this is 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 ofjustice. 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 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. 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 100 years that a speaker hasn't been elected in the opening round of voting. here's our north america correspondent peter bowes. the heart of us government deadlocked because its members can't agree on who will be the next speaker. the house of representatives is meeting for the first time at the start of the first time at the start of the new congress with the republicans in charge. pursuant to law and _ republicans in charge. pursuant

to law and precedent, _ republicans in charge. pursuant to law and precedent, the - republicans in charge. pursuant to law and precedent, the nextl to law and precedent, the next order of business is the election of the speaker of the house of representatives for the 118th congress.- house of representatives for the 118th congress. with a slim ma'ori , the 118th congress. with a slim majority. the — the 118th congress. with a slim majority, the republicans - the 118th congress. with a slim majority, the republicans havej majority, the republicans have the vote to select the next speaker, but only if most of them agree. kevin mccarthy is them agree. kevin mccarthy is the front runner stop the republican leader enjoys wide support and has been campaigning for the role for months. �* ~ months. and i think kevin mccarthy _ months. and i think kevin mccarthy is _ months. and i think kevin mccarthy is the _ months. and i think kevin mccarthy is the right - months. and i think kevin mccarthy is the right guy| months. and i think kevin i mccarthy is the right guy to lead us, i really do. i wouldn't be standing up here giving this beach. i came here with kevin, we came here at the same time, 16 years ago. we have agreed on everything, but i like his fight, i like his tenacity. kevin told me, he said, when the toughest times in life when you get knocked down, the question is can you come back? i have always seen him do that. come back? i have always seen him do that-— him do that. this could be a knockdown _ him do that. this could be a knockdown from _ him do that. this could be a knockdown from where - him do that. this could be a | knockdown from where there him do that. this could be a i knockdown from where there is no comment. mr mccarthy �*s is a polarising figure and not

universally popular in his party. that was obvious when the voting started. round after round, three times he failed to win the majority needed to be declared the new speaker. it was down to a smaller group on the right of the party who voted instead forjim jordan had said kevin mccarthy was the right person for thejob. right person for the job. he was opposed by 19 members during the first two rounds and in 20 in the third round. ihla in 20 in the third round. no persons _ in 20 in the third round. i157 persons having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname, a speaker has not been elected. it leaves the house in disarray, and able unable to move on with the business of running the country. differences in political ideology also lie at the centre of this impasse with disagreement over the future direction of the republicans. there had been indications that there was going to be this fight going back weeks. 0bviously fight going back weeks. obviously this is not the

the republicans in the house wanted to start their majority, but there had been these indications on both sides have dug in and there is no indication yet of when this is going to end. 50 indication yet of when this is going to end-— going to end. so far, kevin mccarthy _ going to end. so far, kevin mccarthy has _ going to end. so far, kevin mccarthy has doggedly - going to end. so far, kevin - mccarthy has doggedly refused to drop out of the race. it is the first time in 100 years that a speaker has not been elected in the opening round of voting. 0n elected in the opening round of voting. on occasion, it took several days. history could be about to repeat itself. peter bowes, bbc news. we can now speak to allan lichtman, who's a distinguished professor of history at american university in washington where hejoins us now. this is highly unusual, but not unprecedented. are the similarities to what happened 100 years ago? hot similarities to what happened 100 years ago?— similarities to what happened 100 years ago? not really. 100 ears 100 years ago? not really. 100 years ago _ 100 years ago? not really. 100 years ago republicans - years ago republicans controlled the house and the battle that led to nine ballots before the speaker was elected was a fight over principal,

progressive republicans versus the majority of conservative republicans, and progressive republicans, and progressive republicans finally went along after nine ballots and elected conservative mainstream frederick gillette as the speaker. this also marked a decline in the status of progressivism within the republican party and the rise of the solidly conservative republican party of the 1920s and beyond. the current fight is not about principle at all. it is about how far the republican party is going to go in launching a vendetta against joe biden and other democrats, and how far the republican party is going to go in efforts that mirror the attempts in 2020 to sabotage american democracy by overturning a fair

and secure election. jim jordan who we mentioned has emerged as the sofar chief rival to kevin mccarthy, he was imitated by the january six committee in efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and perhaps even in the january six insurrection. with so many strands in so many themes playing out here, what do you think is a likely scenario, the likely outcome? i scenario, the likely outcome? 1 do not believe that kevin mccarthy at this point is going to pull together the votes. he has had a lot of time to control members, to bribe members, to offer them the carrot, to beat them with a stick, and itjust hasn't worked. there are a substantial number of very extreme republicans who just want to go far beyond what they think kevin mccarthy is willing to do. the great humourous will rogers once said, i belong to no organised political party. i

am a democrat. you can now turn that around and say, i am a republican. it is now the democrats who looked to be unified in the republicans in disarray. i think it is not going to be tim jordan, disarray. i think it is not going to be timjordan, i think it is not going to be kevin mccarthy. i think someone else will emerge, maybe steve scalise, a member of the republican leadership, who might be a compromised candidate.— might be a compromised candidate. ., ~ , ., candidate. three, thank you very much — candidate. three, thank you very much for— candidate. three, thank you very much for your - candidate. three, thank you very much for your time. - candidate. three, thank you l very much for your time. take care. 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 january 8. but with an easing of its strict covid policies has come a rise in cases, and there are fears the chinese government may be underreporting 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 regimes comes to an end. azadeh moshiri, bbc news. let's get some of the day's other news. russia says a ukrainian rocket strike that killed dozens of servicemen was caused by the unauthorised use of mobile phones by russian troops. moscow says

89 servicemen were killed in the ukrainian attack on makiivka. the mobile phone signals meant ukraine's military were able to determine the soldiers' location. a man charged with the murder of four college students in the us state of idaho has agreed not to fight extradition to the state following his arrest in pennsylvania. bryan kohberger is accused of killing three women and one man in the town of moscow in idaho november 13. his lawyer said mr kohberger was confident he would be found innocent and would not fight the extradition to idaho, which retains the death penalty. the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange, ftx, sam bankman—fried, has appeared in court in new york and pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. he's accused of stealing billions of dollars from ftx to prop up another of his businesses, the hedge fund alameda research. sam bankman—fried was extradited from the bahamas last month and released on bail.

the un and the us havejoined international criticism of a visit by a new far—right israeli minister to a contested holy site in jerusalem. the compound that houses the al—aqsa mosque is a site that's sacred to both muslims and jews. national security minister itamar ben—gvir was seen touring the area with heavy security. it's currently only open to muslim worship, but he tweeted that �*temple mount�*, as it's known tojews, was open to all. saudi arabia and the uae have accused the israeli politician of storming the site, whilejordan has summoned the israeli ambassador in protest. the us state department urged israel not to change the status quo. we are deeply concerned by any unilateral actions because, precisely because, they have the potential to exacerbate tensions or worse, and that's why, you know, we can look back to 2000, we can look back

to previous instances, it is also why we call for the preservation of the historic status quo. it is a point we have made to our israeli partners, it is a point we have made to them as recently as recent hours. it is a point they have also heard from their arab neighbours, including the hashemite kingdom ofjordan, again, whose special role as custodians ofjerusalem's holy sites, we deeply appreciate. 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 of people on prime—time tv. his injury has highlighted concerns about the safety of the sport. 0ur washington correspondent gary 0'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 in intensive care and was in a critical condition. they praised the outpouring of support they received. 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 0'donoghue, bbc news. 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 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 world 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 b&q 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. 0ur 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: # 0le 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. 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. snowy and that is why 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 16.11 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.

you can reach me you can reach me on you can reach me on twitter. this is bbc news, thanks for watching. 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.