than half of everyone in the u.s. will face dangerous bitter cold temperatures today. plus, the january 6th committee s final report is out which says that donald trump is to blame for the violence on capitol hill. we ll have more. for the first time, vladimir putin uses the word war to describe his invasion of ukraine. live from london, this is cnn newsroom, with max foster and bianca nobilo. we begin with a huge winter storm bearing down across much of the united states. more than half of the u.s. population, about 117 million people are under windchill and winter weather alerts across the country. dangerous rigid conditions, bitterly cold wind, snow and ice making trip for treacherous travel conditions ahead of the holiday weekend. in south dakota, more than 500 miles of two interstate highways are closed because of high winds and blizzard like conditions. air travel is becoming even more chaotic, as more than 2700 flight scheduled for today have already been cance
this is bbc news it s newsday. it s 8:00 in the morning in singapore, and 8:00pm in new york, where world leaders are taking part in a un meeting which is already being dominated by ukraine. russia s invasion was always going to be at the top of the agenda, but events on tuesday have brought the war into even sharper focus. officials in russian controlled areas in the east and south of ukraine have announced snap referendums onjoining russia. it appears to be part of a push by moscow to accelerate their annexation, in response to serious setbacks on the battlefield. in areas newly liberated by ukrainians forces, disturbing accounts of torture by russian soldiers are continuing to emerge. our senior international correspondent orla guerin reports now from the city of izyum. i want to warn you orla s report contains some distressing testimony. in the centre of izyum, the heart of darkness. ukrainian investigators say the russians turned this police station into a torture ch
the death in custody of a young woman, accused of breaking the islamic dress code. and, twilight of the tigris why climate change is having a devastating impact on one of the world s most famous rivers. western leaders are warning president putin not to attempt to annex parts of ukraine after officials in russian held areas of the country said they would hold referendums on becoming part of russia. there are plans for votes to take place in donetsk, luhansk, kherson and zaporizhzhia regions here in red but a chorus of leaders at the un general assembly in new york said such ballots would be a sham. more on the implications of such a move in a moment, but it does come as russia has suffered a series of setbacks on the battlefield in ukraine recently. and in areas newly liberated by ukrainian forces, disturbing accounts of torture by russian soldiers are continuing to emerge. our senior international correspondent, orla guerin, reports now from the city of izyum. awarning