Newsletter: Today: Is There a Speaker in the House?

I'm Davan Maharaj, editor of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I don't want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

Is There a Speaker in the House?

"It's not on my to-do list," said one Tennessee Republican. "It’s a thankless task," said another from Texas. "It's a killer." Kevin McCarthy's dramatic withdrawal from the election to become speaker of the House of Representatives has created chaos. And there's little consensus about who should step into the role that's two heartbeats away from the presidency. 

Time for Dodger Baseball, but ...

The Dodgers will face the Mets tonight, but they'll be doing so without the voice of the franchise. The team announced that Vin Scully had undergone a medical procedure and was resting comfortably, but he will not call any postseason games. Updates on this and all the Dodgers news will be here.

The Night a Hospital Became a Target

"There wasn't any fighting that night at all," said a security guard near the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. "The city was all calm." Then, the scream of a warplane. An explosion. And more. Here is the story of the American military's bombing of the clinic, as told by those who were in Kunduz. 

Car Trouble

L.A. County Assistant Sheriff Michael Rothans bought a stolen 2012 Audi A4 from the owner of a towing company that contracts with his agency, a Times investigation has found. Rothans, the department's third-ranking official, said he had no idea he was driving a stolen car until more than a year after buying it. Now, the department is investigating. 

Hold That Pose

Bikram Choudhury has made a fortune with "hot yoga." He has counted movie stars and pro athletes among his clients. But he can't copyright his sequence of 26 poses that include Rabbit, Camel, Locust and Dead Body, a court has ruled. That's making yoga teachers breathe easier.

CALIFORNIA

-- California's oil regulatory agency has acknowledged failures to oversee oil operations in the L.A. basin.

-- Spencer Stone, who helped stop a suspected terror attack on a train in France, was stabbed on a Sacramento street.

-- FBI officials say they dug up $600,000 buried in the backyard of an armored-truck driver.

-- Products with plastic microbeads will be banned under a new California law.

NATION-WORLD

-- Nobel Peace Prize awarded to four Tunisian groups that have sought to foster peaceful political dialogue.

-- European countries take steps to head off "economic migrants."

-- The window might be closing for a Joe Biden presidential run.

-- A deadly mudslide in Guatemala was preceded by hazard warnings.

-- "A soulful kindness and unforgettable passion": Remembering the late Paul Prudhomme.  

-- DNA from a 4,500-year-old Ethiopian reveals a surprise about the ancestry of Africans. 

BUSINESS 

-- Pilots report an increasing number of near misses with drones; 1 in 5 were in California, according to data released by Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

-- A top VW executive blamed rogue engineers for the emissions scandal; experts express doubts. 

SPORTS

-- Saturday's U.S.-Mexico soccer game at the Rose Bowl will have stepped-up security, officials promise. 

-- A look at the NFL's Spotless Six: the teams that still have unblemished records.

ENTERTAINMENT

-- Review: "Steve Jobs" is a smart, hugely entertaining film that is not your standard biopic.

-- Sasha Frere-Jones: Why N.W.A belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Plus: Our music staff's picks for who should get in.

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Inside Russia's most infamous motorcycle club. (Rolling Stone)

-- Is the chili pepper friend or foe? (BBC)

-- Your worst commuting nightmare? China's massive traffic jam. (CityLab)

ONLY IN L.A.

General Dogon is an activist-artist who makes bicycles with a lowrider sensibility, like the rusty 1954 Western Flyer he transformed into a bright orange custom ride with a fur seat. When he bikes around skid row, it draws a crowd -- the perfect chance to make the impoverished aware of their rights. 

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.