Santos expulsion sidestepped: The Republican majority in the House avoided a vote on a resolution to expel Congressman George Santos of New York by referring the resolution to the House Ethics Committee. That committee can keep studying the matter, which would allow Santos to remain in Congress until his term expires and even longer if he’s reelected. Santos has been indicted on 13 federal charges that include lying to Congress, campaign fund irregularities and theft of public money.
Terrorist sentenced:Â Convicted terrorist Sayfullo Saipov has been ordered to serve ten life sentences in prison plus an additional 260 years for killing eight people in Manhattan and injuring 18 more in October 2017. He drove a truck onto a bike path and ran down as many people as he could. A jury took the death sentence off the table.
Judges hear mifepristone appeal:Â A panel of three Federal Appeals Court judges in the Fifth Circuit in Texas are deciding whether to uphold a ban of the abortion drug mifepristone after hearing oral arguments yesterday. All three judges are Republican appointees, politically conservative and abortion opponents. The government is defending the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the drug and arguing that judges have no business second-guessing the scientists at the FDA and banning a drug that has been safely and effectively used for decades.
Russian missiles:Â Ukraine says that it shot down 29 of the 30 missiles the Russians fired at civilian targets in the country today. One missile hit an industrial building in Ukraine’s Odessa region. An envoy from China has been holding meetings with Ukrainian officials in the country’s capital city Kyiv in the hope of brokering peace talks between Ukraine and Russia.
Walmart financials:Â Walmart today reported U.S. and international sales for the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2024 of $130.5 billion with operating income of $6.1 billion. Walmart’s President and CEO Doug McMillon pointed out that the company’s eCommerce sales were up by 26%. The company reported debts of $49.5 billion along with cash and cash equivalents of $10.6 billion..
TikTok ban: TikTok says it will defend the rights of people in Montana to continue using the service after Gov. Greg Gianforte signed into law a ban on the use of TikTok in Montana. The ban becomes effective in January. Montana has become the first state in the U.S. to ban TikTok. The governor said the state took the action in order to protect the personal and private data of residents from being used by the Chinese Communist Party. A Chinese company owns TikTok.
