JIM JORDAN (Wikipedia).

Jim Jordan has been nominated by House Republicans to be the next Speaker of the House.

In a closed-door session on Friday, a majority of his party in the House of Representatives backed the “firebrand” conservative  and ally of former president Donald Trump. The balloting was reporting as 124-81 by the Associated Press, though the margin got closer on a second ballot.

In a closely-divided House where Republicans hold a small edge over Democrats, Jordan may not have enough votes to become speaker, and Democrats are unwilling to partner with the GOP to elect a more moderate Republican to the job.

The vote came after Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was ousted from the speaker job, and Majority Leader James Scalise decided not to seek the job.

Israel demands Gaza evacuation

HAMAS vs. Israel (Shutterstock).

In what may be the prelude to a full-scale invasion by Israeli forces, the evacuation of 1 million people has been demanded from the Gaza Strip.

The New York Times is reporting that the Palestine Health Ministry claims that at least 70 Palestinians have been killed and 200 others wounded as they tried to leave the northern part of Gaza.

A spokesman for the United Nations warned that the evacuation demanded by Israel “could transform what is already a tragedy into a calamitous situation.”

Kaiser, union work out an agreement

KAISER and unions strike a deal (Shutterstock).

A tentative agreement has been reached between the Kaiser Permanente health care system and its unions, ending a three-day strike,

United Press International reports that the deal would cover 75,000 workers, but still has to be approved by a vote of the union members. The strike did not include doctors or nurses, but included pharmacists, vocational nurses, housekeepers and others.

Details of the agreement have not been made public, but staffing issues have been central to the concerns of union members.

Weather:  Warmer and then cooler

The weekend will get warmer in our West Orange County area, peak and become cooler. The forecast for Saturday is for a daytime high of 84 with an overnight  low of 58 under partly cloudy skies. Sunday will heat up to 90 during the day, and cool to 60. The decline begins on Monday to 84 (60) and then 83 (60) on Tuesday.