President Joe Biden secured the confirmation of his 235th federal judicial nominee on Friday, surpassing President-elect Donald Trump’s first-term judicial confirmation record by one. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced the milestone after the Senate confirmed Serena Raquel Murillo to a lifetime position as a district judge for the Central District of California. The […]

A Chinese national was indicted in El Paso, Texas, on Friday for allegedly selling pill press equipment used to make counterfeit pills that are laced with fentanyl, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ stated that Xaiofei Chen was charged by a federal grand jury in the Western District of Texas with one […]

Three cruise ships have been hit with norovirus outbreaks this month, with one ship reporting more than 100 passengers falling ill, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There have been 11 reported norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships this year, but this is the first time the virus has been confirmed on […]

Two astronauts who have been stranded in space for months won’t be able to return to earth until March, NASA said on Dec. 17 as it announced the latest in a string of delays sparked by problems with their Boeing-designed Starliner spacecraft. NASA said it needed more time to complete the processing of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, […]

The Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio temporarily closed its airspace on Dec. 13 after drone activity was detected in the area, a base spokesperson said on Dec. 15. Bob Purtiman, public affairs director for 88th Air Base Wing, told media outlets that the airspace was blocked after small unmanned aerial systems were spotted […]

The Israeli government said on Dec. 15 that it would close its embassy in Ireland due to what it described as “extreme anti-Israel policies” of the Irish government. The move came less than a week after Ireland approved a request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to broaden the definition of genocide in support […]

Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump, has said that she is stepping down from her role at the Republican National Committee (RNC) and would consider a possible Senate position in the incoming administration. The former television producer said in a Dec. 8 social media post that she intends to formally step down as […]

The FBI is offering up to $50,000 in reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4. This brings the total reward offered by law enforcement agencies to $60,000, following the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) previous announcement of a $10,000 reward […]

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said on Dec. 3 that harmless content was too often removed by mistake from its platforms during elections worldwide and pledged to improve its content moderation practices. Nick Clegg, president of global affairs for Meta, said the tech giant has worked throughout the year to update and […]

The White House announced on Dec. 2 a new $725 million military aid package for Ukraine as President Joe Biden seeks to strengthen Kyiv’s position in the Russian war before his presidency ends in January. The package will include ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, Stinger missiles, artillery shells, drones, landmines, and other military […]

A Republican-led oversight subcommittee has concluded that the COVID-19 virus likely originated from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, following a two-year investigation into the pandemic. The House Oversight Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic released a 520-page report on Dec. 2, detailing the findings of the subcommittee’s investigation. The report found that the U.S. National […]

The FBI has warned consumers to be wary of online scammers during the holiday shopping season, especially when it comes to offers that seem “too good to be true.” “Every year, thousands of people become victims of holiday scams,” the FBI said in a statement on Friday while issuing guidelines to protect consumers from becoming […]

Raw Farm, a dairy farm located in Fresno County, California, issued a voluntary recall on Nov. 24 of its raw milk product on Sunday following the detection of avian influenza in a retail sample. The company said in a statement that it was recalling a single lot of its cream top, whole raw milk products […]

President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday night that he has selected Linda McMahon to serve as secretary of the Department of Education, a department he has pledged to abolish. The position requires Senate confirmation. McMahon, 76, currently co-chairs Trump’s transition team. McMahon previously held the role of administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) during […]

Dozens of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy campaigners have been jailed after a landmark trial that saw them convicted of subversion under China’s National Security Law (NSL) for their participation in a 2020 primary election that was deemed illegitimate by the government. Despite international condemnation following its verdicts against the pro-democracy campaigners in May 2023, […]

Incoming Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Nov. 17 urged the Senate to impose sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) if it continued to pursue arrest warrants for Israeli officials over the Israel–Hamas war in Gaza. In June, the House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at imposing sanctions on those involved in […]

A Southwest Airlines plane was hit by gunfire while preparing for takeoff at Dallas Love Field airport in Texas on Friday night, but no injuries were reported from the incident, according to the airline. The Southwest Airlines flight 2494 was taxiing for departure to Indianapolis when a bullet “apparently struck the right side of the […]

“Guardians of the Galaxy” star Chris Pratt and his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger have welcomed their first son together and revealed the name of their baby boy. The couple said they were “overjoyed” to share the birth of their third child named Ford Fitzgerald Schwarzenegger Pratt, who will join their two daughters, Lyla and Eloise. “Mama […]

OpenAI said on Friday that ChatGPT had denied more than 250,000 requests to generate images of U.S. presidential candidates ahead of the Nov. 5 general election. The artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot blocked requests to generate images of former President Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and Sen. JD […]

A couple who owned a Colorado funeral home where 190 decaying bodies were discovered last year is expected to appear in state court for a plea hearing on Nov. 8 after being charged with hundreds of counts of corpse abuse. Jon Hallford, 44, and Carie Hallford, 47, owners of the Return to Nature Funeral Home […]