WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Paul Ryan captured enough House votes Thursday to become the chamber's next speaker, as a splintered Republican Party turned to the youthful but seasoned lawmaker to mend its self-inflicted wounds and craft a conservative message to woo voters in next year's elections.
In a slow-moving roll call that mixed politics with pageantry, 218 lawmakers — a majority — called out the Wisconsin Republican's name as their pick for the job. That assured that Ryan will become the 54th speaker, presiding over a chamber that has been awash in tumult ever since defiant conservatives hounded John Boehner, R-Ohio, into announcing his resignation from that post last month.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, who has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for insulting Islam and for cyber crime, was awarded the European Union's prize for human rights and freedom of thought on Thursday (Oct. 29).
