Briefly

UNITED STATES

House adjourns without choosing new speaker

Voting for a new leader of the US House of Representatives was expected to resume on Wednesday, a day after Congress was plunged into disarray when renegade right-wing Republicans blocked favorite Kevin McCarthy from becoming speaker in a series of humiliating votes. The California congressman needed a simple majority to be elected as Washington's top legislator, who presides over House business and is second in line to the presidency, after the vice-president. But for the first time in a century, Republicans failed to elect a speaker in a nail-biting first three rounds of voting, which was given blanket coverage across US television networks. McCarthy said former president Donald Trump wants him to stay in the race and told him to bring an end to the House Republican chaos and pull the party together.

JAPAN

Kishida vows deeper alliance with US

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged on Wednesday to deepen his country's alliance with the United States under Japan's new defense policy that breaks from its exclusively self-defense-only stance in the face of "growing regional tensions". Speaking in a news conference after visiting Ise Shrine in central Japan, Kishida said he will visit Washington for talks with President Joe Biden. Earlier on Wednesday, the White House announced that Biden will host Kishida for economic and security consultations on Jan 13. The two leaders last met in Bali, Indonesia, during November's G20 summit.

SOMALIA

Twin bombings leave at least 10 dead

At least 10 people were killed and several others wounded in simultaneous car bomb attacks in Mahas, a town in central Somalia, on Wednesday, security officials and witnesses said. The attack, blamed on al-Shabaab extremists, took place in the Hiran region where a major offensive was launched last year against the al-Qaida-linked group. Local officials said the attacks targeted houses where government officials leading anti-terror operations were staying, but most of the casualties were civilians. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has declared "all-out war" against al-Shabaab, which has been waging a bloody insurgency against the federal government for 15 years.

Agencies - Xinhua