welcome to bbc news. i'm anjana gadgil. our top stories: chaos and confusion. the us house of representatives fails to elect a speaker in its opening session for the first time in a century. plans to restrict travellers from china to europe after a surge in covid cases. beijing threatens to retaliate. a woman who falsely claimed she was raped and trafficked by an asian grooming gang is found guilty of perverting the course of justice. and the fans say goodbye. tens of thousands line the streets for the funeral of brazilian football legend pele.

welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. it's great to have you with us. the first sitting of the new us house of representatives has been full of drama. as speaker of the house have failed. he hasn't been able to secure enough support from his own party. a group of right—wing republicans have refused to back him, and the california congressman has refused to drop out of the race. it's the first time in a hundred years that a speaker hasn't been elected in the opening round of voting. our correspondent in washington, will grant, explains the significance of the impasse. this is not the way that kevin mccarthy or the republican leadership wanted their first day as the majority in congress to go — not by a long way. with each round, it seemed to be getting gradually worse for him and by the third round of voting, as many as 20 republican colleagues did not vote for him, denying him the chance of taking speaker of the house.

why does any of this matter? first and foremost because that role is particularly important in american politics, it is second in line to the presidency. it is hugely influential in terms of the make up of congressional committees, in terms of deciding the legislative agenda of government. secondly, of course, nothing else can be done until this decision is taken. simply, the workings of ordinary government cannot begin. so, from here, it looks as though there will be further and further rounds, with neither side, as things stand, prepared to back down. on the one hand, mr mccarthy and his supporters say he will not drop out of the race, he will stay, attempting to stand in ballot after ballot, until he's made speaker. on the other side, the rebels have said they will not back down either. many of them call themselves �*never kevins�* meaning that they will have any other candidate rather than him.

it's a face—off that could last days potentially. in 1923, the last time there was an event of this kind, it went on for nine rounds. this time it looks to be equally protracted and bitter. we can now speak to us political analyst max kutner. he joins us from new york. max, how has this extraordinary situation been allowed to come about because yellow well, there had been indications that there had been indications that there was going to be this fight going back we. obviously this is not _ fight going back we. obviously this is not the _ this is not the way the republicans and the house wanted to start a majority, but there have been these indications and both sides have dug in and there is no indication yet of when this is going to end. and, also, the longer this goes on, and it will continue to be a bad thing for the republicans, and every day this goes on that's not a

good day for republicans. it holds things up, it's bad reputation leave. this is not a good day for the house republicans.— good day for the house republicans. good day for the house reublicans. ., ., ., republicans. not a good day for republicans. — republicans. not a good day for republicans, but _ republicans. not a good day for republicans, but also _ republicans. not a good day for republicans, but also not - republicans. not a good day for republicans, but also not a - republicans, but also not a good day for us politics, because no business can take place. because no business can take lace. ., �* , because no business can take lace. . �* , , place. that's right. this holds everything up. this _ place. that's right. this holds everything up. this keeps - place. that's right. this holds everything up. this keeps the entire congress from really starting in the way it should. now, the senate was able to move forward with swearing in today, but, still, congress as a whole, the house and the senate, this holds it up, in the house it holds up swearing in, it holds of the start of the house committees, it even holds up the start of these republican lead investigations that republicans have been saying since they won the mid terms that they wanted to pursue, like hunter biden�*s laptop, like the biden administration's handling of the afghanistan withdrawal. so there are all these things republicans have been wanting to do with the house majority.

they have been waiting years for this kind of majority. it holds that up. for this kind of ma'ority. it holds that up._ for this kind of ma'ority. it holds that up. what options of the house _ holds that up. what options of the house now— holds that up. what options of the house now have _ holds that up. what options of the house now have to - holds that up. what options of the house now have to move i the house now have to move forward?— forward? there are a few options. first _ forward? there are a few options. first of- forward? there are a few options. first of all, - forward? there are a few- options. first of all, mccarthy could continue trying to seek the votes. he has said in a briefing to reporters only moments ago that that is what he will try to do and that there is a path to him to the 218 votes he needs. he also needs the support of former president trump, whether that helps them or not. but he could also go the other way and he could remove himself from consideration. that's entirely unlikely at this point. another lawmaker could get the votes and get it instead. there could be a bipartisan coalition with republicans and democrats that get to that 218 vote threshold. that seems unlikely. another interesting possibility is that a lawmaker could seek to have a resolution to change the whole

process to perhaps lower the threshold of votes needed. that would not be — that seems very unlikely also. i think what we're going see as both sides continuing to dig in mccarthy says he is going to be able to flip some votes and get to 218 and they think that is what we are going to see in the coming day if not multiple days ahead. a ahead. max, the republicans have pitched another - have pitched another candidate against him who has openly said he doesn't want to stand. how can that be resolved?- he doesn't want to stand. how can that be resolved? yes, jim jordan is kind _ can that be resolved? yes, jim jordan is kind of _ can that be resolved? yes, jim jordan is kind of the _ can that be resolved? yes, jim jordan is kind of the number i jordan is kind of the number two that we're looking at. interestingly, jim jordan has voiced support for kevin —— kevin mccarthy's position in this. butjimjordan traditionally as part of this right—wing flank that is opposing mccarthy. so he only has, by last count a sore, 18 votes, may be 19, so that is a long way away from the 20k

votes, may be 19, so that is a long way away from the 20a or 203 mccarthy had today. that is a number two that is really trailing behind the number one for this. ., ,. ., , ' for this. fascinating stuff. max kutner, _ for this. fascinating stuff. max kutner, thank - for this. fascinating stuff. max kutner, thank you i for this. fascinating stuff. i max kutner, thank you very much. the chinese government says that travel restrictions imposed by several countries on chinese arrivals are politically motivated and has warned that it may retaliate. some countries have already introduced their own measures, but an eu—wide decision is expected on wednesday. china adopted a zero—covid strategy with strict restrictions for most of the pandemic, but abruptly eased them in december. azadeh moshiri reports. china is opening up again, or at least it is trying to. the country has seen almost three years of strict covid restrictions, and mostly closed borders. now, china is scrapping its travel restrictions if the country from the 8th of january. but with an easing of its strict covid policies and there are fears the chinese government may be under reporting infections as well as deaths.

some experts predict there could already be more than 2 million cases a day. you want to limit case numbers so the virus does not get the opportunity to replicate and accumulate these mutations which may result in a variant that can spread more easily or evade immunity. in response, more than a dozen countries, such as the united kingdom, the united states and india, are putting up roadblocks. they are demanding mandatory covid testing upon arrival. but china is crying foul and warning it will retaliate in kind. translation: we have noticed that health experts _ in many countries had recently said the coronavirus strains currently circulating in china had been seen in other parts of the world before. china always believes that the national pandemic prevention measures should be scientific and appropriate, and should not be taken as a chance for political manipulation. the world health organization is urging china to share

real—time information and in the meantime, the european union has offered free covid vaccines to help contain the virus — that's an offer china quickly rejected, as one of the world's toughest anti—covid regime comes to an end. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. the american football star damar hamlin remains in a critical condition after suffering a cardiac arrest during an nfl game. the buffalo bills player fell to the ground after colliding with an opponent — watched by millions on prime time tv. his injury has highlighted concerns about the safety of the sport. our washington correspondent gary o'donoghue has been following the story. something no sports fan wants to see — a player rushed off to hospital following a serious injury. it was in the first quarter of the game that damar hamlin made a tackle and was struck in the chest by another player's helmet. after getting up for a moment, he then collapsed,

suffering a cardiac arrest. medics then rushed onto the field. other players clearly distressed at what had happened. the game was soon abandoned. fans gathered outside the hospital to express their concern. you feel like you need to do something. and so this is a way ofjust showing that you care. life's more important than a game and people are more important than a game. i hope he's 0k. his mum is here, buffalo is praying for him. and whatever you believe in, like good vibes and positive energy towards them and hopefully he's 0k. the club have said on social media that the player spent last night in intensive care and was in a critical condition. it was during the european championships 18 months ago

that denmark's star, christian eriksen, collapsed during a game against finland. he suffered a cardiac arrest as well, but wasn't involved in any collision. fellow stars are all too aware that it can happen in any sport. the safety of our of players in all sports is always the most important. so, you know, it was a terrible thing to see. and i wish, you know, nothing but the best for that kid. american football, like other sports, has become much better at monitoring the risks of head injuries and concussion in particular. but doctors say heart injuries are still a risk. football players, they don't start out having head injuries before they start playing. all of those occur during play, and all of all of the players are at risk for that. the cardiac screening is a little bit of a different situation because you're looking for people that may have relatively rare underlying cardiac conditions. most athletes don't have any underlying heart conditions. damar hamlin�*s family have praised the actions of the paramedics and doctors and have asked everyone to keep the football star in their prayers. gary o'donoghue, bbc news.

let us bring you live pictures from myanmar, the countries marking 70 of independence from britain with a military parade. large parts of myanmar have been engulfed by conflict since the army seized power almost two years ago. days before the anniversary of the deposed civilian leader, on song tsuji, was given another long present sentence. —— on song tsuji. her father was the leader of the independence movement in the 19405 independence movement in the 1940s but was removed months before his dream was realised. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: a ski—lift, a mountain — but where's the snow? the record mild temperatures affecting europe's winter sports. the japanese people are in mourning

following the death of emperor hirohito. thousands converged on the imperial palace to pay their respects when it was announced he was dead. "good grief" — after half a century of delighting fans around the world, charlie brown and the rest of the gang are calling it quits. the singer, paul simon, starts his tour of south africa tomorrow _ in spite of protests and violence - from some _ black activist groups. they say international artists should continue to boycott south africa _ until majority rule is established. . around the world people have been paying tribute to the iconic rock star, david bowie, who sold 140 million albums in a career that spanned half a century. his family announced overnight that he died of cancer at the age of 69. the world tallest skyscraper opens later today. the burj dubai has easily overtaken its nearest rivals.

this is bbc news. the latest headlines. an extraordinary day in washington as congress fails to elect a house speaker in the first ballot for the first time in 100 years. china says covid restrictions imposed by several countries on chinese travellers are politically motivated and warns it may retaliate. here in the uk, a 22—year—old woman who falsely claimed she had been raped and trafficked by an asian grooming gang has been found guilty of perverting the course of justice. eleanor williams was found guilty of eight counts at preston crown court. phil mccann has this report, which starts with some pictures you may find distressing. this is the face of a teenager that went viral. eleanor williams posted these pictures on facebook when she was 19 in 2020. she said she was the victim of a gang of asian men who were raping her, beating her and causing her horrendous injuries.

car horns beep. her allegations shocked a town. they led to protests during the first covid lockdown. they also led to the far right paying attention. that queue of cars will actually go for miles. cumbria police spent months looking into eleanor williams's allegations. she got help from a local women's charity. the police put her up in hotels to keep her safe. but the prosecution in her trial said that she was charged with perverting the course ofjustice when the police discovered that her allegations which spread around this town like wildfire were, in their words, a pack of lies from first to last. her trial at preston crown court heard that she also fabricated evidence to support her claims, like her injuries in these photos. the jury was told she caused them to herself with a hammer. they smashed them, smashed the windscreen... mohammed ramzan was one

of the men she named. he runs an ice cream business and used to own restaurants in barrow. the town was a step away from anarchy. we'd walk out on the street, people would shout out to me "pedo". kids used to come out here, throw stones, throw flower, staff at the winds and say "pedo". williams claimed mr ramzan was one of the leaders of her grooming gang. she claimed, amongst other things, that he once coerced her into going to amsterdam where he forced her to work in a brothel and tried to sell her in a slave auction. but when she said he was in amsterdam with her, bank and phone records proved the truth, that mohammed ramzan was actually here shopping at b80 in barrow and filling his car with petrol at the local asda. jordan was another man who she claimed raped her. but unlike the others williams accused, he was charged and spent more than two months on remand in prison before the charges were dropped. jordan had met williams once on a night out. i was put in the cells

with an actual paedophile. he told me he was guilty and stuff, and i asked for a cell change. they wouldn't change my cell. i was just locked away with, it's not nice to say, people you don't want to be locked away with. thousands of pounds was raised for eleanor williams, but opinions have been changing in barrow since she went on trial. the same is true too some on the far right. if those muslim men are innocent then it's disgusting what's been said about them. it's three and a half years now since williams first went to the police. she, this town, and her victims have been waiting since then forjustice. i'm getting my life back now. it has been very difficult, very, very difficult. i hope nobody goes through this. mohammed ramzan ending that report from phil mccann. to brazil now, where thousands of people have lined the streets to say their final farewells to the football legend pele as his funeral

procession made its way though the city of santos. our south america correspondent, katy watson, has been watching events. as the wake drew to a close, the last few people queued to see pele's coffin, to say their final goodbyes. pele was a huge soccer player, here in brazil, we love soccer, but he was also a huge human being. he supported a hospital in our city called hospital pequeno principe, he donated a lot of money to research, and that is why we are here today. he is the brazilian most known person around the world. you know, pele is money. how many times i got into places in the the united states and stuffjust because i was brazilian, just because people knew pele. teofilo was the first in line at the wake yesterday and he was queueing again to say another goodbye. translation: pele united us all. he was humble as well as being the best player in the world.

he was a marvellous human being. and then one last high—profile visitor sped through the gates. sing: # ole ole ole ola, lula, lula!# lula da silva's first presidential event since taking power at the weekend. he was greeted with cheers and chants against him — the country's united in mourning but deeply divided by politics. but when it comes to pele, he is the man who brings people together. the wake ended and the casket began its finaljourney. samba drumming and singing. and then the carnival started. what better way than samba to celebrate this brazilian legend? samba drumming and singing. this is a day of mourning but it's also one of celebration, too, wanting to send off their king of football,

and they're doing it in style. pele's coffin paraded through the city of santos, passing by his mother celeste's house — she turned 100 last year. the finaljourney now complete and what a journey it was, laid to rest in his beloved city of santos. not a block of flats but an necropolis fit for a king. with an enviable view over his old football stadium, pele's final wishes honoured. katy watson, bbc news, in santos. the hollywood actor jeremy renner has thanked fans for their support after he was seriously injured by his snow plough. sharing a picture of his bruised face on instagram, jeremy renner said he was "too messed up to type" but he was sending his love to all. he was airlifted to hospital on sunday after the accident outside his home in reno in nevada. the two—time oscar nominee

is well—known for playing hawkeye in the marvel cinematic universe. temperatures forjanuary have reached an all—time high in a number of nations across europe. records have been broken in poland, the netherlands, the czech republic and several other countries. the mild weather has brought many people out to parks and beaches, but it's not been such good news for ski resorts as tim allman reports. salzburg injanuary is normally a winter wonderland. but this year something is missing. namely, snow. there has not been much of it and what there has been has mostly melted — which makes skiing something of a challenge. translation: it is really weird when you ski down | the pipe slope and on the left and right it is green. it is a similar story in the swiss alps where high temperatures are taking a toll on seasonal sport. translation: look, | the snow is really wet. it is no longer constant like it is in spring.

the snow has to bind and that does not work with a lot of water. this is just part of a larger phenomenon taking place all over europe. in many places, january, often the coldest of months is currently among the mildest. here in the czech republic it is practically short sleeve weather, a surprise for locals and tourists alike. in my country, it is freezing cold i brought a thickjacket because i expected similar, the weather, but apparently this morning it is really warm. unseasonably warm weather has been felt across much of the continent. in belarus, they saw a record temperature of 16.1; c, 11.5 degrees higher than the previous record. it was a similar story in poland where it hit 18.9 degrees, four degrees higher than the previous record forjanuary. and in the spanish city

of bilbao, the temperature reached more than 25 degrees — 10 degrees higher than they have ever seen at this time of year. contrast that with what america has been experiencing in recent days, freezing cold temperatures and a blanket of snow with more severe weather on the way. if, as many suggest, this is down to climate change then it seems that that can take many different forms. tim allman, bbc news. we have the latest now on the walrus touring the coast of england. he's gone from scarborough to northumberland. for those of you who perhaps aren't that familiar with uk geography — that's a fairly ambitious journey from the east coast of england to the north. the walrus is called thor and the hope is that he's heading north to arctic waters. danny savage has the story. he's been on a grand tour of the uk. thor, the wandering walrus, first appeared in hampshire

in the middle of last month. on new year's eve, he hauled himself up a slipway in scarborough before surfacing again in blyth in northumberland. in north yorkshire, they cancelled scarborough's fireworks display so he wasn't disturbed, but thor didn't really care. he vanished into the north sea before the festivities were due to start. he didn't disappear for long, though. this isn't the sort of thing you usually spot through the rigging of the vessels of the royal northumberland yacht club. a pontoon in blyth, nearly 100 miles further north, was a fine resting point. they travel like thousands of miles over time because they are solitary animals, so they don't need to be anywhere in general, theyjust prefer cruising around, but as it happens, they've come down this area for some reason in the uk. today though, thor left town.

described as fit and healthy, he is hopefully heading north towards colder waters, although he may turn up again on our coast en route. danny savage, bbc news. let's bring you some live pictures now from myanmar where the country is marking 75 years of independence from britain with a military parade. large parts of myanmar have been engulfed by conflict since the army seized power almost two years ago. days before the anniversary, the deposed civilian leader aung san suu kyi was given another long prison sentence. herfather, aung san, was the leader of the independence struggle in the 1940s, but was assassinated months before his dream was realised. early at the leader of the ruling junto was greeted with a 21 gun salute as the army of armed might.

you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ anjanagadgil. this is bbc news. hope to see you shortly. hello there. wednesday morning will be getting off to an exceptionally mild start given we are in earlyjanuary. mild is a feature of the weather through the rest of this week. it will also be windy, and there will be spells of rain because on the satellite picture we can see various weather systems heading in our direction, various areas of cloud moving our way to bring further rain at times. a very mild start to the morning. double—digit temperatures first thing in many places, even in the north of scotland, where tuesday was quite cold, wednesday will dawn on a slightly milder note. some outbreaks of rain here, also some rain in the southeast corner. that tending to clear, then it's really a sunshine and showers day.

most of the showers will be found across northern ireland, southern scotland and the far north of england. cloud will thicken in the far south west of england later with some spots of rain, and it will be quite windy, but temperatures north to south, 7—14 celsius. through the night, we will continue to see some showers through northern ireland, southern scotland and the far north of england. and a bank of cloud will be rolling its way in from the southwest with some spots of patchy light rain and drizzle. clear spells elsewhere, overnight lows, 2—10 celsius. now into thursday, we'll start off under the influence of this very weak ridge of high pressure. so a decent amount of dry weather around first thing, low pressure, though, you'll notice approaching from the west, that low actually deepening as it approaches our shores. so we'll see a lot of cloud rolling north eastwards through the day. some patchy rain for england and wales, some heavier rain getting into northern ireland and western scotland through the afternoon with a strengthening wind. but, again, it will be mild, 8—13 celsius. now as our area of low pressure passes to the north west of scotland, as we go

through thursday night, see the white lines, the isobars squeezing together, a swathe of gales likely to affect western parts of scotland, could turn very windy through the central belt for a time on friday morning. still some showers around on friday, but this is a window of somewhat drier weather, some spells of sunshine, perhaps a little less mild, but only a little. still seeing highs between 8—12 celsius. and then for the weekend, saturday will bring outbreaks of rain eastwards. further showers on sunday. it will remain quite windy throughout the weekend.

this is bbc news. the headlines: the first sitting of the new us house of representatives has been full of drama. three attempts to elect republican kevin mccarthy as speaker of the house have failed. it's the first time in a hundred years that a speaker hasn't been elected in the opening round of voting. the chinese government says that travel restrictions imposed by several countries on chinese arrivals are politically motivated and has warned that it may retaliate. some countries have already introduced their own measures. an eu—wide decision is expected shortly. the legendary football icon, pele, has been laid to rest in santos, the brazilian city where he spent most of his life. in a family ceremony, pele's coffin was placed in his tomb overlooking the city. tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets to

say their goodbyes.