this is bbc news. i'm lewis vaughan jones. 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. in china people will be able 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. in taiwan, all men will be required to serve one year's military service, in response to the threat from china. 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. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk, on pbs in the us or around the world. 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. this is the scene live from buffalo.

you can see five o'clock in the evening there snow still on the roofs thankfully we can see lights and power thousands of people have been without power due to the extreme weather. the city of buffalo has been particularly badly hit some 20 people dead. awful conditions being bored by so many people with all the latest now we can go to our correspondent. 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. bomb cyclone is describing a rapidly deepening area of low pressure which draws in the moist air, which freezes, as it rises 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 to weather systems we experience.

it has been looping deep down in the us, bringing low pressure. some scientists believe the climate change is making thejet stream more prone to these dips but that is unclear. what is clear, is 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 a 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. earlier the china analyst, jake werner, told me that the decision to open up will have an impact on the country. 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 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.

——border. 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. 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 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. 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 rethoric. 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 serbia allege ethnic serbs came under attack, that claim was rejected by authorities in kosovo. 0ur balkans correspondent guy delauney has more details. belgrade is well aware if its troops crossed the border the administive line

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. 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 number 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. 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 north kosovo are having their lives massively disruptive and all the talks 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 report. 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. 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 heartbreaking time." 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. the club issued the following statement: "we are all deeply shocked and saddened that a man lost his life last night as our boxing day event came to a close. our thoughts are with the victim and his family and friends. we do not feel it is right to hold our new year's eve event under these circumstances." 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. 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 zakopanh on saturday. polish authorities and the tv station organising the concert have been widely criticised in recent years for their stances on lgbt rights. last friday, the national state broadcaster announced mel c was headlining the event and today she cancelled. earlier, my colleague christian spoke to our reporter bartosz kielak who explained why. well, since then she started receiving letters, she started receiving letters from herfans asking her not to perform at the new year's eve celebration organised by the polish national state broadcaster, citing the treatment of lgbt communities and the coverage they have been receiving from the broadcaster over the last few years. she's had a lot of praise on social media from those who support lgbtq communities, but there's been a lot of criticism in poland. what are they saying? well, journalists and politicians

supportive of the polish government, associated with the polish government, are saying that she did not raise similar concerns when she performed in 2018 in russia and, as we know, russia criminalises the sort of behaviour that they describe as promotion of homosexuality, they penalise being homosexual in many ways, and aspects of that. so the polish national broadcaster has in the past been criticised within the country for producing media and news coverage that was critical of what they call lgbtq lifestyle, in a similar way that they galvanised support for the ruling party criticising migrants and attacking refugees, they are doing that with the lgbtq community. we've just got 30 seconds left, is there anybody that is going to replace mel c, any news on that? very unlikely, you know? she was announced on the 23rd of december in the main news programme in the evening, she was the main headline act, the only internationally known artist to perform,

so now she has gone, the broadcaster is saying, "we are surprised by that, but at least tune in and watch anyway." 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 14 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. 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 fighter jets and warships deployed around the island. the taiwanese leader said it was needed to counter the growing chinese military pressure. 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 it's 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. heider 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. 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.

that's it and this is bbc news. 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 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. in china, people will be able to travel abroad from the 8th of january, 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. in taiwan, all men will be required to serve one year's military service, in response to the threat from china.