this is bbc news — welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. i'm christian fraser. 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. police name the victim of a stabbing on the dance floor of a nightclub in birmingham as 23—year—old cody fisher serbia has put troops on high alert over rising tensions with kosovo. taiwan says all men will now be required to serve one year's military service — after china launches one of its biggest incursions into taiwanese airspace. here in the uk, two people are being questioned in connection with the fatal shooting of a young woman in merseyside on christmas eve.

and — another unexplained death involving russian oligarchs: the sausage tycoon pavel antov has been found dead at an indian hotel. at least 60 people have been killed in winter storms sweeping across north america. the city of buffalo in new york state has borne the brunt of the arctic conditions. at least 28 people have died there. president biden has approved financial support for the state. here's our north america correspondent nada tawfik. while the worst is over in buffalo, they are not out of this yet. in fact, it will still snow for several hours. the city is expecting another 13 centimetres, but this has been described as a once in a generation storm.

we have heard from numerous people how they have never experienced anything as bad, hurricane force winds, near wipe—out conditions in the city, and the priority at the moment is, of course, trying to dig out the residents. i mean, vehicles have been buried, the death toll is over 20 people right now, emergency responders fear the number could go up as they clear out of the city. a driving ban is still in effect, they are trying to clear those roads, so residents could you know, get around, hoping grocery stores will reopen so that people can get basic food supplies after several days being stuck inside. and then there is the power situation — authorities say they are hoping to restore power to residents, but this will be a christmas that nobody will soon forget. there have been harrowing scenes out of buffalo, people who have been stuck

in their vehicles, trying to walk their families to shelter, others are spending hours in their vehicles until they were reached by emergency responders. those emergency vehicles themselves being stuck in the snow at certain points. so this is certainly still a dire situation for the city of buffalo, but across the rest of america, there was mild temperatures are setting in, and that deepfreeze is beginning to thaw out. earlier i spoke to mark summer — a reporter at the buffalo news, and i asked him how the weather is affecting recovery efforts: there's no snow for todayjust looking out my window to double check that. no 70 miles per winds. no white out conditions which make

it difficult to see more than a few feet in front of you. there was a convergence of gusty winds and centimetres of snow and white out conditions that made it as our governor said a visitor that was one for the ages. for people watching, mark, it would be hard to think people could get stuck in their car such that they were covered in snow and die in their cars. how does that happen? explain the ferocity of the storm for us? it happens because people didn't pay attention to the travel ban that was instituted friday morning. it might�*ve been because people wanted to get to relatives house, say for christmas. and thought that they could do that before the weather got worse. it might be because people wanted to stock up on groceries and hadn't made the time to do that before the first day of the blizzard. whatever the reason, some 500 people had to be rescued out of their cars. but the stranded cars that were all over sides of streets and highways made it difficult

for snowplows to go down streets and ambulances and other emergency responders to get where they needed to get to. it created a terrible situation. for people stuck in their cars it could have been life or death. it was death for a number of people who were found frozen. yet, terrible. talk to me about re supplies. people have obviously been stranded in their houses for a number of days. i imagine the supermarkets haven't had it supplies either. what sort of help is there to get some of these towns in every some of these towns in erie county in particular? supermarkets open today. there are few corner stores here and there that have opened for selling milk and bread than a few things. things are improving right now because there is no snow, and as i said, the weather conditions that created the problems are definitely not nearly anything like they were.

so, more roads are getting cleared. the possibility of getting out of your house and walking down the street, maybe walk into a grocery store. that's becoming possible. there is still a travel ban for at least one more day in the city of buffalo but it has been relaxed for most of erie county. so, things are improving. i think we are about down to 12,000 homes that do not have electricity or heat. that is still a significant number but is is down from what it was. a 23—year—old man who died after being stabbed on the dancefloor of a nightclub in birmingham has been named by west midlands police as cody fisher. a murder investigation is currently under way after the man was fatally injured at the crane club in digbeth. his family said tonight: "they have broken our hearts; i have lost my best friend. my family and i are asking for privacy and respectfulness at this heart—breaking time."

serbia has put troops on high alert over rising tensions with kosovo. it comes after weeks of escalating rethoric between belgrade and pristina. new roadblocks appeared on tuesday, in the majority—serb town of north mitrovica. kosovo is a small, landlocked country which many serbs consider the birthplace of their nation. but they are only six %, of 1.8 million people that live in kosovo, the rest, 92%, are ethnic albanians. in 2008, kosovo unilaterally declared independence from serbia. many countries — including russia and china — don't formally recognise it as a state. the latest tensions surround conflicting reports about a shooting incident. reports from belgrade allege ethnic serbs came under attack, that claim was rejected by authorities in pristina. 0ur balkans correspondent guy delauney has been giving me more details.

that's not what serbia wants. they are also relying on k for right now and have been for a number of years to ensure the safety a nd safety and security of the ethnic serb minority in kosovo. so would be controverted for serbia to do anything which led it into any sort of conflict or disagreement with k for. they are an unimportant actor in kosovo for as far serbia is concerned. in kosovo for as far serbia is concerned-— in kosovo for as far serbia is concerned. ., , ., . ., concerned. for people watching who erha -s concerned. for people watching who perhaps don't _ concerned. for people watching who perhaps don't understand _ concerned. for people watching who perhaps don't understand the - concerned. for people watching who | perhaps don't understand the history and geography of kosovo. is it at the root of it that the northern provinces occupied by serbs condon really considered them so that part of greater serbia not kosovo? the fact of the of greater serbia not kosovo? tue: fact of the matter of greater serbia not kosovo? tte: fact of the matter is serbia does not recognise as kosovo was

declaration of independence which kosovo made in 2008. as far serbia is concerned kosovo is serbia and you will hear this stated, chanted and repeated by everybody but the leaders of serbia right down to football supporters are the workup for example. that is a statement of fact as far as they concerned. if you are an ethnic serb living in kosovo you're considered notjust an ethnic serb living in kosovo but living in serbia. which is why there was a dispute over cart number plates in kosovo. the symbolism was tremendously important. kosovo wanted to assert its sovereignty by ensuring that ethnic serbs use kosovo number plates while ethnic serbs wanted to continue using their server in kosovo plates. so if you are kosovo and serve you take your orders from belgrade and not

pristina. people who live in kosovo whether there ethnic albanian or another ethnic group. these are ordinary people who want to go about their business. none of this is good for anybody. their business. none of this is good foranybody. right their business. none of this is good for anybody. right now these ethnic serbs who live in kosovo are having their lives massively erupted. and all these tensions of armed disputes. all these tensions of armed di5putes-— all these tensions of armed disutes. , ., , , disputes. those tensions existed well before _ disputes. those tensions existed well before the _ disputes. those tensions existed well before the war _ disputes. those tensions existed well before the war in _ disputes. those tensions existed well before the war in ukraine i disputes. those tensions existed | well before the war in ukraine but there would be people who wonder whether moscow is behind some of this. qt whether moscow is behind some of this. . ., , whether moscow is behind some of this. , , , this. of course, there will because serbia is still _ this. of course, there will because serbia is still a _ this. of course, there will because serbia is still a very _ this. of course, there will because serbia is still a very strong - this. of course, there will because serbia is still a very strong friend i serbia is still a very strong friend of russia. it says refused to join sanctions against russia despite the eu repeatedly asking it to do so. because serbia is a talks into join the european union. brussels said you should harmonise your foreign possible and that includes sanctions against russia and serbia has declined to do so. people are asking whether it is russia's hands in

behind all of this. the kosovo and governments definitely believe so and has said that serbia is taking russia's instructions to cause destruction away from what is going on in ukraine. here in the uk, two people are being questioned in connection with the fatal shooting of a 26—year old woman in merseyside on christmas eve. a 30—year—old man is being held on suspicion of murder and a 19—year—old woman is being detained on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. ellie edwards died in hospital after being shot in the head at the lighthouse pub in wallasey village. 0ur correspondent fiona trott has been speaking to people there. "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. today, people are returning to work for the first time after the christmas break. they say life is supposed to go on but it's hard.

we had a lovely build—up to christmas, everything was lovely, we were all happy, and now we've come here and it'sjust a scary place to be. did you know elle? i did know elle, yeah, so... which makes itjust even more awful. michelle has lived here all her life and runs the local launderette. that whole family, every christmas is never, ever going to be the same forthem, is it? ever. such a shame. do you think the community can move on from this? i think it will always be there, won't it? every time you go into that lighthouse, every time you're sat there, you're going to think about it, aren't you? i don't think you are safe anywhere, you know? we are here, we are in wallasey, it's a nice little community, a nice area. but we are not safe, are we, anywhere that we go now? do you really feel that? yeah, ifeel like it's not safe. after elle's family visited the scene yesterday, the investigation moved quickly. forensic teams have searched the local area and community leaders issued a fresh

appealfor information. then, a few hours later, police activity across the city. officers were seen here at addresses in tranmere, the area where two arrests were made. 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. 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 its 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 the 1st 2005. earlier we spoke to lin fei—fan, deputy secretary—general of the taiwanese majority ruling democratic progressive party. we started asking what he thought about the chinese explanation for the drills , they accuse taiwan and the united states of collusion and provocation. here is what he had to say. yeah, we have seen that usually the chinese government says these words many times about the provocation from taiwan, but we have seen that, in the past six years or longer, we have witnessed that china has tried to change the status quo.

so china is the country that is trying to provoke the regional countries like taiwan, like japan. so their actions, just like yesterday, they send over 71 fighterjets across taiwan's median line of the taiwan strait, and also seven naval vessels as well. so we have witnessed that china is a country who is changing the status quo and trying to provoke the regional countries. we have tried to maintain stability and peace. we do see that taiwan is a democratic country, that we have our rights to make connections and make friends with the regional democratic countries. so we believe that taiwan should have rights to make friends with anyone, that we are a sovereign country, an independent country, so we shouldn't be threatened like this.

china, in their view, that taiwan is part of china, which is unacceptable by a lot of taiwanese, by the majority of taiwanese people. so their actions, to me, or to the ruling party of taiwan, or to the taiwanese people, i believe that is the real provocation to democracy. as covid cases surge in china's capital beijing, imported coronavirus tablets are being rushed to treatment centres. it comes as china said it is scrapping quarantine for travellers from the 8th ofjanuary, marking the biggest shift from the country's zero—covid policy. i'm joined now by the former uk ambassador to north korea, john everard. thank you for being with us. i guess keeping restrictions on tories is pointless when covert cases are spiralling within the country? yes.

spiralling within the country? yes, absolutely- _ spiralling within the country? yes, absolutely. once _ spiralling within the country? yes, absolutely. once china _ spiralling within the country? te: absolutely. once china decided it absolutely. 0nce china decided it was going to release the great majority of the research it's imposed for so many years then it made no sense to maintain the restrictions on international travel. sure enough, the other shoe fell off. ~ ., ., ., ., fell off. what would it mean to the chinese economy, _ fell off. what would it mean to the chinese economy, the _ fell off. what would it mean to the chinese economy, the fact - fell off. what would it mean to the chinese economy, the fact that. chinese economy, the fact that people can come and go as they please now? the people can come and go as they please now?— people can come and go as they please now? the big boost to the chinese economy _ please now? the big boost to the chinese economy will _ please now? the big boost to the chinese economy will be - please now? the big boost to the chinese economy will be the - chinese economy will be the relaxation on domestic travel. up until the eighth of general, it was very difficult to move from one city to another in china. that has now become a great deal easier. and straightaway, people have taken advantage of the new freedom to go and see friends, business associates, family in different cities. there has been a great deal of trouble. the timing of these announcements are important for the

chinese domestic travel industry because we have china's new year coming up on the 22nd ofjanuary year of the rabbit. and that is traditionally a trying time of mass movement of people. there will be having sales of tickets in hotel rooms at that time. we having sales of tickets in hotel rooms at that time.— having sales of tickets in hotel rooms at that time. we have gone from very tight — rooms at that time. we have gone from very tight 0-covid _ rooms at that time. we have gone from very tight 0-covid rules - rooms at that time. we have gone from very tight 0-covid rules to i from very tight 0—covid rules to practically no covid rules at all. do you think that will undermine the view of the leadership in beijing? t view of the leadership in beijing? i think the leadership has got a lots of explain to do. as various chinese on social media have asked. if we are simply going to scrap all of these restrictions overnight as we just have? what is the point of all those years of lockdown? would it not have made more sense to do what other countries have done? to have a period of lockdown then vaccinate everybody and bit by bit is the lockdown rules. i don't think the

chinese government has yet provided a response to that question. let chinese government has yet provided a response to that question.- a response to that question. let me ask ou a response to that question. let me ask you about _ a response to that question. let me ask you about that _ a response to that question. let me ask you about that previous - a response to that question. let me ask you about that previous story i ask you about that previous story puts up the reaction to the chinese incursions around taiwan. the president has reacted by saying the four—month military service will be extended to the year. what do you think the reaction would be to that in tyburn? in think the reaction would be to that in t burn? . ., ~ in tyburn? in taiwan i think there will be gone _ in tyburn? in taiwan i think there will be gone then. _ in tyburn? in taiwan i think there will be gone then. no _ in tyburn? in taiwan i think there will be gone then. no one - in tyburn? in taiwan i think there will be gone then. no one has - in tyburn? in taiwan i think there will be gone then. no one has to | will be gone then. no one has to serve in the military for eight months longer than they thought they would. he gets in the way of life plans, family careers, everything. i think there is a building consensus in taiwan that the situation is quite intense. and needs must. you need the extra military training, the extra time in the military to counter the growing threat from china. , ., , , ., , ., china. tensions there. tensions are also across — china. tensions there. tensions are also across the _ china. tensions there. tensions are also across the demarcation - china. tensions there. tensions are also across the demarcation line - china. tensions there. tensions are also across the demarcation line in | also across the demarcation line in south korea, north korea. for drones

coming across from north korea over the christmas period which they try to shoot down for something is not unprecedented? what do you think is behind that? it is unprecedented? what do you think is behind that? , ., behind that? it is not quite unprecedented. _ behind that? it is not quite unprecedented. there - behind that? it is not quite l unprecedented. there hasn't behind that? it is not quite - unprecedented. there hasn't been such a large number before. what is behind that is the north koreans are demonstrating they have the capacity to deliver warheads. even though the sakkari and have effective dissent defence systems. they can deliver drones to highly populated areas in south korea one of thejones stop before saul. the south koreans failed to shoot the jones before saul. the south koreans failed to shoot thejones down and are horribly embarrassed and shot down one of their planes. i expect to see a scrambled by the south korean government to develop anti—joint defence is perhaps like

ukraine has. anti-joint defence is perhaps like ukraine has-— anti-joint defence is perhaps like ukraine has. , ., . ~' , ., ., , ukraine has. john thank you for very much for being _ ukraine has. john thank you for very much for being with _ ukraine has. john thank you for very much for being with us. _ police in india are investigating the deaths of two russian men, one of them a politician who had criticised the war in ukraine. pavel antov appears to have fallen from his hotel room window, while his friend, vladimir bidyonov was said to have had a heart attack two days earlier. 0ur europe regional editor paul moss has the latest... i don't like to use a cliche but this is something out of a very strange movie. pavel antov body was found on christmas day. the first thing to say is this is not a place where russian tourists tend to go. i've met plenty of russian tourists and they go to other places and taking sightseeing at the taj mahal. this apparently is where mr pavel antov had chosen to celebrate his 66 birthday. his body was found covered in blood under a third—floor winter. this is just two days after his

friend died of a heart attack. right. so what are the indian police saying about it? they are nothing suspicion about it. let me tell you a little bit about who mr pavel antov was. he was a businessman who made more than $100 million mostly out of making sausages. he was also a politician. he represented the united russian party. the united russian party is a party normally loyal to vladimir putin but injune he caused a stir. he posted on social media a vivid description of a ukrainian family that died under russian bombardment. he said this cannot be called anything but terrorism. suddenly, he changed his mind and deleted his tweet and said it was a technical tweet. sorry it wasn't a tweet a post on what's up. a post on whatsapp. he deleted the tweet and said he supported the invasion of ukraine and utility referred to as a special military operation.

but that reversal because something of a stir and attention on the sausage businessman. the former spice girl singer mel c has pulled out of a new year's eve concert in poland after being made aware of issues that — in her words — "do not align with the communities she supports". she had been due to perform in the town of zakopane on saturday. polish authorities and the tv station organising the concert have been widely criticised in recent years for their stances on lgbt rights. let's speak to our reporter bartosz kielak so, the announcer on the 23rd of december that she is the headline act in this new year's eve concert in poland. and then today she cancelled. so what's happening in between question mark within four days she started receiving a massive amount of fine letters discourage her from appearing amount of fine letters discourage herfrom appearing mainly amount of fine letters discourage her from appearing mainly because the polish protester has been

historically accused of promoting anti—lgbt propaganda. thea;r historically accused of promoting anti-lgbt propaganda. they accuse lgbt people _ anti-lgbt propaganda. they accuse lgbt people of _ anti-lgbt propaganda. they accuse lgbt people of going _ anti-lgbt propaganda. they accuse lgbt people of going against - anti-lgbt propaganda. they accuse j lgbt people of going against family values, orwhat lgbt people of going against family values, or what they called traditional polish buddies. earlier this year the broadcaster lost a court case stop in 2019 just three days before the national election they showed a documentary film in which they said the lgbt people are conspiring to overthrow the catholic church. 50 conspiring to overthrow the catholic church. , ..,, , conspiring to overthrow the catholic church. , , , . church. so the broadcaster is in a weiaht church. so the broadcaster is in a weight sopporting _ church. so the broadcaster is in a weight supporting the _ church. so the broadcaster is in a i weight supporting the governments position. she became aware of that when she became booked for the concert. t5 when she became booked for the concert. , ., , ., concert. is that the point question mark es concert. is that the point question mark yes and _ concert. is that the point question mark yes and this _ concert. is that the point question mark yes and this also _ concert. is that the point question mark yes and this also happened l mark yes and this also happened earlier this year another performer was supposed to perform and within days he started receiving letters from journalists and finds alike that the broadcaster was anti—lgbt

and anti—democratic and they did not perform. she and anti-democratic and they did not erform. ,, ., , and anti-democratic and they did not erform. ,, .,, , ., perform. she has been paid quite a bit for this and _ perform. she has been paid quite a bit for this and it _ perform. she has been paid quite a bit for this and it is _ perform. she has been paid quite a bit for this and it is rumoured - perform. she has been paid quite a bit for this and it is rumoured to i bit for this and it is rumoured to cause the concert over 10 million polish. ~ ., ., , , cause the concert over 10 million polish. ., , ,, cause the concert over 10 million polish. ., ., , , ,, ., polish. what does this do? she was a headune polish. what does this do? she was a headline aet- — polish. what does this do? she was a headline act. it _ polish. what does this do? she was a headline act. it is _ polish. what does this do? she was a headline act. it is many _ polish. what does this do? she was a headline act. it is many polish - headline act. it is many polish artists who perform their age is not exactly known how much the concert would cause. but they left without a headline act right now and that is a sad reality of it. we had a response from the broadcaster. they are surprised by her announcement and the encourage people to tuning regardless. fik the encourage people to tuning regardless-— the encourage people to tuning reuardless. ., ,, i. 1, the encourage people to tuning reuardless. ., ,, ., regardless. ok thank you bartosz for that update- — regardless. ok thank you bartosz for that update- i _ regardless. ok thank you bartosz for that update. i would _ regardless. ok thank you bartosz for that update. i would have _ regardless. ok thank you bartosz for that update. i would have the - that update. i would have the headlines for you shortly. to stay with us.

hello. it's been a wet day for many of us today but actually in one or two areas the skies are going to clear this evening. that's not the main message as far as the next few days are concerned. far from it. 0vercast, outbreaks of rain, strong winds, severe gales are possible, too, towards the end of the week. as a result of this daisy—chain of weather systems waiting in the atlantic heading in our direction, this is what we had today. low pressure sweeping through and giving wet and windy conditions and this is the next one arriving tomorrow. more rain and wind on the way for tomorrow. here we have the forecast for this evening. i think by late evening the bulk of the rain will clear out to the north sea, but the next weather system waiting in the wings in the southwest. skies clear in some areas and there will be a touch of frost in eastern parts of scotland,

nippy enough in newcastle and belfast. it remain mild in the southwest with these weather systems sweeping in. ten degrees, for example, in plymouth will be the overnight low and early morning temperature. here's the forecast for tomorrow. the low pressure, quite a pressure gradient here, and strong winds and gale force around coastal areas in excess of 50 miles an hour. blustery inland too, and you can see how through the day that weather front moves northwards. behind it the skies should brighten and there will be some showers but it will be blustery through the course of the afternoon. so, it certainly won't feel like 11 to 12 degrees. it could feel quite colder, actually. in the evening, that rain sweeps across scotland. could be a bit of winteriness across the hills and mountains and in the wake of this weather front across much of the country tomorrow evening is blustery with showers. the low pressure is with us on thursday and does drift away to the norwegian sea but it will remain blustery through the course of thursday. wintry showers across the scottish

hills, elsewhere sunny spells and showers. the temperatures between six and nine celsius. quite a chill on thursday particularly in the wind. on friday, a nasty air of low pressure is going to sweep in. heavy rain and strong winds in excess of 60 mph in coastal areas. 50 mph inland, so good gale blowing across many parts of the country come friday. on saturday, hopefully, it will quite down just a bit for new year's eve. bye bye.

this is bbc world 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. police name the victim of a stabbing on the dancefloor of a nightclub in birmingham on boxing day as 23—year—old cody fisher, as his family say they have broken hearts. serbia has put troops on high alert over rising tensions with kosovo. its president says he's taking "all measures" to protect people and "preserve" his nation. taiwan says all men will now be required to serve one year's military service, after china launches one of its biggest incursions into taiwanese airspace.