live from singapore, this is bbc news. canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau announces plans to step down, and temporarily suspends parliament until march. in washington, congress certifies donald trump's victory in november's presidential election. four presidential election. years to the day since his supporters four years to the day since his supporters storm to the capital. and leaks corrupted the public service exam process again.

in canada, after nearly a decade in power, canadian prime ministerjustin trudeau is stepping down as the country's prime minister and as the leader of the governing liberal party. it marks the end of an it marks the end of an era it marks the end of an era one it marks the end of an era one of canada's longest serving prime minister's. he has been under pressure to resign for months, with more than 20 members of his party urging him to go following a historic defeat for the liberals in the toronto election last year. mr trudeau said it is time for a reset in canadian politics. my friends, as you all know, i am a fighter. every bone in my body has i was 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% on imported canadian goods. economists have warned the tariffs would significantly hurt canada's economy. unless the country takes steps to increase security on the border it shares with the us. 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.

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 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, nah, nah, hey, hey, goodbye. you know, that is to be expected of course but i think there is a sense in the wider country of something of something inevitable about this and whatever kind of political crisis this is, it also leaves canada with something of a strategic crisis. at the helm, a lame—duck prime minister, parliament prorouged, no sitting legislature just as donald trump tax 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, some of the same forces shaping politics elsewhere in the world — rising populism, a cost—of—living crisis, rising concerns 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 of 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 is that, as of have been explaining for a return to power of the conservatives, 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 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 announcement. 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. we arejoined by we are joined by richard johnson, political scientist at the university of british columbia. thank you forjoining me. what you think the key thing is we should understand about mr trudeau decision to resign? i about mr trudeau decision to resin? ., �* resign? i wouldn't say it was inevitable — resign? i wouldn't say it was inevitable until _ resign? i wouldn't say it was inevitable until three - resign? i wouldn't say it was inevitable until three weeks| inevitable until three weeks ago. to a certain extent he is ago. to a certain extent he is a scapegoat to a larger set of problems. the party was haltingly moving towards trying to get him out but there was no mechanism to doing it automatically. the problems that are ascribed to him after the most part global problems.

inflation, which is not rapid, it is going down as it is in most other places and more rapidly here than in the us. we have an affordability crisis in housing, homelessness crisis on the streets, but the truth of the streets, but the truth of the matter is most of the indicators of the quality of life in this country are about as good as ever. we have an exchange rate issue with the us but that is a whole other story to do with the us. in many cases it is a kind of anticlimax. the collapse of liberal support really took place a year ago. equally important is the collapse of the liberal support is the unprecedented rise of apparent support for the conservative party. the combination of those two things threatens a deluge that could well engulf the liberal party and may do so even after they replace him. there are elections scheduled for later this year and we wait to see who the liberals will have as their leader going into that election. does this set

canada on a course towards more conservative politics, as you were alluding to?— were alluding to? yes, it is. some of— were alluding to? yes, it is. some of this _ were alluding to? yes, it is. some of this is _ were alluding to? yes, it is. some of this is a _ were alluding to? yes, it is. i some of this is a conservative trend that is pretty ubiquitous worldwide. some of this is an anti— incumbent trend which is even a stronger pattern worldwide, including in the us. the election may not be later, it may be sooner. if the opposition forces can agree on the wording or accept the wording of a confidence motion, they will bring the government down at the first opportunity. there is some ambiguity around whether they will actually collaborate on this but they seem bent on provoking an earlier election.— earlier election. has the incoming _ earlier election. has the incoming trump - earlier election. has the - incoming trump administration and the threat of tariffs influenced this decision in any way? i influenced this decision in any wa ? ., �* ~' influenced this decision in any wa ? ., �* ~ influenced this decision in any wa? ., way? i don't think so. except in the sense _ way? i don't think so. except in the sense that _ way? i don't think so. except in the sense that once - way? i don't think so. except in the sense that once things really reached a crisis point inside the liberal partyjust

before christmas, then the imperative of having some kind of credible government, not a government with the prime minister hanging by a thread, became more compelling and inside the liberal party itself as it moves towards a replacement for mr trudeau, a question of competence even in the next few months but also as a campaign question in the next campaign, the competence of persons dealing with trump may be very important. this is probably a critical advantage that freeland has over everybody. she was at the table after the last negotiations. who do you think is in the front running to replace him as the leader of the liberal party? the leader of the liberal pa ? ., , the leader of the liberal pa ? . , . the leader of the liberal pa ? . ,. party? that is an inscrutable situation but _ party? that is an inscrutable situation but there _ party? that is an inscrutable situation but there have - party? that is an inscrutable | situation but there have been party? that is an inscrutable i situation but there have been a few early polls with hypothetical leaders and she does the best. i think that is premature, though. we don't know what the full field of

candidates is, we haven't seen any of them campaigning and in fact we don't quite know what the rules are. there are some barebones rules governing the liberal leadership but the national executive may modify them given the pressure of the situation. ., ~' , ., , them given the pressure of the situation. ., ~ , ., , . situation. thank you very much for our situation. thank you very much for your time. _ situation. thank you very much for your time, we _ situation. thank you very much for your time, we appreciate i for your time, we appreciate your insight. for your time, we appreciate your insight-— for your time, we appreciate your insight. you are welcome. four years _ your insight. you are welcome. four years after _ your insight. you are welcome. four years after donald - your insight. you are welcome. four years after donald trump| four years after donald trump supporters stormed the us capitol in an attempt to overturn his election lost there was heavy security in washington as members of congress were set to announce the victory. the national guard was on standby but this year the ritual was performed peacefully. it is the role of the sitting vice president to ratify the results of the election, meaning it was kamala harris that had to announce donald trump's victory in an election that she lost. devotes the president _ election that she lost. devotes the president of _ election that she lost. devotes the president of the _ election that she lost. devotes the president of the united - the president of the united states are as follows. donaldj

trump of the state of florida has received 312 votes. kamala harris... �* �* ,, has received 312 votes. kamala harris. . ._ kamala i harris... applause. kamala harris... applause. kamala harris of _ harris... applause. kamala harris of the _ harris... applause. kamala harris of the state _ harris... applause. kamala harris of the state of - harris of the state of california has received 226 votes. ,,, ., ,, california has received 226 votes. .,~ ., votes. speaking after the event, the _ votes. speaking after the event, the house - votes. speaking after the| event, the house speaker votes. speaking after the i event, the house speaker mike johnson said illegal immigration would be a priority both for congress and the president. both for congress and the president-— both for congress and the resident. , ., , president. there will be lots of executive _ president. there will be lots of executive order _ president. there will be lots of executive order action i president. there will be lots of executive order action on | of executive order action on the border and a lot of attention paid to that and we will be passing water legislation one way or the other. the question is whether we use reconciliation as the strategy to do that but stay tuned, it's going to be an exciting time here. you are going to see a lot of activity and we are very much ready and

prepared. pa, and we are very much ready and reared. �* and we are very much ready and prepared-— and we are very much ready and prepared. a new york 'udge has denied a did i prepared. a new york 'udge has denied a bid from i prepared. a new yorkjudge has denied a bid from donald - denied a bid from donald trump's lawyers to delay the sentencing in his so—called hush money case. this means the sentencing is slated to take place this friday. thejudges previously said he would not give the president—elect present time however he did rule that mr trump's conviction on charges of falsifying business records still stands. a winter storm sweeps through the east coast, bringing snowfall and freezing temperatures. as many as five deaths have reportedly been connected to the dangerous storm. seven states have declared a state of emergency in the worst hit state of kansas, authorities are closed two major interstate highways. the storm has also disrupted flight travel across the east coast, with more than 1500 cancelled due to heavy snowfall. in washington, the

national weather service says isolated areas could see over a foot of snow fall. forecasters say a polar vortex and area of cold air circulating around the arctic is affecting the weather is it shifts further south than usual. a national weather correspondent has the latest from washington. you mentioned some folks could get up to a foot of snow and it looks to me like we're closer to ten inches of snow. in the springtime, this is covered with beautiful cherry blossom but not today. it is white. there is thejefferson memorial. this is a most significant snowstorm the dc area has seen in at least five years and we will see how much more we get tonight. it shut down the city today. schools were shut, federal buildings were closed with the exception for essential services.

reagan national airports, delays and cancellations there, they shut down the runways tonight to clear the runways of snow and slush so that it doesn't freeze again overnight. a ferocious track across the country, four if you count california where it came over dynamically across the valleys but once to go to the central plains it fired up in kansas city where they saw their worst lizard situation in three decades. 20 inches of snow falling in kansas, louisville saw almost ten inches of snow, icing across much of kentucky, hundreds of thousands of people without power. tens of millions of people impacted by this storm over the past three days and obviously it is not done yet. we still have the upper level part of this to come through and it will dump several more inches of snow on the dc area as far north as

philadelphia and as far south as parts of north carolina. before this thing settles down. after that, cold air sets up and we have 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 one, the end of the week. endure another one, the end of the week-— endure another one, the end of the week. there are almost 100 flood warnings _ the week. there are almost 100 flood warnings in _ the week. there are almost 100 flood warnings in place - the week. there are almost 100 flood warnings in place across i flood warnings in place across england. in the east midlands the local fire service says it had hundreds of calls from people who need rescuing from stranded vehicles or flooded houses. police in north yorkshire say they have recovered the body of a man from the water. freezing temperatures are continuing to cause chaos across scotland, northern ireland and the north of england. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. service keir starmer has

unveiled the government's proposal to cut waits for nhs treatment in england by nearly 500,000 in the next year. the prime minister said it would tackle the backlog utilising ai and community and diagnostic centres. some critics say the targets are not feasible without a larger workforce. a prison officer who was filmed having 6 with an inmate inside a sell has been jailed for 15 months. linda 1536