Democratic Sen. Warnock wins Georgia runoff against Walker
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock has defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a runoff election in Georgia. The victory by the state’s first Black senator ensures Democrats an outright majority in the chamber for the rest of President Joe Biden’s term. That means the party won’t have to negotiate a power-sharing deal with Republicans and Vice President Kamala Harris won’t be called on as much to break tie votes. Warnock told jubilant supporters Tuesday night: “After a hard-fought campaign — or should I say campaigns — it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: The people have spoken.”
Trump Organization convicted in executive tax dodge scheme
Donald Trump’s company has been convicted of tax fraud for a scheme by top executives to avoid paying personal income taxes on perks such as apartments and luxury cars. As punishment, the Trump Organization could be fined up to $1.6 million. The guilty verdict Tuesday came on the second day of deliberations in the only criminal trial to arise from the Manhattan district attorney’s three-year investigation of the former president and his businesses. Longtime Trump Organization finance chief Allen Weisselberg previously pleaded guilty to hatching the 15-year scheme. He testified at the trial in exchange for a promised five-month jail sentence. Trump himself was not on trial.
North Carolina power cut by shooting could come back earlier
Duke Energy says it expects to be able to restore power by Wednesday night to a county where electric substations were attacked by gunfire. Duke Energy spokesman Jeff Brooks said the company expects to have power back Wednesday just before midnight in Moore County. The company had previously estimated it would be restored Thursday morning. About 35,000 Duke energy customers were still without power Tuesday, down from more than 45,000 at the height of the outage Saturday. Authorities have said the outages began shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday night after one or more people drove up to two substations, breached the gates and opened fire on them.
US judge gives initial victory to Oregon’s tough new gun law
A federal judge in Portland has delivered an initial victory to proponents of a sweeping gun-control measure approved by Oregon voters. The ruling Tuesday allows a ban on the sale and transfer of new high-capacity magazines to take effect this week. The judge also gave law enforcement more time to set up a system for the permits that will now be required to buy or transfer a gun. Measure 114, which narrowly passed in the midterms, requires a permit, criminal background check, fingerprinting and hands-on training course for new gun buyers and bans magazines over 10 rounds in most cases. Multiple gun rights groups have sued, saying it violates Americans’ constitutional right to bear arms.
San Francisco police can’t use deadly robots for now
San Francisco supervisors have voted to put the brakes on a controversial policy to let police use robots for deadly force. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to ban such use of robots for now. But supervisors sent the issue back to a policy committee for further discussion and may allow it in the future. It’s a reversal from last week’s vote to let the police use robots for deadly force, such as by strapping explosives on them, in limited cases. The vote generated some pushback from critics who said robots shouldn’t have that power.
Maryland bans TikTok in state agencies, latest state to act
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has announced a ban on the use of TikTok and certain China and Russia-based platforms in the state’s executive branch of government. The emergency directive announced by Hogan on Tuesday is the latest development in states acting to address cybersecurity risks presented by the platforms. It comes a week after South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, banned state employees and contractors from accessing TikTok on state-owned devices, citing its ties to China. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, also a Republican, on Monday asked the state’s Department of Administration to ban TikTok from all state government devices it manages.
COVID’s lingering impact prompts Real ID deadline extension
The deadline for obtaining the Real ID needed to board a domestic flight has been pushed back again, with the Department of Homeland Security citing the lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for the slower-than-expected rollout. The deadline to have a Real ID had been May 3, 2023, but DHS announced Monday that it was pushed back to May 7, 2025. People are getting compliant IDs as they renew driver’s licenses, but DHS said the pandemic resulted in backlogs at state driver’s license offices. Because of the backlogs, many state agencies that issue driver’s licenses automatically extended expiration dates on licenses and ID cards, rather than issuing compliant licenses and cards.
Argentina’s VP Fernández guilty in $1B fraud, gets 6 years
Argentina’s Vice President Cristina Fernández has been found guilty of committing a $1 billion fraud involving public works contracts during her presidency. A panel of judges announced her conviction and sentenced her Tuesday to six years in prison and a lifetime ban from public office. The populist leader is certain to appeal. She called the judges a “judicial mafia” and denied all the allegations. Her supporters vowed to paralyze the country in a nationwide strike. She will remain immune from arrest as long as she is an elected official.
Ukraine leader defiant as drone strikes hit Russia again
Drones struck inside Russia’s border with Ukraine Tuesday in the second day of attacks exposing the vulnerability of some of Moscow’s important military sites, observers said. Ukrainian officials did not formally confirm carrying out drone strikes inside Russia, and they have maintained ambiguity over previous high-profile attacks. But Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak taunted Moscow in comments on Twitter. Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia was likely to consider the attacks on Russian bases more than 500 kilometers (300 miles) from the border with Ukraine as “some of the most strategically significant failures of force protection since its invasion of Ukraine.”
By wire sources
