the office of the speaker of the house of the united states house of representatives is hereby declared vacant. history in the united states congress — kevin mccarthy officially the first speaker of the house of representatives to be forced out of his post after a vote by lawmakers. i'm sumi somaskanda, on a busy day here in the us capital. that vote has thrown the us house of representatives into chaos. republicans will not meet again until next week to sort out who will become the next speaker. kevin mccarthy said he will not run again, blaming those in his conference who voted against him for creating turmoil here in washington. my fear is the institution fell today.

because you cannot do thejob for eight people, you have 96% of your entire conference, but eight members can partner with your whole other side. how do you govern? as of now, there's no clear candidate to replace him. republicans are now going home for the week, effectively shutting down the house. they say they may have a candidate by next tuesday with a possible vote next wednesday, but that all remains very fluid. it was all brought on by congressman matt gaetz of florida. he launched the vote to oust the speaker. after some debate, lawmakers voted 216 to 210 to remove mccarthy from the leadership position. gaetz and seven other republicans joined all 208 democrats present in the room. one of the eight members of the republican party who voted to oust mccarthy is congressman ken buck, of colorado. earlier i spoke with him about his decision to remove mccarthy as speaker,

and what happens next. can you tell us more about what went into your decision to oust kevin mccarthy.— went into your decision to oust kevin mccarthy. ma'or problem we had is that h kevin mccarthy. ma'or problem we had is that we _ kevin mccarthy. major problem we had is that we have - kevin mccarthy. major problem we had is that we have to - kevin mccarthy. major problem we had is that we have to pass| we had is that we have to pass 12 appropriations bills. up until last week, we passed one appropriations bill. the promise from the speaker when it became speaker was that we would pass 12 by september 30 and negotiate with the centre and negotiate with the centre and have a package ready for the president. that didn't happen and i think many were frustrated over that. eight people stood up and voted against speaker mccarthy and i think there were others that had similar feelings and think there were others that had similarfeelings and didn't feel they needed to do it because the vote was already 216- 210. ., because the vote was already 216- 210-_ because the vote was already 216- 210. ., ., ., ., 216- 210. you are one of those eiaht. 216- 210. you are one of those eight- kevin — 216- 210. you are one of those eight. kevin mccarthy - 216- 210. you are one of those eight. kevin mccarthy was - eight. kevin mccarthy was speaking a short while ago and he said the eight members voting against him were not conservative and enable democrats to seize the

opportunity to regain power in the house. what is your reaction to that? i the house. what is your reaction to that?- the house. what is your reaction to that? i will put my conservative _ reaction to that? i will put my conservative record _ reaction to that? i will put my conservative record of- reaction to that? i will put my conservative record of voting | conservative record of voting up conservative record of voting up against anybody, particularly someone from california like speaker mccarthy or other critics who are from new york. i believe we are from new york. i believe we are spending too much money in the country. i think it is an existential threat to the country and i believe we need to at this point in time make sure we are doing the right thing and spending responsibly and that is why i voted the way i did. , ., , and that is why i voted the way idid. , ., , ., , i did. this leaves the house paralysed — i did. this leaves the house paralysed and _ i did. this leaves the house paralysed and the - i did. this leaves the house | paralysed and the temporary speaker has proposed next tuesday for people to come together and decide on a candidate. do you think that is fast enough?— fast enough? well, these two weeks we _ fast enough? well, these two weeks we were _ fast enough? well, these two weeks we were supposed - fast enough? well, these two weeks we were supposed to l fast enough? well, these two l weeks we were supposed to be backin weeks we were supposed to be back in our districts working. had the appropriations bills come to the house and orderly fashion injune and july we would have been in our district meeting with constituents explaining what is going on in

dc and listening to concerns. the fact we are not working on appropriations bills this week or next week is nothing new. it was planned that way. i don't think we are paralysed. i think we're going through an process that will end in a better spending plan for the united states. �* ., states. but funding for the government _ states. but funding for the government will _ states. but funding for the government will end - states. but funding for the government will end again | states. but funding for the l government will end again in states. but funding for the - government will end again in a months time that is enough time to come to an agreement? in all to come to an agreement? in 42 da s to come to an agreement? in 42 days time, — to come to an agreement? in 42 days time, the _ to come to an agreement? in 42 days time, the money _ to come to an agreement? in 42 days time, the money will - to come to an agreement? in 42 days time, the money will run i days time, the money will run out again. we will have another continuing resolution for a period of time until we can meet with the senate, conference of the senate, what we need to do with the 12 bills and send them to the president. congresswoman, it took 15 rounds to elect a speaker last time around, do you think it will take the that this time around? ., , , ., ., around? -- congresswoman. i don't, around? -- congresswoman. i don't. over— around? -- congresswoman. i don't, over the _ around? -- congresswoman. i don't, over the weekend - around? -- congresswoman. i don't, over the weekend we i around? -- congresswoman. i. don't, over the weekend we had many conversations among ourselves and i think we will have a candidate and i believe

the party will get behind the candidate. steve scalise is the next candidate up and we will stay if he is interested, he has had some health issues, but i think he is interested and i think many will come to support steve scalise. d0 think many will come to support steve scalise.— steve scalise. do you think he will have the _ steve scalise. do you think he will have the votes _ steve scalise. do you think he will have the votes to - steve scalise. do you think he will have the votes to become j will have the votes to become speaker? i will have the votes to become seaker? ., �* ~ ., will have the votes to become seaker? ~ ., , , speaker? i don't know because conversations _ speaker? i don't know because conversations had _ speaker? i don't know because conversations had not - speaker? i don't know because conversations had not occurred and we don't know who was interested but is certainly one of the people who could get the votes to be speaker. we of the people who could get the votes to be speaker.— votes to be speaker. we spoke to one of _ votes to be speaker. we spoke to one of your— votes to be speaker. we spoke to one of your colleagues, - votes to be speaker. we spoke to one of your colleagues, don j to one of your colleagues, don bacon earlier, i will pay you a clip of what he said. it bacon earlier, i will pay you a clip of what he said.— clip of what he said. it is really a _ clip of what he said. it is really a vote _ clip of what he said. it is really a vote for - clip of what he said. it is really a vote for chaos, i clip of what he said. it is - really a vote for chaos, there were — really a vote for chaos, there were so _ really a vote for chaos, there were so many important issues were so many important issues we have — were so many important issues we have to _ were so many important issues we have to decide on right now. appropriations bill, farmville, defence — appropriations bill, farmville, defence bill, we have a broken and all— defence bill, we have a broken and all of— defence bill, we have a broken and all of this will go on hold and all of this will go on hold and it— and all of this will go on hold and it is— and all of this will go on hold and it is a _ and all of this will go on hold and it is a bad day for america but a — and it is a bad day for america but a good _ and it is a bad day for america but a good day for a russian or chinese — but a good day for a russian or chinese communist and you are

probably. — chinese communist and you are probably, they are probably smiling _ probably, they are probably smiling again giving high—fives to matt — smiling again giving high—fives to matt gaetz. smiling again giving high-fives to matt gaetz.— to matt gaetz. what is your reaction to _ to matt gaetz. what is your reaction to that? _ to matt gaetz. what is your reaction to that? i - to matt gaetz. what is your reaction to that? i think- to matt gaetz. what is your i reaction to that? i think there is a lot of _ reaction to that? i think there is a lot of frustration - reaction to that? i think there is a lot of frustration in - reaction to that? i think there is a lot of frustration in a - is a lot of frustration in a conference at the moment. a lot of frustration that has been building up at the last nine months. i understand the frustration when someone loses a vote. i don't think it's appropriate to suggest that the chinese commonest and matt gaetz have in common. what matt gaetz have in common. what matt gaetz did was bring an important issue to the floor. the speaker did not have the support and we will move forward and we move forward in a way, in my opinion, that will make the country stronger and those that believe in freedom around the world stronger. there are republicans who are unhappy with the deal that the kevin mccarthy cup with democrats this weekend get the government open —— part. but there is still a democratic control centre and white house so will the next big could do anything different to keep that job? elf} anything different to keep that “ob? ,,, anything different to keep that “ob? ,, , ., job? 90 republicans voted auainst job? 90 republicans voted against that _ job? 90 republicans voted against that bill _ job? 90 republicans voted against that bill this - job? 90 republicans voted - against that bill this weekend. notjust a few republicans who

were upset with that and, yes, i believe the next speaker can pass the appropriations bills, negotiate with the senate and deliver something to the white house that will be signed and stronger than where we are right now. stronger than where we are right now-— stronger than where we are riaht now. ., ., i. ., right now. you throw your hat in the ring _ right now. you throw your hat in the ring to _ right now. you throw your hat in the ring to be _ right now. you throw your hat in the ring to be speaker? --| in the ring to be speaker? -- would you- — in the ring to be speaker? -- would you. no, _ in the ring to be speaker? -- would you. no, i will not! i will not even vote for myself a speaker so i doubt i would get any votes in my name is put in. i do believe there are a number of good people, people who are popular and have worked very hard around the country have met the congressmen in their districts and those folks will run for speaker and i'm sure we will have a very qualified speaker in the near future. will have a very qualified speaker in the nearfuture. a final question. speaker in the near future. a final question.— final question. are you confident _ final question. are you confident that - final question. are you confident that next - final question. are you - confident that next tuesday that you and your colleagues can come together on one candidate will get enough votes to become speaker? i candidate will get enough votes to become speaker?— candidate will get enough votes to become speaker? i don't know if it will be _

to become speaker? i don't know if it will be next _ to become speaker? i don't know if it will be next tuesday - to become speaker? i don't know if it will be next tuesday but - if it will be next tuesday but i'm confident that by the end of wednesday we will have a speaker. we will start working on appropriations bills, yes. congressmen ken buck, thank you forjoining us on bbc news. the biden administration has weighed in on tuesday's events on capitol hill. after the vote, presidentjoe biden said in a statement: i spoke with democratic representative annie kuster for her take on the democrats role in all of this. are you surprised at what we saw transpire today? i was not surprised because we have seen it coming for quite some time now. really, what this was about was that kevin mccarthy had a choice from the very beginning. he only had a 5—vote margin and ever since the beginning

of the session when it took 15 votes for him to win the speakership back last january, he has steadily eroded his position by caving into an extreme right—wing element of his party. now what we saw is they have turned on him. when they turned on him, he could not maintain his majority. congresswoman, this leaves the house of representatives paralysed, as you know. democrats did have some options here and could have decided not to vote for example to keep kevin mccarthy in his position as speaker. was this the right decision for democrats? absolutely because kevin mccarthy refused to negotiate. he refused to come to democrats. he absolutely had that option. we have been talking about it for quite some time now. he had plenty of opportunity to come to us and propose what we would consider to be a power—sharing agreement.

i think this is something that happens frequently in the british parliament. it is not as common here in the united states but certainly in state legislatures across the country they have done this. if i canjustjump in there... a bipartisan power—sharing agreement in such a divided house, do you really think that is possible? absolutely. i don't think there's any reason why so much of our legislation is broadly conceived, it's bipartisan, if you look at something like aid to ukraine right now, strong bipartisan majority, every single democrat, over half of the republican caucus supporting it in the house, and equally strong bipartisan majority in the senate. president biden has asked for this aid, kevin mccarthy refused to bring it to the floor of the house for a vote and we could easily take that vote. another example is our farm bill set to expire and we need

to reauthorise ourfarm bill, broad bipartisan support... right, so congresswoman... ..you are saying there are examples of bipartisan, of the two parties working together but, at the moment, funding is going to run out once again in just about a month's time and there is no speaker. what happens? there will be another speaker. we go back into session in the morning and the speaker will be chosen. i'm not concerned there will not be a speaker. obviously there is urgency to it but as you sawjust over the weekend, we came together to make sure that we did not shut down the government and we will continue to do that. that is absolutely a possibility and those conversations may be happening as we speak with a much more reasonable speaker who is willing to work with both sides of the aisle

to get the job of the american people done. congresswoman, the last vote took 15 rounds, this could take time. are democrats partly responsible for not allowing the stability to get the work of congress done? this is 100% at the shoes of kevin mccarthy. they have had plenty of opportunity to work across the aisle. we are absolutely ready to do that. he refused. this is a civil war within the republican party. they need to come to their senses and we can move the country forward. congresswoman, really interesting conversation. thank you forjoining us on bbc news. good to be with you, thank you. ajudge in new york has issued a gag order against former president donald trump. it's the latest development from his fraud trial, which opened this week in new york. the trial poses major a threat to trump's business empire. at stake is $250 million in potential fines, a permanent ban against trump and his sons from running businesses in new york,

and a 5—year commercial real estate ban against trump and the trump 0rganization. the bbc�*s nada tawfik reports from outside the courthouse. donald trump spent the full day again here in new york in court as he arrived he attacked the attorney general once more saying the entire case was a sham. inside, he conferred with attorneys and was engaged as the prosecution and defence questioned donald bender, a former accountant who worked for the trump 0rganisation for many years. mr bender said it was up to the company officials to certify the numbers they were giving was accurate. there was a number of objections that the judge overruled from the defence side. for the most part, it was very stock standard question and answering. the real drama came outside of the courtroom when donald trump took to social media to attack the judge's clerk. thejudge then issued a gag

order on the former president telling him he can no longer make personal comments about his staff, and barring anyone else from doing so. during one of the breaks i did get a chance to throw a question to donald trump. take a listen. mr trump, will you be testifying? yes, i will. in the appropriate time i will be. i think it is going very well. everybody was given financial statements and they are extremely strong. the evidence are much more valuable. it cannot be fraud when you have told institutions to do their own work. this case is a fraud and it is a scam. thank you very much. donald trump still has time to change his mind. legal experts say that taking the stand would be a risky strategy and any false statements that he makes could open him up to perjury charges. at the end of the day, donald trump left and said he will be back tomorrow.

in other us legal news, hunter biden has pleaded not guilty to charges of illegally owning a handgun. he put in that plea at a courthouse in the us state of delaware. prosecutors allege that the son of us presidentjoe biden lied about his drug use on application forms when he purchased the weapon in 2018. mr biden has acknowledged that he was a heavy user of crack cocaine at the time, but denies breaking the law. he faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the three federal counts against him. around the world and across the uk, this is bbc news. let's look at some other stories making news. the bbc understands the british prime minister rishi sunak will announce the scrapping of the hs2 high—speed rail line from the west midlands to manchester. sunak is expected to set out a range of alternative projects in the north of england and wales. he is likely to argue these projects will be a better use of money and can be delivered more quickly. india has reportedly asked

canada to withdraw about 40 diplomatic staff from india, amid an ongoing crisis between the two countries. the financial times first reported that diplomats who stay past october 10th would lose their diplomatic immunity. last month, canada's prime minister said india may have been behind the killing of a sikh separatist leader on canadian soil. india has denied this. the us government issued its first ever fine to a company for leaving space junk orbiting the earth on tuesday. the federal communications commission fined dish network $1,500 for failing to move an old satellite far enough away from others in use. the fcc said that dish's satellite posed a potential risk at its current altitude. you're live with bbc news. in venice, a charter bus has fallen off a viaduct bridge in the neighborhood of mestre, killing at least 21 people and injuring dozens of others. a city spokesperson says two children are among the dead. video footage shows the destroyed bus under

an overpass as firefighters continue to search for any remaining survivors of the crash. officials say the bus caught fire on impact on train tracks below. jon donnison reports. in the darkness, emergency crews are battling to rescue the injured and recover the dead. the bus upturned and crushed by the force of the fall. from up on the bridge, it veered off — you can see the drop. eyewitnesses say the bus then caught fire when it hit the ground. it happened in the mestre district on the mainland, across the water from venice's tourist centre. in a statement on social media, the city's mayor said the scene at the crash site was apocalyptic, and italy's prime minister expressed her deepest condolences. 0n the bridge, you can see where the bus went through the crash barriers. investigators are now trying to work out why. officials are warning the number of people killed is likely to rise, with italian media reporting

that several children are among the victims. jon donnison, bbc news. police in the us city of baltimore say that multiple people have been shot at morgan state university. local media is reporting that at least four people were injured, but that the conditions of the gunshot victims were not immediately known. law enforcement responded to an active shooter situation on campus on tuesday evening. the local affiliate of our us media partner cbs news says the gunshots came from a dorm room window. school officials have asked people to stay away from the area and shelter in place. nato's most senior military official has warned that ukraine's western allies are running out of ammunition to give to kyiv to fight russia. admiral rob bauer told a security forum in warsaw that, as he put it, the �*bottom of the barrel�* was visible. he's called on the arms industry to ramp up production considerably. britain has also echoed similar concerns. its minister for the armed forces james heappey described stockpiles as �*a bit thin'.

he urged all nato members, ata minimum, to meet a commitment to spend 2% of their gdp on defence. ukraine currently depends on nato for the majority of its current ammunition stockpile. the uk defence ministry says it has given more than 300,000 rounds of ammunition to ukraine while the us state department says it has given more than two million since the war began. earlier, my colleague caitriona perry, spoke to former us secretary of defence bob gates before the vote to oust house speaker kevin mccarthy on capitol hill. mr secretary, thank you very much forjoining us. when you look at what someone called the chaos we are seeing in congress today and over the past weekend, what impact does that have on the perception of us leadership abroad? i think it has a very negative impact. it basically calls into question the constancy of american commitments, whether we are prepared to — be in support of ukraine for the long haul, but, more broadly, can the government govern? can we do something as simple as get a budget?

and, clearly, that is being called into question. you have been writing in foreign affairs about how this sort of dysfunction renders the us uncapable of delivering a strong and coherent response to threats. when we look at perhaps the situation in ukraine, regarding russia, we look at china as well, and then we see that the only way for congress to be able to keep the government open is to remove that funding from ukraine from a temporary bill. how is that received? i think it does send a signal that it is going to be very difficult to get additional assistance for ukraine and, again, the whole question of whether the united states can be counted on to fulfil its commitments.

the president says we will be in support of ukraine for as long as it takes, but that requires more appropriations by congress. now, i think that you will see an effort, significant effort, to include money for ukraine in whatever next appropriations or continuing resolution actions are taken by the congress, but i have heard some republican senators say that there is probably only support for one more large commitment of assistance to ukraine. that they do not want to do this, even those who are supportive of ukraine, they do not want to go through this legislative battle every quarter. i think the likelihood of another big aid package is very real, and i think the likelihood of it being passed is quite strong, but the question then is — what happens next year? critics supporting this ukraine funding would question by sending $24 billion to ukraine when so much needs to be fixed domestically. how did the congress, the politicians, the president better sell that

idea to americans? well, to use an old american expression, we need to be able to show that we can walk and chew gum at the same time, that we can meet our international commitments that protect our security and our interests at the same time we deal with domestic issues, whether it is the border, the budget or anything else. and, frankly, the notion that i have heard of my life people make the argument, well, why should we invest in the space programme, why should we invest in defence when we have so many problems here at home? the reality is the country is big and wealthy as the us has to be able to do both, and i think the argument is that if you back away from ukraine and demonstrate that the united states will not fulfil its commitments, that that has profound consequences for our security and probably for our prosperity going forward.

and on that note, what is your view of ukraine's chances of a victory against russia? the counteroffensive has clearly gone slower than the ukrainians expected. the russian defences have been more sophisticated and deeper i think than had been expected. i think they are making slow progress and they say they will continue to fight through the winter, although that makes the use of heavy equipment much more difficult because of mud and so on. i think that the objective of the counteroffensive, at least initially, should be breaking through the russian defences and getting to the town of melitopol. that would break the russian land bridge to crimea and also give the ukrainians access to the sea of azov. that might be the opportunity for some kind of negotiation at that point, but i think that is still going to be a heavy lift for the counteroffensive because that's probably

another 50 miles beyond where they are now, and it has been very tough going, but they have been making some progress. thank you and before we go — a squeamish tale from the city of light. and a warning, this story is not for the faint of heart. a plague of bedbugs has hit paris — and other french cities — leading top politicians to propose laws to combat the spread of the unwelcome insects. they've decided to make it a priority, less than a year before paris hosts the olympics. there have been increasing reports of the blood—sucking bugs being found on public transportation, cinemas and even at a paris airport. it's estimated that one in ten households are believed to have suffered from bedbugs in recent years. to an inspiring story. she left her walker on the ground, and off she went and made the 13,500 500 foot tandem dorothy hoffner is a spirited 104—year—old. and she has achieved a remarkable feat by becoming the oldest person in the world to tandem skydive from an airplane.

she has surpassed the previous guinness world record set by linnea ingegard larsson from sweden, who completed the tandem jump at the age of 103. the organisers who facilitated dorothy's jump in chicago, are working now to have her extraordinary accomplishment officially recognised by guinness world records. that's all from us here in washington. thank you for watching. we leave you with these live pictures of london as we hand off to our colleageus there. stay with bbc news. hello there. we're now all into some fresher feeling air. but temperatures are still a little above the average for this time of year. tuesday was rather blustery with sunshine and showers for most of the uk. there will be some more rain in the forecast as we head through the week, but it's mostly out towards the north and the west. the further south and east you are, the drier your week

is likely to be, and then things will be turning warmer, some more autumn warmth for most as we head into the weekend. now, on wednesday, as you can see, we've got rain out towards parts of western scotland, across northern ireland too, driven in by this area of low pressure. so it's a wet start to the day here, further south across england and wales, lots of clear skies throughout the night. so a chillier start to the morning than we've been used to of late and still rather breezy with a brisk westerly wind. now, it's across western areas of scotland, the west highlands, argyll and bute. there are some localised weather warnings in force, some of this rain likely to pep up at times. it curls around across to northeastern scotland, up towards the northern isles, and then our front sinks southwards across northern ireland, the borders, into northern england perhaps as we head through the afternoon. bright skies to the north of the weather front with a few showers around, the sunniest skies across england and wales, a few isolated showers out towards the west. temperatures again in the mid to the high teens with a brisk westerly wind blowing. now, we don't have to wait for too long before the next low—pressure system

pushes some more fronts our way. and they're going to arrive as we head through thursday morning. so some further outbreaks of rain, quite saturated ground by now out towards southwestern areas of scotland. the warnings extending further north as we head towards the end of the week. some spells of rain too for northern ireland. a lot of cloud being thrown towards eastern areas, the best of any brightness towards the southeast of england. temperatures once again in the mid to the high teens in celsius. now, as we head through friday, you'll notice that these weather fronts are starting to come more round towards the north and the west, being driven away by the high pressure building in from europe. and that is going to keep us largely dry throughout the weekend. and there will be a lot of sunshine around. as you can see with that now southerly wind, we start to see the warmer air feed through and the temperatures rise, particularly for england and wales. so it will be feeling warmer over the weekend. temperatures up to 26 celsius in southeast england on sunday, low to the mid 20s across much of wales, low 20s for northern ireland, perhaps a little cooler and wetter for scotland. bye— bye.

voiceover: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk from brussels. i'm stephen sackur. in an era of great power,

rivalry and increasing hostility, eu leaders profess confidence in the ability of their bloc to compete with the us and china. butjust how well positioned is europe to safeguard its own prosperity and security? well, my guest is the eu economy commissioner, paolo gentiloni. are internal divisions over economic policy, migration and the rise of populism undermining the credibility of the eu? commissioner paolo gentiloni, welcome to hardtalk. my pleasure. let me begin by some words written in the economist magazine very recently.