this is bbc news — our main headlines here. king charles pays tribute to his late mother, the queen, and reflects on the cost of living crisis in his first christmas message. at this time of great anxiety and hardship, be it for those around the world facing conflict, famine or natural disaster, or for those at home finding ways to pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm. at least 20 people have died in extreme winter storms in the us and canada. more than one million people are without power. police in liverpool are hunting a gunman after a 26—year—old woman died and four were injured in a pub shooting on christmas eve. as ten civilians are killed by russian shelling in the ukrainian

city of kherson, president zelensky says air strikes will not diminish the spirit of ukrainians. hello and welcome to bbc news. king charles has used his first christmas message to reflect on the cost of living crisis. he spoke of the "great anxiety and hardship" for those struggling to "pay their bills and keep theirfamilies fed and warm". the king also paid tribute to his mother queen elizabeth, who is buried in st george's chapel where the king delivered his speech. our royal correspondent nick witchell was listening to the speech and earlier he gave us his verdict. there is, i think, a strong sense of social awareness in this christmas broadcast.

to put it in context, a long history of a broadcast at christmas time by the monarch, going right back to the 1930s when king george v started on radio, and queen elizabeth took it up on television in the 1950s. this broadcast, the first by king charles, was recorded in st george's chapel at windsor, close to the spot where queen elizabeth was laid to rest. he refers to his late mother and herfaith in people and their ability to touch the lives of others. and there is a really strong emphasis on humanity, the humanity of the individual. he talks about the selfless dedication of our armed forces and emergency services, of health and social care professionals. and he says it is particularly important at a time of conflict and economic difficulty. at this time of great anxiety and hardship, be it for those around the world facing conflict, famine or natural disaster, or for those at home, finding ways to pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm.

we see it in the humanity of people throughout our nations and the commonwealth, who so readily respond to the plight of others. this theme of social awareness continues. we saw pictures there of food banks. and he says he particularly wants to thank those who have set up or who donate to food banks and help those in greatest need. there is a role played by people of all faiths and organisations of all faiths in this support. our churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and gurdwaras have once again united in feeding the hungry, providing love and support throughout the year. he continues with faith right to the end of the broadcast, because at the end he says, so whatever faith you have,

or whether you have none, it is this service to others in which we can find hope for the future. do you get pointers from the speech in terms of what his focus is going to be in the coming year? i think inevitably he has accepted that he has now got to be very careful, cautious, he cannot perform in the same way that he did as prince of wales. he has to be very careful what he says and not cross that line into anything that could be construed as politics. but certainly his officials, and this is as i say a socially aware christmas broadcast, but his officials say that it would be very odd if britain's head of state did not recognise and feel an empathy for people going through difficult times and express that. and that i think is what he has attempted to do in this christmas broadcast. the king and queen consort

are spending christmas day at sandringham in norfolk, where they're hosting the royal family's traditional gathering. this morning they went to church. let's get more on this from nick witchell. christmas morning at sandringham church, for the first time since the start of the pandemic. familiar routines were resumed, though without that most familiar of figures, queen elizabeth. king charles and the queen consort led the royal family from the church. just behind them, the prince and princess of wales with all three of their children — george, charlotte and four—year—old louis. also there with the family group, the duke of york. the waleses spent time with spectators, receiving their bunches of flowers. and then back to the main house for christmas lunch and the king's first christmas broadcast. in his christmas day address at canterbury cathedral, the archbishop of canterbury highlighted the late queen's humility and her

commitment to serve others. compare such a love to those rulers who grasp at power, in contrast to the behaviour of her late majesty, who in obedience to the christ child lived a life of service and put her interest after those of the people she served. the archbishop also spoke about the cost of living crisis. what of those in this country who will be cold and hungry today, as the cost of living crisis continues to cause such immense anxiety and hardship? at the vatican, pope francis said food was being used as a weapon of war in ukraine, afghanistan and the horn of africa. translation: on this day, let us | learn from the prince of peace, l starting with those who hold political responsibility, that they commit themselves to make food solely an instrument of peace. the pope called for

an end to hostilities. nicholas witchell, bbc news. tens of millions of americans are hunkered down in one of the bleakest christmas days in living memory. the arctic storm that's swept through most of the country has so far claimed 20 lives. family travel plans for much of the us have been thrown into chaos or abandoned. a million people are already without power. emily unia reports. strong winds and sub—zero temperatures. america may have been dreaming of a white christmas but not like this. countless roads are closed or impassable, even the gritter got stuck. around 250 million people across the united states and canada are facing festive weather chaos. anything can happen in any moment and you've got to be on your toes.

thousands of flights have been cancelled, delayed trains have left passengers stranded for hours, conditions are so bad new york state has banned driving. it is life—threatening what is going on as we speak in buffalo. getting calls through the night from frightened neighbours where the temperature has been off for many hours, for a day, a day and a half. and we still have state—wide 73,000 homes without power. families hoping to celebrate together for the first time since coronavirus will be cruelly disappointed, many without the electricity to cook a christmas dinner at all. i'm really glad that i have a fireplace because otherwise i would be freezing right now. oh, my god! 0n the east coast there were high winds, huge waves and flooding. i think i'll shut our window. what time is high tide? even at the border with mexico temperatures dropped below freezing, making the challenging journey to enter the united states even more difficult. but warmer weather is on the way. temperatures are expected to rise

again on boxing day. emily unia, bbc news. a shooting at a packed pub on merseyside late last night has left a woman dead, and three men in hospital with gunshot wounds. it happened at the lighthouse inn in wallasey village. merseyside police called for more information from the community to catch the gunman. the police have been speaking in the past few minutes. i can today confirm that a 26—year—old woman has died following a shooting at the lighthouse inn in wallasey village on christmas eve. as you can imagine, her devastated family are inconsolable and heartbroken. the woman was enjoying a night out with family and friends when the callous and cold—blooded shooting took place at the pub. the people of liverpool and merseyside are known for their compassion and pulling together in times of crisis. and we have already had an overwhelming response from

the public following the murder, particularly from people who were in the pub last night. but we do need more information so that we can find those responsible for this callous murder and the wounding of four others, one of whom is in a critical condition so that we can find justice for the victim and her family. this is not the time for anyone who knows who is responsible for this shooting to stay quiet. the person responsible for this incident and those who assisted him last night need to be caught, and now is the time for our communities to come together with us to show that the use of guns on our streets will not be tolerated. an air raid alert was issued for the whole of ukraine earlier today. unconfirmed reports suggest it happened after russian jets took to the skies in belarus. president putin later said he's100%

sure that russia will destroy us patriot missiles in ukraine and that the west is seeking to — in his words — "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'd been in an area liberated from russian forces. an explosive device which they'd been working to make safe detonated, killing them all. also on saturday, russian shelling killed at least ten civilians in the city — among the deadliest attacks since russian forces were driven out of kherson last month. in a defiant video message on christmas eve, president zelensky said russian airstrikes would not harm what he called the steel spirit of ukrainians. 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. three foreign aid organisations are suspending all their work in afghanistan after the taliban banned women from working for humanitarian agencies. the move by care, the norwegian refugee council and save the children came as the un and other agencies held a meeting in the capital, kabul, to discuss the situation. 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 not gone far enough. 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 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. let's turn to a couple of other stories making the headlines. china's national health commission is no longer releasing daily covid—i9 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 reported in the first 20 days of december. at least four people have been killed when a bus careered off a bridge in spain's north—western region of galicia. two survivors — the vehicle's driver and a passenger — were rescued from the river lerez. strong current due to the heavy rains have been hampering the search and rescue operation. at least 15 people are now know to 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. soft toys left in memory of a nine—year—old who was stabbed to death in a street in boston in the east midlands of england, will be sent to children in lithuania. her family said, if the toys go to young people who love them "some good might come from their terrible year". jessica lane now reports. amongst the messages and flowers, toys and teddies were brought in tribute after nine—year—old lilia valutyte was killed injuly. her family now face their first christmas without her, and a friend suggested to lilia's mum she could send them to children in lithuania who might not otherwise have had any gifts. we just thought that she would like to share, and she and herfamily would like to share all those presents. because i think they really

have a good spirit inside them, because they were donated with loads of love. all the toys which we got from the community, fluffy toys, probably, they will enjoy them more. boxes and boxes of toys have now been sent back to their home country. i think it's a0 or something with lithuanian families, and 12 or 13 from ukraine, because there's refugees that are coming to live in lithuania because they can't live there any more. lilia's family are planning other tributes for the little girl, including a memorial outside her mum's shop where lilia was stabbed. it's going to be me doing it, and another friend of mine who is more an artist than me. so, yeah, i don't know. we want to start with the flowers and then it's going to be metal wings and then the shape of a child, and butterflies, yeah.

they say they hope that as these toys go to children who will love them, some good might come from their terrible year. jessica lane, bbc news. you're watching bbc news. now here's another chance to see today's king's speech. organ plays # god save our gracious king # long live our noble king # god save the king # send him victorious # happy and glorious # long to reign over us

# god save the king #. i'm standing here in this exquisite chapel of st george at windsor castle, so close to where my beloved mother, the late queen, is laid to rest with my dear father. i am reminded of the deeply touching letters, cards and messages which so many of you have sent my wife and myself. and i cannot thank you enough for the love and sympathy you have shown our whole family. christmas is a particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones. we feel their absence at every familiar turn of the season and remember them

in each cherished tradition. in the much—loved carol, 0 little town of bethlehem, we sing of how, "in thy dark streets shineth, the everlasting light." my mother's belief in the power of that light was an essential part of herfaith in god, but also herfaith in people. and it is one which i share with my whole heart. it is a belief in the extraordinary ability of each person to touch, with goodness and compassion, the lives of others, and to shine a light in the world around them. this is the essence of our community and the very foundation of our society. we see it in the selfless dedication of our armed forces and emergency services, who work tirelessly to keep us all safe, and who performed

so magnificently as we mourned the passing of our late queen. we see it in our health and social care professionals, our teachers, and indeed all those working in public service, whose skill and commitment are at the heart of our communities. and at this time of great anxiety and hardship, be it for those around the world facing conflict, famine or natural disaster, or for those at home finding ways to pay their bills and keep their families fed and warm, we see it in the humanity of people throughout our nations and the commonwealth who so readily respond to the plight of others. i particularly want to pay tribute to all those wonderfully kind people

who so generously give food or donations or, that most precious commodity of all, their time, to support those around them in greatest need. together with the many charitable organisations which do such extraordinary work in the most difficult circumstances. 0ur churches, synagogues, mosques, temples and gurdwaras have once again united in feeding the hungry, providing love and support throughout the year. such heartfelt solidarity is the most inspiring expression of loving our neighbour as ourself. the prince and princess of wales recently visited wales, shining a light on practical examples of this community spirit. some years ago, i was able to fulfil

a lifelong wish to visit bethlehem