this is bbc news. i'm lukwesa burak with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. 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 christmas travel plans are cancelled for many others. here in the uk — the railways have come to a standstill — earlier than usual this chrismas — after another walk out by workers over pay and conditions. the taliban clamp down further on women's rights in afghanistan. after banning them from studying at university, they're now also barred from working for ngos. a second day of violent protests in central paris, after a fatal shooting at a kurdish cultural centre. the pope remembers those suffering from war — as he holds his christmas eve mass

in the vatican. and looking ahead to the inevitably stressful cooking of christmas dinners — we get tips from a chef from inside his restaurant kitchen. 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 1.5 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. the bbc�*s 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. darsha dodge is a journalist at south dakota's rapid cityjournal. she's travelled to the pine ridge reservation in south dakota, to deliver firewood to residents who have resorted to burning clothes and furniture

in an attempt to stay warm. i talked with the 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. anne—marie provost is a jounalist at the newspaper le devoir. she's been telling me just how bad things are in montreal. well, in montreal right now, the worst is past, but there's also a lot of weather warnings across quebec right now and also in the province of ontario which is just next to quebec. we are expecting heavy snow falls during the day today and also tomorrow, and the conditions on the road

are really, really bad. there is a lot of blowing snow indivisibility is almost —— there is a lot of blowing snow and visibility is almost zero in many areas. there's icy roads and many car accidents all across quebec and ontario. and also a lot of wind gusts up to 100 kph. it's quite bad right now and everybody is trying to spend christmas eve the best they can and many people are cancelling because transportation is just very complicated right now. most people would assume in canada, i mean, you have winter proper, don't you, how does that compare to what is happening now? well, it is not very typical. these kinds of storms, especially during this time of the year, usually we have storms, but more later on during january or february, but on christmas eve like that, it is really unusual. i'm 35 years old, and i don't recall something like that. but we are canadians, you know, so we kind of a just come people

will be spending christmas in warming centres because there is a lot of power outages right now. many people are missing their trains, theirflights. so it's quite a bummer, even for us canadians. just to clarify can you mention something there, a warming centre, could you tell us a little bit more about those. yeah, because we have many areas right now in quebec in the province of quebec that are without power, without electricity, and it is quite cold right now, —10 or —15 degrees, so houses and apartments are getting colder and colder, so for security reasons, authorities are opening warming centres all across quebec right now, in the areas where the power outages are the most intense, like in quebec city so people just gather their and they have food and they have warmth.

very quickly, i know that in north america, you have people who are very well prepared when winter hits, you have the winter tires, the chains that are put on, what aspect is that in particular of this storm? is at the wind, is at the speed with which it's hit? what is it? it's especially the wind, i would say, because of the wind. there is a lot of snowfall and with many wind gusts. the visibility on the road is next to zero in many areas. so it is quite complicated, even if you are used to driving in the winter. 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 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. the bbc�*s 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 markle, 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 naked 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. the united nations in afghanistan has condemned an order by the taliban rulers to ban women from working for local and international aid agencies.

it said the move would violate the most fundamental rights of women, as well as breaching humanitarian principles. this decision by the taliban comes just days after women were banned from studying at universities. the bbc world service's south asia regional editor, anbarasan ethirajan, told us more about the international reactions. the un has strongly condemned this move by the taliban because this will have a far reaching impact on the ground. there are dozens of ngos, health ngos and food aid ngos working on the ground, and not allowing women to work means people cannot access these services. for example, one woman worker was saying women can easily relate with us about asking for medicines. for example, if they want to give a polio vaccination, they can go into the any of the houses in the rural areas.

but now they cannot express these things freely to any men health worker or even food aid. so this has become a huge issue. this has been a very bad week for women's rights in afghanistan, because a couple of days ago, the taliban rulers, they banned women from studying at universities. and within two days, they announced this far reaching decision to ban women to work from ngos. and it is not only local and domestic foreign ngos, also the un contracts many work to local ngos distributing humanitarian aid. there is acute food insecurity in rural parts of afghanistan. following a taliban takeover, the economy has collapsed. now how to distribute the food? that's why the un says that it is going to call for a meeting on monday with the taliban authorities and they have urged the taliban to reverse the decision immediately. ff ngos were to speak out, apart from the un and the work and the collaborations they have on the ground, have any of them spoken out?

and is there a risk to their work and their workers if they do speak out against the taliban? one of the agencies which did not want to be identified, involved in food distribution, and it said that it is going to be a difficult task for them to do the work because many of the workers won't be allowed to work. and going and talking with families and understanding their needs is going to be a problem. and don't forget already the women are reeling because of this ban on studying in universities, also in private tuition centres. so secondary schools for girls not had opened. and women cannot go to the universities. women cannot go to public places like gyms, bathhouses and other areas. and they have been banned from working in several government departments. and now they cannot even work with ngos. and one woman worker was asking, imagine there are many people where men do not support theirfamilies or there is no man in the house, and what will happen to those

families if they have to leave the job? and even the decision on stopping women going to universities, many islamic countries, iran, saudi arabia, turkey, they have all condemned. they say this is not islamic, this is against the sharia law and taliban should reverse the decision. but they seem to be ignoring the international criticism. and then step by step, they have gone back to their hard line conservative rule, which they had in the late 1990s. french police have clashed with protestors at a demonstration in paris earlier, held in response to the shooting which killed three people at a kurdish community centre in the city. all of the victims of friday's attack were of turkish—kurdish descent. a 69—year—old man was arrested and has been taken to a psychiatric unit. the bbc�*s helena wilkinson reports. this was the scene on the streets of central paris earlier today. chaos as protests turned violent. cars were overturned, fires started,

riot police responded with tear gas. those protesting from the kurdish community are angry after friday's shooting, which targeted a kurdish cultural centre. three people were killed, three others were injured. translation: there is no doubt in our mind that these murders l qualify as terrorist and that they are political assassinations. the fact that our association is targeted in this way is of a terrorist and political nature. of course, there's an investigation and we'll see how it evolves. the suspect in the attack has been taken from custody to a police psychiatric unit. the 69—year—old who hasn't been named is a former train driver who had recently been released from prison. despite no confirmed motive for the attack. prosecutors said the suspect had previously been charged with racist violence. that incident was last year

where he attacked a migrant camp in paris with a sword. french president emmanuel macron said the kurdish community in paris had been the target of a heinous attack and has praised police for their courage. helena wilkinson, bbc news. 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. the pope has held his annual christmas eve mass 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 and 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 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 and the midnight mass being held 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. our 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. one palestinian official i spoke to earlier told me that for people here the christmas message of peace and hope is especially important this year. some live shots from the church of the nativity. there it is, midnight mass being held in the occupied west bank. first time in two years that foreign visitors have been allowed to attend. while christmas day is meant to be full ofjoy and laughter,

it can always be a bit hectic. and now that the presents are wrapped, it's time to think about the food. whether it's the blankets slipping off their pigs, forgetting to defrost the turkey or setting more than just the christmas pudding on fire, many of us can find happy memories overshadowed by the expense and stress of putting together the christmas dinner. earlier, i spoke to head chef of olivia's, steven saunders, who was in the middle of cooking for the guests at his restaurant in la cala in spain. he shared some tips on how to beat the stress in the kitchen. a big night tonight with christmas eve and a lots of christmas eve ks, and tomorrow, of course, christmas day lunch, 300 people here tomorrow and i want to serve them really fantastic food for 300. it is a big job. ok, so, how do you stay calm then? do you use the foil containers?

no, i use the best crockery. we stay reasonably calm. i'm not going to say extremely calm, but we have a number of people in the kitchen, there's about 12 of us in here, and that helps. i tom you haven't got that, and it does help a lot. also, we use a lot of tricks, like we both sous vide the turkey, cooking it and a water bath and plastic, which most people can if you watch master chef, you've seen that hundreds of times, but the reason for that is we can cook in bulk and we can make sure the turkey is really lovely and moist. we finish on the char grill over here forflavour and a number of chefs, as you can see, cooking for christmas eve tonight, which is a bit chaotic, but it is organised chaos, one of the things i would love to say is we talk about that a lot

to me don't have to spend a fortune. i know you have already spent it now, but let's be ruthless with what we are wasting tomorrow and don't throw everything away. in my bins as a professional chef, you don't see anything. we use even the cauliflower, even the green from the cauliflower i use as a vegetable, and i know it sounds... but the flavour of this is really good, why throw it away? the leaks, for example, people cut off this bit here and throw it away. this would make great soup. in spain, we have a culture of eating and using everything. if we buy a fish, we use the head for the soup. everything is eaten, and that culture is discipline and what i'm trying to get you guys at home. on boxing day, you have a fantastic meal made up of the leftovers most of this is just a bit of bread that i need tonight made with flour and water and olive oil and baked it. a little bit of flour is nothing and you end up with fantastic bread and a bit of spiced cream.

stephen, you obviously have got lots of tips and tricks there, i totally agree with saving the leaves and the greens because they are often really tasty, but handling the stress and eating healthily is really important. this is something that matters to you because you have had a bit of a scare, haven't you? my heart scare, yes. i've got a fib, and when they go through a lot of stress, it kicks off. honestly, i am getting old now, so i have to go and sit down. or have another drink. no, i didn't say that. my doctor is probably watching. i do have to take it easy. but here, i am more directing, like a conductor would conduct a musical piece, so i'm standing around here saying, boys, i need that, i need that out now, mario, where are you? get this out now, this can't wait any longer. now, please. stephen...

that is the level of stress i'd having. the trick i'm hearing is to get some help? i love that! yes! get help! that is the solution, surely, and if you have to do it on your own, just be as organised as possible. pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy, enjoy cooking it, don't get stressed, because christmas isn't about stress, it should be about being with your loved ones, being with their family and enjoying yourself stop we all deserve it after the year we have had. us military officials have assured anxious children the arctic blast and snowstorm that has been wreaking havoc on flights will not prevent santa claus from making his annual christmas eve visits. the north american aerospace defence command, or norad, tracks santa's yuletide flight every year. he's currently over europe,

and almost 4 billion presents have already been delivered. you will be to france in one minute. it's all right, kids, as long as you have been good. good morning. the countdown is over. it is now christmas day. and a popular weather question for christmas day is, of course, will it be a white christmas? starting us off today, you'd be forgiven for thinking "no chance." we're in some fairly mild air, really, top to tail across the uk, which is being pulled in from the atlantic on a south—westerly wind. but there is some much colder air just sitting to the north of the uk, on the northern flank of this area of low pressure. this low will drive the weather across the uk this christmas day. it will push bands of showers through, with some sunny interludes between times, but occasionally the showers lumping together into more persistent spells of rain, perhaps for northern ireland and northern england through the afternoon, later in the day towards the southeast. mild to the south.

afternoon temperatures, 10, 11 degrees. but notice, the keen—eyed amongst you, the map turning blue across scotland through the afternoon. temperatures will actually come down through the day. now, the definition of a white christmas is not for blanket snow coverage butjust one flake of snow to fall anywhere in the uk during the 2a hours of christmas day. so colder air in across scotland, with showers coming in through the evening, and it looks like we could see a white christmas here. perhaps the odd flurry for northern ireland, too. for boxing day, the colder air extending, though, all the way south across the uk. a frosty start. look out for some ice across scotland, parts of northern england, after the showers overnight. the southeast and east anglia getting off to a frost—free start. but the colder air will trickle in here through the course of boxing day. i think there will be a lot of brightness once any early rain clears from the southeast, but it will feel chillier. further north, the showers continue and they're likely to be wintry, across western scotland, drifting some down into the pennines, the odd one across the mountains of northern ireland as well.

and temperatures lower across the board for boxing day afternoon. however, this spell, if you like, of cold weather is barely a fleeting glance, really, of arctic air, because as we look further on into the week ahead, the final days of 2022, we start to pick up a more atlantic influence. once again, areas of low pressure whirling in from the atlantic. our temperatures return closer to average values, if not slightly above. but there will be some quite showery, if not wet and windy, spells of weather to come in the following days.

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. —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 christmas, after another walk—out over pay and conditions. the un has criticised a ruling by the taliban to bar afghan women from working for aid agencies, saying it violates their most fundamental rights. last week, the hardline rulers announced women were banned from attending university. french police and protesters have clashed for the second day