this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. at least 50 people have died in the united states and canada as a deep freeze and severe winter weather sweeps across north america. new york state's governor warns the danger is not over yet. we have been through a lot of wars together, and this blizzard is one for the ages. certainly it is the blizzard of the century. this is the scene live in downtown buffalo. we'll be bring you all the latest from the city. russia says at least three servicemen have been killed in a ukrainian drone attack on an air force base in the south of the country. the woman killed in a shooting at a pub in merseyside in northern england on christmas eve is named as 26—year—old elle edwards.

the un tells the taliban to reverse its decision on banning afghan women working for humanitarian agencies after five major organisations suspend their work in afghanistan. hello, and welcome to bbc news. at least 50 people are now known to have died due to the severe arctic freeze that continues to affect the us and canada. one of the worst—hit areas is the city of buffalo in new york state, where the governor called the storm "an epic, once—in—a—lifetime event". emily unia has the latest. the arctic storm pummelling the us and canada caused christmas chaos for millions.

thousands of flights were cancelled, and roads and railways were close to impassible, preventing people from reaching friends and family. emergency services battled treacherous conditions to carry out rescues. fatalities have been confirmed across the us. one of the worst—hit areas was new york state, especially in buffalo and hamburg in erie county. snow blanketed streets, and driving was banned. more than two dozen people are now known to have died in the greater buffalo region. to all who've lost a loved one, and some of those folks may not even know it yet, just, you have our deepest condolences. this has been a horrible, the worst type of storm you can imagine, and you have my deepest condolences on behalf of the people of erie county for the loss of a loved one on christmas day. rolling blackouts left more than 1.5 million people without power on christmas day. connections are now steadily being restored.

in south florida, iguanas froze and fell from trees. they won't get moving again until temperatures rise and they can thaw out. much further north, stunning ice formations appeared on lake michigan. and although the storm is starting to ease, freezing conditions are still expected for some time to come. emily unia, bbc news. well, earlier, new york state's governor, kathy hochul, gave this update to reporters. we have been through a lot of wars together, and this blizzard is one for the ages. certainly it is the blizzard of the century. i know how hard this is. you've been doing what we've asked you to do by and large, and again the end is almost here. but let's make sure we get through the final days safely, and keep all of our first responders and the snowplow drivers and everyone else who's out there in a uniform to keep all of us safe, keep them in your prayers. thank you very much.

let's cross over to buffalo in new york state. i'm joined now by mark sommers, who is a reporter at the buffalo news. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. we heard the new york state governor there describing just how bad things were. she had earlier said that mother nature had hit the state with everything she has. what has come through buffalo? weill. has come through buffalo? well, she's right _ has come through buffalo? well, she's right to _ has come through buffalo? well, she's right to call— has come through buffalo? well, she's right to call it _ has come through buffalo? well, she's right to call it one - has come through buffalo? well, she's right to call it one for- has come through buffalo? well, she's right to call it one for the l she's right to call it one for the ages. this is a city that is well known for its massive amounts of snowfall, and this one actually really, really stands out as the governor noted. just give you idea, we had two solid days of white out or you could not see more than several feet in front of you. along with that, we had gusting winds of up with that, we had gusting winds of up to 70 mph and about 120 cm of

snow fell, four feet or so here, up to 70 mph and about 120 cm of snow fell, fourfeet or so here, in buffalo and the greater region. some it was an absolutely remarkable convergence of really difficult weather conditions hitting us all at one time. the weather has gotten significant the better. we don't have the white out situation. the winds we don't have either. we have continuing snow but not as much as we were getting. so the clean—up is under way. we were getting. so the clean—up is underway. it we were getting. so the clean—up is under way. it was stall the first two days, virtually impossible to do anything, but the roads are slowly but surely being cleared. search and rescue operations continue. there have been 27 people here in buffalo and surrounding suburbs who are known to have died and the expectation is that there will be more do to freezing and in one's home or car or on the street. we have also heard reports of rescuers having to be rescued. that

have also heard reports of rescuers having to be rescued.— having to be rescued. that is true. there is a — having to be rescued. that is true. there is a national— having to be rescued. that is true. there is a national guard - having to be rescued. that is true. there is a national guard unit, - there is a national guard unit, these are reserve army soldiers from these are reserve army soldiers from the nearby city of niagara falls, they found their way to buffalo. they had to get dug out. they needed to be rescued. they had to get dug out. they needed to be rescued-— to be rescued. reports also of some ofthe to be rescued. reports also of some of the families _ to be rescued. reports also of some of the families that _ to be rescued. reports also of some of the families that have _ to be rescued. reports also of some of the families that have been - of the families that have been rescued or some that have just had to make that hard decision to leave their homes or to leave their cars, you know, running their cars until empty with the fuel runs out. how safe is it. there have been reports of people dying from carbon monoxide poisoning. of people dying from carbon monoxide oisonina. , ., _, , ., poisoning. there been a couple of cases of that _ poisoning. there been a couple of cases of that people _ poisoning. there been a couple of cases of that people used - poisoning. there been a couple of cases of that people used gas - poisoning. there been a couple of. cases of that people used gas stoves and succumb to carbon monoxide. people are desperate to have heat in their homes. to be will have not had heat since friday and here we are monday in new time it's late afternoon on monday. and, you know, search and rescue operations are trying to get to the people, and it's believed that most people have

been helped at this point. but it's really tough. the wind left big bands of snow against people's front doors, four, five or even six feet high in some cases. you've got seniors of people who are in the best of circumstances may be a struggle to walk several blocks but in this case, the sidewalks are not clear, the roads are still full of snow. so it is a slow process that is making progress but has a ways to go. is making progress but has a ways to o, g , is making progress but has a ways to go. just saying they're the clear u - , go. just saying they're the clear u, and go. just saying they're the clear up. and reports _ go. just saying they're the clear up, and reports also _ go. just saying they're the clear up, and reports also of - go. just saying they're the clear up, and reports also of people i up, and reports also of people suffering a cardiac arrestjust trying to clear that snow from around their properties. as the clear up continues, as things hopefully start to warm up, how safe is water going to be to drink because there have been reports of those burst pipes? what sort of advice is being given to people in buffalo? ., ., , , , advice is being given to people in buffalo? . ., , , , ,

buffalo? that happens every winter. we aet buffalo? that happens every winter. we get frigid — buffalo? that happens every winter. we get frigid temperatures - buffalo? that happens every winter. we get frigid temperatures like - we get frigid temperatures like this, pipes will burst. it is not considered a new support crisis or anything. there are neighbours you can go to to get water and there are some occasional quarter source you could go to. but this is not a new problem, to be honest, in buffalo. all right, that you very much that update in buffalo.— update in buffalo. you're very welcome- _ a russian air base hundreds of kilometres from ukraine has come under attack for the second time in less than a month. the russian defence ministry says the engels base in the southern saratov region was targeted by ukrainian drones during the night. russia says it shot down the drones, but that three of its servicemen were killed by falling debris. the base is host to long—range russian strategic bombers, the type of which have launched numerous missiles strikes on ukraine. from moscow, our russia editor steve rosenberg reports.

caught on cctv... ..an explosion at a russian airbase. russia says it shot down a ukrainian drone, but that three russian soldiers were killed. engels airbase is deep inside russian territory, hundreds of miles from the ukrainian border. the base hosts long—range bombers which are believed to have launched missile attacks against ukraine. state tv reacted to the news with a familiar warning to kyiv. russia, she says, would exact revenge by carrying out more strikes on ukrainian infrastructure. russia can rattle those sabres and flex its muscles, but it doesn't change the fact that what happened at engels airbase is embarrassing for the kremlin. for the second time in less than a month, what is an important military installation has come under attack.

quite a contrast to the image of military might that president putin's been portraying in recent days. the kremlin leader has promised his generals all the resources they need for the war in ukraine. he's determined to secure something he can present as a russian victory. putin is not going to back off, and nobody else is going to give him a reason to back off. and therefore he's going to take steps necessary to him to win, whatever that victory may mean for him. but ten months after russia invaded ukraine, there is no sign of that victory. instead, the war the kremlin started is moving closer to home. steve rosenberg, bbc news, moscow. donald jensen is the director for russia and strategic stability at the us institute of peace and a former diplomat at the us embassy in moscow. hejoins me now.

thank you forjoining us this evening here on bbc news. what was your main take away from this strike on the airbase by ukraine? i your main take away from this strike on the airbase by ukraine?— on the airbase by ukraine? i would have several _ on the airbase by ukraine? i would have several actually. _ on the airbase by ukraine? i would have several actually. first - on the airbase by ukraine? i would have several actually. first of - on the airbase by ukraine? i would have several actually. first of all i have several actually. first of all that the ukrainians have once again shown they can push back surprisingly effectively and can rattle the morale of not only the russian people, but russian elites. i would note that this is a longer distance than in kyiv to moscow. this applies in a way that ukraine can hit the capital if it so chose. 0f can hit the capital if it so chose. of course also noteworthy here they attacked a military target, not civilian targets, because ukraine does to keep the moral high ground, to keep the support in the west, it needs to act properly and that means avoiding attacking civilians. and it's important to russia. itrui’itli avoiding attacking civilians. and it's important to russia. with the west support _ it's important to russia. with the west support this _ it's important to russia. with the

west support this attack - it's important to russia. with the west support this attack was - it's important to russia. with the j west support this attack was met it's important to russia. with the | west support this attack was met i think the west won't comment and it's probably informally policed the ukrainians can give the russians a black eye but they will not say anything at all.— black eye but they will not say anything at all. this is as you said in a report — anything at all. this is as you said in a report that _ anything at all. this is as you said in a report that the _ anything at all. this is as you said in a report that the first _ anything at all. this is as you said in a report that the first attack- anything at all. this is as you said in a report that the first attack on | in a report that the first attack on engels, not even the first raid like this in recent months. the ukrainians have rattle the russians, they have embarrassed the kremlin and have now made them very nervous. it's ironic that after the attacks today, one of the very prominent ultra patriotic right—wing critics of vladimir putin has said what is our army worth? we cannot even stop this? where is our air defence? the question is no doubt being asked throughout the russian elites and there are visible signs now in recent weeks with the satisfaction with the way that putin is conducting the war.- with the way that putin is conducting the war. you said the tar: et is conducting the war. you said the target is fairly — conducting the war. you said the target is fairly deep _ conducting the war. you said the target is fairly deep inside - conducting the war. you said the i target is fairly deep inside russian territory, grumbles inside about the state of the military and hellenic motor abilities of russia. a lot of

attention has been placed on the troops currently operating on ukrainian soil. what is the assessment of the russian military itself back in russia? back assessment of the russian military itself back in russia?— itself back in russia? back in russia, itself back in russia? back in russia. it — itself back in russia? back in russia, it shows _ itself back in russia? back in russia, it shows again - itself back in russia? back in russia, it shows again and i itself back in russia? back in - russia, it shows again and including to other russians and the russian high command that they are not ready to wage the kind of war likely to be needed to defeat ukraine. they don't have the infrastructure. they don't have the infrastructure. they don't have the infrastructure. they don't have the supplies. and now they cannot even defend what putin is a good russian territory. this is really, really injurious to russian morale. we have seen it on the troops along the line in ukraine from east to west from kyiv all the way south. russia will fight hard but ukraine clearly has military advantage for now and when you hit surprisingly as they did last night and if they did on the for the december, the question becomes what is next? and relate the rest of supporting figures at each other and ultimately the kremlin for not letting themselves properly. what letting themselves properly. what

would ou letting themselves properly. what would you say _ letting themselves properly. what would you say is — letting themselves properly. what would you say is next? _ letting themselves properly. what would you say is next? how do you see this conflict going? what is going to flip to give it aside the advantage? i going to flip to give it aside the advantage?— advantage? i think what you're seeinu in advantage? i think what you're seeing in ukraine _ advantage? i think what you're seeing in ukraine itself- advantage? i think what you're seeing in ukraine itself is- advantage? i think what you're seeing in ukraine itself is a - seeing in ukraine itself is a gradual slowing of combat operations. ukraine has the initiative. russia is digging in. ukraine hopes to gradually push back towards crimea and in the east. but you see very noteworthy and he said it in your report that putin now talks about negotiations and the problem is if negotiations on his terms. and even the ukrainian officials today talked about negotiations maybe in february. we're a long way from that. even if are talks, something has to happen more decisive on the battlefield and we are not there yet. so i think there is if there are any thoughts or meaningful talks, it will be quite a few months in the future and perhaps middle of next year or at the end. but one site has revamped on the battlefield first or we are not there yet. on the battlefield first or we are not there yet-— not there yet. there have been

tossed between _ not there yet. there have been tossed between mr _ not there yet. there have been tossed between mr zelensky i not there yet. there have been i tossed between mr zelensky and narendra modi, heather not? thank you very much, donald.— a woman who was shot dead at a pub in merseyside in northern england on christmas eve has been identified as elle edwards. the 26—year—old was shot in the head after a gunman opened fire at the front of the pub and later died in hospitalfrom her injuries. fiona trott reports. a young woman shot and killed whilst celebrating christmas with family and friends. elle edwards was at the lighthouse pub in wallasey village when a man opened fire at the entrance. merseyside police say they do not believe she was a target. today, around 30 relatives arrived at the scene to lay flowers. the police say what they're going through is incomprehensible. one of the cards reads, "to my beautiful elle, you are the light of my life, you will never be gone, mum and dad."

the killing took place at a family pub at the heart of the community. local residents have described their shock. things like this don't really happen on the wirral, so i think everyone's shocked. you don't expect it on your own doorstep, you know? this pub is a nice pub. you know, you never hear of any trouble. i've got a 21—year—old son, and, you know, it's devastating to be honest. forensic teams have been searching the area throughout the day. merseyside police are continuing to appeal for information and want to hear from anyone who may know the male driver of a dark—coloured vehicle, possibly a mercedes a—class, that was seen leaving the pub car park. four men were also injured in the attack. a 28—year—old from beachwood is in a critical condition in hospital. elle was a beautician. her colleagues have described her as "a beautiful angel". her whole life and career have been cut short,

and at a time when her family, like many families, had come together to celebrate. fiona trott, bbc news. the acting head of the united nation's mission to afghanistan has asked taliban leaders to reverse a decision to ban on afghan women working for humanitarian agencies in the country. five major aid organisations are suspending their work in afghanistan following the order. islamic relief and the international rescue committee are the latest agencies to halt their activity. earlier, care, the norwegian refugeee council and save the children said they "could not effectively reach afghans in desperate need" without their female staff. my colleague christian fraser has been speaking to jan egeland, the secretary general of the norwegian refugee council, about the announcement the aid agency has halted all work in afghanistan.

we cannot operate without our female staff. in our case in the norwegian refugee council, we have nearly 1500 staff. about one third are women, 470. we cannot operate without our committed, hard—working, professional female colleagues. they are the ones who assess needs among women and children. they are the ones who communicate to the women, for example single—mother households and so on. so, our message back to the taliban authorities who gave us this order on christmas eve, the 24th of december, was that we have to suspend our work. we cannot work without our female colleagues. and this is in a situation of desperate need. millions and millions need our emergency relief through this winter. well, i want to come back to that because it's an important point you make.

in terms of the order that's come from the taliban, it's specific to the ngos through which the united nations works. is it about all women or is itjust local women? and what sort of position does that put western women who work in afghanistan? yeah, it's women in general as far as i have... well, it's a very general order. and it was communicated by the ministry of economy through the umbrella organisation where there are 100 organisations, it's a large number of organisations, local afghan organisations and international ngos. they said, because they claim there was some deviations from the strict dress code with hijab, they said, "we are now banning all," the taliban's banning, "all the female work across the board by

nongovernmental organisations." it's an impossible situation because we're in the coldest months of the year. we know already there is an acute food situation inside the country. for a humanitarian like you, this must be an agonising decision. it is, it is. i've been there many times to afghanistan. i see the suffering among the people, and there's been a free—fall in the economy since the taliban took over in part because the western countries withdrew their development aid when they left with their diplomats and their military. we remained, and we have been able to reach millions and millions. and we've done that in accordance to the traditional dress code, all of the rules for separation of men and women in the workplace. we've even offered male relative guardians to our female staff according to the tradition when they travel.

we've done everything according to the book, and still they come with this out of nowhere. and it's devastating. so it will be reversed, i'm sure of, but it could take time. and in the meantime, much unnecessary suffering has taken place. 0ur female staff are devastated by this. many of them are the breadwinners, not of theirfamily, but with their whole extended, you know, relatives. and they are fearful for theirjob, theirfuture. we are going to catch up with all the sport and it has been all goat, has it not, on the football pitches? good evening. it seems the break for the world cup hasn't stopped newcastle's premier league momentum. they're up to second in the table after beating leicester at the king power stadium. they were 3—0 up in just 32 minutes and went on to register their sixth straight win.

there was a new beginning at goodison, though, where julen lopetegui won his first premier league match in charge of wolves thanks to a 95th—minute goal from rayan ait—nouri. the 2—1 victory takes them off the bottom of the table. we have to improve our defence, but we are happy for today because of course we came here looking for these three points. and then we get them in the last minute, and it's a very positive thing for us to have confidence, to work tomorrow with our best face. but it's finished for today. tomorrow, we are going to think manchester united, and we have not done anything yet. southampton have replaced wolves at the bottom of the premier league. their 3—1 defeat at home to brighton was in new manager nathanjones' first home league game and has them adrift by a point. liverpool resumed their bid for a top—four place with a 3—1 victory at aston villa. goals from mohamed salah and virgil

van dijk saw them lead 2—0 at half—time before 0llie watkins reduced the deficit after the break. teenage substitute stefan bajcetic sealed the three points with his first goal for the club nine minutes from time. 2—0 up at the half—time, and second half was good. better start to the second half, and we could see the crowd as they are and these kind of things and you have to get used to these kind of big fights again. but we fought through and we scored an exceptional third goal, which i love so much, everything about it, the pass, the control and then the back pass and then the finish from stefan which was wonderful, like a christmas story if you want. yeah, really nice. leaders arsenal began their match against west ham knowing a win will take them seven points clear. they went a goal down in the first half. as west ham scored a penalty

but two goals in the last ten minutes have given arsenal a 2—1 leap. earlier, spurs came from two goals down to get a 2—2 draw at brentford and crystal palace ended the game with nine men as they lost 3—0 at home to fulham. not one home team has won so far on boxing day. england test captain ben stokes says the quality of international cricket is suffering at the hands of the packed schedule. he's led a revolution of the longest form of the game with england's attacking, entertaining style, but did so after retiring from one—day cricket, saying it was "unsustainable" to play all three formats. stokes has also returned to the game after taking a break to focus on his mental health, which he says is benefitting the whole team and their new approach. some of that was very emotional to read, but that's what i took huge pride out of because knowing i put myself out there in the public eye being in the position that i'm

in and that it's actually really helped quite a lot of people. and ifeel as if that, you know, men... yeah, men in particular because that's where the stigma is happening. the more men who can do it, great, because i feel as if you do, you're going to help an awful lot of people around the world who feel in a similar situation to you and feel that they can't, and i took a lot of pride in that. the denver broncos have fired their coach nathaniel hackett a day after they lost for the 11th time during his first season in charge. the 51—14 defeat to the la rams left denver with one of the worst records in the nfl. his departure ends the shortest head coaching reign in franchise history. hackettjoined from the green bay packers, where he'd gained a good reputation after leading their offence, but couldn't manage the same at the broncos depsite their high—profile trade for quarterback russell wilson. that's all the sport for now. breaking news very quickly, update following the killing of elle

edwards who was shot outside a pub in northern england, a 30—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. more coming up here on bbc news. hello. a fine end to boxing day across many parts of the country, especially further east and south across the uk. wintry showers in scotland. how about the next few days? well, it is going to be very unsettled. rain and wind at times. risk of gales, in fact, in the run—up to the new year. but let's have a look at the short—term. so, through the course of this evening, lots of clear weather about, the temperatures will dip away quite sharply as well. just a few showers there still, wintry ones across scotland, but a weather system is approaching from the west. so milder conditions starting to spread into parts of wales and south—western england by the early hours of tuesday morning. but this weather system, as it sweeps across the country, in the morning, it will still encounter the cold air in scotland

and parts of northern england. so, with that clear night there and the low temperatures, as the weather front overrides that cold air, anything that falls out of the sky will be snow across the highlands, maybe for a time in the pennines, too. but to the south of that, that mild stream of that south—westerly wind, it is going to be rain, so really unpleasant around welsh coasts, south—western england through the afternoon — gusty winds, heavy rain. the last place to see the rain on tuesday will be the far south—east. this is, i think, where the rain will reach you early evening. and then out towards the west, on the other hand, it should clear up come the evening. now, here's wednesday's weather map, and the next area of low pressure sweeps in. quite a few isobars there, pressure lines, big pressure gradients. so, strong winds blowing in and, again, another dose of gale—force winds, particularly around western and maybe southern areas. a really changeable day. in the south, relatively mild, 12 degrees celsius, but further north, the other side of the weather front, it's pretty chilly there for northern scotland and the northern isles.

the low pressure still with us on thursday, quite a large area of low pressure, blustery winds. a cold front will have swept through by then, so i think slightly colder, particularly in the north. even some wintry showers around, temperatures around 6—7 degrees there for glasgow and for aberdeen. in the south, might still make double figures in london and norwich. so, the run—up to the new year, new year's eve there, saturday, it stays relatively mild, but it's not going to feel like it, of course, because of all that wind, rain and risk of gales. bearthat in mind. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines: at least 50 people have died in the us and canada as severe, freezing winter weather sweeps across north america. the region around buffalo, in upstate new york, has been worst affected. russia says at least three technical staff have been killed by falling debris following a ukrainian drone attack on an air force base in the south of the country. in the past few minutes — police have confirmed the arrest of a 30—year—old man on suspicion of murder after a fatal shooting in merseyside. elle edwards was killed at a pub in wallasey on christmas eve. the united nations tells the taliban to reverse its decision on banning afghan women working for humanitarian agencies,

after five major non—governmental organisations suspend