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In the news today: House speaker’s removal plunges Congress into fresh turmoil; a bus crash in Venice leaves 21 dead; and a Saudi-owned farm in Arizona has its leases cancelled. Also, footage from deep in the Pacific Ocean provides a first look at three sunken WWII aircraft carriers.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters hours after he was ousted as Speaker of the House. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

POLITICS 

House speaker chaos stuns lawmakers, frays relationships and roils Washington

For the first time ever, a House speaker has been voted out of the position, plunging Congress into a new degree of turmoil. It is the latest test for an institution grappling with the aftermath of the Capitol siege and a Republican Party at war with itself. Read more.

Why this matters:

• It was a stunning moment for Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a punishment fueled by growing grievances but sparked by his decision to work with Democrats to keep the federal government open rather than risk a shutdown.
  
  

• Removing the speaker launches House Republicans into chaos heading into a busy fall when Congress will need to fund the government again or risk a mid-November shutdown. 
  
  

• Republicans will try to coalesce around a new leader after McCarthy ruled out another bid to become speaker. They face a leadership vacuum and deep divisions, with many Republicans seething at Rep. Matt Gaetz, who orchestrated the vote.

Related coverage ➤ 

Kevin McCarthy is out as speaker of the House. Here’s what’s next.

These 8 Republicans stood apart to remove Kevin McCarthy as House speaker

Rep. Patrick McHenry of North Carolina is the leader of the House, at least for now

WORLD NEWS

Bus crash near Venice’s historic center kills 21 people

At least 21 people were killed and 18 injured in a fiery bus crash in a borough of Venice, Italy, across the lagoon from its historic center, where firefighters and other emergency responders worked into the night trying to extract bodies and extinguish the flames. Read more.

Why this matters:

• The bus was carrying foreign tourists when it fell from an elevated street in Mestre en route to a camping site near the community of Marghera, according to a Venice official.
  
  

• The Veneto region governor, Luca Zaia, told RAI state television that the cause of the accident is still unclear. “It’s difficult to understand how it happened,” he said. “The bus was new and electric, and that street wasn’t particularly problematic.”

Related coverage ➤

A string of volcanic tremors raises fears of mass evacuations in Italy

Venice and its lagoon again escape inclusion on UNESCO list of heritage sites in danger

A bus coach crashes in Austria, killing a woman and injuring 20 others

CLIMATE

Arizona to cancel leases allowing Saudi-owned farm access to state’s groundwater

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs said this week her administration is terminating state land leases that for years have given a Saudi-owned farm nearly unfettered access to pump groundwater in the dry southwestern state. Read more.

Why this matters:

• On Monday, Hobbs said the state had canceled Fondomonte Arizona’s lease in Butler Valley and would not renew three other leases up next year, after an investigation by the governor’s office had found that the foreign-owned farm had violated some lease terms.
  
  

• Fondomonte Arizona, a subsidiary of Saudi dairy giant Almarai Co., raised eyebrows when it purchased nearly 10,000 acres of Arizona land for $47.5 million in 2014. Since then, worsening drought in the state has brought renewed attention to the company’s water use and broader issues of foreign-owned farms and groundwater pumping.

Related coverage ➤

Arizona’s biggest city has driest monsoon season since weather service began record-keeping in 1895

In Arizona, fresh scrutiny of Saudi-owned farm’s water use

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HAPPENING TODAY

• The suspect charged in rapper Tupac Shakur’s fatal shooting will appear in a Las Vegas court today.

IN OTHER NEWS

BREAKING: 3 scientists win Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work on tiny quantum dots

Baltimore shooting: 5 people, ages 18 to 22, wounded in shooting on campus of Morgan State University in Baltimore

Russia-Ukraine war: Russia says it has foiled a major Ukrainian drone attack as concerns grow about weapons supplies

Mike Pence: Pence calls Trump’s attacks on Milley ‘utterly inexcusable’ at AP-Georgetown foreign policy forum

Maui wildfires: Lahaina residents deliver petition asking Hawaii governor to delay tourism reopening

Cristiano Ronaldo: US appeals court to hear arguments over 2010 hush-money settlement of Ronaldo rape case in Vegas

Jerusalem Christians: Jews spitting on the ground beside Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land sparks outrage

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TODAY IN HISTORY

On October 4, 1957: The Space Age began as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit. The image above is the first official picture of Sputnik I issued in Moscow, October 9, 1957. (AP Photo) 

A look at what else happened in history on October 4

A CHANGE OF PACE

A man looks at Vincent van Gogh's "House at Auvers-sur-Oise." (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

New Van Gogh show in Paris focuses on artist’s productive and tragic final months
A new exhibition at Paris’ Orsay Museum that focuses on Van Gogh’s last two months before his death is extraordinary and painful — because this final period in the artist’s life was also one of his most productive.

WATCH: Video provides first look at WWII aircraft carriers lost in the Pacific

Footage from deep in the Pacific Ocean has given a first detailed look at three WWII aircraft carriers that sank in the pivotal Battle of Midway.

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