
Louisiana holds elections to fill congressional seat formerly held by Biden official and replace Republican who died of Covid before swearing-in
CNN
The first congressional elections of the 2022 midterm cycle are set for Saturday, when Louisiana voters go to the polls to fill a pair of vacancies in the state's House delegation.
A Democratic battle is brewing in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge-area 2nd District, pitting two of the state's top Democrats against each other. The seat opened when former Rep. Cedric Richmond left for a job in President Joe Biden's White House. Two state senators are the leading candidates: Troy Carter, the state Senate minority leader, has Richmond's endorsement, while Karen Carter Peterson is backed by Georgia voting rights activist Stacey Abrams and the Bernie Sanders-aligned Our Revolution. Republican Julia Letlow, the widow of former Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, is running against 11 rivals for the 5th District seat in northeastern Louisiana that her husband won in a December runoff but never got to fill.
The European Union and the Mercosur bloc of South American countries formally signed a long-sought landmark free trade agreement on Saturday, capping more than a quarter-century of torturous negotiations to strengthen commercial ties in the face of rising protectionism and trade tensions around the world.

Judge restricts federal response to Minnesota protests amid outrage over immigration agents’ tactics
Immigration agents carrying out a sweeping operation in Minnesota can’t deploy certain crowd-control measures against peaceful protesters or arrest them, a federal judge ruled Friday. The order follows widespread outrage over a fatal shooting, reports of US citizens getting detained and Minnesotans getting asked for documents for no clear reason.

The smell of wet grass from the recent atmospheric river rains, mud and gasoline wafts through the warm Southern California air as Alec Derpetrossian works the chainsaw with a foreman, Randy Magaña, who helps him guide where to put the blade. Derpetrossian is still learning how to adequately use the large tool.










