this is bbc news. the headlines... plunging temperatures are gripping much of the united states and canada, with more than 250 million people facing challenging conditions. uk rail passengers are being warned to avoid travelling unless "absolutely necessary", as further walk—outs are set to cause disruption later today. there have been clashes on the streets of paris after a gunman killed three people at a kurdish cultural centre. today, protests are ongoing at the scene of the crime. tens of thousands of visitors are expected to gather in bethlehem for the annual christmas procession ahead of midnight mass at the nativity church.

and in his first christmas message as monarch, king charles is to pay tribute to his mother, the late queen elizabeth ii. you are watching bbc news. now on bbc news, the travel show. hello and welcome to this very special edition of the show, coming to you from the spectacular valley of the kings here in luxor in egypt. if you were watching last week, you would have seen me unearthing the story of how tutankhamen�*s tomb was discovered here 100 years ago this year. well, it is such a breathtaking location that we thought we would stick around for a while and bring you this — our best bits of 2022.

from the baking sun of here in egypt, let's switch to the snow of switzerland where, back in march, carmen got to experience a horse race like no other. where the jockeys don't need saddles, they use skis. this is st moritz, in the swiss alps. it's the place, so they say, where the concept of the winter holiday was born. it also occupies a unique place in sporting history — it's where the bobsleigh was created. but skijoring is an even stranger sporting event than that.

the race is a wild mix of horses, skiing, all done over this frozen lake. before the main event, i caught up with valeria, who's been crowned overall winner here twice in past years. before the first race, i always said, "wow, why i'm doing that?" and after the race, i say "yeah, i know why!" in 2009, i was the first woman to do skijoring. it was really special, because everyone was looking on me. "can she do it?" "is she strong enough?" "is she not scared?" and everything. but it was really nice, because i had directly a third place in my first race. can you control the horse with the reins, and how different is it for the horse? we definitely can control them — we have to control them, because if there is something next to you, you have to go left, or you have to go right, you have to stop the horse,

if something happened. after the starting sound, they normally say, "ok, where is my boss? "0h, ok, it's six metres behind me." and they sometimes really looking for you and try to connect you with — with the reins. and some horses, they love to do it, they say, "wow, there is nobody on it, i go". so, the big race is coming up, and i've placed a small bet on valeria, so watch out for the lady in pink. she's not the favourite, but fingers crossed. cheering

at one point, valeria was in the lead and looking good. cheering come on, come on! go, go! for the riders, the sheer amount of snow and ice kicked up by the horses�* grooves mean face protection is pretty important. by the final lap, you could see the horses beginning to tire, and she was desperately trying to hang on. so, our rider came fourth, unfortunately, but it did look like a really tough race. they came around three times and, gosh, these horses were going so fast — it was really thrilling.

carmen high up in the alps there in march. ok, it's a different kind of sport we turn to now, we head off to senegal in west africa where emeline pulled on a wetsuit and joined a local group of women trying their hand at something tourists have been doing for decades. khadijoue is senegal�*s first professional female surfer. she works with a us organisation called black girl surf, to get the next generation into the water. all: we are black girl surf! we are black girl surf! woo! a lot of black people think they cannot go to the water for surfing. and they can do it, everybody can surf, it doesn't depend on your size — long, short — everybody can surf, everybody can surf.

khadijoue is a real trailblazer here, she has fought her way into a male—dominated sport. even herfamily were against her in the early days. my family, where i'm from, they never see a girl surfing and they think is just for the boys. i said, "i have to go, i want to do surf and be the only girl in senegal surfing and the only girl who can represent in senegal, africa and every black woman in the world." the girls here are 4—16 years and not afraid of the sea, i have been surfing on this beach for several years now and feel totally outclassed.

right, it's time to see what all the fuss is about. i have been practising, and i'm in good hands here. khadijoue has agreed to take me out and give me some tips. we have picked a time when the waves are slightly flatter, but the main hazard is avoiding the sea urchins, which lie just a couple of metres under the surface. the attraction of the ride is the consistency, rather than the height. the opportunities come again and again, and you can see khadijoue and the girls make the most of them. for me, it's more of a mixed bag. wipe—out! 0k, we are off to sri lanka now, and at the start of the year,

our adventurer karolis mieliauskas set off to paddle down a historic canal system, and to meet local people cleaning up the waterway on his journey. he's taken on some pretty crazy adventures for us before, like driving an old soviet banger all the way to siberia, so let's remind ourselves how he got on in sri lanka, adopting a slightly more sedate pace. adventure, and the very first step. the trip starts. whoa, whoa, whoa. i hope to do it in three days. 0k, first 100 metres is done. as i start myjourney,

i get a warm welcome from the people who live here. hello, hello. how are you? good? very good. i am going down the canal. bye—bye, guys. see you. all the best. and what is the sign? "dear neighbours, keep the canal clean." 0h. no good. i was expecting to see some rubbish. but not that bad. not that bad. looks like the rubbish comes from these houses. tell me, please, you

are cleaning the canal? how many people like you here? six people who are cleaning. i think i can see one now, approaching. hello. that's nice that somebody is doing this. there is also a local company that has rubbish collection days on these waterways. it's run by a guy called fernando. 0ur cleaning project name is captain fernando cleaning project. we start this cleaning project in 2016, actually five years ago, so step by step, we came to a very good stage. pollution is a big problem these days. if you walk on this beach, it's very polluted. and if you go now on the canal, lagoon,

it's very polluted. now people's mind is slowly, slowly changing. people just throw the rubbish into the canals, but now people start to think, little by little. a long time ago, those canals were used for transportation, now these days people use them to dump rubbish. the easiest thing is not to throw rubbish into the canal, what we can do — educate your brothers and sisters so we can have a clean and healthy lifestyle. thank you very much for coming. if you are not using plastics, we help out for a better world. let's make some noise. woo! thank you, fernando. thank you. ok, so coming up next on our look back at 2022, it's time to bring on the big guns, and the only true athlete of the team. in case you didn't know, ade is a medal—winning paralympian, playing basketball for team gb.

so, who better, then, to try a new sport, cheese rolling in italy. we are in volterra, in italy. it's my first time visiting this beautiful town, so to get me into the vibe, i'm going to be taking part in the world—famous palio dei caci, otherwise known as the cheese rolling race. a downhill obstacle course, racing cheese. oh, my days — look how steep this is! oh, my! i'm struggling just to control my chair. oh, no! ok, so maybe i need a masterclass. ade. nice to meet you. all right, let's see. jeez, he's off at pace! pace! this is going to be carnage.

the rules are simple — guide the cheese around the hay bales as quick as possible. the winner moves through the rounds till you're left with one champion. applause the cheese rolling is a pretty strange tradition. how did it begin? so you must be one of the best, yes?

so, you're the champion. you're the reigning champion, the best cheese roller in the whole of italy? si! champion! that's what i'm talking about! so, should i be wearing a helmet and some knee pads and gloves? no. no? ijust need tough skin, yeah? 0k! 0k, one last practice run. come on, come on, come on! come on! come on, come on, come on! laughs broke through the barrier! good? good! good, man. come on! well, the time has come. uno, due, tre... vai!

so, this is our guy, davide. go, davide! shouts of encouragement cheering almost there! cheering and applause yes! so, i clearly didn't win the prized cheese, but i found the man that did. grazie! it's my first time trying this. wow! that's actually really good! good? multo bona? buono. buono! multo buono! wow! right, sticking with the food

theme, the uk is famous for its greasy spoon cafes. places where you can get a calorie—packed fried breakfast, washed down with a steaming mug of hot tea, all at a price that won't break the bank. but as lucy discovered back in february, some of these places are struggling to survive. this caff is a true family affair, and it's been passed down between generations since 1900. we like to keep a good little vibe, it is like a second home for us. it is part of our lives. when you come in here you are coming into our home. a lot of regular people come back, and they really sort of rely on it. if they didn't come into the cafe, they maybe wouldn't talk to a lot of people during the day, the older people especially. where the world is getting bigger, they can't know everybody.

the little places like the cafe, it is like a little community but there are less and less bases like that. but there are less and less places like that. the cafe attracts customers from all walks of life even the odd celebrity. jaymie collins is a reality tv star and presenter who has been coming here for years. i feel that this is like traditional east end here. its got heritage, it's got culture. if only these walls could speak, i'm sure there's been a lot that's gone on here over the years. just that real family hub feel is very rare, and this is the only place i know, actually, that's got it. do you think we are beginning to see less of this kind of places now? there are more challenges, everyday there are more challenges. everything has gone up and you have to put your price up a bit, and it doesn't go well with the customers. it's a lot of money to set up a cafe, not anybody can afford to do

that. you need a little bit of backing behind. we enjoy ourselves as much as the customers do, probably more. every day, anna and her mum maria cook home—made food using locally sourced ingredients. but in an area that is rapidly changing and as more big brand chains move in, the competition is getting tougher. cities are becoming gentrified, and ijust think the soul is being lost. and it's a case of the little guy helping the little guy, i think it's so important with all these big businesses, especially at the minute to keep looking after one another. fundamental that it keeps the country going, isn't it? you have no idea how much i'm looking forward to eating this. i've seen it come past me a few times today. this is a lot of food, i am going to try my hardest.

i don't doubt for a second that the traditional british cafe will keep going strong. lucy loving herfry—up back in february. right, it's now time for our last look—back, and as i get to choose, this is a moment of pure self—indulgence. as a child growing up in the uk, i absolutely idolised the footballer george best. and i wasn't alone, even the legendary pele was a fan. so you can imagine my delight when i found out that george's former home in belfast was opening up as an airbnb. i simplyjust had to go and stay there. it is wet and it is gloomy, but this is where one of the world's greatest ever footballers, george best, honed his skills. here in northern ireland, the saying goes, "maradona good, pele better, george best." he simply walked the ball into the net! what a goal! united in the lead.

he was a key part of the iconic manchester united team that, in 1968, became the first english side to win the european cup. president of the european union of football associations handed it over. and it all began here in belfast�*s craigie estate where fans now have the chance to stay at his childhood home. you must be peter. i am, welcome to george best's house. come on in. thank you very much. wow! this is the main living room. the bests would have lived in this house from 19118, so we have recently put the house back to as it would have been an 1961 when george first went over to manchester as a 15—year—old in search of fame and fortune. how easy was it to source this kind of furniture?

itjust came from a number of sources, local charity shops, antique dealers, etc. the house was bought by a local non—profit group called east side partnership, and in its new retro furnished state is now available as a holiday rental. all the proceeds that we get from the use of this house are used to support other community projects in east belfast. tourists have come here, and what has their reaction been like? the reactions have been fantastic. a lot of manchester united fans would stay here, but also just local people who want the opportunity to see the house and stay in the house as well. well, it's night time, and it feels a bit intrusive, but anyway, this is obviously one of the bedrooms where the family lived. but not only am i staying in the same house, i'm actually going to be sleeping in the very room that he had as a child.

it's a kind of medium—size room, the kind of room that any 12—year—old, 13—year—old boy would have, i guess. i wonder what he would have made of this. hopefully, he would have found it quite funny. right, time for me to get some sleep. although i'm not completely tired yet, i need some reading material. and i think this should do the trick. good night. i tell you what, waking up in george best's old bedroom was one of the highlights of my year. it has been so good in 2022, finally being able to hit the road again properly. and i hope you managed to get away too. have a great new year

and i will see you in 2023. hello. it's going to be a very mild christmas for many of us. we have some sunny spells, a few showers thrown in, too. having said that, later in the day, tomorrow on christmas day in the highlands, we could have some snow. so it could well be a white christmas for some of us. here's the satellite picture, and you can see the weather systems streaming in from the southwest. that's a very mild direction. the air is coming in almost from the subtropics. so subtropical maritime air over us right now.

yesterday, it was around 1a degrees in the southeast and another very mild day to come today. so, the forecast for the afternoon for christmas eve, a lot of fine weather across the bulk of england, wales, eastern scotland, too. but come the afternoon, where we are expecting showers to spread in off the atlantic, some of them could be quite heavy. temperatures between around six in lerwick and 12 in london. so, here's the forecast for this evening. and overnight, with low pressure close by and weather fronts circling the uk. it will be quite hit and miss on the weather front. so heavy showers, clear spells here and there and a very mild end to the night and start to christmas day. nine degrees on the south coast of england, six degrees in stornoway. now, here's that area of low pressure with the weather fronts close by. so, very hit—and—miss weather to come on sunday. certainly some sunshine in the forecast, but be prepared for a few showers, too. there could be some persistent rain for a time in the morning and into the afternoon. roughly from the isle of wight through london into east anglia here.

so, possibly wet at times, but elsewhere it's that mixed bag of sunny spells and showers on christmas day, and very mild — 11 degrees in the south. so, on those showers in scotland, come the evening, the wind will switch direction, and christmas day evening will see some of that snow settling across the highlands. and the temperatures into boxing day, you can see, are close to freezing. so we will see some snow lying on the ground. but that's mostly in the hills. a very blustery, cold day on boxing day, at least temporarily. in scotland, temperatures four or five degrees, a little bit milder there in central england, around six and south on the south coast. and then after that, after that brief colder spell, it's going to turn milder once again. and you can see the run—up to the new year is looking pretty unsettled with gale—force winds and rain at times. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, i'm geeta guru—murthy, with the headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. plunging temperatures are gripping much of the united states and canada, with more than 250 million people facing life—threating conditions. we have had ice, flooding, snow, freezing temperatures and everything that mother nature could one part of this weekend. uk rail passengers are being warned to avoid travelling unless "absolutely necessary" as further walkouts are set to cause disruption later today. a second day of protests as thousands of people take to the streets of paris after a gunman with a history of racist violence, killed three people at a kurdish cultural centre.