October 4, 2023

*) US House ousts Kevin McCarthy as speaker in historic vote A rare and dramatic scenario played out in the US congress when senior Republican Kevin McCarthy was ousted as US House speaker by his own party members. This came after Democrats announced that they would not bail him out of a move by Trump loyalists to remove McCarthy from the powerful post. McCarthy sparked fury among some Republicans when he worked with Democrats to pass a stopgap funding measure to avert a government shutdown. The Speaker is the top Republican and second in line of succession to the US presidency. *) Azerbaijan arrests top separatists as it takes total control of Karabakh Authorities in Azerbaijan have arrested several former separatist leaders of Karabakh after reclaiming control of the Armenian-occupied region in a lightning military operation last month. This is according to a top Azerbaijani news agency. The wave of arrests comes as Azerbaijani authorities move swiftly to establish their control over the region after a military operation that put an end to the illegal Armenian occupation in the region. *) Nearly two dozen Indian soldiers missing as flash floods hit hill state The Indian army has said that 23 soldiers are missing after a powerful flash flood caused by intense rainfall tore through a valley in the north east. The army said water released upstream from the Chungthang dam meant the river was already more than 4.5 metres higher than usual. Intermittent rain and thundershowers were hampering rescue operations in the area, according to an army official. *) Bus crash near Italy's Venice city leaves nearly two dozen dead A bus carrying foreign tourists has crashed near the Italian city of Venice, killing at least 21 people and injuring 18 others. According to officials, two of the dead were children and four of the injured were in serious condition following the accident on the mainland opposite the historic old city of Venice. Firefighters said the bus caught fire after careering off a bridge straddlin