this is bbc news with the headlines... one of the worst winter storms in living memory is gripping much of the united states and canada — tens of thousands are without power and cancelled christmas travel plans for many others. violence has broken out in paris after friday's deadly attack on the city's kurdish community. hello and welcome to bbc news. an icy blast is affecting nearly 250 million people in the us and canada, as one of the most severe winter storms in living memory takes hold — with snow blizzards,

strong winds and freezing temperatures. at least 19 people have died. more than one and a half million american households and businesses are without electricity, and thousands of flights have been cancelled. the us state of montana registered a record breaking low of minus 45 celsius. nomia iqbal reports. for much of america, this is the coldest christmas eve. millions of them had plans to get away for the holidays. but the powerful bomb cyclone has thrown everything into chaos, causing car accidents, destroying power lines, leaving millions without electricity. the warning is, don't travel unless you need to. don't travel under these conditions unless you have to. because anything can happen at any moment, and you've got to be on your toes. some places like new york have gone further and banned driving due to low visibility. across the region there

is a state of emergency. we've had ice, flooding, snow, freezing temperatures, and everything that mother nature could wallop at us this weekend. to make things worse, the winter storm has caused coastal flooding on the eastern seaboard in newjersey and new england. travelling by air has been hugely impacted as well. the storm has stretched for nearly 2000 miles, meaning there's been thousands of flight cancellations with hundreds more on christmas eve. many people have been trying to take their chances to get home. our whole airport is shut down, so we drove to omaha, nebraska. got on a flight there. then dc, delayed in dc. the storm is expected to last another day yet with temperatures easing, but it's left americans facing another disrupted christmas after the pandemic ruined the last one.

police and protesters have clashed in central paris after the murder on friday of three members of the kurdish community in what police believe was a racist attack. a 69—year—old man was arrested and he has now been taken to a police psychiatric unit for health reasons. earlier protesters gathered and held up photographs of the victims of friday's attack they have been demanding tighter security. this morning president macron asked the city's police chief to meet with community leaders. 0ur correspondent hugh schofield has more. he was out of prison just a few days ago, having been held for exactly a year after this attack with a sword on a migrant camp of africans in paris. he got let out because of the slowness of the french judicial system, his lawyer said, and following the law, you've held my client for a year without trial, he has to come out now. and that is the law indeed. he had to come out because the trial has been constantly deferred.

but being back at large allowed him to do what he did yesterday. at least nine people have been killed in south africa after a fuel tanker exploded. emergency services say the blast happened as fire crews were trying to extinguish a blaze caused by the tanker hitting a bridge. around a0 other people were injured in the incident in boksburg, a city to the east ofjohannesburg. ukrainian officials say russian shelling has killed at least ten civilians in the city of kherson. 0ne attack struck the central market as people were shopping, before mortar fire targeted other areas. dozens were wounded. the strikes are among the deadliest on kherson since russian forces were driven out last month. ukraine's president, volodymyr zelensky,

accused moscow of killing for pleasure and intimidation. lets return to our top story. those temperatures, pose a particular danger to some of the poorest communities in the us. darsha dodge is a journalist at south da kota's rapid city journal. she's been travelling to pine ridge reservation in south dakota, where residents have been burning clothes and furniture in an attempt to stay warm. thank you very much for being with us. i've been watching as he had been travelling on the road. we have been travelling on the road. we have been trying to make contact with you. have you arrived, and tell us a little bit about where you are. christian, this morning i am here in the town, one of the towns on the pine ridge reservation, this morning we left rapid city, about 90 miles from here and it was slow going, of course, these national guard trucks that we were with committees huge dump trucks can't go very fast, so there is some logistical things that have to be worked out. they made it

to him about an hour ago, they dropped off two loads of firewood and i am here, and if you can tell, the snow behind me is still incredibly high. it's 15 degrees, which feels like summer compared to just a few days ago. tells which feels like summer compared to just a few days ago.— just a few days ago. tells about the eo - le just a few days ago. tells about the peeple there- _ just a few days ago. tells about the people there. who _ just a few days ago. tells about the people there. who lives _ just a few days ago. tells about the people there. who lives there. - just a few days ago. tells about the people there. who lives there. the | people there. who lives there. the pine ride people there. who lives there. tue: pine ridge reservation people there. who lives there. tte: pine ridge reservation is home to about 16,000 people. some of them are native americans, some of them aren't. it's very large. a talking 2.1 million acres. that's twice the size of the state of delaware. it's very remote, very rural. the size of the state of delaware. it's very remote, very rural. the snow is so deep that — very remote, very rural. the snow is so deep that they've _ very remote, very rural. the snow is so deep that they've not _ very remote, very rural. the snow is so deep that they've not been - very remote, very rural. the snow is so deep that they've not been able l so deep that they've not been able to get firewood or find firewood. as i said in the intro, people are burning whatever they've got. absolutely. i talked with the representative of the past creek districtjust representative of the past creek district just a representative of the past creek districtjust a couple of days ago. they have been out trying to dig

people out 21w, people with no firewood at all, a lot of these homes are heated by wood stoves or heated by propane because they are just not together in a grid the same way you would be in a city. when the snow is four or five feet from even higher, drifting over the roads, there is no way for these tracks to get in, so they have started resorting to burning whatever they can just to stay warm.— resorting to burning whatever they can just to stay warm. there was a re bi can just to stay warm. there was a pretty big snowstorm _ can just to stay warm. there was a pretty big snowstorm just - can just to stay warm. there was a pretty big snowstorm just a - can just to stay warm. there was a pretty big snowstorm just a few i can just to stay warm. there was a l pretty big snowstorm just a few days ago. there has not been much time to recover. ., ., , ~ ., , recover. no. so last week, last monday night. _ recover. no. so last week, last monday night, december - recover. no. so last week, last monday night, december 12 - recover. no. so last week, last. monday night, december 12 from recover. no. so last week, last- monday night, december 12 from a winter storm diaz pushed into mccain again in a few hours early, started with freezing rain and snow to stipend is not tapered off, it was maybe eight days of dealing with that, and then, boom, we were hit with these arctic temperatures in the second blizzard that came there. it has been a 1—2 punch for a place that really could not afford it. some relief in the firewood that the national guard have dropped off, but what else do they need and how difficult will it be to get those

sorts of supplies to them? most of the main roads— sorts of supplies to them? most of the main roads come _ sorts of supplies to them? most of the main roads come at _ sorts of supplies to them? most of the main roads come at least - sorts of supplies to them? most of the main roads come at least the l the main roads come at least the ones that i took were fairly clear. a lot of it is the side roads that go to peoples houses coming up very many live directly on the main road both here and rosebud, just several miles, another reservation against pine ridge, they are secondary roads that are going to be impassable for the near future. that are going to be impassable for the nearfuture. it is really that are going to be impassable for the near future. it is really hard to say. the firewood that was brought today, to track road the next two truck loads for an entire reservation, just a drop in the bucket for what they need. the propane company that delivers after, occluding two that they tried president can he posted on facebook the other day that the court propane delivering, they have six trucks delivering, they have six trucks delivering to the entire reservation. it is quite a monumental task. reservation. it is quite a monumentaltask. ,, ., ~ monumental task. goodness me. thank ou ve much forjoining us and i'm glad it's a little warmer, although it doesn't look very warm where you are. thank you anyway. tts doesn't look very warm where you are. thank you anyway.— are. thank you anyway. its not! thank yom _ let's go back to the us weather — the one person taking

social media by, uh, well, storm, is mark woodley. he's a sports reporter for a tv station in iowa, but last night was sent out at short notice to report on just how cold it was — and he wasn't that happy about it. let's see what happened. mark, how are you feeling out there? again, the same way i felt about eight minutes ago when you asked me that same question. i normally do sports. everything is cancelled here for the next couple of days. so what better time to ask the sports guy to come in about five hours earlier than he would normally wake up, go stand out in the wind and the snow and the cold and tell other people not to do the same. i didn't even realise that there was a 3:30 also in the morning until today. it's absolutely fantastic. ryan, you know, i'm used to these evening shows that are only 30 minutes long and generally on those shows, i'm inside. so this is a really long show. tune in for the next couple of hours to watch me progressively get

crankier and crankier. how do i get that storm chaser seven duty? i feel like clint got the better end of that deal. you know, that things heated. the outdoors currently is not heated. well, i'll tell you what, ryan, i've got good news and i've got bad news. the good news is that i can still feel my face right now. the bad news is, i kind of wish i couldn't. can i go back to my regularjob? i'm pretty sure, ryan, that you guys added an extra hour to this showjust because somebody likes torturing me. because compared to two and a half hours ago, it is just getting colder and colder. live in waterloo for the last time this morning, thankfully, i'm mark woodley. news 7 kwwl. we spoke to mark a little earlier about how it all happened. that was the morning show

from 4:30am to 8:00am. normally i'll get up at 7 to 8:00 in the morning. i don't go to work till 2:30pm and i leave work at 11:00pm. so i was working on about two and a half hours of sleep and i don't do weather, i do sports, and you can probably tell. so you get a call and they say, come in and cover some of the weather for us. did they tell you you'd be standing outside throughout the early hours of the morning? no. no, they did not. in fact, i got called — this was thursday morning — i got called on tuesday, and i knew i was going to be doing weather on thursday and possibly friday because all of the sports around here, everything's been cancelled. so i got called on tuesday. i knew i was going to do that those two days. i didn't know that i was going to do the morning show until wednesday afternoon. i had no opportunity to adjust my sleep schedule and ifound out later that night that, yes, i'd be standing out in temperatures, wind chills close to —40 degrees, which i actually looked up to see what the what that was from fahrenheit to celsius, and it turns out that —40 degrees is actually the exact same —40. i mean, that is seriously cold.

how did you keep warm in between? well, that is the one thing, i was about 30 feet away from our studio, so i was outside 1a times in that three and a half hours, but i was outside for about 6 minutes. i go inside and try and thaw out. it didn't generally completely thaw out in ten minutes, and then go back out for six minutes. and that was my whole life for about three hours. so i wasn't in any danger at any point. i was always near somewhere where i could at least get warm for a few minutes. and are you still employed? i've been asked that a few times. yes, i still have a job. my managers, my general manager, i've known him for 20 years, my news director, i've known for a very long time. so they know who i am. they know my personality. and really what you're seeing is 90 seconds out of more than 20 minutes worth of reporting, it's kind of like a bad comedy film and the trailer for it.

you see all the funny parts in that 90 seconds because with your report that was just a few minutes ago, this is a very dangerous storm. people get hurt, people get killed. and i did take it very seriously. but you are seeing some of the funny quips that were there along the way. you know, the last time i looked, there were 27 million views of your compilation. so i can tell you, mark, you are really well known. you can be a weather presenter anywhere in the world right now. it's amazing, isn't it? one of my friends kind of called it the domino effect. one day it snows in iowa, the next day, mark woodley is on kim kardashian�*s social media. it has been the most surreal 48 hours of my life. i have no idea how any of this happened. in fact, that clip i was never going to put on twitter, my my family and friends, i put it on my personal facebook page. they convinced me to put it on twitter. and ifigured 20—30 people might see this and then it'd blow over. retweeted, retweeted byjosh gad, who voiced 0laf the snowman in frozen, from one snowman to another.

my kids up until yesterday did not think i was cool. they didn't care that i was on tv in iowa. but the second that 0laf retweeted me, dad's got some street cred now. the most popular weatherman in america and very popular at home too. a new strike by members of the rmt union working for network rail is now under way. christmas eve trains stopped running earlier than usual because of the industrial action. the walk—out is part of the dispute over pay, conditions and jobs. services will resume on tuesday but some of them will be affected by engineering works. noor nanji reports dashing home for christmas. this train to swansea was one of the last to leave london today. all around britain rail services have finished early because of more strikes. for passengers here it was a race against time. it's the last train so it's a little bit nerve—racking, but either way, i support the people striking. i understand what they

are going through. it'sjust frustrating that it has to have an impact on christmas and going home to see family and stuff. around the country it was a similar picture with many people forced to change plans. yesterday we went to the station in york and i don't think they were on strike yesterday but all the trains were cancelled. we ended up paying £65 in a taxi to get here. we booked our 3pm train and it was cancelled so we are now booked for 9:45. and this is the last train? the last train, and we are worried it will get cancelled. the walk—outs are part of a long—running dispute between rail bosses and unions about pay, conditions and job security. the rmt union has accused the government of blocking rail employers from making a deal. the department for transport rejected that, saying it has facilitated talks. network rail says it's offered a fair dealand urged the union to think again. christmas eve is also a big day for restaurants, cafes and bars as well as for last—minute shopping. the problem with losing shoppers on such a key trading

day like christmas eve, is you can't recover that spend. however much you want to, however long you stay open, shoppers want to buy on christmas eve and if they can't, they'll buy elsewhere. with many people avoiding the railways, some people have opted to drive home for christmas instead. we are seeing a lot of congestion over this period and that's because people don't want to use the rail. they are not sure what sort of service they will get. we are expecting today to be particularly busy. yesterday we did over 13,500 jobs, which is more than our usual daily average. we expect a similar number again today. with roads busier than usual the advice to motorists is to check before you travel. noor nanji, bbc news in paddington. a spokesperson for the duke and duchess of sussex says an apology from the sun newspaper regarding a column, in whichjeremy clarkson said he "hated" meghan, is "nothing more than a pr stunt". on friday, the newspaper issued a statement expressing

regret for the publication of the column.among other things clarkson wrote that he had dreamed of meghan being paraded through towns in the uk and publicly shamed. the spokesperson said the paper had not contacted the duchess of sussex which showed their true intent. here in the uk, a four—year—old boy has died after a "serious medical incident" at a centre parcs resort in the south west. wiltshire police said officers had attended the leisure complex at longleat on the morning of christmas eve — police added the boy's death was not thought to be suspicious. a spokesman from centre parcs said they were saddened by the news and were offering support to the family. in afghanistan, the taliban have further tightened restrictions on women, banning them from working for local and international non—governmental organisations. the decision comes just days after women were banned from studying at universities.

earlier i spoke to mahjooba nowrouzi from the bbc�*s afghan service, who outlined how she thought the latest restrictions would be implemented. today the taliban government in afghanistan ordered all foreign and domestic non—governmental organisations to suspend employing women. this is the latest restrictive move by the taliban with regards women's rights and freedom. the order came in a letter from the economy minister which said that any ngo found not complying with the order will have their this is the latest restrictive move by the taliban with regards women's rights and freedom. the order came in a letter from the economy minister which said that any ngo found not complying with the order will have their operating licence revoked. their ministry spokesman has confirmed the content of the letter. he said the ban applies to all ngos who have a working licence under the ministry of economy in afghanistan and the un does not come under this ban.

but un contracts have registered ngos to carry out humanitarian work in afghanistan, and also it is not clear if the order applies to all women, or only afghan women at the ngos, and this is something that needs to be clarified. so there are some technical questions regarding the ban that need to be answered. however, the reason the ministry has given is that they have received serious complaints about female staff working for ngos not wearing correct headscarves. it's notjust about the hijab. i have to emphasise it's about the correct hijab, meaning they are either coloured scarves, or they are not covering their hair or their faces. earlier this week the taliban's ban on female students attending higher education triggered an international outcry.

again, the taliban say that women have not been wearing appropriate islamic attire at universities. the interesting point is that they said they have been interacting with their male counterparts, so that's the reason they gave for the ban. the pope's annual christmas eve mass has just ended at st peter's basilica in the vatican. in his sermon the pope remembered those suffering from war. particularly those in ukraine. this year marks the tenth year of his papacy tomorrow the pontiff will be speaking to the faithful who will be gathered below the balcony. the christmas day blessing urbi et 0rbi around noon. here's a little bit of what the pope

said in his speech. translation: men and women in our world and their hunger. for wealth and power consuming even their neighbours, even their brothers and sisters, how many worries... ——even their brothers and sisters, how many wars... ..and in how many places even today are human dignity and freedom treated with contempt? as always, the principal victims of this human greed are the weak and the vulnerable. tens of thousands of visitors have been gathering in bethlehem in the occupied west bank for the annual christmas eve procession ahead of midnight mass at the nativity church — the site traditionally considered to be the birthplace ofjesus. after two years of lockdown due to the pandemic, this year has seen the return of foreign visitors who are are

vital to the local economy. 0ur correspondent yolande knell sent this report from the holy city. here in manger square, despite some damp weather, there is plenty of christmas cheer. at the heart of celebrations, as every year, we had a procession. the palestinian scouts leading the way through the streets, playing bagpipes and drums. lots of competition between them as they entertain the crowds. they escorted church leaders arriving from jerusalem into bethlehem. we saw the head of the catholic church, a latin patriarch, shaking hands with people in the crowds. then it was down into the grotto of the fourth century nativity church just behind me over there. that is built on the very spot where christians believe thatjesus was born. here in bethlehem, what's giving locals extra sense of relief this christmas is the fact that pilgrims are back. tens of thousands of international visitors have been able to come here during christmas week and that is just extremely important

for the economy of bethlehem, which is so reliant on tourism. i have been speaking to some of the visitors who came. you can experience christmas all over the world but in bethlehem, where our saviour was born, it's where we wanted to be this year. i'm really enjoying - the excitement around. all of it, from the parades to the amount of people l who are here to celebrate. it has been very welcoming, the experience is good. seeing people, everyone waiting here, everyone wants to be here in bethlehem for christmas. but in the background of the celebrations there is growing concern about a recent deadly flare—up in the israel palestine conflict. 0ne palestinian official i spoke to earlier told me that for people here the christmas message of peace and hope is especially important this year. yolande knell reporting

from bethlehem. maxi jazz, the lead singer of british dance band faithless, has died — at the age of 65. the group were best known for club classic �*insomnia', take a listen. his former band—mate sister bliss said he died "peacefully music plays. an iconic ten from the 1990s. his former band—mate sister bliss said he died "peacefully in his sleep" last night. faithless formed in 1995 and had a number of hits, including �*insomnia' and �*we come 0ne'. i'm joined now by bbc radio broadcaster and dj edward adoo. asi as i say, such a big presence as a dance band in the mid—19 90s and he had real presence on stage. what dance band in the mid-19 90s and he had real presence on stage. what was uniuue had real presence on stage. what was unique about — had real presence on stage. what was unique about him _ had real presence on stage. what was unique about him was _ had real presence on stage. what was unique about him was the _ had real presence on stage. what was unique about him was the way - had real presence on stage. what was unique about him was the way he - unique about him was the way he connected with people. he was real, authentic, originally a brick and

blake and mccain radio, a poet, a rapper, i saw faithless in 2002, but a quarter to 12 ijust remembered him saying those timeless words. he whipped the crowd up. i interviewed him in 2017 and out of all the people i've interviewed, he was really calm, he was to cool for school. he was to chill. yeah, this is what i'm doing faithless more or less revolutionised dance music and electronic music. the less revolutionised dance music and electronic music.— electronic music. the first time in 96, electronic music. the first time in 96. insomnia. — electronic music. the first time in 96, insomnia, it— electronic music. the first time in 96, insomnia, it sold _ electronic music. the first time in 96, insomnia, it sold like - electronic music. the first time in 96, insomnia, it sold like a - electronic music. the first time in | 96, insomnia, it sold like a million copies, and then the second album thatis copies, and then the second album that is a dj, another big tune. a, that is a dj, another big tune. time where dance music had just become noted by the mainstream in the late 80s, early 90s kind of

propping up, a lot of people didn't understand it, and realised they had a connection with youth culture and faithless are part of that. i think maxi jazz was part of that generation who came through the soul, the rare groove movement and suddenly there was this electronic music championed by the likes of pete tong on radio 1, and suddenly it had become a mainstream, and faithless had become mainstream to the point where you would hear insomnia on breakfast radio, and it wasn't really... i was sad to hear because i got in contact with his manager a couple of weeks ago, i wanted to interview him next year, so i spoke to his manager about five weeks ago. the so i spoke to his manager about five weeks auo. , , weeks ago. the funny thing is, when i soke to weeks ago. the funny thing is, when i spoke to him _ weeks ago. the funny thing is, when i spoke to him in _ weeks ago. the funny thing is, when i spoke to him in 2017, _ weeks ago. the funny thing is, when i spoke to him in 2017, the _ weeks ago. the funny thing is, when i spoke to him in 2017, the number. i spoke to him in 2017, the number i've not it i spoke to him in 2017, the number i've got it down _ i spoke to him in 2017, the number i've got it down is _ i spoke to him in 2017, the number i've got it down is maxi _ i spoke to him in 2017, the number i've got it down is maxi jazz, can i i've got it down is maxi jazz, can we arrange an interview, his manager said no, this is next the's manager's number. he was so calm, so

polite, and i spoke to the cleveland wet kiss, a musician on bbc radio london early around and we pay tribute with the song insomnia and cleveland said one—of—a—kind, he was certainly, i put on my twitterfeed that he was the epitome of cool. i don't think we will see anyone or there was anyone cooler than maxi jazz. thank you very much indeed for that. a huge crystal palace man as well, maxi jazz, and they are going to play one of the faithless songs when they walk out on boxing day in tribute to him. next he jazz, dead at the age of 65. now on bbc news the weather with chris fawks. hello there. for most of you, the weather will continue to be pretty mild overnight tonight and for christmas day as well. mind you, we have seen some rain today, particularly across north—western areas of the country. that was the weather turning rather wetter in cumbria this afternoon. and you can see the rain—bearing clouds really piling into the north—west of the country with some heavy bursts of rain

associated with this cloud. all the while the wind is coming in from a south—westerly direction, hence the relatively mild air we have across all parts of the country at the moment. looking at the weather charts right now, we have got some fairly heavy rain working into northern ireland and scotland. through the night, these bursts of rain will very gradually move eastwards, so there will be some rain crossing england and wales, but the wettest weather always likely across small north—western areas. the winds continue to come up from a south—westerly direction so it stays mild overnight and a frost—free night as well with temperatures drifting down to between six and nine celsius. heading into christmas day, it's going to be a mild start to the morning pretty much everywhere. low pressure stays to the north of the uk on sunday, christmas day, and we will keep these south—westerly winds. but with that comes bursts of rain. the wettest weather will be across western portions of the uk. central and eastern areas occasionally seeing a few bright or sunny spells breaking through the cloud. and as this band of rain slowly moves its way southwards across scotland, eventually we will start to get some

colder air into the north—west of scotland and with some showers in the forecast, it's not out of the question we could see one or two of those turn wintry, but later in the day, more towards the evening time. so one or two could have a white christmas, but for most it will stay mild. mind you, heading overnight, christmas night and into boxing day, there will be quite a widespread frost around. watch out for some icy stretches, particularly into scotland where snow showers are going to become increasingly widespread into boxing day with accumulations expected. a few centimetres at low elevations but up in the mountains, 5—10 centimetres building in with blizzards and drifting of the snow in the strong winds. temperatures here struggling to get much above freezing in places, but generally across the uk it's going to be a colder kind of day, a blustery feel with a number of showers around. really between christmas and new year, it's often going to be mild, but cloudy with some heavy rain around and often pretty windy, particularly for wednesday with gales and maybe severe gales affecting some western areas.

this is bbc world news, the headlines. one of the worst winter storms in living memory is covering much of the united states and canada, bringing heavy snow and freezing temperatures. minus 45 celsius was recorded in one town in the us state of montana. here in the uk the railways came to a standstill, earlier than usual this chrismas, after another walk out over pay and conditions. roads were expected to be disrupted but the aa said