KEVIN McCARTHY was the House Minority leader. Will be become Speaker of the House? (Facebook)

The struggle over who would be the new Speaker of the House of Representatives dragged on for its third day in Washington, D.C.

According to the Associated Press, Republican party  leader Kevin McCarthy continued to fall short of the 218 votes needed on the seventh eighth, ninth, 10th and 11th ballots.

Members of the conservative Freedom Caucus are believed to be withholding support from McCarthy unless he agrees to a rules change which would allow a single Congressman to prompt a vote on whether to replace the speaker. Also on the table us backing for a constitutional amendment imposing term limits for the Senate and House of Representatives.

Democrat Hakeem Jeffries has led on all ballots, but all has votes come from members of his party, which is in the minority.

Putin calls for a cease-fire

RUSSIAN PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin (Shutterstock).

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a 36-hour cease-fire in the war with Ukraine. According to The New York Times, the truce would run from noon on Friday through midnight Saturday in observance of the Eastern Orthodox Christmas.

Officials in Ukraine and the U.S. are skeptical, concerned that the Russians will use the pause in fighting to move troops and restock ammunition.

Also in the news: Dharmesh Patel, 41, and his family remain hospitalized after he allegedly deliberately drove his Tesla off a cliff along the ocean win San Mateo County. He faces charges of attempted murder and child abuse. In the vehicle was his wife, 4-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter

Sports: No re-start for Bills-Bengals

National Football League team owners will meet on Friday on how to proceed now that it’s been decided that the game between the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills – stopped when Bills safety Damar Hamlin suffered a heart attack – has been cancelled and won’t be resumed.

According to ESPN, there are several scenarios to be discussed and a neutral site for the American Football Conference title game.

Hamlin has reportedly shown “substantial improvement” but is still considered in critical condition.

Weather: Rain takes a holiday

The forecast for the West Orange County area calls for a temporary relief from the wet stuff that’s hit the area the last two days. Friday is expected to be partly cloudy with a daytime high of 63 and an overnight low of 44.

Saturday should be mostly cloudy (65/47) and Sunday is expected to be partly cloudy (65/51).

Rain is expected to return on Monday and Tuesday.