welcome to bbc news, i'm simon pusey. our top stories: travel chaos in some parts of north america as frigid temperatures ground planes and turn roads into death traps. the roads are freezing, the roads are going to be like an ice rink and your tyres can't handle this. violent clashes grip paris after three people are shot dead at a kurdish community centre. protests in afghanistan over the ban on women going to university, the un says the taliban is denying the country a future. and the case of the actress who wasn't there, we'll explain why universal studios

is being sued for $5 million. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. more than a hundred million people in america, are under extreme weather alerts, and more than one and a half million people have no power, as temperatures in some areas are predicted to drop, to as low as minus 45 celsius. an arctic storm is approaching, predicted to hit canada and extend down to the deep south and the border with mexico, including texas. this thermal satellite imagery shows the huge spread of the coldest areas, with the mid—west enduring the lowest temperatures. the chill is also being felt on the gulf coastline, although areas in the far north—east, like maine, and western states like california, nevada and arizona are escaping the this satellite image, from

the national oceanic and atmospheric administration, gives an idea of the spread of the cold weather system, with the lowest temperatures underneath the clouds at the top of the picture, across the northern us states and canada. we begin our coverage with this report from our north america correspondent, john sudworth. it couldn't have come at a worse time. america's peak travel season hit by a once in a generation storm. two days before christmas, two thirds of the country are now under extreme winter weather alerts stretching from here on the canadian border all the way to florida. on airport runways planes have been replaced by de—icing trucks... we're out here, period. i mean, we'll be out him until it stops snowing, really. ..leading to thousands of cancelled flights with the city of chicago the worst hit. flustered. we're trying to search on our phones, figure out other routes, maybe even taking a bus from here to atlanta. it will take us about 21 hours, so that's really inconvenient.

but anything we can do just to get there is what we're going to do. a once in a generation bomb cyclone is actually causing temperatures to plummet. on the us networks, there's talk of little else. the term bomb cyclone describes a drop in pressure of 2a millibars in 2a hours. whatever you call it, the risks are clear. exacerbated by the strong desire to travel at this time of year. the roads are freezing, the roads are going to be like an ice—skating rink and your tires cannot handle this and that lends itself to a great possibility of pile—ups, they can be dangerous, people can get stranded. the storm is expected to last through the weekend. after the years of covid, millions of americans face another disrupted christmas. mark poloncarz is chief

executive of erie county in new york state which has been particularly badly hit by the storm. hejoins us now from buffalo. thanks forjoining us stopping just how bad is it? it’s thanks forjoining us stopping just how bad is it?— just how bad is it? it's as bad as we have — just how bad is it? it's as bad as we have ever _ just how bad is it? it's as bad as we have ever seen - just how bad is it? it's as bad as we have ever seen at. - just how bad is it? it's as bad as we have ever seen at. you may remember there is a storm of seven feet of snow that had four weeks ago, we got that but this is worth stopping the travellers basically non—stop, i should say there is no travel, travellers at a standstill because you can't see more than a few feet in front of the grill of your car. it is not only heavy snow, it is 60—70 mph wind gust and it has basically turned our entire community into one ghost town stopping the problem is we have hundreds of individuals who are trapped in vehicles, tens of thousands of individuals who are without power and we are expecting very bitter cold temperatures in the overnight hours so our emergency services, law enforcement, first responders have been working very hard to get to these people as quickly as

possible but the conditions are making it nearly impossible to do that. i making it nearly impossible to do that. . , making it nearly impossible to do that. ., , ., , making it nearly impossible to do that. ., , , do that. i am sure it has been very stressful for _ very stressful for you, what advice have you been giving people? advice have you been giving --eole? ~ �* , people? we've been telling --eole people? we've been telling peeple to — people? we've been telling peeple to stay _ people? we've been telling people to stay where - people? we've been telling people to stay where they l people? we've been telling i people to stay where they are they are indoors, doesn't matter we you are, if you are indoors usa stop even if you have lost power it is better to be indoors than to try to travel somewhere else because the conditions are just not possible. it has been a very, very long day and the sad part is where a through the overnight hours and again through all day tomorrow, christmas eve until possibly a let up early christmas morning, so we are expecting at least another day of this and we are very full about what the end result will be because of so many people who are still trapped out on the roads. i many people who are still trapped out on the roads. i was auoin to trapped out on the roads. i was going to ask — trapped out on the roads. i was going to ask you _ trapped out on the roads. i was going to ask you going - trapped out on the roads. i was going to ask you going forward how things look like they are getting but it sounds like they are going to remain pretty bad for a couple of days?— for a couple of days? yes, we are used _ for a couple of days? yes, we are used to — for a couple of days? yes, we are used to snow _ for a couple of days? yes, we are used to snow here, - for a couple of days? yes, we are used to snow here, we i for a couple of days? yes, we| are used to snow here, we can handle snow normally but this is not your normal snowstorm stopping this is not only multiple bit of that is falling

but because of the blinding winds and blizzard conditions you just cannot see where you are going. our emergency responders were such that they couldn't see where they were going. we had to take our snowploughs of the roads because they couldn't see where they are going and if you are ina they are going and if you are in a multi ton rig that is used to be going out and major snowstorms and we have to pull them off the road, if it is so bad for them it is for everyone else. this is very reminiscent of the blizzard of 77 which is the most famous storm that the buffalo area ever had and we are just hopeful that we get through this as best as possible with the least amount of fatalities. we really haven't heard of any fatalities yet but we are very worried when the daylight hours peak, tomorrow and find out that there are were unfortunately some people may have died in their vehicles in the overnight hours. {iii their vehicles in the overnight hours. . ., , their vehicles in the overnight hours. , ., ., hours. of course and going forward in _ hours. of course and going forward in the _ hours. of course and going forward in the next - hours. of course and going forward in the next few - hours. of course and going l forward in the next few days there are going to be other issues are there! like people needing article attention and how does that happen in people needing food, so it is notjust

about the cold and ice? needing food, so it is not 'ust about the cold and ice? that's riaht, about the cold and ice? that's right. we _ about the cold and ice? that's right, we have _ about the cold and ice? that's right, we have multiple - about the cold and ice? that's right, we have multiple phone numbers, of course 911 emergency system for life—threatening problems but we have also set about separate phone numberfor those we have also set about separate phone number for those who we have also set about separate phone numberfor those who may need dialysis tomorrow or medications in the next 24—36 hours so they are not in a life—threatening situation just yet but they will be if they don't get this needed attention and unfortunately there are lots of people around the community, there's about a million people live in erie county that are in serious distress so we are hopeful we will be able to get back out on the daylight hours and get to these individuals but it has just been a terrible day because of conditions, you cannot go anywhere, you cannot see where you are going, it is a true blizzard and it will be a true blizzard and it will be a storm that will be for the record books.— a storm that will be for the record books. ~ ., ~ , ., record books. mark thank you so much forjoining _ record books. mark thank you so much forjoining us _ record books. mark thank you so much forjoining us and - record books. mark thank you so much forjoining us and to - record books. mark thank you so much forjoining us and to stay l much forjoining us and to stay safe. thank you very much indeed for bringing us to date. our news reporter, tom brada,

joins us with the latest. we have just been hearing there just how bad it is in flow in new york state, can you give more information about what is going on in the rest of the country? it going on in the rest of the country?— country? it is really bad across large _ country? it is really bad across large parts - country? it is really bad across large parts of. country? it is really bad i across large parts of north america, there is rain, blizzards, snow, ice, extreme cold across the country and i can give you some of the numbers which should give you a sense of the scale of the disruption people are seeing at this. at the moment there are around 1.5 million people who are currently without power, there have been strong winds which have uprooted trees, knocked down power lines and as a result there are lots of blackouts. many eastern states in the us are most affected by this for example in north carolina and virginia there are at least 150,000 people in both of those states currently without power and i should add that across the border in canada there is also a lot of power outages in quebec and ontario, around 300,000 people are currently without power so this is a real ongoing issue

for people in the cold. transport affected and that it is a problem for people who want to get home for christmas for the christmas plans. more than a500 flights have been cancelled, airports are really struggling and also trains have been affected, amtrak has suspended 20 of their roots and the roads, we have spoken a lot about how there are icy conditions on the roads, they are treacherous at the moment, people are still driving at the moment as they are trying to get where they feel they need to be. debts from road accidents have been reported in kentucky, kansas, tennessee. i should be able to show some pictures, this is ohio, at least one person has been reported to have been killed in this pileup so clearly there are seriously dangerous conditions in the country is bracing for even worse weather in the coming days. find bracing for even worse weather in the coming days.— in the coming days. and it's not 'ust in the coming days. and it's not just snow _ in the coming days. and it's not just snow and _ in the coming days. and it's notjust snow and ice, - in the coming days. and it's not just snow and ice, is - in the coming days. and it's notjust snow and ice, is it? that's right, if that is not enough to contend with, the eastern states have a lot of flood warnings in place, so

there are coastal flood warnings in parts of maine and massachusetts, this is new york state, you can see cars under water, homes, floodwaters covering the bottom of these homes. the reason this is happening particularly in new york state is that there has been heavy rain and strong wind and what that does is it pushes the seawater towards the and that is why we are seeing this kind of submission of the cars we are seeing in new york state and the problem is with colder weather still to come there may be something called flash freezing which means basically when there are wet patches that could freeze over and cause more ice underfoot and cause more ice underfoot and more opportunity for danger. and more opportunity for dancer. ., , ., ., danger. lots going on and lots to talk about and it _ danger. lots going on and lots to talk about and it is - danger. lots going on and lots to talk about and it is moving l to talk about and it is moving all the time, isn't it? we will get more updates through the night stop before now, thank you very much indeed for joining us. let's get some of the day's other news. a french serial killer who's been convicted of two murders, and linked to 20 others, is on his way back to france. charles sobhraj says he feels great after being released from jail in nepal. the 78—year—old, whose crimes were dramatised in the tv series the serpent, served 19 years for killing two

americans in 1975. the former fijian army colonel sitiveni rabuka has been confirmed as fiji's prime minister, after a coalition of parties voted to support him, ending frank bainimarama 16 years in power. the appointment ends ten days of uncertainty in fiji, when the election delivered a hung parliament. rabuka accused the outgoing government of stoking �*fear and chaos' to derail his return to power. ethiopian investigators have completed their final report into an ethiopian airlines crash nearly four years ago which led to the worldwide grounding of boeing 737—max aircraft. all 157 people on board were killed. the nairobi—bound plane came down minutes after take—off from addis ababa. the investigation concluded that a software failure was to blame. the french president, emmanuel macron, has condemned a shooting at a cultural centre in paris as an �*odious attack�* on the country's

kurdish population. three people were killed and three injured by the gunman, who had just been released from detention for targeting a migrant camp a yearago. following the attack, us secretary of state antony blinken sent his �*deepest sympathies to the victims of the attack at the kurdish cultural center in paris�*. also saying via twitter: �*my thoughts are with the members of the kurdish community and people of france on this sad day.�* clashes later broke out between police and a large crowd which had gathered at the scene. protesters started a fire in the street, and threw chairs and bricks. police in riot gear responded with tear gas. hugh schofield reports. shouting not long after the attack, rioting in central paris. these are people from the city�*s turkish kurdish community, angry because it was three of theirs who were shot and killed. it was just before midday when the man described as white and quite old, pulled out

a handgun and started firing outside a kurdish community centre, not farfrom the gare du nord. he was overpowered and detained by police. to the authorities, the most plausible theory is that this was a racially motivated anti—foreigner attack. translation: obviously, - he wanted to attack foreigners. we will find out from thejudicial inquiry if he was specifically targeting kurds. for the moment, it�*s impossible to know. the man has been identified as a 69—year—old former train driver. he�*d onlyjust been let out ofjail in connection with an attack with a sword on an african migrant camp in paris a year ago. translation: it concerned people who were living - in tents, and the person concerned attacked the tents. an investigation was opened at the end of 2021 and the person concerned has recently been released. this evening, the area remains tense. many in the kurdish community here accusing the french government of failing to protect them. stay with us on bbc news.

still to come: the case of the actress who wasn�*t there. we�*ll explain why universal studios is being sued for $5 million. the world of music has been paying tribute to george michael, who�*s died from suspected heart failure at the age of 53. he sold well over 100 million albums in a career spanning more than three decades. the united states' troops have been trying to overthrow the dictatorship of general manuel noriega. the pentagon says it's failed in its principle objective — to capture noriega and take him to the united states to face drugs charges. the hammer and sickle| was hastily taken away. in its place, the russian flag - was hoisted over what is now no longer the soviet union, but the commonwealth i of independent states. day broke slowly over lockerbie, over the cockpit of pan am�*s maid of the seas, nose down in the soft earth. you could see what happens when a plane eight storeys high, a football pitch wide, falls from 30,000 feet. christmas has returned

to albania after a communist ban lasting more than 20 years. thousands went to midnight mass in the town of shkoder, where there were anti—communist riots ten days ago. this is bbc news. our main story: there is travel chaos in some parts of the us as frigid temperatures ground planes and turn roads into deathtraps. well, for more on this, i�*ve been speaking to gerard jebaily, a meterologist for newsnation in chicago, about whether or not the storm is as bad as was predicted. it�*s certainly been quite a system. i�*m here in chicago. now we like to very affectionately call it chiberia. the wind is howling outside right now, and we have temperatures that have really plummeted

since this time yesterday. right we are roughly around the zero degrees fahrenheit, which is about —18 celsius, and we have had wind chills all day long hovering around —a0 degrees celsius, which is the same as in fahrenheit. we�*ve had other places even further than that with those individuals. we have the snowfall, which hasn�*t been as much of a problem. many areas in the great lakes region are used to getting several inches of snow, but the wind has been blowing a0, 50, 60 mph, picking up the snow and making it so tough to see. visibility has been lowered, not to mention covering the roads and the snowploughs have not been able to clear the roads withjust a moment behind them,

the roads are being covered up again with snowfall. so we are seeing this arctic blast covering most of the united states, from the rockies all the way to the east coastlines. in fact, earlier, just yesterday, we only had about three states in the whole lower a8 that were not being affected. so this has been a wide—reaching storm, with arctic temperatures reaching all the way to the gulf coast states bringing temperatures that they have never seen before. it is pretty extraordinary. it has been described as once in a generation, is that a statement you would agree with? there are some that have not seen this in 30 years, absolutely. i don�*t know if you can see this behind me, but you need to see some of the numbers here. it�*s notjust how much the temperatures are falling, it�*s how fast. we�*ve seen a drop of 37 degrees in only an hour, and that is fahrenheit, in denver, 30 degrees in one hour in texas and one of the ones that has just been absolutely mind blowing, dropping from a3 fahrenheit down to 11 fahrenheit in about nine minutes, that was in cheyenne, wyoming. we have not seen images

for that fast, so they have been blasting through with a vengeance and such speed that the ground, even if it was just wet, flash—froze and caused a lot of trouble. slick roadways, binding snowfall — all of this combined in the worst possible time, right during the christmas holidays when people trying to get around. it has been an absolute nightmare for people to try to get to go where they want to. many people had their flights can had to change them, myself included. we have been stuck in places waiting for the weather to break before we could get out. much more about this story on our website, including details of what a bomb cyclone is, how it forms and how long it might last. just log on to bbc.com/news or go via the bbc app. the united nations says the ban on women going to university in afghanistan is a dramatic setback, denying a future for the country. girls had already been banned from attending secondary school by the taliban. the new restrictions affecting higher education were announced this week and have prompted protests across the country, as our diplomatic correspondent caroline hawley reports.

all chant. defying the taliban in a show of fury, and of extraordinary here in the north of afghanistan they were chanting, "why won�*t you let us study? and the taliban used water cannon to disperse them. we�*ve blurred their faces to protect them from taliban reprisals. translation: i beg you, please, please, just let . us continue learning. all chant: let us in! in kabul yesterday, women vowing to stand together against oppression. but several were arrested, others beaten. translation: they gave all the girls lashes. - they�*d brought their own female enforcers, who whipped the girls. we fled, but others were taken by the taliban. only a few weeks ago, young women were sitting

their university exams, separate from men. but still, it gave secondary schoolgirls hope that they�*d soon be allowed to resume their education — a dream that�*s now been snatched away. crying. this was the reaction at one university in kabul when they heard the news. in kandahar, some young men walked out of their studies in solidarity. cheering and applause. on national television, the minister of higher education accused women students of not properly following the taliban�*s dress code, trying to justify a decision that has caused an international outcry. this is a dramatic setback. denying women a right to education is denying a future to afghanistan, to the country and to the people. we are asking for this to be immediately reversed, and we are working on it. malala yousafzai, campaigner for girls�* education, survived an attack by the taliban in pakistan a decade ago.

we always feared that it would get worse, which is happening right now. it is getting worse for women, and this is two decades of progress that women in afghanistan fought for. the bbc�*s sana safi grew up in afghanistan under the taliban�*s previous rule and could only go to underground schools. ifeelangry, ifeel sad, because those women will lose the precious time that i lost. they will lose the childhood that i lost. everything we have seen from the taliban in regards to their decision—making indicates that they have not changed. whatever happens with the protests, these afghan women are sending a very clear message to the world. caroline hawley, bbc news. canadian rapper tory lanez has been found guilty of shooting fellow artist megan thee stallion in july 2020. the trial in los angeles heard how the two left a party in the hollywood hills in a heated argument. as stallion got out of the car, witnesses said lanez ordered her to dance and shot at her feet. tory could now face more

than 20 years in prison and could be deported from the us. ajudge in the us has ruled that two movie fans can sue the universal film studio for false advertising over the trailer it issued for the 2019 movie yesterday. that clip featured the actress ana de armas, but her part was entirely cut from the finished movie. the plaintiffs say they only rented the movie because they thought ms de armas was in it, and they have now been cleared to take their claim for $5 million in compensation to court. earlier we spoke to entertainment lawyer domenic romano, founder and managing partner of romano law, who gave us a breakdown of the case. well, first of all, it�*s not on behalf of the two fans. it�*s on behalf of a class of other viewers of the film that were deceived. so i�*m not surprised that the judge allowed this suit to go on.

the trailer features a well—known actress who does not appear in the film, and it�*s understandable that a court would deem that notjust these two but other viewers of the trailer might be misled. and do you think this will therefore have implications for trailers and the industry as a whole in the future? 100%. now, universal, the studio, argued that the trailer was an artistic, expressive work. it should be protected free speech under the first amendment in the united states. but the court ruled it�*s a trailer is a commercial, not only speech but commercial speech, and that there was a likelihood that others may be misled, or at least was arguable, if an actress is featured in the trailer and then doesn�*t appear in the film. it�*s important to note too that although that $5 million has been claimed on behalf of this class of viewers that were misled, the film itself grossed a reported $15a million at the box office alone, not including streaming and other revenue. so, to put in context, it�*s not an outrageous amount.

sure, and to be — apologies for being naive, but where does that $5 million go if they�*re successful with this? well, the next step would be discovery, and if they�*re successful in certifying it as a class, it would go to the viewers that can make a claim that. but for those seeing ms de armas in the trailer, they would not have paid the $3.99 or whatever they paid, to watch the film. and in terms of legal practice, will be set a precedent, do you think, of other similar cases being opened? i think it will make studios and other distributors cautious about misleading viewers. and from a consumer perspective, this is not a bad thing. so for you, do you think this is a sort of landmark moment that people will refer back to in the future? well, you know, ithink it�*s rare that a trailer will feature an actress or an actor then cut from a film. but i think misleading scenes — thejudge also said scenes in a trailer that are misleading, as a consumer protection mechanism as more

and more people consume streaming media, ithink the ruling will have an effect on the way entertainment content is advertised in the future. king charles is expected to pay tribute to his mother, the late queen, in his first christmas day message. a photo released in the uk on friday evening shows the recording being made in st george�*s chapel at windsor castle, where a committal service was held during the queen�*s funeral in september. just before we go, i want to bring you some pictures from the chilean capital, santiago, where people have been flocking to a lantern festival at the city�*s family park. a1 chinese artisans created light sculptures of animals, flowers, mythological beings and scenes from chinese culture. the festival of lights shows a journey along the roads of the chinese provinces highlighting their treasures, history and folklore. you can reach me on twitter. i�*m @sipusey.

hello. it looks as if for most it will stay mild in the run—up to christmas, but there is the hint of some colder air returning. the reason is because we�*ve got these mild south—westerly winds at the moment. this is the band of rain, the weather front, that swept right the way across the uk during friday, giving 10—15mm of rain, turning to snow over the scottish highlands and grampians, even at lower levels temporarily in the north. showers elsewhere, but largely frost—free away from the chilliness in the north. so not particularly cold to start, but perhaps one or two mist and fog patches to watch out for first thing this morning. but then a lot of dry and bright weather for england and wales. the showers get going quite quickly across northern ireland, pushing into northern england and other western extremities. our rain band with its hill snow slow to drag away,

and it will stay in the cold air up in shetland all day. a lot of cloud behind, but temperatures will be higher, notably, for scotland than they were on friday. and it�*s mild across, not as windy. then, through the evening and overnight, those showers push their way gradually eastwards and then just the hint that a north—westerly returns to the north and west of scotland. so again, not particularly cold as we head into christmas day morning — just local frost, really, and quite a bit of showery weather round through the day. some brightness around, but there�*s a question mark as to a weather front coming up to the south which might give cloudy, wet conditions later on across southern and eastern areas. then we�*ve got those showers across the north, probably brightening up with some sunshine behind, but that�*s when it turns chillier with the chance of some wintriness, as you can see. temperatures still for most at 8—12 degrees — on the higher side of normal. but, as i say, there is the chance that we could see the definition of a white christmas — snow falling across the north and west in the showers as we go through the second part of the day.

and it might well push right the way across the uk as we go into boxing day. but it will be a short—lived chilly spell and it doesn�*t mean snow for all. we�*ve still got, as i say, that question mark over rain later on christmas day in the south, dragging its heels to clear on the south—east on boxing day and then a wintry mix of showers, with hail, sleet, hill snow mostly. temperatures, though, fall to eight degrees celsius. that�*s a few degrees down on those of christmas day. but as i say, it does look like a short—lived cold snap because the mild atlantic influence returns, looks like with wet and windy weather on the way. the warnings, as ever, are on the website.

this is bbc news. the headlines — frigid temperatures and heavy snowstorms in the us and canada have grounded planes and turned roads into ice rinks. hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses are without power and meteorologists say temperatures could drop to minus a5 celsius in some places. there�*s been violent clashes in paris after three people were shot dead at a kurdish community centre. the french president emmanuel macron has described the attack as "odious". the alleged attacker was a 69—year—old frenchman who had previously targeted an african migrant camp in paris. in afghanistan, a ban on women going to university has prompted widespread protests. the un described the ruling as a dramatic setback,

denying a future for the country. the taliban had already banned girls from secondary schools.