thank you forjoining us. republican congressman mikejohnson is re—elected as speaker of the us house of representatives. he will lead the 119th us congress, sworn in friday with the smallest republican majority in nearly a century. because of that narrow majority, mrjohnson could only afford to lose one republican vote for the speakership. he fell short in a first round of voting when three republicans chose members other thanjohnson. but after a closed—door meeting, two switched their vote tojohnson, leading to this moment on the house floor. the honourable mikejohnson of the state of louisiana, having received the majority of the votes cast, is duly elected speaker of the house of representatives for the 119th congress. 218 voters were needed to for mrjohnson to win the speakership. 218 is the number he received. some hard—right republicans were unhappy withjohnson�*s leadership and threatened to prolong the process. but in his acceptance speech, mrjohnson pledged to unite

the party around what he called president—elect donald trump's "common sense agenda". afterfour years of high inflation, we have a big agenda, we have a lot to do and we can do it in a bipartisan fashion. we can fight high inflation. and we must. we will give relief to americans and we will extend the trump tax cuts. what we're proposing now is just simply, as president trump likes to say, a return to common sense, and he's exactly right. that message resonated across the country. i am very thankful personally that this body is filled with men and women who are committed to that change, to return to common sense. we can do this together. we should. it is our responsibility to do so. trump supported johnson's bid to remain house speaker. he congratulated johnson in a post online, calling it an "unprecedented vote of confidence". on the house floor, minority leader hakeem jeffries congratulated speakerjohnson, acknowledged donald trump's election win and drew a contrast with the election denialism from 2020.

one should love america when you win and when you lose. that's the patriotic thing to do and that's the america that house democrats will fight hard to preserve, because we love this country. america is bigger than any one campaign, any one election or any one individual. after the vote, i spoke to congresswoman stephanie bice, a republican from oklahoma, who's a member of the congressional doge caucus. congresswoman, great to see you again. now that the speaker has been elected, mike johnson, again, been elected, mikejohnson, again, reelected, what are your priorities for this congress? i think that my priorities really align with president—elect trump's rarities, that is first and foremost securing our southern border. and then getting our economy back on

track. i represent the great state of oklahoma, and families in oklahoma are paying about $800 more per month than they were four years ago so focusing on the economy and pro—kalama, that also means we are in an energy state, and making the united states energy dominant once again is going to be a priority for me and for president trump stop what i want to ask you about some of your colleagues in congress, the handful that will hold outs —— the handful that were holdouts. -- the handful that were holdouts.— -- the handful that were holdouts. they ended up changing _ holdouts. they ended up changing their _ holdouts. they ended up changing their minds - holdouts. they ended up changing their minds but holdouts. they ended up - changing their minds but they had some concerns specifically about having a voice at the table when it comes to legislation getting past. it also fiscal responsibility for stubbed do you share some of those concerns?— those concerns? certainly i think a physical _ those concerns? certainly i think a physical response l think a physical response relate is incumbent on all of us. we are $36 trillion in debt and we have to figure out how do we address this increasing number. in looking at ways to do that to something all of us have i think a vested interest in, so i understand they want to look at it, but it is

something all of it should be focused on for the under 19 congress. d0 focused on for the under 19 confirm-— congress. do you think the president-elect _ congress. do you think the president-elect is - congress. do you think the president-elect is on - congress. do you think the president-elect is on the l congress. do you think the - president-elect is on the same president—elect is on the same page? in his first term he added trillions to that debt. there are ways you can reduce the deficit but also make sure that the economy is roaring for study more than we create economic opportunities for americans, the better off the economy is going to be, and actually the lower that that number will be, and so it is kind of a balance and we have to be mindful of that, but i think it is doable. do you think it is doable. do you think those _ think it is doable. do you think those old _ think it is doable. do you think those old outs - think it is doable. do you think those old outs that| think it is doable. do you i think those old outs that we saw in that boat today, that will end up being a challenge for some of the agenda that you mentioned, that not only president—elect trump has but also you and your colleagues? looked, governing can beat sometimes difficult, and everyone has an opinion, and wants their voice to be heard, and whether it is the freedom caucus or i am part of the republican main street tacos, we all want to make sure that come to the table and negotiate things in good faith and i think that is exactly what the

freedom caucus is asking. i have had good discussions with them over the last couple of months, as we are moving towards today, i believe that they are honest brokers when it comes to trying to negotiate deals for stubs sometimes we do not agree on processes, but i think that this just shows that we are willing to come together and get things done. many people do not believe that speakerjohnson would be elected on this very first ballot, and certainly it took a little bit of time to get there, but we were able to get it across the finish line, and i think you would do this again in the hundred 19th.— i think you would do this again in the hundred 19th. what about workin: in the hundred 19th. what about working across _ in the hundred 19th. what about working across the _ in the hundred 19th. what about working across the aisle? - in the hundred 19th. what about working across the aisle? we i working across the aisle? we heard hakeem jeffries, nonminority leader, say he wants to make sure you're americans and notjust americans and not just republicans americans and notjust republicans and democrats. actually, i am working on a bipartisan initiative right now it's chrissy houlihan from pennsylvania on a paid family leave initiative. it is something both can get behind

and i'm looking purchasing energy behind that. before we let ou energy behind that. before we let you go. — energy behind that. before we let you go. i — energy behind that. before we let you go, i want _ energy behind that. before we let you go, i want to _ energy behind that. before we let you go, i want to ask - energy behind that. before we let you go, i want to ask you l let you go, i want to ask you one question about the president—elect. have seen the news that next week he will have to appeal for sentencing —— have to appear for sentencing in your. this is the conviction on the hush money trail in new york. what your thought on that? what do you think of that? i thought on that? what do you think of that?— think of that? i have not seen an of think of that? i have not seen any of that — think of that? i have not seen any of that news. _ think of that? i have not seen any of that news. i _ think of that? i have not seen any of that news. i have - think of that? i have not seen any of that news. i have beenj any of that news. i have been on the house floor most of the afternoon, so i have to do a little bit of digging into that to see what the dynamics are for that particular hearing next week. with congress sworn in and the speaker vote concluded, democrats begin the session in the minority. i spoke with congresswoman pramila jayapal, a democrat from washington, about her party's priorities. congresswoman, thank you again forjoining us on bbc news tonight. republicans say after this vote today they are ready to govern and that their ability to get speakerjohnson through

on one ballot — the first ballot — shows that. do you agree? look, let's see what they do, but i think they did learn from the fact that they had to go 15 rounds with kevin mccarthy and it was such a mess, and so i think one thing they learned is they need to have an alternative, and i think there was no clear alternative to mikejohnson. so it was a little touch—and—go. i will note that nine republicans either voted no or held their votes until the end, and that is the exact number that is in the new rules package to get rid of the speaker in a motion to vacate, so i do think they were still sending a message and i think it's going to continue to be difficult for republicans to govern without democrats stepping in and hopefully making it a more inclusive and bipartisan process. but let's see. if they can do it on their own, they will. do you believe there are some promising areas of bipartisan work that can be done in this specific congress? it's very difficult to know what is said but is a lie

or not going to be the case. if donald trump actually wanted to raise wages, which he has said he wants to do, of course that would be something that democrats would want to work on. if they really wanted to take on corporate monopolies, as others have said they want to do, that would be something to work on. if they wanted to work on humane immigration policy that expands legal pathways for immigrants to come to this country, that would be something we would want to do, but ijust... colour me curious at this point. i don't really know if that's what they're going to do or if that is just what they are saying, in the same way donald trump said he was going to lower prices, and then the minute he was elected, he said that he thinks his tariffs are going to raise prices for americans across this country. so let's see what they do, but in this rules package, there is nothing, not one

thing, that actually raises wages and lowers costs for the american people. it is all a big distraction for the fact that they want to continue to benefit the wealthiest at the expense of middle—class and working people. so, coming back to immigration, donald trump has said he has received a mandate, having won the popular vote, all swing states, the republicans control the senate and the house, on a platform of cracking down significantly on immigration and, as he has said, securing the border. is that something you see as what americans want? i really think that what americans want is a functioning immigration system that does secure the borders and provides legal pathways for immigrants to come to this country. despite everything, the xenophobic rhetoric of the republican majority, americans believe immigration is good for america, but we need a system that works. and you've seen the wars already erupting between elon musk and laura loomer and other fox conservatives, maga extremists.

i'm not sure that the republicans will be able to get anything done on immigration that is about reforming the system to make it work. that's what democrats are going to be ready to do. we will have real policies that show people what it looks like when we have a functioning immigration system. what could you do with those policies, however, in the minority in congress and with donald trump in the white house again? you never know when we can get enough republicans on farm workers, on dreamers. these are things that have been traditionally bipartisan, and if we have the opportunity to work on those things together, we certainly will. and i think we'll look for every opportunity to do that. a judge in new york set january 10 as the date for donald trump to be sentenced following his conviction on charges of paying hush money to an adult film star. it's a little over a week before mr trump is due to return to the white house as president. his lawyers had filed a motion for dismissal, arguing that having the case hang over him would impede

his ability to govern. justicejuan merchan has denied the motion but said he was not inclined to impose a jail sentence. mr trump will be the first convicted felon to hold the white house. our north america correspondent nada tawfik has more on what the judge had to say. the judge ultimately said that he believes the most viable option to finalise this case but also to leave open the ability for donald trump to appeal moving forward is that he favours a sentence of unconditional release. essentially, that means that he plans to sentence donald trump with no punishment, so no jail time, no probation. and so it really signals that he wants this conviction to stand, he talked a lot in this ruling about the sanctity of a jury verdict, that being the bedrock of the nation's judicial system and the sanctity of that, and also the fact that he needs to make sure that the citizenry has confidence in the rule of law and nobody

is above the law. equally, it shows that he understands the complexity here, given that donald trump will become president. so, judgejuan merchan saying he won't dismiss this case, that presidential immunity does not extend to a president—elect and that donald trump will have to be sentenced, but that he intends to issue no punishment in this case. nada tawfik reporting for us there. the white house says presidentjoe biden will visit new orleans on monday, following a vehicle attack in the city's french quarter that killed 1a people and injured dozens on new year's day. authorities say the man behind the attack, shamsud—dinjabbar, placed explosive devices near the area before driving a truck into the crowd. the fbi says the army veteran acted alone and had declared his support for the group calling itself islamic state. in videos he made before the deadly attack, the 42—year—old talked about killing his family as well. an american college football player, an aspiring nurse and a mother of a four—year—old are among the victims.

the uk foreign office also confirmed a uk national was one of the victims. one of the first funerals of the 1a victims has taken place. karim badawi, an 18—year—old, was in the city celebrating with friends. tom bateman has the latest. allahu akbar. an american community brought together in grief, seeking strength in prayer. allahu akbar. one of the 1a families left shattered on new year's day, now among the first saying the goodbye no parent ever should. kareem badawi was just 18, a college student from this louisiana city of baton rouge. he left that night with a simple goodbye, a promise to be careful, and went to celebrate in new orleans. his family's future now emptied of their shining star by a single act of hate. his father, belal, told me they went to the city to search for him. we all just couldn't

believe and live with it and we couldn'tjust understand why this happened, you know, that somebody took our loved one. he is my little son, my little son, and, you know the little son, just, like, the most beautiful that we love in the house, so kareem was just so close to us and we all got touched, you know, by him, not with us any more. kareem had graduated from school last summer. described as a smart, popular kid, he loved football, a rock on his high school team and close to his older brother, omar. a couple of days ago as well, we were talking about how we were getting old and stuff, and how, like, a few years — i'm 21 now — injusta few years, when he graduates college, i'll be 24, 25, we were talking about that, and obviously that's not the case no more, anything like that. that's the last few

memories i have of him, the last few conversations. this attack leaves a trail of communities devastated — the new year spent in mourning, having to let go of the ones they loved. tom bateman, bbc news, baton rouge, louisiana. more than 110 palestinians — including children — have been killed over two days of intense israeli attacks across gaza. al—mawasi was one of the areas hit in central gaza, which was previously declared a humanitarian safe zone. the israeli military said it had hit around a0 hamas targets, including command centres. the surge in strikes and casualties comes amid a renewed push by negotiators to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal between israel and hamas before us president—elect donald trump takes office on january 20. talks are set to resume, with israeli mediators making their way to doha on friday. here in the us, apple will pay $95 million

to settle a court case over some of their devices listening without the user's consent. the tech company was accused of eavesdropping through its virtual assistant siri. apple says they have done nothing wrong and claims that it "failed to delete conversations recorded as a result of a siri activation" without consent. a class action law suit has also been opened. court documents say claimants who are based in the us could be paid up to $20 for each siri—enabled device they owned from 2014 to 2019. the us�*s top diplomat will travel to south korea. the us state department says into leave lincoln will depart saturday for talks in the capital followed saturday for talks in the capitalfollowed by saturday for talks in the capital followed by stops in japan and france —— secretary of state antony blinken. it

comes after bodyguards ported an attempt to arrest impeached president yoon suk—yeol. mr yoon is under investigation for insurrection after he attempted to declare martial law last month. a court in seoul issued a warrant for mr yoon's arrest tuesday, after he repeatedly failed to appear for questioning into that probe. early friday morning, anti—corruption investigators arrived at the presidential palace to serve that warrant but were blocked by members of the presidential security service. that refusal triggered an hours—long stand—off and raucous protests — both pro— and anti—yoon — outside the presidential compound. investigators later retreated and are now asking the country's acting president, choi sang—mok, to order the guards to hand over mr yoon. here's what one of the anti—yoon demonstrators had to say. translation: i came rushing out to this place filled _ with anger over the fact that yoon suk—yeol has not been swiftly arrested and that they are resisting and not properly complying with the warrant. i feel extremely frustrated. this state of rebellion has left people psychologically demoralised. i feel a deep sense of gloom at the thought that situation might continue for a prolonged period of time. sydney seiler is a long—time diplomat and intelligence officer focused on the korean peninsula, who's now a senior adviser to the korea chair at the center for strategic

and international studies. i spoke with him to get an assessment of president yoon's situation. what happens if he continues to refuse to comply with this investigation? i think president yoon is mobilising his legal team to begin to openly challenge through whatever mechanisms are necessary the authority of this cio office, this corruption investigation office. it was stood up in 2019 to act as a counterbalance to the prosecutor's office, where yoon came from originally. the prosecutor's office works for the president, the head of this cio works for the national assembly. -- is —— is appointed by the national assembly. this is about power, not necessarily getting down to the facts of what happened the evening of the martial law. so it's a power struggle, you're saying, sidney? can i ask you this, then? the country is very polarised — we heard that in the sound

bite we just heard before you from an anti—yoon demonstrator. what impact do you think that has on south korean democracy? i think it strengthens it. i have been doing to refer a0 years. —— doing korea. i first went to korea in the 1980s, when demonstrations like this were marked by tear gas one way and molotov cocktails and rocks on the other way. democracy has grown remarkably over the ensuing decades. it looks stunning, the pictures of these large numbers of people in rallies screaming at the top of their lungs, expressing frustration and what—have—you, but it is really part of the political participation process, and there is no reason to believe that any of the democratic pillars of the republic of korea are at risk through what is evolving now. and i think at the other end of all of this, probably the impeachment will be upheld, there will be an election and we will have a new president somewhere probably during the summer or later.

let's turn to some other headlines now. the us surgeon general has proposed that alcoholic drinks should carry warnings about the risks of cancer. vivek murthy said that alcohol is the third most common preventable cause of cancer after tobacco and obesity and is responsible for 20,000 deaths each year in the united states. share prices of us listed alcoholic beverage, these fell a%. germany's foreign minister is warning syria's new leaders not to establish an islamist government, after bashar al—assad was forced from power last month. annalena baerbock is visiting the syrian capital damascus alongside her french counterpart. they met syria's de facto leader ahmad al—sharaa and visited the notorious saydnaya prison, where opponents of the assad regime were tortured and killed. it's the highest—level visit by western powers since the rebel group hayat tahrir al—sham seized power. air pollution monitors say hanoi in vietnam is currently the most polluted city in the world. the city has been covered in thick smog over recent weeks. it is caused by a combination of atmospheric conditions

and increased emissions, as more fuel is burnt for heating during the colder winter months. the government says it will encourage greater use of electric vehicles, to help address the problem. and us presidentjoe biden blocked the takeover of us steel by a larger japanese firm as part of his campaign promise to keepjobs in the us. mr biden cited national security concerns while rejecting a bid by nippon steel. he said us ownership is important to keep the country's steel industry and supply chains strong. australia's northern territory is home to more than 100,000 saltwater crocodiles living in the wild, the largest population anywhere in the world. although croc attacks are rare, last year saw the area's first fatal incident since 2018, reigniting the debate over culling. our australia correspondent katy watson reports from darwin. one of the world's most—feared predators. but this is a dream job for kelly and david — removing saltwater crocodiles that have come too close to the city.

every week, they're out on the water, securing the salties — as they're known here — and getting them on board safely. yeah, that'll do. one little slip up with these guys normally ends up with broken jaws or something like that, you know? onto the next trap. there are 2a in this harbour, which is used forfishing — and even by some brave swimmers. some people might think, "why do you need to capture crocodiles? just let them be." it's ourjob to try and keep people as safe as we can. obviously, we're not going to capture every crocodile, but the more we take out of the harbour, the less risk there's going to be an encounter with crocodiles and people. whoa! that's a big tail. one of the crocodiles just, like, flipped its tail. and they're pretty strong. and my seat happens to be right next to their heads. these will be culled — because, if released, there's a high chance they'd return to the harbour. their removal is part of the northern territory�*s new ten—year plan to manage

the more—than—100,000 crocs that live in the wild here. and they've recently upped how many they can remove, to control the numbers. for a species once nearly hunted to extinction, it's a huge turnaround. we've done what very few people can do — which is take a very serious predator and rebuild their numbers back to what they were historically, and then manage them in such a way that the public is prepared to put up with them. # don't hunt by yourself # if you're fishing with a spear- # always make sure that someone else is near... i there's also an education programme that other countries are now borrowing. police are searching for a child missing from a remote northern territory community, who has reportedly been attacked by a crocodile. but every time someone dies, it reignites the debate about crocs living alongside people. the fact is, they bring in money. croc farms were introduced to stop illegal poaching, and famous fashion labels have bought stakes in them. tourism's a money spinner,

too, and there's a real push for aboriginal communities to benefit. it's in remote areas that many crocodiles live alongside people, so they're a huge part of the culture. we've conserved an animal that actually kills people. what we've got to do is provide benefits to aboriginal people to continue to tolerate living with crocs when they can't go to theirswimming holes and the likes. so one of the benefits that we actually deliver is a commercial outcome, it's a job outcome. we've got to make sure that aboriginal people are the primary beneficiaries of the industry. sacred totems and valuable villains — looking after these salties is a delicate balancing act. katy watson, bbc news, in darwin. before we go... the 17—year—old british darts sensation luke littler is the youngest ever player to win the world championship. he beat the three—time world champion michael

van gerwen comfortably, seven sets to three. the teenager won half a million pounds at the tournament in london. the british prime minister, sir keir starmer, said it was an inspirational performance under immense pressure. thank you so much for watching bbc news. you can always get the latest on our website. more news coming up. thank you for watching and stay tuned. hello. if you have travel plans this weekend, it's probably worth keeping an eye on the weather forecast because wintry weather could cause some quite significant disruption. met office amber warnings have been issued for snow and ice during the weekend, particularly covering parts of wales, the midlands and up into northern england as we head through saturday night and on into sunday. so what's going on? well, cold air has set in across the uk, this cold arctic air sitting in place. and then from the south—west, some milder air tries to make a move. and along the boundary

between the two, we have this weather front. as this weather front moves into the cold air, well, it is that that will generate some significant snow for some of us, but also some rain down towards the south as things turn milder. saturday morning, though, starting with some fog, especially down towards the south — freezing fog after a cold night. and after that foggy start, with cloud rolling in from the south, i think across some southern parts, it will be quite a grey day. more sunshine for northern england, northern ireland and scotland, although there will be some wintry showers. in fact, some more widespread wet and wintry weather moving across the northern isles. temperatures really struggling. in aberdeen, it may not get above freezing through the afternoon. even further south, highs of 3, a, 5 degrees. but as we head through saturday evening, that wet weather moves into the south—west of england, maybe some snow over higher ground, but that snow developing more widely as our weather system moves into wales, the midlands. over some of the highest ground here, we could see 30cm of snow, maybe up to a0cm eventually across the high

ground of the pennines — that snowfall moving its way into northern england. but notice what happens down to the south by the end of the night. 12 degrees there in plymouth for sunday morning, some much milder air to the south. and so some of what falls from the sky will be turning back to rain across parts of wales, the midlands. that could give ice for a time. further snow, particularly across high ground in northern england, but maybe to low levels for a time. some snow into southern and eastern scotland, perhaps just clipping into the south—east of northern ireland. some big temperature contrast on sunday afternoon — cold in the north, much milder further south. but that mild air in the south is not going to last. as we head into the new week, it is going to turn cold again. we should see a fair bit of sunshine, but we do continue to have the chance for some wintry showers. bye for now.

this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. this week, lara is feeling

the pressure...in her eyes. and if those eyes are feeling the cold, how about some anti—fog sunglasses? talking of headwear, here's a 3d printerfit for a queen. and when is elephant ivory not from an elephant? when it's from a 10,000—year—old fossil. chris has the tech to tell the difference. if you were just handed that, could you tell? no. not immediately. yep. it's going to be a mammoth show. martin: those of us who wear glasses know exactly how annoying it can be when they fog up.

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