mr trudeau has been under pressure to resign for months, with more than twenty members of his party urging him to go, following a historic defeat for liberals in a toronto election in june of last year. earlier on monday, trudeau said that it is �*time for a reset�* in candian politics. my friends, as you all know, i'm a — my friends, as you all know, i'm a fighter. every bone in my body— i'm a fighter. every bone in my body has — i'm a fighter. every bone in my body has always told me to fight — body has always told me to fight because i care deeply. about canadians, i care deeply about this country and i will always be motivated by what is in the best interest of canadians. this country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that, if i am having to fight internal battles, i cannot be the best option in that election. ten years ago, justin trudeau was a popular leader considered a fresh face of progressive politics.

but in recent years, the 53—year—old has become increasingly unpopular over his handling of the country's high cost of living crisis, — and his perceived failure over not taking us president—elect donald trump's threats of tariffs on canadian goods seriously. trump has promised to impose a tax of 25—percent on imported canadian goods unless the country takes steps to increase security on the border it shares with the us. economists have warned the tariffs would significantly hurt canada's economy. mr trudeau's finance minister and long—time ally chrystia freeland abruptly resigned over the matter — accusing the prime minister of not doing enough to push back against trump's proposals. the bbc�*sjohn sudworth sent this update from ottawa. well, there is no doubting just how big a crisis this is for mr trudeau's liberal party after nine years in power. there is a sense of tiredness, of directionless, and it is facing opinion polls that are some of the worst in its history.

a short while ago, i was just outside the prime minister's office, a little way up the road from parliament here. there was a small crowd of protesters cheering and dancing to the song na, na, hey, hey, goodbye. um, you know, that's to be expected, of course, but i think there is a sense in the wider country of something of the inevitable about this and whatever kind of political crisis it is, that crisis this is it also leaves canada with something of a strategic crisis at the helm a lame duck prime minister. parliament prorogued. no sitting legislature. just as donald trump takes office promising a major trade war. one way or another, canada has to hold an election by october. at the heart of all this, some observers suggest, are some of the same forces shaping politics elsewhere in the world rising populism, a cost of living crisis,

rising concern about levels of immigration. all of those things are at play. there will be criticism within mr trudeau's own party aboutjust how long he took to see the writing on the wall, leaving his colleagues very little room in the run up to that election to get their house in order. the stage is almost certainly set, as you've been explaining, for a return to power of the conservatives and pierre poilievre, who many see as a kind of canadian trump, albeit slightly more moderate and slightly more polite in the way he tends to frame things. but nonetheless, canada are looking at a very different political future later this year. reaction has been pouring in from world leaders and across the canadian political spectrum since the prime minister's annoucement. the spokesperson for us presidentjoe biden said that justin trudeau has been a "stalwart friend" of the united states — adding that washington would �*stand with�* canada as it picks a new leader. for more analysis i spoke to daniel beland, director of the mcgill institute

for the study of canada. what did you make ofjust introduced message today and his announcement? he basically acknowledged that he had become a major problem for his own party. i think that many people think that he waited, quite a few liberals think he waited too long to make this announcement. after recharging the government, the minister resigned in mid december. the number of liberals calling for his resignation increased dramatically. but he could have resigned even before that, which was a major turning point because the liberals have been doing poorly in the polls and justin trudeau for more than a year now. why have people soured on the liberal party and just introduce leadership? first of all, he�*s been prime minister are far more

than nine years now. that�*s a long time in politics. over time actually a grievances from different policy, cost—of—living crisis is of course and the housing crisis are major challenges. of course you blame the people in power when you struggle economically. and really i think the economic situation, inflation, housing prices are major factors and be used very effectively by the opposition, especially the leader of the conservative party of canada to score points against the liberals. give us an idea of what comes now. the liberals are trailing the conservative in the polls. if there were new elections held would be see a conservative victory? first of all, the liberals need to find a new leader.

we don�*t know exactly the date and we will have the details i think tomorrow or later this week about the leadership praise they need to find a new leader really fast. then we�*re lucky to have a spring election. then we�*re likely to have a spring election. there is quite a bit of uncertainty. whether the conservatives are likely to win, looking at polls, yes they are way ahead but of course with the new leader things could change. even still i think it will be in an uphill battle for liberals. they�*ve been in powerfor nine years and even ifjust even ifjustin trudeau going is not the one who will lead to but it will be the leader of the next federal campaign, which will take place by october at the latest, many of the people who are likely to run could run

to replace him are closely ceded to his legacy. it�*s hard to say well, it�*s a new leader and it�*s a new liberal party. not so easy to do, especially when you have so little time to turn things around. because justin trudeau is resigning perhaps only months before the next federal elections, depending on what will happen in parliament after mps return to work on march 24. what impact does the incoming trump administration and donald trumps messaging on possible tariffs on canadian goods, what impact is that had on all of this? it�*s really a major issue in canada, people are talking a lot, it�*s a major threat if these tariffs were imposed it would be catastrophic for economy. i think there is a sense that the vulnerability ofjustin trudeau, as he is now a lame—duck is not putting him in a very good position facing donald trump who is returning to the white house. and who has made quite a few jokes aboutjustin trudeau

on social media saying canada should become the 51st state and calling him governor trudeau and so forth. i think this is certainly a major source of concern here in canada to have parliament until the 24th, prime minister who is a lame—duck, have uncertainty who�*s the next liberal leader will be at a time when we should be focusing on our relationship with the united states, especially the tariff issue and bargaining with the incoming president. members of congress certified donald trump�*s election victory today. it comes exactly four years after trump�*s supporters stormed the us capitol in an attempt to challenge the certification of the 2020 election results. there was heavy security here in washington today, including five hundred members of the national guard on standby, but this year the process was peaceful. more than a thousand january 6 rioters have already been sentenced and hundreds have served prison sentences. trump promised to pardon some of them once he takes office, calling them quote

"political prisoners". our us partner, cbs news, commissioned a poll which suggests that while a majority of americans would disprove of such a pardon — most republicans would support it. much of the anger from trump�*s supporters that day was directed at mike pence — whose role as vice president, was to certify the election result. today, mike pence said he welcomed the return of order and civility to these historic proceedings. he congratulated donald trump, and said it was particularly admirable that vice president kamala harris would preside over the certification of a presidential election that she lost. here�*s the moment she did so. the votes for president of the united states are as follows. donaldj trump of the state of florida has received 312 votes. kamala harris...

kamala harris of the state of california has received 226 votes. speaking after the event, the house speaker mikejohnson said illegal immigration would be a priority both for congress and the president. there will be lots of executive order action on the border and we will be passing legislation one—way of the other foot of the question is whether we use reconciliation as a strategy to do that. stay to to be excited, it�*s an exciting time, you can see a lot of activity and we�*re very much ready. around 60 million ameicans are under severe weather alerts, as a winter storm sweeps through the east coast — bringing heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. as many as five deaths have reportedly been connected to the dangerous storm. seven states — including kentucky, virginia, maryland and kansas — have declared a state

of emergency. in the worst—hit state of kansas, authorities have closed two major interstate highways. the storm has also disrupted flight travel across the east coast, with more than fifteen hundred cancelled due to heavy snowfall. here in washington, the national weather service says isolated areas could see over a foot of snowfall. forcasters say a polar vortex — an area of cold air that circulates around the arctic — is causing the weather as it shifts further south than usual. let�*s go live to the tidal basin here in washington. i�*m joined by cbs news national weather correspondent robert marciano. very good to see you. give us a sense of how things are there at the moment.— sense of how things are there at the moment. you mentioned, it looks to _ at the moment. you mentioned, it looks to me — at the moment. you mentioned, it looks to me we're _ at the moment. you mentioned, it looks to me we're close - at the moment. you mentioned, it looks to me we're close to - it looks to me we�*re close to ten inches of snow right here the title basin as you know in the title basin as you know in the springtime it�*s covered with beautiful pink cherry blossoms. not today. the base not frozen and is a jefferson memorial. this is the most

significant snow storm the dc area has seen and at least five years. we will see how much more we get tonight. certainly it shut down the city today. schools were closed of buildings close with the exception of nonessential personnel. congress went to work with what they had to do. this was an impressive situation for sure for the reagan national airport, a lot of delays and cancellations for that patient down roadways tonight to clear the roadways of snow and slush so that it does not refreeze overnight. we�*re looking at cold air coming in for that the backside of this thing hasn�*t come through and we�*re looking at at least a few more inches before it is done. we will see if they hold on and keep in schools closed tomorrow. i�*m sure the kids want another day off. {flare kids want another day off. give us a sense _ kids want another day off. give us a sense of— kids want another day off. give us a sense of the _ kids want another day off. give us a sense of the impact - kids want another day off. give us a sense of the impact of the storm across the country. it�*s storm across the country. it's made a ferocious _ storm across the country. it�*s made a ferocious track over the last three days across the country, four if you count

california where it came in with a lot of dynamic of rain in the valley comes low it click next snow in the mountains fired up in kansas city where they saw their worst blizzard situation in three decades for that just outside of kansas city and chapman kansas 20 inches of snow falling bear. significant stuff for the louisville saw ten inches of snow, much of kentucky icing, hundreds of thousands of people without power. tens of millions of power. tens of millions of power impacted by the storm of the past three days it�*s not dead yet. we still have the upper level to come through and it will dump several more inches of snow on the dc area as far north as philly and as far south as north carolina before this settles down. after that cold air sets up it will get another system coming in out of texas thursday, friday, potentially saturday taking a similar track. a lot of folks that got hit with this winter

storm are probably going to have to endure another come the end of the week.— end of the week. more snow to come thank — end of the week. more snow to come thank you _ end of the week. more snow to come thank you for _ end of the week. more snow to come thank you for that - end of the week. more snow to l come thank you for that update. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let�*s look at some other stories making news. major incidents have been declared across lincolnshire and leicestershire because of severe flooding. leicestershire fire and rescue says it�*s had more than two hundred calls from people trapped by the rising waters who need rescuing from stranded vehicles or flooded houses. there are almost three hundred flood alerts in place for the next 24—hours across england. sir keir starmer has unveiled the government�*s proposals to cut waits for planned nhs treatment in england by nearly half a million in the next year. the prime minister said he would tackle the backlog utilising ai and community diagnostic centres. some critics say the targets aren�*t feasible without a larger workforce and more funding. a prison officer who was filmed having sex with an inmate inside a cell has beenjailed for fifteen months. linda de sousa abreu,

who was working at wandsworth prison, pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office. thejudge said she had �*undermined discipline in the prson and put officers at increased risk�* we have more on that story on our website. we have more on that story on our website. you�*re live with bbc news. russia�*s defence ministry says it is continuing to capture towns in eastern ukraine. it says it�*s taken the industrial town of kurakhove and a nearby village, dachenske — claiming it to be important logistics hubs. and fighting continues for a second day in the russian region of kursk — after ukraine launched a new offensive near sudzha, following an assault there five months ago. russia�*s military has played down the scale of the latest attack. ukraine�*s president volodymyr zelensky gave an update on the incursion. translation: today marks exactly five months since the beginning of our action in the

curst region. we maintain a buffer zone on the russian territory, actively destroying military potential there for that during the operation russia has already lost over 38,000 of its soldiers just in this one direction of which about 15,000 are irreversible about 15, 000 are irreversible losses. about 15,000 are irreversible losses. the russians have deployed a strong units to curst with soldiers from north korea involved. —— curst. our correspondent will vernon has been following developments from kyiv. a spokesperson said that fighting was ongoing in the city. two weeks ago ukraine announced it was withdrawing some of those units from the area to prevent them from being in circles. they did expect this to a certain extent. kurakhove is not a big city. it�*s largely in ruins as are most of the towns that russia is fighting for in the east. much more important and potentially a bigger loss for ukraine would be if russian

forces were now to advance and take the key strategic hub, pokrovsk, that�*s a transport hub nearby. these developments come of course as ukraine has launched a fresh offensive in russia�*s kursk region, that�*s according to russian and ukrainian officials. fighting is continued for the second day for the pro—kremlin military bloggers posting on social media saying a large scale assault there but say that russian forces so far are managing to successfully hold the ukrainians back for that russian forces have been bolstered by thousands of troops from north korea. i think the key question will be whether ukraine manages to advance or make any significant progress forward ukrainians will be eager to do that of course the head of the inauguration of donald trump both sides will want to demonstrate to the president elect that they are dominant,

they are winning and both will want to seize as much territory as possible ahead of the start of any potential peace talks. donald trump has pledged to bring both ukraine and russia to the negotiating table to end the war. israel says hamas has not given any details about the status of the hostages it claims it�*s ready to release in the first phase of a potential deal. a senior hamas official showed the bbc a list of 3a hostages that he says the group is willing to release — which include all the women, children, elderly and sick captives. but, it�*s unclear how many of them are alive. it comes as negotiators from both sides have been holding indirect talks in qatar. meanwhile, a police officer is among three israelis who have been shot dead in the occupied west bank. seven others were injured in the attack. the israeli military says gunmen opened fire at a bus and another vehicle near kedumim. it added that it was pursuing the attackers —

whom they believe to be affiliated with the palestinian islamichhad. there�*s been increased violence in the west bank since the start of the war in gaza fifteen months ago. our correspondent injerusalem jonah fisher has the latest — first on the reaction in israel to this hostage list being released. it�*s been a pretty angry reaction here in israel to the publication of this list of 3a hostages, which hamas presented as being the 3a names that would be released as part of any ceasefire agreement with israel. what israel has said is effectively that these 3a names are nothing new. it is simply a list which israel itself wrote and presented to mediators in july of last year. and they�*ve pointed out that that list doesn�*t actually provide any information as to the status of the hostages on that list. crucially, whether they are indeed alive or not. some of the names on that list, two of the children, for example. well, hamas has claimed in the past that they have been

killed by israeli air strikes. so the israeli government is very much stressing the position that they think that this is effectively a move by hamas to try and push forward, to put pressure on the israeli government to make to come up with a deal in the talks, which are taking place at the moment in doha. israel is in the process of negotiating there with a mediation team to try and achieve a ceasefire and a release of some of the hostages, the hostages. and a release of some of the hostages group here in israel has also put out a statement today. they have said that they�*re deeply shaken and distressed by the list published this morning, and they have urged that this is a time for a comprehensive agreement that will bring back all of the hostages. separate to that, this morning there was an attack on several vehicles in the west bank. three israelis were killed.

eight were injured when gunmen opened fire as the car — several vehicles were driving through a part of the northern west bank. the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, has released a statement vowing to bring to justice what he called the abhorrent murderers, and saying that no one will get away. the prime minister has hit back at claims by the world�*s richest man, elon musk, about his record on tackling child rape grooming gangs in the uk. sir keir starmer accused his critics of spreading "poison", "lies and misinformation" after the tech billionaire said he had been — in his words — "complicit in the rape of britain", when he was the director of public prosecutions. opposition mps have spent the week calling for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation — but sir keir accused them of "jumping on a bandwagon" and "amplifying what the far—right is saying" to gain attention. so, why is elon musk getting

involved in british politics? here�*s our analysis editor ros atkins. elon musk intervention in uk politics isn�*t happening in isolation. when musk bought twitter he didn�*tjust buy a business he bought the power to exert influence for the of the us election, musk used x to amplify his support for donald trump for that after trump�*s victory musk was ever present. the power he derived from technology had been translated into huge political power. musk will co—lead a new department of government efficiency and he pronounced this won�*t be business as usual this is going to be a revolution more broadly the revolution that musk is seeking is not contained to the us. in brazil he initially divided court orderfor x us. in brazil he initially divided court order for x to do more to restrict this information. he said the judge was trying to destroy democracy although x would later meet all of the courts demands. in

germany to select but the far right afd party in contention for that musk is posted only the afd can save germany. he�*s also written that the afd party with many germans who feel that concerns are ignored by the establishment. now musk has turned to the uk, particularly theissue turned to the uk, particularly the issue of grooming gangs. he is made or shared a number of unsubstantiated claim so that he asked if america should liberate the people of britain from their tyrannical government. watching all this of europe�*s leaders who say mosques interventions are worrying for the pen as french president emmanuel macron who has said ten years ago who would�*ve imagined that the of the larger social networks would be intervening directly in elections? a lot has changed in elections? a lot has changed in ten years for the elon musk back to the delight of his supporters is a man set on challenging the status quo set on changing how we all live for that he�*s doing that in a range of ways through space travel,

how we access the internet, through electric vehicles and now by influencing the information we consume any issues we discussed. you are the media, musk tells people on acts as he frequently says the legacy media are dishonest. an easy he currently shares, untrue and misleading information himself musk has talked of the need for a new philosophy of the future and to shape the future he wants to shape the future he wants to shape who was in power. not only in the us but elsewhere, including here in the uk. before we go, some of washington dc�*s newest residents had quite the day frolicking in the snow. bao li and qing bao arrived in the us from china late last year and now live at the national zoo. you can see them running around and playing in the snow, all while enjoying some bamboo treats. the pandas marked the return of the bears to the nation�*s capitol after the previous panda�*s went back to china in 2023.

stay with us here on bbc news. hello. we�*ve seen some fairly disruptive weather to get the brand—new year under way. and over the last few days, whether that has been from extensive snowfall or indeed from widespread flooding, it�*s been the same weather system responsible. now, the good news is that weather system is now moving only slowly, but off in towards northern europe — have big impacts on tuesday in denmark, norway and sweden. but as it�*s only moving slowly, we�*ll remain on the western side of it and it�*s on the western side where we continue to bring the winds down from the north. so for the rest of the working week it does stay cold. sharp overnight frost risk of ice, and we could see some of the lowest temperatures so far this winter by night later in the week, an ongoing risk of some snow, too. now for the morning on tuesday morning it�*s ice, which will be the widespread risk for some wintry showers overnight, particularly the north and west. and temperatures not quite as low as they were on monday morning for some —

that�*s because more of a breeze. that breeze bringing frequent snow showers in northern scotland to begin with. some of those pushing into central southern scotland for a time during the middle part of the day. rain, sleet and snow showers in northern ireland, north—west england, north—west midlands and wales. early showers across some southern counties of england. it should depart and really, for many of you, a much brighter day on tuesday. a lot more sunshine around, but still cold — two to around six celsius, added wind chill to boot. now it still remains blustery in the north of scotland going into tuesday night — further snow flurries here. one or two elsewhere but some clearer skies, lighter winds developing through the night. so more widely a sharp frost to take us into wednesday morning. certainly a colder morning and wednesday morning in southern parts, so that will have an impact later in the day. some dense patches of freezing fog north midlands, north—west england and ireland to begin with. still some snow flurries in the north of scotland, but actually, for many, a dry and bright day, that�*s providing you�*re not stuck with the lingering fog, but a shield of cloud coming over later on across southern parts of england and wales. temperatures here around two to five degrees, some in the north not getting above freezing. but with the cold air in place

and by the end of the day, this weather system just scraping into southern counties of england, bumping into that cold air, there is still the potential that we could see a covering of snow late wednesday and into wednesday night across some of these southern counties. one to watch that dividing line could change, but certainly south of the m4 for now. maybe it could be further away in france. either way, it pulls away and then into thursday back to more widespread northerly winds. bring in some showers around scotland down some of these western fringes. many, though, will have a dry, sunny and pretty cold day again, with temperatures struggling to get above freezing in some areas and potentially one of the coldest nights yet to come on thursday night.

this is bbc news. we�*ll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i�*m stephen sackur. we live in a culture defined by speed and transience, a cacophony of sound bites, viral videos and emojis. how many of us still read books? to be specific, is there still a public appetite for weighty novels weaving complex stories packed with nuance and detail? well, the success of my guest today says there is. alan hollinghurst won the booker prize two decades

ago for the line of beauty. his latest novel, our evenings, has had rave reviews. over four decades of writing, how has his imaginative landscape changed ? alan hollinghurst, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you�*ve been at this novel—writing business for, as ijust said, four decades and more. with age and experience, does it get easier? it gets much harder, for me, i think partly because of a reluctance to repeat myself, partly

because of something i hadn�*t quite anticipated.