The grinding battle over congressional redistricting is drawing to a close. And, contrary to expectations that the process would result in big Republican gains, the final House of Representatives map may well improve somewhat for Democrats.

The main reason is gerrymandering — redrawing of district lines for partisan benefit. Republicans built on their existing gerrymanders to try to expand their House advantage, but Democrats fired back even more powerfully with gerrymanders of their own.

Basically, Democrats saved themselves by resorting to a tactic they’ve previously denounced as not only unfair but downright unethical — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called gerrymandering “unjust and deeply dangerous” in 2019. But in the absence of national reforms banning the practice, refusing to gerrymander would have meant effective unilateral disarmament, ceding the GOP a significant advantage in the battle for control over the House.

One of the Russian Navy’s most important warships has sunk in the Black Sea, a massive blow to a military struggling against Ukrainian resistance 50 days into Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his neighbor.

Russian state news agency TASS reported Thursday evening that the guided-missile cruiser Moskva had sunk, citing a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“During the towing of the cruiser Moskva to the port of destination, the ship lost its stability due to hull damage received during a fire from the detonation of ammunition. In the conditions of stormy seas, the ship sank,” the statement said, according to TASS.

Republican presidential candidates will no longer participate in debates hosted by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the Republican National Committee announced on Wednesday.

The RNC voted unanimously Thursday to withdraw from the primary organizer of general-election presidential debates, calling the CPD “biased” and unwilling to “serve the interest of the American people.”

“Debates are an important part of the democratic process, and the RNC is committed to free and fair debates,” RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “The Commission on Presidential Debates is biased and has refused to enact simple and commonsense reforms to help ensure fair debates including hosting debates before voting begins and selecting moderators who have never worked for candidates on the debate stage.”

McDaniel emphasized that the RNC would not be withdrawing from debates altogether, but only those hosted by the commission. It is unclear what alternative method will be pursued by the RNC, though the statement noted it will explore “other avenues for candidates to have a free and fair forum for all Americans.” The commission has hosted presidential debates for over three decades.

The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Georgia described it as “modern-day slavery.”

A human smuggling ring allegedly trafficked over 200 workers from Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala to provide labor on south Georgia onion farms, according to a federal indictment. They obtained agricultural worker visas for their victims and then forced them to perform physically demanding labor for little or no pay and live in squalid conditions. Members of the ring sold or traded some workers among themselves and sexually assaulted some. Some died as a result of the workplace conditions, the indictment alleges.

It wasn’t until one worker reported the abuses in 2016 that the federal government caught on, launching a five-year, multi-agency investigation dubbed Operation Blooming Onion. Now, 24 defendants — who were operating and receiving visas until 2021 amid the federal investigation — are awaiting plea and court proceedings. Three defendants in related cases have been sentenced to federal prison.