House of representatives is hereby declared vacant. And with that, Kevin Mccarthys nine month term as speaker was over. The final straw his decision to do a deal with democrats to keep the government open. He didnt hesitate to point the finger of blame at the eight republicans who ousted him, led by matt gaetz, his nemesis. Look, you all know matt gaetz. You know, it was personal. It had nothing to do about spending. The unprecedented removal of the speaker has Left Congress in chaos. So much so, theyve decided to take a week off while they work out what to do next. One rebel, though, was unrepentant. This was the right call. The American People deserve a leader and a speaker who will tell the truth, and so too does the international community. They need to know that the next speaker is going to be honest and wont go back on their word. With republicans focusing firmly on themselves, the question of funding for ukraine, which congress controls, remains undecided. It does worry me. And. But i know there are a majority of members of the house and senate in both parties who have said that they support funding ukraine, house speaker. The president was also asked if he had any advice for the next speaker. He could barely keep a straight face. Thats above my pay grade. While some candidates have begun the frantic process of gathering support, others have suggested an extraordinary alternative option, given the speaker doesnt have to be a member of the house. A lot of people have been calling me that, speaker. All i can say is well do whatever is best for the country. Congress has only agreed to fund the government for another six weeks with republicans at one another� s throats. Extending that has now become much harder. Gary odonohue, bbc news. Lets go to los angeles now where we can speak to jeffery a jenkins. Hes a professor of public policy, Political Science and law at the university of southern california. A warm welcome to the programme. Give us your take then on the situation that we are in in congress, of course we have a couple of names now who could be the net next speaker of the house. Your thoughts . It speaker of the house. Your thoughts . Speaker of the house. Your thou~hts . ,. Thoughts . It is unprecedented. I have never thoughts . It is unprecedented. I have never seen thoughts . It is unprecedented. I have never seen anything thoughts . It is unprecedented. I have never seen anything likei i have never seen anything like this in the more than 200 years of us house history. We have never vacated the speakership before, so there really are no priors that we can go on, and in terms of trying to create addictions. As you mentioned, there are two people throwing their hat in the ring at this point. Steve scalise, the Majority Leader from louisiana, andjim Majority Leader from louisiana, and jim jordan, who is the chairman andjimjordan, who is the chairman and and jim jordan, who is the chairman and Judiciary Committee and a member of the caucus. They represent two very different sets of ideals. Skill is is an insider and probably has the advantages right now scalise. He would be the front runner. Jordan would capture a lot of members on the right, and he is a force to be reckoned with. It is possible we may see some additional people enter the fray. One person that has been mentioned is kevin from oklahoma. Herne is kevin from oklahoma. Herne is the chair of the Republican Group and he is more of a business leader. So he offers something that is very different that what scalise and jordan offer, and we may find, when we eventually get to a nomination, we may find five or six names thrown into the hat. It is a very tricky scenario because we saw how difficult it was to get Kevin Mccarthy in this role initially. So many votes and a bit of an impasse for several days in congress. Will one of these contenders be able to bring together the Republican Party, which is what is really required here . Is really required here . Well, there is getting is really required here . Well, there is getting a is really required here . Well, there is getting a majority is really required here . Well, | there is getting a majority and there is getting a majority and there is getting a majority and there is bringing together of there is bringing together of the party. So somebody will eventually get a majority. The question is, for those individuals in the Republican Party who vote for somebody else vote for the loser and nomination battle, will they come home and support the winning candidate on the floor . We already know that eight people were willing to vacate the speakership if more than eight people decide that they want to hold out and not support the republic, the new republican nominee, on house floor, then that will head into chaos again. Floor, then that will head into chaos again floor, then that will head into chaos again. What impact this is havin chaos again. What impact this is having on chaos again. What impact this is having on the chaos again. What impact this is having on the general chaos again. What impact this | is having on the general public in america in terms of their perception of how capitol hill is running . Perception of how capitol hill is running . Most people dont Like Congress is running . Most people dont Like Congress to is running . Most people dont Like Congress to begin is running . Most people dont Like Congress to begin with, l Like Congress to begin with, right. Congress does not have a good reputation. They certainly cant help it and it doesnt help the reputation of the Republican Party. It is still a long way till the november 2a elections, so if the republicans can get their house in order, if they can elect a new speaker and that speaker can at least get through the 118th Congress Without too many more crazy things happening, then maybe things wont be so bad. � ~ bad. All right. Well, we will certainly bad. All right. Well, we will certainly cover bad. All right. Well, we will certainly cover every bad. All right. Well, we will certainly cover every twist l bad. All right. Well, we will i certainly cover every twist and turn. Jeffreyjenkins, thank you so much, from the university of southern california. Lets now move on to former president donald trump. He appeared in court on the third day of his civil fraud trial in new york. The new York Attorney general accuses mr trump, his two adult sons, and the Trump Organization of falsifying financial records and fabricating the value of key assets, including Apartment Buildings and hotels. Our North America correspondent nada tawfik reports from new york. Donald trump left the court here in new york in the afternoon, flying back to mar a lago, and he is not expected to return back for the rest of the week. Now, he did sit through the mornings proceedings and took the opportunity several times to address the cameras that were assembled outside of the courtroom. He again slammed the whole system, the judge and the Attorney General herself as corrupt. Well, Latitia James had her own words for donald trump. After he left, she declared that the donald trump show was over. And the Attorney General said that his entire presence here had been nothing more than a political stunt and fundraising stop, and she vowed that she would not be bullied and called his comments offensive. Meanwhile, inside the courtroom, there were few heated moments. The judge at one point clearly becoming agitated, he pounded his fist on the bench and said that it was ridiculous that the defence was basically stringing out and dragging out their questioning and he said that there was no jury present, so he questioned why they were performing in that way. Well, that elicited a response from donald trump who threw his hands up, and was clearly exasperated. The defence team, though, said they needed to take that line of questioning because they accused the witness of being evasive. It is important to remember that donald trump has already lost the core of this case when the judge ruled last week that he did commit fraud. Well, today, we saw that his legal team has formally now filed a notice of appeal. They said they will be challenging every aspect of thejudges ruling. That trial is currently in new york. Lets get some of the days other news now. The authorities in the northeast indian state of sikkim have set up around 20 relief camps in the areas that have seen the most destruction after wednesdays flash floods. At least ten people have been killed and more than 80 remain unaccounted for, including 22 soldiers. Officials say around 15,000 people have been affected after heavy rain caused a glacial lake to overflow in a mountainous area near the chinese border. Storm koinu has made landfall at the southern tip of taiwan as a category 4 typhoon, generating record winds of up to 340km h thats around 210 miles per hour. Flights have been cancelled and schools have been shut. Many workplaces have also been closed as heavy rain and winds sweep across the region. European Union Leaders have welcomed an agreement between Member States on asylum and irregular migration. The pact on migration and asylum seeks to relieve the pressure on gateway countries, such as italy and greece, by relocating some migrants to other eu states. Countries not wanting to accept their share will be required to pay other nations to do so. The fraud trial of the man known as � the crypto king has got under way in new york. 31 year old Sam Bankman Fried is accused of stealing billions of dollars from customers of his cryptocurrency exchange, ftx. He denies the charges. We will have more on that in our Business Coverage. Rishi sunak has used a major speech to declare that politics isnt working as it should, and hes the man to change it. Addressing the conservative party conference, he set out a raft of measures, including the controvresal scrapping of the northern leg of the Hs2 Rail Line and new qualifications in england. Our Political Correspondent vicky young reports. For some, it was the announcement they had been dreaming of after weeks of speculation. Rishi sunak finally confirmed hs2 wouldnt after all run from birmingham to manchester. I after all run from birmingham to manchester. After all run from birmingham to manchester. I am ending this longrunning to manchester. I am ending this longrunning saga. To manchester. I am ending this longrunning saga. I to manchester. I am ending this longrunning saga. I am long running saga. I am cancelling the rest of the hs2 project. In its place, we will reinvest every single penny. His alternative is to fund hundreds of projects, upgrading roads, new drams in them than stations and electrifying train lines. The e2 bus fare in england will be extended until the end of 202a. Mr sunekar said he is willing to take the good decisions but not everyone is on board. The former Prime MinisterDavid Cameron led the criticism, calling the hs2 decision wrong. It will help to fuel the views of those who argue that we can no longer think or act for the long term is a country, he said. But these mps representing constituencies in the northwest welcomed the news. I constituencies in the northwest welcomed the news. Welcomed the news. I think the Prime Minister welcomed the news. I think the Prime Minister has welcomed the news. I think the Prime Minister hasjust Prime Minister hasjust announced for Network North is far more exhort exciting, far more exhort exciting, far more exhort exciting, far more ambitious and far more important to my constituents in birmingham than hs2 ever was going to be or ever good day. It was the case whereby it was merely it was the case whereby it was merely a it was the case whereby it was merely a cost cutting exercise on the merely a cost cutting exercise on the 36 merely a cost cutting exercise on the 36 billion was going to be invested in other projects, that be invested in other projects, that would be a different conversation to have. We will et conversation to have. We will get billions of extra funding for local get billions of extra funding for local politicians to decide on local for local politicians to decide on local priorities for local heapie on local priorities for local people so i think that is the right people so i think that is the right decision. In people so i think that is the right decision. People so i think that is the right decision. In the shorter term, right decision. In the shorter term. He right decision. In the shorter term, he wants right decision. In the shorter term, he wants to right decision. In the shorter term, he wants to make right decision. In the shorter term, he wants to make a i term, he wants to make a significant change to the sale of cigarettes. His plan is to raise the age at which people can buy cigarettes every year. It will mean a child aged 14 today would never be allowed to buy tobacco. Today would never be allowed to buy tobacc0 buy tobacco. Smoking is the [arc est buy tobacco. Smoking is the largest preventable buy tobacco. Smoking is the largest preventable cause i buy tobacco. Smoking is the j largest preventable cause of ill health, disability and death in the uk. We can entirely stop it if people were able not to be addicted in the first place. Able not to be addicted in the first place first place. After a year in the ob first place. After a year in the job and first place. After a year in the job and with first place. After a year in the job and with his first place. After a year in the job and with his party| first place. After a year in i the job and with his party leg watching in the polls, rishi sunak has been facing calls from some of his own mps to set out a more radical vision for the future. Now on health, education and transport, the Prime Minister has given them something to talk about. Vicky young, bbc news. Yes, and there is a lot of talking going on, that is for sure. So where is the £36 billion for Network North actually going . Actually not all of it will be spent in the north of england. Our reporter meghan owen explains. Today, the Prime Minister said by scrapping that second part of hs two, the government will be able to save £36 billion. North. That money will be used for what he called Network North. This is a series of Transport Projects across the uk. Here we see the previous route and here is where we see improved railway, bus and road links across england. But what about the money behind it . Well, we know that £19. 8 billion will be allocated to the north, and this will be used on projects such as a new station in bradford and a new connection to manchester. But it wont all be used in the north. In fact, the midlands will be given £9. 8 billion, and this will be used on things like improving connections between 50 local stations, and that will cost £1. 75 billion. And in the wider uk, there will be £6. 5 billion allocated. Spent on projects such as better rail routes between exeter to plymouth, we are also promised better access to dover on the a2 and the government want to keep the £2 bus fare cap in england. We also found out, interestingly, that £8. 3 billion will be spent on pothole repairs. This is around 25 of the total allocated budget. But crucially, in addition to this budget, the government will also spend £12 billion improving links between liverpool and manchester and thats not part of the Network North plan. So, megan owen explaining a little more of the plans of the government announced by rishi sunak in that speech yesterday. We will unpack that further in our Business Coverage in 15 minutes. Around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. Lets look at some other stories making news voters will go to the polls in the rutherglen and hamiltonwest by election today. The seat was vacated after former snp mp Margaret Ferrier breached covid rules during lockdown. Both labour and the snp are hoping to secure a major boost ahead of the next general election with a victory in the South Lanarkshire seat. Figures from the Property Website rightmove suggest monthly rents in britain, excluding london, have reached another record high. The average for the Third Quarter of this year was £1,278 10 higher than at the same time last year. These figures were higherfor london. Its the 15th consecutive quarter a record has been reached. Doctors in england are being encouraged to ask people with a Mental Health problem about their gambling habits when they come for an nhs appointment. More details on that story on our website. Youre live with bbc news. Pope francis has warned the world is collapsing due to Climate Change and may be nearing breaking point. At the start of a three week summit of Catholic Church leaders, the pope criticised global Decision Making bodies for being ineffective, for being ineffective. Our religion editor Aleem Ma