this is bbc world 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. we could potentially see 30—50 centimetres of snowfall in surrounding areas, so we are all staying indoors for this christmas. violent clashes grip paris after three people are shot dead at a kurdish community centre. the handshake that brings hope to a war—torn part of the democratic republic of congo as rebels agree to withdraw. and the case of the actress who wasn't there. we'll explain why universal studios is being sued for $5 million.

more than 200 million people in america are under extreme weather alerts, and more than 1.5 million people have no power, as temperatures in some areas are predicted to drop to as low as minus 45 celsius. the huge arctic storm is affecting canada and extends down to the deep south and the border with mexico. this thermal satellite imagery shows the huge spread of the coldest areas — with the midwest enduring the lowest temperatures. and 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 on airport runways, planes have been replaced by de—icing trucks...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. earlier, i spoke to patricia jaggernauth who is a weather expert based in toronto, and i asked herjust how bad it was. i've got to tell you, it is chilly out here. when you see my eyes start to water it is bone chilling. the story was this winter storm, this cold front would be invading this area, this is toronto right here, where winds are now very blustery. the snow, for the most part,

i will say, has not fallen, but the problem now is we have 5—15 centimetres on ground and with blowing snow the wind is gusting to around 80 kilometres per hour right now, it is picking up, as you can hear, it is picking up all of the snow, it is blowing it about, so it is making me and frosty quite uncomfortable. it is dangerous out. it is brave of frosty to go out as well. lots of travel disruption, unsurprisingly, is christmas going to be cancelled for lots of people? it's a good question, right, will christmas be cancelled? i got to say absolutely not. there will be no scrooge moving on in, not even mother nature, she is my friend. overall, christmas will be ok, because here is how the timeline goes. for today, this is now the tail end of the storm, we still have saturday, we are maybe not seeing so much of the heavy snowfall, is more what is happening on ground level, deteriorating road travel, deteriorating conditions, if you are heading early on to visit your family,

you don't want to be out here driving about, it's very dangerous. ploughs are doing their best, city crews are also doing their best. get this, if you are anywhere around the major great lakes, we are seeing upgraded levels from winter storms to blizzard warnings and we could potentially see 30—50 centimetres of snow in surrounding areas, so we're staying indoors for this christmas. you are in toronto, canada and toronto are not strangers to cold weather and snow, this is on a different level, right? it is on a different level. a lot of us pinging this as a once in a generational storm, an oddity, if you will, the only comparison i can give this to any extremity compares to the ice storm we had a few years back. that was, in and of itself, an epic real historic storm. but this right here, the fact that we had the flash freeze from the temperatures being really comfortable, not even 25—36 hours ago, to feeling now —30, factor in the wind chill, and 5—15

centimetres plus, i've seen nothing like this, the transition in 25—36 hours is what makes this storm very historic and quite the conversation starter. we can see a couple of cars occasionally behind you. what is your advice to people watching this now and thinking of going outside? don't be any of these people. if you don't have a serious reason for being outside stay indoors. i have to stress, i've got to say, it is really, really deteriorating out here. the snowfall is one thing, if you haven't changed your winter tyres that is a whole other thing. we have been seeing spin outs. we have a major highway in the ontario region, the 401, we have seen multiple car crashes today, some really close calls as well. whiteout conditions are also probable, where we are seeing zero to no visibility. if you are needing to drive, may be postpone those plans.

and even if you need to fly, check with your airline, we are seeing tons of cancellations, maybe i would say boxing day would be the better day to get out. you say boxing day, this will be a couple more days still, it will not get any better anytime soon? you know what, i don't like putting fear when it comes to conversation of weather, i like being serious, and a note that some people do enjoy this weather, but it is very frigid out here, you are seeing dangerous wind chill, not good even for pets to be out and about for their daily walks, i would say hold off, mother nature is doing her thing, it is december, so snow and cold as expected, but yesterday a write off, today a write off, saturday, let's throw it in there, a write off as well. by sunday, we are starting to see improvements. more sunshine will grace us, a christmas miracle always else. patricia jaggernauth there. earlier, i spoke to our news reporter, tom brada, who explained more about the disruption caused by the storm.

there's 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 that people are seeing out there. at the moment there are around 1.5 million people who are currently without power, there have been strong winds which are uprooted trees, they have knocked down powerlines, 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 those states currently without power. ik should add that across border in canada there is also a lot of power outages in quebec and ontario, around 300,000 people are currently without power. this is a real ongoing issue for people in the cold. i should also tell you that transport is an area that has been really badly affected. that's obviously a massive problem for people who really want to get home for christmas, for their christmas plans. more than 11,500 flights have been cancelled, airports are really struggling. also trains have been affected.

the train company amtrak has suspended 20 of their routes. the roads, we have spoken a lot about how there are icy conditions on the roads, the roads are treacherous of their warnings as they try to get where they feel they need to be. deaths from road accidents have been reported in kentucky, kansas, tennessee. i should be able to show you pictures, this is in ohio, at least one person is reported to have been killed in this pilot. clearly there are seriously dangerous conditions out there in the country is bracing for even worse weather in the coming days. it is notjust the snow and ice there are other hazards out there as well. that's right. as if the snow and the ice and extreme cold 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, parts of massachusetts, this is new york state you can see cars underwater, floodwaters rising to cover the bottoms of these homes. the reason it has been happening in new york state is that there has been heavy rain and strong winds,

that pushes the seawater towards the land and that is why we are seeing the kind of submersion of the cars missing in new york state. with cold weather still to come, there may be something called flash freezing, means basically when there are wet patches that could freeze over and cause more ice an opportunity for danger. let's get some of the day's other news. rail passengers in the uk are being told to only travel today if it's absolutely necessary as the rmt union begins its latest strike. the ongoing dispute is about pay and conditions. services will finish at around 3 o'clock this afternoon before the industrial action starts at 6 o'clock. postal workers are also on strike today walking out for a second day running. 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. 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. twitter has in the past few days removed a feature that promoted suicide prevention hotlines to users that look up certain content. the removal of the safety feature — #there is help, has not been officially announced, but various concern. twitter and its new owner elon musk have not commented. just over a week ago, twitter disbanded its trust and safety council.

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 "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. 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's 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. phil mercer has more. the fijian election was a contest between two former military strongmen, sit—iveni rabuka lead two military coups in the south pacific archipelago in 1987, he went on to serve as prime minister the 19905, to serve as prime minister the 1990s, as rival in this election is frank bainimarama, former navy commodore, who seized power in fiji in 2006.

over the years he gradually restore democracy, winning elections in 2014 and 2018 but his defeat this week brings to an end 16 years in powerfor mr binding brahma, neither of these two men managed to win and outright majority at the ballot box, so in the end it came down to a small party that has decided to support sitiveni rabuka, his coalition government is promising greater freedoms for fijians, and also a more inclusive style of government in a country with a sizeable ethnic indian community. the peaceful transfer of power will be a test for fiji's democracy, it has been fragile in the past, of course fiji is a country with a history of armed coups. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. this is bbc news,

the headlines: travel chaos in some parts of north america as frigid temperatures ground planes and turn roads into death traps. violent clashes grip paris after three people are shot dead at a kurdish community centre. a rebel group in the east of the democratic republic of congo known as the m23, has withdrawn from a strategic position near the city of goma, following peace talks. the town of kibumba was handed over to an east african military force in line with the agreements of a regional leaders summit in angola last month. the gesture could mark a return to peace in the region after years of conflict. daniel dadzie reports. a glimmer of hope after years of war. m23 spokesman william gomer and a general of the congolese army, seen here on the right, are on opposing sides of the conflict which broke out in 2012. on friday, they met to implement a truce agreement.

several diplomatic initiatives have been launched in a bid to ease tensions. the breakthrough was reached in the angolan capital luanda on november 23. under the deal, the m23 rebels were meant to lay down their arms, then pull back from occupied territories. this ceremony marks their withdrawal from an important town in the disputed region. kibumba lies on the frontline on a key highway leading to the regional hub of more than1 million people. the fighters are meant to withdraw to positions around the border between congo, uganda and rwanda. translation: we hope - that the government in kinshasa will seize this opportunity with both hands and also work to bring peace to our country. the hope now is the people who have fled the fighting around kibumba can return home.

m23 secret takeover by east africa radio forcing areas under control is a positive indicator that the agreed—upon strategy of restoring normalcy in the eastern region remains on course. the unhcr projects 150,000 refugees from the drc will have fled the country over the course of this year. this agreement opens up the possibility that some could begin 2023 at home with theirfamilies. daniel dadzie, bbc news. canadian rapper tory lanez has been found guilty of shooting fellow artiste megan thee stallion in july 2020. the trial in los angeles heard how the two left a party in the hollywood hills, arguing. as stallion got out of the car, witnesses said lanez ordered her to dance, and shot at her feet.

the musician said she needed surgery to remove the bullet fragments from her feet. he could now face more than 20 years in prison and could be deported from the us. some 1.6 billion people worldwide depend directly on forests forfood, shelter, energy, medicines, and income, according to the united nations. the recommended forest cover per nation is at least 10 percent of the total land mass. in kenya, that cover stands at about 6%. our africa business editor, zawadi mudibo, toured villages at the kenyan coast, where foreign contractors have been accused of illegally harvesting giant baobab trees, for export to find out what is at stake. widespread outrage that a foreign national was whole baobab trees in can the bbc now has a reserve access to how these giant were transported to

these giant were transported to the shores of the kenyan coast ready for ship and. i am at the kenyan coast at this massive storage yard for the giant baobab trees. i am here to meet a businessman accused of illegally acquiring permits to transport these massive trees to eastern europe. he denies these claims. but a tweet from kenya's environment and forestry secretary through a spanner in the works. we got all the permits _ spanner in the works. we got all the permits by _ spanner in the works. we got all the permits by step, - spanner in the works. we got all the permits by step, it - spanner in the works. we got| all the permits by step, it was kenya forest service permit, county government permit, certificate of origin, all non—objection letters from county. non-ob'ection letters from coun . ,. , , , county. he describes himself as an environmentalist _

county. he describes himself as an environmentalist who - county. he describes himself as an environmentalist who came l county. he describes himself as. an environmentalist who came to kenya on a marine expedition but met residence at a kenyan coast who were intent on destroying baobab trees within their land for agricultural cultivation. i their land for agricultural cultivation.— their land for agricultural cultivation. ., ., ., cultivation. i got the idea to wh we cultivation. i got the idea to why we can't _ cultivation. i got the idea to why we can't replant - cultivation. i got the idea to i why we can't replant botanical gardens in different countries? the management of the park in georgia, they like the adi offered. in georgia, they like the adi offered. , ., ., offered. in this village one farmer sold _ offered. in this village one farmer sold two _ offered. in this village one farmer sold two of- offered. in this village one farmer sold two of his - offered. in this village one | farmer sold two of his trees offered. in this village one - farmer sold two of his trees to the business and. translation: a baobab tree sucks up so much waterfrom the ground. a baobab tree sucks up so much water from the ground. if you plant any crops within that radius they will not do well. the second disadvantage is that it occupies a large space which could be utilised to grow other crops. could be utilised to grow other cro s. , , could be utilised to grow other cros. , , , crops. trees being uprooted in order to be replanted, that. crops. trees being uprooted in order to be replanted, that is l order to be replanted, that is actually— actually a very tall order because in most cases when trees are uprooted and they are mature. — trees are uprooted and they are mature, very few of them at

police — mature, very few of them at police survive when they are replanted. police survive when they are replanted-— replanted. efforts to seek audience _ replanted. efforts to seek audience with _ replanted. efforts to seek audience with kenya's - audience with kenya's environment cabinet secretary were futile. zawadi mudibo, bbc news. king charles will deliver his first christmas day message on sunday — the television tradition begun by queen elizabeth. he is expected to pay tribute to his mother, and her legacy. 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. ajudge in the us has ruled that two movie fans can sue the universal film studio — forfalse 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. i've been speaking to entertainment lawyer, domenic romano, founder and managing partner of romano law — and asked him whether he was surprised a judge would allow this suit for two fans to be heard. well, first of all it's not on behalf of the fans, it is on behalf of the fans, it is on behalf of the fans, it is on behalf of a class of other viewers that were deceived so i am not surprised that the judge allowed this to go on stopping the trailer features a well—known actress who does not appear in the film, it is understandable that a court would deem that notjust these two but other viewers of the film would be misled. do you thinkthis _ film would be misled. do you think this could _ film would be misled. do you think this could have - think this could have applications for trailers in the industry in the future? 100%. 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 a trailer is a commercial, not

only speech but commercial speech and there was a likelihood that others might be misled or at least it was arguable, if an actor is featured in the trailer and then doesn't appear in the film, it is important to note too that although $5 million is being claimed on behalf of this class of viewers that were misled the film itself grossed $154 million in the box office alone not including streaming and other revenue so it is not an enormous amount. isplit and other revenue so it is not an enormous amount.- and other revenue so it is not an enormous amount. wit is that $5 million 90 _ an enormous amount. wit is that $5 million go if— an enormous amount. wit is that $5 million go if they _ an enormous amount. wit is that $5 million go if they are - $5 million go if they are successful with this? the next step would — successful with this? the next step would be _ successful with this? the next step would be discovery - successful with this? the next step would be discovery and l successful with this? the next step would be discovery and if they are successful and certifying as a class they could go to the viewers that could go to the viewers that could make a claim that they would not have paid the $4 or whatever it was to watch the film. �* ~ , whatever it was to watch the film. �* . , , whatever it was to watch the film. ~ ~ , , ., film. and wilbur set a precedent for - film. and wilbur set a precedent for other i film. and wilbur set a - precedent for other similar cases being opened? i precedent for other similar cases being opened? i think it will make _

cases being opened? i think it will make studios _ cases being opened? i think it will make studios and - cases being opened? i think it will make studios and other i will make studios and other distributors cautious about misleading viewers and from a consumer perspective of, this is not a bad thing. 50 consumer perspective of, this is not a bad thing.— is not a bad thing. so do you think this — is not a bad thing. so do you think this is _ is not a bad thing. so do you think this is a _ is not a bad thing. so do you think this is a landmark - is not a bad thing. so do you - think this is a landmark moment that people will refer back to in the future? l in the future? i think it is rare that _ in the future? i think it is rare that a _ in the future? i think it is rare that a trailer - rare that a trailer will feature an actor that has been cut from a film by think misleading scenes, thejudge also said that scenes in a trailer that are misleading as a consumer protection mechanism as more and more people consume streaming media, ithink as more and more people consume streaming media, i think the ruling will have an effect on the way entertainment content is advertised in the future. just before we go i want to bring you some pictures from the chile and festival santiago. 41 artisans created light sculptures of beings from

chinese culture. the festival of light highlights 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 that's because the cold arctic air is coming back, 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, 4—8 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. dead at a kurdish

community centre.

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 45 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. the m23 rebel group in the east of the democratic republic of congo has withdrawn from a strategic position near the city of goma — following peace talks.