North America

WASHINGTON (AP) — It was the thing that was supposed to make Rep. Jim Jordan the 56th speaker of the House.

An onslaught of pressure from the Republican Party base, allies predicted, would compel the GOP’s moderate and establishment members to support Jordan, a hero of the far-right, and help him secure the votes for the gavel.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Anxious Republicans prepared to vote once more Wednesday, hopeful of electing Rep. Mike Johnson as their House speaker to unite their fractious majority and end weeks of chaos by elevating a little-known conservative to one of the highest seats of U.S. power.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — An off-duty airline pilot riding in an extra cockpit seat on a Horizon Air flight said “I’m not OK” just before trying to cut the engines midflight and later told police he had been struggling with depression, according to charging documents made public Tuesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Michael Cohen returned to the witness stand Wednesday in his ex-boss Donald Trump’s civil business fraud trial as the former president’s defense team tried to undermine the credibility and question the motives of his onetime personal attorney turned adversary.

With Trump in court, his lawyer Alina Habba confronted Cohen with comments he had made on social media, in interviews and during congressional testimony praising Trump, before turning on him, when Cohen’s legal problems started in 2018.

UNITED NATIONS, October 24. /TASS/: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the only realistic foundation for peace and stability in the Middle East is coexistence of Israeli and Palestinian states.

"Even in this moment of grave and immediate danger, we cannot lose sight of the only realistic foundation for a true peace and stability: a two-State solution," he said at UN Security Council debate dedicated to the situation in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Some of Israel's actions in its war against Hamas, like cutting off food and water for Gaza, could "harden Palestinian attitudes for generations" and weaken international support for Israel, former U.S. President Barack Obama said on Monday.

In rare comments on an active foreign policy crisis, Obama said any Israeli military strategy that ignores the human costs of the war "could ultimately backfire."

WASHINGTON, Oct 23 (Reuters) - (This Oct. 23 story has been refiled to add dropped words in paragraph 2)

The White House on Monday said Iran was in some cases "actively facilitating" rocket and drone attacks by Iranian-backed proxy groups on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria, and President Biden has directed the Department of Defense to brace for more and respond appropriately.

MEXICO CITY, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday urged the U.S. government to give "clear definitions" on migration and the economic blockade against Cuba, which he considers a "flagrant violation of human rights."

"We are proposing that the U.S. government open a dialogue (with Cuba)," said the president at a daily press conference at the National Palace in Mexico City.

Washington (AP) — China’s top diplomat will come to the United States on Thursday for a three-day visit, the latest move by Washington and Beijing to keep high-level talks open amid tense bilateral relations.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan over a range of issues, including the Israel-Hamas conflict, the Ukraine war and a recent vessel collision in the South China Sea, according to senior administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the trip.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Three weeks now since the ouster of Kevin McCarthy, House Republicans are meeting privately Tuesday to try nominating a new House speaker to accomplish the seemingly impossible job of uniting a broken, bitter GOP majority and returning to the work of governing in Congress.