welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. the first sitting of the new us house of representatives has been full of drama. three attempts to elect republican kevin mccarthy as speaker of the house have failed. he hasn t been able to secure enough support from his own party a group of right wing republicans have refused to back him, and the california congressman has refused to drop out of the race. it s the first time in 1000 years that a speaker hasn t been elected in the opening round of voting. 0ur correspondent in washington, will grant, explains the significance of the stalemate. of this is not the way that kevin mccarthy or the republicans wanted the first day in congress is a majority to go. not by a long way. by the third round of voting, as many as 20 republican colleagues did not vote for him, denying him the chance of taking speaker of the house. why does any of this matter? first and foremost because of that role is particularly important in
humanitarian ceasefire in gaza. every other member of the council backed the resolution, apart from the uk, which abstained. palestine condemned the result as a terrible day for the council, but israel thanked the us, saying a ceasefire would give hamas - which is classed as a terror group by many western governments, including the uk a chance to regroup. our correspondent hugo bachega reports. in gaza, there is no safe place, says the un secretary general. the healthcare says the un secretary general. the healthca re system says the un secretary general. the healthcare system is collapsing, hospitals have come battlegrounds, and palestinians have no shelter or anything else needed to survive, he says. this was the scene in khan younis in the south yesterday, in the aftermath of an israeli abstract, as the military pushes ahead with its against hamas. hours later, the un in new york, the secretary general called for a ceasefire and how did this warning. there is a high risk
for most of the pandemic, but abruptly eased them in december. azadeh moshiri reports. china is opening up again, or at least it is trying to. the countries in almost three years of strict covert restrictions, and mostly close borders. covid. now it is scrapping into travel restrictions from the eighth of january. travel restrictions from the eighth ofjanuary. but travel restrictions from the eighth of january. but with an easing of its street covid policy has come a rise in cases and there are fears the chinese government may be under reporting infections as well as deaths. some aspects predict that could already be more than 2 million cases a day. you that could already be more than 2 million cases a day. 2 million cases a day. you want to limit case 2 million cases a day. you want to limit case number 2 million cases a day. you want to limit case number so - 2 million cases a day. you want to limit case number so the - to limit case number so the virus does not get the opportuni
of like a tidal wave. this storm is truly unprecedented in scope, stretching from canada to mexico, affecting 60% of the us population. presidentjoe biden has promised the full force of the federal government to help those most affected, and while the bad weather has already started to ease, problems will likely persist for days. this is a holiday season no one will soon forget. it should have been a time for cheer. instead, the bomb cyclone has brought misery. nada tawfik, bbc news, new york. let s get some of the day s other news. china is to scrap quarantine for travellers from the eighth ofjanuary, marking the last major shift from the country s zero covid policy. after almost three years of closed borders, the country will reopen to those with work and study visas, or wanting to visit family. covid has spread ferociously in the wake of restrictions being lifted.