this is bbc news with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. i'm sally bundock. for the first time in a century, the us house of representatives fails to elect a speaker in its opening session. no person having received the majority of the whole number of votes cast by so named, a speaker has not been elected. more strikes planned by nhs staff — as pressure grows on the uk's hospital emergency departments. plans to restrict travellers from china to europe after a surge in covid cases — beijing threatens to retaliate. and a mountain, a ski—lift — but where's the snow? the record mild temperatures affecting europe's winter

sports. hello and welcome. we begin in washington where the us house of representatives has adjourned in disarray after three failed attempts to elect the republican kevin mccarthy as speaker. it's the first time in a century the procedure has a small number of hardline republicans are refusing to support mr mccarthy. nothing can go ahead in the house until a new speaker is elected. our north america correspondent peter bowes has the story. 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 new congress, with the republicans in charge. pursuant to law and precedent, the next order of business is the election of the speaker of the house of representatives for the 118th congress. with a slim majority, the republicans have the votes chris to select the next speaker, but only if most of them agree. kevin mccarthy is the front runner. the republican leader enjoys wide support and has been campaigning for the role for months. and i think kevin mccarthy is the right guy to lead us, i really do, or i wouldn't be standing up here, giving this speech. i came in with kevin, we came in at the same time, 16 years ago. we haven't always agreed on everything, but i like his fight, i like his tenacity and i like the... i remember kevin told me, i actually wrote about this in a book — i remember kevin told me, he said, "the toughest times in life are when you get knocked down.

"the question is — can you come back?" and i have always seen him be able to do that. but this could be a knockdown from which there is no comeback. mr mccarthy is a polarising figure and not universally popular in his party, and 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 small group on the right of the party who voted instead for jimjordan, who had earlier said kevin mccarthy was the right person for thejob. he was opposed by 19 members during the first two rounds, and then 20 in the third round. no 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, unable to move on with the business of running the country. but 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. obviously this is not the way

the republicans in the house wanted to start their majority, but there had been these indications, and both sides have dug in, and there is no indication yet of when this is 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. on that occasion, it took several days. history could be about to repeat itself. peter bowes, bbc news. consultant rob stutzman. could have you in the programme. could have you in the rouramme. ., ., ., , , programme. extraordinary events coin: programme. extraordinary events auoin on programme. extraordinary events going on in _ programme. extraordinary events going on in the — programme. extraordinary events going on in the house _ programme. extraordinary events going on in the house and - programme. extraordinary events going on in the house and some l going on in the house and some would say very embarrassing is an the republican party? it is embarrassing _ an the republican party? it is embarrassing for— an the republican party? it 3 embarrassing for the republican party. several things have been embarrassing for the republican

party now the past several years, but what we are seeing with kevin mccarthy and the house republicans, what was a very disappointing election cycle which left mccarthy with a very small margin in order to be elected speaker in that small margin right now is preventing him from being able to accomplish his goal. the five when you was solidly against him not a surprise but that number today when it started at 19 on the first ballot was a surprise and he does have quite a hill to climb. what do you think will happen next? figs climb. what do you think will happen next?— happen next? as our correspondent - happen next? as our correspondent was l happen next? as our- correspondent was saying, happen next? as our— correspondent was saying, kevin mccarthy at the moment is not stepping down. mccarthy at the moment is not stepping down-— mccarthy at the moment is not stepping down. peter was right, he's not stepping _ stepping down. peter was right, he's not stepping down, - stepping down. peter was right, he's not stepping down, and - stepping down. peter was right, he's not stepping down, and he| he's not stepping down, and he will continue to say he is not stepping down, and ultimately if he doesn't start making progress with the votes that will start to occur again tomorrow in washington or in your day—to—day, it will have to eventually probably be tapped on the shoulder by his

colleagues. it becomes apparent he doesn't have the votes of his not moving in the right direction. we will know a lot when that first vote is cast tomorrow. right now there are 20 republicans voting against him. not for someone else, really against him.— really against him. if it's auainst really against him. if it's against him, _ against him, who is the alternative, if he does eventually have to stand down? that's the problem, there is no apparent alternative. mrjordan was black name appears on the ballot but that's a proforma measure, he can't be elected speaker or is he seeking it. he wouldn't get a majority of the republicans. they had to decide, once mccarthy, who is going to be, and that could take a matter of days, frankly, that to sort out. the obvious choice to consider would be the congressman from louisiana, but it's not clear the five obstinate, most obstinate republicans would be willing to vote for him either. just

remind _ vote for him either. justj remind our international audience how important this role is, speaker of the house. speaker of the house is very important, obviously it's the gavel for the lower house in congress, very important did our constitution, second in line to be presidents of the vice president were unable to take office if the president were incapacitated, that would fall to the speaker of the house. this is a very important position just house. this is a very important positionjust in our house. this is a very important position just in our succession of government. set forth in our constitution.— constitution. thank you very i much for your analysis, we will keep a close eye tomorrow as to how things pan out. indeed, thank you. 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 eighty nine servicemen were killed in the ukrainian attack on makiivka. the mobile phone signals meant ukraine's military were able to determine the soliders' location.

a british man has died after being shot injamaica. sean patterson, a personal trainer from west london, was found on monday with gunshot wounds to his upper body and head at a guest house in stjames. local media are reporting that a 34—year—old man has been myanmar has marked seventy—five years of independence from britain with a military parade. the leader of the ruling junta, min aung hlaing, was greeted with a 2i—gun salute at the display of armed might in naypyidaw. 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. in his first speech of the year, the british prime minister is expected to announce his plans to ensure all pupils in england study some form of maths until the age of 18. rishi sunak will set out his priorities for the year ahead, including plans to tackle failing numeracy skills. his speech comes at a time

of multiple strikes, a cost of living crisis, and huge pressures in the nhs. the british government says those pressures within the nhs are due to the high number of cases of flu, covid and strep a this winter. the uk health secretary steve barclay said work is being done to free up hospital beds but that reducing backlogs caused by the pandemic would "take time.". it comes as people across the uk are faced with record ambulance and a and e wait times. graham satchell reports. these are all ambulances outside king's lynn hospital waiting to take patients in. this phone footage was taken by sarahjones at this phone footage was taken by sarah jones at the this phone footage was taken by sarahjones at the queen elizabeth hospital in norfolk. she was with her 84—year—old dad, murphy. it’s

she was with her 84-year-old dad, murphy-— dad, murphy. it's 850 and we 'ust not dad, murphy. it's 850 and we just got out — dad, murphy. it's 850 and we| just got out of the ambulance, 8:50 p.m., and the call was made from the house at 8:30am this morning so we've been almost 12 hours in an ambulance and we are going now up to the ward. and we are going now up to the ward, ., �*, ward. sarah's died on the structure, struggling to breathe with heart failure. indie breathe with heart failure. we have the breathe with heart failure. - have the doctors team, look at dad and the ambulance, we had to take about in the rain, right out on the stretcher into the hospital to have the x—ray and then bring him back into the ambulance. i've never seen anything like it. the system seems completely broken and one thing backs up another thing, you know, which leads to an ambulance sitting there for 12 hours when they could be out, maybe somebody else's going to not make it to the hospital because of that.— because of that. the royal cornwall— because of that. the royal cornwall hospital - because of that. the royal cornwall hospital and - cornwall hospital and again, a queue of ambulances. in the ward, 82—year—old marie grubb.

she fell on her kitchen and broke her pelvis. marie waited on the wall for 31 hours for an ambulance. it on the wall for 31 hours for an ambulance-— ambulance. it was agony, i had to sort of turn, i was _ ambulance. it was agony, i had to sort of turn, i was on - ambulance. it was agony, i had to sort of turn, i was on my - to sort of turn, i was on my side, facing away, facing the windows stop oh, it was just agony. windows stop oh, it was 'ust anon . ., , ., windows stop oh, it was 'ust anon. ., ., ., ., agony. how did you manage to keep going _ agony. how did you manage to keep going for _ agony. how did you manage to keep going for 31 _ agony. how did you manage to keep going for 31 hours? - agony. how did you manage to keep going for 31 hours? well, j keep going for 31 hours? well, ou keep going for 31 hours? well, you do, i think. willpower- keep going for 31 hours? well, you do, i think. willpower i - you do, i think. willpower i soppose. — you do, i think. willpower i suppose, isn't _ you do, i think. willpower i suppose, isn't it? - you do, i think. willpower i suppose, isn't it? winter. suppose, isn't it? winter pressure is nothing new in the nhs but the combination of blue, covid, staff shortages and delays discharging patients to social care means for many, this is the worst winter they can remember. indie this is the worst winter they can remember.— this is the worst winter they can remember. we don't want to be seeing _ can remember. we don't want to be seeing patients _ can remember. we don't want to be seeing patients in _ be seeing patients in corridors, we don't want to be breaking bad news, we don't want to be doing that sort of thing, it's quite hard to keep doing that, we know we shouldn't be doing that but it's the only thing we can to keep the system going. the government _ keep the system going. the government in _ keep the system going. the government in westminster says the nhs is its top priority and it's providing an extra £14

billion over the next couple of years. billion over the next couple of ears. ~ �* , , .., years. we've seen significant -ressure years. we've seen significant pressure on _ years. we've seen significant pressure on the _ years. we've seen significant pressure on the nhs - pressure on the nhs particularly over this period through a combination of a very high rate of flu, persistent and high levels of covid, continuing concerns, particularly amongst many parents around strap that is combined over that period with a time when primary care services and community services are also much more limited. what do we want, fair pay. when we wanted. _ what do we want, fair pay. when we wanted, now. _ what do we want, fair pay. when we wanted, now. more _ what do we want, fair pay. when we wanted, now. more strikes i we wanted, now. more strikes obtained by nhs staff later this month. the labour party has accused the government of years of mismanagement saying there is now a sense of jeopardy surrounding the nhs which is frightening people across the country. graeme satchel, bbc news. china has called travel restrictions on chinese arrivals 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 in and out of the country from 8 january. 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. 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.

we're joined now by our news reporter azadeh moshiri. we're expecting to hear what eu will decide today on chinese travellers.— will decide today on chinese travellers. ~ ., , ., travellers. what is their main concern? _ travellers. what is their main concern? the _ travellers. what is their main concern? the main _ travellers. what is their main concern? the main concern l travellers. what is their main | concern? the main concern is another wave of infection is just one life is starting to feel like it's back to normal today looking at a european response and perhaps some form of restrictions or testing when those border restrictions left on the 8th of january. some european countries have already put restrictions in place, they said they will, countries like italy and spain and france have said they will perhaps have some form of testing, perhaps prove the negative covid test before arrival or proof of vaccination. the eu is looking at in this latest meeting is a co—ordinated response across the eu and they say most member states have said they would support that sort of action.

the real concern here is the lack of transparency and information around covid figures within china. during the last daily covid update, the last daily covid update, the chinese government said they have fewer than 5000 cases per day, but that's a population of more than 1.4 billion people, so the world health organization has said that average sounds quite low and some analysts say they believe the daily covid caseload right now is more than 2 million and that it could reach a peak of almost 4 million this month. you did mention — million this month. you did mention in _ million this month. you did mention in your _ million this month. you did mention in your report - million this month. you did mention in your report to i mention in your report to the eu has offered to provide free vaccines to china, tell us more detail about that, why do they offer to do that?— offer to do that? that offer was promptly rejected by the chinese government and they said they have ample resources themselves, and many of their own domestic vaccines to rely on but there are few issues there, one is that those domestic vaccines have been

proven to be less effective than western ones, particularly less effective than the mrna vaccines that the west used against the omicron variant and scientists say these domestic vaccines require more doses and therefore vulnerable populations in china haven't reached the level of immunity that they require. combine that with the fact there has been a rise in covid infections as soon sees a strict zero covid policies have been lifted and it creates a perfect melting pot for potential variance. that's why. china has said it does not need any help but it said it will work on efforts across the world. i work on efforts across the world. , . ~ work on efforts across the world. , ., ,, ., world. i will be talking with a leadin: world. i will be talking with a leading economist _ world. i will be talking with a leading economist about - world. i will be talking with a leading economist about the | leading economist about the outlook for china because there is concern because as was just said, the data on the number of

infections in the data is not reliable nor transparent. we will talk more about that in our business coverage. stay with us on bbc news, still to come: phew, what a scorcher — record winter temperatures good news for beach lovers, not so much for ski resorts. 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: time now for the rest of the sport. hello, i'm paul scott with your sports news. arsenal have extended their lead at the top of england's premier league — despite being held to a goalless draw at home by newcastle. chances were at a premium, with joelinton arguably wasting the best of them for the visitors when heading wide in first—half stoppage time. the point leaves mikel arteta's side 8 points clear of second place manchester city. eddie howe's newcastle

stay in third. iam i am really proud of the team. the way that we played and dominated the game, the way we approach the whole game, the way we generated our situations but not enough chances. another great moment in time to score goal. we had some chances but there were penalties that were not given. manchester united have moved level on points with newcastle after they comfortably saw off bournemouth 3—0 at old trafford. casemiro, luke shaw and marcus rashford were on target for erik ten hag's side — who have now won 6 in a row in all competitions. having left old trafford recently, cristiano ronaldo claims he had �*many opportunities�* to join other clubs, after being unveiled by saudi side al nassr. just a warning of some flashing images to come. the 38—year—old is reportedly set to earn around $210 million per year.

the 5—time ballon d'or winner says he turned down offers from clubs in brazil, australia, the us and portugal, before signing for the nine—time saudi pro league champions and could be in line for his debut as early as thursday. two more players have been suspended from the world snooker tour. zhao xintong and his compatriot zhangjiankang have been sanctioned as part of a match—fixing investigation. it means ten chinese players have now been suspended by the sport's governing body — the world professional billiards and snooker association. both zhao and zhang have the right to appeal against the decision. american motorsport legend and youtube star ken block has died in a snowmobile accident in utah at the age of 55. a competitive rally driver in series such as rally america and global rallycross, he earned recognition later in life for his "gymkhana" video series on youtube. the 10—part series, in which he performed daring racing feats, earned him nearly

two million subscribers. you can get all the latest sports news at our website — that's bbc.com/sport. but from me and the rest of the sport team, goodbye. temperatures forjanuary have reached an all—time high in a number of nations across europe. 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 and 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 16.4 c, 4.5 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. in the uk, a walrus who appeared on the north—east scarborough coast — attracting huge crowds and prompting the cancellation of the town's new year fireworks — has left his latest stopping point of blyth. 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. you can reach me on twitter — i'm @ sally bundock bbc 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 with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. as restrictions are lifted — what does china's rapidly spreading covid cases mean for the economy? we get an expert view. business leaders meet with the uk chancellor today to push for an extension of the energy bill support scheme. a plea of not guilty. the former boss of the collapsed crypto exchange ftx denies all federal charges in new york. and how do you fancy a meal cooked by a robot chef? it's a real thing coming to a restaurant near you.