this is bbc world news. our top stories. after dramatic scenes in the us house of representatives, the republican kevin mccarthy is finally elected speaker — at the fifteenth attempt. it's not how you start it's how you finish, and we need to finish strong for the american people the uk's prime minister is meeting health officials in an attempt to tackle the ongoing challenges facing the nhs iran hangs two men for allegedly killing a security official during anti—government protests. a six—year—old boy has shot and injured his school teacher in the us state of virginia, in what police say was not an accidental shooting.

hello and welcome to bbc world news. kevin mccarthy has been elected speaker of the us house of representatives after heated exchanges which almost saw fellow republicans come to blows. it took four days, 15 votes, and numerous concessions, but the 20 or so rebels within his own party were eventually persuaded. sancha berg reports. after more than four days, it was over... ..of which the honourable i kevin mccarthy of the state of california has received 216. cheering and applause ..to cheers from republicans in the house. chanting: usa! usa! usa! the democrat leader, hakeem jeffries, handed over the gavel. . .. kevin mccarthy.

cheering and applause ..to the new speaker's clear relief. that was easy, huh? laughter i never thought we'd get up here. this should have been a straightforward process, after republicans won a slim majority in the house last year. it usually takes just one ballot. not this time. a speaker has not been elected... a speaker has not been elected... it took 15 ballots because right—wing republicans refused to vote for their own party leader. after arm—twisting and promises, some shifted. but this process, and the concessions granted to break the deadlock, mean problems most likely lie ahead. basic functions of government — like funding the government, like, you know, having basic rules for how bills become a law — all of that's going to stop as well, so we're going to see a lot of problems going forward.

it's two years since the capitol came under attack. the problems now are part donald trump's legacy — his supporters, the ones who've delayed this vote. sanchia berg, bbc news. here in the uk, the prime minister, health secretary, and ministers from the treasury are meeting health experts in downing street to try to tackle the ongoing challenges facing the nhs in england. i asked our political correspondent, damian grammaticas, if this meeting will make a difference. that is a good question because the pressures facing the health service and broader than that, the sort of hold care system from your family doctor all the way through hospitals, emergency surfaces write to the social care that deals with people when they come out of hospital or elderly people, although that is under intense pressure at the minute. and really struggling at this point in the winter so can this deliver? well, the first thing it delivered to the prime minister is the impression, the impact that he

is doing something about this. in facing this crisis. the opposition party status too little and too late and he should have done more and actually, there was a meeting back in december which is not prevented things happening but some of those going in, well, from areas like social care, like emergency ambulance services, saying it is useful to be around a table and discuss, but it is pretty much, the best way to think about it is it is a sort of managerial strategy sort of meeting amongst bosses and it is something that could have a sort of impact, medium, long term, most likely, trying to refine the way the health service works. what it does not do is immediately tackle the current political issues right now and also, the big political issues and that really comes down to money. how much money the government prepared to spend, particularly for the workforce, they are deeply unhappy at the minute. there are overworked, underpaid, the current payoff that they have for this year

is way below inflation. they're taking strikes over that. this does not address any of that. president zelensky has welcomed a decision by the us to supply ukraine with armoured fighting vehicles for the first time. he said they were exactly what the country needed. the bbc�*s hugo bachega is in kyiv. millions of people across the country are celebrating orthodox christmas, one of the most important days in the ukrainian calendar, and this is an important day here, at kyiv�*s pechersk lavra monastery. this is the seat of the ukrainian orthodox church, which has ties to russia, and today for the first time in history the christmas service here is being led by leaders of the orthodox church of ukraine, which is an independent church. it gained independence four years ago. so this is a moment that is being celebrated here as a very significant moment. some people have said that

this is a christmas miracle. some people who are here today told us they believe this is the day that is marking ukraine's independence from the russian church. this day is obviously happening as the war continues. president putin announced a unilateral ceasefire to allow people, in his words, to celebrate orthodox christmas in parts of the country where fighting is happening. now some ukrainian officials say that russian forces have continued to attack ukrainian positions in some parts of the country, especially in the east of the country, and the ukrainian authorities had dismissed this announcement by president putin as cynical propaganda, but i think for those gathered here today, this is a moment of reflection, to mark an important day, orthodox christmas. hugo bachega. iran has hanged two men for allegedly killing a security official during anti—government protests. both were convicted of causing

the death of a member of the loyalist basij militia near tehran. three others have been sentenced to death in the same case, while11 received prison sentences. the trials are highly politicised, and the defendants are not granted choice of their own legal representation. here's more from our bbc monitoring colleague, the iran analyst, khosro kalbasi isfahani. these two men were executed this morning. despite the number of people executed to four. these two men went through a court proceeding which took only one week according to amnesty international, it was a sham trial that had no resemblance to judicial proceedings. sham trial that had no resemblance tojudicial proceedings. and sham trial that had no resemblance to judicial proceedings. and what the state has broadcast in relation to these cases is a bunch of videos that shows this militia man

allegedly being beaten up, and some confessions from these two men that are described by rights groups as forced confessions. this is the case and what we know about it. find forced confessions. this is the case and what we know about it.- and what we know about it. and as ou and what we know about it. and as you mentioned. — and what we know about it. and as you mentioned, the _ and what we know about it. and as you mentioned, the comment - and what we know about it. and as | you mentioned, the comment from human rights groups including amnesty international is that it is a sham trial and it has been criticised. whatever iranian officials had to say? iranian officials had to say? iranian officials are _ officials had to say? iranian officials are consistently - officials had to say? iranian - officials are consistently defending these court proceedings. one thing thatis these court proceedings. one thing that is important to note is that, after a run�*s supreme leader delivered a speech demanding that theirjudiciary should act delivered a speech demanding that their judiciary should act severely and should bear in the festering wound, thejudiciary handing out these execution sentences. and this is not a new tactic of the regime.

the islamic republic has been handing out death sentences to political prisoners for four decades. in the 1980s, thousands of protesters were executed summarily. right now thousands of protesters are in jail right now thousands of protesters are injail and rights groups say that dozens of them can face execution split among them are least three teenagers who have been sentenced to death. prince harry is facing more criticism over claims made that he killed 25 taliban fighters during his service as a helicopter pilot in afghanistan. in his memoir "spare", he describes them as �*chess pieces removed from the board'. our reporter zoe o'brien is at buckingham palace with the latest. well, it was late on thursday evening that we began hearing about the content of prince harry's memoir. that's due to be published on tuesday and it's fair to say

that the comments that he's made about taliban fighters have dominated the headlines today and caused upset and disappointment among the military community. now, we've heard from ex—colonel tim collins. he is a retired commanding officer. he told force news that harry has badly let down the side and this just isn't the done thing for people in the army. he said you would never count the notches on the butt of your rifle. we've also heard from senior taliban leaders, them saying they may have been your enemy, but these were people with families to go home to. we haven't heard anything from buckingham palace we haven't heard anything from kensington palace so far, although that is not entirely unusual. that may change in the coming days because we know that prince harry has taken part in a number of pre—recorded interviews to promote his memoir. now, the first of those is going to go out on itv tomorrow evening at 9pm and then on monday morning we will see more on american tv networks.

now, i know he said in his tv interview that he wants reconciliation with his family, but first he says there must be truth and accountability. he's also cast doubt over whether or not he will be at his father's coronation in may, saying a lot can happen between now and then. now, of course, when those interviews air, the royal family will have another decision to make about whether or not they will comment publicly about what he has said — again, on tuesday, when the memoir is published. at the moment, that is not looking likely. it seems they're going to want to have this play out away from the public eye, especially this year in the king's coronation year. the majority of train services across britain will not run today, as rail workers from the rmt union continue their 48 hour walkout. the strike is part of an ongoing dispute about pay, jobs and working conditions. people are being asked to avoid travelling by rail unless absolutely necessary.

our business correspondent marc ashdown was outside king's cross station. passengers have wearily got used to this over the past month or so, haven't they? not many trains at all running out of king's cross or anywhere in the uk, withjust 20% of services running today. any trains which have started a lot later this morning, and you won't get train after 6pm and this evening in some areas of the uk have no services whatsoever. a glimmer of hope really is this is the final strike for the time being. we've had a whole christmas calendar of misery but this 48 hour strike by the rmt finishes tonight and ok, things will take a little while to get back to normal tomorrow, but by monday we should have a full service and no planned for the time being. a long—running dispute sincejune. 40,000 members of the rmt union involved in this dispute a overjobs, pay and working conditions. there is enough on the table, a pay rise but without them

certain conditions that the union says they simply cannot countenance. one of them is driver—only operations. and you do get a train you will notice the guards who open and close the doors, the companies want to have drivers start to do that instead. it has always been a red line in the sand for the union but we understand overnight cabins and whispers that that could now be up for negotiation and possibly might be taken off the table. if that did happen there is every chance things could get moving but the government would have to endorse it, though. one positive, fresh talks starting on monday again. a six—year—old boy has shot and wounded a teacher at a school in the us state of virginia. police say the teacher — a woman in her 30s — suffered serious injuries in an altercation at richneck elementary school in the city of newport news. mechelle hankerson, the news director at whro public media in virginia has been following the story. we also know that the teacher

had life—threatening injuries, we know the six—year—old child is in custody. but they are being treated for that, but nothing else has come. i think parents are scared. from the police department. especially initially in some facebook groups, a bunch of emergency vehicles all racing towards the school, community facebook groups, parents were seeing, you know, going towards there, and, obviously, it takes a little bit of time a bunch of emergency vehicles all racing towards the school, to communicate what is going on, so i think there was a lot of fear going towards there, and, obviously, it takes a little bit of time especially considering we, ourarea of virginia just experienced a mass shooting in november. lunchtime kick—off is already over. let's take you through some of the earlier results after a difficult

few weeks. a welcome win for southampton. an error by goalkeeper. saints have a place in the fourth round, 2—1, it finished. leicester city are also three. took them until the second half to find a goal against the bottom side in the football league. only one goal of the game. it football league. only one goal of the name. . , football league. only one goal of the name. ., , , football league. only one goal of the name. . , , ., the game. it was a very, very tough came for the game. it was a very, very tough game for us- _ the game. it was a very, very tough game for us- it _ the game. it was a very, very tough game for us. it has _ the game. it was a very, very tough game for us. it has been _ the game. it was a very, very tough game for us. it has been a - the game. it was a very, very tough game for us. it has been a hard - game for us. it has been a hard season for them in their own league but they showed real battling qualities and showed quality time as well and today, and billy difficult conditions, know, in terms of the wind and everything else, we had to be really strong and concentrate to get the result. be really strong and concentrate to get the result-— get the result. elsewhere, harry kane moved _ get the result. elsewhere, harry kane moved within _ get the result. elsewhere, harry kane moved within one - get the result. elsewhere, harry kane moved within one of - get the result. elsewhere, harry kane moved within one of a - kane moved within one of a goal—scoring record. victory against portsmouth. he has now scored 265

spurs goals, one behind the legendary player.— spurs goals, one behind the legendary player. you, try to not think about _ legendary player. you, try to not think about it. _ legendary player. you, try to not think about it. sometimes - legendary player. you, try to not think about it. sometimes i - legendary player. you, try to not think about it. sometimes i feel| think about it. sometimes i feel like you can think too much to try and achieve something, it almost goes out of the way to obviously feeling in good form, fit and we've got plenty of games coming up so i just got to into each game trying to help the team. that is also always be my main site and hopefully the goals will come.— be my main site and hopefully the goals will come. spurs are through to the fourth _ goals will come. spurs are through to the fourth round. _ goals will come. spurs are through to the fourth round. you _ goals will come. spurs are through to the fourth round. you can - goals will come. spurs are through to the fourth round. you can see . to the fourth round. you can see most of them there. bournemouth one. one all at the riverside between middlesbrough and brighton. on the late kick—off liverpool face wolves in an all premier league tie at anfield but liverpool will be without their main defender. the

dutchman has been billed out for a month due to a hamstring injury. you'll make that is what i'm talking about all the time and i say we have to reduce games, fa cup or whatever. it's just because the best players play all the time. that's how it is. and people tell us, can we leave the mall to rotate, who leads the best players out. it is not that easy. the first tennis grand slam of the year gets under way in just the first tennis grand slam of the year gets under way injust nine days' time at this year's australian open will not include the men's world number one. the spanish player is missing from melbourne because of a leg muscle in injury which he picked up in preseason training. he was hoping to add another grand slam to his collection after winning the us open in september. last year it was novakjock of h who was knocked

there, the clear favourite for this year's tournament. more tennis on the spot website. keep across everything that is happening in a busy afternoon in the third round of the fa cup. will keep you updated on bbc news but for me and the team thatis bbc news but for me and the team that is all for now. back to you. china is preparing to scrap its covid quarantine rules for travel on sunday, it's been called the great reopening. the relaxation makes travel into and around china a viable option for the first time in three years. it's happening just as the country prepares to celebrate its annual lunar new year — an event which, in pre pandemic times, is the world's biggest human migration. it's causing concerns about tens of millions of covid infections. joe inwood reports. in the world's most populous nation, at the world's biggest ice fair, they're making final preparations for the world's biggest migration. this is the annual harbin snow festival, the centrepiece of the regional tourism sector.

it is an industry that has been on ice. but with the government abandoning its zero—covid policy in time for the lunar new year, that is all changing. china is opening for business. translation: compared to the last two years, - we are seeing far more tourists. after they lifted the covid restrictions, there was a significant increase in visitors. i'm confident harbin's tourism will recover. people are still looking forward to coming here. they're expecting nearly 2.1 billionjourneys to be made over the lunar new year. that's twice as many as in 2022, although still below the 3 billion made before the pandemic. while most of those will be made by people who live in china, with international travel restrictions easing this weekend, there is also expected to be a rising number coming from abroad. people like this woman.

she runs an organisation promoting links between the british and chinese film industries, and hasn't seen herfamily in more than three years. it's taking the soul out of me, not being able to travel and connect with people on a personal level. that's the call for myjob and for family gathering as well, so not being able to be there in person, um, yeah, is... it's very damaging, i think. i can't wait to see them, to really hug them. i mean, i've seen them, videos on the news, people hugging at airports and being united, reunited but i haven't had a chance yet, so i cannot wait to give my mother a kiss and to hug my brother. the change in policy was as swift as it was dramatic. since the start of the pandemic, entire cities have been locked down to stop outbreaks — the so—called zero—covid strategy. crowd shouts. but after three years

of draconian restrictions, the public seemingly had enough. an unprecedented wave of protests swept across many towns and cities in china. under huge pressure, the government scrapped a policy it had spent three years saying was vital for public health. what is really the legitimacy of the chinese government? it is still largely resting on providing a reasonable level of income, providing a reasonable level of living standard for its ordinary population, so economically, the economy still prioritised over, in this case, pandemic control, so i think the message has been quite clear from the government in december, for the central economic work conference, it's mostly about saving the economy in 2023. and the impact of that decision is already being seen in china's hospitals.

the lifting of restrictions has led to a huge surge in covid cases, with the world health organization accusing the government of vastly under—reporting the death toll. there are fears the virus is out of control and that the coming holidays will make that even worse. joe inwood, bbc news. it's a huge weekend for the technology industry as the annual consumer electronics show takes place in las vegas. it's chance for thousands of companies to display their new gadgets in the hope of securing investment — but this year all russian firms have been banned from taking part, while some ukrainian ones have been paid to attend. our north america technology reporterjames clayton reports. ukraine has spent nearly a year now facing attacks across the country. bombings, the targeting of infrastructure and blackouts. so how do you run a tech company at a time of war? well, 12 ukrainian companies have come here to las vegas to prove that it can be done. ces is the biggest tech show

in the world, a chance for these start ups to attract investment. this is the ceo of g—mac, a home security company. it is a sort of amazon ring on steroids. multi—tone sound siren with an annoying effect not only stops a criminal, but wakes up the neighbours and informs everyone about the intrusion within a 100m radius. the device can spray tear gas into a room if it detects an intruder. but, he says, almost all of his staff are now fighting on the front line, and some have have been killed. we lost five people. five people? yes, from our team. and obviously that must be devastating for you, how does that affect the company? it motivates us to support their families. lyubomyr is now looking to move production to the us. artem is a programmer who founded a kitchen design set up. based near kyiv, he struggles

to find electricity to power his computer. sometimes i'm, my work day limited by the battery of my computer, so what i do, i go to a gas station, because they have a generator and they allow you to charge your computer or take coffee, so i try to somehow charge my computer. so you were working from a gas station to try and do your start up? actually many people do this. mariana works for a company that makes crockery from old coffee beans. based near kharkiv, they've had to move 500 miles east to lviv after the war started. we had a lot of missile attacks and a lot of rockets, so it was a real danger to be in sumy. that is why we relocated to lviv. there are no commercial flights out of ukraine. many of these entrepreneurs have taken days to get here, but they are hoping it will be worth it if they can secure investment from western backers. you know, it's very hard now

in ukraine to do your business. first of all, it is hard to find investors in ukraine because all our investors and big companies, they try to support army, they try to support ukrainian people, so it is very hard to find some investors in ukraine. ukraine is a country that has showed innovation on the battlefield. fighting against a much larger military force has often taken ingenuity. this group of entrepreneurs are trying to show that innovation isn'tjust limited to the battlefield. james clayton, bbc news, las vegas. ijust want i just want to show you some pictures that have been released by downing street. as you can see, this has just been released, downing street. as you can see, this hasjust been released, it downing street. as you can see, this has just been released, it is of that meeting we were telling you about earlier. the meeting between the prime minister, you can see where she is a knack in the middle. health secretary can see steve barclay, a meeting between them and also amanda prichard from nhs england. they are all meeting

including with treasury ministers to try to discuss challenges facing the nhs in england. that is a picture that hasjust been nhs in england. that is a picture that has just been released of that meeting and we will bring you more on that later as we get it. if you want to talk through stories we have been having today you can reach me on twitter. now it is time the weather forecast with ben. good afternoon. heavy downpours make up one half of our weekend weather story. the other side of the coin, some very strong and gusty winds whipping up some big waves along some of our coasts. what's in charge of the weather at the moment? well, it's a big area of low pressure. this swirl of cloud on the earlier satellite image. this band of cloud here brought rain for many of us through the first part of the day. that rain clearing eastwards. behind it, sunny spells but scattered heavy showers with some hail and some

thunder mixing in. the winds picking up once again towards the end of the day around some western areas and temperatures as we close out the afternoon between seven and ten degrees. so as we head into tonight, our area of low pressure, quite a deep low, pushes close to the northwest of scotland, gales likely around some western coast, but especially in western scotland with gusts of 60 to 70 miles per hourfor a time through the night, there will be further showers blown along on that strong wind, some clear spells in between. and partly because of the strength of the wind, it's not going to be a particularly cold night, lows between four and eight degrees. so we head into sunday and it is a sunshine and showers day. some of the showers will be heavy with hail and thunder. the showers tending tojoin up into bands. and it's likely that across high ground in scotland, say above four orfive hundred metres, we will see some snow mixing in. it's going to be another windy day. some inland spots perhaps not quite as windy as today, but very blustery around some coasts, particularly out towards the west. and temperatures again between seven and ten degrees.

now, as we look ahead to monday, there are some more showers in the forecast being blown across the country by this quite brisk north westerly wind. that's bringing some slightly chillier air. so some of the showers will be wintry over higher ground, say, from wales northwards. but most of what falls on the sky will be rain. temperatures in a range between six and ten degrees. now, a brief window of drier weather for monday night, but that doesn't last long. on tuesday, this next frontal system will hurtle in from the atlantic. that's going to bring further heavy rain, some strong and gusty winds. and then as we look further ahead through the week, it does stay quite unsettled. showers or longer spells of rain. maybe turning a bit colder in the north by the very end of the week.

this is bbc world news, the headlines: after dramatic scenes in the us house of representatives, the republican kevin mccarthy is finally elected speaker. it took 15 rounds of voting for mr mccarthy to win the job, despite his party having a majority in the chamber. the british prime minister, health secretary, and ministers from the treasury are meeting health experts in downing street to try to tackle the ongoing challenges facing the nhs in england. senior doctors say hospitals are on a knife—edge. iran has hanged two men for allegedly killing a security official during anti—government protests which have lasted for more than three months.

family members say they were not permitted to meet the men