US Domestic News Roundup: U.S. Representative Fortenberry, found guilty of lying, to resign; Grocery workers vote to strike if needed in southern California for higher wages and more

The markets in which cigarettes are being removed from stores include California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico, the report https://www.wsj.com/articles/walmart-stops-selling-cigarettes-in-some-stores-11648459800?mod=latest_headlines said, citing people familiar with the matter and store visits. Biden to propose minimum tax on billionaires as part of 2023 budget U.S. President Joe Biden will propose a minimum tax on billionaires as part of the fiscal 2023 budget that is expected to be unveiled on Monday, a document released by the White House showed.

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

U.S. Representative Fortenberry, found guilty of lying, to resign

Republican U.S. Representative Jeff Fortenberry, who was convicted of lying to FBI investigators about illegal contributions to his 2016 re-election campaign, said on Saturday that he would be resigning from Congress. Following a trial in Los Angeles federal court, the jury found Fortenberry, who represents Nebraska, guilty of scheming to falsify and conceal material facts, along with two counts of making false statements to federal investigators.

Grocery workers vote to strike if needed in southern California for higher wages

Around 48,000 grocery workers voted to strike if needed when seeking higher wages from stores owned by Kroger Co and Albertsons Companies Inc in Southern California, the UFCW 770 union said on Saturday. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) has been seeking significantly higher and equal pay, sufficient staffing and enough working hours in their negotiations with the grocers, which began on Jan. 28.

Walmart stops cigarette sales in certain U.S. stores - WSJ

Walmart Inc is stopping cigarette sales in some U.S. stores after years of debate within the retail giant's management team about selling tobacco products, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The markets in which cigarettes are being removed from stores include California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico, the report https://www.wsj.com/articles/walmart-stops-selling-cigarettes-in-some-stores-11648459800?mod=latest_headlines said, citing people familiar with the matter and store visits.

Biden to propose a minimum tax on billionaires as part of 2023 budget

U.S. President Joe Biden will propose a minimum tax on billionaires as part of the fiscal 2023 budget that is expected to be unveiled on Monday, a document released by the White House showed. Biden's "Billionaire Minimum Income Tax" would set a 20% minimum tax rate on households worth more than $100 million, in a plan that would mostly target the United States' more than 700 billionaires, according to a White House fact sheet released on Saturday.

U.S. FDA approves UCB's drug for rare childhood epilepsy

Belgian biotech firm UCB SA said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its drug to treat seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS), a rare form of childhood epilepsy. The drug, branded as Fintepla, already has the U.S. approval to treat another form of childhood-onset epilepsy, Davet Syndrome (DS), in patients aged two years and older.

'CODA' takes top prize, Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at Oscars

"CODA," a heartwarming movie about a deaf family with a hearing daughter, won a landmark best picture prize at the Oscars on Sunday, in a ceremony overshadowed by best-actor winner Will Smith's slapping of presenter Chris Rock. "CODA" became the first movie from a streaming service, Apple TV+, to win the film industry's biggest prize.

White House deputy press secretary has COVID, Biden not close contact

White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who was on a trip with U.S. President Joe Biden to Europe, said on Sunday that she had tested positive for COVID-19 but is not considered to have been in close contact with him. "I last saw the President during a socially distanced meeting yesterday, and the President is not considered a close contact as defined by CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidance," she said in a statement from the White House.

Biden's budget to boost military, raise taxes on billionaires

U.S. President Joe Biden is expected on Monday to ask Congress for record peacetime military spending while raising taxes for billionaires and projecting lower government deficits.

Biden's budget proposal for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 lays out his administration's priorities but it is merely a wish list as lawmakers on Capitol Hill make the final decisions on budget matters.

Evacuation order issued for avalanche-stricken Anchorage suburb

Residents of a suburb of Anchorage in Alaska were ordered on Sunday to evacuate a mountainous area after one massive avalanche buried a road and another huge slide was considered imminent. Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson issued the evacuation order, citing "a grave and immediate threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the citizens" in the affected area at Eagle River, on the city's outskirts.

Nursing grievances over 2020, Trump returns to Georgia seeking allies

In a test of his enduring influence over the Republican Party, former President Donald Trump returned to Georgia on Saturday to stump for allies who support his ongoing false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him - starting with Georgia. At a rally in Commerce, a small city northeast of Atlanta, Trump spent the first 20 minutes of his speech repeating falsehoods about the outcome, calling Governor Brian Kemp, a fellow Republican, a "turncoat" and "coward" for failing to reverse the results.