December 12, 2022 — Today’s Biggest News Stories

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Four years after being elected, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona announced that she is leaving the Democratic Party and changing her registration to independent.

Even with Sinema’s move, Democrats will still maintain control of the Senate, albeit very narrowly. Sinema, who is the first openly bisexual person elected to the Senate, told Politico that she will not caucus with Republicans, although she didn’t say whether she would with Democrats. Currently, two other independents, Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, caucus with Democrats.

Sinema has previously voted with Republicans when it comes to taxes and sided with Democrats on issues like LGBTQ rights, infrastructure, and gun control. Earlier this year, Sinema was censured by the Arizona Democratic Party after she refused to vote alongside Democrats to change the Senate’s filibuster rules in order to pass voting rights legislation. Last year, she also angered Democrats by voting against a $15 federal minimum wage bill.

The senator is facing reelection in 2024, but has not addressed whether she would run again.

Brittney Griner arrives in the US, fighting in Ukraine rages on

  • Brittney Griner has arrived in San Antonio. Griner went to a nearby medical center following her release from a Russian penal colony, the Washington Post reported.

  • In Bakhmut, Ukraine, Russian troops wear down Ukrainian defense. “A city once home to 72,000, Bakhmut’s civilian population has dwindled to 12,000 over the past six months, surviving in basements and supplied by mobile grocery trucks which enter the city when they can,” the Guardian’s Peter Beaumont reported from the city.

SNAPSHOTS

Missouri Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler went viral for her teary (and unsuccessful) plea to stop the Respect for Marriage Act. Her gay nephew wants a word. Andrew Hartzler is also part of a federal class action lawsuit to stop religious schools from receiving taxpayer dollars if they discriminate against LGBTQ students.

Renowned sports journalist Grant Wahl has died at 48 after collapsing at a World Cup match. News of his death prompted an outpouring of tributes from athletes and other journalists who remembered Wahl as a passionate fan, a generous colleague, and a champion of American soccer.

An “unprecedented” number of fake tickets caused chaos at Bad Bunny’s concert in Mexico, and Ticketmaster has apologized. A Senate committee is expected to hold a hearing soon on whether a lack of competition in the ticketing industry violates US antitrust regulations and hurts consumers.

Ten years later, the Ikea monkey is thriving. Darwin is happily living in a sanctuary in Ontario.

Source: https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexalee1/kyrsten-sinema-senate-brittney-griner-lan-party-december-12

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