welcome to bbc news. i'm david willis. our top stories: the struggle to restore power to millions in north america as one of the worst winter storms in living memory grips the region. the taliban clamps down further on women's rights in afghanistan, barring them from working for aid agencies. ten civilians have been killed by russian shelling in the ukrainian city of kherson. one attack struck the central market as people were shopping. and the worry here and on another frontlines of this war is that the bombardment could get even more intense over christmas and in the new year. the pope remembers those who are caught up in devastating wars as he holds

his christmas eve mass in the vatican. # i can't get no sleep. and maxijazz, lead singer of the band faithless, dies at the age of 65. welcome to bbc news. more than a million americans and canadians are facing christmas day without power as a winter storm continues to barrel it was way across north america. the so—called �*bomb cyclone�* has brought heavy snow, —— to barrel its way across north america. the so—called �*bomb cyclone�* has brought heavy snow, strong winds and freezing temperatures. at least 19 people have died due to icy roads and high

winds uprooting trees. here's our north america correspondent nomia iqbal. the bomb cyclone has plunged more than half of this country into subzero temperatures. from coast to coast, it has bought blistering storms, blinding snow, power outages and can turn boiling hot water into a snow cloud in seconds. the western state of montana is bearing the brunt — temperatures here are the lowest at —50 degrees. residents have been warned to stay indoors but some are trying to tackle the snow. you need to clear the sidewalks in the 2a hours after the storm, so i'm out here doing it with a shovel because my snow blowers wouldn't start. every type of travel has been thrown into chaos. on the roads in the midwest, there have been fatalities. the east coast city of buffalo in new york isn't taking a chance, though — driving has been banned. conditions of blinding snow, the zero visibility, absolute white—outs — it may go down as one

of the worst in history. on the railways, many routes have been cancelled... it is a gamble. you never know what's going to happen. you always need to get there early, be prepared, be flexible, because there's always change. ..as have thousands of flights with hundreds more delayed over the weekend. our whole airport was shut down so we drove to omaha, nebraska, got on a flight there, then dc, delayed in dc. the storm is expected to last some time yet. it has left americans facing another ruined christmas after the pandemic disrupted the last one. nomia iqbal, bbc news, washington. let's go to toronto now, where we can speak with the weather expert patricia jaggernauth. thank you very much forjoining us here on bbc news. you are hardy folks of because up there in canada but this one has even caught some of you guys by surprise, i think. caught some of you guys by surprise, ithink.— caught some of you guys by surprise, ithink. surprise, i think. you've got that right. _ surprise, i think. you've got that right, merry _

surprise, i think. you've got that right, merry christmasl surprise, i think. you've got l that right, merry christmas to you and all of your bbc viewers and you are so right, didn't we ever have such a treacherous trek heading into what is now christmas or the eve of christmas or the eve of christmas here, christmas day for you all across the pond. we are still dealing with some pretty dramatic temperature trends but also whether trends overall. we are surrounded by bodies of water, major great lakes in where i am ontario. toronto, good use, now no longer under weather watchers or warnings or travel advisories but i advising those watching and those heading out for christmas eve dinner and celebrating christmas with their family to bear caution, take it easy, we're still dealing with black ice and really cold temperatures and those in and around south—western ontario the major great lakes region but get this, it's the cold winds coming off those lakes that are picking up the lake effect snow machine, the energy, and it's causing notjust a white christmas but a blizzard activity that is relentlessly delivering endless snowfall. people are going to be digging

out for the next few days. find out for the next few days. and what has this _ out for the next few days. and what has this meant _ out for the next few days. and what has this meant for your, and other people's, christmas plans? and other people's, christmas lans? . , and other people's, christmas lans? ., , �* , and other people's, christmas lans? . , �*, ., plans? really, it's about location- _ plans? really, it's about location. for _ plans? really, it's about location. for our - plans? really, it's about i location. for our christmas plans in toronto, it means that christmas is back on schedule but if you're in and around areas like the major great lakes, the east and north—east shorelines of these regions, you are snowed in and not going anywhere. travel is slightly getting better, less delays of the major airports and people are now slowly starting to get back on the road and commuting. over canada, we are now seeing a second winter storm invading the west coast, dealing with it in central karic —— canada, arctic air not there, and improvements here slowly but surely and promised the bbc viewers that here in toronto and the major central region we would have a great christmas and mother nature is not disappointing.— disappointing. and rail services _ disappointing. and rail services i _ disappointing. and rail services i believe - disappointing. and rail services i believe has l disappointing. and rail- services i believe has been disrupted because of a train derailment?— disrupted because of a train derailment? . �* , �* derailment? that's right, we've been dealing —

derailment? that's right, we've been dealing with _ derailment? that's right, we've been dealing with some - derailment? that's right, we've been dealing with some really, | been dealing with some really, like, a terror of trends if you will, for transport overall. if you're walking, you want to take caution because you are dealing with black ice but yes, we're seeing the railway definitely ice over and there's only so much that can happen before of course the deicing process really take place, even with the air travel, deicing is happening in the international airports to get out of town it will take everyone a bit of a delay but if you pack your patience and plan ahead, i think you can still en'oy a nice christmasfi think you can still en'oy a nice christmas. just briefly, much longer _ nice christmas. just briefly, much longer it _ nice christmas. just briefly, much longer it is _ nice christmas. just briefly, much longer it is expected l nice christmas. just briefly, l much longer it is expected to go on? much longer it is expected to no on? ., much longer it is expected to .0 on? ., 4' ., much longer it is expected to no on? ., ~ ., ., much longer it is expected to noon? ., ~ ., ., ., go on? you know, we have to wait for a _ go on? you know, we have to wait for a warm _ go on? you know, we have to wait for a warm to _ go on? you know, we have to wait for a warm to happen, i go on? you know, we have to| wait for a warm to happen, we saw this arctic as they begin with a 24—hour trend two days ago and two days later we are dealing with what is the remnants of the historic winter storm. the timeline is dependent on location and for toronto we're good to go but it's but this time next week and next weekend we are talking and next weekend we are talking a warming trend that will have a warming trend that will have a great melt occurring so 50

centimetres on ground in some areas will definitely melt away and this will be another secondary conversation and we are talking about extreme flooding probable so a lot happening with the temperature warming up, making for a definite goodbye and nice goodbye, pleasant one indeed, to 2022 and hello to 2023. i have to say, we are loving the earmuffs! anchor indy for joining us here on bbc world news. �* , , joining us here on bbc world news. 3 i, joining us here on bbc world news. �*, i, ~ , news. it's my pleasure, merry christmas- — it's a similar story injapan, where heavy snow in the north and surrounding areas has left more than a dozen people dead and at least 80 injured. over 10,000 households have also been left without power, and the meteorological agency has warned that snowstorms and high waves along the sea of japan coast could lead to snow drifts up to 60cm deep. the international community has condemned a new taliban order banning women in afghanistan from working for non—governmental organisations, or ngos. the move comes less than a week after afghan women were barred from studying at universities. naomi choy smith reports.

the blows just keep coming for the women of afghanistan. here they are met by water cannon in here right, days after the talavan blocked them from a university education and now, they are also barred from working for ngos following claims that some staffers failed to wear the hijab correctly —— herat. the latest assault on women's rights in afghanistan since the talavan returned to power last year and it could have a devastating impact on the incomes of afghan families as well as the life—saving work of aid agencies. life-saving work of aid agencies-_ life-saving work of aid agencies. life-saving work of aid auencies. ~ ., ., ., ., ~ agencies. women who are working ri . ht agencies. women who are working riaht now agencies. women who are working right now in _ agencies. women who are working right now in the _ agencies. women who are working right now in the ngos _ agencies. women who are working right now in the ngos are - agencies. women who are working right now in the ngos are the - right now in the ngos are the only breadwinners for their families or the only people who are working and bringing income to their families, in the

context that there is no job opportunities and the reason economical crisis going on. dozens of non—governmental organisations working in afghanistan could be affected by the latest band. the international rescue community says its 3000 female staffers are critical for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and its, quote, dismayed by the move. us secretary of state antony blinken also shared his deep concern. he tweeted that the order will disrupt vital and life—saving assistance to millions. hejoins a growing international chorus of condemnation. the un called it a clear breach of humanitarian principles. european union said it is assessing the impact of its aid in afghanistan. but as the outrage grows, the women of afghanistan continue to fade from public life. many of their most basic rights are under threat. naomi choy smith, bbc news. yalda royan is the afghanistan team lead with voice amplified,

an organisation working to end violence against women and girls in conflict. she told me today's announcement did not come as a shock. the decision that the taliban made today, this was not a surprise for us, we were ready for it and we knew that the taliban will use and make another decision to bar women from wherever they want. it is very unfortunate that a group of 70,000 terrorists are challenging the whole world and international community and stopping women from work now at the humanitarian agencies. means that already the $40 million that is being delivered to the taliban on a weekly basis under the name of humanitarian aid was not reaching to the right people. women—headed households, human rights defenders that we did the research last september on them,

only one out of every four human rights defenders said that they were receiving humanitarian aid and that is in the case that women were working... crosstalk. sorry to interrupt, we have a limited amount of time. this comes just a week women were banned from attending university. —— this comes just a week after women were banned from attending university. there have been some student protests in response to that, i believe. will they have any effect? of course it will have effect, because you know that women who are working right now in the ngos are the only breadwinners for theirfamilies or the only people who are working and bringing income to their families. in the context that there is no job opportunities and there is an economic crisis going on. so with families losing their only income generating source, i am sure that there will be a lot of added protests again inside the country... crosstalk. will that have any effect on the rulers, on the taliban? we hope it will have effects, yes. because when the people are resisting the taliban it

will be the end of them, hopefully. just very finally, the us has condemned this latest move. what can the international community do to put pressure on the taliban in this regard? well, specifically in terms of the united states, if we talk about it, they have an argument with the taliban which they did in 2020 with the taliban in doha, so they can go back to that agreement and hold the taliban accountable based on that agreement and the annexes that they never made public. and the international community can do a lot of things to hold the taliban accountable, starting from stopping engaging with them to supporting them financially under the name of humanitarian aid and many other reasons, especially the travel ban and not letting the taliban to use benefits.

yalda royan there. let's get some of the day's other news. at least ten people have been killed in south africa after a fuel tanker exploded. the blast apparently happened after the tanker hit a bridge. a0 people were injured in the incident, which occurred in boksburg, a city to the east ofjohannesburg. franco frattini, a former italian minister and european union commissioner, has died aged 65. mr frattini represented italy as foreign minister in two governments led by prime minister silvio berlusconi. he had been ill for some time with cancer. a four—year—old boy has died after a "serious medical incident" at a center parcs resort here in the uk. police say the death is not thought to be suspicious. a spokesman from center parcs say they are saddened by the news and were offering support to the family.

a spokesperson for the duke and duchess of sussex says an apology from the sun newspaper regarding a column in which broadcaster jeremy 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. at least ten people were killed when russia carried out widespread shelling of the ukrainian city of kherson. more than 50 others were wounded. president zelensky has described the attack, which came exactly 10 months after the start of the russian invasion, as "killing for the sake of intimidation and pleasure." our correspondent yogita limaye reports from southern ukraine. more than a month after it was liberated from russia, kherson continues to live in terror. an artillery attack on the busy city centre, targeting civilians out to buy

essential items. "i was walking and the ground started to shake beneath me. "i fell down. "i then saw smoke coming up," one woman said. kherson is hit multiple times every day, but this has been the biggest attack in weeks. from here, we took, i think, four orfive critical, injured patients. and then from the hotel, we took two injured. and then from the other — down three blocks away, most people were dead. sobs. the suffering is endless. siren wails. and so are the attacks. distant explosion. the sound of more mortar shelling as emergency workers try to save people. for the people of kherson, who had begun to get used to the constant shelling, this attack strikes new fear.

and the worry here, and on front lines of this war, is that the bombardment could get even more intense over christmas and in the run—up to the new year. yogita limaye, bbc news, mykolaiv. president zelensky has recorded a defiant video message on christmas eve. he said russian missiles could not harm the steel spirit of the ukrainians and described how ukrainians would be seeing the first star in the night sky. translation: someone | will see it on the highway, on the road from the ukrainian—polish border to kherson or zaporizhzhia. some will see it through the holes of the bullet—riddled roof of their own homes. someone will celebrate the holiday in other people's homes, but not with strangers, and someone will spend this christmas in captivity, but please remember that we are coming for our people. we will return freedom to all ukrainians. wherever we are, we will be together today and together, we will look into the evening sky. to russia, where a

controversial funeral has been held in russia for a man killed while fighting in ukraine. dmitry menshikov was working for the wagner private military group, and is said to have died fighting in the luhansk region of ukraine. the wagner firm has sent tens of thousands of fighters to join the invasion, many of them recruited from russianjails. the local authorities in st petersburg reportedly didn't want him buried in a spot normally reserved for military heroes, but the service went ahead, with a crowd gathered. translation: me and my family don't know this _ translation: me and my family don't know this heroic _ don't know this heroic individual but i want to bow to the ground for him. thank you very much, you are a hero. translation: he very much, you are a hero. translation:— very much, you are a hero. translation: , ., ., , translation: he is an example for the one. _ translation: he is an example for the one, for _ translation: he is an example for the one, for all— translation: he is an example for the one, for all of _ translation: he is an example for the one, for all of us - for the one, for all of us still_ for the one, for all of us still living. glory to our warriors, _ still living. glory to our warriors, glory to our president to maintain the country in the best independent state _ the pope has held his annual christmas eve mass at st peter's basilica

in the vatican. in his sermon, the pope remembered victims of war, particularly those in ukraine. this year marks the tenth year of his papacy. later, the pontiff will be speaking to the faithful who will gather below the balcony for his christmas day blessing. here he is speaking earlier. translation: men and women in our world and their hunger. for wealth and power consume 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. from christmas day, china's national health commission will no longer release covid—i9 case figures for the country. for the past three years, the organisation has published the number of persons infected with the disease on a daily basis. officials say the chinese

center for disease control will now only be reporting relevant data going forward. it comes as the country sees a new surge in the number of cases. according to one government official, 250 million new cases have been reported in the first 20 days of december. french police have clashed with protestors at a demonstration in paris, which was held in response to the fatal shooting of three people at a kurdish community centre in the city. all of the victims of friday's attack were of kurdish descent. a 69—year—old man has been arrested. he's described himself as a racist who hates foreigners. 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. here, the british prime minister has shown community spirit this christmas, serving breakfast to homeless people at a charity in london. but in a clip shared widely on social media, he seemed to forget for a moment who he was talking to. right, there is that, there is some cutlery. any luck sorting the economy out? that's exactly what i'm trying to do. exactly what i'm trying to do. ..for business. do you have... do you work in business? no, lam homeless. i'm actually a homeless person. but i am interested in business. but the two men did then go on to talk about the economy. maxi jazz, the lead singer of british dance band faithless, has died at the age of 65. his former bandmate sister bliss said he passed

away "peacefully in his sleep" on friday night. wendy urquhart reports. faithless were pioneers of stadium dance music and their club classic insomnia was one of the many hits made the band famous all over the world. maxwell fraser help found the group in the mid— 90s alongside sister bliss who broke the news of maxi jazz�*s death on social media on saturday:

despite their meteoric rise to fame, the band said maxi jazz kept his feet firmly planted on the ground, adding that it was an honour and a true pleasure to work with him. she said he was a brilliant lyricist, dj, buddhist, a magnificent stage presence, car lover, endless talker, beautiful person, moral compass and genius. rest in peace dearest max. he was also a huge fan of crystal palace football club and became an associate director in 2012. a spokesperson for crystal palace says the team will walk out to faithless on boxing day as a tribute to maxi jazz. maxwell fraser, more widely known as maxi jazz, who's died at the age of 65. the eastern region of the democratic republic of the congo is emerging from a ten—year conflict and the un projects that 150,000 people will have fled their homes by

the end of this year. now, a local ngo is ensuring that some displaced children do not miss out on the christmas cheer. daniel dadzie reports. around the world by daft punk plays. a reason to celebrate in the midst of chaos. for several months, these children and their families have been on the run from war. they found refuge in the kibati stadium in kanyaruchinya, a village east of the democratic republic of congo. it's in the north kivu province at the epicentre of a decade—long conflict between the drc government forces and m23 rebels, the most notable of numerous armed groups. on saturday, local ngo a new day visited the displaced persons in their makeshift homes to give them a taste of christmas.

translation: in our villages, our children used to celebrate | christmas properly. but now, i was beginning to wonder how we were going to do it, as we had fled the war. by the grace of god, there are benefactors who thought of us and came with something to make us smile again. so, christmas went well and i thank god very much. but even with all this good cheer, there's an uncomfortable reminder of the violence which ripped them from their homes. translation: we want the new year to start . with good things. let the enemies leave our villages in kibumba and let us leave this camp. on friday, m23 rebels handed over the town of kibumba to the east african regional force in a first step towards the implementation of a peace agreement brokered in november. the thousands of displaced persons in drc would be granted their christmas wish if they could peacefully return to their homes. daniel dadzie, bbc news.

and finally if you are celebrating the holidays all that remains is for me to wish you a very happy time from us all on nbc news. —— bbc news. 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 airjust 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 south—east. 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 south—east 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 south—east, 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 news. the headlines: engineers are scrambling to restore power supplies to hundreds of thousands of people as a winter storm affects large parts of the united states and canada. the severe weather forced the cancellation of thousands of flights and kept some of the busiest roads closed. the un has criticised a taliban ruling that bars afghan women from working for aid agencies, saying it violates their most fundamental rights. last week, the hard—line rulers announced women were banned from attending university. 10 civilians have been killed by russian shelling in the ukrainian city of kherson — one attack on saturday morning struck the central market as people were shopping before mortar fire targeted other areas.