美国国防部副部长凯瑟琳·希克斯（Kathleen H. Hicks）周五（1月10日）在约翰霍普金斯大学高级国际研究学院（SAIS）举办的一场活动上，围绕如何在美中战略竞争中超越中国发表讲话，总结了过去几年来的经验。她于2021年2月宣誓就任美国第35任副防长，成为国防部二号人物。1月20日，随着拜登政府下台，她也将卸任。
这条在二十世纪初开凿的运河在世纪结束前的多数时间处于美国控制下，但在卡特总统的推动下，美国于1999年从巴拿马撤军，运河由此交由巴拿马政府管理。但根据华盛顿智库战略与国际研究中心2021年的报告，美国仍然通过与巴拿马签订的《关于巴拿马运河永久中立和营运的条约》(TREATY CONCERNING THE PERMANENT NEUTRALITY AND OPERATION OF THE PANAMA）维持对巴拿马运河的战略影响力。而每年从巴拿马运河通过的货物六成以上是来自美国或抵达美国。
Aurielle Hall and her daughter, Jade, 12, with the belongings they were able to grab before evacuating their home that was destroyed by the Eaton fire.
After visiting President-elect Donald J. Trump in November, Mr. Zuckerberg decided to relax Meta’s speech policies. He asked a small team to carry out his goals within weeks. The repercussions are just beginning.
Lucy Sherriff fled the Palisades and returned to find her home destroyed
It's been four days since Los Angeles became an inferno - and my home became a pile of smouldering embers.
I'm now staying at a friend's house in La Crescenta, north of the city, after evacuating my condo in the Palisades, 30 miles (48km) away from where the fires first started on Tuesday morning.
I thought we'd be safe here, but with six active fires now burning across the city, nowhere feels safe. So far, LA's fires have forced more than 179,000 people including myself to evacuate.
Many people I know thought they had found refuge, only to have to flee again.
We've had our bags packed by the door, just in case we were ordered to leave for the second time in 48 hours.
On Thursday afternoon, the moment we were dreading happened - we got an emergency evacuation notice.
We panicked, and ran to load the cars again. I checked my car - low on gas - and sent my partner out to find some. He had to drive to four different stations before he found one with any supply.
The alarm, it turned out, was false, a mistake that rattled America's second-largest city, which was already on edge.
Lucy Sherriff / BBC
The smouldering remains of Lucy Sherriff's home
As a climate reporter, I am used to covering extreme weather events. Just a few weeks ago I was interviewing residents who had fled the Malibu fires. Now I'm on the other side of the story.
The Palisades Fire has already been dubbed a historical wildfire. And it will forever be burnished in my memory because it's the wildfire that burned down my community and my home.
It began on the morning of 7 January. Small flames on the Santa Monica mountain-side that I could see from the Palisades Village. I watched it for a short while, the smoke stretching across the clear blue sky. Locals were taking photos of it.
An hour later, the flames had jumped across the ridgelines and descended down the mountain. I watched as the fire began to engulf homes and smoke billowed across the sky.
I was already extremely concerned about the Santa Ana wind warnings we'd received two days prior – up to 80mph (129kmh) wind gusts were forecast. Those, and the lack of rain we'd had made ideal conditions for a fire to spread quickly and intensely.
I felt how quickly the wind was changing, blowing embers and smoke across the town. And I could see the fire spreading, jumping from spot to spot so that it was soon surrounding the Palisades.
Lucy Sherriff / BBC
Burned out buildings line the streets of Lucy Sherriff's neighbourhood
The scene was truly apocalyptic - a bright red sun cast an orange glow over us, and ash rained down like snow.
I ran back home and started making plans if I needed to evacuate. There didn't feel much point in leaving right at that moment because the one road out, Sunset Blvd, was gridlocked.
I packed the important stuff first - passports, birth certificates - and then when I felt I had a bit more time, I hosed down the front of the house, hoping the water would keep my condo, one of several terraced buildings in a small development, from succumbing to the fire.
I finally decided to leave when we were told there was a mandatory evacuation order for the entirety of the Palisades. I was also getting more concerned as the fire had spread to the mountains directly in front of my house, and I had heard the winds were only going to get stronger going into the evening.
Lucy Sherriff / BBC
I never received a message about any evacuations or fire warnings on that first terrible day and nor did my partner. I was informed by neighbours.
I'm lucky I have a press pass and I could approach emergency services to find out what news I could. I'm so grateful that everyone I know managed to get out on time. A lot of us didn't realise how close the flames were to our homes, due to the lack of communication and information available.
It took a while to get out. There were thousands of cars trying to leave, all desperate to flee the flames. The frustration and fear was palpable.
I thought my home would be safe as it sits on the other side of Sunset Blvd, across from the mountains. I didn't think the fire would jump the road.
But when I got a text from a neighbour to say she saw Palisades High School on fire as she was evacuating, I knew that the fire was spreading further than anyone could have predicted. I had been watching the news - it was hard to look away - and it has been heartbreaking to see the school in flames, as well as some of our cultural landmarks, such as our local theatre.
Knowing that the wind speeds were only going to pick up as night fell, and it's much harder to fight a fire in the dark, I realised in that moment that my home might not make it. It was a sobering thought that I might be six months pregnant and homeless.
We arrived in La Crescenta Tuesday evening. The next morning I received the news from a neighbour that our house had made it through the night. I cried with relief.
Lucy Sherriff / BBC
When we started to read about looting that was happening in the Palisades, we decided we would go and check on our house, and retrieve some of the irreplaceable belongings we'd left behind - photographs, journals and family jewellery.
We returned Wednesday afternoon and were allowed to drive in because of my press credentials. When we reached Sunset Blvd, our road, we saw flames and fire engines and in front of our block of condos. My heart sank.
We drove past and saw our entire cluster of condos had been levelled.
We parked the car, and raced around the back. As soon as I saw the scene I doubled up like I'd been hit. Where about 20 condos once stood there was a pile of burning rubble. The firefighters, their faces covered in ash, kept apologising that they couldn't save our home. I was sobbing and thanking them for doing so much already.
I had to call and tell all of my neighbours that their homes were gone. I could barely get the words out.
Most of my village, I'd say about 90%, has been razed to the ground. It's all gone. I'm reeling from the shock, from the devastation and from everything my community has lost.
I'm planning to leave the city and stay with friends further north where it's safe and there's no smoke. I think it will be a while before I want to come back to LA.
It's surreal to think there's literally nothing to go back to. No home, no library, no stores, no kids' karate dojo, no theatre, no community centre. It's all just gone. I keep thinking "I should have grabbed more of my stuff before I fled".
But then I think back to one crystal clear moment before I fled my house: standing in my bedroom, trying to choose which pair of earrings to take with me – a gold pair of hoops my sisters had gifted me for my 30th, or a pair of handmade abalone shell earrings that a Native American woman had given me after reporting on her community.
I told myself, out loud: "Only take what you need. What do you need?" And I realised in a moment of clarity, whilst I was frantically scanning all of my favourite clothes, shoes, and jewellery, that I really didn't need any of it.
I grabbed my grandmother's ring, passports, birth certificates, and left everything else to burn.
Donald Trump and his lawyer Todd Blanche (left) appear virtually from Florida for his sentencing in his Manhattan hush money case.
A judge has sentenced US President-elect Donald Trump to an "unconditional discharge," bringing to an end the first criminal trial of a former US president.
The sentence in the hush-money payment case means the incoming president has been spared any penalty, including jail time or a fine, but he will still take office as the first US president with a felony conviction.
"Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances," Justice Juan Merchan said shortly before announcing the sentence, calling it a "truly extraordinary case".
Appearing via video call from Florida and flanked by his attorney and two prominent American flags, Trump declared he was "totally innocent".
It was the first time in this year-and-half long legal saga that Trump had uttered more than a "not guilty" or given a brief affirmative answer.
Granted the chance to speak ahead of his sentencing, Trump railed against the case for several minutes.
"This has been a very terrible experience," he said.
He claimed there had been a "weaponisation" of the judicial system and claimed the case was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for political reasons.
"I would like to explain that I was treated very, very unfairly, and I thank you very much," he said, before falling silent.
As Bragg watched Trump address him directly for the first time, he maintained a mostly stoic expression. He did, however, chuckle when Trump claimed Bragg had never wanted to bring the case.
After Trump had his say, Justice Merchan then took several moments to reflect on the "paradox" of the trial.
Justice Merchan noted that despite the media and political circus outside, "once the courtroom doors were closed, it was no more unique than all the other cases taking place at the same time".
But he added that after Trump was convicted, the case took another turn when the American people elected him in November to a second presidential term.
After careful consideration, he had determined that "the only lawful sentence, without encroaching upon the highest office of the land", was unconditional discharge - a sentence that would allow the American people a president unencumbered by pending court proceedings.
Getty Images
One of Trump's attorneys, Emil Bove, attends his sentencing hearing in person.
The end of a historic trial
Trump was found guilty by a New York jury of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May 2024. His sentencing was delayed multiple times due to Supreme Court rulings and the November presidential election.
The charges stemmed from a plot to cover up a hush-money payment to an adult film star in the waning days of the 2016 election. Prosecutors argued the payment was a form of election interference aimed at keeping vital information from voters, and therefore broke the law.
In October 2016, Trump's then-attorney, Michael Cohen, paid a woman named Stormy Daniels $130,000 (£106,000) to remain silent about a years-old alleged sexual encounter with the soon-to-be president.
After he was elected, Trump reimbursed Cohen in installments – and then falsely recorded them as legal expenses. Each of Trump's guilty verdicts correlates to a false document related to the cover-up.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied the sexual encounter with Ms Daniels. He repeatedly claimed the case was politically motivated persecution.
The six-week trial became a legal, political and media firestorm. Larger-than-life characters like Cohen and Daniels took the stand to face questioning from Trump's attorneys.
Trump brought a string of family members and Republican allies to court with him each day to fill the benches behind his defence table. Each day, he turned a small media pen in the hallway outside the courtroom into his personal pulpit, using the opportunities to rail against the justice system, the press, and other adversaries.
Trump also used the furore of the trial to raise millions from supporters for his legal battles, and his campaign to retake the White House.
In the four years between his terms in office, Trump was indicted in four separate criminal cases, including his New York case. In the end, this was the only one to go to trial.
On the campaign trail and social media, Trump used his legal quagmires to portray himself – and his supporters – as victims of a rigged justice system.
Despite the multiple indictments, including two that centred on his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Trump decisively defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris in November.
His victory quashed the two federal prosecutions against him, including his federal election interference case and one involving alleged mishandling of classified documents. The third, an election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, has been stuck in a series of delays and side dramas for months.
Only Trump's hush-money trial ever reached its conclusion, after Justice Merchan dug his heels in early January and demanded Trump appear virtually or in person for his sentencing.
The battles did not stop there, however. Trump's lawyers frantically filed appeals and even petitioned the US Supreme Court to halt the Friday hearing.
The Supreme Court rejected him in a brief order issued Thursday night.
They also fought to have the case dismissed by arguing that presidents-elect have immunity from criminal prosecution, an argument Justice Merchan rejected but they have continued to argue to higher courts.
When Trump's New York trial adjourned with a final bang of the gavel on Friday, it also brought to a close this particularly fraught chapter in his personal and political history.
When he is sworn in 10 days from now, he will do so as the first US president to have ever been convicted of a felony.
As he concluded his sentencing on Friday, Justice Merchan had one final message for Trump.
"I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office," he said.
It has not been a good week for Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
Government borrowing costs have hit their highest level in 16 years and the pound has fallen to a 14-month low against the dollar.
She has gone on a planned trip to China amid accusations from opposition parties that she is leaving at a moment of economic peril.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey is accompanying her on the trip. The 12-hour flight to Beijing is probably the length of the meeting she might have wanted to have with him.
So how serious are the recent movements on the markets and what could happen as a result?
Budget plans need to be tweaked
While the markets stabilised from Thursday lunchtime, the move against UK government debt is already enough to cause a problem for the chancellor's Budget maths.
Reeves has pledged not to borrow to fund day-to-day spending and to get debt falling as a share of national income by the end of this parliament. The Treasury has said these fiscal rules, set out in the Budget, are "non-negotiable".
At times over the past week the markets have looked pretty fragile for Britain, with both government borrowing costs going up and sterling falling back at the same time. That is a key marker.
While it's true that the overall direction for the markets over the past month has been set by an assessment of the inflationary consequences of President-elect Trump's trade and economic policies, the UK has been getting some special attention in addition.
It risks being tarred with both the inflationary stickiness of the US, and the stagnant growth of the eurozone - the worst of both worlds.
That said, it is important to be precise about the extent of the problem. The extra cost of servicing the national debt at these interest rates would be several billion pounds a year - i.e. material enough to require some sort of correction in the Budget maths, but doable, and the clear message this week is that "it will be done".
No impact on mortgages so far
The impact on budgetary maths is real, but the wider impact that might be expected - of higher borrowing costs for companies and for households - has not yet materialised.
The mortgage market has yet to see an increase in rates for fixed-term mortgages, as occurred rapidly in the panic after the 2022 mini-Budget. There is a curious calm.
One explanation lies in what is not happening. This time last year the major lenders greatly discounted mortgages in a battle for market share ahead of the key moments for house buying. This has not happened this year, and may yet have a consequence in the property market.
The Bank of England has indicated it will continue with interest rate cuts this year. The markets think there may be far fewer than previously expected, perhaps only one, leaving base interest rates at 4.5%.
Many economists say this is the wrong call, and believe rates will be cut multiple times. There's quite a lot of uncertainty here, and the key Bank of England committee is split. The Bank's words will be very carefully watched.
More positively for the economy, despite a lot of rhetoric from retailers, many have delivered strong results and have not lowered their profits expectations. Are consumers a bit more robust than had been assumed, and could this drive some growth in 2025?
The problem of servicing higher interest payments on the national debt increases the likelihood of the Treasury making plans for an adjustment, based on a squeeze on spending. A £10bn cut will hurt, but with a majority of 170 MPs in the House of Commons, and an ongoing spending review already in train, it can be done.
In these circumstances, with the credible threat of a global trade war, for example, it should be noted that Rachel Reeves' new fiscal rules do have an escape hatch.
In the event of "an emergency of a significant negative economic shock to the economy" the chancellor may "temporarily suspend the fiscal mandate".
While a global trade war could qualify, it would be difficult optics to suspend a "non-negotiable" and "iron-clad" set of rules before they had really bitten. The rules have not yet formally passed into law yet either, and remain a "draft" until the Commons votes to approve them.
It seems very unlikely that this route will be taken unless there is a very clear economic shock in the coming weeks.
The bigger point here is what matters in the markets, which is whether the UK is pursuing a credible set of policies, a convincing overall strategy.
Labour's focus on stability at all costs was understandable after the humiliation of Liz Truss's mini-Budget. But "stability" is not a growth strategy.
Pursuing green growth by borrowing for long-term capital investment is a potential strategy, and it underpinned "Bidenomics" in the US. The incoming government embraced the rhetoric of US policy under the outgoing president, without the same firepower. "Bidenomics without the money", you might say.
But now the new Trump administration is jettisoning this approach, rightly or wrongly, and the markets are less convinced that such a strategy will pay for itself. It will cost more to fund such a strategy, and require harsher trade-offs than expected.
Bidenomics without the money and without Biden is much too thin. A more detailed strategy for sustained growth is needed, and in short order.
The women want the prime minster to listen to their stories
The BBC has changed the names of the women in this article in order to protect their identity.
Three women who were left devastated by historical child sexual exploitation in Oldham have told the BBC ministers should have spoken to survivors before deciding not to conduct a government-led inquiry into grooming gangs in the town.
Jane and Amelia, who survived abuse more than 15 years ago, and Sarah, whose son was exploited in the town while he was in care, called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to meet them and hear their stories.
Ministers rejected Oldham Council's request to conduct an inquiry, saying the council should lead it.
A government spokesperson said it would "always be guided" by survivors and that Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips would continue to engage with victims.
But they added "many victims have said they do not want to see another national inquiry - they want action now".
Jane and Amelia said they would like to see a full national inquiry, because they feel it is important to cover the experiences of survivors across the country.
Sarah, whose son was abused in his teens and died more than 10 years later, would have liked a government-led inquiry into abuse in Oldham, but would accept a local one if it is properly funded.
"This isn't for anyone's political gain. This is about real human beings," Amelia said.
The government has resisted calls from the Conservatives and Reform for a new national inquiry, saying that implementing recommendations from a 2022 report conducted by Prof Alexis Jay into child sexual abuse is its priority.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said a new national inquiry would help focus on grooming gangs, where the Jay report did not.
Billionaire Elon Musk has criticised the UK government over its response to grooming gangs on his social media platform X.
Amelia said that, even though she did not agree with many of Musk's beliefs, she was "glad" he had highlighted the issue.
Last weekend, Phillips and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed the council had started its own inquiry.
Jane was 12 when she moved to Oldham. She made friends with a girl older than her who introduced her to a man in his late forties.
"He started coming round, buying me phones, telling me not tell my parents," she said, "then he started introducing me to his friends."
Now more than a decade later, Jane struggles to recall in detail the number of men involved - but says for six years she was abused by a British-Pakistani grooming gang.
"There was one specific incident when I was plied with alcohol, plied with drugs, and I could not move. There were a group of men coming in and out of the room, I think there must have been four or five, basically raping me."
Jane told her mum, the police, the council and her social worker about what was going on.
"At one point, when the police had turned up, there was an illegal immigrant with me and they came and arrested me for prostitution," she said.
Jane left Oldham several years later.
"After a certain amount of time you lose respect for yourself and it becomes a normality," Jane said, fighting back tears.
"When you are a child, you don't really understand, but when you get older and you look back, I felt like it was me against the world."
As far as Jane knows, none of the men who abused her have been jailed.
Amelia was still at school when she was trafficked across the country for sex with multiple men a night.
The people who took her were white British, but she said those who abused her were from every background, race and class.
"There isn't just one narrative - the Pakistani grooming gangs," she said. "It is not anything to do with nationality or race."
Her experience was not reflected in Oldham's 2022 review on grooming. She strongly feels more work needs to be done to increase awareness of the sexual exploitation of minors.
Amelia described the impact grooming has had on her life. Her children have been taken into care, she has struggled to maintain relationships and has been in and out of psychiatric support.
"I don't even class myself as a human being anymore," she said. "I'm damaged goods, I'm broken."
She has also echoed Jane and Sarah's desire to meet the government on this issue.
"I'd love the opportunity to speak to those senior people who are making decisions on our lives, to meet or speak to them personally," she said.
All the women have been greatly impacted by their stories
Sarah's 13-year-old son reported being sexually abused while he was a looked-after child in Oldham in the 2000s.
"He'd gone locally into a business where it was easy to buy cigarettes and alcohol and that is where the grooming started," she said.
Her son was told he had to pay for the items by doing what the British-Pakistani owner wanted. She added the care home knew about the arrangement but did not question it.
"It totally destroyed him," she said. "He just wasn't the child he was to start with. He was a shadow of his former self."
In 2021, Sarah says he was going through the process of reporting the abuse to police but had a cardiac arrest and died.
"I feel like I let him down in his life and I don't think it's right I don't get justice for him just because he's not here," she said. "He is just as important as every other victim."
Councillor Arooj Shah, leader of Oldham Council, said the new local independent inquiry will build on the findings of the Greater Manchester review.
"We're working closely with survivors and survivors' families to ensure they don't just have a voice, but will have a central role in developing this inquiry. We expect terms of reference to be agreed in the coming months," Shah said.
Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Steph Parker said "we absolutely recognise the lifelong impact of child sexual exploitation, which is why we are so committed to protecting victims and pursuing offenders. This is a tragic example that demonstrates the devastating trauma that comes with such horrific abuse."
Parker said child protection "is the priority" for the force today, with several ongoing.
"We have several ongoing victim-focused, non-recent CSE investigations being led by specialist investigators, which have led to over 100 arrests. Time is no barrier to action."
If you have been affected by the issues raised in this article, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.
The Palestinian death toll from the war in Gaza could be substantially higher than official figures reported by the Hamas-run health ministry, research published in the Lancet medical journal suggests.
It used data from the ministry, an online survey of relatives reporting fatalities, and obituaries. It estimated that up until 30 June 2024, 64,260 Palestinians died from traumatic injury, meaning an under-reporting of deaths by 41%.
The Palestinian death toll has been a source of dispute, though the UN treats the health ministry's figures as reliable.
The ministry's figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians though a recent report by the UN said the majority of verified victims over a six month period were women and children.
Israel says Hamas's figures cannot be trusted. In August, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had "eliminated over 17,000 terrorists", though it is unclear how it arrived at this figure. The IDF insists it only targets combatants and tries to avoid or minimise civilian casualties.
Israel is not allowing international journalists from media organisations, including the BBC, independent access to Gaza, making it difficult to verify the facts on the ground.
The team behind the latest study used a statistical method called "capture-recapture", a technique which has been used to evaluate deaths in other conflicts.
Researchers looked at how many people turned up repeatedly in different attempts to count deaths. The level of overlap between those lists suggested that the number of deaths directly caused by traumatic injury in the conflict could be significantly higher than hospital figures published by the Ministry of Health.
Gaza's health ministry issues updated death tolls from the war daily. It compiles the figures from deaths recorded in hospitals, deaths reported by family members, and deaths from "reliable media reports".
The report in the Lancet estimated a death toll between 55,298–78,525 people, compared to 37,877 reported by the health ministry.
The report's figures could be meaningfully higher or lower depending on the technical details of the analysis.
For example, identifying deaths by "traumatic injury" in each set of data could be tricky. Getting it wrong could push the study's estimates higher or lower.
The research also said 59% of those killed for whom data on sex and age was available were women, children and the elderly.
The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's attack in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken back to Gaza as hostages. Israel launched a massive military offensive on Gaza in response.
The health ministry says 46,006 people, most of them civilians, have been killed by the Israeli campaign.
A 4x4 makes its way through a snow covered road in Harrogate, North Yorkshire
Commuters are being warned of icy roads and travel disruption, as temperatures plummeted again overnight across the UK.
Fresh weather warnings have been issued, with snow, ice and fog forecast across southern England, Wales, Northern Ireland and northern Scotland on Thursday.
It will be mainly dry elsewhere with winter sunshine, but temperatures could fall again to as low as -16C on Thursday night.
The cold snap has already brought heavy snowfall to some areas, and dozens of flood alerts and warnings are in place due to either heavy rain or melting snow.
On Wednesday the lowest temperature recorded was -8.4C (16F) in Shap, Cumbria, according to the Met Office.
It comes as an amber cold health alert remains in place for all of England until Sunday, meaning the forecast weather is expected to have significant impacts across health - including a rise in deaths.
The Hills/BBC Weather Watcher
A sheep walks in snow in Huddersfield
The Met Office says travel disruption to road and rail services is likely on Thursday in areas covered by warnings, as well potential for accidents in icy places.
There are five warnings in place:
A yellow warning for snow and ice is in place for northern Scotland until midnight on Thursday
A yellow warning for ice has been issued until 10:30 across southern England and south-east Wales
Two yellow warnings for snow and ice are in force until 11:00 GMT - one across western Wales and north-west England, and south-west England; and another for Northern Ireland
A yellow warning for fog until 09:00 in Northern Ireland
Sue B/BBC Weather Watchers
A teenager made a snow sculpture of Venus in her garden in Leeds
On Wednesday snow caused some roads to close and motorists to be stationary for "long periods of time" in Devon and Cornwall, according to authorities there.
Gritters working into Thursday morning have been fitted with ploughs to clear routes in the area.
Car insurer RAC said it has seen the highest levels of demand for rescues in a three-day period since December 2022.
"Cold conditions will last until at least the weekend, so we urge drivers to remain vigilant of the risks posed by ice and, in some locations, snow," said RAC breakdown spokeswoman Alice Simpson.
National Rail have also advised passengers to check before they travel, as ice and snow can mean speed restrictions and line closures.
On Wednesday evening, poor weather was affecting Northern and Great Western Railway.
Buses are also replacing trains between Llandudno Junction and Blaenau Ffestiniog until Monday.
A car covered in snow on a road in Buxton, Derbyshire
The wintry conditions have caused significant disruption across the UK since snow swept many parts of the country at the weekend.
Hundreds of schools were closed in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, including schools in Yorkshire, Merseyside, the Midlands and Aberdeenshire.
The country has also been hit by widespread flooding in recent days. Currently there are 68 flood warnings - meaning flooding is expected - in England and three in Wales.
The weather is expected to be less cold over the weekend.
The wildfires raging in Los Angeles have led to claims that officials there have mismanaged the city's preparation for such events.
President-elect Donald Trump has pointed the finger of blame at California Governor Gavin Newsom, who he says is responsible for LA's struggling water supply.
Others have blamed LA Mayor Karen Bass for cutting the city's fire department budget.
BBC Verify looked into the facts behind the political fallout.
What has Trump claimed?
In a social media post on Wednesday, Trump said Governor Newsom "refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water" to put out the fires.
But the specific declaration he mentions doesn't appear to exist.
The governor's press office issued a statement in response, saying: "There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction."
We've also searched for this document and been unable to find it.
Newsom has previously opposed efforts to redirect more water to southern California.
This includes a 2020 presidential memorandum in which Trump sought to divert water away from Northern California to farmland further south.
Newsom opposed this at the time, saying he wanted to protect "highly imperilled fish species close to extinction".
That is what Trump is referencing in his post blaming Newsom for the response to the wildfires, where he says the governor "wanted to protect an essentially worthless fish", Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt has confirmed.
California's attorney general ultimately blocked the measure, citing potential harm to endangered species and saying that it was not scientifically justified.
Experts say this decision isn't impacting the efforts to tackle these wildfires.
"California is not experiencing water supply shortages at the moment, not in southern California or elsewhere," says Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at the California Institute for Water Resources.
"There is plenty of water in the reservoirs for firefighting or whatever you want to do with it," he adds.
Although southern California is currently experiencing a drought, data shows its reservoirs are almost all currently above the historic average for this time of the year. None are at significantly low levels.
Getty Images
Is there is 'no water for fire hydrants'?
Trump has also said that there was "no water for fire hydrants".
There have been reports that certain fire hydrants have run dry.
This is down to high demand placing a heavy strain on the system, according to local officials and experts.
In Pasadena, Fire Chief Chad Augustin said the area experienced a short period of time where pressure was low on a small amount of hydrants. All issues had been resolved, he added.
"There are very localised incidents of this unfolding where the fire hydrants have had insufficient water pressure for firefighters to use them, but that's not because LA is running out of water," says Mr Swain.
"There are thousands of firefighters and hundred of fire engines drawing upon water, and ultimately only so much can flow through pipes at a time."
Did LA Mayor cut fire department budget?
LA Mayor Karen Bass has faced criticism over cuts to the city's fire department budget.
For the latest financial year, the LA Fire Department (LAFD) budget was reduced by $17.6m (£14.3m).
In a memo to Mayor Bass last month, LA Fire Chief Kristin Crowley warned that the cuts had "severely limited the department's capacity to prepare for, train for, and respond to large-scale emergencies, such as wildfires".
Mayor Bass responded to the criticism, saying: "I think if you go back and look at the reductions that were made, there were no reductions that were made that would have impacted the situation that we were dealing with over the last couple of days."
The LAFD has an overall budget of almost $820m (£670m), and it isn't the only department responding to the fires.
For example, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Los Angeles County Fire Department are part of the relief efforts, along with the federal government.
"LA County has some of the most advanced and sophisticated wildfire fighting resources of any location in the world. If you had to chose one place on earth that was best place to tackle this sort of disaster, it would be LA county," says Mr Swain.
"The disaster isn't as bad as it is because there's a lack of resource, the reality is there's a limit to how effective wildland firefighting can be under extreme conditions like we experienced this week."
The affluent Los Angeles neighbourhood of Pacific Palisades typically has strangers walking around, trying to catch a glimpse of celebrities' houses.
Now, though, its streets are filled with firefighters battling a 3,000-acre wildfire that is ravaging the area.
Across the city, more than 30,000 have been forced to evacuate their homes as winds stoke three fires. A state of emergency has been declared, leaving roads gridlocked as people flee.
Among them, a number of famous faces have been forced to flee their usually idyllic California homes, including Star Wars' Mark Hamill and Schitt's Creek actor Eugene Levy.
James Woods, who has starred in films including Nixon and Casino, described evacuating his home on social media, and said he was not sure if it was still standing.
"It feels like losing a loved one," he wrote.
Pacific Palisades is known for being exclusive, with a house costing $4.5m (£3.6m) on average as of November 2024, according to Realtor.com.
The north LA neighbourhood is bordered on the south with a three-mile (4.8km) stretch of beaches on the Pacific Ocean, nestled between Malibu and Santa Monica.
It is a hub for trendy shops, cafes and a farmers' market.
But the Palisades fire - which grew from 10 acres to over 2,900 in a matter of hours - has shattered they area's idyllic nature.
Mark Hamill, of Star Wars fame, called the blaze the "most horrific fire since '93" - which burned 18,000 acres and destroyed 323 homes in nearby Malibu - in a post on Instagram.
He said he evacuated his home in Malibu "so last-minute there [were] small fires on both sides of the road".
Levy, who rose to fame for his role in film series American Pie, told local media he was forced to evacuate his home.
"The smoke looked pretty black and intense over Temescal Canyon. I couldn't see any flames but the smoke was very dark," he recounted to the Los Angeles Times.
Reality star's Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag lost their family home in the fire, his sister wrote on Instagram.
"I am beyond heartbroken for my brother, Heidi and the kids," she said. "Even the fire station in the Palisades has burned down."
Miles Teller, best known for his role in Top Gun: Maverick, and his wife Keleigh, also live in the area.
Posting on Instagram, Mrs Teller shared a picture of the fires and a heart-break emoji. She urged people to leave bowls of water for animals as they evacuate their homes.
Meanwhile, Actor Steve Guttenberg, known for Police Academy, stayed to help firefighters by moving cars in order to make room for incoming fire trucks.
He urged residents to leave the keys to their abandoned cars so they could be moved out the way of firefighters.
"We really need people to move their cars," he told news outlet KTLA: "This is not a parking lot."
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It is not just famous residents affected by the wildfire - notable buildings in the area are under threat as well.
The Palisades Charter High School - which has served as a set for movies and counts several notable people as former students - has been damaged by fire, local media reports.
The fire-stricken school has been used in films including 1976 horror classic Carrie and Project X, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Former students include director JJ Abrams, musician Will.i.am, and actors Forest Whitaker and Katey Sagal.
The Getty Villa is an art museum in the Palisades that has a large collection of artworks and artefacts, including works by Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet.
The museum confirmed on Tuesday that it had closed to the public and that some trees and vegetation on site had burned - but said that "no structures are on fire, and staff and the collection remain safe".
Star studded events due to take place in the area have also been cancelled.
Film premiers for Unstoppable, Better Man and Wolfman have been called off, as has the Screen Actors Guild Awards live nominations event.
英国财相里夫斯（Rachel Reeves）访华前夕，连日来有议员要求她取消行程，以回应港府悬红通缉居英港人及处理国内经济危机。前香港总督彭定康（Lord Chris Patten）更断言里夫斯此行不会有任何收获，直指向中国“下跪”也难以拯救英国经济。而被悬红通缉的在英港人及人权组织则呼吁里夫斯就人权问题向中方交涉，不应牺牲人权换取经济利益。
彭定康批评英国国内不少人妄想向中国出口更多商品、引入更多中国投资，就必须向北京下跪、跟从其政治取向，甚至无视香港传媒大亨黎智英被囚禁，以及北京对在英港人的监控等。他认为，若英国只能在会议纪录中低调提出这些问题就当已经捍卫了自身价值，“那就只能求主保佑我们了” （then God help us all）。
The historic ranch house of Will Rogers and an important residence by Ray Kappe were destroyed by the fires, which threaten L.A.’s spectacular design legacy.
Charred remains of the Will Rogers historic Ranch House in Pacific Palisades, which dated from 1926. The beloved comedian and Hollywood cowboy hosted Walt Disney, along with Clark Gable and Charles Lindbergh.
The US has announced an increased $25m (£20.4m) reward for information leading to the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on the day he was sworn in for a third six-year term in office.
The inauguration ceremony was overshadowed by recrimination from the international community and Venezuelan opposition leaders.
Rewards have also been offered for information leading to the arrest and or conviction of Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
A new reward of up to $15m for Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino has also been offered.
The UK also issued sanctions on 15 top Venezuelan officials, including judges, members of the security forces and military officials.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said those sanctioned were responsible for "undermining democracy, the rule of law, and human rights violations".
Foreign Secretary David Lammy went on to describe Maduro's regime as "fraudulent".
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
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Donald Trump and his lawyer Todd Blanche (left) appear virtually from Florida for his sentencing in his Manhattan hush money case.
A judge has sentenced US President-elect Donald Trump to an "unconditional discharge," bringing to an end the first criminal trial of a former US president.
The sentence in the hush-money payment case means the incoming president has been spared any penalty, including jail time or a fine, but he will still take office as the first US president with a felony conviction.
"Never before has this court been presented with such a unique and remarkable set of circumstances," Justice Juan Merchan said shortly before announcing the sentence, calling it a "truly extraordinary case".
Appearing via video call from Florida and flanked by his attorney and two prominent American flags, Trump declared he was "totally innocent".
It was the first time in this year-and-half long legal saga that Trump had uttered more than a "not guilty" or given a brief affirmative answer.
Granted the chance to speak ahead of his sentencing, Trump railed against the case for several minutes.
"This has been a very terrible experience," he said.
He claimed there had been a "weaponisation" of the judicial system and claimed the case was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for political reasons.
"I would like to explain that I was treated very, very unfairly, and I thank you very much," he said, before falling silent.
As Bragg watched Trump address him directly for the first time, he maintained a mostly stoic expression. He did, however, chuckle when Trump claimed Bragg had never wanted to bring the case.
After Trump had his say, Justice Merchan then took several moments to reflect on the "paradox" of the trial.
Justice Merchan noted that despite the media and political circus outside, "once the courtroom doors were closed, it was no more unique than all the other cases taking place at the same time".
But he added that after Trump was convicted, the case took another turn when the American people elected him in November to a second presidential term.
After careful consideration, he had determined that "the only lawful sentence, without encroaching upon the highest office of the land", was unconditional discharge - a sentence that would allow the American people a president unencumbered by pending court proceedings.
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One of Trump's attorneys, Emil Bove, attends his sentencing hearing in person.
The end of a historic trial
Trump was found guilty by a New York jury of 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in May 2024. His sentencing was delayed multiple times due to Supreme Court rulings and the November presidential election.
The charges stemmed from a plot to cover up a hush-money payment to an adult film star in the waning days of the 2016 election. Prosecutors argued the payment was a form of election interference aimed at keeping vital information from voters, and therefore broke the law.
In October 2016, Trump's then-attorney, Michael Cohen, paid a woman named Stormy Daniels $130,000 (£106,000) to remain silent about a years-old alleged sexual encounter with the soon-to-be president.
After he was elected, Trump reimbursed Cohen in installments – and then falsely recorded them as legal expenses. Each of Trump's guilty verdicts correlates to a false document related to the cover-up.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied the sexual encounter with Ms Daniels. He repeatedly claimed the case was politically motivated persecution.
The six-week trial became a legal, political and media firestorm. Larger-than-life characters like Cohen and Daniels took the stand to face questioning from Trump's attorneys.
Trump brought a string of family members and Republican allies to court with him each day to fill the benches behind his defence table. Each day, he turned a small media pen in the hallway outside the courtroom into his personal pulpit, using the opportunities to rail against the justice system, the press, and other adversaries.
Trump also used the furore of the trial to raise millions from supporters for his legal battles, and his campaign to retake the White House.
In the four years between his terms in office, Trump was indicted in four separate criminal cases, including his New York case. In the end, this was the only one to go to trial.
On the campaign trail and social media, Trump used his legal quagmires to portray himself – and his supporters – as victims of a rigged justice system.
Despite the multiple indictments, including two that centred on his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Trump decisively defeated Vice-President Kamala Harris in November.
His victory quashed the two federal prosecutions against him, including his federal election interference case and one involving alleged mishandling of classified documents. The third, an election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, has been stuck in a series of delays and side dramas for months.
Only Trump's hush-money trial ever reached its conclusion, after Justice Merchan dug his heels in early January and demanded Trump appear virtually or in person for his sentencing.
The battles did not stop there, however. Trump's lawyers frantically filed appeals and even petitioned the US Supreme Court to halt the Friday hearing.
The Supreme Court rejected him in a brief order issued Thursday night.
They also fought to have the case dismissed by arguing that presidents-elect have immunity from criminal prosecution, an argument Justice Merchan rejected but they have continued to argue to higher courts.
When Trump's New York trial adjourned with a final bang of the gavel on Friday, it also brought to a close this particularly fraught chapter in his personal and political history.
When he is sworn in 10 days from now, he will do so as the first US president to have ever been convicted of a felony.
As he concluded his sentencing on Friday, Justice Merchan had one final message for Trump.
"I wish you Godspeed as you assume your second term in office," he said.
A.J. Weberman sifted through the prophetic singer’s trash in search of meaning. He turned on him as a sellout and has spent decades trying to reclaim him for the counterculture.
In the 1960s, A.J. Weberman helped organize smoke-ins, marijuana marches and pranks on establishment figures. Bob Dylan provided much of the soundtrack.
He was the sole resident of Budelli, an undeveloped sliver of paradise off the northern coast of Sardinia. He embraced the solitude, until he was evicted.
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