As he holds his Christmas Eve mass in the vatican. And looking ahead to the inevitably stressful cooking of christmas dinners well be getting tips from a chef from inside his restaurant kitchen. Hello and welcome to bbc news. An icy blast is affecting nearly 250 Million People in the us and canada, as one of the most severe Winter Storms in living memory takes hold with snow blizzards, strong winds and freezing temperatures. At least 19 people have died. Hundreds of thousands of american households and businesses are without electricity and thousands of flights have been cancelled. The Us State Of Montana registered a record breaking low of minus 45 celsius. Nomia iqbal reports. For much of america, this is the coldest Christmas Eve. Millions of them had plans to get away for the holidays. But the powerful bomb cyclone has thrown everything into chaos, causing Car Accidents, destroying power lines, leaving millions without electricity. The warning is, dont travel unless you need to. Dont travel under these conditions unless you have to. Because anything can happen at any moment, and youve got to be on your toes. Some places like new york have gone further and banned driving due to low visibility. Across the region there is a state of emergency. Weve had ice, flooding, snow, freezing temperatures, and everything that Mother Nature could wallop at us this weekend. To make things worse, the winter storm has caused coastal flooding on the Eastern Seaboard in newjersey and new england. Travelling by air has been hugely impacted as well. The storm has stretched for nearly 2000 miles, meaning theres been thousands of Flight Cancellations with hundreds more on Christmas Eve. Many people have been trying to take their chances to get home. Our whole airport is shut down, so we drove to omaha, nebraska. Got on a flight there. Then dc, delayed in dc. The storm is expected to last another day yet with temperatures easing, but its left americans facing another disrupted christmas after the pandemic ruined the last one. Anne marie provost is a journalist at the newspaper � le devoir�. Shes been telling me just how bad things are in montreal, canada. Well, in montreal right now, the worst is past, but theres also a lot of Weather Warnings across quebec right now and also in the province of ontario which is just next to quebec. We are expecting heavy snow falls during the day today and also tomorrow, and the conditions on the road are really, really bad. There is a lot of blowing snow and visibility is almost zero in many areas. Theres icy roads and many Car Accidents all across quebec and ontario. And also a lot of wind gusts up to 100 kph. Its quite bad right now and everybody is trying to spend Christmas Eve the best they can and many people are cancelling because transportation is just very complicated right now. Most people would assume in canada, i mean, you have winter proper, dont you, how does that compare to what is happening now . Well, it is not very typical. These kinds of storms, especially during this time of the year, usually we have storms, but more later on during january or february, but on Christmas Eve like that, it is really unusual. Im 35 years old, and i dont recall Something Like that. But we are canadians, you know, so we kind of a just come people will be spending christmas in warming centres because there is a lot of Power Outages right now. Many people are missing their trains, theirflights. So its quite a bummer, even for us canadians. Just to clarify can you mention something there, a warming centre, could you tell us a little bit more about those. Yeah, because we have many areas right now in quebec in the province of quebec that are without power, without electricity, and it is quite cold right now, 10 or 15 degrees, so houses and apartments are getting colder and colder, so for security reasons, authorities are opening warming centres all across quebec right now, in the areas where the Power Outages are the most intense, like in quebec city so people just gather their and they have food and they have warmth. Very quickly, i know that in north america, you have people who are very well prepared when winter hits, you have the winter tires, the chains that are put on, what aspect is that in particular of this storm . Is at the wind, is at the speed with which its hit . What is it . Its especially the wind, i would say, because of the wind. There is a lot of snowfall and with many wind gusts. The visibility on the road is next to zero in many areas. So it is quite complicated, even if you are used to driving in the winter. And marie, thank you very much indeed. In the uk a new strike by members of the rmt union, working for network rail, is under way. Christmas eve trains stopped running earlier than usual because of industrial action. The walk out is part of the dispute over pay, conditions and jobs. Services will resume on tuesday but some will be affected by engineering works. The bbc� s noor nanji reports. Dashing home for christmas. This train to swansea was one of the last to leave london today. All around britain Rail Services have finished early because of more strikes. For passengers here it was a race against time. Its the last train so its a little bit nerve racking, but either way, i support the people striking. I understand what they are going through. Itsjust frustrating that it has to have an impact on christmas and going home to see family and stuff. Around the country it was a similar picture with many people forced to change plans. Yesterday we went to the station in york and i dont think they were on strike yesterday but all the trains were cancelled. We ended up paying £65 in a taxi to get here. We booked our 3pm train and it was cancelled so we are now booked for 9 45. And this is the last train . The last train, and we are worried it will get cancelled. The walk outs are part of a long running dispute between rail bosses and unions about pay, conditions and job security. The rmt union has accused the government of blocking Rail Employers from making a deal. The Department For Transport rejected that, saying it has facilitated talks. Network rail says its offered a fair dealand urged the union to think again. Christmas eve is also a big day for restaurants, cafes and bars as well as for last minute shopping. The problem with losing shoppers on such a key trading day like Christmas Eve, is you cant recover that spend. However much you want to, however long you stay open, shoppers want to buy on Christmas Eve and if they cant, theyll buy elsewhere. With many people avoiding the railways, some people have opted to drive home for christmas instead. We are seeing a lot of congestion over this period and thats because people dont want to use the rail. They are not sure what sort of service they will get. We are expecting today to be particularly busy. Yesterday we did over 13,500 jobs, which is more than our usual daily average. We expect a similar number again today. With roads busier than usual the advice to motorists is to check before you travel. Noor nanji, bbc news in paddington. The United Nations has condemned an order by the taliban rulers to ban women from working for local and International Aid agencies in afghanistan. It said the move would violate the most fundamental rights of women, as well as breaching humanitarian principles. This decision by the taliban comes just days after women were banned from studying at universities. The bbc world services, south asia regional editor, anbarasan ethirajan, told us more about the international reactions. The un has strongly condemned this move by the taliban because this will have a far reaching impact on the ground. There are dozens of ngos, health ngos and Food Aid Ngos working on the ground, and not allowing women to work means people cannot access these services. For example, one woman worker was saying women can easily relate with us about asking for medicines. For example, if they want to give a polio vaccination, they can go into the any of the houses in the rural areas. But now they cannot express these things freely to any Men Health Worker or even food aid. So this has become a huge issue. This has been a very bad week for womens rights in afghanistan, because a couple of days ago, the taliban rulers, they banned women from studying at universities. And within two days, they announced this far reaching decision to ban women to work from ngos. And it is not only local and domestic foreign ngos, also the un contracts many work to local ngos distributing humanitarian aid. There is acute Food Insecurity in rural parts of afghanistan following a taliban takeover, the economy has collapsed. Now how to distribute the food . Thats why the un says that it is going to call for a meeting on monday with the taliban authorities and they have urged the taliban to reverse the decision immediately. If ngos were to speak out, apart from the un and the work and the collaborations they have on the ground, have any of them spoken out . And is there a risk to their work and their workers if they do speak out against the taliban . One of the agencies which did not want to be identified, involved in food distribution, and it said that it is going to be a difficult task for them to do the work because many of the workers wont be allowed to work. And going and talking with families and understanding their needs is going to be a problem. And dont forget already the women are reeling because of this ban on studying in universities, also in private tuition centres. So secondary schools for girls not had opened. And women cannot go to the universities. Women cannot go to Public Places like gyms, bathhouses and other areas. And they have been banned from working in several government departments. And now they cannot even work with ngos. And one woman worker was asking, imagine there are many people where men do not support theirfamilies or there is no man in the house, and what will happen to those families if they have to leave the job . And even the decision on stopping women going to universities, many islamic countries, iran, saudi arabia, turkey, they have all condemned. They say this is not islamic, this is against the sharia law and taliban should reverse the decision. But they seem to be ignoring the international criticism. And then step by step, they have gone back to their hard line conservative rule, which they had in the late 1990s. At least 10 people have been killed in south africa after a fuel tanker exploded. Emergency services say the blast happened as fire crews were trying to extinguish a blaze caused by the tanker hitting a bridge. Around a0 other people were injured in the incident in boksburg, a city to the east ofjohannesburg. Theres been a second day of clashes in paris between French Police and protesters following the shooting of three people at a Kurdish Community centre in the city. All the victims of fridays attack were of turkish kurdish descent. A 69 year old man was arrested and has been taken to a psychiatric unit. Helena wilkinson reports. This was the scene on the streets of Central Paris earlier today. Chaos as protests turned violent. Cars were overturned, fires started, riot Police Responded with tear gas. Those protesting from the Kurdish Community are angry after fridays shooting, which targeted a kurdish cultural centre. Three people were killed, three others were injured. Translation there is no doubt in our mind that these murders l qualify as terrorist and that they are political assassinations. The fact that our association is targeted in this way is of a terrorist and political nature. Of course, theres an investigation and well see how it evolves. The suspect in the attack has been taken from custody to a police psychiatric unit. The 69 year old who hasnt been named is a former train driver who had recently been released from prison. Despite no confirmed motive for the attack. Prosecutors said the suspect had previously been charged with racist violence. That incident was last year where he attacked a migrant camp in paris with a sword. French president Emmanuel Macron said the Kurdish Community in paris had been the target of a heinous attack and has praised police for their courage. Helena wilkinson, bbc news. Ukrainian Officials Say russian shelling has killed at least ten civilians in the city of kherson. 0ne attack struck the Central Market as people were shopping, before mortar fire targeted other areas. Dozens were wounded. The strikes are among the deadliest on kherson since Russian Forces were driven out last month. Ukraines president , volodymyr zelensky, Accused Moscow of killing for pleasure and intimidation. Meanwhile, mrzelensky has released a Defiant Christmas video message, promising ukraine would return to freedom. Translation this day, and all the upcoming winter holidays, we meet in difficult circumstances. Today, someone will see the first to start in the sky over bakhmut, rubizhne or kreminna, along thousands of kilometres of the front line. Someone will see it on the highway on the road from the ukrainian polish border to kherson or zaporizhzhia. Some will see it through the holes of the bullet riddled roof of their own homes. Someone will celebrate the holiday in other peoples homes but not with strangers. And someone will spend this christmas in captivity. Please remember that we are coming for our people. We will return freedom to all ukrainians. Wherever we are, we will be together today, and together we will look into the evening sky. The pope has held his annual Christmas Eve mass at st peters basilica in the vatican. In his sermon, his holiness remembered those suffering from war, particularly those in ukraine. This year marks the tenth year of his papacy and tomorrow the pontiff will be speaking to the faithful who will be gathered below the balcony as he delivers his Christmas Day blessing at noon. Heres a little bit of what the pontiff said earlier. Translation Men And Women in our world and their hunger. For wealth and power consuming even their neighbours, even their brothers and sisters, how many wars. And in how many places even today are Human Dignity and freedom treated with contempt . As always, the principal victims of this human greed are the weak and the vulnerable. Here in the uk, a li year old boy has died after a Serious Medical Incident at a Centre Parcs Resort in the south west. Wiltshire police said officers had attended the Leisure Complex at longleat on the morning of Christmas Eve. Police added the boys death was not thought to be suspicious. A spokesman from centre parcs said they were saddened by the news and were offering support to the family. A spokesperson for the duke and duchess of sussex says an apology from the Sun Newspaper regarding a column, in Whichjeremy Clarkson said he hated Meghan Markle is nothing more than a pr stunt. On friday, the newspaper issued a statement expressing regret for the publication of the column. Among other things, clarkson wrote that he had dreamed of meghan being paraded naked, through towns in the uk and publicly shamed. The spokesperson said the paper had not contacted the duchess of sussex which showed their true intent. Maxi jazz, the lead singer of british electronic dance group faithless, has died at the age of 65. The group were best known for their club classic � insomnia. Former band mate, sister bliss said he died peacefully in his sleep on friday. Faithless formed in 1995 and had a number of hits, including god is a dj and we come one. They rose to fame on the back of the explosion of british dance music in the 1990s, when electronic artists like faithless, the prodigy and fat boy slim would sell out stadium concerts around the world. Bbc radio broadcaster and Dj Edward Adoo explains what was unique about maxi jazz. The way he connected with people he was real, authentic and he was originally a brixton boy, a poet, a rapper. I saw faithless in 2002 it was about a quarter to 12, the Big Light Show it was faithless first and then underworld. Ijust remember him saying those timeless words, i cant get no sleep. Are you ready . And then he whipped the crowd up. I interviewed him in 2017 and out of all the people i interviewed he was really calm, to be honest he was too cool for school. He was too chill. He was like, yeah this is what ive been doing. Faithless, they more or less revolutionised dance music. At a time where dance music had just become noted by the mainstream sort of in the late 80s, early 90s it was popping up. A lot of people do not understand it and suddenly they realised it had a connection with Youth Culture and faithless were a part of that. I think maxi jazz, he was part of that generation who came through the soul and Rare Groove Movement and suddenly there was house, this electronic movement championed by the likes of pete tong on radio one. And suddenly it had become mainstream and faithless have become mainstream to the point where you would hear insomnia on breakfast radio. While Christmas Day is meant to be full ofjoy and laughter, it can always be a bit hectic and now that the presents are wrapped, its time to think about the food. Whether its the blankets slipping off their pigs forgetting to defrost the turkey or setting more than just the christmas pudding on fire, many of us can find happy memories overshadowed by the expense and stress of putting together the christmas dinner. Earlier, i spoke to head chef of olivias, steven saunders, who was in the middle of cooking for the guests at his restaurant in la cala in spain. He shared some tips on how to beat the stress in the kitchen. A Big Night Tonight with Christmas Eve and a lots of Christmas Eve chaos, and tomorrow, of course, Christmas Day lunch, 300 people here tomorrow and i want to serve them really fantastic food for 300. Not for 10. It is a big job. Ok, so, how do you stay calm then . Do you use the Foil Containers . No, i use the best crockery. We stay reasonably calm. Im not going to say it currently calm, but we have a number of people in the kitchen, theres about 12 of us in here, and that helps. At home you havent got that, and it does help a lot. Also, we use a lot of tricks, like we both sous vide the turkey, cooking it and a water bath in plastic, which most people can if you watch master chef, youve seen that hundreds of times, but the reason for that is we can cook in bulk and we can make sure the turkey is really lovely and moist. We finish on the char grill over here for flavour and with that a number of chefs, as you can see, cooking for Christmas Eve tonight, which is a bit chaotic, but it is organised chaos, one of the things i would love to say and about we talk about that a lot to me dont have to spend a fortune. I know you have already spent it now, but lets be ruthless with what we are wasting tomorrow and dont throw everything away. In my bins as a professional chef, you dont see anything. He is even the cauliflower, even the green from the cauliflower i use as a vegetable, and i know it sounds. But the flavour of this is really good, why throw it away . The leeks, for example, people cut off the spit bit here and throw it away. This would make great soup. In spain, we have a culture of eating and using everything. If we buy a fish, we use the head for the soup. Everything is eaten, and that culture is discipline and what im trying to get you guys at home. On boxing day, you have a fantastic meal made up of the leftovers most of this is just a bit of bread that i need tonight made with flour and water and olive oil and baked it. A little bit of flour costs nothing and you end up with fantastic bread and a bit of spiced cream. Stephen, you obviously have got lots of tips and tricks there, i totally agree with saving the leaves and the greens because they are often really tasty, but handling the stress and eating healthily is really important. This is something that matters to you because you have had a bit of a scare, havent you . My heart scare, yes. Ive got a fibulation and when they go through a lot of stress, it kicks off. Honestly, i am getting old now, so i have to go and sit down. Or have another drink. No, i didnt say that. My doctor is probably watching. I do have to take it easy. But here, i am more directing, like a conductor would conduct a musical piece, so im standing around here saying, but way, i need that, i need that out now, mario, where are you . Get this out now, this cant wait any longer. Now, please. Stephen. That is the level of stress id having. The trick im hearing is to get some help . I love that yes get help that is the solution, surely, and if you have to do it on your own, just be as organised as possible. Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy, enjoy cooking it, dont get stressed, because christmas isnt about stress, it should be about being with your loved ones, being with their family and enjoying yourself. Sent his progress here lots of kids were worried that the snow in the us would affect deliveries but as long as you are on the right list hes headed towards the west sahara, you will be all right. Good morning. The countdown is over. It is now Christmas Day. And a popular Weather Question for Christmas Day is, of course, will it be a White Christmas . Starting us off today, youd be forgiven for thinking no chance. Were in some fairly mild air, really, top to tail across the uk, which is being pulled in from the atlantic on a south westerly wind. But there is some much colder air just sitting to the north of the uk, on the northern flank of this area of low pressure. This low will drive the weather across the uk this Christmas Day. It will push bands of showers through, with some sunny interludes between times, but occasionally the showers lumping together into more persistent spells of rain, perhaps for Northern Ireland and Northern England through the afternoon, later in the day towards the southeast. Mild to the south. Afternoon temperatures, 10, 11 degrees. But notice, the keen eyed amongst you, the map turning blue across scotland through the afternoon. Temperatures will actually come down through the day. Now, the definition of a White Christmas is not for Blanket Snow Coverage butjust one flake of snow to fall anywhere in the uk during the 2a hours of Christmas Day. So colder air in across scotland, with showers coming in through the evening, and it looks like we could see a White Christmas here. Perhaps the odd flurry for Northern Ireland, too. For boxing day, the colder air extending, though, All The Way South across the uk. A frosty start. Look out for some ice across scotland, parts of Northern England, after the showers overnight. The southeast and east anglia getting off to a frost free start. But the colder air will trickle in here through the course of boxing day. I think there will be a lot of brightness once any early rain clears from the southeast, but it will feel chillier. Further north, the showers continue and theyre likely to be wintry, across western scotland, drifting some down into the pennines, the odd one across the mountains of Northern Ireland as well. And temperatures lower across the board for boxing day afternoon. However, this spell, if you like, of cold weather is barely a fleeting glance, really, of arctic air, because as we look further on into the week ahead, the final days of 2022, we start to pick up a more atlantic influence. Once again, areas of low Pressure Whirling in from the atlantic. Our temperatures return closer to average values, if not slightly above. But there will be some quite showery, if not wet and windy, spells of weather to come in the following days. This is bbc world news. Im lu kwesa im lukwesa burak. The headlines one of the worst Winter Storms in living memory is covering much of the United States and canada, bringing heavy snow and freezing temperatures. 45 celsius was recorded in one town in the Us State Of Montana. Here in the uk, the railways came to a standstill earlier than usual this chrismas, after another walk out over pay and conditions. The un has criticised a taliban ruling that bars afghan women from working for aid agencies, saying it violates their most fundamental rights. Last week, the hardline rulers announced women were banned from attending university. French police and protesters have clashed for the second day