In an essay in The Washington Post, President Biden accused President-elect Donald J. Trump and his supporters of trying to erase the history of that day.
Tens of millions of Americans are bracing for a huge winter storm that could bring the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures in over a decade.
The storm, which started in the middle of the US, will move east in the next couple of days, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
Parts of the US not accustomed to severe cold, including Mississippi and Florida, have been warned to expect treacherous conditions.
Forecasters say the extreme weather is being caused by the polar vortex, an area of cold air that circulates around the Arctic.
"For some, this could be the heaviest snowfall in over a decade," the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
AccuWeather forecaster Dan DePodwin said: "This could lead to the coldest January for the US since 2011."
He added that "temperatures that are well below historical average" could linger for a week.
Those low temperatures will be on the east coast as well, where the storm is expected to reach by Sunday evening.
In the central US, there will be "considerable disruptions to daily life" and "dangerous or impossible driving conditions and widespread closures" into Sunday, according to the NWS.
Some areas of Kansas and Indiana could see at least 8in (20.3cm) of snow.
In parts of the Midwest, blizzards are possible.
"Whiteout conditions will make travel extremely hazardous, with impassable roads and a high risk of motorists becoming stranded," the NWS warned.
Sleet and freezing rain is forecast for Missouri, Illinois, and swathes of Kentucky and West Virginia.
As the storm moves east, millions more Americans will see record low temperatures, forecasters said.
Cities including Washington DC, Baltimore and Philadelphia are preparing for snowy and icy conditions from Sunday into Monday. Snowfall of between 5-12in could be recorded in parts of Virginia.
Also on Sunday, portions of the southern US including Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi may see severe thunderstorms.
Private meteorologist Ryan Maue said: "It's going to be a mess, a potential disaster. This is something we haven't seen in quite a while."
American, Delta, Southwest and United airlines are waiving change fees for passengers because of the potential flight disruptions.
Bathing elephants is a popular activity among tourists in Thailand, but activists have criticised it as unethical
A "panic-stricken" elephant killed a Spanish woman while she was bathing the animal at an elephant centre in Thailand, local police said.
Blanca Ojanguren García, 22, was washing the elephant at the Koh Yao Elephant Care Centre last Friday when she was gored to death by the animal.
Experts told Spanish language newspaper Clarín that the elephant could have been stressed by having to interact with tourists outside its natural habitat.
García, who was a law and international relations student at Spain's University of Navarra, was living in Taiwan as part of a student exchange programme.
She was visiting Thailand with her boyfriend, who witnessed the attack.
Spain's foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said the Spanish consulate in Bangkok was assisting García's family.
BBC News has reached out to the elephant care centre for comment.
Bathing elephants is a popular activity among tourists in Thailand, which is home to more than 4,000 wild animals and has a similar number kept in captivity, according to the Department of National Parks.
The Koh Yao centre offers "elephant care" packages which let tourists make food for and feed the animals, as well as shower and walk with them. These packages cost between 1,900 baht ($55; £44) and 2,900 baht.
Animal activists have previously criticised elephant bathing activities, noting that they disrupt natural grooming behaviours and expose the animals to unnecessary stress and potential injury.
World Animal Protection, an international charity, has for years urged countries including Thailand to stop breeding elephants in captivity.
More than six in 10 elephants used for tourism in Asia are living in "severely inadequate" conditions, the charity said.
"These intelligent and socially intricate animals, with a capacity for complex thoughts and emotions, endure profound suffering in captivity, as their natural social structures cannot be replicated artificially," the charity said.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could announce his resignation within days, according to media reports.
He is considering stepping down as leader of the governing Liberal Party, which would also bring to an end his nine years as prime minister.
It follows months of pressure from his own MPs. Last month, his finance minister quit, citing disagreements on how to deal with Donald Trump's threat to levy US tariffs on Canadian goods.
Opinion polls suggest Trudeau's Liberal Party trails well behind the Conservatives with a general election looming some time this year.
The Globe and Mail reports that he could announce his intention to quit before he meets his party caucus on Wednesday, to avoid the perception that his own MPs forced him out.
Their sources said it was unclear whether Trudeau would leave immediately or stay on as prime minister until a new leader was selected.
And they stressed he had yet to make a final decision on his future.
Whoever takes over will have to lead the party through an election campaign while also navigating a possible trade war with the US.
The election must take place before October, but a change in leadership of the Liberal Party could increase calls for a snap vote in the coming months.
Trudeau's departure would bring to an end a defining era in Canadian politics.
He unexpectedly swept his party to power in 2015, winning a campaign that began with them in third place.
The fresh-faced young leader, aged 43 back then, promised a new kind of politics centred on an open immigration policy, increased taxes on the wealthy and battling climate change.
But his first term was dogged by scandals. In more recent years, he had been battling sinking popularity as frustration grew with the cost of living and his own style of governing.
More than a dozen of his own MPs have called for him to step down, while polls suggest two-thirds of voters disapprove of him.
Just 26% of respondents in a September Ipsos said Trudeau was their top pick for prime minister, putting him 19 points behind Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
History is also not on Trudeau's side, with only two prime ministers ever serving four consecutive terms.
Poilievre rose to the top of his party in 2022 on a promise to reduce taxes, tackle inflation and protect individual liberties.
The 45-year-old also rallied support behind the Freedom Convoy truckers protesting about Covid mandates - a blockade that brought Canadian cities including Ottawa to a standstill.
Canada's next prime minister will have to address the threat of tariffs from incoming US President Donald Trump.
He has vowed to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods if the country does not secure its shared border to the flow of irregular migrants and illegal drugs.
The "grave challenge" this posed was referred to in the resignation letter of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who quit hours before she was due to deliver her annual budget.
Trudeau had informed her he no longer wanted her to be his government's top economic adviser.
Trump and Harris shaking hands ahead of a presidential debate last year
US Vice-President Kamala Harris will on Monday preside over the official certification in Congress of the result of November's presidential election - a contest that she lost to Donald Trump.
The date also marks the fourth anniversary of a riot at the US Capitol, when Trump's supporters tried to thwart the certification of Democratic President Joe Biden's election victory in 2020. Normally the occasion is a mere formality.
Heavy security is in place in Washington DC, and Biden has vowed there will be no repeat of the violence on 6 January 2021 - which led to several deaths.
As lawmakers meet in Washington DC, heavy snow forecast for the American capital could prove disruptive.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed to go ahead with the certification at 13:00 EST (18:00 GMT) in spite of the weather, telling Fox News: "Whether we're in a blizzard or not, we're going to be in that chamber making sure this is done."
As the current vice-president, Harris is required by the US Constitution to officially preside over the certification of the result, after Trump beat her in the nationwide poll on 5 November.
Trump won all seven of the country's swing states, helping him to victory in the electoral college, the mechanism that decides who takes the presidency. It will be Harris's job on Monday to read out the number of electoral college votes won by each candidate.
Trump's second term will begin after he is inaugurated on 20 January. For the first time since 2017, the president's party will also enjoy majorities in both chambers of Congress, albeit slender ones.
Trump's win marked a stunning political comeback from his electoral defeat in 2020, and a criminal conviction in 2024 - a first for a current or former US president.
Amid the dramatic recent presidential campaign, Trump also survived a bullet grazing his ear when a gunman opened fire at one of his rallies in Pennsylvania.
While away from the White House, he has faced a slew of legal cases against him - including over his attempts to overturn the 2020 result, which he continues to dispute.
Following his defeat that year, Trump and his allies made baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud - claiming the election had been stolen from them.
In a speech in Washington DC on certification day, 6 January 2021, Trump told a crowd to "fight like hell" but also asked them to "peacefully" make their voices heard.
He also attempted to pressurise his own vice-president, Mike Pence, to reject the election result - a call that Pence rejected.
Rioters went on to smash through barricades and ransack the Capitol building before Trump ultimately intervened by telling them to go home. Several deaths were blamed on the violence.
Trump's pledges after returning to office include pardoning people convicted of offences over the attack. He says many of them are "wrongfully imprisoned", though has acknowledged that "a couple of them, probably they got out of control".
Conversely, Biden has called on Americans never to forget what happened.
"We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it," Biden wrote in the Washington Post over the weekend.
For Trump's Republican Party, the new Senate Majority Leader John Thune has signalled a desire to move on, telling the BBC's US partner CBS News: "You can't be looking in the rearview mirror."
Mozambique's opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane, who has been calling for protests for weeks from exile, has said he will return to the country on Thursday.
Mondlane said he would arrive ahead of the swearing-in of a new president next week.
Daniel Chapo of the ruling Frelimo party is due to be sworn next Wednesday after a court confirmed his election victory.
But Mondlane, the runner-up, rejected the outcome, sparking violent protests that have left dozens dead since October.
Mondlane left Mozambique the same month saying he feared for his life, after two of his aides were shot dead.
In a Facebook live address on Sunday, he sent out a defiant message to the authorities saying he "will be in Maputo. They don't need to chase me any more".
He said he would arrive at 08:05 local time (06:05 GMT) on Thursday at the international airport in Maputo, calling for people to welcome him there.
"If they are killing my brothers... then I will be there. You can do what you want. If you want to murder, murder. If you want to arrest, arrest too. I will be there," he said.
Mondlane maintains that he won the election and has called for more protests until there is "electoral truth".
His supporters have frequently staged violent protests across the country to demand an end to the 49-year-rule of the Frelimo party.
He has previously said he would install himself as president on 15 January - on the presidential inauguration day - despite the court upholding his rival's victory.
The electoral commission initially declared Chapo the winner of the election with 71% of the vote, compared to Mondlane's 20%.
The final official results from the constitutional court two weeks ago gave Chapo 65% and Mondlane 24%.
International election observers have previously said that the vote was flawed, pointing to doctored numbers and other irregularities during the counting process.
Security forces have sought to end the nationwide protests in a violent crackdown that has tested the country's stability.
More than 270 people have been killed, including protesters, children and members of the security forces, according to rights groups.
The unrest has also affected the economy, with more than 12,000 people losing their jobs and over 500 companies being vandalised.
Neighbouring countries have also been affected by the political unrest, with thousands of Mozambicans fleeing across the border.
Outgoing President Filipe Nyusi has in the past called for dialogue to resolve the dispute. On 27 December, Chapo called for "non-violence" and "unity".
More Vietnamese attempted small-boat Channel crossings in the first half of 2024 than any other nationality. Yet they are coming from one of the world's fastest-growing economies. Why, then, are so many risking their lives to reach Britain?
Phuong looked at the small inflatable boat and wondered whether she should step in. There were 70 people packed in, and it was sitting low in the water. She recalls the fear, exhaustion and desperation on their faces. There weren't enough lifejackets to go around.
But Phuong was desperate. She says she had been stuck in France for two months, after travelling there from Vietnam via Hungary, sleeping in tents in a scrubby forest.
Already she had refused to travel on one boat because it seemed dangerously overcrowded, and previously had been turned back in the middle of the Channel three times by bad weather or engine failure.
Her sister, Hien, lives in London, and recalls that Phuong used to phone her from France in tears. "She was torn between fear and a drive to keep going.
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The UK has called on Vietnam's authorities to strengthen efforts in controlling smuggling
"But she had borrowed so much - around £25,000 - to fund this trip. Turning back wasn't an option." So, she climbed on board.
Today Phuong lives in London with her sister, without any legal status. She was too nervous to speak to us directly, and Phuong is not her real name. She left it to her sister, who is now a UK citizen, to describe her experiences.
In the six months to June, Vietnamese made up the largest number of recorded small boat arrivals with 2,248 landing in the UK, ahead of people from countries with well-documented human rights problems, including Afghanistan and Iran.
The extraordinary efforts made by Vietnamese migrants to get to Britain is well documented, and in 2024 the BBC reported on how Vietnamese syndicates are running successful people-smuggling operations.
It is not without significant risks. Some Vietnamese migrants end up being trafficked into sex work or illegal marijuana farms. They make up more than one-tenth of those in the UK filing official claims that they are victims of modern slavery.
And yet Vietnam is a fast-growing economy, acclaimed as a "mini-China" for its manufacturing prowess. Per capita income is eight times higher than it was 20 years ago. Add to that the tropical beaches, scenery and affordability, which have made it a magnet for tourists.
So what is it that makes so many people desperate to leave?
A tale of two Vietnams
Vietnam, a one-party Communist state, sits near the bottom of most human rights and freedom indexes. No political opposition is permitted. The few dissidents who raise their voices are harassed and jailed.
Yet most Vietnamese have learned to live with the ruling party, which leans for legitimacy on its record of delivering growth. Very few who go to Britain are fleeing repression.
Nor are the migrants generally fleeing poverty. The World Bank has singled Vietnam out for its almost unrivalled record of poverty reduction among its 100 million people.
Rather, they are trying to escape what some call "relative deprivation".
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Per capita income is eight times higher in Vietnam than it was 20 years ago
Despite its impressive economic record, Vietnam started far behind most of its Asian neighbours, with growth only taking off well after the end of the Cold War in 1989. As a result, average wages, at around £230 a month, are much lower than in nearby countries like Thailand, and three-quarters of the 55-million-strong workforce are in informal jobs, with no security or social protection.
"There is a huge disparity between big cities like Hanoi and rural areas," says Nguyen Khac Giang, a Vietnamese academic at the Institute of South East Asian Studies-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. "For a majority of workers with limited skills, there is a glass ceiling. Even if you work 14 hours a day you cannot save enough to build a house or start a family."
This was what Phuong felt, despite coming from Haiphong, Vietnam's third-largest city.
Her sister Hien had made it to Britain nine years earlier, smuggled inside a shipping container. It had cost her around £22,000 but she was able to pay that back in two years, working long hours in kitchens and nail salons. Hien married a Vietnamese man who already had British citizenship, and they had a daughter; all three are now UK citizens.
In Haiphong, jobs were scarce after the pandemic and at 38 years old, Phuong wanted what her sister had in London: the ability to save money and start a family.
"She could survive in Vietnam, but she wanted a home, a better life, with more security," explains Hien.
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Haiphong is Vietnam's third-largest city
Lan An Hoang, a professor in development studies at Melbourne University, has spent years studying migration patterns. "Twenty to thirty years ago, the urge to migrate overseas was not as strong, because everyone was poor," she says. "People were happy with one buffalo, one motorbike and three meals a day.
"Suddenly a few people successfully migrated to countries like Germany or the UK, to work on cannabis farms or open nail salons. They started to send a lot of money home. Even though the economic conditions of those left behind have not changed, they feel poor relative to all these families with migrants working in Europe."
'Catch up, get rich'
This tradition of seeking better lives overseas goes back to the 1970s and 80s, when Vietnam was allied to the Soviet Union following the defeat of US forces in the south.
The state-led economy had hit rock bottom. Millions were destitute; some areas suffered food shortages. Tens of thousands left to work in eastern bloc countries like Poland, East Germany and Hungary.
This was also a time when 800,000 mainly ethnic Chinese boat people fled the communist party's repressive actions, making perilous sea journeys across the South China Sea, eventually resettling in the USA, Australia or Europe.
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Nghe An is one of Vietnam's poorer provinces south of Hanoi
The economic hardships of that time threatened the legitimacy of the communist party, and in 1986 it made an abrupt turn, abandoning the attempt to build a socialist system and throwing the doors open to global markets. The new theme of Vietnam's national story was to catch up, and get rich, any way possible. For many Vietnamese, that meant going abroad.
"Money is God in Vietnam," says Lan An Hoang. "The meaning of 'the good life' is primarily anchored in your ability to accumulate wealth. There is also a strong obligation to help your family, especially in central Vietnam.
"That is why the whole extended family pools resources to finance the migration of one young person because they believe they can send back large sums of money, and facilitate the migration of other people."
New money: spoils of migration
Drive through the flat rice fields of Nghe An, one of Vietnam's poorer provinces lying south of Hanoi, and where there were once smaller concrete houses, you will now find large, new houses with gilded gates. More are under construction, thanks, in part, to money earned in the West.
The new houses are prominent symbols of success for returnees who have done well overseas.
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Workers tend a rice field in Nghe An
Vietnam is now enjoying substantial inflows of foreign investment, as it is considered an alternative to China for companies wanting to diversify their supply chains. This investment is even beginning to reach places like Nghe An, too.
Foxconn, a corporate giant that manufactures iPhones, is one of several foreign businesses building factories in Nghe An, offering thousands of new jobs.
But monthly salaries for unskilled workers only reach around £300, even with overtime. That is not enough to rival the enticing stories of the money to be made in the UK, as told by the people smugglers.
From travel agents to labour brokers
The business of organising the travel for those wishing to leave the province is now a very profitable one. Publicly, companies present themselves as either travel agents or brokers for officially-approved overseas labour contracts, but in practice many also offer to smuggle people to the UK via other European countries. They usually paint a rosy picture of life in Britain, and say little about the risks and hardships they will face.
"Brokers" typically charge between £15,000 and £35,000 for the trip to the UK. Hungary is a popular route into the EU because it offers guest-worker visas to Vietnamese passport holders. The higher the price, the easier and faster the journey.
Shutterstock
Vietnam President Luong Cuong at the 80th anniversary of Vietnam's People's Army in December 2024
The communist authorities in Vietnam have been urged by the US, the UK and UN agencies to do more to control the smuggling business.
Remittances from abroad earn Vietnam around £13bn a year, and the government has a policy of promoting migration for work, although only through legal channels, mostly to richer Asian countries.
More than 130,000 Vietnamese workers left in 2024 under the official scheme. But the fees for these contracts can be high, and the wages are much lower than they can earn in Britain.
The huge risks of the illicit routes used to reach the UK were brought home in 2019, when 39 Vietnamese people were found dead in Essex, having suffocated while being transported inside a sealed container across the Channel.
Yet this has not noticeably reduced demand for the smugglers' services. The increased scrutiny of container traffic has, however, pushed them to find alternative Channel crossings, which helps explain the sharp rise in Vietnamese people using small boats.
'Success stories outweigh the risks'
"The tragedy of the 39 deaths in 2019 is almost forgotten," says the cousin of one of the victims, Le Van Ha. He left behind a wife, two young children and a large debt from the cost of the journey. His cousin, who does not want to be named, says attitudes in their community have not changed.
"People hardly care anymore. It's a sad reality, but it is the truth.
"I see the trend of leaving continuing to grow, not diminish. For people here, the success stories still outweigh the risks."
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The lorry where 39 Vietnamese people were found dead
Three of the victims came from the agricultural province of Quang Binh. The headteacher of a secondary school in the region, who also asked not to be named, says that 80% of his students who graduate soon plan to go overseas.
"Most parents here come from low-income backgrounds," he explains. "The idea of [encouraging their child to] broaden their knowledge and develop their skills is not the priority.
"For them, sending a child abroad is largely about earning money quickly, and getting it sent back home to improve the family's living standards."
In March the UK Home Office started a social media campaign to deter Vietnamese people from illegal migration. Some efforts were also made by the Vietnamese government to alert people to the risks of using people-smugglers. But until there are more appealing economic opportunities in those provinces, it is likely the campaigns will have little impact.
Images taken from social media of victims who died in the lorry trailer carrying 39 Vietnamese migrants in October 2019
"They cannot run these campaigns just once," argues Diep Vuong, co-founder of Pacific Links, an anti-trafficking organisation. "It's a constant investment in education that's needed."
She has first-hand experience, leaving Vietnam to the US in 1980 as part of the exodus of Vietnamese boat people.
"In Vietnam, people believe they have to work hard, to do everything for their families. That is like a shackle which they cannot easily escape. But with enough good information put out over the years, they might start to change this attitude."
But the campaigns are up against a powerful narrative. Those who go overseas and fail – and many do – are often ashamed, and keep quiet about what went wrong. Those who succeed come back to places like Nghe An and flaunt their new-found wealth. As for the tragedy of the 39 people who died in a shipping container, the prevailing view in Nghe An is still that they were just unlucky.
Top image credit: Getty Images
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Andrée Blouin was born to a French father and a mother from the Central African Republic
"I know that you can die twice. First comes physical death... to be forgotten is a second death," notes screenwriter Eve Blouin, in an epilogue at the end of her mother's autobiography.
Eve understands this sentiment more than most.
In the 1950s and 60s, her mother, the late Andrée Blouin, threw herself into the fight for a free Africa, mobilising the Democratic Republic of Congo's women against colonialism and rising to become a key adviser to Patrice Lumumba, DR Congo's first prime minister and a revered independence hero.
She traded ideas with famed revolutionaries like Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah, Guinea's Sékou Touré and Algeria's Ahmed Ben Bella, yet her story is hardly known.
In an attempt to remedy this injustice, Blouin's memoir, titled My Country, Africa: Autobiography of the Black Pasionaria, is being re-released, having spent decades out of print.
In the book, Blouin explained that her yearning for decolonisation was sparked by a personal tragedy.
She grew up between Central African Republic (CAR) and Congo-Brazzaville, which at the time were French colonies named Ubangi-Shari and the French Congo respectively.
In the 1940s, her two-year-old son, René, was being treated in hospital for malaria in the CAR.
René was mixed-racelike his mother, and because he was one-quarter African, he was denied medication. Weeks later, René was dead.
"The death of my son politicised me as nothing else could," Blouin wrote in her memoir.
She added that colonialism "was no longer a matter of my own maligned fate but a system of evil whose tentacles reached into every phase of African life".
Blouin was born in 1921, to a 40-year-old white French father and a 14-year-old black mother from the CAR.
The two met when Blouin's father passed through her mother's village to sell goods.
"Even today, the story of my father and my mother, while giving me much pain, astonishes me still," Blouin said.
When she was just three, Blouin's father placed her in a convent for mixed-racegirls, which was run by French nuns in the neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville.
Blouin wrote: "The orphanage served as a kind of waste bin for the waste products of this black-and-white society: the children of mixed blood who fit nowhere."
Eve Blouin
For 12 years, Andrée Blouin (second from bottom right) lived at the Order of Saint Joseph Cluny convent in Brazzaville
Blouin's experience in the orphanage was extremely negative - she wrote that the children at the institution were whipped, underfed and verbally abused.
But she was headstrong - she escaped from the orphanage aged 15 after the nuns attempted to force her into marriage.
Blouin eventually married by her own will, twice. After René's death, she moved with her second husband to Guinea, a West African country which was also governed by the French.
At the time, Guinea was in the midst of a "political tempest", she wrote. France had promised the country independence, but also required Guineans to vote in a referendum on whether or not the country should maintain economic, diplomatic and military ties with France.
The Guinean branch of the pan-African movement the Rassemblement Démocratique Africain (RDA) wanted the country to vote "No", arguing that the country needed total liberation. In 1958, Blouin joined the campaign, driving throughout the country to speak at rallies.
A year later, Guinea secured its independence by voting "No" and Sékou Touré, Guinea's RDA leader, became the nation's first president.
By this point, Blouin had begun to develop considerable clout in post-colonial, pan-African circles. She wrote that after Guinea became independent, she used this influence to advise the CAR's new President Barthélemy Boganda, persuading him stand down in a diplomatic row with Congo-Brazzaville's post-independence leader, Fulbert Youlou.
But counselling was not all Blouin had to offer this fast-changing Africa.
In a restaurant in Guinea's capital, Conakry, she met a group of liberation activists from what would later become DR Congo. They urged her to help them mobilise Congolese women in the fight against Belgian colonial rule.
Blouin was pulled in two directions. On one hand, she had three young children - including Eve - to raise. On the other, "she had the restlessness of an idealist with a certain anger at the world as it was", Eve, now 67, told the BBC.
In 1960, with Nkrumah's encouragement, Andrée Blouin flew alone to DR Congo. She joined prominent male liberation activists, such as Pierre Mulele and Antoine Gizenga, on the road, campaigning across the country's 2.4 million sq km (906,000 sq miles) expanse. She cut a striking figure, travelling through the bush with her coiffed hair, form-fitting dresses and chic, translucent shades.
Eve Blouin
Andrée Blouin (far left), her husband André (second left) and her daughter Rita (third left) are pictured in Algiers with Algeria's first President, Ahmed Ben Bella (far right), and Guinea's first President, Sékou Touré.
In Kahemba, near the border with Angola, Blouin and her team paused their campaign to help build a base for Angolan independence fighters who had fled from the Portuguese colonial authorities.
She addressed crowds of women, encouraging them to push for gender equality as well as Congo's independence. She also had a knack for organising and strategy.
Soon, the colonial powers and international press caught wind of Blouin's work. They accused her of being, among many things, Nkrumah's mistress, Sékou Touré's agent and "the courtesan of all the African chiefs of state".
She attracted even more attention when she met Lumumba.
In her book, Blouin describes him as a "lithe and elegant" man whose "name was written in letters of gold in the Congo skies".
When the country clinched its independence in 1960, Lumumba became its first prime minister. He was just 34 years old.
Lumumba selected Blouin as his "chief of protocol" and speechwriter. The pair worked together so closely that the press dubbed them "Lumum-Blouin".
Blouin was described by the US's Time magazine as a "handsome 41-year-old" whose "steel will and quick energy make her an invaluable political aide".
But a slew of disasters struck team Lumum-Blouin - and the newly formed government - just a few days into their tenure.
Firstly, the army revolted against their white Belgium commanders, sparking violence across the nation. Then, Belgium, the UK and US backed secession in Katanga, a mineral-rich region that all three Western nations had interests in. Belgian paratroopers swooped back into the country, supposedly to restore security.
Blouin described the events as a "war of nerves", with traitors "organising everywhere".
Herbert Weiss
Andrée Blouin had a talent for oration
She wrote that Lumumba was a "true hero of modern times", but also admitted she thought he was naïve and, at times, too soft.
"It is true that those who are of the best faith are often the most cruelly deceived," she said.
Within seven months of Lumumba taking charge, army chief of staff Joseph Mobutu seized power.
On the 17 January Lumumba was assassinated by firing squad, with the tacit backing of Belgium. It is possible the UK was complicit, while the US had organised previous plots to kill Lumumba - fearing that he was sympathetic to the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
In her book, Blouin said the shock and grief caused by Lumumba's death left her speechless.
"Never before had I been left without torrents of things to say," she wrote.
She was living in Paris at the time of the killing, having being forced into exile after Mobutu's coup.
To ensure Blouin would not talk to the international press, the authorities made her family - who had moved to Congo - stay in the country as "hostages".
The separation was crushing for Blouin, who, as Eve describes, was "very protective" and "very maternal".
Reflecting on her mother's personality, Eve adds: "One wouldn't want to antagonise her because even though she had a big and generous heart, she could be rather volatile."
While Blouin was in exile, soldiers looted her family home and brutally beat her mother with a gun, permanently damaging her spine.
Blouin's family were finally able to join her after months of separation.
They spent a brief period in Algeria - where they were offered sanctuary by the country's first post-independence President, Ahmed Ben Bella.
They then settled in Paris. Blouin remained involved in pan-Africanism from afar "in the form of articles and almost daily meetings", Eve wrote in the memoir's epilogue.
Herbert Weiss
Andrée Blouin helped independence figures such as Pierre Mulele (centre) prepare speeches during Congo's 1960 election
When Blouin began writing her autobiography in the 1970s, she still had great reverence for the independence movements she had dedicated herself to.
She had high praise for Sékou Touré, who by that point had established a one-party state and was ruthlessly suppressing freedom of expression.
Blouin did however grow deeply despondent that Africa had not become "free", as she had hoped.
"It is not the outsiders who have damaged Africa the most, but the mutilated will of the people and the selfishness of some of our own leaders," she wrote.
She grieved the death of her dream, so much so that she refused to take medication for the cancer that was ravaging her body.
"It was terrible to watch. I was absolutely powerless," Eve said.
Blouin passed away in Paris on 9 April 1986, at the age of 65. According to Eve, her mother's death was met by the world with "dreary indifference".
She remains an inspiration in some corners, however. In DR Congo's capital, Kinshasa, a cultural centre named after Blouin offers the likes of educational programmes, conferences, and film screenings - all underpinned by a pan-African ethos.
And through My Country, Africa, Blouin's extraordinary story is being released for a second time, this time into a world that shows greater interest in the historical contributions of women.
New readers will learn of the girl who went from being stashed away by the colonial system, to fighting for the freedom of millions of black Africans.
My Country, Africa: Autobiography of the Black Pasionaria, published by Verso Books, goes on sale on 7 January in the UK
The government has unveiled a new pledge to cut the list of patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment in England by nearly half a million over the next year.
The plan, to be announced on Monday, will expand access to Community Diagnostic Centres and surgical hubs, alongside reforms designed to enhance patient choice and tackle inefficiencies.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it would create millions more appointments and "deliver on our promise to end the backlogs".
The British Medical Association (BMA) has welcomed the plan but was sceptical about whether it could be delivered.
The government has billed the plan as an important milestone in a broader effort to reduce the number of people enduring long waits for appointments, procedures and surgeries.
Sir Keir added: "Greater choice and convenience for patients. Staff once again able to give the standard of care they desperately want to."
A key Labour election pledge, now included in the government's six main priorities, is for 92% of patients to begin treatment or be given the all-clear within 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament.
This has been an official NHS target for some time, but has not been met since 2015. Currently, only 59% of patients meet the 18-week target, with three million people waiting longer.
The latest promise is to reach 65% by March 2026, which, according to the government, would reduce the backlog by more than 450,000.
A network of Community Diagnostic Centres, which provide appointments such as scans and endoscopies in local neighbourhoods, will extend their opening hours to 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
The aim is to get patients treated more quickly, closer to home and without relying on hospitals. Officials say these centres will provide up to half a million extra appointments each year.
GPs will also be able, where appropriate, to refer patients directly to these centres without requiring a prior consultation with a senior doctor.
More surgical hubs will be created to focus on common, less complex procedures, such as cataract surgeries and some orthopaedic work. These hubs are ring-fenced from other parts of the hospital to ensure operating theatre time is not lost if there are emergency cases.
The new plan says that one million unnecessary appointments per year will be freed up for patients who need them. This will be made possible by abolishing automatic review appointments after treatment and only offering them to patients who request them.
Officials say the extra appointments created will be in addition to what was promised by Labour before the election. That pledge was for 40,000 more appointments per week, or two million a year, to be created within the first year.
This compares with a normal annual total of more than 100 million appointments. Ministers have confirmed that work on this pledge began soon after the election.
Plans for patients to use the NHS App to monitor and book consultations and test results, with greater control over where they are treated, have already been announced. The goal is to make the system more efficient and reduce the number of missed appointments.
NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard said: "The radical reforms in this plan will not only allow us to deliver millions more tests, appointments, and operations, but do things differently too – boosting convenience and putting more power in the hands of patients, especially through the NHS app."
The overall waiting list for NHS appointments, procedures, and surgeries in England stands at just under 7.5 million.
No target level has been set in the plan, but ministers say that the waiting list will inevitably fall as measures to meet the 18-week benchmark take effect.
The funding for NHS England has been set for the upcoming year, but the additional money needed to support extra activity in hospitals will be outlined in the government's spending review later this year.
Professor Phil Banfield, chair of the BMA Council, expressed doubt over whether the plan could be delivered.
"Doctors have been just as frustrated as their patients by the lack of facilities to deliver care and want to bring waiting lists down," he said.
"But the reality is that without the workforce to meet constantly rising demand, we will not see the progress we all hope for."
Ed Argar, Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, said it was the Conservatives who "revolutionised" the diagnostic process by rolling out 160 Community Diagnostic Centres.
He said the government's plan is "another announcement that makes clear after 14 years in opposition, the Labour Party have no new ideas of their own for the NHS – despite promising change".
"Patients cannot wait for more dither and delay from the government who promised so much, and so far have delivered so little," he said.
Liberal Democrat MP and health spokesperson Helen Morgan said the plan for waiting lists could risk "putting hip replacements over heart attacks", unless the "crises" in emergency and social care were addressed.
Zendaya was sporting a diamond ring on her engagement ring finger
The Golden Globes were a night to celebrate film, TV, and... love.
Last year, Timotheé Chalamet sent the internet into a frenzy as he piled on the PDA with his girlfriend Kylie Jenner at the ceremony, and this year it was date night again as the pair cosied up throughout the evening.
There was even more love in the air as A Different Man star Sebastian Stan is now officially officially dating Annabelle Wallis. He shouted out that he loved her during his acceptance speech for best actor in a musical or comedy film.
And if that isn't enough romance for you then Zendaya has stolen the show with rumours of a potential engagement. Here's more on that and eight other highlights from the awards ceremony that you may have missed.
1. Is Zendaya engaged?
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Zendaya has been dating Spiderman actor Tom Holland since 2021
Zendaya brought her usual effortlessly sleek style to the red carpet but the internet seemed less interested in her burnt orange gown and more about what was on her finger.
The Challengers star was sporting a large diamond ring on the fourth finger of her left hand and some thought it might be a sign that she's engaged.
The 28-year-old has been dating Spider-Man actor Tom Holland for the past four years.
Fans immediately started speculating about their possible engagement, but one pointed out on X: "They're very protective about their relationship, so would she actually wear the ring on the red carpet?"
2. Nikki Glaser is a one-woman fashion show
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Nikki Glaser managed to change into 10 different outfits throughout the evening
If you're hosting the Golden Globes, naturally you've got to look the part. For Nikki Glaser that meant a whopping a 10 dresses across the three hour ceremony.
The comedian started off the night wearing a strapless metallic dress on the red carpet before switching to a halter neck silver sequined gown to kick the ceremony off.
The 40-year-old seemed to use every advert break across the show to switch into something different backstage and some of her other outfits included a sparkly purple dress, a high-slit red gown and a tight-fitting black plunge number.
Our personal favourite outfit? A Wicked-inspired bright pink sequined dress that she wore with a pope's hat as she sang "you're going to be pope-ular".
3. What's it like at The Beverly Hilton?
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Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco announced their engagement in December
If you even go to the bathroom at The Beverly Hilton, you're likely to run into a celebrity.
Turn the corner, bam - Melissa McCarthy. Turn another - Jean Smart and the rest of the cast of Hacks.
The hotel in the heart of swanky Beverly Hills had a large security perimeter with barriers, armed guards and patrols, but once a person is inside - it's like a playground for Hollywood's A-list.
Some hunted for drinks, others were wrangled by publicists to interviews and photo shoots with eager journalists.
Roaming around the hotel, Selena Gomez, hot off her film Emilia Pérez winning four awards, was seen with her new fiancé Benny Blanco. He kissed her shoulder as he trailed behind her in an intimate moment.
4. A message to Japanese actors
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Tadanobu Asano, Anna Sawai, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Cosmo Jarvis posed with their awards on the carpet
Shōgun, a series set in 17th century Japan, was a big winner at the Globes, taking home four awards.
Star Hiroyuki Sanada won best male actor in a drama TV series and backstage told the BBC that he hopes the show and their wins could "could break the wall of language" and open "doors much wider" not only for Japanese actors and projects but those across the globe.
His co-star Tadanobu Asano won best male supporting actor in a TV series and clearly shocked, jumped out of his seat and, in Japanese custom, bowed repeatedly - first to those at his table then everyone in the audience and then to the cameras, which had panned to him.
"Wow!" he said when handed the award on stage. He acknowledged that he's a new talent in the US and started off by introducing himself to the crowd.
"Maybe you don't know me, so I'm an actor from Japan and my name is Tadanobu Asano," he said as the crowd laughed.
"I'm very happy!" he shouted through excited laughter, concluding his acceptance speech.
Backstage, he said his message to other Japanese actors: "If I can do this, anyone can."
5. Colin Farrell has fond memories of Andrew Scott
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Irish actor Colin Farrell spoke of his friendship with Andrew Scott while accepting his award
Irish actor Colin Farrell picked up his third Golden Globe, for playing the Batman villain in the HBO series Penguin.
Accepting his speech he mentioned some of the other nominees in his category including fellow Irishman Andrew Scott.
He recalled their first movie together, Drinking Crude, and said: "[Andrew] who I did my first film with 25, 30 years ago. You can't even find it on Betamax. It doesn't exist. But we go back that far."
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Andrew Scott was nominated for Ripley
He added to Scottish actor Richard Gadd, whose experience of stalking and sexual assault inspired the Netflix hit series Baby Reindeer, that "you broke my heart with your work this year".
In his speech, Farrell also spoke about the three hours it took to be fitted with prosthetics to make him the bloated villain in Penguin.
"In the morning, I drank black coffee, listened to 80s music, and I became a canvas for that team's brilliance."
Farrell also said: "Thank you for employing me. And yeah, I guess it's prosthetics from here on out."
Backstage, Mr Farrell acknowledged his lengthy Hollywood career and said despite his win, "I certainly don't consider myself at the top of any pile".
He said after his nearly 30 years acting, he doesn't feel a sense of pride, but rather, just feels "very grateful".
Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh said they had no idea what 'zaddy' meant
We've all been holding space for Wicked this year and Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum were providing us with our Wizard of Oz fix in classic boomer style.
"People have been calling me Zaddy but I don't know what that means," Goldblum said while Yeoh added that she was just as confused by people telling her that she's been "serving mother".
Despite being clueless to the meaning of the Gen Z language and looking even more baffled as Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande tried to explain the meaning behind these words, they both said they love it.
"Let's see who ate," Goldblum said as he introduced the nominees for a category.
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The cast of Wicked spoke to the BBC backstage
Backstage the cast of Wicked spoke to the BBC about whether there was a future for the Land of Oz in a TV series.
The film's producer Marc Platt joked that the film "is already a show" - on Broadway. Beyond that, though, he said: "It's hard to predict."
Asked by the BBC about the film transcending into a culture phenomenon with countless memes and viral clips, Platt said it speaks to the "timeless" material the film is based on.
"When something becomes a cultural phenomenon, you can't really predict that. It's very exhilarating," he said.
8. Elton's eye sight 'not as bad as it seems'
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Sir Elton cheered as the award for best original film score went to Challengers
Sir Elton John joked about his sight loss as he presented the award for best original film score with Brandi Carlile, who he sang the track Never Too Late with
The 77-year-old singer revealed in September that his vision has been affected in his right eye after contracting an infection in the summer.
In December he said he had been unable to watch his own musical, The Devil Wears Prada, due to the infection.
But, on stage he told the audience: "There has been a lot of stories going around about my regressive eyesight, and I just want to reassure everyone it is not as bad as it seems."
"I'm so pleased to be here with my co-host, Rihanna," he joked.
Sir Elton cheered as it was announced that US musician Trent Reznor and English composer Atticus Ross won the award for the musical score for erotic tennis film challengers.
9. 'Brazil is celebrating'
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Fernanda Torres won best female actor and beat Hollywood heavyweights like Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman
Fernanda Torres's surprise win for best drama actress in the Brazilian political thriller I'm Still Here even surprised her.
She called the win over Hollywood heavyweights - including Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and Kate Winslet - both "strange" and "weird".
"I never thought I would win", she said, because there were "so many great performances in English, so this tells so much about the difference in cinema nowadays."
She was asked about the celebrations happening back in her home country of Brazil, with one reporter remarking that it was like she'd won the country the World Cup.
"It is something very patriotic that's happening in Brazil with this film," she said, noting the country was "very happy" thanks to the Golden Globes.
In her acceptance speech she noted that the only other Brazilian actor to be nominated at the Globes was her mother, Fernanda Montenegro.
10. 'Being in your 60s is a golden age'
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Jodie Foster told the BBC that being in your 60s feels like the golden age
Several winning actresses tackled the topic of age at the awards.
Demi Moore, 62, noted in her acceptance speech for best film actress in The Substance that she'd spent much of her career believing that while she was successful, she would never receive any major Hollywood accolades.
She said the award reflected the message of the film, a body horror about a woman who trades her body for a younger, more beautiful version of herself.
"I'll just leave you with one thing that I think this movie is imparting is in those moments when we don't think we're smart enough or pretty enough or skinny enough or successful enough, or basically just not enough," Moore said.
"I had a woman say to me, just know you will never be enough, but you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.
After winning her award, she told journalists backstage about how many women spend much of their lives as caretakers and don't get to spend their energy outward. And now, at 62, she is and "it feels really damn good".
Jodie Foster, who is the same age as Moore, won the award for best actress in a limited series and said the 60s are a "golden age" because there's like "a hormone that happens when suddenly you go, 'Oh, I don't really care about all the stupid things anymore".
She called this era the "most contented moment in my career."
The Vivienne forged a successful TV career after winning RuPaul's Drag Race UK
Known to the world as The Vivienne, James Lee Williams was one of the biggest breakout stars of British drag, and it all started with an impression of Donald Trump in 2019 on the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK.
Like many of the drag queens on the show, The Vivienne was unapologetically unique and hilariously straight-talking, but she also had something more: pizzazz.
Described by judge Michelle Visage as "the best Snatch Game character in the history of the show", it was The Vivienne's President Trump impression - complete with pouted lips, orange makeup and a floppy blonde wig - in the Snatch Game that won her the show.
That win consolidated The Vivienne's influence in the drag community and her career in the world of TV and musical theatre flourished.
Watch: Moment The Vivienne wins RuPaul's Drag Race UK
Giving one of the most memorable performances in the Snatch Game is no easy feat, but The Vivienne's highlights from the show go far beyond her Trump impression as she was responsible for some of the show's most iconic moments.
Having adopted the drag name The Vivienne because of a love for wearing Vivienne Westwood clothing, her weekly outfits on the catwalk were second to none.
On the show, she described her drag style as being "like a Scouse wife who has come into money, she moved to LA and blew it all and then she's had to move back to Liverpool".
Without a contour line out of place and a perfected walk in stilettos, she wooed the judges with her bold, glitzy and saucy looks.
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The Vivienne made everyone laugh with her dance moves dressed as Queen Elizabeth
Her 'Queen Elizabeth walking around Balmoral' outfit, which saw her wear a gold poncho and grey knitted skirt with fluffy ducks attached to it, was one of her most memorable.
Combine that with her doing the floss dance in the outfit and she had viewers, fellow contestants and even RuPaul crying with laughter.
In the final she was described by judge Graham Norton as having "it all". Fellow judge Alan Carr added that she had "trademark wit" and delivered a "comedy masterclass" with her impressions of Trump, Margret Thatcher and Kim Woodburn.
The Vivienne went on to be a contestant in the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars in 2022.
Skating to anthems by gay icons
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The Vivienne finished third on Dancing on Ice in 2023
In January 2023, The Vivienne became the first drag queen to appear on Dancing on Ice and was partnered with American skater Colin Grafton.
She finished in third place behind gymnast Nile Wilson and Joey Essex.
The pair skated to songs by gay icons such as Dolly Parton and Cher and particularly excelled in the movies and musical weeks, whether performing to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious or Don't Cry for Me Argentina.
Her jaw-dropping ability to skate perfectly from day one meant not only did she never appear in the bottom two, but she also never appeared lower than third on the leader board.
But it was the week five performance that struck a chord with many as James chose not to perform in drag for the first time, confessing that it made him emotional dancing to Beyonce's Halo "without my armour".
James was widely praised for their decision, with one person on X saying that "'The Vivienne skating as James and not in drag in itself is inspiring".
Channelling the Wicked Witch of the West
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The Vivienne has channelled the Wicked Witch of the West on stage and off
Williams starred in a number of theatre shows, most recently in a role that seemed to be the perfect fit - the misunderstood yet strong and compassionate Wicked Witch of the West in the revival of The Wizard of Oz musical.
Starring alongside Aston Merrygold in the UK and Ireland tour, the performer reprised the role in the West End at the Gillian Lynne Theatre last year.
"I don't have many words to say as this is one huge dream," they wrote on Instagram. "Dream big kids."
The Vivienne channelled her Wicked Witch of the West role off-stage in November when she sent heads spinning in her emerald green sequined gown at the European premiere of the Wicked film.
Most recently, she was performing as the Childcatcher on the tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and performed just a week ago in Blackpool.
TV appearances
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The Vivienne went on to be a contestant in the seventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars in 2022
While The Wizard of Oz was The Vivienne's first theatre role, she was no stranger to TV and was able to successfully build a career in television after RuPaul's Drag Race, appearing in a range of programmes including Hunted, Emmerdale and the Great British Sowing Bee.
Over Christmas, The Vivienne appeared on a celebrity special of BBC's Blankety Blank.
In 2020, the Vivienne starred in a six-part series The Vivienne Takes on Hollywood on BBC Three.
The show saw the drag queen document her travels to Los Angeles in order to make a music video and was complete with her classic Northern humour and zingy one-liners.
Not all drag race contestants and winners have been able to build such a successful brand around themselves despite their humour and flawless looks, which is testament to how The Vivienne's personality shone through in all her work.
'Now I've got a crown': The Vivienne reacts to RuPaul's Drag Race UK win in 2019
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could announce his resignation within days, according to media reports.
He is considering stepping down as leader of the governing Liberal Party, which would also bring to an end his nine years as prime minister.
It follows months of pressure from his own MPs. Last month, his finance minister quit, citing disagreements on how to deal with Donald Trump's threat to levy US tariffs on Canadian goods.
Opinion polls suggest Trudeau's Liberal Party trails well behind the Conservatives with a general election looming some time this year.
The Globe and Mail reports that he could announce his intention to quit before he meets his party caucus on Wednesday, to avoid the perception that his own MPs forced him out.
Their sources said it was unclear whether Trudeau would leave immediately or stay on as prime minister until a new leader was selected.
And they stressed he had yet to make a final decision on his future.
Whoever takes over will have to lead the party through an election campaign while also navigating a possible trade war with the US.
The election must take place before October, but a change in leadership of the Liberal Party could increase calls for a snap vote in the coming months.
Trudeau's departure would bring to an end a defining era in Canadian politics.
He unexpectedly swept his party to power in 2015, winning a campaign that began with them in third place.
The fresh-faced young leader, aged 43 back then, promised a new kind of politics centred on an open immigration policy, increased taxes on the wealthy and battling climate change.
But his first term was dogged by scandals. In more recent years, he had been battling sinking popularity as frustration grew with the cost of living and his own style of governing.
More than a dozen of his own MPs have called for him to step down, while polls suggest two-thirds of voters disapprove of him.
Just 26% of respondents in a September Ipsos said Trudeau was their top pick for prime minister, putting him 19 points behind Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
History is also not on Trudeau's side, with only two prime ministers ever serving four consecutive terms.
Poilievre rose to the top of his party in 2022 on a promise to reduce taxes, tackle inflation and protect individual liberties.
The 45-year-old also rallied support behind the Freedom Convoy truckers protesting about Covid mandates - a blockade that brought Canadian cities including Ottawa to a standstill.
Canada's next prime minister will have to address the threat of tariffs from incoming US President Donald Trump.
He has vowed to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian goods if the country does not secure its shared border to the flow of irregular migrants and illegal drugs.
The "grave challenge" this posed was referred to in the resignation letter of Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who quit hours before she was due to deliver her annual budget.
Trudeau had informed her he no longer wanted her to be his government's top economic adviser.
Ukraine first launched its incursion into Russia's Kursk Region in August (file photo taken in September)
Ukraine has launched a fresh offensive in Russia's Kursk region, the Russian Defence Ministry says.
In a statement, the military said efforts to destroy the Ukrainian attack groups are ongoing. Officials in Ukraine have also suggested an operation is under way.
Ukraine first launched its incursion into Russia's Kursk region in August last year, seizing a large chunk of territory.
In recent months, Russian forces have made big gains in the area, pushing the Ukrainians back, but failing to eject them entirely.
In a statement posted on Telegram on Sunday, Russia's defence ministry said: "At around 9am Moscow time, in order to stop the offensive by the Russian troops in the Kursk direction, the enemy launched a counter-attack by an assault detachment consisting of two tanks, one counter-obstacle vehicle, and 12 armoured fighting vehicles."
The head of Ukraine's presidential office, Andriy Yermak, said there "was good news from Kursk Region" and that Russia was "getting what it deserves".
Ukraine's top counter-disinformation official Andriy Kovalenko said in a Telegram post on Sunday: "The Russians in Kursk are experiencing great anxiety because they were attacked from several directions and it came as a surprise to them."
It's unclear whether the offensive is sufficiently large-scale to lead to any significant changes on the frontline.
Kyiv's forces are reportedly suffering from manpower shortages and have been losing ground in the east of Ukraine in recent months, as Russian troops advance.
It comes as the Ukrainian Air Force said Russia launched another drone attack on Ukraine overnight.
It said it had shot down 61 drones over Kyiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Dnipropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, and Khmelnytskyy regions
There were no direct hits, but a few houses were damaged in Kharkiv Region by an intercepted drone, the air force said.
In November, Ukraine reported its troops had engaged in combat with North Korean troops in the Kursk region.
The appearance of North Korean soldiers was in response to a surprise attack launched across the border by Ukrainian troops in August, advancing up to 18 miles (30km) into Russian land.
Moscow evacuated almost 200,000 people from areas along the border and President Vladimir Putin condemned the Ukrainian offensive as a "major provocation".
After a fortnight, Ukraine's top commander claimed to control more than 1,200 sq km of Russian territory and 93 villages.
Some of that territory has been regained by Russia but Ukraine still has troops in the Kursk region.
Trump and Harris shaking hands ahead of a presidential debate last year
US Vice-President Kamala Harris will on Monday preside over the official certification in Congress of the result of November's presidential election - a contest that she lost to Donald Trump.
The date also marks the fourth anniversary of a riot at the US Capitol, when Trump's supporters tried to thwart the certification of Democratic President Joe Biden's election victory in 2020. Normally the occasion is a mere formality.
Heavy security is in place in Washington DC, and Biden has vowed there will be no repeat of the violence on 6 January 2021 - which led to several deaths.
As lawmakers meet in Washington DC, heavy snow forecast for the American capital could prove disruptive.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has vowed to go ahead with the certification at 13:00 EST (18:00 GMT) in spite of the weather, telling Fox News: "Whether we're in a blizzard or not, we're going to be in that chamber making sure this is done."
As the current vice-president, Harris is required by the US Constitution to officially preside over the certification of the result, after Trump beat her in the nationwide poll on 5 November.
Trump won all seven of the country's swing states, helping him to victory in the electoral college, the mechanism that decides who takes the presidency. It will be Harris's job on Monday to read out the number of electoral college votes won by each candidate.
Trump's second term will begin after he is inaugurated on 20 January. For the first time since 2017, the president's party will also enjoy majorities in both chambers of Congress, albeit slender ones.
Trump's win marked a stunning political comeback from his electoral defeat in 2020, and a criminal conviction in 2024 - a first for a current or former US president.
Amid the dramatic recent presidential campaign, Trump also survived a bullet grazing his ear when a gunman opened fire at one of his rallies in Pennsylvania.
While away from the White House, he has faced a slew of legal cases against him - including over his attempts to overturn the 2020 result, which he continues to dispute.
Following his defeat that year, Trump and his allies made baseless allegations of widespread voter fraud - claiming the election had been stolen from them.
In a speech in Washington DC on certification day, 6 January 2021, Trump told a crowd to "fight like hell" but also asked them to "peacefully" make their voices heard.
He also attempted to pressurise his own vice-president, Mike Pence, to reject the election result - a call that Pence rejected.
Rioters went on to smash through barricades and ransack the Capitol building before Trump ultimately intervened by telling them to go home. Several deaths were blamed on the violence.
Trump's pledges after returning to office include pardoning people convicted of offences over the attack. He says many of them are "wrongfully imprisoned", though has acknowledged that "a couple of them, probably they got out of control".
Conversely, Biden has called on Americans never to forget what happened.
"We must remember the wisdom of the adage that any nation that forgets its past is doomed to repeat it," Biden wrote in the Washington Post over the weekend.
For Trump's Republican Party, the new Senate Majority Leader John Thune has signalled a desire to move on, telling the BBC's US partner CBS News: "You can't be looking in the rearview mirror."
Storm Bert is the latest intense spell of weather that has caused extensive damage in various parts of the UK.
As the clean-up begins, people will find insurance cover and compensation can vary significantly depending on the level of impact and the small print in policies.
Some automatic protection may be in place.
My home or business premises is flooded. What should I do?
Safety is the key priority, so residents and business owners and their employees should only return to the property when it is safe to do so.
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says most home buildings, contents and commercial business policies cover storm damage.
Commercial policies cover damage to premises and stock. Business interruption cover, which may be included or purchased separately as part of an insurance agreement, will cover additional trading costs.
Comprehensive motor insurance covers the cost of repairing or replacing vehicles damaged by storms.
Do I receive compensation if my power was cut off?
Some homes have been without power during these storms, making life particularly uncomfortable during the extreme weather.
There are rules in place that mean compensation may be paid, external by the local electricity distributor.
The level of compensation is £70, with further payments of £70 if the situation continues for a long time. However, whether this is payable, and when, depends on the severity of the situation in each area.
The Energy Ombudsman, an impartial referee following complaints, points out that residents without power should be kept updated on the situation and on their right to compensation by their local distributor.
Do I have to go to work?
Employees are urged to contact their workplace if they have problems getting to work and employers should try to provide alternative working arrangements where possible, according to the latest advice, external from the conciliation service Acas.
Acas's top tips for workers affected by the bad weather include:
Informing your boss as soon as possible if you cannot get into work
Checking if there are alternative travel options
Asking about flexible working arrangements
Considering any urgent work that needs to be covered
The service also says if you're available to work but your place of work is closed, then you will usually be entitled to normal pay.
My travel plans were disrupted, what are my rights?
For delays, irrespective of the reason, many companies offer an automatic compensation service, although a claim still needs to be made. It can be more complicated for those with season tickets.
If you are booked on a specific service which is cancelled, then you must check with staff instead of simply getting on the next available train to your destination.
Is there help available if my flight was cancelled?
Some flights have been affected by the latest bad weather.
If a flight is cancelled then you can take a refund, or an alternative route or flight to your destination. You must talk to the airline, rather than booking it yourself.
The airline should look after you, such as providing meals if it is a long delay, but they do not have to pay the extra compensation that would be due had the delay been the airline's fault.
A joint session of Congress is set to convene on Monday to certify President-elect Donald J. Trump’s election victory, once a largely ceremonial and uneventful ritual.
The ban affects the entire Eastern Seaboard, the Pacific Coast along California, Oregon and Washington, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the Northern Bering Sea.
Cardinal Robert W. McElroy received a biretta from Pope Francis when he was installed as a new cardinal in 2022 at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
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