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.

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.

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.

04 October 2023; MEMO: Saudi Arabia and Russia today said they were continuing voluntary oil cuts to year-end as tightening supply and rising demand support oil prices, Reuters reports.

The Saudi and Russian statements come hours before a ministerial monitoring panel of the OPEC+ group of leading oil producers convenes online.

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.

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.

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.

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.

05 October 2023; MEMO: Israel's minister in charge of crime and policing, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has said it's not a crime for Israeli Jews to spit on Christians.

The Jewish holiday of Sukkot saw an increase in abuses on Christians by Israelis according to Christian leaders in Jerusalem.

Spitting on people of a minority religion would be considered a hate crime in most countries, but for the Israeli government it is simply 'an old Jewish tradition'.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other top American officials are visiting Mexico on Wednesday to discuss shared security issues, foremost among them trafficking of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, but also arms trafficking and increasing migration.

The latest round of the High-Level Security Dialogue brings Blinken, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, among others, together with their Mexican counterparts for two days of talks.

04 October 2023; MEMO: A Pakistani court, on Wednesday, ordered an open hearing of a case that accuses the jailed ex-Prime Minister, Imran Khan, of exposing state secrets, a court document said, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court (IHC) turned down a plea by the country’s key investigation agency seeking an in-camera trial of the ex-premier’s bail application in the “cipher case”, which is related to a diplomatic document that reportedly went missing from his possession.

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.