North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday defended his administration’s decision to waive 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow for construction of roughly 20 miles of additional border wall, saying he had no choice but to use the Trump-era funding for the barrier to stop illegal migration from Mexico.

Asked if he thought such walls work, he said flatly, “No.”

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — In the partisan politics of education funding, the school choice movement has pressed states for decades to send taxpayer money to private and religious schools and long had to concentrate its efforts on states where a Republican governor was an ally.

That suddenly changed over the summer.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — a first-term Democrat seen by his party as a rising star nationally — forcefully put his weight behind a Republican-backed proposal to send $100 million to families for private school tuition and school supplies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump is officially backing Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, the pugnacious House Judiciary Committee chairman and longtime Trump defender, to succeed Kevin McCarthy as House speaker.

“Congressman Jim Jordan has been a STAR long before making his very successful journey to Washington, D.C., representing Ohio’s 4th Congressional District,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site shortly after midnight Friday. “He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House, & has my Complete & Total Endorsement!”

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A massive health care strike over wages and staffing shortages headed into its final day on Friday without a deal between industry giant Kaiser Permanente and the unions representing the 75,000 workers who picketed this week.

The three-day strike carried out in multiple states will officially end Saturday at 6 a.m., and workers were expected to return to their jobs in Kaiser’s hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans. The two sides did not have any bargaining sessions scheduled after concluding their talks midday Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The race to replace ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy took shape on Wednesday as Steve Scalise, the chamber's No. 2 Republican, and Jim Jordan, a leading antagonist of Democratic President Joe Biden, said they would seek the post.

The two lawmakers could be joined by several other candidates in what could be a lengthy and messy battle to fill the post in the House where Republicans hold a majority.

TORONTO/AMRITSAR, India, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Canadian universities are reassuring Indian students of their safety and offering resources to deal with the uncertainty triggered by the diplomatic crisis between the two countries as they seek to limit the fallout on a booming business.

As Canadian colleges prepare to kick off another semester, some students are considering delaying their courses, while others are assessing whether higher education could become a collateral damage of the current crisis.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- A small airplane crashed Tuesday evening into a house in Newberg, U.S. state of Oregon, killing two people, officials said.

Witnesses reported seeing a plane "spiraling towards the ground and crashing near North Cedar Street" in Newberg, about 30 kilometer southwest of Portland, according to Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue.

Firefighters arrived on the scene and found two people in the plane were deceased. They rescued another person with serious injuries from the plane and sent him to hospital.

HAVANA (AP) — A building in the historic center of Havana that housed 13 families partially collapsed, leaving three people dead and at least two injured, Cuban authorities said Wednesday.

Authorities in Havana said that among the three fatalities were one resident and two firefighters who got trapped in the building when they were helping evacuate people.

A part of the three-story building collapsed Tuesday’s night, and other sections crumbled early Wednesday.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente workers took to picket lines in multiple states on Wednesday, launching a massive strike that the company warned could cause delays at its hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans.

The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, representing about 85,000 of the health system’s employees nationally, approved a strike for three days in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a likely roadblock from House Republicans on aid for Ukraine, President Joe Biden said Wednesday he’s planning to give a major speech on the issue and suggested there may be “another means” to provide support for Kyiv if Congress continues to balk.

“I’m going to be announcing very shortly a major speech I’m going to make on this issue and why it’s critically important for the United States and our allies that we keep our commitment” to Ukraine, Biden told reporters after giving unrelated remarks at the White House.