this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm geeta guru—murthy and these are the latest headlines. three people have been shot dead at a kurdish community centre in paris. police are investigating whether it was a racist attack and have arrested a 69—year—old man. it is a terrible tragedy for all of us, as well as for the kurdish community which seems to have been the apparent target. the us faces its coldest christmas in four decades as a storm sweeps across the country, with temperatures dropping to minus 45 degrees celsius in some places. the head of the union representing striking border force staff in the uk says walkouts could go on for six months unless the government enters talks about pay.

police in pakistan say at least two people, including a police officer, have been killed in a suicide blast in the capital islamabad. protestors in afghanistan are arrested after making a stand against the taliban's latest prohibition on women and girls attending universities. tuesday's late—night announcement has triggered international outrage. george cohen, who was part of england's 1966 world cup—winning team, has died aged 83. a prosecutor in paris says a 69—year—old gunman — who opened fire at a kurdish community centre — had previously been charged with racist violence. three people were killed in today's shooting in the tenth

arrondissement, where witnesses say the gunman initially targeted the cultural centre before entering a nearby hairdressers, where he was arrested by police. this is what the paris prosecutor had to say at the scene a short while ago. translation: according to the latest casualty reports. _ translation: according to the latest casualty reports. i _ translation: according to the latest casualty reports, i can _ translation: according to the latest casualty reports, i can tell— translation: according to the latest casualty reports, i can tell you - casualty reports, i can tell you there are three dead, one person in a state of critical emergency and two others in a state of relative emergency. the man arrested who was well enough to be questioned is also injured, notably in the face. the person concerned was already known to the judicial services as he had two previous convictions, although these background searches are continuing and i am only communicating to you what i know after visiting the scene. this man witnessed the aftermath of the shooting. translation: we were walking in the

street and we — translation: we were walking in the street and we heard _ translation: we were walking in the street and we heard a _ translation: we were walking in the street and we heard a gunshot, - translation: we were walking in the street and we heard a gunshot, we - street and we heard a gunshot, we turned around and saw people running left and right, and then five or six minutes later, because we know the people who work at the hair salon, we went into the salon and we saw they had arrested a guy, an old man, elderly, tall, every three injured people. i was the one who called the fire department. i was the one who called the police to say that there were wounded people. our paris correspondent hugh schofield is following events. we now have more details, including facts about this man's previous known movements and actions. yeah, we know no — known movements and actions. yeah, we know no no — known movements and actions. yeah, we know no no name, _ known movements and actions. yeah, we know no no name, he _ known movements and actions. yeah, we know no no name, he is— known movements and actions. yeah, we know no no name, he is 69 - known movements and actions. yeah, we know no no name, he is 69 years i we know no no name, he is 69 years old, we know he is linked by the police to two other incidents, the most important about a year ago, when this man, still alleged, he hasn't been convicted, but he was caught with a sword at a migrant camp, shouting racist slogans,

slashing tense and eventually came to blows and injuring two of the migrants, eritreans and sudanese, with a sword. he has since been in preventative detention for nearly a year, got out ten days ago after saying, his lawyer saying this is taking too long, it hasn't come to trial yet, taking too long, it hasn't come to trialyet, he taking too long, it hasn't come to trial yet, he should be out on provisional release, that is what happened. ii provisional release, that is what happened. 11 days later we have this incident. there is another affair going back several years which seems also may have a racial involvement, in which she was convicted, violence with an armed. a lot of questions asked about why he is out, given that he is linked to these two affairs and was caught in relation to the second of them, and the answer is that the whole legal proceedings have taken so long that he petitioned to get out and got out, this is what it has led to,

this attack were we are left with wandering his real motivation, was any immigrants? was he choosing kurds? it seems this cultural centre, the latest i'm hearing is the kurdish group that runs the centre say three of its activists with a three dead, but that is not yet confirmed. —— were the three dead. a fierce arctic winter storm has triggered emergency alerts across large parts of the united states, and forced the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights. forecasters say the cold snap could bring the coldest christmas in decades, with wind blasts taking it even as low as minus 55 celsius in places. presidentjoe biden has encouraged everyone to heed warnings and bring forward christmas travel plans where possible. i spoke to cbs correspondentjarred hill,

who's at la guardia airport in new york city and told us about flight cancellations. this is what it looks like when a bomb cyclone descends on north america. these huge banks of snow in north dakota are the result of an intense blizzard that swept through the state. conditions that are set to engulf almost the entire countryjust in time for christmas. but this is no winter wonderland. the storm could prove deadly. great swathes of the us will experience some of the lowest temperatures ever recorded here. if you are in a crash and stuck out in conditions like this, it can be very, very dangerous for you to be in air temperatures this cold. and so, we are seeing that people are dressed for the conditions or at least prepared to be out in it. ——aren�*t. there's already chaos at the airports. this is new york. for many, it should have been the first normal christmas after covid. but across the country, thousands of flights have been cancelled. some people have been forced

to abandon their plans to travel, while others are scrambling to find another way to get to theirfamilies. flustered, we are trying to search on our phones, figure out other routes, maybe even taking a bus from here to atlanta, which will take us about 21 hours. so, that's really inconvenient but anything we can do just to get there is what we are going to do. president biden has urged people to take extreme care. this is really a very serious weather alert here. and it goes from oklahoma all the way to wyoming, and wyoming to maine. and it's of real consequence, so i encourage everyone, everyone, please heed the local warnings. the rapidly deepening low pressure system will bring snow, strong winds, ice and frigid conditions all the way from canada to the deep south, including texas and the border with mexico.

the midwest will be particularly badly hit, where it could be the coldest christmas since the 1980s. even florida, the sunshine state, will experience temperatures well below freezing. in new york, intense blizzards are expected to last for several days. americans are being advised to travel earlier than planned or hunker down for christmas. peter bowes, bbc news. i spoke to cbs correspondentjarred hill, who's at la guardia airport in new york city and told us about flight cancellations. not necessarily here, lots and lots of cancellations, but that's something that has been happening across the country. and as the weekend goes, that is expected to follow. what is interesting with the storm, as big as it is and as big as the country is, is that it is impacting almost every community differently, but one

unifying factor is the fact that during the christmas weekend, a lot of people are trying to travel and a lot of them are getting caught in similar snags. and we're seeing this weather snap coming through and we're hearing from the us president is saying how dangerous it could be. do you feel that people are prepared? it depends where you are. one of the plus sides is that a lot of these communities have known about this for a couple of days and we've seen places where they're starting to salt the roads or treat the roads to make sure they're not as slippery as they could be. and we've seen a lot of places, especially in the south, which are not used to such temperatures, developing warming centres and shelters for anyone who may lose power or doesn't have a home. we've seen some preparation here, but the real test will be over the next couple of days to see how those systems hold up. texas ended up losing power in some areas on the coldest day of the season. they're promising not

to have a repeat of previous years, where a cold snap really hit the power grid in a way that was crippling and incredibly dangerous. we've seen some locations promising they will do a betterjob than they might have done in the past. but we'll have to see over the next few days. 0ur weather presenter darren bett told me more. it is not just it is notjust north america, not just the us that is affected, also canada. there is over 200 million people in the us, 60% of the country, underwent a severe weather warnings. we have been watching this for the past couple of days, taking back to wednesday in northern parts of the us, and wyoming resort temperatures and four hours drop 25 degrees. this cold day has reached the deep south and florida, so air

here, we're seeing power outages in texas also georgia. it is being dragged down by this deep storm, this winter storm, called now a bomb cyclone. that'sjust this winter storm, called now a bomb cyclone. that's just essentially the pressure dropping very quickly in a short space of time, but that has dragged down this desperately cold. it is also bringing strong wind, those are particularly dangerous, multiple hazards across north america over the next couple of days. america over the next couple of da s. ~ ., ., america over the next couple of da 5. ~ . ., , america over the next couple of das. ., , , days. what do these temperatures actually feel _ days. what do these temperatures actually feel like? _ days. what do these temperatures actually feel like? what _ days. what do these temperatures actually feel like? what do - days. what do these temperatures actually feel like? what do they i days. what do these temperatures i actually feel like? what do they do? i have never been a —40, let alone anything colder, i talked to a colleague who has been in —40 and it hurts. it is difficult to breathe. the thing is some people who will be travelling, a busy time for travelling, a busy time for travelling, may not be geared up for this sort of weather. the advice is not to travel if you possibly can or make sure you're well prepared.

because with it being so cold, and such a significant wind—chill around that deep blue creatures now across eastern parts of canada, you see a lot of snow, a lot of significant wind—chill, in a matter of minutes you could have frostbite. don't go out, it is not a case of wrapping up warm, probably best not to go out if at all possible. the worst will be when people are travelling and in the west of the cold and snow was towards the eastern side of north america, things will get a little bit better after christmas day. that was our weather presenter darren bett. 0ur north america correspondent nomia iqbal sent this update from washington. at the moment it is pretty cold, 6 degrees, the temperatures forecast to drop by a huge amount later today, as low as 11, 8—11, to add to what darren said, the warning is for millions of americans who are under

weather alerts is to only travel if it is essential —— —ii celsius. christmas weekend of course starts tomorrow, people are trying to work out exactly what they do next, given all these warnings. president biden himself has said this isn't likely new work kid and this is snow day at school, this is really serious. that has been underlined by the fact that the us media and weather experts have been using the term bomb cyclone in abundance, and when that cyclone in abundance, and when that cyclone does make its way down the east coast, as darren said, to other parts of america, it will bring real life—threatening, crippling conditions, heavy, intense snooker brutal winter, temperatures could drop as low as —45 degrees, although i have another reporter could go as low as —57. as i said, we have christmas around the corner, it has all come at a really bad time, lots

of americans were hoping to get away for the holidays, given last year with the pandemic which upended people's travel plans. but those weather alerts are still in place for millions of americans, around about 135 million americans under those weather alerts, and just to let you know as well, i'm just thousands of people across the us have also been hit by blackouts, the hate state so far as connecticut, which has more than 100,000 power outages at the moment. —— in the worst hit state. this is the french interior minister, who is visiting the scene of the attack. kurdish community centre, a lawyerfor that of the attack. kurdish community centre, a lawyer for that centre has reportedly come according to reuters, all three people killed in the parachuting were members of the kurdish community, we know that a gunman opened fire —— paris

shooting. initially targeting this centre and a restaurant and prosecutors are looking into a potential racist motive. the suspect is 69 years old and has been arrested. you can see there the police and the authorities with the interior minister, inspecting the scene. visiting the scene, presumably talking to some of those involved. the mayor in that region also we can see in that short or wee heard from earlier. the authorities have sealed off the roads to the public about this is the strasbourg—saint denis, tenth district of paris, not a confirmed motive has yet but the suspect has been people charged with racist violence. that visit continuing as you can see, the interior minister

shaking hands with some of those who presumably work and live in that area. we will keep you across any developments. across the uk, several work sectors are being hit by strike action in the run up to christmas, including rail, trains and post. we'll get more on the disruption to air travel shortly. but first, a planned strike by ambulance workers at the gmb union across large parts of england and all of wales next wednesday, has been postponed. they'll walk out on the 11th of january instead. meanwhile, another walkout over pay has been announced by the royal college of nursing in england. and now scottish nurses are to take industrial action also in early 2023. it's not clear exactly when, but the anouncement follows a decision by the scottish government to impose a pay offer. joining us now is tom snellock the owner of clays bar and indoor clay target shooting.

thank you forjoining us. what affect ruc as a result of the rail strikes? ., , affect ruc as a result of the rail strikes? , . affect ruc as a result of the rail strikes? . ., , ., strikes? the most decent ones have been devastating _ strikes? the most decent ones have been devastating to _ strikes? the most decent ones have been devastating to our _ strikes? the most decent ones have been devastating to our christmas l been devastating to our christmas bookings, so we probably do 60 from corporate parties in the christmas season, it is important for us, the week of the 12th was due to be our best ever, actually the opening of a second site, so having the whole of the city closed down was quite an impact. the city closed down was quite an im act. , , the city closed down was quite an imact, �* , , ., the city closed down was quite an im act. , , , ., ., the city closed down was quite an imact. , ,. ., , impact. just explain what exactly ou do impact. just explain what exactly you do there- — impact. just explain what exactly you do there. we _ impact. just explain what exactly you do there. we are _ impact. just explain what exactly you do there. we are a _ impact. just explain what exactly you do there. we are a new- impact. just explain what exactly| you do there. we are a new breed impact. just explain what exactly - you do there. we are a new breed of competitive — you do there. we are a new breed of competitive socialising _ you do there. we are a new breed of competitive socialising venue, - you do there. we are a new breed of competitive socialising venue, you i competitive socialising venue, you go for notjust drinks and food but an activity, so rather than ping-pong, an activity, so rather than ping—pong, dance or crazy golf, you are holding software we built ourselves, a form of gun and you play these for unknown animal —based games, and our venue can hold a capacity of up to 100 people between them, so fairly big venues for big

companies hosting christmas parties. who do you hold responsible for these strikes? do you blame the unions, the government? who are you most fixated with? == unions, the government? who are you most fixated with?— most fixated with? -- frustrated. the ones we _ most fixated with? -- frustrated. the ones we are _ most fixated with? -- frustrated. the ones we are not _ most fixated with? -- frustrated. the ones we are not frustrated i most fixated with? -- frustrated. l the ones we are not frustrated with other members, they are the ones that are struggling through it, it is a combination between the two, all we really need is a solution so it doesn't carry on, the new strikes announced will continue after six months of nonstop strike action, it impacts businesses like ours constantly and that is a team of 75 people missing out on ours and tips, so the knock—on effect in our supply goes on and on. flat so the knock-on effect in our supply goes on and on-_ goes on and on. at what point does it become goes on and on. at what point does it laecome quite _ goes on and on. at what point does it become quite critical? _ goes on and on. at what point does it become quite critical? obviouslyl it become quite critical? 0bviously your business has faced such a tough time last week we would have made the same money that we would make in the same money that we would make in the first iiue the same money that we would make in the first ., , ., the first five or six weeks of next ear, so the first five or six weeks of next

year. so to _ the first five or six weeks of next year. so to get — the first five or six weeks of next year, so to get us _ the first five or six weeks of next year, so to get us through - the first five or six weeks of next | year, so to get us through january year, so to get us throughjanuary and february you need a good christmas to have them, and after the lockdown last year, this was the first time a look to be a positive one, so losing half of our bookings and 75% of the other, there is a significant impact, and set much tougherfor significant impact, and set much tougher for us significant impact, and set much tougherfor us as a significant impact, and set much tougher for us as a business to keep growing and makes a harderfor our team to get through christmas. mi team to get through christmas. all the best, hope you do have a good christmas over the next three days, thank you. the french interior minister is speaking, it is in french, we do not have a translator. he has got the local mayor with him behind him, gerald darmanin, the interior minister, who has been visiting the area where three people have been killed, three others wounded by a gunman who has been arrested. the

authorities say they are looking into possible racist motives for this attack in the tenth district of paris. if we can get translation, we will bring you that, but we do believe that the minister is giving a briefing on what they know, it is right in the heart of paris, where this attack has happened. anything that comes out of that, we will bring you as soon we can. police in pakistan say at least two people, including a police officer, have been killed in a suicide blast in the capital islamabad. they said the suspect travelling in a vehicle detonated his explosives when he was stopped by security personnel during a surprise check. let's talk to our south asian editor ethirajan anbarasan. tell us more. the police in islamabad have been on highly alert

because of ongoing incidents in the north—west of the country and following a tip—off, they had increased checkpoints and said they stopped a suspected vehicle, it was a car that looks like a taxi, to people inside, but they didn't stop and they gave chase and inside detonated, it was a carbon attack. they suspect they were going to another place, very important place, this road was leading to parliament and other government buildings, so they had some high—value target in mind. but they managed to avert this incident by stopping them, but then one police officer was killed and four others and two civilians were injured. it is a very rare attack in islamabad in recent years, because even though we witnessed incidents a view yes 0gogo the government managed to bring the situation under control, so this is clearly a warning for the authorities that what is happening in the of the country, in the fight against

militants and security forces, and come closer to the capital. 50 militants and security forces, and come closer to the capital. so who is thou . ht come closer to the capital. so who is thought to _ come closer to the capital. so who is thought to be _ come closer to the capital. so who is thought to be behind _ come closer to the capital. so who is thought to be behind this? - come closer to the capital. so who is thought to be behind this? the | is thought to be behind this? the pakistani is thought to be behind this? tie: pakistani taliban, they is thought to be behind this? ti2 pakistani taliban, they have claimed responsibility, they are islamist group based mostly on the north—west of the country, they were driven out of the country, they were driven out of an area in 2014 and a huge military operation by the pakistani authorities, but after the afghan taliban came to power in neighbouring afghanistan, that has given power to this movement, they are loosely affiliated, there are reports of targeted killings, ransom demands by these groups, two days ago they stormed a counterterrorism centre and two cottages. the military had to enter into this building, killing 25 suspected militants of this group, so it is not only for pakistan but also the entire region, how they are increasing attacks, that will be a worry for pakistan.—

sport, and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. good afternoon. one of the england players to win the world cup in 1966, george cohen, has died at the age of 83. he was the right back in england's team throughout the tournament, including in the final, a 4—2 victory over west germany. 0ur sports correspondent andy swiss reports. george cohen because my place amongst football's most famous line—up had been hard down, he made his name at fulham where his talent and tenacity soon became clear. the great george best said: was the finest full—back he faced. this in 1964, those skills won him an

england call—up and come the world cup two years later, he was a regular. soon he was emerging for the final against germany, an experience he would neverforget. when we came out of the eternal, even nervous anyway, but i try to keep my nerves under control. —— out of the tunnel. the noise, colours, you felt that everybody in that ground was on your side. and to win, of course, is the ultimate thing. cohen's unforeseen defending may not have grabbed the headlines but it was one of the cornerstones of england? triumph and afterwards there he was alongside captain bobby moore as he paraded the trophy. his career, though, would soon cut short ljy career, though, would soon cut short by injury, 96 to nine cohen retired and began a new career away from the limelight as a property developer. although his family were not done

with winning world cup, his nephew ben, a champion with england's rugby union team in 2003. by then george drew one's success had been finally cornered. mr drew one's success had been finally cornered. ~ , ., ., ., cornered. mr george cohen for services to _ cornered. mr george cohen for services to association - cornered. mr george cohen for| services to association football. cornered. mr george cohen for . services to association football. in services to association football. [ti 2000 services to association football. 2000 he services to association football. in 2000 he was one of the last services to association football. ti 2000 he was one of the last wembley heroes to receive an mbe and this naturally modest man was also commemorated by his beloved fulham, the club where he spent his entire career. but it is for his country that george cohen will be best remembered, a member of english football's ultimate team. india have the edge after the second day of their second test against bangladesh in mirpur. bangladesh closed on seven without loss in their second innings, still 80 runs behind. earlier india were bowled out for 314, with rishabh pant top scoring with 93. the governing body for world snooker has suspended an eighth chinese player from competing as part of their ongoing investigation into allegations of match fixing. chen zifan, who's ranked 93rd in the world, is the latest player

to be banned with immediate effect. the suspension will remain in place until the conclusion of the investigation, but zifan does have the right to appeal. that's all the sport for now. the french interior minister is witnessing —— visiting the scene of the attack were three people have been killed, we believe three others have been wounded, a gunman has been arrested with the authorities looking to —— looking into possible racist motives for this murder and this attack. this is bbc news, thank you for watching. today we are following a band of cloud and rain that is moving its way northwards into the uk and following that we have seen some clear skies in the south—west as the cloud moves northward. bringing some heavy rain

this evening across much heading into southern scotland. to the south the air is milder, quite breezy in the south—west. things are colder in the north. as the lead with moved into the cold in scotland only will we see rain but we will see some sleet and some snow falling. mainly over the hills to the north of the central belt. things are a little bit colder in scotland, not desperately cold, but further south it will be milder. still some blustery winds on the way in the south—west. but the promise of some sunshine. first of all we have that wintry mix of rain and snow in northern scotland and that should push away. we will see showers sweeping across northern ireland and pushing into scotland and affecting the western parts of england and wales. the midlands and eastern england, you may get away with a dry day with some sunshine. temperatures in double figures but that milder is following that band of wet weather across scotland with temperatures here are

eight or 9 degrees. southerly winds freshening will bring in milder air and push it northwards. heading into christmas day that colder air is moving down from the north—west a little bit quicker. there are some changes in the forecast for christmas day. england and wales, more cloud and some rain developing across western areas and then across the south as well. further north some sunshine and a north—westerly wind will introduce colder air more quickly so we have got a greater chance of seeing some snow showers in the north—west of scotland. to the south it is still mild. but that colder air and that western wind coming into scotland and northern ireland will sweep across the whole of the country in time for boxing day. that will mean more widespread wintry showers across scotland and northern ireland and coming into north—west england and north wales. snow over the hills and could be some travel disruption in the north—west of scotland. further south, fewer showers and more in the way of sunshine but for all of us it's going to feel colder in that wind on monday. then the wind direction changes and the cold air doesn't last too long. from monday into tuesday,

change to a west to south—westerly wind, lifting the temperatures again but bringing more rain.

this is bbc news. i'm geeta guru—murthy and these are the headlines: three people have been shot dead at a kurdish community centre in paris. police are investigating whether it was a racist attack and have arrested a 69—year—old man. the us braces for its coldest christmas in four decades as a major storm sweeps across the country with temperatures plummeting to minus 45 degrees celsius in some places.