this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: at least twenty people have died in extreme winter storms in the us and canada — more than one million people are without power. the un and aid agencies in afghanistan are meeting to discuss whether to suspend operations after the taliban banned their female employees. as ten civilians are killed by russian shelling in the ukrainian city of kherson, president zelensky says airstrikes will not diminish the spirit of ukrainians. we will return freedom to all ukrainians. wherever we are, we will be together today. and together, we will look

into the evening sky. and this is the scene live in the vatican where thousands of worshippers have gathered in saint peter's square for the pope's christmas day message. pope francis just arriving pope francisjust arriving on pope francis just arriving on the balcony, as you can see in these live pictures. hello and welcome to bbc news. more than a million americans and canadians are facing christmas day without power as a winter storm continues to barrel its way across north america. the so—called bomb cyclone has brought heavy snow, strong winds, and freezing temperatures. at least 20 people have died because of icy roads and high winds uprooting trees. howard johnson reports. subzero temperatures...

..whiteouts. .. ..and flooding. from toronto to new orleans, north america is experiencing a winter storm of epic proportions. nearly 250 million americans and canadians are believed to be affected, with more than 1.5 million people without power. thousands of flights have been cancelled and major roads closed, ruining christmas travel plans. a 46—car pile—up in ohio left four dead. while in kansas city, one person died when their car plunged into an icy creek. in hard—hit new york state, driving has been banned to prevent further casualties. the conditions, the blinding snow, the zero visibility, absolute whiteouts, it may go down as one of the worst in history.

canadian travellers were reportedly stranded on stalled trains for up to 18 hours. unfortunately, the trains were cancelled for today, so just trying to get back home for the holidays now. i came down from peterborough for this, got a ride down from my brother—in—law, and he's coming back now to get me. and then we'll see what we're going to do. i'm waiting for a cab to go - to a hotel and stay there for a day, hopefully it's just a day, l and i go back to toronto. officials are urging people to stay at home to avoid temperatures as low as —45 degrees celsius, capable of turning boiling water into snow and bubbles into ice balls. but meteorologists say the subzero temperatures brought by this sudden storm are likely to lift rapidly, with conditions easing as early as boxing day. howard johnson, bbc news.

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 60 centimetres deep. thousands of people are gathered in st peter's square in the vatican to hear pope francis deliver his christmas day message, where he is expected to offer prayers for war—torn ukraine. these are the live pictures now. this year marks the tenth year of his papacy. the 86—year—old head of the catholic church is to address the faithful from the central balcony of st peter's basilica in the vatican, before delivering the "urbi et orbi" blessing.

that the "urbi et orbi" blessing. is, to the city and to th world. that is, to the city and to the world. we will have more on the pope of�*s address and what he has had to say a little later. an air raid alert has been issued for the whole of ukraine this morning. unconfirmed reports suggest it happened after russian jets took to the skies in belarus. president putin later said he's 100% sure that russia will destroy us patriot missiles in ukraine as wthe west seeks to — in the words of vladimir putin — tear russia apart. it comes as officials in ukraine say three emergency workers have been killed on saturday in the southern region of kherson. the authorities said they had been working in an area liberated from russian forces. an explosive device which they had been working to make safe detonated, killing them all. also on saturday, russian shelling killed at least ten civilians in the city of kherson, among the deadliest attacks since russian forces were driven out of the city last month.

in a defiant video message on christmas eve, president volodymyr zelensky, said russian airstrikes would not harm what he called the steel spirit of ukrainians. 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. the united nations and ngos in afghanistan are meeting today to discuss whether to suspend aid operations in response to a taliban order banning women agency employees, which the un said violated

fundamental rights. the move comes just days after female students were banned from universitiesm as naomi choy smith reports. the blows just keep coming for the women of afghanistan. here they are met by water cannons, days after the taliban blocked them from a university education. now they are also barred from working for ngos, following claims that some staffers failed to wear the hijab correctly. it is the latest assault on women's rights in afghanistan since the taliban 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. women who are working right now in the ngos are the only breadwinners for theirfamilies, the only people who are working and bringing income to their families, in the context that there are no job opportunities and there is an economic crisis going on.

dozens of non—governmental organisations working in afghanistan could be affected by the latest ban. the international rescue committee says its 3,000 female staffers are critical for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and it is "dismayed by the move". us secretary of state antony blinken also shared his deep concern, tweeting that the taliban 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, and the 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, with many of their most basic rights under threat. naomi choy smith, bbc news. shabnam safa is chair of the national refugee—led advisory and advocacy group and member of the �*action for

afghanistan�* campaign in australia. she told us the international reaction has been farfrom enough. absolutely gutted. not surprised, but very, very disgusted and also disappointed in just in the lack of outrage by the entire international community, including australia, where i am. most of my work is, you know, this is a calculated, systematic strategy towards complete erasure of women in afghanistan. we know that this is so much bigger than just banning education or banning now as of today, employment in most areas for women, this is a a sickening approach towards stripping women of their agency and power in society and going back to the horrors of the last century, when the taliban were in power for the first time.

our world service south asia editor anbarasan ethirajan told me about the range of measures curtailing women's rights in afghanistan in the run up to the most recent annoucnements. what the taliban have been doing in the past few months. for example, they refuse to reopen secondary schools for girls, saying that they have to create a proper environment. and then they banned women from working in different sectors except in education and health, and they banned women from going to public parks, gyms and bathhouses. and then the ban on the women attending universities. now the ban on ngos. so if you look at what the taliban have been doing, they are systematically curtailing the rights of women. the international community, they have been condemning this. they have been criticizing the taliban. but beyond that, they have not done anything, for example, imposing any sanctions on the movement of taliban leaders. but the message has not been really tough

from the international community, and the taliban, they very well know that they have to engage with the international community. they want the money from donor nations so that they can carry out key humanitarian work. and the aid agencies also want to distribute food and other items to afghan people. so both parties need each other. and the taliban are very cleverly making use of the opportunity to completely remove women from public sphere of life. and that is really devastating for the afghan women. for 20 years, they have been given lots of promises. the western—backed government was there, so they all went to universities, colleges looking forjobs, and all of a sudden now they are being made to sit at home. and that is very depressing for many afghan women. yeah. and as we've been reporting, the un now meeting to discuss whether to suspend aid operations in reaction, in response to all of this. are we going to see a further clamping down on the rights

of women and girls, even the youngest girls at primary school level? we are getting several reports of afghan already stopping women from going to mosques. and and there have been various reports on social media suggesting that even they could end the primary schools as well. but we have not had any confirmation on that. but we won't be surprised to see taliban imposing further restrictions. the whole idea seems to be like whoever is questioning them, because the women have been protesting, if you remember in the last few months ago when they first started refusing to reopen schools, when they refused to allow women to resume work, it was young women who started protesting in the streets of kabul, in kandaharand herat. and that really angered the taliban authorities. and they imprisoned several women activists. and women have been in the forefront in afghanistan, raising their voice against the taliban. it's not the men, and they have been now facing the brunt, and they don't want to see, you know, educated women questioning them. but if you see what other muslim

countries like iran and saudi arabia and turkey, they are condemning the decision by the taliban, saying that, you know, it's not the sharia law. we have to educate women. so the afghan taliban seem to be the one country where in the world where they do not want women to get educated. are world service south asia editor. let's get some of the day's other news. china's national health commission is no longer releasing daily covid—19 case figures and will only report relevant data, despite a new surge in the number of cases. according to one government official, 250 million new cases were this reported in the first 20 days of december. at least 15 people are now know to have been killed 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 suffering from cancer for some time. a young woman has died after a shooting at a busy pub near liverpool in northwest england late last night. a number of others were also injured in the incident at the lighthouse inn, in wallasey village shortly before midnight. merseyside police have launched a murder investigation and say a search is under way for the gunman. the area's mp angela eagle has described the shooting as heartbreaking. sarah rogers reports from the scene. last night, the lighthouse inn here was busy, bustling, full of young people. it sits in wallasey village, which is at the end of a main road. there are restaurants and shops here. and this bar was full of young people celebrating christmas eve. we can still see that there are beer bottles that have been strewn

outside as people were just having a drink, but that all ended ten minutes to midnight when a gunman shot and killed a woman. three men have been injured and they are being treated in hospital. we are told that a number of other people have also been hurt. details are still emerging, but police say they believe the gunman left the car park in a dark car after the shooting, possibly a mercedes. they say their inquiries are now extensive. in a statement, they told us that this investigation is in the very early stages. "we understand that it is truly shocking and devastating, especiallyjust before christmas day in a busy venue full of young people." and it is that word, it is shocking, but devastating as well. devastating to any friends, any family at any time of year but especially on christmas day. officers say they are also appealing for anybody who was here, anybody who has any phone footage

to contact them as a matter of urgency as this manhunt continues. king charles is expected to pay tribute to his mother, queen elizabeth ii, in his first televised christmas message as monarch. the king and queen consort will spend the day at sandringham where they will host the royal family's traditional gathering. charlotte gallagher sent this update from sandringham. crowds started arriving from the early hours of this morning, samantha, and a lot of people have made a lot of effort — there are santa hats, christmasjumpers, santa hats, christmas jumpers, people santa hats, christmasjumpers, people have brought presents, flowers for the royal family, people have brought presents, flowers for the royalfamily, but there are two girls here who have outshone everyone else so far. let's meet them. this is your gabor and ziggy bear, who have, just look at them, they are christmas, aren't they? they have tinsel, christmas jumpers, hats. haven't you, darling?

this is dave, one of their owners. good morning. this is dave, one of their owners. good morning-— this is dave, one of their owners. good morning. you've made a lot of effort - they — good morning. you've made a lot of effort - they look — good morning. you've made a lot of effort - they look great. _ good morning. you've made a lot of effort - they look great. they - good morning. you've made a lot of effort - they look great. they are i effort - they look great. they are re effort - they look great. they are pretty good. _ effort - they look great. they are pretty good, actually. _ effort - they look great. they are pretty good, actually. they - effort - they look great. they are pretty good, actually. they are l pretty good, actually. they are looking forward in particular to the carol service, because ziggy, as you can see, is starting already. she absolutely loves singing. they are king charles spaniel is, after all, so they heard the king was going to be here, and they thought it was only right and proper that they should pay their respects. you can hear that beautiful _ should pay their respects. you can hear that beautiful voice _ should pay their respects. you can hear that beautiful voice there, i hear that beautiful voice there, ziggy singing out loud and proud. they are getting a lot of attention. you have people coming up, getting photos with you and the dogs. yes. photos with you and the dogs. yes, it's fantastic. _ photos with you and the dogs. yes, it's fantastic, but _ photos with you and the dogs. yes, it's fantastic, but it _ photos with you and the dogs. yes, it's fantastic, but it is _ photos with you and the dogs. yes, it's fantastic, but it is all _ photos with you and the dogs. yes it's fantastic, but it is all there idea. they wanted to get their stuff, and the hats and all that sort of stuff, it's they are doing. and you've got the carriage as well. the cabbage, the royal stroller. it's fantastic. —— the carriage. it

is a bittersweet occasion, sadly, with the queen no longer with us, but it's fantastic that the king is here, and it would be absolutely wonderful if they could meet. i5 wonderful if they could meet. is this your first year at sandringham? i've been here before but not for a few years now, so it'sjust i've been here before but not for a few years now, so it's just lovely to come and appear, particularly with these guys. lets to come and appear, particularly with these guys.— to come and appear, particularly with these guys. lets 'ust show you the pictures — with these guys. lets 'ust show you the pictures that _ with these guys. letsjust show you the pictures that have _ with these guys. letsjust show you the pictures that have come - with these guys. letsjust show you the pictures that have come into i with these guys. letsjust show you the pictures that have come into usj the pictures that have come into us in the last few minutes from sandringham. king charles arriving at church with zara and mike tindall, his niece and her husband, attending the traditional christmas day church service. it is of course the first christmas which king charles and the queen consort will host with him as monarch, remembering of course his late mother, queen elizabeth ii, but also setting the tone for his monarchy with his christmas message. those pictures just into us in the last

couple of minutes. the pope is delivering his christmas day message to thousands of people gathered in st peter's square in the vatican. these are the live pictures now. this year marks the tenth year of his papacy. in a powerful speech, the pontiff has urged an end to what he has described as the �*senseless' ukraine war. he has also condemned the use of food as a weapon of war. no telling of the nativity story is complete without a donkey and in the holy land, the animals are still used daily by palestinian farmers. however, there's an ongoing problem of ill—treated and unwanted donkeys. in the west bank, a british charity — safe haven — runs the only shelter and clinics dedicated to helping working donkeys and horses. our middle east correspondent, yolande knell, went to spend the day with their vet to find out more: a bray in a manger. the donkey is always a favourite

feature of the christmas nativity story, and today some in the holy land need extra help. this isjoe. he loves to be brushed and cuddled. this is selma. look at her nice teeth. lovely smile. she's sometimes a little bit annoying, but she is perfect. this is melanie. she like to be fussed sometimes. she's shy to run away. off she goes. and this is dr akan. what do people say when you say you specialise in donkeys? what do palestinians say about that? to be honest, some of them just love being a carerfor a donkey. why do you think donkeys are so misunderstood? because some of the owners, they thought that these donkeys or these animals are stupid, which is totally different because they are really so smart. sometimes when we look in their eyes, we just know their sickness. i guess the stereotype of a donkey

is that they're kind of stubborn and solitary, but they're surrounding me, nuzzling me. it's just a lovely thing to experience being surrounded by donkeys. except you. stop nipping. that's just not nice. all the donkeys at this shelter in nablus have been ill treated or abandoned. are some of them very scared when they come in? of course, some of them just arrived, try to bite or kicking. so day after day, they are so calm. they're trusting us. oh, you look like you quite like being stroked. in the west bank, donkeys are seen more as tools than pets. simple veterinary care is expensive. but dr rakan�*s work is paid for by a british charity. today he's got a long line of patients.

but not all are willing. farmers here praise his work. what's the best part of yourjob? uh, it really touches our heart to see the same animals. the next visit is totally healthy. it helps to see the scars. but it's better than infected and open wounds. back at the shelter, it's snack time. it's a good life for all the donkeys here. some are adopted. you like the green bit? but dr rakan�*s favorite is nicole. he bottle—fed him when he arrived as a tiny foal. i really didn't realise they had such personality. look, he loves you like a dog. nicole. could you bear to see nicole go away to a new home? maybe the others, but not nicole. that is my favourite one. yeah. as he tries to lighten the load of these beasts

of burden, there's no mistaking his dedication. i stayed here for two, three and 4am. just staying there and watching the donkey, just enjoying their time. that's my relaxing time. and selwa always gets the last word. yolande knell, bbc news, nablus. in the past year, more than two million migrants have arrived at the us—mexico border. el paso in texas alone has recently seen nearly one thouand—five hundred arrivals each day. making it to the us is a cause for celebration for many — as the city is a gateway to travel on to their final destination — but the holiday season can bring a longing for the homes and family they've left behind.

you are watching bbc news. hello and a very merry christmas to you. if you are hoping to see a white christmas, for most of us it is going to be too mild. perhaps a bit of snow on the way to the higher ground of scotland later in the day. but mild for most, with scattered showers around. a bit of sunshine, so not a complete wash—out for your christmas day. you can see the mild air very much with us through the day. the blue colours, the colder air working in from the north—west later on. we have got low pressure in charge of things sitting to the north of the uk. we have a couple of fronts rotating around that area of low pressure, so that's bringing some spells of rain around. we have got some rain moving into the south east of england up towards east anglia for a time. also some more persistent rain for northern ireland and at times for southern scotland, north—west england, one or two showers for wales and the south—west, too. generally the midlands and eastern england are looking a bit drier.

temperatures through the afternoon 11 or 12 degrees in the south but only around about six to eight degrees in the northern half of scotland. and for it to officially be a white christmas, we only need to observe a single snowflake falling from the sky during the 2a hours of christmas day. now, that is likely to happen, particularly as this area of rain works southwards and eastwards across much of the uk through this evening. it turns to snow for a time over the higher ground of scotland. it is going to be followed by further snow showers working in here, too. elsewhere, it is turning colder through the night, so there could be some icy stretches, especially for parts of scotland and northern ireland and northern england, too. milder and frost—free down towards the south. but for boxing day, it will be a colder—feeling day as that cloud exits the east coast. more wintry sunshine on offer, but further heavy snow showers with brisk winds packing in across much of scotland. and some wintry flurries for the pennines, perhaps into wales, northern ireland as well. temperatures during boxing day tomorrow between about four to ten degrees, so it will be noticeably cooler and windier than it is for christmas day. but the cold air on boxing day doesn't stick around for long

because milder air and another frontal system works in into tuesday. that could potentially bring a spell of quite heavy snow for a time across parts of scotland and the higher ground of northern england, turning back to rain probably later on as the milder air works in and it will be falling as rain further south. also quite breezy, too, as we head through tuesday. so, temperatures between about five to ten degrees for most of us. so an unsettled picture as we head through the final few days of 2022. breezy, plenty of showers around, but still reasonably mild for this time of year. have a great christmas.

this is bbc world news. the headlines... at least 20 people have died in extreme winter storms in the us and canada. engineers are scrambling to restore power supplies to hundreds of thousands of people and the severe weather has disrupted transport. the un and aid agencies in afghanistan are meeting to discuss whether to suspend operations after the taliban banned their female employees. the move comes just days after female students were banned from universities. ten civilians have been killed by russian shelling in the ukrainian city of kherson and three emergency workers lost their lives in demining operations in the area. president zelensky says airstrikes will not diminish the spirit of ukrainians.

thousands of worshippers have gathered in st peter's square