Russia Attacks Ukraine with Drone Barrage, Kills One

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 7,  2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
TT

Russia Attacks Ukraine with Drone Barrage, Kills One

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 7,  2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

Russia launched a new barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Friday, killing one civilian and wounding more than 30 people in the center, south, and northeast of the country, Ukrainian officials said. The Interior Ministry said one person was killed in Ukraine's southern Odesa region as the Russian forces attacked with drones, damaging civilian infrastructure and residential houses.
According to the ministry's statement on Telegram, nine people were injured in the Odesa region. Four people were wounded in a drone attack on central Kyiv region and at least six private houses and several cars were damaged, the ministry said.
Russia also pounded the city of Kharkiv in the northeast with guided air bombs during the overnight attack, wounding at least 25 people, said Oleh Syniehubov, Kharkiv regional governor.
Russia has intensified its air attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns, sending swarms of drones almost daily with multiple night-time explosions and the constant sound of drones keeping residents awake.
Ukrainian officials have said frequent drone attacks were an apparent attempt to stretch Ukrainian air defense and increase pressure on the civilian population as the war against Russia nears the 1,000-day mark and Russian troops steadily advance in the east.
Ukraine's military said Russia launched more than 2,000 attack drones at civilian and military targets across the country in October.



US Congress Certifies Trump Election Victory for Jan. 20 Inauguration

US Vice President Kamala Harris attends a joint session of Congress to certify Donald Trump's election, at the US Capitol in Washington, US, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
US Vice President Kamala Harris attends a joint session of Congress to certify Donald Trump's election, at the US Capitol in Washington, US, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
TT

US Congress Certifies Trump Election Victory for Jan. 20 Inauguration

US Vice President Kamala Harris attends a joint session of Congress to certify Donald Trump's election, at the US Capitol in Washington, US, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)
US Vice President Kamala Harris attends a joint session of Congress to certify Donald Trump's election, at the US Capitol in Washington, US, January 6, 2025. (Reuters)

The US Congress formally certified Republican President-elect Donald Trump's November election victory over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, clearing the way for him to be sworn in on Jan. 20.

The certification of the election results on Monday in the 50 states and the District of Columbia was accomplished in a brief, formal ceremony during a joint session of the House of Representatives and Senate. It was presided over by Harris, acting in her vice-presidential role as president of the Senate.

The quadrennial ritual stood in sharp contrast to four years ago when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to block the certification of then-President Trump's 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden.

Trump continues to falsely claim that his 2020 defeat was the result of widespread fraud, and had warned throughout his 2024 campaign that he harbored similar concerns until his Nov. 5 defeat of Harris.

"Congress certifies our great election victory today - a big moment in history. MAGA!" Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday.

The joint session of Congress proceeded even as a winter storm hovered over the nation's capital, dropping about 6 inches (15 cm) of snow and snarling travel.

The final certification backed up preliminary findings that Trump won 312 Electoral College votes to Harris's 226.

REPUBLICANS CONTROL WHITE HOUSE, CONGRESS

Republicans also captured a majority in the US Senate and held a narrow edge in the House in November's election, which will give Trump the party support he needs to implement his planned agenda of tax cuts and a crackdown on immigrants living in the country illegally.

Democrats did not try to block certification of Trump's victory on Monday.

"We must renew our commitment to safeguarding American democracy," No. 2 House Democrat Katherine Clark said in a statement earlier in the day. "As elected leaders, our loyalty must be to the Constitution, first and always. We are here to honor the will of the people and the rule of law."

Security inside and outside the Capitol was heightened in preparation for the certification and was expected to remain in place through Trump's swearing-in.

The Capitol grounds were ringed by metal fences hundreds of yards from the US Capitol, and accessible only via checkpoints guarded by uniformed police officers.

Convoys of black police vehicles were on hand, led by a 10-wheel Baltimore police mobile command center. New York Police Department reinforcements were also patrolling the area.

Inside, extra teams of uniformed US Capitol Police officers were checking IDs at entrance sites including doors and underground tunnels leading to the House and Senate chambers.

Trump has said he plans to pardon some of the more than 1,500 people charged with taking part in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol, when a mob fought with police, smashing its way in through windows and doors and chanting, "Hang Mike Pence," referring to Trump's then-vice president, in a failed bid to stop Congress from certifying Biden's victory.

In the 2021 melee at the Capitol, rioters surged past police barricades, assaulting about 140 officers and causing more than $2.8 million in damage. Multiple police officers who battled protesters died in the weeks that followed, some by suicide.

As a result of that day's violence, Congress passed legislation late in 2022 bolstering guardrails to ensure that the certification process is administered in a legal manner.

Many of these changes were directly in response to Trump's actions leading up to and including Jan. 6, 2021. For example, the new law asserts that the vice president's role is largely ceremonial.