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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.

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.

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.

04 October 2023; MEMO: The US has sent Ukraine more than 1 million rounds of Iranian ammunition that had been seized last year, the US military said on Wednesday, Reuters reports.

US naval forces, for years, have been seizing weapons believed to be from Iran bound for Iran-backed fighters in Yemen, usually transported by fishing vessels.

US Central Command, which is responsible for military operations in the Middle East, said about 1.1 million 7.62 mm rounds were sent to Ukraine.

NEW YORK (AP) — The fraud trial that could block former President Donald Trump from doing business in New York drilled down Wednesday into the question of who — his company or hired accountants — bore responsibility for financial statements that the state calls fraudulent.

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The Biden administration announced it waived 26 federal laws in South Texas to allow border wall construction on Wednesday, marking the administration’s first use of a sweeping executive power employed often during the Trump presidency.

HOLYOKE, Mass. (AP) — A shooting claimed the life of a baby that was delivered after its mother was one of several people hit by gunfire during a fight Wednesday on a downtown street in the western Massachusetts city of Holyoke, authorities said.

The pregnant woman was shot in the afternoon while seated on a public bus and taken to a hospital in critical condition, the Hampden District Attorney’s Office said.

“The infant, who was delivered, and needed life-saving medical services, tragically passed away,” it added.

Iowa. (AP) —Over the past two weeks, Donald Trump said shoplifters should be immediately shot, suggested the United States’ top general be executed and mocked a political opponent’s husband who was beaten with a hammer.

NEW YORK (AP) — Most of the top Republican candidates running for president in 2024 reacted grimly to the ouster of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy by a faction of hard-liners in their own party, while one contender embraced the chaos and the front-runner for the nomination notably did not denounce the move.

Many agreed that it was a clear sign that new leadership was needed, not just in the House of Representatives but also in the party as a whole.