Republican Mike Johnson elected US House speaker, ending leadership vacuum
The US House of Representatives elected Republican Mike Johnson, a conservative with little leadership experience, as its speaker on Wednesday after a turbulent three weeks that left the rudderless chamber unable to respond to the Middle East crisis or carry out any of its basic duties.
The 220 to 209 vote elevated third-term congressman Johnson, 51, to a speaker’s chair that has been vacant since Kevin McCarthy was ousted on Oct 3 by a small group of hardline Republicans angry about a deal with Democrats that averted a partial government shutdown.
In the weeks that followed, Republicans who narrowly control the House considered and rejected three possible replacements before settling on Johnson, a Louisiana lawyer backed by former President Donald Trump who spent years advancing conservative policies like school prayer.
Israel agrees to US request to delay Gaza invasion: WSJ
Israel has agreed to delay an expected invasion of Gaza for now so that the United States can rush missile defences to the region to protect its troops there, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing US and Israeli officials.
Israel is also taking into account in its planning the effort to supply humanitarian aid to civilians inside Gaza, as well as diplomatic efforts to free hostages held by Hamas militants, the report said.
Threats to US troops were of paramount concern, it said.
Hurricane Otis tears through Mexico’s Acapulco as Category 4 storm
Hurricane Otis ripped through the Mexican beach resort of Acapulco as a Category 4 storm early on Wednesday, battering hotels and sending tourists running for cover as it pummeled the southern Pacific coast with torrential rain and high winds.
Videos posted on social media showed rooms wrecked by the passing of the hurricane, ceilings and walls rent open and cars partly submerged in floodwaters as the southern state of Guerrero awoke to the disarray left in Otis’ wake.
Footage from one hospital on social media showed nurses evacuating patients from their rooms to keep them safe from Otis, one of the strongest hurricanes ever to hit the region.
Donald Trump fined US$10,000 for second gag order violation in civil fraud case
Donald Trump was fined US$10,000 (S$13,712) on Wednesday after the New York judge overseeing his civil fraud trial said the former US president for a second time violated a gag order barring him from disparaging court staff.
Justice Arthur Engoron had imposed the gag order on Oct 3 after Trump shared on social media a photo of the judge’s top clerk posing with US Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and falsely called her Schumer’s “girlfriend.”
During a trial break on Wednesday in the civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James concerning Trump’s business practices, Trump told reporters, “This judge is a very partisan judge, with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside of him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.”
Russia says it rehearsed delivering a massive retaliatory nuclear strike
Russia has successfully tested its ability to deliver a massive retaliatory nuclear strike by land, sea and air, a Kremlin statement said on Wednesday, a display of force which coincides with Moscow de-ratifying a landmark nuclear test ban treaty.
The exercise, which involved the test launch of missiles from a land-based silo, a nuclear submarine, and from long-range bomber aircraft, comes as Moscow is locked in what it casts as an existential standoff with the West over Ukraine.
With tensions at their highest level since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, Russia - which has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal - is moving quickly to revoke its ratification of a nuclear test ban treaty to bring itself into line with the United States.
