hello. donald trump has been sworn in as the 47th president of the united states. and he started his second presidency by signing a series of sweeping executive orders. just after three in the morning and inauguration day has gone into a second day into the early hours of january the zist. mr trump has been attending the third and final ball of the evening — the starlight ball at union station before heading home to the white house. earlier, sitting behind his desk in the oval office, mr trump declared a national emergency on the us—mexico border. he designated drug cartels

as terrorist organisations, and withdrew the us from the world health organisation. he has also pardoned more than 1500 of his supporters who stormed the us capitol four years ago, when they tried to overturn his election dfeat. to overturn his election defeat. the senior democrat nancy pelosi has called the decision shameful. in his earlier inauguration speech, mr trump said he'd been saved by god to make america great again, and that a �*tide of change�* was sweeping the country. and in the past couple of hours, mr trump and his wife melania attended the inauguration liberty ball in washington. our north america correspondent nomia iqbal reports. president trump is back to business, and always in front of a crowd. the first item that president trump is signing is the rescission of 78 biden—era executive actions. cheering. he signed executive orders rolling back biden—era policies, including pulling out of the paris climate change deal and the world

health organization. could you imagine biden doing this? i don't think so. laughter. it's been a long road back to power for donald trump. he's overcome two impeachment trials, several criminal indictments and an assassination attempt. it seems only a hat can hold him back. he described his win as a divine intervention. just a few months ago, in a beautiful pennsylvania field, an assassin�*s bullet ripped through my ear. but i felt then — and believe even more so now — that my life was saved for a reason. i was saved by god to make america great again. as well as god, it seems he has the world's richest men by his side. the so—called tech bros were guests at his inauguration. one even went viral.

but to some on his own social media site, x, elon musk was accused of throwing a nazi salute. my heart goes out to you. four years after he was evicted from the white house, donald trump is back inside. he has long portrayed america as a country with huge problems only he can solve. but now is the time for him to prove it. approximately 1500 for a pardon. and he's making a big show of it. full pardon. he's pardoned nearly all the pro—trump rioters who stormed the capitol four years ago... full pardon. ..including those convicted of trying to overthrow the us government. it's a reminder of how radical donald trump's presidency is likely to be once again. nomia iqbal, bbc news, washington. so what lies in store for those 1600 supporters who stormed the us capitol four years ago who have been officially pardoned by mr trump? our correspondent emma vardy is outside a prison

in washington where some of those inside could be told they may be set free. there's been pretty dramatic scenes outside this jail for much of the day, because many family members, friends, supporters of january the 6th defendants who are currently behind bars here have gathered here hoping to see them walk out of the prison gates. ever since donald trump made those sweeping pardons that have forgiven the convictions of hundreds of people who were involved in the january 6th riots at the capitol that day. now, those pardons range from people who committed what's called misdemeanours — lower—level offences, also people who were convicted of violent assaults on police officers. but those behind bars are getting released — not only from here but from prisons in other states, too, and others who've served their sentences, their convictions are wiped out. there's also commutations for people serving sentences to allow them to be released, too. now, this was a promise

that donald trump made to many of his supporters. today, they feel vindicated that he has followed through on that promise. they've been celebrating here for much of the day. but it's a really divisive and difficult issue for america. on the day of those capitol riots, there were many police officers violently assaulted and injured in that. politicians were barricaded inside, fearing for their lives. and critics of these sweeping pardons say that it sends the wrong message — that for political violence, you can get away with it, that it wipes out the crimes that were committed on a very dark day for democracy in america. but donald trump has always characterised those convicted for their role in the january 6th riots as political prisoners — political hostages, he called them. lots of people here supporting them, saying that it was political persecution. they're celebrating the fact that donald trump went so far with these pardons, and they can't wait to see them walk out the prison gates.

among the excutive actions announced in his inaugural address, president trump spoke about immigration. he's declared a national emergency at the us—mexico border and has plans for large—scale deportations of undocumented migrants. will grant sent this update from san diego. in his decision to declare an emergency on the us southern border with mexico, president trump has opened the door to a number of things. the first is access to more federal funding for us border security, and the second is the possibility of deploying the military here. but that wasn't the only step he's taking on the issue of immigration. there was a whole host of others — some more controversial than others, particularly the idea, for example, of removing birthright citizenship to the children of undocumented immigrants in the united states. that is sure to face legal challenges because it is enshrined in the constitution.

nevertheless, there have already been real—time effects of some of the steps he's taking. he has removed, for example, the use of an app called cbp one, by which migrants who make it to the us border with mexico get an appointment with the us authorities to make their case for asylum. they show that they are fleeing credible fear, ie, violence from drug cartels and so on. and if they can do that, they then have the right to remain in the us. that app has gone, and around 30,000 people who were due to have appointments with the us authorities are left empty—handed. it is a wholesale, comprehensive effort to change things at the border by the trump administration as it comes into office to deliver, as he promised to his supporters, a complete

new approach to the border that will be far harsher and more draconian than that seen under the biden administration. president trump was very vocal during the presidential election campaig about the war in ukraine saying he could end it within 2a hours. our correspondent sarah rainsford gave us the latest from kyiv. i think we are basically in a waiting game here. lots of big words and big promises about ending the war here in ukraine by donald trump, but that was when on the campaign trail, but that 24—hour clock has started ticking and clearly ending the war in a day will not happen. there is more realism in the white house now that donald trump has returned to office. interesting that people in ukraine, to notice in his speech, his big inauguration speech, he made no direct reference to this country. he simply talks about america as a peacemaker and he pledged to end all wars.

presumably including the one in ukraine but no direct reference to ukraine. reference to ukraine. it is interesting looking it is interesting looking at how the ukrainian at how the ukrainian leadership is responding. leadership is responding. i think president zelensky i think president zelensky is trying to look at is trying to look at the positive and to be the positive and to be hopeful, trying a little hopeful, trying a little to flatter donald trump, to flatter donald trump, talking about him as a decisive talking about him as a decisive and strong leader and talking and strong leader and talking about his inauguration as a about his inauguration as a moment of hope and opportunity moment of hope and opportunity for the world and ukraine. for the world and ukraine. but for ukraine, i think the but for ukraine, i think the biggest hope is donald trump biggest hope is donald trump will realise ending the war will realise ending the war quickly will not happen quickly will not happen and as far as kyiv is and as far as kyiv is concerned it cannot end concerned it cannot end in ukraine's capitulation. in ukraine's capitulation. around the world and across the uk. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. this is bbc news.

event still going on in washington with the third ball that donald trump is attending and we will go to the white house when we see donald trump arriving back there at some point i expect, but it has been a long day turning into many hours of inauguration and events because now it is the early hours of january the 21st in washington and we are looking at various parts of the world and reactions to donald trump �*s second term in office. our correspondent is in brussels. he explained what approach donald trump is expected to take with the eu. you have donald trump, the transactional new york property tycoon, and brussels, which is the essence of consensus—building and taking decisions unanimously or by majority and that is not how

donald trump works. we are trying to work out this time around how this manifests itself, this strange relationship when it comes to big issues at play. i think probably security and the economy are areas that a lot of european politicians are concerned about. if you look at the economy, we have heard president trump say in the past 2a hours about europe, they are tough, they do not take our cars, farm products, they don't take almost anything. he went on to say, we will straighten that with either tariffs or they will have to buy our oil and gas. without the specifics, president trump suggesting how europe could keep him happy, and there may be transactions along those lines in the four years to come. he has expressed many times he is no fan of the institution itself. are there individual leaders he feels he can do business with? he does think that and this is interesting because it reflects how europe has been shifting in the years

since president trump has been away from the white house. i think, first, his top ally is giorgia meloni of italy. she was someone who was invited to the inauguration. president trump has heaped praise on her. so far, she has played her position well, according to most people, because she is from a party which had roots in fascism from the far right but when it comes to ukraine, she has been pretty much singing from the same hymn sheet as people in brussels. i think she will be a key figure. also it is clear president trump admires a lot of hard right politicians within the european bloc. viktor orban, of hungary, who has been a thorn in the side of many european leaders but president trump sees him as a fellow strongman you could say. it will be interesting to see

personal relationships and for president trump that interaction is important. we have seen where he believes he has personal chemistry with someone and believes he respects them, in his eyes business can be done. our china correspondent, stephen mcdonell. he told us what the president intends to do with tiktok. donald trump's comments on tiktok and what he intends to do about this were confusing and not clear, as if he was making it up as he was going along. what we know is he has given tiktok a 75—day extension which i guess enables him and his team to bring a new plan for tiktok. he mentioned he would like 50% ownership of tiktok in the us. but that would not address the problem that led to the ban. which is allegedly that tiktok is bound to pass on data to the communist party

by chinese law. does that mean republicans in the house, the senate will not be happy with this sort of deal donald trump might pull together? he said if the chinese government does not go along with this deal, whatever it is, he would use tariffs to sort of force beijing to go along with what he wants. again, who knows what that deal is? he does just seem to be shooting from the hip as he has in the past. so we are not hearing much in terms of criticism of that from the chinese government, at the moment, which you would expect from them because they are used to this sort of thing from donald trump who says something one day and changes his mind the next. even with tiktok, he was at one point supporting the ban until he had a meeting with the billionaire republican donor to the republican party, who happens to also be a big

investor in the owner of tiktok and surprise, he changed his mind. we might get some sort of clear direction from the chinese foreign ministry in the coming hours when the regular press briefing takes place, but i think we would expect a cautious approach from them at this stage to see what is really going to happen with these tariffs. what about the middle east? there's a tense calm in gaza as the ceasefire between hamas and israel holds into a third day. hamas has confirmed it will release the next israeli hostages on saturday in exchange for palestinians held by israel. the united nations said more than 900 aid trucks had entered the territory on monday. president trump has expressed doubt that the truce will hold through all three phases. one of the executive orders he signed reversed sanctions on extremist israeli settlers in the occupied west bank. our middle east correspondent yolande knell is injerusalem.

she says the trump administration will be watching the ceasefire closely. already president trump has been taking credit for this ceasefire and hostage release deal. we saw that coming into effect on the eve of his inauguration. we know the us was a key broker along with regional mediators going between. when he was asked by reporters in the oval office if he could see this deal going to all three stages, it is supposed to go in the next stage to a full end to the war and in the third stage, to reconstruction in gaza, he said he was not confident the deal would hold through all three stages. he made comments about gaza saying it looked like a massive demolition site. he said it should be rebuilt in a different way —

it was in a phenomenal location and that beautiful things could be achieved there. people are looking to his policy towards the middle east for any indication of what might happen in the weeks ahead. the approach that his administration will take. we had the new middle east envoy, a man with a background in real estate, steve witkoff, really talking about how the approach of the trump administration will be involving what he called courageous diplomacy towards the region, seeking prosperity, and saying they would seek to build on what is seen as the achievements of the trump administration in its first term, when they got these normalisation deals — peace deals between israel and new arab countries. there is this prospect dangling there that saudi arabia and israel could ultimately make peace and have normal relations. this would be a big change in the region.

what has been happening in gaza going into the third day of ceasefire? what difference is the stopping of fighting making to life? we are hearing more and more about palestinians going back to neighbourhoods, even those worst hit by the war, such as in the north and rafah in the south. places that have been largely razed to the ground as they try to go back and find any of their loved ones, give them a decent burials. we heard people have found identified skeletons, even within the streets. people that were left, and as the israeli soldiers have withdrawn, those areas have become accessible. a number of skeletons have been taken to hospitals in gaza. the surge of humanitarian aid going in has really exceeded expectations. more than 900 lorry loads.

it was 600 lorries promised by the deal between israel and hamas. the united states and afghanistan have conducted a prisoner—swap which has seen two americans held in kabul traded for an afghan serving a life sentence in the us. the qatari—brokered deal was one ofjoe biden�*s final acts of diplomacy as president. let's speak to our chief international correspondent lyse doucet in riyadh. we have been talking about what the incoming president has been doing. this is one of the final acts of the outgoing president. tell us about the deal. yes, there are similarities with the gaza deal in the sense it involved both the biden administration and president trump's, because in a statement released by the family of one of the americans, both administrations were thanked, as well as the gulf state of

qatar which is said to have played a vital role, particularly in final negotiations that involved the release of brian corbett and another, although his family have still to confirm that. the taliban, a member of the taliban, a member of the taliban was picked up on the battlefield in afghanistan and convicted of a life sentence for narcotics and terrorism charges. it seems it came down to the wire. it was not announced. the news came after midnight last night us time. it was not made public until the americans were out of taliban hands. ~ ., ., hands. we went through what trump part — hands. we went through what trump part two _ hands. we went through what trump part two means - hands. we went through what trump part two means in - hands. we went through what i trump part two means in various parts of the world. has he said much about afghanistan in the approach to the inauguration, and how he might deal with the taliban regime?—

taliban regime? well, in his rall , taliban regime? well, in his rally. high — taliban regime? well, in his rally, high octane _ taliban regime? well, in his rally, high octane rally, - taliban regime? well, in his rally, high octane rally, on l rally, high octane rally, on the eve of his inauguration, he raised again the fact the united states has continued to send money to afghanistan, even with the taliban, which has not been recognised by the american government. that money does not government. that money does not go to the taliban directly but to fund humanitarian projects, and not intended to benefit the taliban but donald trump and elon musk raise questions about whether the money is going to the taliban, should they be sending that money? and at the rally he railed against the american military equipment that fell into the hands of the taliban when the american suddenly pulled out in august 2021 and he warned the taliban that unless they give military equipment back, he will cut aid to afghanistan. he is starting the administration with tough

words for the taliban. the taliban in their statement about the exchange said it had been the result of long and fruitful dialogue and hoped it would lead to normalisation of relations. that is not on the horizon. there is certain to be more negotiations. there are still two americans believed missing in afghanistan and the taliban want to secure the release of an afghan, one of the last remaining detainees in guantanamo bay. just the last remaining detainees in guantanamo bay.— guantanamo bay. just thinking about the trump _ guantanamo bay. just thinking about the trump approach - guantanamo bay. just thinking | about the trump approach over the forthcoming months towards the forthcoming months towards the taliban. the situation for women in particular in afghanistan gets more dire. is there optimism that this could go in any other direction? ha. go in any other direction? no. absolutely _ go in any other direction? no. absolutely no _ go in any other direction? no. absolutely no sign. _ go in any other direction? no. absolutely no sign. in - go in any other direction? iirm absolutely no sign. in fact to the contrary. the situation for women in afghanistan gets

steadily worse. restrictions, which keeps them in the home and out of public spaces, keep being promulgated by the ultraconservative macro leadership of the taliban based in the southern city of kandahar. critics of the deal that includes leading members of the taliban continue to be expressed. the deputy foreign minister again said it was against islamic law not to allow girls to go to school, women to university, to deny them access, to be playing a role in public life, but despite criticisms even from within, there is no sign the taliban leader is going to bend. and there is no way relations will be formally normalised until they are. although some countries are making advances with them.

thank you. inafew in a few minutes, we will hear from the british prime minister keir starmer who will be speaking in downing street about the southport killer who pleaded guilty to the southport murders on monday. the weather is similar to what we had yesterday but will change towards the end of the week. today we have a weather front across the north west, enhancing showers. we have another across the central swathe of the country producing cloud and rain. to the south, we could see brighter breaks, but there will be cloud around. sunny skies in northern ireland and scotland and later northern england but even so some showers in the north and west with top temperatures 8—9. overnight, the weather front

moving further south. more cloud and showers from the south. pushing further north, light winds and clear skies. we could see fog forming and it will be a cold night with a touch of frost. tomorrow we have a weather front close to the south—east. that will move away as we go through the day. this cloud and showers will continue to drift south—eastwards. we will be left with cloud in the south—east quadrant. north and west of that, brighter skies, some sunshine and some showers in the north and west. temperatures 5—8. on thursday, after a dry start, a weather front from the west will introduce rain pushing west to east. transient snow in the hills in northern ireland and northern england and scotland. the wind will pick up in the west and south through the day. then things changed. we have a

potent area of low pressure drifting north—eastwards. look at the isobars. we are looking at the isobars. we are looking at widespread gales. the position could change. it could be further north or south. what we think is it will take this rain preceded by heavy hill snow in the north of the country, and we will have widespread gales, and as it moves away, things will dry up. temperatures 10—11, but as it moves through, the temperature will drop. beyond that, it remains unsettled with the potential for more low pressure at the end of the weekend.

this is bbc news. just to tell you, the prime minister is due to make a statement shortly