this is bbc news. i'm sally bundock, with the latest headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. two days, six votes, and still no speaker. the political deadlock in the us house of representatives goes on. the european union urges member states to impose travel controls on visitors from china where covid infections have surged. rail strikes are continuing in england with only around 20% of services expected to run. # one for the money...

and viva new south wales — the australian festival celebrating the king of rock and roll. hello and welcome. we begin int the us where the house of representatives has adjourned for a second day without electing a speaker, extending the paralysis at the heart of american politics. president biden said having a congress that can't function is embarrassing for the country. republican kevin mccarthy has been stopped six times so far by a group of hardliners within his own party who refuse to back him. our north america correspondent peter bowes says the deadlock shows no signs of letting up.

after six rounds of voting where he is found to be elected speaker. 20 members of his own party on the right to the party were consistently voting against him and at the end of the day, on wednesday, with an adjournment, he gave the republicans an opportunity to meet behind—the—scenes, a private meeting, kevin mccarty and some of those in the group of twenty who have been holding up of twenty who have been holding up his election, the idea to be try and find a solution to this. they've been trying to reach some sort of deal, kevin mccarthy offering those members positions or suggesting that roles that they could take on in the new house of representatives committee, but he did emerge on the meeting festival saying yet another vote would be worthwhile and

that did not happen, clearly he didn't believe he could win but also suggested he was making progress with some of his opponents, perhaps getting closer together in terms of what the speaker should do, the kind of role the speaker should take on. we won't know for certain until day three, until the entire house of representatives reconvenes and they start yet another round of voting so the uncertainty and to a large extent the drama of this physics —— expected to continue. let's speak to evan mcmullin who was a former republican chief policy director for congress and previously ran as an independent presidential candidate in 2016. evan recently ran for the us senate as a pro—democracy independent candidate. we are intrigued to get your

view on the shenanigans of the last 48 hours. they certainly show a division within the republican party and what we are witnessing is a power struggle in the absence of leadership. donald trump is no longer in the white house, is influence i believe is waning influence i believe is waning in the republican party and in that vacuum you now see a struggle for who will truly guide the party. i think today we saw a very interesting concession that kevin mccarthy's side made to the far right, and that is that a superpac, political organisation empower, to spend on elections, to influence the outcomes of course through a legal process has made the concession to a superpac aligned with the far right that if kevin mccarthy's superpac

will not play in republican primary elections in safe republican seeds, that's all to say that kevin mccarthy has essentially given up his ability in making that concession to shape a party that he would lead as a republican speaker of the house. and so again, this is a power struggle for control of the party between the far right in the mainstream portion of the party and as we are seeing in such a closely divided house, it only takes a few votes for the far right to have an incredible amount of influence and they are certainly showing us now. absolutely, this very small minority as you call of far right about all the power right now, it would seem. they got the republican party holding them to ransom. it does this situation kind of make a decision to be made now in terms of the future for the

republican party because this sort of impasse we are seeing about who will be the speaker of the house is having to concentrate everyone�*s minds within the republican party about its future, isn't it? i think that's right, i think that's what is happening. the outcome he was still very uncertain. i would outcome he was still very uncertain. iwould not outcome he was still very uncertain. i would not say that likely kevin mccarthy emerges as speaker of the house. i could be wrong, i don't have a lot of certainty in that statement but i would say that it's likely. i think for the far right, for these 20 members holding out, they are incentivised by political conditions in our country, specifically that they are in safe districts. they don't face a challenge typically from within the party and their districts and they certainly don't face a challenge from the democratic party and the district so further right or far right districts, and because of that, they are

incentivised to carry on like this, they are not expected to govern, they are rewarded by being obstructionist or tearing down what i would call healthier governance. i believe they will continue doing this, making things difficult for kevin mccarthy and those who support him. if kevin mccarthy and those who support him-— support him. if you are right, he is going — support him. if you are right, he is going to _ support him. if you are right, he is going to have _ support him. if you are right, he is going to have to - support him. if you are right, he is going to have to step i he is going to have to step aside? 0therwise he is going to have to step aside? otherwise this will go on and on. if that's the case, who is the alternative? i think that truly the _ who is the alternative? i think that truly the far _ who is the alternative? i think that truly the far right - who is the alternative? i think that truly the far right has - who is the alternative? i think that truly the far right has a l that truly the far right has a stronger hand here, i'm sad to say. i would like to see republican party more committed to governance and finding common ground to solve problems, it's what our country urgently need in a low majority of the house are more aligned with that than not at this point, or at with that than not at this point, orat least with that than not at this point, or at least in this competition, their argument is

that they are the ones who can govern but if kevin mccarthy insists on being the speaker and we go on vote after vote and we go on vote after vote and he is failing, it's going to seem as though actually he is the obstacle to healthy governance in the house and thatis governance in the house and that is when he is going to start, i believe, to lose, even among mainstream republicans, so who will be next? i think the strong likely alternative is steve scalise, kevin mccarthy's deputy, is known to want the speakership himself but appeared to wait patiently for it but i gather that he has been laying the ground very delicately for the moment when kevin mccarthy realises he can no longer persist. steve scalise is someone who is capable of winning the support of both the far right in the mainstream part of the party. i think most likely alternative.

we shall keep a close eye across every twist and turn. thank you for analysis of what is happening currently in us politics. in a few hours' time, pope francis will preside over the funeral of his predecessor benedict xvi at the vatican. he died on new year's eve at the age of 95, nearly a decade after he resigned as head of the roman catholic church. the vatican said some 200,000 people filed past the former pope lying in state before the doors were closed. tens of thousands of people are expected in st peter's square to hear a requiem mass. after the ceremony, benedict will be buried in a crypt beneath st peter's basilica that holds the tombs of more than 90 of his predecessors. the european union is urging member states to impose travel controls on visitors from china, where covid infections have exploded. the guidance includes passengers having a pre—flight covid—i9 test, random tests on arrival, and wearing face masks on flights.

they also want aircraft wastewater tested for the virus. it comes as the world health organisation accused beijing of understating the true impact the recent surge in covid i9 infections in china. we continue to ask china for more rapid regular, reliable data on hospitalisations and deaths, as well as more comprehensive real—time viral sequencing. the who is concerned about the risk to life in china and has reiterated the importance of vaccination including booster dose to protect against hospitalisation, severe disease and death. i'm joined now by anne rimoin, professor of epidemiology at ucla. lovely to speak to you again. there is real concern isn't

there and rightly slow about there and rightly slow about the spread of covid coming from china with the countries taking action to try and prevent that? absolutely. we always worry when we see a surge, so many when we see a surge, so many cases when we see a surge, so many cases of covid because the more this virus has an opportunity to spread, the more opportunity it has to mutate. anything can happen when it mutates. it could amount to nothing but it could amount to nothing but it could result in a very variance thatis could result in a very variance that is problematic to the world, more transmissible and severe, evade the responses from vaccines and therapeutics, so it is very important to keep an eye on this.— so it is very important to keep an eye on this. what do we know about the type — an eye on this. what do we know about the type of _ an eye on this. what do we know about the type of infection - about the type of infection thatis about the type of infection that is currently spreading around china? i know it's hard to get data on what is happening there and also the numbers but what we know about it? is it new variants, is it 0micron, what sort of thing are we dealing with? it omicron, what sort of thing are we dealing with?— we dealing with? it appears to be some variance _

we dealing with? it appears to be some variance related - we dealing with? it appears to be some variance related to i be some variance related to 0micron and a variety of variance circulating stop the major driver of this surge is that china has had a zero covid policy, they now remove these policies as we are starting to see an increasing spread of the virus that has no immunity for infection and don't have updated vaccines that are going to provide good protection either so you just have a very susceptible population. that's really the key here. find susceptible population. that's really the key here.— really the key here. and in terms of — really the key here. and in terms of what's _ really the key here. and in terms of what's going - really the key here. and in terms of what's going on l really the key here. and in| terms of what's going on in really the key here. and in - terms of what's going on in the us, i was hearing this morning in the early hours, there is a new variance in the united states that is of concern, can you tell us anything about that? the new variance we are discussing here that is of concern is another sub— variant, it was first identified in new york but we are seeing an increase in cases but there is no data suggesting that it but there is no data suggesting thatitis

but there is no data suggesting that it is more severe, it's going to have more immunity better at this point. this is alljust because we are seeing more cases, because we see a variant that starts increase in speedin variant that starts increase in speed in terms of taking over as the main variant responsible for infections. we worry about it and want to assess it quickly. it's always this issue of where to have good situational awareness, understand what is circulating on the potential consequences. we run out of time, would love to talk about this further. here in the uk a 2—day strike by rail workers has ended but the misery for commuters is continuing, that's because train drivers are now walking out for 24 hours in a row about pay and conditions. the leader of the union, aslef, has told the bbc its campaign of industrial action could be stepped up to try and force a breakthrough in the dispute. here's our transport

correspondent katy austin. another day, more extensive disruption on the railway. the train companies affected by today's striker either running very limited services or no trains at all as more than 12,000 drivers walk out. the union aslef argues members need a pay rise as the cost of living increases. its leader said no offer has yet materialised from train companies.— materialised from train comanies. ~ ., �* ., ., companies. we don't want to inconvenience _ companies. we don't want to inconvenience people, - companies. we don't want to inconvenience people, we . companies. we don't want to i inconvenience people, we don't want to hurt distances but would left with no choice. at this moment in time we have stronger mandates that we had before, the branches, the people and visiting tommy down at going hard orfast people and visiting tommy down at going hard or fast enough. there is a vast will amongst our membership to continue. the u-rou our membership to continue. the grouo that _ our membership to continue. the group that represents the operators argues with passenger numbers lower than for the pandemic, wanted it called sensible and reasonable reform needed to fund a pay increase. i think we are getting close with aslef, but it doesn't mean

that we've got to start having unequal discussion so i think there is still further work to be done. we're not asking people do longer. theyjust asking people to be more flexible. , ., flexible. the department of transport — flexible. the department of transport said _ flexible. the department of transport said unions - flexible. the department of| transport said unions should step back from strike action so the damaging dispute could end. another national 48— hour strike by members of the rmt is due to begin tomorrow. in their dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions. meetings are expected between the rail minister, employers and both aslef and rmt leaders on monday to try to work out a way forward for. without a breakthrough, there could be more strikes to come. katy austin, bbc news. stay with us on bbc news — still to come: the king of rock and roll down under — the australian festival dedicated to elvis presley.

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: for a second day, us house of representatives has failed to choose a new speaker. there have been six inconclusive votes. the european union urges member states to impose travel controls on visitors from china, where covid infections have exploded. the man known as the architect of the notorious us college admissions scandal has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison. william "rick" singer funnelled money from wealthy parents to university coaches to secure a place for their children at elite colleges. more than 50 people have been convicted for their roles in the scandal. let's talk to our news reporter

azadeh moshiri. william singer has been sentenced butjust remind us what this is all about? it sentenced butjust remind us what this is all about?- what this is all about? it was called operation _ what this is all about? it was called operation varsity - what this is all about? it was | called operation varsity blues because of its connection to sports and the details are pretty shocking. essentially wealthy parents who wanted to get their children into elite schools like yale or stamford gave william singer money and he funnelled it to sports coaches at these elite universities and in exchange they guaranteed these children spot that these universities by marking them as recruits even though these children were not student athletes so they pick low profile sports for these universities, things like water polo or rowing and just a really earn that name of a cheating scandal william singer also help these students falsify their results on couege falsify their results on college entrance exams. some

fairly high—profile celebrities were involved in this. felicity huffman, lori loughlin were both convicted and they essentially had also provided william singer with some money. lori loughlin for example and her husband were accused of bribing half $1 million to get their two students into the university of southern california where they were marked as fake rowers and all this with the help of william singer. 1th this with the help of william sinner. a ,, this with the help of william sinner. �* , ., , singer. as you mentioned he is one of many. — singer. as you mentioned he is one of many, the _ singer. as you mentioned he is one of many, the first - singer. as you mentioned he is one of many, the first person l one of many, the first person to be convicted so took us through the fallout of all of this? , ., through the fallout of all of this? ,., ., ., :: this? yet so more than 50 --eole this? yet so more than 50 people have _ this? yet so more than 50 people have been - this? yet so more than 50. people have been convicted this? yet so more than 50 - people have been convicted so far and this is the longest sentence to date and perhaps a conclusion to this sort of chapter, and the reason he has gotten such a long sentence, prosecutors actually wanted six years, is because he is seen as the architect and the mastermind of all of this which is why he has been charged with

things like conspiracy to defraud the united states and money laundering and he has essentially said that he feels extreme guilt, shame, and remorse for all of this. he said he has lost everything, his assets, that friends and family have shunned him and thatis family have shunned him and that is why he is now living in a mobile home park for seniors. having said all that, he has still been fined $10 million for his role in all of this but it has also set up this debate because there has often been criticism about universities in the united states accepting large donations from parents and then along the way giving their children spot in the universities but that is technically legal and what the courts have decided went on here is fraud and that it is illegal. here is fraud and that it is illeaal. ., ~' ,, , here is fraud and that it is illeaal. ., ~ , . illegal. thank you very much indeed. time now for the sport. hello, i'm paul scott at the bbc sport centre with your sports news. tottenham have secured their first win in three premier league matches to boost their hopes of champions league

football next season. they won 4—0 at crystal palace, to move two points behind fourth placed manchester united. harry kane scored twice in the win for antonio conte's side. the england captain has now scored 264 goals for spurs, only two behind jimmy greaves' club record. son hueng min also scored what was his first goal since 0ctober. now i would when i guess crystal palace, and we have two play in the fa cup, and against city and we want to go there to play all our cards and inaudible because you know the importance to have all players available but at the same time to have a good response of the young players makes me happy. west ham ended their run of five straight premier league defeats, by earning

a 2—2 draw at leeds. gianluca scamacca put the visitors ahead just after half—time, before rodrigo levelled with 20 minutes to play. 0nly goal difference keeps david moyes�* side out of the relegation zone. barcelona survived a scare in the copa del rey as ansu fati scored in extra—time to secure victory against spanish third—tier side intercity. 0riol soldevila, released by birmingham city in england last year, threatened to upset the la liga giants with a hat—trick raphinha struck in the 77th minute but soldevila scored again soon after that took the game to extra time, where fati's deflected finish sent barcelona into the last 16. india wicketkeeper rishabh pant will have surgery in mumbai after being injured in a car crash in the north of the country last week. police said pant�*s car flipped over twice and caught fire after he "dozed off" and lost control.

reports in india said the delhi capitals player suffered injuries to his head, back and leg. damar hamlin's family say he is showing some improvement, but the buffalo bills player is still in hospital under sedation after suffering a cardiac arrest during a match on monday. fans have held candlelight vigils in both buffalo and cincinnati, where the game took place. following the incident, the nfl has indefinitely postponed the game between the bills and the bengals. and finally, american mikaela shiffrin says she's skiing better than she ever has before. she's on the verge of making alpine skiing history, after winning her 81st world cup race on wednesday. victory in the slalom in zagreb has moved her one shy of lindsey vonn's female record of 82, she's also tied the longest winning streak in 25 years, it was her fifth win on the bounce. you can get all the latest sports news at our website, that's bbc.com/sport.

for thirty years a small town in australia has played host to a very important musical event. parkes in new south wales is the venue for a festival paying tribute to elvis presley. in recent years — flooding and covid caused a few problems — but the organisers are hoping this year will be better than ever. the bbc�*s tim allman reports. say g'day to the king of rock and roll. this, just one of 200 orso and roll. this, just one of 200 or so elvis impersonators and fans heading up from sydney's central station. fans heading up from sydney's centralstation. ? fans heading up from sydney's central station. ?_ fans heading up from sydney's central station. ? suede shoes, more blue _ central station. ? suede shoes, more blue suede _ central station. ? suede shoes, more blue suede thongs. - central station. ? suede shoes,|

more blue suede thongs. forget viva las— more blue suede thongs. forget viva las vegas, this is viva new— viva las vegas, this is viva new south wales. everyone is there to have _ new south wales. everyone is there to have a _ new south wales. everyone is there to have a great - new south wales. everyone is there to have a great time. i there to have a great time. it's like one egg happy family, it's like you are back in high school and everyone talks to everyone. it isjust school and everyone talks to everyone. it is just pure fun. i think it's great because they will be comfortable on the 29 degrees heat out at parkes, i will be able to dance freely. thenifs will be able to dance freely. then it's all aboard the elvis express for a six—hour journey to the festival at alf. nearly 25,000 people are expected to attend, twice the population of the town. he attend, twice the population of the town. he will never die while i'm — the town. he will never die while i'm alive. _ the town. he will never die while i'm alive. the - the town. he will never die | while i'm alive. the festival runs for _ while i'm alive. the festival runs for five days _ while i'm alive. the festival runs for five days ending i while i'm alive. the festivalj runs for five days ending on what would have been elvis' 88th birthday. and what with the king have to say? how about thank you very much. blue suede thongs, something

i'd never thought i would here are my programme but we have all heard it this morning. all the business stories next but this is a live shot of saint peter's square, as you can see the vatican in a few hours time where pope francis will preside over the funeral of his predecessor benedict xvi. hello again. there wasn't that much in the way of rain around yesterday but despite that, there was actually still 24 flood warnings in force, most of them in southern england. i think that is really a sign that the ground remains pretty saturated. in the atlantic, things are looking quite busy. we've got an area of cloud that's going to be bringing low pressure to the northwest of the british isles and some wet and windy weather on the way from that. then near canada, this area of cloud is going to be bringing another belt of heavy rain in friday night and into saturday, and that one could bring some area of localised flooding,

i think. for the time being, a mostly dry picture. the brisk winds we had during the day on wednesday are lightening all the while, and those temperatures staying on the mild side for most, eight to ten degrees, even an 11 across england and wales. a few patches of frost possible in well—sheltered areas in north scotland. tomorrow, the best chance at seeing the sunshine will be in the morning across the north—eastern areas where it should be a fine start to the day. 0ut west the cloud will thicken up pretty quickly and we'll see some rain moving in across northern ireland and particularly scotland, where it will be quite windy as the day goes by. the wind still coming in from a south—westerly direction, hence the double—figure temperatures that many of us will have. highs again could hit 13 or even 14 degrees, that's around six or seven degrees above average for this stage of january. beyond that, thursday night, the low pressure winds up and we start to get a zone of strong winds affecting the northwest of the uk. gales, yes, but there probably will be some severe gales across the far north—west. a band of rain sweeps across the country with blustery showers continuing to feed in close to that low pressure centre, then will be to the north of scotland. here on friday, it would be quite blustery with further showers and lengthy spells of rain in scotland

but otherwise, friday is a decent day for most of the country — it's bright with a bit more the way of sunshine. turning a bit cloudy, northern ireland, through the course of the afternoon. still relatively mild, temperatures 11 and 12 across southern portions of the uk. this band of rain going through friday and into saturday could bring some areas of localised surface water flooding. the rain looks heavy, but then what follows is a mixture of plenty of heavy showers, quite blustery conditions. it is going to be windy through the weekend, and some of those showers could merge together to give some lengthier spells of rain. temperatures edging down just a degree or two, but it is still on the mild side but pretty wet at times, too.

this is bbc news with the latest business headlines for viewers in the uk and around the world. new year's resolutions. uk prime minister rishi sunak pledges to tackle the cost of living crisis — illegal immigration — and a creaking healthcare system. we will halve waiting lists, stop boats, these are the people �*s priorities, and the government priorities. delivering bad news. amazon confirms it's cutting 18 thousand jobs — far more than expected — as big tech continues to scale back. a wake—up call on interest rates.

don't expect lower borrowing costs any time soon — say policymakers at the us federal reserve 0na charge! uk sales of electric cars overtook diesels last year