U.S. and world news for Jan. 25

Pence welcomes special counsel: Former Vice President Mike Pence says he would welcome the appointment of a special counsel to look into the discovery of classified government documents at his house in Indiana. A lawyer for Pence notified the National Archives of the discovery and advised that Pence had been unaware that the classified documents were at his house.

Google sued: The Justice Department and eight states including New York and Connecticut have filed suit against Google in U.S  District Court in Virginia alleging that Google is a monopoly in the digital advertising market. The suit alleges that Google neutralizes or eliminates competitors. Google responded with a statement saying that it is not monopolistic and the plaintiffs in the lawsuit don’t understand how it operates.

Uganda’s oil: The East African country Uganda says that the China National Offshore Oil Corporation has started drilling for oil in the country and expects to be able to start pumping oil from the ground by 2025. It is estimated that Uganda is sitting on a supply of more than 1.4 billion barrels of oil.

Walmart raising wages: John Furner, president and CEO, of Walmart U.S., in a message to employees says starting with paychecks issued March 2 the company is raising salaries so that employees will earn an average of $17.50 per hour. Walmart is instituting a $14 minimum wage. He also said Walmart is expanding its education program through which it pays college tuition and fees so that employees will be eligible to participate from the first day they’re hired.

U.S. tanks: Details have yet to be finalized, but the U.S. was expected to reverse its position and agree to send about 30 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. The U.S. has said that it was reluctant to send the tanks to Ukraine because they are difficult to maintain and it takes significant training to learn how to operate them.

Santos changes funding claim: Congressman George Santos has filed a new form with the Federal Election Commission that says loans to his campaign committee totaling just under $700,000 did not come from his personal funds as previously claimed, but Santos does not say where the money actually came from. MSNBC’s  Rachel Maddow aired a tape of Santos claiming that he was the victim of an assassination attempt and a mugging in Manhattan. The New York Police Department could not find any record of such incidents.