Donald Trump has said that a meeting is being arranged between himself and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The US president-elect gave no timeline for when the meeting might take place.

"He wants to meet and we are setting it up," he said in remarks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

Trump has promised to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine soon after he takes office on 20 January and has expressed scepticism about US military and financial support for Kyiv.

Elon Musk took his endorsement of Germany's far-right party to the next level on Thursday, hosting a live chat with its frontwoman, Alice Weidel.

The 74-minute conversation ranged across energy policy, German bureaucracy, Adolf Hitler, Mars and the meaning of life.

The world's richest man unequivocally urged Germans to back Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in forthcoming elections.

It's the tech billionaire's latest, controversial foray into European politics.

There'd been a considerable build-up to this discussion as Elon Musk faced accusations of meddling in Germany's snap election.

But the interview, conducted in English, was arguably as much a chance for the AfD to reach international audiences via Musk's X platform.

Knowing of his close relationship with Donald Trump, Alice Weidel made sure to express her support for the US president-elect and his team.

She insisted her party was "conservative" and "libertarian" but had been "negatively framed" by mainstream media as extremist.

Sections of the AfD have been officially classed as right-wing extremist by German authorities.

A BBC News investigation last year found connections between some party figures and far-right networks, while one leading light on the party's hard right, Björn Höcke, was fined last year for using a banned Nazi phrase – though he denied doing so knowingly.

During the conversation, Weidel declared that Hitler had in fact been a "communist", despite the notable anti-communism of the Nazi leader, who invaded the Soviet Union.

"He wasn't a conservative," she said. "He wasn't a libertarian. He was this communist, socialist guy."

She also described Hitler as an "antisemitic socialist".

On other matters, she and Musk chimed – and at times giggled - over Germany's infamous bureaucracy, its "crazy" abandonment of nuclear power, the need for tax cuts, free speech and "wokeness".

In a sometimes stilted and, at times, surprising conversation, one surreal moment came when Weidel asked Mr Musk if he believed in God.

The reply – for those who wish to know – was that he's open to the idea as he seeks to "understand the universe as much as possible".

Despite all the anticipation that exchange, surely, had not been on many people's bingo card.

The AfD, which also opposes Berlin's weapons aid to Ukraine, is polling second in Germany, with a snap federal election scheduled for 23 February.

However, it won't be able to take power as other parties won't work with it.

That hasn't stopped Elon Musk from hailing Weidel as the "leading candidate to run Germany".

He's justified his intervention by citing his significant investments in the country - notably a huge Tesla plant just outside Berlin.

And he's dismissed characterisation of the AfD as far-right while previously labelling the social democratic Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, a "fool".

Scholz, whose chances of retaining the chancellery look remote, later insisted that he was "staying cool" about Elon Musk's attacks.

A hardline Sri Lankan monk who is a close ally of ousted former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, has been sentenced to nine months in prison for insulting Islam and inciting religious hatred.

Galagodaatte Gnanasara was convicted on Thursday for the remarks, which date back to 2016.

Sri Lanka rarely convicts Buddhist monks, but this marks the second time that Gnanasara, who has repeatedly been accused of hate crimes and anti-Muslim violence, has been jailed.

The sentence, handed down by the Colombo Magistrate's Court, comes after a presidential pardon he received in 2019 for a six-year sentence related to intimidation and contempt of court.

Gnanasara was arrested in December for remarks he made during a 2016 media conference, where he made several derogatory remarks against Islam.

On Thursday, the court said that all citizens, regardless of religion, are entitled to the freedom of belief under the Constitution.

he was also given a fine of 1,500 Sri Lankan rupees ($5; £4). Failure to pay the fine would result in an additional month of imprisonment, the court's ruling added.

Gnanasara has filed an appeal against the sentence.

He was a trusted ally of former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who was forced to resign and flee abroad following mass protests over the island nation's economic crisis in 2022.

During Rajapaksa's presidency, Gnanasara, who also leads a Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist group, was appointed head of a presidential task force on legal reforms aimed at protecting religious harmony.

After Rajapaksa's ouster, Gnanasara was jailed last year for a similar charge related to hate speech against the country's Muslim minority but was granted bail while appealing his four-year sentence.

In 2018, he was sentenced to six years for contempt of court and intimidating the wife of a political cartoonist who is widely believed to have been disappeared. However, he only served nine months of that sentence because he received a pardon by Maithripala Sirisena who was the country's president at the time.

The daughter of late Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos has been banned from drinking on planes and in airports after she and her husband got into a drunken brawl with another passenger on board a Jetstar flight.

Analisa Josefa Corr and James Alexander Corr caused a "disturbance" with their "disorderly behaviour" while intoxicated on a flight from Hobart to Sydney on 29 December, Australia police said.

Ms Corr has been accused of "grabbing and shaking another passenger while exiting the aircraft toilet", police said. The pair were escorted off the flight.

They pleaded not guilty to charges of not complying with safety instructions and consuming alcohol not provided by the crew, but on Friday agreed to a booze ban while on bail.

If found guilty, they could be fined up to A$13,750 ($8,520; £6,925) for each charge.

Ms Corr has also denied a charge of assaulting a fellow passenger on board the aircraft, which carries up to two years in prison.

They have each also been asked to offer up A$20,000, which would be forfeited they breach any bail conditions.

Ms Corr, 53, is Marcos' Australia-raised daughter with former Sydney model Evelin Hegyesi - which makes her the half-sister of the Philippines' current president Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

On Instagram Ms Corr describes herself as an interior designer.

Mr Corr, 45, is a former soldier, according to Australian media.

In its statement on the case, police urged travellers to be "mindful of their behaviour at airports".

"You don't want to start the new year with a significant fine or worse, behind bars," said Australian Federal Police Sergeant Luke Stockwell.

"The AFP is increasing patrols at all major airports during the holidays and will not tolerate dangerous, disruptive or abusive behaviour from travellers," he added.

Jetstar did not directly comment on the incident, but a spokesman said the company will "never tolerate disruptive behaviour on our aircraft".

"The safety and wellbeing of customers and crew is our number one priority," he added.

Benin forces have suffered heavy losses in an attack near the border with insurgency-hit Niger and Burkina Faso, authorities have said.

Colonel Faizou Gomina, the national guard's chief of staff, said one of Benin's most well-equipped military positions had been hit in the north on Wednesday evening.

"We've been dealt a very hard blow," Col Gomina added.

The country has in recent years witnessed increasing attacks in the northern region blamed on jihadist groups based in neighbouring countries.

More than 120 Beninese military officers were killed between 2021 and December 2024, a diplomatic source told AFP news agency.

Last month, gunmen killed three soldiers and wounded four others who were guarding an oil pipeline in the north-east.

Col Gomina did not provide a death toll for Wednesday's attack, but the main opposition party, The Democrats, said about 30 soldiers had been killed in the Alibori region, Reuters news agency reports.

A security source put the death toll at 28, according to AFP.

"We are continuing cleaning-up operations. Forty assailants have been neutralised so far," the military source added.

Col Gomina said the position attacked had been "one of the strongest and most militarised" and called on military commanders to improve their operational strategies in order to counter security threats.

"Wake up, officers and section chiefs, we have battles to win," he said.

In 2022, Benin deployed nearly 3,000 troops to curb cross-border incursions and reinforce security in the north.

You may also be interested in:

• 'I thought I would die' - freed captive tells BBC of life in West African jihadist base
• West Africa faces up to policing its terror triangle
• Find out more about Benin

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

The planet has moved a major step closer to warming more than 1.5C, new data shows, despite world leaders vowing a decade ago they would try to avoid this.

The European Copernicus climate service, one of the main global data providers, said on Friday that 2024 was the first calendar year to pass the symbolic threshold, as well as the world's hottest on record.

This does not mean the international 1.5C target has been broken, because that refers to a long-term average over decades, but does bring us nearer to doing so as fossil fuel emissions continue to heat the atmosphere.

Last week UN chief António Guterres described the recent run of temperature records as "climate breakdown".

"We must exit this road to ruin - and we have no time to lose," he said in his New Year message, calling for countries to slash emissions of planet-warming gases in 2025.

Global average temperatures for 2024 were around 1.6C above those of the pre-industrial period - the time before humans started burning large amounts of fossil fuels - according to Copernicus data.

This breaks the record set in 2023 by just over 0.1C, and means the last 10 years are now the 10 warmest years on record.

The Met Office, Nasa and other climate groups are due to release their own data later on Friday. All are expected to agree that 2024 was the warmest on record, although precise figures vary slightly.

Last year's heat is predominantly due to humanity's emissions of planet-warming gases, such as carbon dioxide, which are still at record highs.

Natural weather patterns such as El Niño - where surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean become unusually warm - played a smaller role.

"By far and away the largest contribution impacting our climate is greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere," Samantha Burgess, deputy director of Copernicus, tells the BBC.

The 1.5C figure has become a powerful symbol in international climate negotiations ever since it was agreed in Paris in 2015, with many of the most vulnerable countries considering it a matter of survival.

The risks from climate change, such as intense heatwaves, rising sea-levels and loss of wildlife, would be much higher at 2C of warming than at 1.5C, according to a landmark UN report from 2018.

Yet the world has been moving closer and closer to breaching the 1.5C barrier.

"When exactly we will cross the long-term 1.5C threshold is hard to predict, but we're obviously very close now," says Myles Allen of the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford, and an author of the UN report.

The current trajectory would likely see the world pass 1.5C of long-term warming by the early 2030s. This would be politically significant, but it wouldn't mean game over for climate action.

"It's not like 1.49C is fine, and 1.51C is the apocalypse - every tenth of a degree matters and climate impacts get progressively worse the more warming we have," explains Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, a research group in the US.

Even fractions of a degree of global warming can bring more frequent and intense extreme weather, such as heatwaves and heavy rainfall.

In 2024, the world saw blistering temperatures in west Africa, prolonged drought in parts of South America, intense rainfall in central Europe and some particularly strong tropical storms hitting north America and south Asia.

These events were just some of those made more intense by climate change over the last year, according to the World Weather Attribution group.

Even this week, as the new figures are released, Los Angeles has been overwhelmed with destructive wildfires fuelled by high winds and a lack of rain.

While there are many contributing factors to this week's events, experts say conditions conducive to fires in California are becoming more likely in a warming world.

It wasn't only air temperatures that set new marks in 2024. The world's sea surface also reached a new daily high, while the total amount of moisture in the atmosphere reached record levels.

That the world is breaking new records is not a surprise: 2024 was always expected to be hot, because of the effect of the El Niño weather pattern - which ended around April last year - on top of human-caused warming.

But the margin of several records in recent years has been less expected, with some scientists fearing it could represent an acceleration of warming.

"I think it's safe to say that both 2023 and 2024 temperatures surprised most climate scientists - we didn't think we'd be seeing a year above 1.5C this early," says Dr Hausfather.

"Since 2023 we've had around 0.2C of extra warming that we can't fully explain, on top of what we had expected from climate change and El Niño," agrees Helge Gößling, a climate physicist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany

Various theories have been suggested to explain this 'extra' warmth, such as an apparent reduction in the low-level cloud cover that tends to cool the planet, and prolonged ocean heat following the end of El Niño.

"The question is whether this acceleration is something persistent linked to human activities that means we will have steeper warming in the future, or whether it is a part of natural variability," Dr Gößling adds.

"At the moment it's very hard to say."

Despite this uncertainty, scientists stress that humans still have control over the future climate, and sharp reductions in emissions can lessen the consequences of warming.

"Even if 1.5 degrees is out the window, we still can probably limit warming to 1.6C, 1.7C or 1.8C this century," says Dr Hausfather.

"That's going to be far, far better than if we keep burning coal, oil and gas unabated and end up at 3C or 4C - it still really matters."

US aviation giant Boeing has told BBC News it is donating $1m (£812,600) to an inauguration fund for President-elect Donald Trump.

Google has also confirmed that it has made a similar donation as the two firms join a growing list of major American companies contributing to the fund.

The list also includes oil producer Chevron and technology giants Meta, Amazon and Uber.

Trump's inauguration, marking the start of his second term in the White House, is set to take place on 20 January.

"We are pleased to continue Boeing's bipartisan tradition of supporting US Presidential Inaugural Committees," Boeing said.

The company added that it has made similar donations to each of the past three presidential inauguration funds.

Boeing is working to recover from a safety and quality control crisis, as well as dealing with the losses from a strike last year.

The company is also building the next presidential aircraft, known as Air Force One. The two jets are expected to come into service as early as next year.

During his first term as president, Trump forced the plane maker to renegotiate its contract, calling the initial deal too expensive.

Google became the latest big tech firm to donate to the fund, following similar announcements by Meta and Amazon. It also said it will stream the event around the world.

"Google is pleased to support the 2025 inauguration, with a livestream on YouTube and a direct link on our homepage," said Karan Bhatia, Google's global head of government affairs and public policy.

Car companies Ford, General Motors and Toyota have also donated a $1m each to the inaugural committee.

In the energy industry, Chevron confirmed that it has made a donation to the fund but declined to say how much.

"Chevron has a long tradition of celebrating democracy by supporting the inaugural committees of both parties. We are proud to be doing so again this year," said Bill Turene, Chevron's manager of global media relations.

The death of a teenage boy sparked violent protests in a city in north-west China, the BBC has confirmed through verified video.

In the videos shared on social media, protesters can be seen hurling objects at police and officers beating some demonstrators in Pucheng in Shaanxi province.

Authorities said the teenager fell to his death on 2 January in an accident at his school dormitory. But following his death allegations began spreading on social media that there had been a cover-up.

Protests erupted soon after and lasted several days, before they were apparently quelled earlier this week. The BBC has seen no further evidence of protest in Pucheng since then.

Public demonstrations are not uncommon in China, but authorities have been particularly sensitive about them since the 2022 White Paper protests against Covid policies, which saw rare criticism of the Chinese Communist Party and President Xi Jinping.

State media has been silent on the protests in Pucheng. Any clips or mention of the demonstrations have been largely censored from Chinese social media, as is usually the case for incidents deemed sensitive by authorities.

But several videos have been leaked out of China and posted on X.

The BBC has confirmed these videos were filmed at the Pucheng Vocational Education Centre, and found no earlier versions online prior to the reported outbreak of the protests over the past few days.

When contacted by the BBC, a representative from the publicity department of the Pucheng government denied there had been protests. There was no answer when we rang an official handling media queries.

In a statement released earlier this week, local authorities said that the teenager surnamed Dang was a third-year student at the education centre in Pucheng.

Prior to his death, Dang had been woken up in the night by other students chatting in his dormitory, their statement said. He got into an argument and altercation with a boy, which was resolved by a school official.

Later that night, his body was found by another student at the foot of the dormitory block.

The statement described it as "an accident where a student fell from a height at school". It added that the police had conducted investigations and an autopsy, and "at present exclude it as a criminal case".

But allegations have swirled online for days that there was more to the story and that the school and authorities were hiding the truth. One account claimed, without proof, that Dang killed himself after he was bullied by the boy he'd fought with earlier.

Unverified remarks from his family have been circulating, alleging that the injuries on Dang's body were inconsistent with the authorities' version of events and that they were not allowed to examine his body for long.

The allegations appeared to have incensed many in Pucheng, sparking protests that drew at least hundreds of people.

Bullying has become a highly sensitive topic in China in recent years, with past cases of student deaths triggering protests. Last month, a Chinese court handed out lengthy jail sentences to two teenagers who murdered a classmate.

There are also videos posted on X on Monday, which the BBC has confirmed were filmed at the Pucheng Vocational Education Centre, showing people mourning the teenager's death. They placed flowers and offerings at the entrance of the school, and conducted a traditional mourning ritual by throwing pieces of paper from the rooftop of a school building.

Other videos circulating online appear to show demonstrators, many of them young, storming a building and clashing with police while shouting "give us the truth".

One verified clip shows a school official confronted by shouting protesters who shove him around. Others show destroyed offices in the compound, and protesters pushing down a barricade at the school entrance.

Another show protesters hurling objects such as traffic cones at groups of retreating police; and officers tackling and detaining people while beating them with batons. Some protesters are seen with blood on their heads and faces.

There is little information on what happened next, but reports on social media suggest a much larger police presence in Pucheng in recent days with no more reports of demonstrations.

Authorities have also urged the public not to "create rumours, believe in rumours, or spread rumours".

Copenhagen's gloomy January weather matches the mood among Denmark's politicians and business leaders.

"We take this situation very, very seriously," said Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen of Donald Trump's threats to acquire Greenland – and punish Denmark with high tariffs if it stands in the way.

But, he added, the government had "no ambition whatsoever to escalate some war of words."

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen downplayed Trump's own suggestion that the US might use military force to seize Greenland. "I don't have the fantasy to imagine that it'll ever get to that," she told Danish TV.

And Lars Sandahl Sorensen, CEO of Danish Industry, also said there was "every reason to stay calm... no-one has any interest in a trade war."

But behind the scenes, hastily organised high-level meetings have been taking place in Copenhagen all week, a reflection of the shock caused by Trump's remarks.

Greenland PM Mute Egede flew in to meet both the prime minister and King Frederik X on Wednesday.

And on Thursday night, party leaders from across the political spectrum gathered for an extraordinary meeting on the crisis with Mette Frederiksen in Denmark's parliament.

Faced with what many in Denmark are calling Trump's "provocation," Frederiksen has broadly attempted to strike a conciliatory tone, repeatedly referring to the US as "Denmark's closest partner".

It was "only natural" that the US was preoccupied by the Arctic and Greenland, she added.

Yet she also said that any decision on Greenland's future should be up to its people alone: "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders... and it's the Greenlanders themselves who have to define their future."

Her cautious approach is twofold.

On the one hand, Frederiksen is keen to avoid escalating the situation. She's been burned before, in 2019, when Trump cancelled a trip to Denmark after she said his proposal to buy Greenland was "absurd".

"Back then he only had one more year in office, then things went back to normal," veteran political journalist Erik Holstein told the BBC . "But maybe this is the new normal."

But Frederiksen's comments also speak to the Danish resolve not to meddle in the internal affairs of Greenland – an autonomous territory with its own parliament and whose population is increasingly leaning towards independence.

"She should've been much clearer in rejecting the idea," said opposition MP Rasmus Jarlov.

"This level of disrespect from the coming US president towards very, very loyal allies and friends is record-setting," he told the BBC, although he admitted Trump's forcefulness had "surprised everybody."

The conservative MP believed Frederiksen's insistence that "only Greenland... can decide and define Greenland's future" placed too much pressure on the island's inhabitants. "It would've been prudent and clever to stand behind Greenland and just clearly state that Denmark doesn't want [a US takeover]."

The Greenland question is a delicate one for Denmark, whose prime minister officially apologised only recently for spearheading a 1950s social experiment which saw Inuit children removed from their families to be re-educated as "model Danes".

Last week, Greenland's leader said the territory should free itself from "the shackles of colonialism."

By doing so he tapped into growing nationalist sentiment, fuelled by interest among Greenland's younger generations in the indigenous culture and history of the Inuit.

Most commentators now expect a successful independence referendum in the near future. While for many it would be seen as a victory, it could also usher in a new set of problems, as 60% of Greenland's economy is dependent on Denmark.

An independent Greenland "would need to make choices," said Karsten Honge. The Social Democrat MP now fears his preferred option of a new Commonwealth-style pact "based on equality and democracy" is unlikely to come about.

Sitting in his parliamentary office decorated with poems and drawings depicting scenes of Inuit life, Honge said Greenland would need to decide "how much it values independence". It could sever ties with Denmark and turn to the US, Honge said, "but if you treasure independence then that doesn't make sense."

Opposition MP Jarlov argues that while there is no point in forcing Greenland to be part of Denmark, "it is very close to being an independent country already".

Its capital Nuuk is self-governed, but relies on Copenhagen for management of currency, foreign relations and defence - as well as substantial subsidies.

"Greenland today has more independence than Denmark has from the EU," Jarlov added. "So I hope they think things through."

As Mette Frederiksen has the awkward task of responding firmly while not offending Greenland or the US, the staunchest rebuttal to Trump's comments so far has come from outside Denmark.

The principle of the inviolability of borders "applies to every country... no matter whether it's a very small one or a very powerful one," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned, while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said the EU would not let other nations "attack its sovereign borders".

Their comments gave away the deep concern within the EU about how to handle the upcoming Trump presidency. "This is not just very serious for Greenland and Denmark – it is serious to the whole world and to Europe as a whole," MP Karsten Honge said.

"Imagine a world – which we may be facing in just a few weeks – where international agreements don't exist. That would shake everything up, and Denmark would just be a small part of it."

The Danish trade sector has similarly been engulfed by deep nervousness after Trump said he would "tariff Denmark at a very high level" if it refused to give up Greenland to the US.

A 2024 Danish Industry study showed that Denmark's GDP would fall by three points if the US imposed 10% tariffs on imports from the EU to the US as part of a global trade war.

Singling out Danish products from the influx of EU goods would be near-impossible for the US, and would almost certainly result in retaliatory measures from the EU. But trade industry professionals are taking few chances, and in Denmark as elsewhere on the continent huge amounts of resources are being spent internally to plan for potential outcomes of Donald Trump's second term in the White House.

As his inauguration approaches, Danes are preparing as they can to weather the storm. There is guarded hope that the president-elect could soon shift his focus to grievances towards other EU partners, and that the Greenland question could be temporarily shelved.

But the disquiet brought on by Trump's refusal to rule out military intervention to seize Greenland remains.

Karsten Honge said Denmark would have suffer whatever decision the US takes.

"They just need to send a small battleship to travel down the Greenland coast and send a polite letter to Denmark," he said, only partly in jest.

"The last sentence would be: well, Denmark, what you gonna do about it?

"That's the new reality with regards to Trump."

The accused mastermind of the 9/11 terror attacks on the US will no longer plead guilty on Friday, after the US government moved to block plea deals reached last year from going ahead.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants reached agreements in July to plead guilty to all charges in exchange for not facing a death penalty trial.

In a filing with a federal appeals court, the justice department argued that the government would be irreparably harmed if the pleas were accepted.

In its decision, the court said it needed more time to weigh the case and put the proceedings on hold. It has not yet ruled on whether Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has the power to walk back the plea deal.

The ruling comes after a military judge and appeals panel rejected a previous move by Austin to revoke the agreements, which had been signed by a senior official he appointed.

Families of some of those killed in the 9/11 attacks had criticised the deals, while others saw them as a way of moving the complex and long-running case forward.

• Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and two co-defendants reached agreements
• Plea deal with accused 9/11 plotters revoked

In its filing, the government said going ahead with the deals would mean it was denied the opportunity to "seek capital punishment against three men charged with a heinous act of mass murder that caused the death of thousands of people and shocked the nation and the world".

"A short delay to allow this Court to weigh the merits of the government's request in this momentous case will not materially harm the respondents," it said.

Almost 3,000 people were killed in the 11 September 2001 attacks, when hijackers seized passenger planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon outside of Washington. Another plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers fought back.

The three men have been in US custody for over 20 years and the pre-trial hearings in the case have lasted for more than a decade.

Arguments have focused on whether evidence has been tainted by torture the defendants faced in CIA custody after their arrests.

Mohammed was subjected to simulated drowning, or "waterboarding", 183 times while held in secret CIA prisons following his arrest in 2003. Other so-called "advanced interrogation techniques" included sleep deprivation and forced nudity.

Several family members of victims had criticised the deal struck last year as being too lenient.

Speaking to the BBC's Today Programme last summer, Terry Strada, whose husband, Tom, died in the attacks, described the deals as "giving the detainees in Guantanamo Bay what they want".

Others said they were disappointed by further delays to the case.

Stephan Gerhardt, whose younger brother Ralph was killed in the attacks, flew to Guantanamo Bay to watch Mohammed plead guilty.

He said that while the deals were "not a victory" for the families, he had accepted them as a way of moving forward.

"It's not the conclusion to this case that anyone wanted… [But] it is time to find a way to close this, to convict these men because they're not getting younger, they're not in great health," he said.

"Let's convict them so they don't die innocent because that would be the bigger moral tragedy that they die innocent and the families don't even have a conviction."

TikTok will appear before the US Supreme Court on Friday in a last-ditch effort to overturn a ban, in a case testing the limits of national security and free speech.

The popular social media platform is challenging a law passed last year ordering the firm to be split from its Chinese owner or be blocked from the US by 19 January.

The US government is arguing that without a sale, TikTok could be used by China as a tool for spying and political manipulation.

But TikTok rejects that claim, arguing it has been unfairly targeted and the measure violates the free speech of its some 170 million American users.

Lower courts have sided with the government, but the case was complicated last month when President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the dispute and asked for the enforcement of the law to be paused to grant him time to work out a deal.

Analysts have said it was not clear what the Supreme Court will decide, but that reversing the prior ruling - even with a future president's blessing - would be unusual.

"When you have a real government interest pitted against a real constitutional value, it ends up being a very close case," said Cardozo School of Law professor Saurabh Vishnubhakat.

"But in such close cases, the government often gets the benefit of the doubt."

A decision by Supreme Court could be made within days.

Congress passed the law against TikTok last year with support from both the Democratic and Republican parties. The moment marked the culmination of years of concern about the wildly popular platform, which is known for its viral videos and traction among young people.

The legislation does not forbid use of the app, but would require tech giants such as Apple and Google to stop offering it and inhibit updates, which analysts suggest would kill it over time.

TikTok is already banned from government devices in many countries, including in the UK. It faces more complete bans in some countries, including India.

The US argues that TikTok is a "grave" threat because the Chinese government could coerce its owner, ByteDance, to turn over user data or manipulate what it shows users to serve Chinese interests.

Last December, a three-judge appeals court decision upheld the law, noting China's record of acting through private companies and saying the measure was justified as "part of a broader effort to counter a well-substantiated national security threat posed" by the country.

TikTok has repeatedly denied any potential influence by the Chinese Communist Party and has said the law violates the First Amendment free speech rights of its users.

It has asked the Supreme Court to strike down the law as unconstitutional, or order its enforcement to be halted to enable a review of the legislation, which it said was based on "inaccurate, flawed and hypothetical information".

Trump is set to take office the day after the law would come into force.

He had called for banning the app in the US during his first term, but changed his tune on the campaign trail.

The brief that Trump's lawyers filed late last month did not take a position on legal dispute, but said the case presented "unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national-security concerns on the other".

Noting his election win, it said Trump "opposes banning TikTok" and "seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office".

The filing came less than two weeks after Trump met TikTok's boss at Mar-a-Lago.

One of the president-elect's major donors, Jeff Yass of Susequehanna International Group, is a big stakeholder in the company.

However, Trump's nominee to serve as secretary of state, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, is in favour of banning the platform.

Investors who have expressed interest in buying the TikTok include Trump's former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former LA Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

Attorney Peter Choharis, who is part of a group that filed its own brief supporting the US government's case, said it was hard to predict what the court - which has a conservative majority - would do, noting that several recent court decisions have overturned longstanding precedent.

But he said even if Trump was granted the opportunity to try to work out a deal, he expected a ban eventually.

"I don't see any president, including future President Trump, being able to resolve this in a way that's satisfactory for US national security because I don't think ByteDance will agree to it," he said.

The prospect of losing TikTok in the US has prompted outcry from many users, some of whom filed their own legal action last year.

In their filing they said the decision that TikTok could be shuttered "because ideas on that platform might persuade Americans of one thing or another - even of something potentially harmful to our democracy - is utterly antithetical to the First Amendment".

Other groups weighing in on the dispute include the American Civil Liberties Union and Freedom of the Press Foundation, which argued that the US had failed to present "credible evidence of ongoing or imminent harm" caused by the social media app.

Mr Choharis said the government had a right to take measures to defend itself, arguing that the fight was not "about speech" or "content" but about the Chinese government's role.

"It's about control and how the Chinese Communist Party specifically, and the Chinese government more generally, pursue strategic aims using many internet firms and especially social media companies - specifically including TikTok," he said.

The US Supreme Court has rejected Trump's last-minute bid to halt his Friday sentencing in his hush-money criminal case.

The president-elect had urged the top court to consider whether he was entitled to an automatic stay of his sentencing, but the justices rejected the application by 5-4.

Trump was found guilty of falsifying records to disguise reimbursements for a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels as legal expenses in 2016.

Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case, indicated in a recent ruling that he will not consider a jail term for Trump.

Three lower New York courts had rejected Trump's delay attempt before the Supreme Court made a final decision on Thursday evening to let the sentencing proceed as scheduled.

The justices denied Trump's petition because they believed his concerns could be addressed during an appeal.

They also wrote that the burden of attending a sentencing was "insubstantial".

Trump's lawyers had also asked the Supreme Court to consider whether presidents-elect had immunity from criminal prosecution.

Manhattan prosecutors had urged the Supreme Court to reject Trump's petition, arguing there was a "compelling public interest" in holding the sentencing and that there was "no basis for such an intervention".

Following the jury's guilty verdict in May 2024, Trump was intitially set to be sentenced in July, but his lawyers successfully persuaded Justice Merchan to delay the sentencing on three separate occasions.

Last week, Justice Merchan declared the sentencing would move forward on 10 January, just days before Trump is sworn in again as president.

The days since have seen a volley of appeals and court filings from Trump's attorneys, trying to stave off the sentencing.

But in swift succession, New York appeals courts rejected the bids.

Finally on Wednesday, Trump's lawyers petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene.

The court should stay the proceedings "to prevent grave injustice and harm to the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government", they wrote.

The bench's 6-3 conservative majority had handed Trump a major victory last year, when they ruled that US presidents had immunity from criminal prosecution for "official acts" undertaken in office.

That decision gutted a federal prosecution against Trump on charges he illegally interfered in the 2020 election outcome, which he denied and pleaded not guilty.

But since his re-election, Trump's lawyers have tried to persuade a series of judges that those presidential immunity protections should also apply to a president-elect in this Manhattan criminal case.

Manhattan prosecutors argued in their own brief to the Supreme Court that Trump's "extraordinary immunity claim is unsupported by any decision from any court".

"It is axiomatic that there is only one President at a time," the prosecutors wrote.

Separately, a group of former public officials and legal scholars filed an amicus brief - effectively a letter of support - to the Supreme Court, asking the justices to reject Trump's "attempt to avoid accountability".

A Swiss national arrested in Iran and accused of spying has died in prison, according to Iranian state media.

The man was being held with another inmate at a prison in the eastern city of Semnan when he "committed suicide" on Thursday, Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency said.

The judiciary-run Mizan News Agency said prison officials immediately took action to save the Swiss citizen's life, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

Mizan gave no further detail about the man's identity.

"This morning, a Swiss citizen committed suicide in Semnan prison," a statement on Mizan's website, attributed to Mohammad Sadegh Akbari, Semnan's chief justice, said.

The statement added that he had been "arrested by Iranian security forces for espionage" and the case was "under investigation".

In recent years, Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have arrested dozens of dual nationals and foreigners, mostly on charges related to espionage and security.

Switzerland plays an important intermediary role between Washington and Tehran as it represents American interests in Iran and shares messages between the two countries.

A mandatory evacuation order has been issued in the Hollywood Hills following the spread of the wildfires raging across Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said there was an "immediate threat to life" in the area and that it was being legally closed to the public.

At least five fires are currently active across Los Angeles, with five people confirmed to have been killed.

More than 130,000 people have already had to evacuate, and the homes of a number of celebrities - including Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal - have been destroyed.

The first fire began on Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, near Malibu, with others subsequently breaking out across the north of the city.

As of 20:15 local time (04:00 GMT), four fires in the areas of the Palisades, Pasadena, Sylmar, and the Hollywood Hills covered more than 27,000 acres (42 sq miles; 109 sq km) and were 0% contained, according to the LAFD.

One fire in the Acton area had been partially contained, while two others had been completely contained.

The fire in the Hollywood Hills - a residential neighbourhood overlooking the historic Hollywood area of the city - began at around 18:00 local time on Wednesday.

Less than two hours later, much of the heart of Hollywood was blanketed with thick smoke, and the tops of the palm trees that line its streets were barely visible.

People used sweatshirts to cover their faces to help them breathe, while others - clearly surprised by the fire - wore only pyjamas. Many carried bags and suitcases, talking on their phones as they made plans for where to go.

Many of the roads near the fire - including Hollywood Boulevard, home to the Hollywood Walk of Fame - were gridlocked with traffic. Some people even drove on the wrong side of the road as they tried to get out of the area.

Resident Anna Waldman told the BBC she had set out to walk her dog but smelled smoke almost instantly when she went outside.

She went back inside and, looking out her back windows, saw fire, and watched as it moved quickly thought the Hollywood Hills, coming to within a block of her home.

She packed what she could: food, clothes, blankets, food for her three small dogs.

"I can't believe this," she said in exhaustion, pulling down her face mask.

Makayla Jackson, 26, and her two-year-old son, Ramari, had been evacuated from a homeless shelter that was in danger of burning, and now stood on the street waiting for a ride to a high school where help was being offered to people.

"They just told us to get out and go," she said.

Firefighters tackling the blazes have experienced water shortages and have had to resort to taking water from swimming pools and ponds.

Officials said three separate one-million-gallon tanks were full before the fires began, but that the elevation of the fires meant water couldn't move quickly enough to hydrants in the affeted areas.

The city also doesn't typically see fires of this magnitude - the Palisades blaze is already the most destructive in its history - and its systems are designed for urban use, not fighting wildfires.

Lebanon's parliament has elected the country's army chief as president, ending a power vacuum that has lasted more than two years.

Joseph Aoun's candidacy was backed by several political parties, as well as the US, France and Saudi Arabia.

A rival backed by the Hezbollah militia withdrew on Wednesday and endorsed the commander.

The presidency is a mainly ceremonial role which is reserved for a Christian under a sectarian power-sharing system.

The election took place six weeks after Lebanon's government agreed a ceasefire to end a devastating war between Israel and Hezbollah, which significantly weakened the Iran-backed Shia Muslim group.

The Lebanese army was not involved in the conflict and has a key role under the ceasefire deal, which requires it to deploy soldiers in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdraw and to ensure Hezbollah ends its armed presence there by 26 January.

Aoun, 60, is a career soldier who has been the army's commander since 2017.

During that time, he has led the institution through deep crises which have affected Lebanon.

They include the 13-month Hezbollah-Israel conflict, a six-year-long economic depression that is one of the worst recorded in modern times, and the 2020 Beirut port explosion that killed more than 200 people.

Lebanon has not had a properly functioning government since the last parliamentary elections in May 2022.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati was unable to secure backing for a new cabinet before then-president Michel Aoun's term ended that October, leaving his administration with reduced powers.

Lawmakers then failed to elect a new president on 12 occasions. The last time was in June 2023, when no candidate secured enough votes to win the first round before Hezbollah and its ally Amal prevented a second round by walking out.

A presidential candidate in Lebanon can usually be elected in the first round if they receive a two-thirds majority - or 86 votes - in the 128-seat parliament, or by a simple majority in a second round. However, Speaker Nabih Berri said Aoun needed a two-thirds majority in any round because he was a sitting army commander.

In Thursday morning's first round, 71 lawmakers voted in favour of Aoun, 15 short of what he required. Another 37 lawmakers - many of them reportedly from Hezbollah and Amal - cast blank ballots, while 20 ballots were declared invalid.

Berri, who is the leader of Amal, then suspended the session until the afternoon, sparking anger among lawmakers who wanted the second round to take place immediately.

Eventually, Aoun was elected president after receiving 99 votes in the second round, easily achieving the required two-thirds majority. Nine lawmakers cast blank ballots, in addition to 18 invalid ballots.

As soon as the result was announced by the speaker, TV channels showed scenes of celebration around the country.

Aoun was later shown arriving at the parliament building in a suit and then inspecting guards before entering the chamber to be sworn in.

A wildfire that started in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles on Tuesday morning has spread across the west of the city at an alarming rate throughout Tuesday and overnight.

High winds and very dry conditions further fuelled the flames, causing the blaze to rip through neighbourhoods at alarming speeds. The fires reportedly spread from a size of 10 acres to nearly 3,000 in a matter of hours.

Firefighters have been battling the flames throughout the night, as residents were forced to flee amid evacuation orders affecting tens of thousands of people.

Photographers have captured dramatic scenes across the west of the city as firefighters work to control the fires.

The BBC's Regan Morris reported on fires raging out of control, leaving those without power and phone signal unable to receive updates on the latest evacuation alerts.

Meanwhile, CBS reporter Jonathan Vigliotti said firefighters were no longer "trying to save" houses in the Palisades, "they're trying to prevent these flames from jumping to other neighbourhoods".

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Russia is closely monitoring the situation, after US President-elect Donald Trump refused to rule out military action to take Greenland from Denmark.

Peskov said the Arctic was in Russia's "sphere of national and strategic interests and it is interested in peace and stability there".

Trump's remarks on Greenland - a largely autonomous Danish territory - have drawn a warning from European leaders.

EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas has stressed that "we have to respect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Greenland", and Germany's Olaf Scholz has made clear that "borders must not be moved by force".

Trump said earlier this week that the US needed both Denmark and the Panama Canal "for economic security", and refused to rule out using either economic or military force in taking them over.

He also referred to the border with Canada as an "artificially drawn line". Denmark and Canada are both close Nato allies of the US.

Dmitry Peskov said Trump's claims were a matter for the US, Denmark and other nations, but Russia was watching the "rather dramatic" situation surrounding his remarks. "We are present in the Arctic zone, and we will continue to be present there," he said.

Outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sought to dampen concern about the president-elect's remarks during a visit to Paris: "The idea is... obviously not a good one, but maybe more important, it's obviously one that's not going to happen."

About 56,000 people live in Greenland, and it is home to US as well as Danish military bases. It also has considerable untapped mineral and oil wealth.

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede has been pushing for independence, although the territory's economy relies heavily on Danish subsidies.

Both he and the Danish leader have emphasised that it is "not for sale" and that its future is in the hands of Greenlanders themselves.

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy played down Trump's comments, although he acknowledged the "intensity of his rhetoric and the unpredictability sometimes of what he said can be destabilising".

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has said Copenhagen has a clear interest in ensuring that the US - "absolutely its closest ally" - plays a key role at a time of rising tensions in the North Atlantic, particularly involving Russia.

The European Commission said Trump's threat to Greenland was "extremely theoretical" and "wildly hypothetical", considering he was not yet in office.

However, it has confirmed that Greenland, as an overseas territory, does come under a mutual assistance clause requiring all EU states to come to its aid in case of attack.

The Kremlin ridiculed the European response, suggesting it was reacting "very timidly... almost in a whisper".

Last week, Greenland's leader said the territory should free itself from "the shackles of colonialism", although he made no mention of the US.

A former Greenland foreign minister, Pele Broberg, who now heads the biggest opposition party, told the BBC that most Greenlanders he talked to believed the US was vital for their defence and safety.

"We are part of the North American continent, that's why the defence of the US is in such a great place with regards to Greenland, because we create a buffer zone that doesn't need to be militarised."

He has called for a "free association agreement" with the US covering trade and defence which would give Greenland independence but hand the US responsibility for security.

Trump's allies have reinforced his views on Greenland.

Keith Kellogg, chosen by Trump to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, said a lot of the president-elect's remarks on Greenland made sense, "putting the United States in a position of global leadership".

Republican congressman Mike Walz told Fox News that the issue was "not just about Greenland, this is about the Arctic", because Russia was trying to take control of the polar region, with its mineral and natural resources.

"Denmark can be a great ally, but you can't treat Greenland, which they have operational control over, as some kind of backwater - it's in the Western hemisphere."

Indian authorities say they have arrested a Canadian man at Delhi airport for carrying a crocodile skull in his luggage.

The 32-year-old man was at the airport on Monday to catch his flight to Canada when he was first stopped during security check.

"Upon examination, a skull with sharp teeth, resembling the jaw of a baby crocodile, weighing approximately 777g (1.71lb), was discovered wrapped in a cream-colored cloth," Delhi customs said in a statement on Thursday.

The man was arrested and the skull was handed over to the Department of Forests and Wildlife, they said.

Officials said the possession of crocodile skull violated India's wildlife protection law and its Customs Act.

An analysis of the skull by the Department of Forests and Wildlife found that it belonged to a species protected under India's Wildlife Protection Act.

"The texture, tooth pattern, well-developed bony palate, and nostrils confirmed the item as the skull of a baby crocodile," they said.

A forest official told the Times of India newspaper that the man had allegedly bought the skull from Thailand.

"The man did not possess the mandatory permission required to carry wildlife items," forest officer Rajesh Tandon said.

The man also told officers he had not hunted or killed the crocodile, the Hindustan Times reports.

Further tests are being carried out to identify the exact sub-species of the animal.

Meanwhile, Delhi customs says a case has been registered against the man and an investigation is under way.

Last year, a 32-year-old Canadian woman was stopped at Delhi airport after she was found to have horns of an unidentified animal in her luggage. The woman told officials she had picked them up during a trek in the northern Ladakh region and decided to take them back as a souvenir.

A mandatory evacuation order has been issued in the Hollywood Hills following the spread of the wildfires raging across Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said there was an "immediate threat to life" in the area and that it was being legally closed to the public.

At least five fires are currently active across Los Angeles, with five people confirmed to have been killed.

More than 130,000 people have already had to evacuate, and the homes of a number of celebrities - including Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal - have been destroyed.

The first fire began on Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, near Malibu, with others subsequently breaking out across the north of the city.

As of 20:15 local time (04:00 GMT), four fires in the areas of the Palisades, Pasadena, Sylmar, and the Hollywood Hills covered more than 27,000 acres (42 sq miles; 109 sq km) and were 0% contained, according to the LAFD.

One fire in the Acton area had been partially contained, while two others had been completely contained.

The fire in the Hollywood Hills - a residential neighbourhood overlooking the historic Hollywood area of the city - began at around 18:00 local time on Wednesday.

Less than two hours later, much of the heart of Hollywood was blanketed with thick smoke, and the tops of the palm trees that line its streets were barely visible.

People used sweatshirts to cover their faces to help them breathe, while others - clearly surprised by the fire - wore only pyjamas. Many carried bags and suitcases, talking on their phones as they made plans for where to go.

Many of the roads near the fire - including Hollywood Boulevard, home to the Hollywood Walk of Fame - were gridlocked with traffic. Some people even drove on the wrong side of the road as they tried to get out of the area.

Resident Anna Waldman told the BBC she had set out to walk her dog but smelled smoke almost instantly when she went outside.

She went back inside and, looking out her back windows, saw fire, and watched as it moved quickly thought the Hollywood Hills, coming to within a block of her home.

She packed what she could: food, clothes, blankets, food for her three small dogs.

"I can't believe this," she said in exhaustion, pulling down her face mask.

Makayla Jackson, 26, and her two-year-old son, Ramari, had been evacuated from a homeless shelter that was in danger of burning, and now stood on the street waiting for a ride to a high school where help was being offered to people.

"They just told us to get out and go," she said.

Firefighters tackling the blazes have experienced water shortages and have had to resort to taking water from swimming pools and ponds.

Officials said three separate one-million-gallon tanks were full before the fires began, but that the elevation of the fires meant water couldn't move quickly enough to hydrants in the affeted areas.

The city also doesn't typically see fires of this magnitude - the Palisades blaze is already the most destructive in its history - and its systems are designed for urban use, not fighting wildfires.

The government of Chad has insisted the situation in capitol N'Djamena is stable after gunshots were heard near the presidential palace.

Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah said in a video apparently recorded within the palace complex that there had been a "little incident" but that "everything is calm".

Sources close to the African state's government said clashes had occurred between security forces and "terrorist elements".

The French news agency AFP quoted Koulamallah as saying that 18 attackers and a member of the security forces had been killed.

Following the incident, tanks were seen in the area and all roads leading to the palace were closed, the agency said

In the video, posted to Facebook, Koulamallah is seen surrounded by members of the government forces.

"Nothing serious has happened," he says.

"We are here and we will defend our country at the price of our blood. Be calm.

"This whole attempt at destabilisation has been thwarted."

He is then seen taking photos with, and raising his fist with, the soldiers.

Koulamallah was quoted by AFP as saying the assault had been launched by a 24-man commando unit, adding that six of the attackers had suffered injuries.

A further three members of the government forces also suffered injuries, he added.

The incident came just hours after a visit to the former French territory by China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who met President Mahamat Déby and other senior officials.

Raging wildfires surrounding Los Angeles have spread to Hollywood Hills, a residential neighbourhood overlooking the historic Hollywood area of the city.

The Sunset fire broke out at around 18:00 (14:00 GMT) local time on Wednesday, covering much of Hollywood in thick smoke and forcing an evacuation order.

While driving in Hollywood, I saw many people running away from their homes with whatever belongings they could carry.

As I pulled over, some of them responded to me in fear and anxiety.

"Are you here to help people? Where do I go?" Anna Waldman asked as I got out of my car.

"Where is it safe?"

Above us, sirens had gone off and helicopter blades were whipping.

As I helped her get to a safe area, she told me she was walking her dogs and had planned to stop by a grocery store when she smelled heavy smoke.

She went back home, looked out her windows, and watched the fire move quickly through the Hollywood Hills to within a block from her home.

She packed what she could: food, clothes, blankets, food for her three small dogs.

"I can't believe this," she said in exhaustion.

Makayla Jackson, 26, held her two-year-old son Ramari on the corner of a street as they waited for a ride. They had been evacuated from a homeless shelter that was in danger of burning.

"They just told us to get out and go," she told me.

She said she was heading toward Hollywood High School, where more help was being offered.

Much of the heart of Hollywood is blanketed in thick smoke. You can barely see the tops of the towering palm trees that line streets here.

It is utter chaos on the streets near the fire. People are using sweatshirts to cover their faces so they can breathe. Many are carrying bags and suitcases looking for a place to go.

Some are wearing pyjamas, clearly taken by surprise.

Many of the roads near the blaze, such as the iconic Hollywood Boulevard, which includes the Hollywood Walk of Fame, are gridlocked with traffic.

Some are even driving on the wrong side of the road to escape.

The inferno could be seen from nearby freeways, lighting up the dark with bright red hues.

On the outskirts of the legendary city though, it is as though nothing is happening. People are eating dinner, shopping and going about their evenings.

Firefighters in Los Angeles are battling a number of blazes in city suburbs, as tens of thousands of residents are forced to flee.

The rapidly changing situation is compounded by Santa Ana winds and extremely dry conditions. Currently authorities say there is no possibility of bringing the fires under control.

The Palisades fire, which is closest to the coast and also the largest, has ripped through picturesque suburbs which are home to many Hollywood stars. More than 1,000 buildings have already been destroyed.

Here's how the fires have spread and are affecting the Los Angeles area.

An overview of the current fires

Four major fires are currently being tackled.

The Palisades fire was first reported at 10:30 (18:30 GMT) on Tuesday, and grew in just 20 minutes from a blaze of 20 acres to more than 200 acres, then more than tenfold in a matter of a few more hours. At least 30,000 people have so far been ordered to leave their homes.

The Eaton fire grew to cover 1,000 acres within the first six hours of breaking out. It started in Altadena in the hills above Pasadena at around 18:30 local time on Tuesday.

The Hurst fire is located just north of San Fernando. It began burning on Tuesday at around 22:10 local time, growing to 500 acres, according to local officials. It has triggered evacuation orders in neighbouring Santa Clarita.

The latest of the four fires is the Woodley fire, currently 75 acres in size. It broke out at approximately 06:15 local time on Wednesday.

• Follow latest updates on the LA wildfires
• Watch: Smoke billows as thousands evacuate in LA
• 'Run for your lives!' residents abandon cars to flee fire on foot
• Timelapse shows rapid spread of Palisades wildfire
• Watch: Inside a neighbourhood totally lost in inferno
• Pacific Palisades: The celebrity LA area ravaged by wildfire

How did the Palisades fire spread?

The Palisades fire has so far burnt through more than 2,900 acres. The map above shows how rapidly the blaze spread, intensifying in a matter of hours. At just after 14:00 on Tuesday it covered 772 acres and within four hours it had expanded approximately to its current size.

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate, as more than 1,400 firefighters try to tackle the blaze.

How does the Palisade fire compare in size with New York and London?

To give an idea of the size of the Palisades fire, we have superimposed it on to maps of New York and London.

As you can see, it is comparable in size with the central area of UK's capital, or with large areas of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

How the fires look from space

Another indication of the scale of the Palisades fire comes from Nasa's Earth Observatory.

The images captured on Tuesday show a huge plume of smoke emanating from California and drifting out to sea.

Effects of the Eaton fire

The Palisade fire is not the only one to have a devastating effect on neighbourhoods of Los Angeles.

The above images show the Jewish Temple in Pasadena before and during the Eaton fire.

The Jewish Temple and Centre's website says it has been in use since 1941 and has a congregation of more than 400 familes.

A mandatory evacuation order has been issued in the Hollywood Hills following the spread of the wildfires raging across Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) said there was an "immediate threat to life" in the area and that it was being legally closed to the public.

At least five fires are currently active across Los Angeles, with five people confirmed to have been killed.

More than 130,000 people have already had to evacuate, and the homes of a number of celebrities - including Paris Hilton and Billy Crystal - have been destroyed.

The first fire began on Tuesday in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, near Malibu, with others subsequently breaking out across the north of the city.

As of 20:15 local time (04:00 GMT), four fires in the areas of the Palisades, Pasadena, Sylmar, and the Hollywood Hills covered more than 27,000 acres (42 sq miles; 109 sq km) and were 0% contained, according to the LAFD.

One fire in the Acton area had been partially contained, while two others had been completely contained.

The fire in the Hollywood Hills - a residential neighbourhood overlooking the historic Hollywood area of the city - began at around 18:00 local time on Wednesday.

Less than two hours later, much of the heart of Hollywood was blanketed with thick smoke, and the tops of the palm trees that line its streets were barely visible.

People used sweatshirts to cover their faces to help them breathe, while others - clearly surprised by the fire - wore only pyjamas. Many carried bags and suitcases, talking on their phones as they made plans for where to go.

Many of the roads near the fire - including Hollywood Boulevard, home to the Hollywood Walk of Fame - were gridlocked with traffic. Some people even drove on the wrong side of the road as they tried to get out of the area.

Resident Anna Waldman told the BBC she had set out to walk her dog but smelled smoke almost instantly when she went outside.

She went back inside and, looking out her back windows, saw fire, and watched as it moved quickly thought the Hollywood Hills, coming to within a block of her home.

She packed what she could: food, clothes, blankets, food for her three small dogs.

"I can't believe this," she said in exhaustion, pulling down her face mask.

Makayla Jackson, 26, and her two-year-old son, Ramari, had been evacuated from a homeless shelter that was in danger of burning, and now stood on the street waiting for a ride to a high school where help was being offered to people.

"They just told us to get out and go," she said.

Firefighters tackling the blazes have experienced water shortages and have had to resort to taking water from swimming pools and ponds.

Officials said three separate one-million-gallon tanks were full before the fires began, but that the elevation of the fires meant water couldn't move quickly enough to hydrants in the affeted areas.

The city also doesn't typically see fires of this magnitude - the Palisades blaze is already the most destructive in its history - and its systems are designed for urban use, not fighting wildfires.

The Chinese government has expanded a list of products that people can trade in to get a discount of as much as 20% on new goods as the country tries to boost its flagging economy.

The list now includes items like microwave ovens, dishwashers, rice cookers and water purifiers.

State-backed trade-in schemes already covered televisions, phones, tablets and smart watches as well as electric and hybrid vehicles.

The world's second largest economy has been facing several challenges, including weak consumer demand and a deepening property crisis.

On Wednesday, officials said 81 billion yuan (£8.9bn; $11bn) had been earmarked this year for the consumer goods trade-in scheme.

China's top economic planning body has said the schemes, which were launched in March, have already produced "visible effects".

According to the country's Ministry of Commerce, the policies have boosted sales of big items items such as home appliances and cars.

But some economists have questioned whether the schemes will be enough to significantly increase consumer consumption.

"The approach has had mixed success so far," said Harry Murphy Cruise, head of China economics at Moody's Analytics.

"While it has supported sales of some listed goods, such as cars and appliances, it hasn't driven an overall uptick in spending."

In recent months, China has been pushing ahead with more measures to support its domestic economy as the country's exporters face growing challenges.

In December, a key meeting of China's leaders stressed the need for "vigorous" efforts to boost consumer spending.

That came as President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to return to the White House this month, threatened to impose a 60% tariff on Chinese-made products.

China is due to announce its 2024 economic growth figures next week, which Beijing has said it expects will be around 5%.

Ashish Chauhan dreams of pursuing an MBA at an American university next year - a goal he describes as being "stamped in his brain".

The 29-year-old finance professional from India (whose name has been changed on request) hopes to eventually work in the US, but says he now feels conflicted amid an immigration row sparked by President-elect Donald Trump's supporters over a long-standing US visa programme.

The H-1B visa programme, which brings skilled foreign workers to the US, faces criticism for undercutting American workers but is praised for attracting global talent. The president-elect, once a critic, now supports the 34-year-old programme, while tech billionaire Elon Musk defends it as key to securing top engineering talent.

Indian nationals like Mr Chauhan dominate the programme, receiving 72% of H-1B visas, followed by 12% for Chinese citizens. The majority of H-1B visa holders worked in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, with 65% in computer-related jobs, in 2023. Their median annual salary was $118,000 (£94,000).

Concerns over H-1B visas tie into broader immigration debates.

A Pew Research report shows that US immigration rose by 1.6 million in 2023, the largest increase in more than 20 years. Immigrants now comprise over 14% of the population - the highest since 1910. Indians are the second-largest immigrant group - after Mexicans - in the US. Many Americans fear this surge in immigration could harm job prospects or hinder assimilation.

India has also surpassed China as the leading source of international students, with a record 331,602 Indian students in the US in 2023-2024, according to the latest Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. Most rely on loans, and any visa freeze could potentially devastate family finances.

"My worry is that this [resistance to H-1B visas] could also spark animosity towards the Indians living there. But I can't park my ambitions, put my life on hold and wait for the volatility to subside because it's been like this for years now," Mr Chauhan says.

Efforts to restrict the H-1B programme peaked under Trump's first term, when he signed a 2017 order increasing application scrutiny and fraud detection. Rejection rates soared to 24% in 2018, compared to 5-8% under President Barack Obama and 2-4% under President Joe Biden. The total number of approved H-1B applicants under Biden remained similar to Trump's first term.

"The first Trump administration tightened H-1B visas by increasing denial rates and slowing processing times, making it harder for people to get visas in time. It is unclear whether that will happen again in the second Trump administration," Stephen Yale-Loehr, an immigration scholar at Cornell Law School, told the BBC.

"Some people like Elon Musk want to preserve the H-1B visas, while other officials in the new administration want to restrict all immigration, including H-1Bs. It is too early to tell which side will prevail."

Indians have a long relationship with the H-1B visa. The programme is also the reason for the "rise of Indian-Americans into the highest educated and highest earning group, immigrant or native in the US", say the authors of The Other One Percent, a study on Indians in America.

US-based researchers Sanjoy Chakravorty, Devesh Kapur and Nirvikar Singh noted that new Indian immigrants spoke different languages and lived in different areas than earlier arrivals. Hindi, Tamil and Telugu speakers grew in number, and Indian-American communities shifted from New York and Michigan to larger clusters in California and New Jersey. The skilled visa programme helped create a "new map of Indian-Americans".

The biggest draw of H-1B visas is the opportunity to earn significantly higher salaries, according to Mr Chauhan. The US offers higher pay, and for someone who is the first in their family to achieve professional qualifications, earning that much can be life-changing. "The fascination with H-1Bs is directly tied to the wage gap between India and the US for the same engineering roles," he says.

But not everybody is happy with the programme. For many, the H-1B programme is an aspirational pathway for permanent residency or a US green card. While H-1B itself is a temporary work visa, it allows visa holders to live and work in the US for up to six years. During this time, many H-1B holders apply for a green card through employment-based immigration categories, typically sponsored by their employers. This takes time.

More than a million Indians, including dependents, are currently waiting in employment-based green card categories. "Getting a green card means signing up for an endless wait for 20-30 years," says Atal Agarwal, who runs a firm in India that uses AI to help find visa options globally for education and jobs.

Mr Agarwal moved to the US after graduating in 2017 and worked at a software company for a few years. He says getting the H-1B visa was fairly straightforward, but then it seemed he had "reached a dead end". He returned to India.

"It's an unstable situation. Your employer has to sponsor you and since the pathway to a green card is so long, you are basically tied to them. If you lose your job, you only get 60 days to find a new one. Every person who is going on merit to the US should have a pathway to a green card within three to five years."

This could be one reason that the visa programme has got tied up with immigration. "H-1B is a high-skilled, worker mobility visa. It is not an immigration visa. But it gets clubbed with immigration and illegal immigration and becomes a sensitive issue," Shivendra Singh, vice president of global trade development at Nasscom, the Indian technology industry trade group, told the BBC.

Many in the US believe the H-1B visa programme is flawed. They cite widespread fraud and abuse, especially by major Indian IT firms which are top recipients of these visas. In October, a US court found Cognizant guilty of discriminating against over 2,000 non-Indian employees between 2013 and 2022, though the company plans to appeal. Last week, Farah Stockman of The New York Times wrote that "for more than a decade, Americans working in the tech industry have been systematically laid off and replaced by cheaper H-1B visa holders".

Mr Chowdhury of Nasscom argues that H-1B visa workers are not underpaid, with their median wages more than double the US median. Companies also invest tens of thousands of dollars in legal and government fees for these costly visas.

Also, it has not been a one-way traffic: Indian tech giants have hired and supported nearly 600,000 American workers and spent over a billion dollars on upskilling nearly three million students across 130 US colleges, according to Mr Singh. The Indian tech industry has prioritised US worker hiring and they bring employees on H-1B visas only when they are unable to find locals with the skills they need, he said.

India is working to ensure the H-1B visa programme remains secure as Trump prepares to take office later this month. "Our countries share a strong and growing economic and technological partnership, and the mobility of skilled professionals is a vital component of this relationship," India's foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told journalists last week.

So what should students aspiring for jobs in the US do? "Any immigration changes in the US will take time to implement. Students should pick the best college for them, wherever that may be. With good immigration counsel, they will be able to figure out what to do," says Mr Yale-Loehr.

For now, despite the political turbulence in the US, Indian interest in H-1B visas remains steadfast, with students resolute in pursuing the American dream.

At 20 years old, Pierre Poilievre already had a roadmap for Canada.

Canada's Conservative Party leader - now 45 - laid out a low-tax, small government vision for the country in an essay contest on what he would do as prime minister.

"A dollar left in the hands of consumers and investors is more productive than a dollar spent by a politician," he stated.

Poilievre is one step closer to making his vision a reality, and even gave a nod to the essay in a recent interview with conservative psychologist and commentator Jordan Peterson.

For months, Poilievre's Conservatives have enjoyed a large lead over the struggling Liberals in national surveys, suggesting they would win a majority government if an election were held today.

Now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he's standing down, and with an election likely to be called soon, Poilievre is promising a return to "common sense politics".

For Canadians frustrated with a sluggish economy and a housing and affordability crisis, he is offering an alternative to what he has labelled as Trudeau's "authoritarian socialism".

A win would make him part of a wave of populist leaders on the right who have toppled incumbent governments in the west.

While it has invited comparisons to Donald Trump - and he has fans like Elon Musk and others in the US president-elect's orbit - Poilievre story is very much a Canadian one.

A Calgarian with his eyes set on Ottawa

Poilievre was born in Canada's western province of Alberta to a 16-year-old mother who put him up for adoption. He was taken in by two school teachers, who raised him in suburban Calgary.

"I have always believed that it is voluntary generosity among family and community that are the greatest social safety net that we can ever have," he told Maclean's Magazine in 2022, reflecting on his early life.

"That's kind of my starting point."

As a teenager, Poilievre showed an early interest in politics, and canvassed for local conservatives.

Poilievre was studying international relations at the University of Calgary when he met Stockwell Day, who served as a cabinet minister under former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

At the time, Day was seeking the leadership of the Canadian Alliance - a right-wing party with Alberta roots that became part of the modern-day Conservatives in a 2003 merger - and he tapped Poilievre to help with campus outreach.

"He impressed me from the start," Day told the BBC in an interview. "He seemed to be a level-headed guy, but full of energy and able to catch people's attention."

Day's leadership bid was successful, and he set out for Ottawa with Poilievre as his assistant. Some time after, Poilievre walked into his office on a cold winter night to ask his opinion about potentially running for office.

Poilievre went on to win a seat in Ottawa in 2004 at the age of 25, making him one of the youngest elected Conservatives at the time. He has held that seat since.

From "Skippy" to party leader

In Ottawa, Poilievre was given the nickname Skippy by peers and foes alike due to to his youthful enthusiasm and sharp tongue.

He built a reputation for being "highly combative and partisan", said Randy Besco, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto.

Behind the closed doors of Conservative caucus meetings, Poilievre showed his diplomatic side, Day said.

"Pierre was always good at saying, 'Okay, you know what? I hadn't thought of that,' or he would listen and say: 'Have you thought of this?'" said Day.

Still, confrontational politics became a cornerstone of Poilievre's public persona. After becoming Conservative leader in 2022, he would target Trudeau with biting remarks as a way to connect with disaffected voters.

It has landed him in trouble at times. In April, he was expelled from the House of Commons for calling the prime minister a "wacko".

Poilievre told the Montreal Gazette in June that he is a fan of "straight talk".

"I think when politesse is in conflict with the truth, I choose the truth," he said. "I think we've been too polite for too long with our political class."

His combative style has also been divisive, and he has been criticised for oversimplifying complex issues for political gain.

While Canadians have been open to the opposition leader's message as a change from Trudeau's brand of progressive politics, just over half of them hold an unfavourable opinion of him, according to the latest polls.

Poilievre has also had to shift his sights since Trudeau's resignation announcement, to get ahead of the inevitable match-up between him and the next Liberal leader.

Poilievre on populism, immigration and Trump

The Conservative leader has been described as a "soft" populist for his direct appeals to everyday Canadians and criticism of establishment elites, including corporate Canada.

He came out in support of those who protested vaccine mandates during the 2021 "Freedom Convoy" demonstrations that gridlocked Ottawa for weeks.

He has pledged to deliver "the biggest crackdown on crime in Canadian history", promising to keep repeat offenders behind bars.

On social matters, Poilievre has rarely weighed in - something Prof Besco said is typical of senior Conservatives, who see these topics as "a losing issue".

While Poilievre voted against legalising gay marriage in the early 2000s, he recently said it will remain legal "full stop" if he is elected.

The Conservatives also do not support legislation to regulate abortion, though they allow MPs to vote freely on the issue.

"I would lead a small government that minds its own business," Poilievre said in June.

Amid a public debate in Canada in recent months on immigration, the party has said it would tie levels of newcomers to the number of new homes built, and focus on bringing in skilled workers.

Poilievre's wife, Anaida, arrived in Canada as a child refugee from Caracas, Venezuela.

The Conservative leader has pushed for the integration of newcomers, saying Canada does not need to be a "hyphenated society".

One of his major promises - to cut Trudeau's national carbon pricing programme, arguing it is a financial burden for families - has raised questions over how his government would tackle pressing issues like climate change.

Canada also faces the threat of steep tariffs when Trump takes office later this month, with the US-Canada relationship expected to be a major challenge.

Poilievre has pushed back at Trump's comments suggesting Canada become a 51st US state, vowing to "put Canada first".

He has not stepped much into foreign policy otherwise, with his messaging focused instead on restoring "the Canadian dream".

Above all, Poilievre says he wants to do away with "grandiosity" and "utopian wokesim" that he believes has defined the Trudeau era, in favour of the "the things that are grand and great about the common people".

"I've been saying precisely the same thing this entire time," he told Mr Peterson.

Inflation, interest rates and tariffs mean 2025 is shaping up to be an intriguing year for the global economy. One in which growth is expected to remain at a "stable yet underwhelming" 3.2%, according to the International Monetary Fund. So what might that mean for all of us?

Exactly a week before Christmas there was a welcome gift for millions of American borrowers - a third interest rate cut in a row.

However, stock markets fell sharply because the world's most powerful central banker, US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, made clear they shouldn't expect as many further cuts in 2025 as they might have hoped for, as the battle against inflation continues.

"From here, it's a new phase, and we're going to be cautious about further cuts," he said.

In recent years, the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine have led to sharp price rises around the world, and although prices are still increasing the pace has slowed markedly.

Despite that, November saw inflation push up in the US, eurozone and UK to to 2.7%, 2.2% and 2.6% respectively. It highlights the difficulties many central banks face in the so-called "last mile" of their battle against inflation. Their target is 2%, and it might be easier to achieve if economies are growing.

However, the biggest difficulty for global growth "is uncertainty, and the uncertainty is coming from what may come out of the US under Trump 2.0", says Luis Oganes, who is head of global macro research at investment bank JP Morgan.

Since Donald Trump won November's election he's continued to threaten new tariffs against key US trading partners, China, Canada and Mexico.

"The US is going into a more isolationist policy stance, raising tariffs, trying to provide more effective protection to US manufacturing," says Mr Oganes.

"And even though that is going to support US growth, at least in the short term, certainly it's going to hurt many countries that rely on trade with the US."

New tariffs "could be particularly devastating" for Mexico and Canada, but also be "harmful" to the US, according to Maurice Obstfeld, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, and a previous economic advisor to President Obama.

He cites car manufacturing as an example of an industry that "depends on a supply chain that is spread across the three countries. If you disrupt that supply chain, you have massive disruptions in the auto market".

That has the potential to push up prices, reduce demand for products, and hurt company profits, which could in turn drag down investment levels, he explains.

Mr Obstfeld, who is now with the Peterson Institute for International Economics, adds: "Introducing these types of tariffs into a world that is heavily dependent on trade could be harmful to growth, could throw the world into recession."

The tariffs threats have also played a role in forcing the resignation of Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Even though the majority of what the US and China sell each other is already subject to tariffs from Donald Trump's first term in office, the threat of new tariffs is a key challenge for the world's second-biggest economy in the year ahead.

In his new year address President Xi Jinping acknowledged the "challenges of uncertainties in the external environment", but said the economy was on "an upward trajectory".

Exports of cheap goods from its factories are crucial to China's economy. A drop off in demand because tariffs push prices up would compound the many domestic challenges, including weak consumer spending and business investment, that the government is trying to tackle.

Those efforts are helping, according to the World Bank, which at the end of December increased its forecast for China's growth from 4.1% to 4.5% in 2025.

Beijing has yet to set a growth target for 2025, but thinks it's on course for 5% last year.

"Addressing challenges in the property sector, strengthening social safety nets, and improving local government finances will be essential to unlocking a sustained recovery," according to the World Bank's country director for China, Mara Warwick.

Those domestic struggles mean the Chinese government is "more welcoming" of foreign investment, according to Michael Hart, who is president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

Tensions between the US and China, and tariffs have grown under the Biden presidency, meaning some companies have looked to move production elsewhere.

However, Mr Hart points out that "it took 30 to 40 years for China to emerge as such a strong supplier manufacturer", and whilst "companies have tried to mitigate some of those risks... no one's prepared now to completely replace China."

One industry that is likely to continue to be at the heart of global trade battles is electric vehicles. More than 10 million were made in China last year, and that dominance led the US, Canada and European Union (EU) to impose tariffs on them.

Beijing says they're unfair, and is challenging them at the World Trade Organization.

However, it's the prospect of Donald Trump imposing tariffs that is concerning the EU.

"Restrictions on trade, protectionist measures, are not conducive to growth, and ultimately have an impact on inflation that is largely uncertain," the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, said last month. "[But] in the short term, it's probably net inflationary."

Germany and France are the traditional engines of Europe's economic growth. But their poor performance amid political instability over the past year means that, despite a recent uptick in growth, the eurozone risks losing momentum in the year ahead.

That is, unless consumers spend more and businesses increase their investments.

In the UK higher prices could also come as a result of tax and wage increases, according to one survey.

One barrier to cutting eurozone interest rates is that inflation remains at 4.2%. That's more than double the target of 2%, and strong wage pressure has been a barrier getting it down further.

It's been similar in the US according to Sander van 't Noordende, the chief executive of Randstad, the world's biggest recruitment firm.

"In the US, for instance, [wage inflation] is still going to be around 4% in 2024. In some Western European countries, it's even higher than that.

"I think there's two factors there. There's the talent scarcity, but there's also, of course, the inflation and people demanding to get more for the work they do."

Mr van 't Noordende adds that many companies are passing those extra costs on to their customers, which is adding upward pressure to general inflation.

A slowdown in the global jobs market reflects a lack of "dynamism" from companies and economic growth is key to reversing that, he says.

"If the economy is doing well, businesses are growing, they start hiring. People see interesting opportunities, and you just start seeing people moving around".

One person starting a new role in 2025 is Donald Trump, and a raft of economic plans including tax cuts and deregulation could help the US economy to continue to thrive.

Whilst much won't be revealed before he's back in the White House on 20 January, "everything points to continued US exceptionalism at the expense of the rest of the world," says JP Morgan's Mr Oganes.

He's hopeful that inflation and interest rates can continue to come down around the world, but warns that "a lot of it will depend on what are the policies that get deployed, particularly from the US."

"They have already tortured me and repressed me, but they will not silence me. My voice is the only thing I have left."

This is how Juan, a young man aged around 20, begins his story. He alleges he was physically and psychologically tortured by Venezuelan security forces after being detained in connection with the presidential elections on 28 July.

He was one of many hundreds of people arrested during protests after the electoral authorities - which are dominated by government loyalists - announced that the incumbent, Nicolás Maduro, had won.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) did not make the voting tallies public and the Venezuelan opposition has described the official result as fraudulent, pointing out that the voting tallies it got hold of with the help of election observers suggest an overwhelming victory for its candidate, Edmundo González.

Juan was released from prison in mid-November, days after Maduro called on judicial authorities to "rectify" any injustices in the arrests.

The BBC spoke to him via video call. For his own safety, we have decided to withhold some of the details of his case and have changed his name.

The young man alleges that many of the detainees are mistreated, given "rotten food" and that the most rebellious are locked up in "torture chambers".

He showed the BBC documents and evidence that corroborate his story, which coincides with other testimony and with the complaints of non-governmental organisations.

Juan, an anti-government political activist, says the election campaign and the days leading up to the election were "marked by hope" and many people were keen to vote for change.

But the announcement of Maduro's victory shortly after midnight that Sunday turned what for many was a celebratory mood into confusion and anger.

Thousands of Venezuelans took to the streets to protest against a result they decried as fraudulent.

The opposition and international organisations say what followed was police repression which caused the deaths of more than 20 protesters.

Maduro and some of his officials in turn have blamed the opposition, the "extreme right" and "terrorist" groups for the deaths.

Gonzalo Himiob of Venezuelan non-governmental organisation Foro Penal says people were arrested for as little as "celebrating the opposition's declaration of Edmundo González as the winner, or for posting something on social media".

"We also have cases of people who were not even protesting, but for some reason they were near a protest and they were arrested," he added.

Juan says that is what happened to him.

'It felt like a concentration camp'

The young political activist says he had been running an errand when a group of hooded men intercepted him, covered his face and beat him, accusing him of being a terrorist.

"They planted Molotov cocktails and petrol on me, and then took me to a detention centre," he continued.

He was held in a prison in the interior of Venezuela for several weeks until he was transferred to Tocorón, a notorious high-security prison about 140km south-west of the capital, Caracas.

There he would go through what he describes as the worst experience of his life.

"When we arrived at Tocorón, they stripped us, beat us, and insulted us. We were forbidden to raise our heads and look at the guards; we had to lower our heads to the floor," Juan recounts.

Juan was assigned a small cell measuring three metres by three metres, which he had to share with five other people.

There were six beds arranged in three bunk beds, and in one corner there was a septic tank and "a pipe that served as a shower". That was the bathroom.

"In Tocorón I felt more like I was in a concentration camp than in a prison," says the young man. He describes the beds as "concrete tombs" with a very thin mattress.

"They tortured us physically and psychologically. They wouldn't let us sleep, they were always coming to ask us to get up and line up," he explains.

"They would wake us up around 05:00 to line up behind the cell. The guards would ask us to show our passes and numbers."

He adds that at around 06:00 they would turn on the water for six minutes so they could bathe.

"Six minutes for six people and just one shower, with very cold water. If you were the last one there and you didn't have time to take off the soap, you were left covered in soap for the rest of the day," he says.

Then, he adds, they waited for breakfast, which sometimes arrived at 06:00 and other times at 12:00.

Dinner was sometimes at 21:00, and sometimes at 02:00.

"Apart from waiting for meals, there was nothing else to do. We could only walk around inside the small cell and tell stories. We also talked about politics, but in low voices, because if the guards heard us, they would punish us."

'I thought I was going to die'

Juan says that many of his fellow inmates were depressed and acted like zombies.

"They gave us rotten food – meat scraps like you would give to chickens or dogs or sardines that had already expired."

Some detainees were routinely beaten or made to "walk like frogs" with their hands on their ankles, he says.

He describes "punishment cells" where those considered the most rebellious would be sent, or those who dared to talk about politics or ask to make a phone call to relatives.

Juan says that he had been in one of the punishment cells in Tocorón, and that he had only received one meal every two days.

"It's a very dark cell, one metre by one metre. I was very hungry. What kept me going was thinking about all the injustices that were happening and that one day I would get out of there," he says.

Another torture cell is known as "Adolfo's bed", Juan says, named after the first person who died there.

"It's a dark, oxygen-deprived room the size of a vault. They put you in there for a few minutes until you can't breathe and you faint or start banging on the door in desperation. They put me in there and I lasted just over five minutes. I thought I was going to die," he recalls.

Reports of crimes against humanity

The young man says that in this prison, inmates have 10 minutes to exercise outside three times a week, but many just stay in their cells.

Foro Penal's Gonzalo Himiob describes the conditions in Tocorón as "deplorable" and says that detainees' fundamental rights, such as having access to a lawyer of the detainee's choosing, are being violated.

"They all have public defenders - the government knows that if it allows access to a private attorney who is not a public official, he or she can document all the due process violations that are occurring."

In October, United Nations (UN) experts reported serious human rights violations committed in the run-up to the presidential election and during the protests that followed, including political persecution, excessive use of force, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions by state security forces and related civilian groups.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently investigating the Venezuelan government for possible crimes against humanity.

The Venezuelan government denies the accusations and says this investigation "responds to the intention of instrumentalising the mechanisms of international criminal justice for political purposes".

The BBC requested an interview with the Public Prosecutor's Office about the allegations of mistreatment and torture of detainees, but had not received a response by the time of publication.

'I'm no longer afraid of the government'

Juan was released in November, but according to Foro Penal's figures, there were still 1,794 political prisoners in Venezuela as of 30 December.

According to Juan, many of those detained in Tocorón have pinned their hopes on one date: that of the presidential inauguration on 10 January 2025.

It is the day that opposition candidate Edmundo González, who has been living in exile in Spain, has said that he will return to Venezuela and take up office as president.

He bases his claim to the presidency on official voting tallies the opposition managed to gather with help of election observers.

These tallies, which amount to 85% of the total, have been uploaded to a website and reviewed by independent observers who say that they suggest an overwhelming victory for González.

On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden met González and called him the "true winner" of the Venezuelan election.

However, it is not clear how González, for whom the authorities have issued an arrest warrant, plans to enter Venezuela or who would swear him in given that the National Assembly is dominated by Maduro loyalists.

Nevertheless, Juan says that the prisoners held in Tocorón are hoping against hope that Friday will see a change of government and their release from jail.

Meanwhile, the Maduro government has labelled any talk of a political transition as "a conspiracy" and has threatened that anyone who backs a change of leader "will pay for it".

Juan admits feeling a certain sense of guilt for being free when hundreds of his "comrades are still suffering" in prison.

But he says he is determined to return to the streets to show his support for Edmundo González on 10 January.

"I no longer fear the Venezuelan government," he explains.

"They already accused me of the worst crimes, such as terrorism, even though I'm just a young man who has done nothing more than love his country and help those around him."

"I'm not afraid," Juan repeats, before admitting that he has left some written testimony in a safe place "in case something happens to me".

Illustrations by Daniel Arce-Lopez.

The government of Chad has insisted the situation in capitol N'Djamena is stable after gunshots were heard near the presidential palace.

Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah said in a video apparently recorded within the palace complex that there had been a "little incident" but that "everything is calm".

Sources close to the African state's government said clashes had occurred between security forces and "terrorist elements".

The French news agency AFP quoted Koulamallah as saying that 18 attackers and a member of the security forces had been killed.

Following the incident, tanks were seen in the area and all roads leading to the palace were closed, the agency said

In the video, posted to Facebook, Koulamallah is seen surrounded by members of the government forces.

"Nothing serious has happened," he says.

"We are here and we will defend our country at the price of our blood. Be calm.

"This whole attempt at destabilisation has been thwarted."

He is then seen taking photos with, and raising his fist with, the soldiers.

Koulamallah was quoted by AFP as saying the assault had been launched by a 24-man commando unit, adding that six of the attackers had suffered injuries.

A further three members of the government forces also suffered injuries, he added.

The incident came just hours after a visit to the former French territory by China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, who met President Mahamat Déby and other senior officials.