welcome to bbc news. i'm anjana gadgil. our top stories: signs that the historic deadlock in the us house of representatives could be coming to an end — frontrunner kevin mccarthy appears to be making headway. i think you saw we made some very good progress. we'll come back tonight. i believe at that time, we'll have the votes to finish this once and for all. a six—year—old boy has shot his school teacher in the us state of virginia, in what police say was not an accidental shooting. the altercation was between a six—year—old — the student who did have the firearm —

and the teacher, and then a round was fired. ukrainian officials accuse russians of opening fire in several areas, in spite of a temporary ceasefire ordered by president putin. and prince harry faces a backlash from former prince harry faces a backlash from former members of the military over his account of killing taliban fighters in afghanistan. cheering and the flamboyant stars of the drag queen world hit the pink carpet in east london. welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. there are signs that days of deadlock in the us house of representatives could be coming to an end. the senior republican kevin mccarthy says he's confident he'll win enough votes in the coming hours to be elected speaker. so far, he's been blocked 13 times by hard—line conservatives. it comes on the second anniversary of the january

6th attack on the us capitol building. gary o'donoghue reports from washington. commemorating the heroes of january 6th two years ago for their courage in the face of overwhelming odds. it was the moment american democracy teetered on the brink, as protesters, supporters of donald trump, stormed the capitol, bent on preventing the ratification ofjoe biden�*s victory. you know, for those who lost someone on that day, they're proud as the devil that their kin are being honoured but, boy, is it hard. up on capitol hill, democrat members of the house marked the moment in solemn silence, while demonstrating a forceful display of party unity. the tellers agree in their tallies that the total number of votes cast is 431.

but it's been a week of disharmony among republicans. a number of trumpian right—wingers have held out against electing their leader kevin mccarthy as speaker, but while he seems on the verge of cracking their resolve, it's been a long haul. the speaker has not been elected. this week's battle has come at a huge cost to the republican party, with the concessions already granted to the hard right significantly weakening the role of speaker, and the next two years are likely to be dominated by further internal fights. while the battles have continued, congress has been at a standstill. no legislation, no committee work, the internal warfare on view for all americans to see. i think you saw we made i some very good progress. we'll come back tonight, i and i believe at that time, we'll have the votes to finish this once and for all. - itjust reminds me of what my father always told me, - "it's not how you start, it's how you finish". .

so despite winning a narrow majority in the recent elections in the house, republicans remain hugely divided. donald trump looming large over that divide and the consequences of january 6th still at the heart of a deeply troubled politics. gary o'donoghue, bbc news, washington. for more on this, let's now speak to elisabeth anker, an associate professor of american studies at george washington university. if kevin mccarthy does get across the line, which he thinks he will, how much authority will he actually be able to command? he authority will he actually be able to command? he might be seatin: able to command? he might be seating -- _ able to command? he might be seating -- giving _ able to command? he might be seating -- giving up— able to command? he might be seating -- giving up a _ able to command? he might be seating -- giving up a huge - seating —— giving up a huge amount of the power of the speaker. he will be giving a lot of the far—right fringe of the republican party key committee assignments, giving them power to shape the rules. and importantly, giving them power to veto his power, giving

them even 1% at this point in them even 1% at this point in the entire republican caucus can now vote to overturn mccarthy as speaker, at least call that to a vote. this is a power that he did not give away at the beginning of this week. so all of a sudden, we see mccarthy becoming significantly weaker. and what that is going to mean that already fractious party is going to become even more fractious and even more dysfunctional if mccarthy becomes speaker. lise dysfunctional if mccarthy becomes speaker. dysfunctional if mccarthy becomes seaker. , ., becomes speaker. use the word dysfunctional, _ becomes speaker. use the word dysfunctional, but _ becomes speaker. use the word dysfunctional, but that - becomes speaker. use the word dysfunctional, but that has - dysfunctional, but that has been the way it seemed from the us, but what does that mean for the republican party going forward? i the republican party going forward? ~ ., ., forward? i think we are going to continue _ forward? i think we are going to continue to _ forward? i think we are going to continue to see _ forward? i think we are going to continue to see this - forward? i think we are going to continue to see this level. to continue to see this level of dysfunction. usually, what the voting for speaker is a pro forma vote, it is something that goes quite smoothly, it is the one moment that the party is unified before they get down to the business of governing and working out different plans and working out different plans and ideas. if they cannot even

do something this basic at this moment, i see it virtually impossible they will be able to govern successfully. so on the one hand, it means it is going to be hard for the republicans to be hard for the republicans to get some of their ideas past and the legislation passed, but it also means that basic functions of government like funding the government and like having basic rules for how bills become a law, all of that is going to stop as well so we are going to see a lot of problems going forward. find problems going forward. and what does — problems going forward. and what does it _ problems going forward. and what does it mean _ problems going forward. and what does it mean for the democrats, are they going to be able to capitalise on this? we have seen _ able to capitalise on this? - have seen them capitalising a lot on it this week. they are more unified this week than they usually are, the republicans are often considered a party that is more unified than the democrats, but we are seeing the democrats this week quite unified. trying to portray themselves as the party that can actually get government to function, the party that is not out to destroy government, but out to enable its functioning. so in

many ways, i think we have seen a lot of discontent even among the republican base, and i think the democrats are trying to position themselves is not the clown show that we are seeing in congress right now, but as the party that can actually get stuff done. elisabeth anker, thank you. voting is due to start in just under an hour. let's bring you some breaking news now. a six—year—old boy is in police custody, after a teacher was shot and wounded at an elementary school in virginia. mechelle hankerson is the news director at whro public media. shejoins us now from virginia. thank you very much for talking to us about this. what more can you tell us about what happened?— you tell us about what happened? you tell us about what ha ened? ., ., �* happened? right now, we don't know a lot- _ happened? right now, we don't know a lot. we _ happened? right now, we don't know a lot. we have _ happened? right now, we don't know a lot. we have the - happened? right now, we don't know a lot. we have the details| know a lot. we have the details you just mentioned. we know the six—year—old child is in custody, we also know that the teacher had life—threatening injuries, they are being

treated for that. but that was i want to say about two hours ago we got that information, so thatis ago we got that information, so that is about as recent as we have. but nothing else has come from the police department. and from the police department. and how are peeple — from the police department. and how are people and parents particularly feeling about what has gone on today?— particularly feeling about what has gone on today? yes, i think arents has gone on today? yes, i think parents are _ has gone on today? yes, i think parents are scared, _ has gone on today? yes, i think parents are scared, especially l parents are scared, especially initially in some facebook groups, community facebook groups, community facebook groups, parents were seeing a bunch of emergency vehicles racing towards the school, going towards there. obviously, it takes a little bit of time to communicate what was going on so i think there was a lot of fear, especially considering our area of of fear, especially considering ourarea of virginia of fear, especially considering our area of virginia just experienced a mass shooting in november, so i think that was the immediate fear. so november, so i think that was the immediate fear.— the immediate fear. so your area experienced _ the immediate fear. so your area experienced a - the immediate fear. so your area experienced a mass - area experienced a mass shooting as recently as november, so people must still

be feeling very afraid about this kind of thing. this exacerbates that issue, doesn't it? ~ , exacerbates that issue, doesn't it? ~ _,,, y exacerbates that issue, doesn't it? absolutely, absolutely. we have been _ it? absolutely, absolutely. we have been lucky _ it? absolutely, absolutely. we have been lucky is _ it? absolutely, absolutely. we have been lucky is not - it? absolutely, absolutely. we have been lucky is not the - have been lucky is not the right word, but our area has not had a mass shooting at a school. we have had school shootings in the last few years, we had another mass shooting in 2019 in virginia beach, which isjust across shooting in 2019 in virginia beach, which is just across the water from beach, which is just across the waterfrom newport beach, which is just across the water from newport news, beach, which is just across the waterfrom newport news, where this child shot the teacher. so we are not immune to this issue a mass gun violence in our community. it doesn't get any easier and it certainly is not easy when it happens even on a small scale. easy when it happens even on a small scale-— small scale. and what you exnect? — small scale. and what you exnect? it _ small scale. and what you expect? it is _ small scale. and what you expect? it is now - small scale. and what you expect? it is now friday i small scale. and what you - expect? it is now friday where you are going into the weekend, what do you expect the community to be doing over the weekend to support each other this incident? we weekend to support each other this incident?— this incident? we know in a lot of cases when _ this incident? we know in a lot

of cases when these _ this incident? we know in a lot of cases when these things - of cases when these things happen, schools offer services to students, so if they need someone to talk to, a school, social worker, a school counsellor, school systems will provide that the students if they need it. i am not aware of any sort of community visual event or anything like that, so i don't suspect anything super big over the weekend —— community vigil. i anticipate we may get some more information monday about potential charges, like you mentioned, the child is in custody. the other aspect to this is that in virginia, we have a child access prevention law, meaning that adults who essentially allow a child to use a firearm, if the firearm is not kept safely or if for some reason, they give a child a firearm to use in an uncontrolled environment, that adults can face a criminal charge and jail time. so i am anticipating that we might get some more information about

that. ~ ~ some more information about that. ~ . ., ~ ., ~ that. mechelle hankerson, thank ou ve that. mechelle hankerson, thank you very much — that. mechelle hankerson, thank you very much for _ that. mechelle hankerson, thank you very much for your— that. mechelle hankerson, thank you very much for your time - that. mechelle hankerson, thank you very much for your time and | you very much for your time and it is a story we will follow closely here on bbc news. ukraine has accused russia of continuing its offensive, despite president putin announcing a 36—hour ceasefire to mark the russian orthodox christmas. ukraine didn't agree to the truce and has dismissed it as a cynical ploy by the russians, to resupply their forces. there have been reports of continuing artillery fire on the frontline near the city of kramatorsk, which is in ukrainian hands. our correspondent james waterhouse sent this update. very few expected this ceasefire to actually work. this is a part of ukraine which is no stranger to war. before the full—scale invasion, the army had been fighting russian—backed separatists here. we are very close to the front line, and we've already heard sirens. a possible symptom of the ceasefire not working. but relatively close by, in the city of bakhmut, where we're seeing some of the heaviest fighting,

there have been reports of artillery fire being exchanged by both sides. russian forces have accused ukraine of targeting its positions. ukrainian officials close by have accused russian forces of doing the same. i think these accusations and counter accusations were expected. but, look, vladimir putin had said he wanted to allow orthodox christians to celebrate christmas. all the early signs suggest that this was probably more part of the information war, rather than a meaningful gesture of goodwill. stay with us on bbc news. still to come: we'll tell you why prince harry is facing a backlash from the british military over his memoir.

this is bbc news.

the latest headlines: signs that the historic deadlock in the us house of representatives could be coming to an end — frontrunner kevin mccarthy appears to be making progress. a six—year—old boy has shot his school teacher in the us state of virginia, in what police say was not an accidental shooting. the mexican president has defended the military operation that captured a drug cartel leader, ovidio guzman, the son ofjailed drug trafficker el chapo. violence erupted in culiacan, a stronghold of the cartel. at least 19 members of the sinaloa cartel and ten members of the military were killed. the arrest comes ahead of a visit by president biden to mexico on sunday. shelley phelps reports. the son of the notorious drug lord el chapo arrested and taken to the same maximum security prison his father escaped from eight years ago. ovidio guzman is accused of leading a faction

of his father's former cartel — one of the largest drug—trafficking organisations in the world. the arrest sparked a wave of violence. dozens were killed, including ten military personnel. the president of mexico has defended the operation. translation: we regret the loss of lives of those who died - while carrying out theirjobs. we also regret other losses. following the arrest, dozens of vehicles were set alight, and at least two planes at local airports were hit by gunfire, in attacks blamed on the sinaloa cartel. translation: these criminal i organisations shot with weapons at aircraft and the mexican air force, and from commercial airlines, and at the international culiacan airport facilities. nevertheless, they did not achieve their goal of resucing the alleged offender

because we neutralised him. this isn't the first time such violence has been seen. guzman was first captured in 2019, but mexican security forces released him to avoid the threat of further retribution from his supporters. we, of course, have been closely following... he's been on america's radar for years, with the us state department previously offering a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction. on sunday, president biden is due to visit mexico, but ministers have rejected suggestions by mexican media that guzman's capture is in any way a welcoming gift. shelley phelps, bbc news. northern california has been battered by torrential rain, heavy snow and severe flooding for the last three days. tens of thousands of homes are without power and it will cost thousands of dollars to put right the trail of damage that's been left behind. the seaside towns of santa cruz and capitola bore the brunt of the storms

as wendy urquhart reports. residents of santa cruz wander through the streets taking in the damage wrought by the storms, but it must be almost impossible to know where to begin when this is what you're faced with. trees have been ripped up by their routes and there is debris everywhere. local resident sean berry can hardly believe his eyes. there's a house down at the end of the private neighbourhood that completely lifted off its foundation, it's sitting in the middle of the street, blocking the rest of the neighbourhood off. you know? till they move that, nobody�*s getting out of the end there. some six miles south of santa cruz, the seaside town of capitola was completely devastated. 35—foot waves told the wharf apart and brought down the wooden walkway to the pier, which is highly popular with tourists. waterfront businesses are completely submerged, and firefighters are hard at work clearing away fallen trees and debris.

so, the clean—up is under way, but locals are already bracing themselves for the next wave of storms that are predicted to batter the coastline in the coming days. wendy urquhart, bbc news. prince harry has been criticised by military leaders for claiming in his memoir that he killed 25 taliban fighters, while serving in the army air corps in afghanistan. he describes the dead men as "chess pieces". a former british commander has called his comments "ill—judged". it's one of a series of claims he makes in the book, where he also talks about being the younger brother, the extent of his drug taking and, more recently, how he found out the queen had died from the bbc website, rather than from his family. our royal correspondent, daniela relph, reports. it is a raw, unflinching story of his life — intimate, even embarrassing, details shared. pain, anger, sadness explored. prince harry's spare

has spared very little, and the reaction to it has been polarising. in the book, harry describes the day his grandmother the queen died. his family travelled to balmoral without him, after a row. harry eventually charted his own flight. by the time he arrived in scotland, the queen had died. he found out as his plane was about to land. it is some of the personal stories that are perhaps the most shocking to read. harry tells us in great detail how he lost his virginity, aged 17, to an older woman in a field, behind a pub. he confirms that he had a relationship with the tv presenter caroline flack, who died almost three years ago. and in the book, and in the interviews to publicise it, he describes using drugs

as a teenager. there's a fair amount of drugs — marijuana, magic mushrooms, cocaine. i mean, that's going to surprise people. but important to acknowledge. elsewhere, his main american interview deals with racial bias in the media. i had no idea the british press were so bigoted. hell, i was probably bigoted, before the relationship with meghan. this would be familiar territory for diana in many ways. she cooperated on her own book filled with revelations. almost 30 years on, that shock factor has been repeated. do you think this book is going to be very damaging for the royal family? i think it will have damage. because remember, diana always used to say to me that harry was the back—up to william, in the nicest possible way. that that's the reason why she had two boys. and she wanted harry to be william's wing man not,

as we've seen, his hitman. reflecting on his army service in afghanistan, in the book, harry says he believes he killed 25 taliban fighters — a claim many in the military view as a misjudgment. i think he's wrong when he says in his book that insurgents were seen just as being virtually inhuman, subhuman perhaps, and just as chess pieces to be knocked over. that's not the case at all, and it's not the way the british army trains people as he claims. and in an extraordinary development, the taliban has criticised harry, saying the people he killed were humans, with families waiting for their return. the publishers promised insight, revelation and self—examination. the book seems to have delivered. and there may be more to come, as his well—trailed tv interviews are broadcast in the coming days, including a more light—hearted turn on a late—night american chat show.

tuesday, in a late—night exclusive, that's an exclusive, right? prince harry will be right here, on this show. prince harry's truth is well and truly out there. from the royal family, still no comment. daniella relph, bbc news. it's funny, flamboyant and, most of all, fabulous. drag has a long history in london. and the stars of the drag queen world gathered to strut their stuff down a pink carpet in the city. wendy hurrell was there. hello from the pink carpet, laid out for dragcon at the london excel centre. brightening up the grey, dreary months are the sequins and the wigs and the flamboyant artistry of the finest drag queens. and this is an important convention because it is where people can feel accepted and be themselves. having 150 queens from the phenomenally successful tv

show rupaul�*s drag race in the same room? well, there's some energy. and we were left to marvel at a parade of elaborate costumes and make—up that adorn these performers. which allows forfull expression of their extravagant personas. some fans got quite emotional. ever since i found her, it'sjust kind of like... solidarity with the weird girls, you know? that is why i got so emotional there. it's such an escape from reality, having so much fun watching them perform. they're just amazing, ijust love it. the queens are no less excited to be here to meet them. this time of year is so tough to keep motivated and smiling and keep going. how do you do it, darting? i think the biggest thing to do is paint on a smile, put your favourite colour on and just have a gorgeous time. january is tough on everyone, especially with the cost—of—living crisis, christmas

is over, it's bleak, so it's so important to do something that makes you feel fabulous and to give you those endorphins that make you feel happy and positive. and if you smile, the world smiles with you. in a wider context, this kind of gathering is important for the lgbt community. this is a safe place. this is a place where your tribe can come together and be whoever you want to be. and ru's always said, the thing about drag is that becoming the image of your imagination is one of the most powerful things you can do, and that's what dragcon is all about. it's just a really good way to build community with other people, especially if you don't really know anybody who's queer in your hometown. it's just really important that it's accessible - for everybody and just to show that this is something that - should be celebrated. it celebrates women, it doesn't make fun of us.

obviously, the majority are gay men, but now it is more like cisgender queens getting into the limelight and ijust really love that. ru paul is now on the decks. over to sell it, baby. we have been queens, me and you, we have got you lot. so come over here, baby, and have a gorgeous time. love you! see you! well, they are busy ladies! wendy hurrell, bbc london. a reminder of our top story. there are signs that days of deadlock in the us house of representatives could be coming to an end. the senior republican kevin mccarthy says he's confident he has enough support to be elected speaker in the coming hours. you will find lots more on all the stories we're covering — just head to bbc.com/news — or download the bbc news app. you can reach me on twitter. i'm @anjanagadgil.

you are watching bbc news. hello there. friday was a calm and settled day, thanks to a ridge of high pressure. fine end to the working week, however. into the weekend, low pressure firmly in control. it's going to be windy with gales, certainly around the coast, and there will be some rain, followed by bands of heavy showers. that's the early rain that will move through today, and that will be followed for the rest of saturday and sunday with blustery showers, strong winds and some sunny spells in—between. most of the showers in the south and west. you can see here the rainfall accumulations over the next couple of days, where most of those showers will be falling. a very wet start for saturday across more central and western areas. that rain band gradually pushing eastwards, affecting eastern england during the latter part of the morning. by around lunchtime, it should

clear out into the north sea. all areas are brighter, with sunny spells, scattered showers, some heavy ones across southern and western areas, and it will be windy with gales around coasts. you can see the wind speeds even further east, but touching gale force around southern and western coasts. some huge waves crashing onshore as well. temperatures starting mild and dropping back into the afternoon, highs of 8—11 degrees. it stays blustery overnight saturday night, windy gales in the north and west, plenty of showers in southern and western areas, drier interludes further east, and temperatures falling to lows of 5—8 degrees — that's pretty typical. then for sunday, an area of low pressure to the north of scotland, lots of isobars on the charts, not quite as many as saturday. so it's still going to be windy, not as windy, and weather fronts towards the south will enhance the shower activity. so it could be southern and western parts of england and wales seeing the heaviest of the showers through the day. some heavy, some rumbles

of thunder, some hail mixed in as well, but there will be some sunshine around too. but it's going to be a chillier day across the board, highs of 7—10 degrees in the south. monday is a little bit quieter, we are in between weather systems. still quite blustery in the north and west. here's where we will see most of the showers — northern ireland and scotland, could be a wintry element to some of these over the high ground, as the air will be cooler on monday. highs of 5—8 degrees here, up to around 10 degrees in the south. this is a little closer to the seasonal norm. so, the weather's up and down as we head through the new week. tuesday's mild, wet, windy again. followed by some slightly cooler weather on wednesday.

this is bbc news. the headlines: there are signs that the historic deadlock in the us house of representatives could be coming to an end. the senior republican kevin mccarthy says he's confident he'll win enough votes to be elected speaker. so far, he's failed 13 times. mr mccarthy has been repeatedly blocked by hardline conservatives. a six—year—old boy has shot his school teacher in the us state of virginia, in what police say was not an accidental shooting. officers have taken the boy into custody. the teacher, a woman in her 30s, is in hospital with what's being described as a life—threatening injury. ukraine has accused russia of continuing its offensive, despite president putin announcing a 36—hour ceasefire to mark the russian orthodox christmas.

ukraine never agreed to a truce and they've dismissed it as