Under growing pressure from his own party, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced he will step down and end his nine-year stretch as leader.

Trudeau said he would stay on in office until his Liberal Party can choose a new leader, and that parliament would be prorogued – or suspended – until 24 March.

“This country deserves a real choice in the next election and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” he said during a press conference Monday.

Trudeau’s personal unpopularity with Canadians had become an increasing drag on his party’s fortunes in advance of federal elections later this year.

The 53-year-old prime minister faced growing calls to quit from inside his Liberal Party, which ramped up in December when deputy prime minister and long-time ally Chrystia Freeland abruptly resigned, citing Trudeau’s perceived failure to not take US President-elect Donald Trump’s threats of tariffs on imported Canadian goods seriously.

In a public resignation letter, she accused Trudeau of not doing enough to address the “grave challenge” posed by Trump’s proposals.

Trump has promised to impose a tax of 25% on imported Canadian goods – which economists have warned would significantly hurt Canada’s economy – unless the country takes steps to increase security on its shared border.

Trudeau said at the time he had hoped Freeland would have continued in her post, “but she chose otherwise.”

Under Trudeau, the Liberal Party has governed as a minority party with the support of several smaller parties, but the prime minister has struggled to keep the coalition together while trying to fight high inflation and housing prices.

Following Freeland’s resignation, Trudeau lost the support of parties that had previously helped keep the Liberals in power – the Quebec nationalist party, Bloc Quebecois, and the left-leaning New Democrats.

The largest opposition party, the Conservatives, have maintained a significant two-digit lead over the Liberals in polls for months – suggesting that if a general election were held today, the Liberals could be in for a significant defeat.

The Liberals have also lost a series of special elections in recent months, including in former party strongholds in Toronto and Montreal, underscoring the party’s political troubles.

Trudeau announced his intention to quit before his party’s national caucus meets on Wednesday.

Liberals will now choose a new leader to take the party into the next election. (BBC)

The United Kingdom is grappling with an intense flu outbreak that has seen over 5,000 patients hospitalised by the end of December.

The National Health Service on Friday reported an average of 4,469 flu-related hospitalisations daily in the week leading up to December 29, a nearly 3.5-fold increase compared to the same period in 2023.

On Christmas Day, 4,102 patients were in hospital with flu, rising sharply to 5,074 by December 29.

This marks a dramatic quadrupling of cases since November 29, when hospitalisations stood at 1,190.

Adding to the strain, hospitals are also dealing with high numbers of norovirus and Respiratory Syncytial Virus cases.

Critical care units reported an average of 211 flu patients per day, while norovirus and RSV cases remain significantly higher than last year.

The NHS has implemented measures to manage the surge, including adding 1,300 extra beds and improving coordination centres.

A record 15,094 patients were discharged on Christmas Eve, representing a 40 per cent increase over the previous week’s average.

According to BBC, the National Clinical Director for urgent and emergency care, Julian Redhead, highlighted the continued pressure from flu, COVID-19, RSV, and other viruses.

He urged people to take precautions and use NHS resources wisely, particularly as temperatures are expected to drop below freezing.

He said the figures show “the pressure from flu was nowhere near letting up before we headed into the new year, skyrocketing to over 5,000 cases a day in hospital as of the end of last week and rising at a very concerning rate”.

“With what looks like an extreme cold snap expected right across England ahead of the weekend, we know the low temperatures can be dangerous for those who are vulnerable or have respiratory conditions,” he added.

• Arshad recorded a video right after killing his mother and sisters

The 24-year-old man accused of murdering his mother and four sisters at a hotel in Lucknow has said in a chilling video that he committed the killings because he did not want his “sisters to be sold”. In the video, which emerged hours after the shocking crime, Arshad alleges that neighbours and land mafia in their hometown Budaun captured their house and planned to traffick his sisters.

In the video, Arshad said he killed his mother and three sisters and the fourth was about to die. He also showed the bodies and said he choked them and slit their wrists and that his father helped him.

The victims have been identified as his mother Asma and sisters Alia (9), Alshia (19), Aksa (16) and Rahmeen (18).

“Our family has taken this step due to harassment by people in the neighbourhood. I have killed my mother and sisters. When police get this video, they must know that the locals are responsible. They harassed us to capture our house. We raised our voice, but no one heard. It has been 15 days that we have been sleeping on the footpath, wandering in the cold. We don’t want the children to wander in the cold. They have captured our house. The documents are with us,” says Arshad, who was arrested at the crime scene.

In the video, the young man said the family wanted to convert and appealed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for justice.

He also named several people allegedly responsible for the deaths: Ranu, Aftab, Aleem Khan, Salim, Arif, Ahmad and Azhar. “They are land mafia, they also sell girls. They planned to frame the two of us (him and his father) in a false case and sell our sisters. We did not want that. So I was forced to kill my sisters by choking them and slitting their wrists.”

Arshad then showed the bodies of his mother and sisters. “I may not be alive till the morning,” he said, suggesting that he had planned to die by suicide too. “We are from Budaun, my aunt has proof (of residence) going back to 1947. They spread lies about us that we are Bangladeshis.”

Arshad said in the video that the family wanted to convert to live in peace. “We approached many people for help, but they did not help us. Now my sisters are dying and I will die in a short while. But no family in India should be forced to do this,” he said, requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yogi Adityanath for justice. “I request with folded hands, we did not get justice in life, at least give us justice in death. They should get the strictest punishment. They are connected with leaders and police. They captured half of our plot and wanted to capture the other half.”

Arshad also said that a temple should come up on their land and their belongings must be donated to an orphanage so that our souls find joy. “I killed them with my father. What choice did I have? See them being sold in Hyderabad?”

“Ensure they get justice. They struggled a lot today. We have saved their honour,” he said, addressing the Chief Minister.

NDTV cannot verify the authenticity of the video.

Earlier, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Lucknow, Raveena Tyagi said the murders were committed at Hotel Sharanjit. “The accused, identified as Arshad (24), allegedly killed five members of his own family. Following the gruesome act, the local police promptly caught the accused from the crime scene,” she said.

Forensic teams have collected samples from the crime scene. (NDTV)