this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. at least 62 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. china's authorities will allow mainland residents to travel abroad from the eighth ofjanuary, ending one of china's last covid restrictions. serbia has put troops on high alert over rising tensions with kosovo. president vuchich 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. taiwan's president, tsai ing—wen,

has announced that all men will be required to serve one year's military service. she said the move is in response to growing pressure from beijing. here in the uk — a murder investigation has been launched in birmingham after a 23 year—old man was stabbed to death in a nightclub. police have named the victim as cody fisher. and another unexplained death involving russian oligarchs: the sausage tycoon pavel antov has been found dead at an indian hotel. at least 62 people have been killed in winter storms sweeping across north america. us officials are calling it the �*blizzard of the century', with an extra nine inches of snow expected during the day

in new york state, where the city of buffalo has borne the brunt of the arctic conditions. the storm has affected a vast area, from canada in the north, down through the us, and reaching mexico. president biden has approved emergency measures, allowing financial support for new york state. let's for new york state. have a quick look at least live let's have a quick look at least live pictures. it isjust let's have a quick look at least live pictures. it is just after 4pm in buffalo. the city was absolutely battered by these conditions. you can see snow on the rooftops. it looks calm. the weather over the previous hours and days has been anything but calm. tragically, 28 people killed just in buffalo as a result of the conditions. thousands of people without power. imagine being without power or heat in those temperatures. with all the latest, our correspondent nada tawfik

reports from new york. buried by record snowfall, buffalo has only begun to dig itself out. up until now, near white—out conditions and hurricane force winds created a life—threatening situation, paralysing emergency response efforts and trapping vehicles along the roadways. this once—in—a—lifetime blizzard has claimed the lives of at least 28 people here during the holiday weekend. the fear now is that more fatalities will be uncovered by the melting snow. the situation is still dire. thousands are without power, and a driving ban remains in place. at grocery stores, reopening for the first time since the storm hit, people queued up to stock up on much—needed essentials and food. authorities pleaded with people to be careful as they slowly open up the city over the next several days. there's a lot of roads that are completely blocked right now, that have no access whatsoever. and people are trying

to drive on these roads, or get into these neighbourhoods, and they can't. please, please, you heard the mayor beg, i'm begging, stay home. in other parts of the country, thawing out after the deep freeze has led to a new set of issues. in montana, which recorded temperatures as frigid as —45 celsius, the sudden warming created flash flooding. in the small—town of fishtail, massive chunks of ice blocked roads and covered people's yards. that shift in temperature caused ice to melt to very quickly. and itjust released all of the ice off of the west rosebud, causing kind of like a tidal wave. this storm is truly unprecedented in scope, stretching from canada to mexico, affecting 60% of the us population. presidentjoe biden has promised the full force of the federal

government to help those most affected, and while the bad weather has already started to ease, problems will likely persist for days. this is a holiday season no—one will soon forget. it should have been a time for cheer. instead, the bomb cyclone has brought misery. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. according to some observers, we will need to get used to these sort of weather extremes. here's our climate editor justin rowlatt with an explainer on what kind of storm this was and what we can expect to see in the future. we have certainly seen dramatic weather in america as a result of the bomb cyclone. so, what's happening? bomb cyclone is describing a rapidly deepening area of low pressure which draws in the moist air, which rises, freezes, bringing snow and strong wind. these bomb cyclones are actually fairly common, we get them once or twice

a year in the uk. so, is our warming climate a factor? the warmer the atmosphere is, the more moisture it can hold. so, when we get weather events like this, we are going to get much more precipitation falling, either as rain and, in this case particularly, as snowfall. another key factor is the jet stream, the fast moving air that circles the arctic above our heads and shapes the weather systems we experience. it has been deep down in the us, bringing low pressure. some scientists believe climate change is making thejet stream more prone to these dips but the evidence is unclear. but this is an exception. winter is the fastest warming season in the us with fewer very cold days and it comes against a background of steadily increasing average world temperatures. just look at that. and if you go to

the end of the graph, the last seven years are the hottest seven years ever recorded. 2022 is going to continue that trend, expected to be the fourth or fifth hottest year ever. the uk had an even more dramatic year, rememberthe wildfires that followed scorching temperatures this summer? we expect 2022 to have been the hottest year ever recorded in the uk. china is to scrap quarantine for travellers from the 8th of january, marking the last major shift from the country's zero—covid policy. after almost three years of closed borders, the country will reopen to those with work and study visas, or wanting to visit family. covid has spread ferociously in the wake of restrictions being lifted. reports say hospitals are overwhelmed and elderly people are dying. let's hear from a china analyst now. jake werner is a research

fellow at the quincy institute, a us think tank. let's talk about this big change in chinese covid policy. this marks the majorfinal one. what chinese covid policy. this marks the major final one. what difference will it make? it major final one. what difference will it make?— major final one. what difference will it make? it could potentially make a really — will it make? it could potentially make a really big _ will it make? it could potentially make a really big difference. - will it make? it could potentially i make a really big difference. china has essentially been cut—off from the outside world for the last three years. this is in line with the very rapid complete reopening, from zero covid policy internally. this is going to open the country to open up the external world to chinese people visiting and china to the foreigners visiting. and that, there are major consequences that could follow from this, economic and political. just to “um

this, economic and political. just toiump in. _ this, economic and political. just to jump in. the _ this, economic and political. just tojump in, the medium—term consequences are a return to normality and trade, contact, but the short—term, china is a country with massively rising covid rates. yes, yes and one leaked report said perhaps one quarter of the country is now sick with covid in the course of the last three weeks. so, this is a massive and potentially devastating wave of infection because the chinese medical system is not really up to the task. until this point covid control has been in the hands of local government officials who have said all right, we're done, it's up to the hospital is now, but they aren't prepared. for the vulnerable groups especially older people and those who haven't been vaccinated this could be really devastating. that will affect the outcome of the board opening. it may

increase the desire to leave for many people but if the impact is devastating it may make it impossible for them to leave and visit other countries.— visit other countries. given everything _ visit other countries. given everything you've - visit other countries. given everything you've said, - visit other countries. given i everything you've said, what visit other countries. given - everything you've said, what impact does that have on the credibility of the government and how people in china will view its government now? it's going to be very mixed, i think. approximately one quarter of the economy was under lockdown before the sudden reopening. tens and tens of millions of people in lockdown were suffering, businesses were closed, they were essentially locked in their apartments or quarantine facilities. there was a huge amount of anger and unrest at the lockdown policies. many of those people will be relieved and say i got covid and it wasn't that bad, my business can run again and i can see my family business can run again and i can see myfamily and are be business can run again and i can see my family and are be happy. but there are other people who will have loved ones who are going to suffer

or die, people who were convinced that they needed to keep the country free of covid. that also describes hundreds of millions of people. like any large country you have really mixed opinion and this could go in a number of different ways depending on how bad the economic effects are and how widespread the anger is at the effects of the sudden reopening. while i've got here, a separate story, but because people will be following what is going on in china, they will have seen over the last couple of days the increasing tensions again with taiwan. what is your response what is your response to the increase in pensions? it is art of to the increase in pensions? it is part of the _ to the increase in pensions? it 3 part of the gradual escalation on all sides. america passed the defence authorisation act which

allowed a large increase in arms sales and arms assistance to taiwan. in response, china sent some 70 warplanes into taiwan's air defence identification zone. and the next day, in preparation for some time, so not a direct response but part of rising tensions, the taiwanese government announced it would extend mandatory conscription from four months to a year. this is part of escalation on all sides where each country imagines that what it's doing is in order to secure its own safety and security but is regarded by other participants as a threatening move. so you get eight step escalation where the us does one thing to increase security in the region, china regards it as destabilising so it tries to reassert its security which destabilises things. it is an ongoing process over the last number

of years and if the participants don't step back and try and improve relations... xijinping and joe relations... xi jinping and joe biden relations... xijinping and joe biden are meeting at the g20 in bali. it is going to head towards crisis. it is quite important that everyone sort of moves towards accommodation and lowering tensions. thank you for that. we're running of time. i wanted to let you finish your important point. great to have your important point. great to have you on the programme, thank you. thank you. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre, here's hugh ferris. chelsea have won in the premier league for the first time since mid—0ctober, beating bournemouth 2—0 at stamford bridge. chelsea had lost three league games in a row before the world cup break

but goals from kai havertzand mason mount ended that run. there was a hitch though — right back reece james, who missed the world cup through injury, was forced off in his first game back with what looked like another knee problem. meanwhile manchester united are playing their first premier league game since the wrold cup and since the acrimonious departure of cristiano ronaldo. it's against nottingham forest. two goals in three minutes from anthony rashford and —— marcus rashford and anthony martial. meanwhile after failing to prevent relegatoin from the premier league last season and not starting this one particularly well, dean smith has been sacked by norwich. he's been the centre of a toxic atmosphere at recent games, with some fans demanding smith be replaced. they lost 2—1 at luton on monday and are currently fifth in the championship afterjust three wins in the last 13 league matches. lionel messi will return to his club

psg on the first of january after leading argentina to the world cup. he'll miss two french league games between now and then, having had more time off than those other players involved in the final in qatar, when he scored two goals in helping his country win the trophy for a third time. psg boss christophe galtier will have france forward kylian mbappe avaliable for their match on wednesday against strasbourg. novak djokovic has arrived in adelaide ahead of the australian open. it comes almost 12 months after he was deported for refusing to be vaccinated against covid—i9. the nine—time champion was initially banned from entering the country for three years after losing a legal battle. despite still being unvaccinated the australian government confirmed last month that he would be granted a visa. the first grand slam of the year gets under way in melbourne on 16th january. tournament director craig tilley is hopeful fans will give him a warm welcome. i have a great deal of confidence in the australian public. i think we are very well educated as a sporting public, particularly when it comes to tennis. they love tennis, they love seeing

greatness, they love seeing great tennis players in matches and i have a lot of confidence that the fans will react like we hope they would react and have respect for that. skier mikaela shiffrin has moved a step closer to breaking the women's record for world cup victories, with the 78th win of her career. she beat slovakia's petra vlhova into second place to win the giant slalom at semmering, austria. she's nowjust four wins behind the record, set by fellow american lindsey vonn. shiffrin, a two—time olympic gold medallist, is now eight world cup victories behind the overall record set by sweden's ingemar stenmark. that's all the sport for now. 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.

serbia has put troops on high alert over rising tensions with kosovo. it comes after weeks of escalating rhetoric. new roadblocks appeared on tuesday, in the majority—serb town of north meetrovitsa. kosovo is a small, landlocked country which many serbs consider the birthplace of their nation. but they are only 6% 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 kosavo. 0ur balkans correspondent guy delauney has more details. belgrade is well aware

if its troops crossed the border between serbia and kosovo, they will come into contact with nato's k1; peacekeepers. that would not seem to be a sensible thing to happen for serbia. that's not really what they want. they are also relying on k1; right now and have been for a number of years to ensure the safety and security of the ethnic serb minority in kosovo. so it would be counterproductive for serbia to do anything which would lead it to any sort of conflict or disagreement with k4. they are very important actor as far as serbia is concerned. for people who are watching who don't understand the geography and history of kosovo, at the root of it, is it that the northern proper provinces which are occupied by serbs considered themselves part of the greater serbia and not part of kosovo? the matter is serbia does not recognise kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence which kosovo made in 2008. as far as serbia is concerned kosovo

is serbia and you will hear this stated, chanted and repeated by everybody from the leaders of serbia right down to football supporters at the world cup, for example. that is a statement of fact as far as they are concerned. so if you are an ethnic serb living in kosovo you consider yourself not just an ethnic serb in kosovo but a serbian citizen. that is why we have this dispute about car number plates, people are scratching their heads over why fall out over car plates. the symbolism is important. kosovo wanted to assert its authority by ensuring ethnic serbs use kosovo number plates while ethnic serbs wanted to continue using their serbian plates. it is a matter of identity. so if you're kosovo serb you take your orders from belgrade and not pristina. pretty much. but i think what is

forgotten in all of this. whether you're in ethnic serb or kosovan. these are ordinary people who want to go about their business. none of this is good for anybody. right now there are tens of thousand ethnic serbs who live in kosovo having their lives massively disruptive and all the talks of tension and possible dispute is very worrying. those tensions existed well before the war in ukraine but there will be people around the world who wonder whether moscow is behind some of this. of course, they will because serbia is still a strong friend of russia and refused to join eu sanctions against russia despite the eu repeatedly asking it to do so, as serbia is a candidate in talks to join the european union. brussels says it should harmonise foreign policy, including sanctions. it has declined to do so. people are asking if russia's hand is in all of this. the kosovo and government definitely

think so and said so that serbia is taken russia's instructions to cause trouble in the western balkans and cause distractions from goings on in ukraine. here in the uk, a murder investigation has been launched in birmingham after a 23 year—old man was stabbed to death in a nightclub. a short while ago, west midlands police named the victim as cody fisher. 0ur midlands correspondent phil mackie reports. a few hours before tragedy struck, this was taken midway through a nine—hour rave staged at the crane nightclub in digbeth. it was scheduled to end at midnight. cody fisher was fatally stabbed just before the finish. the semiprofessional footballer was enjoying a night out with friends. the investigations have been going on inside and outside the club, which is based in an old factory in central birmingham.

the crane has a capacity of 4,000 and police say hundreds were still there when the attack happened. this part of birmingham may not look particularly attractive, but it's at night time that it really comes to life. lots of these old factories and warehouses have been turned into clubs, bars and restaurants, so news of the stabbing will have a massive impact on the night—time economy. it's a tragic incident that really unfortunately brings home how important it is for the police and other partners to really get on top of knife crime in the city. it is dreadful when these incidents happen, because people need to feel that they are safe. they need to feel safe and they need to be safe.

and anything when somebody loses, tragically loses their life, unfortunately it does have a negative impact on the economy. a friend who played at the same football club as cody brought flowers this afternoon. questions are being asked about whether security had been tight enough on a night that should have been a celebration but ended in sorrow. phil mackie, bbc news, birmingham. rail passengers in the uk are being warned they face more disruption, despite members of the rmt union returning to work today after the latest strike. only 70% of services are running. theo leggett reports. large crowds, plenty of frustrated travellers and very few trains. this was the scene this morning in brighton. it was a similar story at king's cross in london. and no better for travellers at manchester piccadilly. and for those that did get on board, overcrowding often made life very uncomfortable. a strike by workers at network rail

ended at 6am, but disruption lasted for hours afterwards. i completely support the strikes. i just... yeah, hope that it doesn't continue for too much longer and i hope that they get what they need. some of them are due for it, all right. but to do it on a holiday time like this and that is spoiling everyone's holiday, isn't it? and in some regions, there was further industrial action to contend with. that meant crosscountry had no services north of york, for example. it's fair to say that rail travellers here in london and across the country have had a challenging time of it today. services began operating late, some were delayed, some were cancelled. but it doesn't end there. there is still an overtime ban in force, some regional strikes and overrunning engineering work. and as for next week, that's a different story. members of the rmt union at network rail and ia train operators are planning two 48—hour walk—outs,

from tuesday to wednesday, and from friday to saturday. and, in between, a strike by train drivers called by the aslef union, on the 5th of january. the strikes are happening because of a range of disputes between rail firms and the unions over pay, jobs and working practices. i don't think the rail industry, the train companies, the unions, realise what danger there is when we passengers get so completely fed up with the utter unreliability of services, that we find alternative options. but there is little sign of progress. and right now, the idea of trouble—free train journeys is starting to look like a fairy tale. that's like a fairy tale. just about it from me but before that's just about it from me but before i go let's have a look at one of our main stories, the extreme weather across large parts of the us. these are live pictures from buffalo in new york state. a moment

of respite, relative calm but it is sadly not over yet. we're you up—to—date. that's it. 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 south—west.

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 south—west 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 area 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 quiet down just a bit for new year's eve. bye— bye.

this is bbc world news. the headlines... at least 62 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. china's authorities will allow mainland residents to travel abroad from january 8th. the move will end one of china's last remaining covid restrictions 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. taiwan's president, tsai ing—wen, has announced that all men will be required to serve one year's military service. she said the move is in response to growing pressure from beijing.