Griner released in prisoner swap:Â U.S. female basketball star Brittney Griner has been released from a Russian prison in a prisoner swap. The U.S. gave up arms dealer Viktor Bout in exchange for Griner’s release. The prisoner swap took place this morning in the United Arab Emirates. Griner had been arrested on drug smuggling charges at a Russian airport when containers of hashish oil were found in her luggage.
Trump had more classified documents:Â More classified government documents taken by Donald Trump when he left the White House have been found, this time in a storage unit outside of his Florida resort Mar-a-Lago. Numerous other government documents previously were recovered from Mar-a-Lago. The latest documents were found in a search conducted after a federal judge told Trump’s lawyers they should make sure they were complying with requirements for Trump to return government property.
Power restored in NC:Â Electric power was restored to Moore County, North Carolina, last evening. Duke Energy said that 45,000 customers had been affected by the sabotage of two electric substations. Duke said it has donated $100,000 to local nonprofits to help support the needs of the community due to the power outage caused when some person or persons fired shots into the electrical equipment at the substations.
FL legislator charged with fraud:Â A federal grand jury in Gainesville, Florida, has indicted Republican Florida State Legislator Joseph Harding for allegedly scheming to defraud the U.S. Small Business Administration of money intended to help businesses cope with the effects of the Covid pandemic. Harding previously made a name for himself by introducing legislation that became law in Florida and restricts classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identify. It became known as the Don’t Say Gay law. Harding is charged with money laundering, wire fraud and making false statements. He’s due to go on trial Jan. 11.
Covid restrictions:Â The Chinese government says it can’t lift most restrictions on the population put into place to combat Covid until sometime next year. China did announce that it is rolling back mandatory frequent Covid testing and eliminating requirements that people with even mild cases of the virus go to government-run isolation centers rather than isolating at home.
German plot: German officials said the 25 people arrested for a right-wing plot to overthrow the German government believe in QAnon conspiracy theories and had a concrete plan to overthrow the German government by force. The German federal prosecutor’s office says another 27 people are being sought for taking part in the plot.
