this is bbc news. our top stories: in a surprise announcement, new zealand's prime minister, jacinda ardern, says she will stand down in less than three weeks. i know what this job takes, and i know that i no longer have enough in the tank to do itjustice — it's that simple. ukraine's interior minister is killed in a helicopter crash in kyiv. it came down close to a children's nursery. 14 people have died, including a child. translation: we ran - into the street and turning. there were bodies and debris lying around. there was smoke, blood and clothes, and mothers were running. in peru, a state of emergency is declared in lima with thousands of protesters demanding fresh elections descending on the capital.

and the russian co—founder of crypto exchange bitzlato is arrested in miami, accused of processing $700 million of illicit payments. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. first, prime ministerjacinda ardern of new zealand says she is standing down and will leave office in february. her resignation comes ahead of a general election, which is due to be held in october. here's how she broke the news. this summer, i had hoped to find a way to prepare for not just another year, but another term, because that is what this year requires. i have not been able to do that.

and so today, i'm announcing that i will not be seeking re—election and that my term as prime minister will conclude no later than february 7. i know what this job takes and i know that i no longer have enough in the tank to do itjustice, it's that simple. after she made her announcement, together with her fiancee, clarke gayford, she was greeted by her party colleagues. applause as you can hear, she was met with warm applause and congratulations after a visibly emotional speech. here are a couple of facts about ms ardern, which illustrate how she's not been the average politician. she became the world's youngest female head of government in october 2017, aged 37.

she was also only the second female leader to give birth while in office — pakistani politician benazir bhutto was the first. and two years ago she declared a climate change emergency in new zealand and pledged the government would be carbon neutral by 2025. 0ur correspondent shaimaa khalil watched the news conference from sydney. she gave us this analysis. what a moment, not just for new zealand, notjust forjacinda ardern, but, really, for international politics. this was notjust a leader of this country. jacinda ardern has really made her mark as an international icon, a global icon, leading with kindness, leading with progressive politics, with compassion. remember that at the height of covid—i9, she described new zealand as "the team of 5 million" and you could see how emotional that is for her, that decision. she choked back tears

as she announced that she will no longer be the prime minister, the leader of new zealand, from february 7. she said, essentially, that the pressures of this job have basically worn her down. there's not enough energy for her to seek re—election and that there wasn't a big secret or a big scandal. i think the one thing that she said that for me pinpointed exactly why she was doing it, she said, "it is one thing to lead your country through peacetime, "another to lead it through crisis, and i had "the privilege of being alongside new zealand "in crisis," and my god has she led that country through many crises — in her first term alone. remember, she steered new zealand through the country's worst terrorist attack in the aftermath of the shootings in two christchurch mosques in which 51 people died. then there was the white island deadly volcanic eruption at the end of 2019

and then, of course, the height of the covid—i9 pandemic, where her leadership — the fact that she took quick decisions to close the borders, to go into lockdowns — has actually been credited for new zealand being an early success story at the height of the covid—i9 pandemic. so, testing times, really, for any leader, for any politician and, in the end, she said, "look, it is time for me to now step down." she also said, "i'm not stepping down because i don't "think that we" — her centre—left labour party — "cannot win, "i think that we can" but it was time for her to take time off now. and what has been the reaction to this news in new zealand? you know, this has shocked the nation. it's very interesting — watching that press conference, you could see the shock in the room, you could see that everyone was taken aback by that decision, but we also got reaction from australia's prime minister, anthony albanese. he said, "jacinda ardern has

shown the world how to lead "with intellect and strength, she has demonstrated "that empathy and insight are powerful leadership qualities. "she has been a inspiration for so many "and a great friend to me." she is really renowned — again, notjust in the region, but around the world for her style of leadership, that humanity, that empathy, the kindness. i think her stepping down is going to be a surprise for many people around the world who look to her for that style of leadership. that was shaimaa khalil reporting there. we move to ukraine now where one of the government's most senior ministers has been killed in a helicopter crash in a suburb east of kyiv. the country's emergency services say at least 14 people died, including one child, when the air craft came down near a nursery school in brovary. president biden sent his condolences to those grieving. he called it

a "heartbreaking tragedy". 0ur ukraine correspondent james waterhouse sent this report from the scene. and a warning — you may find some of the images distressing. even with the backdrop of war, it's been one of ukraine's bleakest days. in the mist of the morning, a helicopter came down next to a children's nursery. translation: blood and clothes, and mothers were running. - from the moment the helicopter finally stopped, the answers slowly came — all nine people on board were killed. so, too, were those caught in its path. translation: i heard a loud sound, turned l and saw an explosion of flames. i wasn't thinking about what i saw. we soon learned a child was among the dead. then, news that it was senior government officials on a journey east towards the front line. they included this man — ukraine's interior minister denys monastyrsky — a strong ally of president zelensky. they were together yesterday.

he also handed medals to some of ukraine's national guard, and said the war was taking lives, health, strength and nerves. you can see where the journey went wrong. denys monastyrsky was travelling eastwards to the front line before his helicopter came down into the heart of this nursery. rescue teams are still going through the rubble. there are body bags in the playground. and he would often make journeys like this at low altitude — which, of course, comes with its own risks. we went along on one last year. you can't go much higher than the tree line to avoid being targeted. speaking to world leaders today, president zelensky addressed what happened. 14 of ukrainian families lost their loved ones today and many more families are losing daily.

as for the obvious question, the cause is not known. an analysis of images of the crash site by the bbc hasn't revealed any evidence of missile debris, and ukrainian officials have made no mention of any missile fire. in times of war, many suspect the enemy. these are dangerous times to be a ukrainian. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv region. a state of emergency is in place in the peruvian capital, lima, where thousands of anti—government protesters are taking part in demonstrations. they are calling for the resignation of president dina boluartay, the release from custody of the man she replaced, pedro castiyo, and new elections. buses brought protesters into the capital. organisers have described their action as "the taking of lima." one woman has died today and more than a0 people have been killed in a month of protests in the country

since he was forced from office. i spoke to sigrid bazan, who is a congress woman of the together for peru party in peru. she is demanding for the immediate resignation of president dina boluarte and early elections in the country. what's been happening in peru, we've been having these protests since december 7 with the ousting of pedro castillo. and also, they have been growing due to the excessive repression of this government. we're joining these protests that ask or demand, basically, dina boluarte's resignation, also early elections, and finally, a new constitution that's also something that in many regions outside lima, protesters have been demanding and claiming. so tomorrow there's a big protest that has been called by several unions, indigenous communities and other organisations, students, etc.

so we're hoping that this peaceful protest that is actually a constitutional right can be held with the guarantees and also with the respect of human rights. and at what point will protesters just give in and say enough is enough? you mentioned there that peru has seen some of its worst violence in decades. dozens of protesters have died in the clashes over the last five weeks. just how far are people willing to go here? so i think, of these three claims or three demands, there's one that can be immediately accomplished and this is the resignation of a president that is not only — that hasn't got the legitimacy for the people, especially people outside lima. the vice president of pedro castillo, which is now in power, has actually been with

the right—wing rather than with the left—wing that won the elections. so this political change has also affected her government and also the repression that, like you said, has also been called a massacre, especially in the south of peru. so i think the resignation of the president could be the first step towards a dialogue, a true and sincere dialogue, because government has been claiming and asking for peace and dialogue, but at the same time, the actions that they have been taking have been more violence, more killings. we have already 50 deaths to regret here in peru. one police officer and the other 49 civilians. now probably 50 civilians with the last killing in puno. so we are very worried about how human rights are not being considered. we have tomorrow a meeting with the european embassy here in peru, so we are also hoping to gather

other voices and other actors that can help to respect this peaceful protest that's being held tomorrow. let's get some of the day's other news. nurses in england will walk out on thursday, their second consecutive day of industrial action in support of a pay claim. more strikes have also been called for on february 6 and 7, which will also affect wales, with ambulance workers also planning stoppages running into march. a series of nationwide strikes will be held in france on thursday, forcing the cancellation of most train services and many flights and ferries. teaching and financial unions are also walking out. the protest is against plans to reform the french retirement age from 62 to 64, with workers expected to make greater contributions over their careers. microsoft says it's cutting 10,000 jobs — roughly 5% of its global workforce.

the microsoft ceo satya nadella said there was a need for caution as parts of the world goes into recession. the company had taken on staff during the pandemic. no details have yet been given of where the redundancies will be made. in the united states, authorities have seized the crypto currency exchange bitzlato and arrested its russian co—founder anatoly legkodymov. in a press conference, the justice department accused the firm of fuelling a "high—tech axis of crypto crime" and says it has processed more than $700 million in illicit funds. i asked our reporter azadeh moshiri what we knew about this crypto exchange, and why it had interested us law enforcement. well, the words "high—tech access of crypto crime" pack quite a punch, even if it's really wordy. what the justice department has said is that this particular crypto exchange allegedly catered to criminals. they even said during their press conference

that the co—founder, anatoly legkodymov, called his users �*crooks'. now, they said that it processed these hundreds of millions of illicit funds by breaking a lot of rules that are in place to stop money laundering, so that means, for example, they didn't require quite as much identification, which could appeal to criminals who are trying to mask their identities. the justice department also said that it was very connected to the hydra market, which is a marketplace on the dark web where you can buy things like drugs or illegal ids or other illicit products, and that would appeal to hackers, for example, who use ransomware to extort their victims or drug dealers who are trying to cover their tracks and make it harder for authorities to find them, so all of those are the reasons why they arrested him in miami. and it essentially feels like thejustice department is really trying to prove their point here and send a firm message? yes, all of this highlights a worry and a concern that regulators and authorities

around the world have had ever since crypto currency exchanges have really taken off, and that's how can they regulate financial activity in the same way? how can they track down criminals as effectively when it's clearly harder on these platforms? now, it's worth listening to what the us deputy attorney—general said because she did say she's trying to send a clear message, that the department is, and that they're not only going to hold the specific criminals using these platforms accountable. we are also unleashing the full force of the department ofjustice on the illicit actors and entities that support cybercriminals, like legkodymov and bitzlato. operating offshore or moving your servers out of the continental us will not shield you. and whether you break our laws from china or europe, or abuse our financial system from a tropical island, you can expect to answer for your crimes inside a united states courtroom.

now, she's making that point because this crypto exchange is registered in hong kong, even though it operates globally, and they did co—operate with authorities in other countries like france in this case, and so the message that they're sending is that authorities around the world will band together to hold all bad actors accountable. azadeh moshiri, reporting there. stay with us on bbc world news. still to come, on top of the world at the bottom of the planet: meet the extreme runner setting records by scaling mountains in antarctica. donald trump is now the 45th president of the united states. he was sworn in before several hundred thousand people on the steps of capitol hill in washington. it's going to be only america first — america first.

demonstrators waiting for mike gatting and his rebel cricket team were attacked with tear gas and set upon by police dogs. anti—apartheid campaigners say they will carry on the protests throughout the tour. they called him 'the butcher of lyon'. klaus altmann is being held on a fraud charge in bolivia. the west germans want to extradite him for crimes committed in wartime france. there, he was the gestapo chief klaus barbie. millions came to bathe as close as possible to this spot — - a tide of humanity- that's believed by officials to have broken all records. this is bbc world news. the latest headlines: jacinda ardern is resigning as prime minister of new zealand after five years — saying she has nothing left in the tank.

let's go to afghanistan now, where the most senior un delegation to visit the country since the taliban seized power in 2021 has flown into kabul to raise concerns about restrictions on women working for aid agencies. the visit by the un deputy secretary general, amina mohammad, comes as some international aid organisations have partially resumed work in afghanistan, after receiving assurances that women can work in healthcare. our chief international correspondent lyse doucet reports from kabul. winters are always harsh in afghanistan but this is the winter of all winters. not only the temperatures below freezing but this is a country where electricity is erratic or absent and heating is hard to find, especially in remote areas of afghanistan, which are all but cut off by snow. but on top of that, this year, the taliban have decided that

afghan women can no longer work for the international aid agencies who are desperately trying to get this urgently needed aid to millions of people who need it. so, just how urgent is the situation? we'rejoined here in kabul by samira sayed rahman, who works for the international charity, the international rescue committee. how worried are you? you know, international rescue committee was able to reach five million afghans last year. we've suspended most of our activities across the country because we are not able to work without our female staff at all levels of our organisation. we were already seeing earlier last — at the end of last year that most families around this country were having to choose between food or heating. the taliban recently clarified that they'll make an exception when it comes to the health ministry because they do need women doctors and nurses to serve women of this country. is it possible that, step by step, this edict could be reversed ?

as we saw with the health sector, it's notjust doctors and nurses. we also need female staff at all levels of our organisation — in admin roles, in finance roles, in technical support — to work alongside ourfemale colleagues. this is a conservative society. samira sayed, we wish you the best and we — all eyes now are on this high level united nations delegation. it says there needs to be a woman. there also needs to be women coming to this country at this high level to underline that educated women playing senior roles in society is absolutely part of the world we live in today because it's not just that afghan women are being stopped from working in certain states notjust aid, but in many government industries. afghan girls are not going to school. they're not going to university. they're also not even allowed to go to public parks in this city. the world wants to say with one voice this is not acceptable. lyse doucet reporting. a controversial list of the tastiest foods in the world is cooking up a storm!

the taste atlas awards ranked the world's cuisines according to audience votes for ingredients, dishes and beverages. topping the list was italian cuisine folowed by greek and spanish. but the controversial placing saw the usa being positioned in the top ten above france, which was followed by peru. i asked california—based restauranteur and food blogger, marisa molinaro, what she made of the gourmet league table. everybody loves pizza and pasta — you said it! that's probably why italy got ranked number one. but i've got to agree on some things. though we love in america — we have great food — i do agree with the ranking of france first, but i must say you can't go wrong with a great steak in america. we are, you know, home of meats and rich foods and... man: burgers! laughs ..and burgers. it's the meats!

it's all about the meat! we do have idaho, though... were you shocked that the usa was ahead of france? they were shocked! amy, i was a little surprised. —— i mean, i was a little surprised. you think — france has a great hand. you can't beat the skill level of the french chefs. but, hey, what can i say? i guess what people crave, america has to offer. it's the burgers, definitely. and we've got to talk about the chinese food, as well, which is a massive favourite across the world. it was rated number 11, though. and that also caused a bit of confusion? it did. i mean, i'm a fan of chinese food. but, i mean, ithink that's the popular go—to. it must be a comfort food for everybody. it's a little salty — i don't know how you feel about chinese food. is that something you like to go to? i absolutely love chinese food. and obviously i have to put it out there —

indian food as well, that wins it for me. but i have to ask you — if you had to pick your top three cuisines, what would they be? and i can't say "pasta, pasta and pasta"? it would have to definitely be pasta, probably a burger and pizza. that would be it. a brazilian woman has become the first person to run up the tallest mountain in antarctica. fernanda maciel reached the summit of mount vinson — which is nearly 5,000 metres in height. despite freezing temperatures and high winds — she said the experience was 'so much fun'. tim allman reports. climbing a mountain is hard enough. running up one as a whole different story. but that is what fernanda maciel and her guide sam hennessey decided to do. a vast expanse of snow and rock and ice, becoming, in effect, a racetrack.-

effect, a racetrack. the condition _ effect, a racetrack. the condition is _ effect, a racetrack. the condition is completely | condition is completely extreme, it's minus —50, going there like the route is hard. you can say that again. when you are not running at a constant energy sapping angle, you are trying to climb up a rope as quickly as possible. it normally takes anything up to a week to scale mount vinson. fernanda did it in little more than 6.5 hours. and after a quick look around, she and sam promptly ran all the way back down. ~ ., ,., promptly ran all the way back down. ~ ., . ., ., down. we had so much fun, to go down. we had so much fun, to go down this 1200 _ down. we had so much fun, to go down this 1200 metres _ down. we had so much fun, to go down this 1200 metres rope, - down. we had so much fun, to go down this 1200 metres rope, it i down this 1200 metres rope, it was so funny to run that, it's crazy. was so funny to run that, it's cra . ~ . , was so funny to run that, it's cra . ~ ., , ., crazy. with gravity on their side the — crazy. with gravity on their side the return _ crazy. with gravity on their side the return trip - crazy. with gravity on their side the return trip took i side the return trip took little more than three hours. and fernanda is now thinking of a fresh challenge. her dream is to run up mount everest. good

on her! running up mountains in those sorts of temperatures. you are watching bbc news and you can reach me on twitter. hello. this week's weather has been following a familiar pattern — most of the wintry showers have been across northern and western parts of the uk, so some good covering of snow in places, especially into the higher ground. the further east you are in the uk, it's been mainly dry. even though it's been sunny though, it hasn't melted the frost. and we're in the cold air, clearly. there is a change though going into the weekend — milder air toppling in across the north and west of the uk. warmer colours doesn't translate into sunshine, mind you. the blue hanging on a bit longer towards east anglia and the southeast — so here through the weekend, we'll stay cold. until the weekend, though, it is cold still across the uk. however, where we've had those wintry showers, once we get past thursday morning, they are going to be easing. another widespread and quite hard frost as the day begins, and do watch out for ice after the showers we've had

overnight, and there'll still be some falling into the morning — northern scotland, for example, for northern ireland, for wales and for western parts of england. there are met office warnings out there, do check those if you're heading out early on. through the day, most of these wintry showers will fade. a lot of people will have dry weather, but windy with further rain, sleet, and snow pushing back in across northern scotland, adding to the snow we've already got here, and maybe the odd shower brushing the north sea coast of northeast england into the afternoon. temperatures only slowly heading up, but it'll clearly feel quite cold — though, for many away from northern scotland, there is a lighter wind. through thursday night and into friday morning, still some wintry showers across northern and eastern scotland, along some north sea coasts, as well. but for most, it's dry and clear, though, the chance of getting some fog patches across western parts. and maybe not as cold first thing, but still a widespread frost. and actually on friday, the focus of the showers will be in north sea coastal counties. where we've had most of the wintry showers so far today, it'll be dry and mainly sunny. temperatures maybe a degree or so higher in places,

but it's still going to feel cold out there. into the weekend, though, the changes are under way — now i mentioned, although it is turning milder across the north and west, there'll be plenty of cloud around, there will be patchy rain. where it's clearer still, down towards the south and east, the cold air hangs on after a frosty start. there could be a few fog patches reluctant to clear, and perhaps more widespread fog towards the southeast on sunday. temperatures only gradually rising across southeast england, where elsewhere it's turning much milder — 11 degrees, for example, in armagh.

this is bbc news. the headlines: new zealand's prime minister, jacinda ardern, has unexpectedly announced that she will stand down early next month. her labour party will elect a new leader on sunday. ms ardern told reporters that she couldn't find the energy or heart to continue until a general election in october. ukraine's interior minister and two seniorfigures within his department have been killed in a helicopter crash in kyiv. it came down in fog in the eastern suburb bovary, hitting a children's nursery. 1a people died, including a child. a state of emergency is in place in peru's capital, lima, where there were violent clashes between anti—government protesters and police on wednesday. buses brought protesters into the city

ahead of more action planned on thursday.