two people are being questioned in connection with the murder of elle edwards on christmas eve. this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: at least 60 people have been killed in winter storms across the united states and canada. president biden has approved emergency federal help for new york state, as the arctic freeze continues. serbia has put troops on high alert over rising tensions with kosovo. here in the uk — two people are arrested after a woman is shot dead, at a pub in merseyside on christmas eve. west midlands police begin a murder investigation after a man was stabbed on the dance floor a birmingham nightclub. all men will be required to serve one year's military service. that in response to growing pressure from beijing. fashion designers in hong kong are using artificial intelligence

to help them create cutting—edge modern clothing. at least 60 people have been killed in winter storms across the united states and canada. president biden has approved an emergency declaration, following federal support for new york state. the city of buffalo, in new york state, has borne the brunt of the arctic conditions. it lies in the great lakes region and near the canadian border. 27 bodies have been recovered there, and more are expected to be found in cars buried in the snow. blizzards have blocked roads and brought down power lines, making it hard to get food and medicine. sean dilley reports. forfive days, blizzard conditions have disrupted life and travel across america. dozens of deaths have been reported, more are expected

in the coming days. emergency services are among those struggling with the weather. a quarter of a million homes and businesses are estimated to have been hit by power cuts on christmas eve and christmas day. the impact of the storm has stretched from canada to the mexican border. montana has experienced the coldest weather, with temperatures dropping to —45. the most impacted residents live here in buffalo, upstate new york, where half of all deaths have been reported. the state's governor says they are at war with mother nature. anyone who declares victory and says it's over, it is way too early to say this is at its completion. the severity is downplayed now and right now, it's not as bad as it has been over the last couple of days but it's still a dangerous situation to be out. forecasters say conditions should improve in the days ahead, but until then, authorities say

people should only travel if it's totally essential. sean dilley, bbc news. we will be live in the us shortly to talk more about those conditions, just how difficult it still is there. taiwan's president, tsai ing—wen, has announced that all men will be required to serve one year's military service. the announcement came after china carried out one of it's biggest incursions to date in the seas and skies around taiwan on sunday with fighterjets and warships deployed around the island. the taiwanese leader said it was needed to counter the growing military pressure beijing is exerting on taiwan, which it regards as an integral part of china. translation: the current four-month military training service system - cannot provide sufficient troops or frequency of training to cope with the rapidly changing combat situation and satisfy the need for combat readiness. after two years of complete assessment and review, considering the demand for troops

in the new strategic structure, we have decided to restore the one—year compulsory military service from 2024, applicable to male draftees born afterjanuary 1st 2005. here in the uk, merseyside police are investigating two people in the fatal shooting of a woman on christmas eve. a 30—year—old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of elle edwards. a 19—year—old woman was detained on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. fiona trott has this report. "a beautiful angel." that's how elle edwards has been described by colleagues. a beautician who was shot and killed whilst celebrating christmas here with family and friends. a man opened fire at the entrance. four others were injured. one is in a critical condition in hospital. at a time of year when relatives come together to celebrate, elle's family came here

to express their condolence. the police say what they're going through is incomprehensible. the card from her parents reads, "to my beautiful elle, you are the light of my life. "you will never be gone." people living nearby have also paid their respects. they're struggling to understand how a family pub, just a short walk from their own front door, is now a crime scene. just astounded it's happened here. never heard of this in 50, 60 years. i think everyone's upset. it's just shocking that it's happened because we don't want guns in this community. i've just literally picked some stuff up for a neighbour because she's scared to leave her house. yesterday, the investigation moved quickly. first, forensic teams searched the local area, and community leaders issued a fresh appealfor information. then, by the evening, there was police activity across the city. these were two addresses in the tranmere area. merseyside police have said they don't believe elle edwards was deliberately targeted.

it makes her death all the more difficult for her family to comprehend. fiona trott, bbc news, merseyside. it's been 25 years since world leaders agreed to ban the use of anti—personnel landmines — in what is known as the ottawa treaty. it's considered to be one of the world's most successful disarmament treaties, but every year thousands of people continue to be killed or injured by the devices. anna foster reports from lebanon, where a huge de—mining operation is going on. three, two, one, demolition. nine anti—personnel mines destroyed in a split second. for years, the ground here has been sick with them. many were laid less than a metre apart by israeli forces during the conflict of 1982. every day, a team of de—miners carefully scans the land.

they uncover the mines and make them safe. suaad is an expert now. when i found the mine, i call the supervisor to check it. and after that, and at the end of the day, i make an explosion. you say that in quite a relaxed way, you make an explosion? yeah, because its four years, so it's a daily routine. it's dangerous work. the mines advisory group has been active in lebanon since 2001. here in this village alone, they've cleared nearly 800 devices. it's right next to the politically sensitive boundary with israel. that means special techniques are needed to destroy the explosives without damaging the barrier. this is a clear, safe channel through the minefield.

on this side, behind the white sticks, you have these new green shoots and they were planted right after the land was handed over only about a month ago now. but look how close it is to this. this is an active minefield, still contaminated land, still loaded with anti—personnel and anti—tank mines. and they plant their crops fast. lebanon's economic crisis makes them desperate for cleared land to grow food. translation: we were frustrated. i can't describe the feeling of not being able to use the land where we grew in the past. we had to stop because of mines. it was an awful feeling. worldwide, around 15 people a day are still injured by landmines. translation: l was knocked i unconscious and when i woke up i could not see my fingers. they were gone.

haidar detonated one while planting trees in his garden. i still keep the photos from when i was injured. it was horrible back then. my hands were about to be amputated. they turned black. but, thank god, they are ok now. 80% of lebanon's mines have now been removed. but each year, the funding to clear them decreases. and that makes it hard to predict how long it'll take before these people can walk on their land again. anna foster, bbc news, lebanon. serbia has put troops on high alert over rising tensions with kosovo. president vucic, says he's taking "all measures" to protect people and "preserve" his nation. in 2008, kosovo unilaterally declared independence from serbia but many countries still fail to recongnise it including do not recognise it.(gfx)belgrade has increased its armed presence on the border in recent days after conflicting reports about a shooting incident

in which no—one was hurt. reports from belgrade allege ethnic serbs came under attack, but the claim was rejected by kosovo authorities in pristina. tim judah is a veteran foreign correspondent and war reporter who has covered the yugoslav wars in the balkans. he's just returned from kosovo. very good to see you. there have been flare ups for years. to use the journalistic term tents, we say this all the time about this particular region. when you are there recently, did it feel quite a bit more dangerous and tense than usual? yes. dangerous and tense than usual? yes, this thing of— dangerous and tense than usual? was this thing of erecting barricades in the north and protesting, it is almost kind of traditional. it has been going on for a long time, barricades go up and then diplomats from the eu and the us come in and help negotiating and then they go down. at this time when i was there, exactly a week ago, it really did

feel different. it felt kind of much more dangerous. 0ne feel different. it felt kind of much more dangerous. one of the reasons is because kosovo serbs from the north of the country, they are a minority in the whole of kosovo and about half of them live in the north, which is adjacent to serbia. they have left the institutions of kosovo in this present round of crises, including the kosovo police force. that means albanians, ethnic albanians have had to go north. at the barricades, you also see people, men in masks. you don't really know what they are doing and you probably don't want to get too close to ask them, either. stencilled on the walls of the divided town between the serbians and albanians in kosovo are a kind of logo, a crest of something mysterious called the northern brigade. it says, don't

worry, we are waiting. so is this a militia in waiting or something to give people the impression that there is a militia in waiting question about that, we don't know. there is so much mistrust between the two sides. do you sense there is any real impetus to try and diffuse the situation?— any real impetus to try and diffuse the situation? well, up until now, i would say that _ the situation? well, up until now, i would say that there _ the situation? well, up until now, i would say that there hasn't - the situation? well, up until now, i would say that there hasn't been i would say that there hasn't been much political will because, really, this is just the seventh crisis, i think, sincejune. we have had crysis, crysis, crysis, and so the eu and us diplomats are constantly kind of fire fighting which means they can't get down to negotiating. what they really want to negotiate is some long—term settlement between kosovo and serbia. not only that, there is also another element which i think it's quite important, which is that in the past, serbian

leaders, primarily the prime minister, didn't like each other much but they didn't loathe each other. i think there is an added element here that the president who is a minister under the serbian leader during the kosovo war, they loathed each other and it didn't help that two weeks ago that vucic publicly insulted the kosovan prime minister foster doesn't make for an atmosphere of cooling things down at the moment. atmosphere of cooling things down at the moment-— the moment. tim, great to get your thou:hts, the moment. tim, great to get your thoughts, thank _ the moment. tim, great to get your thoughts, thank you. _ the moment. tim, great to get your thoughts, thank you. tim _ the moment. tim, great to get your thoughts, thank you. tim judah. - a murder investigation is under way after a 23—year—old man was stabbed to death on the dance floor of a birmingham nightclub in england. the man was fatally

injured at the crane in the digbeth area of the city. let's talk to our correspondent phil mackie who's at the scene. what is the latest from the police on the investigation? the? what is the iatest from the police on the investigation?— on the investigation? they are desnerate _ on the investigation? they are desnerate to _ on the investigation? they are desperate to talk _ on the investigation? they are desperate to talk to _ on the investigation? they are desperate to talk to people . on the investigation? they are l desperate to talk to people who on the investigation? they are - desperate to talk to people who were here last night. a major boxing day event here which lasted until 3pm and were scheduled to finish at midnight. the 23—year—old was stabbed just before the close, a dj from italy was playing a set at the time. a lot of people had been interviewed by the police but still want to hear from anyone who is here last night and may have something else to add. we have had a statement from the night club in the last half an hour or so. they said they are deeply shocked and saddened a man lost his life last night at the boxing day event. the thoughts are with the victim and his family and friends. they say they are working closely with west midlands police. a statement from one of the djs who played a set earlier in the afternoon, he said, i am just hearing some is murdered at this

show last night, which is beyond unbelievable and so, so sad. my prayers and love go to this person's family and loved ones. i left after my set was done and to wake up to this is so heartbreaking. the dj who is playing the set at the time, dj marco, is due to be on stage in liverpool later. the club said it has cancelled its new year's eve's event. detectives desperate to point out what happened and we have seen them coming and going from here in them coming and going from here in the last hour or so. obviously not just appealing to witnesses but studying cctv and hopefully we will get some kind of update later on this afternoon.— get some kind of update later on this afternoon. thank you so much for the update _ this afternoon. thank you so much for the update from _ this afternoon. thank you so much for the update from birmingham. | this afternoon. thank you so much i for the update from birmingham. we return to our top story now and get more on the incredible whether they are experiencing in parts of the us and canada. this monster storm that has killed at least 28 people just in the western new york state particular. we can ta ke take you to our correspondence with

cbs. they are describing it as the worst storm they have ever seen, the storm of a lifetime. what is the latest about the conditions and are there people still trapped in their cars in buffalo? itheiith there people still trapped in their cars in buffalo?— cars in buffalo? with the conditions, _ cars in buffalo? with the conditions, it _ cars in buffalo? with the conditions, it is - cars in buffalo? with the conditions, it is still- cars in buffalo? with the conditions, it is still a i cars in buffalo? with the - conditions, it is still a pretty dire situation. there is continuing to be a driving ban in the city of buffalo, either reserving roads for emergency crews which are already having a tough time getting to people who need to assistance or those roads are completely impassable because we have seen four feet or so of snowfall in a short time. and the incredibly strong winds have blown the snow in ways that it has trapped cars on the sides of the road. in terms of people trapped in their cars, that is still a question that is going to continue to be something that is investigated. there are concerns that there are people who have been stuck in their homes for a couple of days now and may not be able to get out, at least not anytime soon. back to you. out, at least not anytime soon. back to ou. , ., �* ., ,

out, at least not anytime soon. back to �* ., to you. joe biden has approved a declaration _ to you. joe biden has approved a declaration that _ to you. joe biden has approved a declaration that will _ to you. joe biden has approved a declaration that will allow - to you. joe biden has approved a | declaration that will allow federal support, particularly the new york state. what does that mean? yes. support, particularly the new york state. what does that mean? yes, so auain, it is state. what does that mean? yes, so again. it is good _ state. what does that mean? yes, so again, it is good to _ state. what does that mean? yes, so again, it is good to contextualise - again, it is good to contextualise what this looks like geographically. buffalo, new york and the area is about a 600 kilometre drive from new york city, so a long way away. but what we are seeing there is the influx of the federal emergency management agency going in and assisting on the ground with some of the operations that need to happen there, whether it is distributing food or water, or assisting some of the local emergency groups to try and get to some of these people who might be in need of some of that help, some of that assistance. i know some of the deaths that have been caused by this storm ijust because people had a medical emergency at home or where ever they were and could not get access to emergency care in time. so trying to help facilitate some of that is what this money will help to do.- this money will help to do. thank ou so this money will help to do. thank you so much _ this money will help to do. thank you so much for— this money will help to do. thank you so much forjoining _ this money will help to do. thank you so much forjoining us - this money will help to do. thank you so much forjoining us with i this money will help to do. thank i you so much forjoining us with that

update, jarred hill. sport and for a full round—up from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. good afternoon. the premier league returns in its world cup break. chelsea and manchester united have games later. but arsenal extended their lead at the top. and liverpool returned with a win too. some further good news for their fans too. they've reached an agreement with dutch side psv eindhoven for striker cody gakpo for a fee in the region of £37 million. gakpo scored three goals for the netherlands at the world cup in qatar. and is very much one of the most coveted strikers in world football at the moment. cricket, and australia are firing on all cylinders — and opener david warner is the man to thank, after his stunning double century put them in control, after day 2 of the 2nd test against south africa. warner retired on 200 after tea — helping australia to a lead of 197 runs with seven wickets remaining in melbourne. steve smith helped himself to 85. on a day where south africa's anrich nortje avoided a serious injury, after being knocked over by the host broadcaster's spidercam. australia lead the three—match series 1—0.

and new zealand are making good ground on pakistan's strong total, in their opening test. at the end of the second day in karachi, they're 165 without loss, in response to pakistan's babar azam inspired first innings total of 438. 0peners devon conway and tom latham well on the way to their centuries. pakistan aiming to bounce back from their recent 3—0 test series defeat at home by england. and england's re—arranged series in bangladesh is now confirmed to start on the 1st of march next year, starting with the first two one—day internationals in dhaka. it's part of three one—day matches, and three twenty20 internationals. dhaka will host the first two 0dis and the final two t20 matches on 12th and 14th march. captainjos buttler led england to a 50—over series victory, the last time they toured bangladesh in 2016. the los angeles chargers have made the nfl playoffs for the first time since 2018, after a 20—3 victory over the indianapolis colts.

quarterbackjustin herbert played a key role in the win, completing 25 of 31 passes for 235 yards. austin ekeler then ran for two touchdowns and cameron dicker kicked two field goals for them. the victory means they've clinched an afc wild card spot. it's the chargers first appearance in the post—season under head coach brandon staley. in the nba, the brooklyn nets beat cleveland 125—117 to extend their winning streak to nine games. it was another big night for kevin durant — he and kyrie irving both scored 32 points. the victory edges brooklyn ahead of the cavs for third place in the eastern conference. after a difficult start to the season, they've now won 1a of their last 15 games. durant had some celebrating to do after the game — he's now passed former san antonio spurs great tim duncan for 15th on the nba's all—time scoring list.

to be able to pass the all—time great legend, like, somebody who shifted and changed the game, is something that i will call my folks about tonight and talk over and just reminisce on how we got here, you know. so, it's pretty cool to do stuff like that and i want to celebrate those small things and keep pressing forward, i know i've got more to do. that's all the sport for now. we will see you soon. see you soon, gavin, thank you. a leading sports figure in belarus has been given a 12—year prison sentence handed down "in absentia" for encouraging a sporting boycott of the country. aliaxandra herasimenia and also her colleague, alexander 0peikin, were accused of harming national security by their actions. to tell us more about this, i'm joined by our europe regional editor paul moss. first, who is aliaxandra herasimenia?— first, who is aliaxandra herasimenia? ,, ., , herasimenia? she is a real sports champion. _ herasimenia? she is a real sports champion. a _

herasimenia? she is a real sports champion, a swimming _ herasimenia? she is a real sports| champion, a swimming champion. herasimenia? she is a real sports - champion, a swimming champion. she won two medals at the 2012 olympics in the freestyle. she has won gold medals at swimming championships and a host of other medals. she has now retired. if you wanted to come she could be life as a retired trainer. belarus athletes have a high status but it all changed with the 2020 presidential elections in belarus. belarus selections tend to be dubious anyway. there is a reason president lukashenko is often called the last dictator in europe. i covered the 2010 elections there and i interviewed candidates who were subsequently arrested and beaten up by the police. come 2020, lukashenko was looking for a sixth term and was declared the winner but this time all around the world, people objected. they said the result was a fraud. thousands of people went on to the streets in belarus and cities. at this point, she got involved. she fought something called the belarus in sport

solidarity foundation. this consisted of thousands of athletes from around belarus who objected to the election result. as you said, had they called for a boycott of sporting events in belarus. hose sporting events in belarus. how successful— sporting events in belarus. how successful was _ sporting events in belarus. how successful was the _ sporting events in belarus. how successful was the call - sporting events in belarus. how successful was the call at? it. sporting events in belarus. howl successful was the call at? it was very successful. _ successful was the call at? it was very successful. there _ successful was the call at? it was very successful. there were - successful was the call at? it was very successful. there were a - successful was the call at? it was. very successful. there were a host of events that were supposed to take place in belarus, where sport has a high profile, and they were cancelled. there was the world ice hockey championships, the world modern pentathlon championships, and athletics event, all had to be cancelled. and this really infuriated president alexander lukashenko. he likes to think of himself as a bit of a sports fan and he actually plays ice hockey. so i think it was always on the cards that aliaksandra herasimenia and her colleague would end up in court. they fled, they live in exile in poland and lithuania. so what they belarus in government did was change the law injuly so that people like them could be tried in absentia. they were accused of harming

national security, quite a dramatic charge. they were given 12 year sentences with typical sarcasm, aliaksandra herasimenia laughed it off. she said, they can put me in prison in absentia and have me executed in absentia. interesting sto , executed in absentia. interesting story. thank— executed in absentia. interesting story, thank you. _ fashion designers in hong kong are embracing artificial intelligence to help them create cutting—edge modern clothing. it's said to help designers consider new prints and fabrics for their collections. emer mccarthy reports. science fiction meets high fashion. at this hong kong fashion show, more than 80 outfits by 1a different designers paraded down the runway, all with one thing in common — they were designed with the help of an artificial intelligence assistant. the rationale of developing aida is not to use ai replacing designers, what we are talking about is al is just a supporting tool for the fashion designers, so that is why we named aida — an assistant of fashion designers,

just to help them, you know, to work together. designers can upload design sketches, materials and colour palettes to a virtual mood board in the system. the software algorithm then generates blueprints which designers can tweak and add their own unique flair to. it can produce a dozen templates injust ten seconds. translation: our relationship is compatible to a romantic- relationship, in that i seem to gradually get to know the assistant and she gradually got to know my own designs. in accordance with my lines, styles and databases, the system will suggest something to me that i may not have ever considered. i believe we are developing a long—term relationship. talk about dressing to impress! emer mccarthy, bbc news. see you again in a few minutes. i

have the headlines coming up. bye—bye. hello. a wet day today for many of us, and the run—up to the new year is indeed looking quite stormy at times, and of course it is not uncommon at this time of the year, especially around christmas and the new year, to have big weather systems spawned by a jet stream across the atlantic. you can see a whole trail of cloud here which is heading in our direction, multiple weather systems lining up and they will be coming in one after the other, literally day by day. here is the low pressure over us today, this is the one we are going to get tomorrow, and there are more weather systems behind that one, too. so, the picture around the end of the afternoon shows the heaviest of the rain in south—western parts of the country. it won't be raining absolutely everywhere and certainly not all the time. come the evening, skies will clear

across many western parts of the uk at least for a time before the next low pressure, the one i showed you on that pressure chart, sweeps into south—western and southern england as well as wales, and will be nudging into the midlands, too. but further north, clearer skies, lighter winds, and also a touch of frost in scotland. here is that low pressure, strong winds blowing to the south of this low, so that means galeforce winds around coastal areas, 50, maybe 60 miles an hour, inland — around 30 or a0. that is quite a strong wind. with the rain, it is not going to feel pleasant, even though the temperatures are going to be relatively high, sort of around 11 or 12 degrees across england or wales. a bit colder there in the north of scotland, the other side of the weather front, six degrees in stornoway. and, then, tomorrow evening that rain will make its journey further north and behind it we've got a rash of blustery showers, and thursday is going to be a very blustery day because that low pressure pulls away to the north, into the norwegian sea and behind it we've got strong winds, so a very changeable day,

but some sunny spells, frequent showers sweeping through, some of them wintry, across high ground in scotland, but on the whole a pretty usable day if you manage to dodge the showers, but it will feel colder in that wind. and then, end of the week, friday, we've got a really nasty area of low pressure sweeping across the country, heavy rain, very strong winds, and possibly even severe gales around coastal areas, and really windy inland, too. you can see into the new year, it stays really unsettled, with temperatures in the south perhaps reaching 13 celsius. bye— bye.

this is bbc news, the headlines... at least 60 people have been killed in winter storms across the united states and canada. president biden has approved emergency federal help for new york state, as the arctic freeze continues. taiwan's president, tsai ing—wen, has announced that all men will be required to serve one year's military service. she says the move is in response to growing pressure from beijing. serbia has put troops on high alert over rising tensions with kosovo. president vucic said he would take all measures to protect his nation. ethnic serbs in northern kosovo have been demanding the release of a former serbian police officer. two people are arrested after a woman is shot dead at a pub in merseyside in the north—west of england on christmas eve. she has been named as elle edwards. four other people were injured in the incident.