this is bbc news. welcome if you're watching here in the uk or around the globe. our top stories: after dramatic scenes in the us house of representatives, the republican kevin mccarthy is finally elected speaker at the 15th attempt. it's not how you start, it's how you finish, and now 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 national health service. iran hangs two men for allegedly killing a security official during anti—government protests. and fighting on a new front — we meet the ukrainian tech entrepreneurs seeking investment from the west.

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! 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. benji hyer, the us correspondent for feature story news, was in the chamber until the final vote. he says things got heated, as lawmakers struggled to find consensus. it was pretty wild, actually. an extraordinary night even by us standards and the reason for that is the context that was alluded to in the report just there which is that these representatives who had not really been sworn into the lower chamber of congress had been going through this process for nearly a whole week and there were 15 votes they had to get you to actually get to that stage and i think there was this sense of desperation and a willingness to finally push this over the line and, in a sense, that is why there were so many heightened emotions in the room in the early hours of saturday morning. confrontations between the speaker going face—to—face with one

of the rebels who had staunchly opposed him throughout this whole process and intervention from another republican colleague who had to be physically restrained on the house floor and also a call from the former president of the united states which was put on speakerphone by one of his allies, the controversial republican representative marjorie taylor greene. people watching, press and the families of the representatives were pretty exhausted after notjust a day of votes but four consecutive days and many especially on the republican side were simply relieved it was all over. it was partly due to concessions being made. how has that made a difference to kevin's position and strength? it is going to be instrumental. now he is in a far more vulnerable position going forward. the only way he was able to persuade those 20 or so republicans

or enough to come over to his side was to offer them, for example, key positions on committees, where they will be able to shape legislation that gets to the house floor. also one measure which is going to be a one motion, one member motion to vacate. the idea that any representative at any time can decide to propose a vote of confidence in kevin mccarthy, trigger that vote then it is held which means essentially he has to appease everyone all the time otherwise he could be in a situation where just one congressman or woman decides to propose that vote of confidence. this has been a policy in the past but the political landscape this time is rather different. the republican party is fractured, it is divided. kevin mccarthy still clearly has these opponents within his ranks and even though

the republicans won the house of representatives in the november mid—term elections, ultimately the majority were so slim it is going to be very difficult for kevin mccarthy to keep his party functioning together. there's been a deadlock putting a pause on things for several days. what is top of the agenda now? there is going to be some areas in which the republican party can agree and a committee set up. just generally, a check on the president, joe biden, given that the senate, the other chamber controlled by the democrats, this is the republican�*s opportunity to hold the opposition party or the party in power to account but as i mentioned before i think it is still going to be a tricky vote ahead and it is not the last we'll hear from those rebels in the next two years. 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. these pictures, showing the meeting in number 10, were posted on social media by rishi sunak. with record waits for ambulances dropping patients off at a&e, and reports of patients spending days on trolleys because of a lack of beds, senior doctors say the health service is on a knife edge. our correspondent sean dilley reports. reporter: how bad is the nhs crisis? it's a good question. what difference will today make? and there's another, that the health secretary steve barclay and ministers could be asked by those attending. on the front line, the pressures are clear. we've come in to 31 patients on the corridor and four patients on ambulances. there are 85 patients awaiting a medical bed, so these are patients that they've been seen in a&e and been seen by the medical doctors and are deemed to need to stay in. they need further care on a medical ward. unfortunately, there aren't any medical beds available.

the whiston hospital in merseyside is not alone — it's a similar picture across the country. strike action and high levels of covid and flu are contributing to the pressures. 7 million people in england are waiting for non—urgent operations. the government says it's called today's meetings to tackle the most crucial challenges. its four areas of focus will be gp services, emergency care, waiting lists and delays in discharging patients into social care. today's talks have been called by the government and are being led by the prime minister. health leaders, clinicians and medical experts are among those attending. but one of today's attendees, the health secretary steve barclay, is preparing for more talks on monday. he's meeting union leaders to discuss next year's pay settlement, but they say they're still unhappy with this year's. they want to talk about the future and they want to talk about this in broad terms. we'll, of course, go to the meeting and make the case for nursing in all forums,

but it's sadly not what's going to prevent the strike action that's planned for ten days' time. today, though, the government says it wants to focus on unwarranted variations in performance in different areas, but senior doctors have been warning for some time that the nhs as a whole has been operating on a knife edge. sean dilley, bbc news. our political correspondent damian grammaticas is in downing street. this is his analysis of the meeting between the prime minister and health leaders. the pressures facing the health service and broader than that, the sort of whole care system from your family doctor all the way through hospitals, emergency surfaces right 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 for the prime minister is the impression, the impact that he is doing something about this and facing this crisis. the opposition party say it is too little and too late and he should have done more and actually, there was a meeting back in december which has 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. —— current critical issues.

how much money the government is prepared to spend, particularly for the workforce, they are deeply unhappy at the minute. there are overworked, underpaid, the current pay offer that they have for this year is way below inflation. they're taking strikes over that. this does not address any of that. the european union has strongly condemned the executions of two men in iran for allegedly killing a security official during ongoing anti—government protests. the bloc�*s head of foreign affairs, josep borrell, said the eu was "appalled" by the hangings. human rights groups have also condemned the killings, saying 20—year—old seyed mohammad hosseini and mohammad mahdi karami, who was 22, endured sham trials and were unable to choose their lawyers. here's more from our bbc monitoring colleague, the iran analyst khosro kalbasi isfahani. these two young men were executed this morning. this brought 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. 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. 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. what have iranian officials had to say? iranian officials are consistently defending these court proceedings. one thing that is important to note is that, after a run�*s supreme

leader delivered a speech demanding that their judiciary should act severely and should burn the festering wound, thejudiciary started 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 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. 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. the chinese social media platform weibo has banned or suspended more than a thousand accounts which criticized chinese

coronavirus specialists. weibo said the accounts carried out personal attacks and encouraged violence. they did not specify which posts had prompted the action. much of the online criticism on the platform have been criticial of experts who had defended beijing's sudden decision to drop restrictions, despite supporting them only weeks ago. russian—backed forces in ukraine say they've downed a drone aimed at the crimean port of sevastopol. ukraine has not confirmed the attack but it appears to be another sign that the temporary truce called by president putin has been ignored. 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. the majority of train services across britain are not running 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 reports from king's cross. yeah, i mean, this is the usual story, isn't it? we had five days of this now. the fifth straight day with no trains at all, really. just 20% of services across the uk are running today. i'vejust been inside here. i've got to say, it's like eerily quiet — there are no trains on the board whatsoever. of course, some services are running. if you are lucky enough to get a train, they started a lot later this morning. they will be finished, though, by early evening. you won't get many trains at all past about six o'clock this evening, and, of course, large areas of the uk will get no services whatsoever. now, the good news is after a week

of strikes this is the last one. once this 48—hour strike by the rmt union finishes tonightjust before midnight there will be no more strikes for the foreseeable. there are no dates on the diary at all, but make no mistake this dispute is farfrom resolved. it's been rumbling on sincejune, of course. involves 40,000 members of the rmt union, this specific dispute. half of them work for the 1a rail companies and half of them work for network rail, which operates all of the signalling, the, sort of, plumbing of the system, really. now, it is overjobs, a pay rise and working practices. there is a pay offer on the table, of course, but it's some of those conditions that are really red lines for the unions. just for example, driver—operated only trains. so it can't have escaped your attention if you take a train at the moment, the guards are the ones that open the doors and operate those. the companies want to update that, so they want the drivers to do that instead, and that's always been a red line for the union, but we have heard strong whispers overnight that that may be up

for negotiation and possibly removal from the deal, which, i have to say, would certainly seem to get things moving. no promises at the moment, though. no—one's confirmed anything. everyone keeping their cards close to their chest. our business correspondent. it's a huge weekend for the technology industry as the annual consumer electronics show, known as ces, takes place in las vegas. this year, all russian firms have been banned from taking part, while some ukrainian ones have been paid to attend. here's our north america technology reporterjames clayton. 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. an italian man has admitted stealing more than a thousand unpublished manuscripts, many written by high—profile authors. filippo bernardini impersonated figures from the publishing industry to trick people into handing over their works. authors who were targeted include margaret atwood, ian mcewan and sally rooney. bernardini pleaded guilty in new york to wire fraud, but his motive has never been clear. manuscripts were not found to have been leaked on the internet, nor were any ransom demands made. it isa it is a mystery! you can reach me on

twitter. stay with us here on bbc news. saturday has provided a blustery first half of the weekend. there have been some heavy downpours as well. wins have been a strong enough to whip up some quite rough seas around some of our coasts. it is a big area of low pressure dominating right now. this is the satellite picture from earlier on, this swirl of cloud. here's the center of the low. that's where it was earlier on this afternoon. and as we go through tonight, the centre of this low will be passing to the northwest of scotland. very strong winds continuing to affect many western parts. gales are likely around some western coast of england, wales, northern ireland, most especially western scotland, with gusts of 60 to 70 miles per hourfor a time

through the night. there will be further showers, some of which will be heavy, some clear spells as well, partly because of the strength of the wind. it is not going to be a cold night, 4 to 8 degrees. so into tomorrow, it is a sunshine and showers day. but those showers will tend to be quite heavy. there could be some hail and some thunder mixing in the showers likely to line up into bands as well. and with some slightly chillier air pushing in, we could see some wintriness in the showers over high ground in scotland, say above four or 500 metres elevation. it's going to be windy again, particularly for western coast, maybe not quite as windy as it has been today for some inland spots. temperatures between seven and ten degrees. now, as you move into monday, again, there are some showers to be had, some of those on the heavy side. and again, perhaps some wintry showers over the hills and mountains in scotland. still quite windy. the wind coming down from the northwestjust accentuating a slightly chillier feel. six degrees there for aberdeen, ten for cardiff, 11 for plymouth. but those temperatures by no means unusual for this time of year. as we move into tuesday, we see another frontal system pushing in from the atlantic that

will bring outbreaks of heavy rain northwards and eastwards across the uk, maybe some snow over high ground in scotland for a time. but between this warm front here and this cold front here, we're going to have what we call a warm sector, a wedge of mild air. so look at the temperatures for tuesday, eight degrees for glasgow, but 11 for belfast, 13 for cardiff, 1a there for london. as we look further ahead, it does stay quite unsettled towards the end of the week. mild for the most part, it may turn colder in the north by the very end of the week.

this is a bbc world news. the headlines: after 15 rounds of voting in the us house of representatives, the republican kevin mccarthy has finally been elected speaker — it followed heated exchanges which almost saw fellow republicans come to blows. 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 before they were killed. as ukraine celebrates its orthodox christmas, russian—backed forces there say they've downed a drone in breach of a temporary ceasefire. it appears to be another sign that the christmas truce called

by president putin has been ignored.