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It’s been 100 years since American politics has faced a comparable mess.

The engine room of the American democratic machine is rudderless, unable to choose its leader – the speaker of the House.

Tuesday’s ballot chaos, where multiple votes to choose the speaker failed to produce a winner, will be repeated until one person can muster a majority.

But don’t assume this just represents the messy familiarity of democracy. The fight, the division and the bitterness is internal; within one party – a fractured and dysfunctional Republican Party.

What’s the background?

In November’s midterm elections, President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party retained control of the Senate but lost control of the House of Representatives.

The majority and the power in the House was handed to the Republicans. Democratic speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped down and made way for a Republican replacement. The assumption was that it would be Kevin McCarthy.

But the midterm ‘red wave’ – a landslide to the Republican Party because of the perceived weakness of Mr Biden’s Democrats didn’t play out. Defying conventional wisdom on how a serving president’s party performs in the midterms, the Democrats retained the Senate and only lost the House by a narrow margin.

Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped down following the midterms
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Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi stepped down following the midterms

So why are the Republicans struggling to choose a leader?

Two reasons: first because the party is splintered into different factions – ranging from those far to the right to the more centrist caucus.

And second, because they only have a narrow majority making the arithmetic tricky for Kevin McCarthy who needs 218 votes from a Republican total of 222 seats.

Why does it matter?

In short, without a speaker, the House can’t start the business of governing and legislation. It must continue to hold speaker ballots until a candidate wins. Both camps – the OK (Only Kevin) camp and the Never Kevin camp seem as entrenched as each other.

Looking to history again – back in 1856, just before the US Civil War, it took two months and 133 ballots to find a speaker.

Kevin McCarthy
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Kevin McCarthy

What’s the issue with Kevin McCarthy?

Mr McCarthy seemed confident he would muster the votes, yet his battle has got harder with the opposition to him growing. There were originally five die-hard ‘never Kevin’ Republicans. But in Tuesday’s votes, the number grew to 14, then 19 and then 20.

In a farcical situation, a number of Republicans voted for their colleague Jim Jordan, who then voted for Mr McCarthy and stated he didn’t want the speakership.

Perhaps even more farcical, and deeply worrying for the Republican Party, the Democratic Party representative Hakeem Jeffries received more votes than Mr McCarthy in the first three votes.

“We may have a battle on the floor,” Kevin McCarthy told reporters after a humiliating day. “But the battle is for the conference and the country, and that’s fine with me.”

The opposition to Mr McCarthy is led by a faction of the party – the House Freedom Caucus, a hard-right group that want changes to the chamber rules.

The Never Kevin grouping put forward various alternative candidates including Arizonan Andy Biggs, nominated by far-right lawmaker Paul Gosar. In the second ballot Jim Jordan was proposed despite not wanting the job.

Kevin McCarthy and Donald Trump in 2020
Image:
Kevin McCarthy and Donald Trump in 2020

Is there a Trump factor?

Yes – always. Overnight, speaking to NBC News, the former president said he had not made a decision on supporting Mr McCarthy. But by morning he appeared to have come to a firmer view, telling followers of his Truth Social site that he was backing him.

Mr Trump has been blamed for the lacklustre Republican Party performance in the midterms and for seeding division and splinters within the Republican Party itself.

A record-breaking new congress?

Yes. Beyond the history being made in the speaker election process, the 118th Congress is record-breaking in a number of ways.

It includes a record number of women – 149 – representing 28% of the legislative body. Diversity in the two chambers has improved with 58 women of colour serving. Within the House alone there will be a record number of Latina and Black women.

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The chambers are also getting younger. Only 5% of congress members are under the age of 40 but nearly 21% of the newcomers are younger than 40. The House also now has its first-ever Generation Z member, Democrat Maxwell Frost of Florida, who is 25 years old.

What’s on the agenda once a speaker is found?

Plenty. The Republicans will gain control of several House Committees prompting new investigations which could rock the political landscape.

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Investigations will commence on the financial dealings of President Biden’s son Hunter, the government’s handling of migration on the southern border, the COVID-19 pandemic and the Afghan withdrawal.

Names to watch: James Comer of Kentucky and Jim Jordan of Ohio are likely to be the biggest players when it comes to investigations. Mr Comer is set to chair the House Oversight Committee and Mr Jordan the House Judiciary Committee.

Beyond domestic politics, watch for a real bipartisan focus on China. A new committee is set to focus on competition with China.

“The Chinese Communist Party is the greatest geopolitical threat of our lifetime.” Mr McCarthy said recently in a statement.

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COP29 strikes last ditch deal on funding for climate measures in vulnerable countries

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COP29 strikes last ditch deal on funding for climate measures in vulnerable countries

The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.

The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.

Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.

It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.

But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.

Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.

UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.

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“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”

The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.

The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.

A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.

Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.

They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.

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Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks

The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.

A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.

A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.

Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.

Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.

‘Not everything we wanted’

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The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.

“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.

“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.

“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”

Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)
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Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP

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The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.

“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”

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At least 20 killed in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities say

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At least 20 killed in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities say

At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.

Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.

The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.

The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut, where four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike
Image:
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut

Map of Lebanon and Israel

The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.

At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.

A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.

The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.

Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.

The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.

Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.

According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.

It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.

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‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike

Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.

Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.

The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.

US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.

Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.

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Mossad investigating disappearance of rabbi in Abu Dhabi in potential terror incident, Israeli PM’s office says

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Mossad investigating disappearance of rabbi in Abu Dhabi in potential terror incident, Israeli PM's office says

Israeli intelligence agency Mossad is investigating the disappearance of a rabbi in Abu Dhabi after receiving information indicating a “terrorist incident”, the Israeli prime minister’s office has said.

Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan citizen, has been missing since Thursday.

Mr Kogan is the Chabad representative in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The Israeli prime minister’s office said the country’s security and intelligence services have been investigating in Abu Dhabi.

It said: “Mossad has updated that since his disappearance, and given information indicating that this is a terrorist incident, an active investigation has been going on in the country.

“Israeli security and intelligence organisations, concerned for Kogan’s safety and wellbeing, have been working tirelessly on this case.”

In a travel advisory, it warned Israelis: “In major cities, or locations where demonstrations or protests are taking place, conceal anything that could identify you as Israeli or Jewish.”

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The Israeli government’s travel advisory service warns its citizens to “avoid unnecessary travel” to the UAE as “there is terrorist activity in the UAE, which constitutes a real risk to Israelis who are staying/visiting in the country”.

The UAE diplomatically recognised Israel in 2020, a deal it has honoured throughout the Israel-Hamas war and Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon.

The Chabad movement is a Hasidic branch of Judaism, according to Chabad Lubavitch UK.

The organisation describes the work of emissaries like Zvi Kogan as “explaining, shedding light, dispelling myths, countering stereotypes” about Judaism.

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