The Wider World

Battle over Congress still tight

U.S. CAPITOL, seat of Congress (Shutterstock).

Which party will have control of Congress for the next two years is still up in the air as millions of votes were still being counted on Wednesday.

While neither the Democrats or Republicans have officially won enough seats in either the Senate or the House of Representatives, the GOP is considered likely to end up with enough in the House to claim a majority.

Democrats are in better shape in the Senate. John Fetterman’s win over Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania flipped a seat to blue, but Nevada Democratic senator Catherine Cortez Masto is trailing Adam Laxalt, offering Republicans a chance to flip a seat from blue to red.

If that happens and Democrats can hold an Arizona seat, Republicans would hold 50 seats to the Democrats’ 49. It may then come down to the Georgia runoff between Democratic incumbent Ralph Warnock and Republican challenger Hershel Walker. Warnock “won” with a margin of 35,000 votes, but since no candidate received a majority, they will go into overtime on Dec. 6.

If Warnock were to win the runoff – as he did in 2020 – that would allow Democrats to keep control of the Senate because Vice President Kamala Harris can cast a tie-breaking vote.

Russians retreating from Kherson?

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Is it real or a trap? The Russian military announced Wednesday it would be pulling its troops out of Kherson, the only regional capital it had conquered.

But Ukrainians are wary, concerned the maneuver might be a trick to lure them into a deadly street battle in the city.

However, if the withdrawal is real, it would represent as major humiliation to Russia, according to the Associated Press. Moscow had expected an early conquest, but Ukrainian forces have blunted their progress and rolled back some of their gains.

Sports: Stafford in concussion protocol

MATT STAFFORD (Rams photo)

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has been placed in the concussion protocol.

According to ESPN, Stafford went into the evaluation process on Tuesday. It hasn’t yet been determined whether Stafford actually has suffered a concussion during the Rams’ loss Sunday to Tampa Bay.

If he is sidelined, backup QB John Wolford would step in as signal-caller against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Weather: The rain is behind us

After a night and a day of rainy skies and strong winds, West Orange County should be back to typical November weather on Thursday.

The forecast calls for sunny skies with a daytime high of 68 and an overnight low of 46. Friday – Veterans’ Day – should be mostly sunny with a high of 69 and a low of 47.  Saturday is expected to be similar with sun and a high of 68 (47).

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