybrid mechanic clicked with gamers.

Although the console was less powerful than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Nintendo produced a number of “must-have” games in-house, including new entries in the Mario and Legend of Zelda franchises.

And, like other games companies, it got a boost during the Covid-19 pandemic, with cosy, escapist life sim Animal Crossing: New Horizons proving a runaway hit.

Nintendo suffered from “second album syndrome” with the 2012 Wii U, where its smash hit console was followed by a comparative failure.

BBC Newsbeat previously spoke to George Osborn, consultant and author of the Video Games Industry Memo newsletter about his predictions for the Switch 2.

He said plenty of keen gamers would rush out to buy the console as soon as it launched.

But, he said: “Nintendo has managed to establish a very strong audience of families buying consoles.”

If the Switch 2 wasn’t seen as a significant technological step up, George said, the challenge will be convincing the more casual audience to upgrade from the original.

“I think there’ll be a lot of families who are going, ‘Well, I’m perfectly happy with this family device, it serves my needs, I can keep up on this,” he said.

The sheer popularity of the Switch tapped into a desire for people to be able to take their games on the go with them, inspiring other companies to follow Nintendo’s lead.

Valve, owner of the huge PC game Steam store, has sold millions of its “handheld PC” Steam Deck, and Sony and Microsoft are also reported to be looking into releasing portable gaming devices.

Analyst George says there is more competition for the core gaming audience than there was in 2017.

“So there is that question about whether the Switch 2 can be enough of a step up to convince people who’ve maybe dipped into a Steam Deck as well to go, ‘yes, I want to buy a Switch 2 to go alongside it’,” said George.

Matching the sales of the original Switch will be a tall order, but it’s fairly safe to assume demand will be high when it’s released.

The launches of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles – during a global microchip shortage – were marred by scalpers hoovering up the few consoles that were available.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furakawa previously told investors the company had held off releasing the Switch 2 to ensure enough launch units would be available.

Whether you’ll be able to get your hands on one remains to be seen.

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.

Popular Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has undergone surgery and is out of danger after he was stabbed by an intruder in his home overnight, his team has said.

The attack took place early on Thursday morning in an upscale neighbourhood in the Indian city of Mumbai, where Khan lives with his family.

City police told BBC Marathi that the actor was injured after a scuffle broke out between him and an unidentified man who entered his house sometime after midnight.

Police have formed teams to investigate the matter.

“Khan has come out of surgery and is out of danger. He is currently in recovery and the doctors are monitoring his progress,” Khan’s team said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters after the surgery, Dr Nitin Dange of Lilavati Hospital, where Khan is admitted, said that the actor “sustained a major injury to the thoracic spinal cord due to a lodged knife in the spine”.

“A surgery was performed to remove the knife and repair leaking spinal fluid. Two other deep wounds on his left hand and one other on his neck were repaired by the plastic surgery team,” he said.

Khan is married to Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan and the couple have two children. The family have not made any public statements yet but Khan’s team said they were safe.

The exact details of the assault are not clear yet. Police have said that “an unknown person” had entered the actor’s home.

“After that, an argument broke out between Khan and the intruder,” Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police Dixit Gedam told BBC Marathi.

Khan’s team said it was a case of “attempted burglary” but did not share more details.

“We request the media and fans to be patient. It is a police matter,” they said.

Khan, who made his Bollywood debut in 1993, primarily works in Hindi cinema and is known for his quick wit and comic timing.

Among his popular movies are romantic comedies such as Dil Chahta Hai and Kal Ho Naa Ho and recent action dramas such as Tanhaji and Devara: Part 1.

His role as an antagonist in Omkara, a 2006 critically acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello, was widely appreciated.

Khan comes from a family of erstwhile Nawabs who ruled Pataudi, a small princely state on the outskirts of Delhi, and is married into a family of film stars.

His father Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was a cricketer who captained the Indian team in the 1960s. His mother Sharmila Tagore is a veteran actress who has featured in prominent Hindi and Bengali films from the age of 14.

His sister Soha Ali Khan also acted in films for some years.

Khan’s wife Kareena comes from a family of celebrated actors, directors and producers who have been active in Bollywood for almost a century.

All websites on which pornographic material can be found, including social media platforms, must introduce “robust” age-checking techniques such as demanding photo ID or running credit card checks for UK users by July.

The long-awaited guidance, issued by regulator Ofcom, has been made under the Online Safety Act (OSA), and is intended to prevent children from easily accessing pornography online.

Research indicates the average age at which young people first see explicit material online in the UK is 13 – with many being exposed to it much earlier.

“For too long, many online services which allow porn and other harmful material have ignored the fact that children are accessing their services”, said Ofcom boss Melanie Dawes, adding: “today, this starts to change.”

Ofcom confirmed to the BBC this meant user-to-user services such as social media platforms must implement “highly effective checks” – which in some cases might mean “preventing children from accessing the entire site”.

However, some porn sites and privacy campaigners have warned the move will be counterproductive, saying introducing beefed-up age verification will only push people to “darker corners” of the internet.

The media regulator estimates that approximately 14 million people watch online pornography in the UK.

But it is so readily available that campaign groups have raised concerns that children see it at a young age – with one in 10 children seeing it by age nine, according to a survey by the Children’s Commissioner.

“As age checks start to roll out in the coming months, adults will start to notice a difference in how they access certain online services,” said Dame Melanie.

The rules also require services which publish their own pornographic content – including with generative AI tools – to begin introducing age checks immediately.

Age verification platform Yoti called such technology “essential” for creating safe spaces online.

“It is important that age assurance is enforced across pornographic sites of all sizes, creating a level playing field, and providing age-appropriate access for adults,” said chief regulatory and policy officer Julie Dawson.

However Aylo, parent company of the website Pornhub, told the BBC this sort of age verification was “ineffective, haphazard and dangerous”.

It claimed pornography use changed significantly in US state Louisiana after similar age verification controls came into force, with its website’s traffic dropping 80% in the state.

“These people did not stop looking for porn, they just migrated to darker corners of the internet that don’t ask users to verify age,” it claimed.

“In practice, the laws have just made the internet more dangerous for adults and children.”

Ofcom has published what it calls a “non-exhaustive” list of technologies that may be used to verify ages, which includes:

• Open banking
• Photo ID matching
• Facial age estimation
• Mobile network operator age checks
• Credit card checks
• Digital identity services
• Email-based age estimation

The rules specifically state that “self-declaration of age” is no longer considered a “highly effective” method of checking ages – and therefore is not acceptable.

It also states that pornographic content should not be accessible to users before they have completed an age check.

Other age verification firms have responded positively to the news.

“The regulator’s long-awaited guidance on age assurance means adult content providers now have the clarity they need to get their houses in order and put in place robust and reliable methods to keep explicit material well away from underage users,” said Lina Ghazal, head of regulatory and public affairs at Verifymy.

But privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch warned that many age-checking methods could be circumvented, and should not be seen as a panacea.

“Children must be protected online, but many technological age checking methods are ineffective and introduce additional risks to children and adults alike including security breaches, privacy intrusion, errors, digital exclusion and censorship,” said boss Silkie Carlo.

“We must avoid anything like a digital ID system for the internet that would both eradicate privacy online and fail to keep children safe,” she added.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has told Donald Trump that it is up to Greenland to decide its own future.

The US president-elect sparked turmoil in Copenhagen and Nuuk, Greenland’s capital, last week when he signalled that the US wanted to acquire the huge arctic island, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.

In a 45-minute phone call on Wednesday, Frederiksen told Trump that Denmark was prepared to increase its responsibility for security in the Arctic.

She also reiterated the statements of the Greenland PM, Mute Egede, who recently said that Greenland was not for sale.

Trump did not react to the call publicly. However, he reposted on his TruthSocial account a 2019 poll that indicated 68% of Greenlanders supported independence from Denmark.

A referendum on independence is thought to be on the cards and Denmark has said it would respect any result.

When he was last president, Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland. When Frederiksen called the proposal “absurd”, he abruptly cancelled a trip to Denmark.

The Danish government said that in her phone call with Trump, Frederiksen also emphasised that “Danish companies contribute to growth and jobs in the US, and that the EU and the US have a common interest in strengthened trade.”

Last week, Trump threatened Denmark with high tariffs if the country did not give up Greenland.

The suggestion set off alarm bells among Danish industry leaders, as the US is Denmark’s second largest export market and any targeted tariffs would have a significant impact on the Danish economy.

• Trump wants to take Greenland: Four ways this saga could go

On Thursday, Frederiksen will hold what Danish media dubbed a “crisis meeting” with business leaders, including the CEOs of beer giant Carlsberg and drugmaker Novo Nordisk, which produces obesity and diabetes drugs popular in the US.

She is also due to host an extraordinary Foreign Policy Council meeting with members from across parliament.

Greenlandic member of parliament Aaja Chemnitz said she was satisfied with Frederiksen’s line that any decision about Greenland should be taken by Greenlanders.

“I have great confidence in the prime minister’s task, and I also have great confidence in Egede. I think it is important that they have a close dialogue,” she said.

Earlier this week, Egede said his government was ready to start a dialogue with the incoming Trump administration.

But opposition MP Rasmus Jarlov said that he disapproved of Frederiksen’s approach.

Writing on X, he said: “It is completely unacceptable that [Frederiksen] renounces Denmark’s rights in Greenland and places sovereignty solely with the [Greenlander] self-government when she talks to the President of the United States.”

Trump’s comments and his son’s visit to Greenland last week sparked huge concern in Denmark. Faced with the prospect of angering what she repeatedly called “Denmark’s closest ally”, Frederiksen measured her words while emphasising Greenland’s right to self-determination.

Hans Redder, TV2’s political editor, said the fact that Trump had set aside 45 minutes for a phone call with Frederiksen indicated that “this Greenland thing is really something that is on Trump’s mind – it’s not just a passing thought”.

Popular Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has undergone surgery and is out of danger after he was stabbed by an intruder in his home overnight, his team has said.

The attack took place early on Thursday morning in an upscale neighbourhood in the Indian city of Mumbai, where Khan lives with his family.

City police told BBC Marathi that the actor was injured after a scuffle broke out between him and an unidentified man who entered his house sometime after midnight.

Police have formed teams to investigate the matter.

“Khan has come out of surgery and is out of danger. He is currently in recovery and the doctors are monitoring his progress,” Khan’s team said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters after the surgery, Dr Nitin Dange of Lilavati Hospital, where Khan is admitted, said that the actor “sustained a major injury to the thoracic spinal cord due to a lodged knife in the spine”.

“A surgery was performed to remove the knife and repair leaking spinal fluid. Two other deep wounds on his left hand and one other on his neck were repaired by the plastic surgery team,” he said.

Khan is married to Bollywood star Kareena Kapoor Khan and the couple have two children. The family have not made any public statements yet but Khan’s team said they were safe.

The exact details of the assault are not clear yet. Police have said that “an unknown person” had entered the actor’s home.

“After that, an argument broke out between Khan and the intruder,” Mumbai’s Deputy Commissioner of Police Dixit Gedam told BBC Marathi.

Khan’s team said it was a case of “attempted burglary” but did not share more details.

“We request the media and fans to be patient. It is a police matter,” they said.

Khan, who made his Bollywood debut in 1993, primarily works in Hindi cinema and is known for his quick wit and comic timing.

Among his popular movies are romantic comedies such as Dil Chahta Hai and Kal Ho Naa Ho and recent action dramas such as Tanhaji and Devara: Part 1.

His role as an antagonist in Omkara, a 2006 critically acclaimed adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello, was widely appreciated.

Khan comes from a family of erstwhile Nawabs who ruled Pataudi, a small princely state on the outskirts of Delhi, and is married into a family of film stars.

His father Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi was a cricketer who captained the Indian team in the 1960s. His mother Sharmila Tagore is a veteran actress who has featured in prominent Hindi and Bengali films from the age of 14.

His sister Soha Ali Khan also acted in films for some years.

Khan’s wife Kareena comes from a family of celebrated actors, directors and producers who have been active in Bollywood for almost a century.

Israel and Hamas have agreed a deal which would halt the war in Gaza and see the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the US and mediators Qatar have said.

It is the most significant breakthrough in 15 months of war, which began when the armed Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.

Details of the deal reportedly approved by both sides have not yet been officially announced.

As it stands, a completed deal would see the war in Gaza stop, an exchange of hostages and prisoners, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and return of displaced Palestinians.

Hamas seized 251 hostages when it attacked Israel in October 2023. It is still holding 94 captive, although Israel believes that only 60 are still alive.

Israel is expected to release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, some jailed for years, in return for the hostages.

• Why is there a war in Gaza?
• Follow live updates on this story

This ceasefire is expected to happen in three stages.

And while both sides are now said to have agreed to it, Israel’s security cabinet and government will need to approve the deal before it can be implemented.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said the agreement would come into effect on Sunday should it be approved.

Here is what is understood to be in the deal.

First stage

The first stage would last six weeks and see “a full and complete ceasefire”, US President Joe Biden said as he confirmed a deal had been reached on Wednesday.

Hostages in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israel would be freed, and Gazans who have been displaced allowed to start returning home.

“A number of hostages” held by Hamas, including women, the elderly and the sick, would be released in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, Biden said.

He did not specify how many hostages would be released during this first stage – but Qatar’s Al Thani told a news conference on Wednesday that it would be 33.

Israeli government spokesman David Mencer previously said most but not all of the 33 – which include children – were thought to still be alive.

Three hostages would be released straight away, a Palestinian official previously told the BBC, with the rest of the exchange taking place over the six weeks.

During this stage, Israeli troops would pull out of “all” populated areas of Gaza, Biden said, while “the Palestinians [could] also return to their neighbourhoods in all the areas of Gaza”.

Almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have had to leave their homes as Israel has carried out continuous strikes across the territory and issued mass evacuation orders for large residential areas.

There would also be a surge in humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, with hundreds of lorries allowed in each day.

The Palestinian official previously said detailed negotiations for the second and third stages would begin on the 16th day of the ceasefire.

Biden said the ceasefire would persist “as long as the negotiations continue”.

Second stage

Stage two would be “a permanent end to the war,” according to Biden.

The remaining living hostages, including men, would be released in return for more Palestinian prisoners.

Of the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel is thought to have agreed to release overall, about 190 are serving sentences of 15 years or more.

An Israeli official previously told the BBC that those convicted of murder would not be released into the occupied West Bank.

There would also be a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Third stage

The third and final stage would involve the reconstruction of Gaza – something which could take years – and the return of any remaining hostages’ bodies.

Getting to this point has taken months of painstaking indirect negotiations, not least because Israel and Hamas completely distrust each other.

Hamas wanted a complete end to the war before it would release the hostages, something which was unacceptable to Israel.

The ceasefire will in effect pause the war while its terms are carried out.

However, it is unclear whether it will mean the war is over for good.

One of Israel’s key war aims has been to destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities. Although Israel has severely damaged it, Hamas still has some capacity to operate and regroup.

It is also unclear which hostages are alive or dead or whether Hamas knows the whereabouts of all those who remain unaccounted for.

For its part, Hamas has demanded the release of some prisoners which Israel says it will not free. This is believed to include those who were involved in the 7 October attacks.

It is also not known whether Israel will agree to pull out of the buffer zone by a certain date, or whether its presence there will be open-ended.

Any ceasefire is likely to be fragile.

Ceasefires between Israel and Hamas which have halted previous wars have been shaken by skirmishes and eventually broken down.

The timetable and complexity of this ceasefire means even a small incident could turn into a major threat.

Hundreds of Hamas-led gunmen launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, bursting through the border fence and targeting communities, police stations and army bases.

About 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were taken back to Gaza. Hamas also fired thousands of rockets into Israel.

Israel responded with a massive military campaign, first by air and then a ground invasion. Since then, Israel has attacked targets across Gaza by land, sea and air, while Hamas has attacked Israel with rockets.

Israel’s offensive has devastated Gaza and led to severe food shortages, with aid struggling to reach those most in need. More than 46,700 people – the majority of them civilians – have been killed by Israel’s attacks, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden warned of the dangers of an oligarchy gaining power as he delivered his farewell address and brought a decades-long career in politics to an end.

“Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that really threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedom,” he said on Wednesday.

Biden, 82, took aim at an ultra-wealthy “tech-industrial complex” which he said could wield unchecked power over Americans.

He also used his final televised speech from the White House to issue warnings about climate change and social media disinformation.

Speaking from the Oval Office where his family had gathered to watch, he touted his single-term administration’s record, referencing job creation, infrastructure spending, healthcare, leading the country out of the pandemic, and making the US a safer country.

He added, however, that “it will take time to feel the full impact of all we’ve done together, but the seeds are planted, and they’ll grow and they’ll bloom for decades to come”.

• How Biden tarnished his own legacy
• Here’s what to know about Donald Trump’s inauguration

Biden wished Donald Trump’s incoming administration success, but then issued a series of pointed warnings, with the president stating “so much is at stake right now”.

On climate change, he said “powerful forces want to wield their unchecked influence to eliminate the steps we’ve taken to tackle the climate crisis to serve their own interests for power and profit”.

On misinformation, Biden warned that “Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation, enabling the abuse of power”.

He also took a swipe at social media companies such as Meta, which has recently announced it will get rid of independent fact checkers. “Social media is giving up on fact checking. The truth is smothered by lies told for power and for profit,” Biden said.

And his attack on an ultra-wealthy “tech-industrial complex” was a veiled reference at Silicon Valley executives such as Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who is close to Trump and provided huge financial backing to his campaign.

His language echoed that of President Dwight Eisenhower who famously warned of a “military industrial complex” in his 1961 farewell address.

Biden appeared to have Musk in mind when he warned of a “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a few ultra-wealthy people”.

The term oligarchy refers to a government that is run by a handful of people, often for their own gain.

The president went on to say there could be “dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked”.

• Biden hails Gaza ceasefire deal
• WATCH: 24 hours on Elon Musk’s timeline

Other tech bosses such as Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have also made efforts to improve relations with Trump ahead of his return to the White House.

Closing his exit speech, which is a longstanding presidential tradition, Biden called on Americans to “stand guard” of their country: “May you all be the keeper of the flame.”

His farewell address came on the same day he announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which he referenced in his opening remarks.

Biden said the negotiations had been some of the toughest of his career, and took credit for helping get the deal over the line.

The deal will see a ceasefire take effect on 19 January, a day before Trump is due to take office. The incoming president has also taken credit for the agreement, saying it was only possible because he won the election in November.

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

A US-based short-seller which had published reports accusing top financial entities in India and abroad of financial wrongdoings and fraud is set to shut down.

Nate Anderson, the founder of Hindenburg Research, announced on Wednesday that he was disbanding the company almost eight years after starting it.

The firm had made headlines in India in 2023 after publishing explosive reports about billionaire Gautam Adani’s conglomerate, sparking political rows and major losses for the company.

Mr Anderson didn’t share a specific reason for his decision, but expressed a desire to spend more time with friends and family in the future.

Started in 2017, Hindenburg Research shot to fame for exposing alleged financial irregularities in some big-name businesses. The firm’s reports have led to businesses, both in India and abroad, losing billions of dollars in market value.

“Nearly 100 individuals have been charged civilly or criminally by regulators at least in part through our work, including billionaires and oligarchs. We shook some empires that we felt needed shaking,” Mr Anderson wrote in the statement where he announced his decision.

In 2020, the company accused electric truck maker Nikola Corp of misleading investors about its technologies. In 2022, the company’s founder, Trevon Milton, was found guilty of lying to investors and convicted of fraud.

In 2023, it published a report accusing the Adani group of decades of “brazen’ stock manipulation and accounting fraud”. Mr Adani and his company denied the allegations, calling them “malicious” and an “attack on India”.

In the days following the report, the Adani group saw about $108bn wiped off their market value but firm’s financial health has bounced back since.

Last year, Hindenburg Research accused Madhabi Puri Buch – the chief of market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) – of having links with offshore funds used by the Adani group. Both Ms Buch and the Adanis denied any wrongdoing.

Allegations by the firm have sparked furious political rows in the country, with India’s main opposition Congress party accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of not taking action against the Adani group.

Mr Adani, who is one of Asia’s richest men, is perceived as being close to Mr Modi and has long faced allegations from opposition politicians that he has benefited from his political ties, which he denies.

In his statement, Mr Anderson expressed a desire to open-source Hindenburg’s research methodology in the future.

“Over the next six months or so I plan to work on a series of materials and videos to open-source every aspect of our model and how we conduct our investigations,” he wrote.

Short-sellers like Hindenburg bet against stocks of companies that they believe have been involved in fraud or other financial wrongdoings, based on their investigations. The process involves borrowing a stock, immediately selling it and then repurchasing it when its value goes down to pocket the difference.

Pakistan’s flag carrier has drawn widespread criticism for putting out an advertisement that showed a plane flying towards the Eiffel Tower.

The ad was meant to promote the resumption of Pakistan International Airlines’ flights to the French capital and had the caption “Paris, we’re coming today”.

Some social media users noted the ad’s resemblance to the terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September 2001.

“Is this an advertisement or a threat?” one user wrote on X. Another called for the company to “fire your marketing manager”.

The image has been viewed more than 21 million times on X since it was published last week and has drawn swift backlash.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an investigation into the matter, while Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has also criticised the ad, Pakistan’s Geo News reported.

The 9/11 attacks saw hijackers crash passenger jets into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington DC, killing nearly 3,000 people.

The alleged mastermind of the attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, was arrested in Pakistan in 2003.

Osama bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaeda extremist network which planned the attacks, was killed by US troops in Pakistan in 2011.

Pakistani journalist Omar Quraishi said PIA’s ad left him “truly speechless”.

“Did the airline management not vet this?

“Do they not know about the 9/11 tragedy – which used planes to attack buildings? Did they not think that this would be perceived in similar fashion,” he wrote on X.

The airline has not commented on the incident.

The PIA, however, is no stranger to controversy.

Some X users pointed out that in 1979, the airline published an advertisement showing a passenger jet’s shadow over the twin towers.

In 2017, the airline was mocked after staff sacrificed a goat to ward off bad luck following one of the country’s worst air disasters.

And in 2019, PIA caused a stir when it told flight attendants to slim down or get grounded. Staff were told they had had six months to shed “excess weight”.

An Australian influencer has been charged with poisoning her baby girl to elicit donations and boost online followers.

The Queensland woman claimed she was chronicling her child’s battle with a terminal illness on social media, but detectives allege she was drugging the one-year-old and then filming her in “immense distress and pain”.

Doctors had raised the alarm in October, when the baby was admitted to hospital suffering a serious medical episode.

After months of investigation, the 34-year-old woman was charged with torture, administering poison, making child exploitation material and fraud.

“[There are] no words for how repulsive offences of this nature are,” Queensland Police Det Insp Paul Dalton told reporters on Thursday.

Between August and October, detectives say that the woman – from the Sunshine Coast region – gave the child several prescription and pharmacy medicines, without approval.

She went to great lengths to obtain the unauthorised medications and cover up her behaviour, they alleged, including using leftover medicine for a different person in their house.

Police began investigating on 15 October, when the baby was brought into hospital experiencing “severe emotional and physical distress and harm”. Tests for unauthorised medicines returned a positive result later in January, they said.

The woman raised A$60,000 (£30,500; $37,300) through GoFundMe donations – which the site is attempting to repay, Det Insp Dalton said.

Police had investigated other people over the alleged abuse, but there was no evidence to charge anyone else, he added.

The woman is due to face Brisbane Magistrates Court on Friday.

An investigation is under way after a British woman died following a “violent collision” on a ski slope in the French Alps.

The 62-year-old reportedly crashed into a stationary skier, a British man, on the Aiguille Rouge mountain in Les Arcs on Tuesday.

She died shortly afterwards, after experiencing traumatic shock, according to French news outlet Le Dauphine.

The man broke his leg in the collision. Neither have been named.

The incident occurred at the Les Arcs resort in Savoie, south-eastern France.

The director of slope safety at the resort, Phillipe Janin, told the AFP news agency it had happened around 10:30 (09:30 GMT), when the woman was descending a “well-groomed” black run on the Aiguille Rouge mountain.

Black runs are extremely difficult slopes that are considered to be only suitable for expert skiers.

Mr Janin said the 62-year-old had lost control of her skis before colliding with a 35-year-old man who was stationary on the piste. Emergency services attended the scene, but she died shortly afterwards.

He added that he believed both of the skiers had been wearing helmets, and the man had been rushed to hospital with a broken leg.

Local prosecutor Benoît Bachelet told AFP an investigation to determine the precise circumstances of the accident was under way.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: “We are supporting the family of a British woman who has died in France and are in contact with the local authorities.”

According to the Domaines Skiables de France, the association that represents ski area operators in France, an average of 10 traumatic deaths are recorded each year on French slopes.

Up to half of these, it adds, are a result of a collision with an obstacle or another skier.

Gabriel Hoces repeats a word seven times when he discusses what it’s like to work in Denmark – “trust”.

“No one is trying to micromanage you, or look over your shoulder,” says Mr Hoces, who works for a tech firm in Copenhagen. “Bosses aren’t coming in to check if you put in eight or nine hours a day, as they mainly only care if you completed your projects.

“There’s a lot of trust in Denmark in that way, and I don’t feel a hierarchy at my job. It’s all very democratic.”

It is no surprise to Mr Hoces, a married father of two young daughters, that Denmark is consistently among the top-five countries in the world for work-life balance rankings.

Only 1.1% of Danes have to work 50 or more hours a week, according to the most recent global figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). That’s a significantly lower proportion than the world average of 10.2%.

By contrast, the figure for the UK is 10.8% and the US is 10.4%.

Meik Wiking, author of the book The Art of Danish Living, has long regarded his home country as a shining example of what other countries should aspire to mimic with their workplace policies.

“Danes are actually happy at work,” he tells the BBC. “Almost 60% of Danes say they would continue to work if they won the lottery and became financially independent.”

Mr Wiking, who is also the boss of Danish think tank The Happiness Research Institute, shares several policies that help generate a strong work-life balance in Denmark.

These include the right to a minimum five weeks of paid vacation per year, in addition to public holidays. In the UK most workers are entitled to 5.6 weeks of paid leave, but in the US it can be as low as just 11 days.

Denmark also offers a very generous six months of paid maternity and paternity leave. In the UK the father, or non-birthing partner, typically gets one to two weeks of paid leave.

In the US there is only a federal guarantee of unpaid parental leave, although some states, such as California, now offer paid time away from work after the birth of a child. And federal employees can get 12-weeks of paid leave.

Mr Wiking is another Dane who cites the concept of bosses trusting their employees to do the right thing. He uses the example of staff at the Tivoli Gardens amusement park in Copenhagen, where they follow the three-metre rule.

The idea is that you are CEO of everything within a radius of three metres. “If you see garbage within your three-metre radius you pick it up, and if you see a guest looking for something, you stop and ask them if you can help,” says Mr Wiking.

He adds that when staff take ownership of their own space it can help them feel empowered and appreciated, which goes a long way to contributing to a healthy sentiment about their workplace.

Janine Leschke, a professor in the department of management, society and communication at the Copenhagen Business School, says Denmark is definitely “not a work culture where you have to show up and be available all day, all evening, to show that you’re working hard all the time”.

Instead, she says flexibility during the workday gives employees the time they need to, say, pick up their children from school or day care. “The day doesn’t have to officially end at five or six, and that’s appealing to a lot of Danes with kids.”

Mr Hoces has noticed how some employers in the US may expect their staff to be available over weekends, to answer the odd email or message. That kind of overtime doesn’t fit with his outlook on a positive work-life balance.

“If I was expected to take calls on the weekend, that would be a huge red flag to me, and I would likely change jobs,” he says. “But so far that hasn’t happened to me or anyone I know.”

Casper Rouchmann, a Copenhagen-based CEO and founder of tech firm SparkForce, says his relaxed leadership policy would be familiar to most Danes. “You don’t need to ask me to leave early,” he says. “No one takes advantage of my kindness.”

Mr Rouchmann adds that the element of trust is so ingrained in Danish culture, visitors to Denmark are often aghast at how far it can go. He also highlights Denmark’s generous welfare state, and the fact that firms have to give financial compensation to staff who are made redundant.

“If you lose your job, the government is there to help,” adds Mr Rouchmann.

As much as other countries can learn from Denmark’s work-life balance, he says it has some downsides. “Some people can rely too much on that safety net, and it might say to them that they don’t have to take real risks, which is why we can be less entrepreneurial compared to the US.”

Samantha Saxby, an American human resources expert, says Denmark has such a good work-life balance because the country “prioritises collective well-being”.

By contrast, she says the US “has long emphasised individual achievement and ambition, which has driven tremendous innovation, but often at the cost of work-life balance”.

Yet Ms Saxby, who is director of marketing for the US National Human Resources Association, says that companies in the US and elsewhere around the world may be finally following the lead of Denmark and the other equally happy Nordic nations.

“Progressive organisations are introducing benefits like unlimited paid time off, mental health days, and wellness programs, to encourage employees to prioritise self-care,” she says. “These measures not only alleviate pressure, but also demonstrate that employers value their workforce’s overall well-being.

“More companies are recognising that well-rested and balanced employees bring fresh ideas, better problem-solving skills, and greater engagement. Employees are beginning to feel empowered to take the time they need without sacrificing career growth.”