Chiefs parade livestream: Watch Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City celebrate Super Bowl 57 win

Associated Press
Virginia Democrats advance efforts to protect abortion, voting rights, marriage equality
Democrats who control both chambers of the Virginia legislature are hoping to make good on promises made on the campaign trail, including becoming the first Southern state to expand constitutional protections for abortion access. The House Privileges and Elections Committee advanced three proposed constitutional amendments Wednesday, including a measure to protect reproductive rights. Its members also discussed measures to repeal a now-defunct state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and ways to revise Virginia's process to restore voting rights for people who served time for felony crimes.
NBC News
E. coli cases rise to 104 in outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounders
The E. coli case total has risen to 104 in the outbreak linked to McDonald’s Quarter Pounders. Slivered onions still appear to be the most likely source of the contamination.
NBC News
RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine group lost $3 million last year
Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine nonprofit group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., recorded a more than 30% drop in revenue last year, according to recent tax filings.
USA TODAY
Cold case arrest: Florida man being held in decades-old Massachusetts double murder
Police have made an arrest in the West Springfield murders of 18-year-old Theresa Marcoux and 20-year-old Mark Harnish, who were found shot to death in 1978.
Associated Press
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas says he was detained in airport over being 'disoriented'
Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he was detained by police at an airport near Washington, D.C. earlier this month. McCaul said he became “disoriented” at Dulles International Airport after he took medication and drank alcohol before his scheduled flight back home to Texas.
NBC News
Trump picks former House Democrat Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence
President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he will nominate Tulsi Gabbard, a former House Democrat who became a high-profile Trump supporter, to be director of national intelligence.
NBC News
Trump baffles Republican senators by picking Matt Gaetz for attorney general
President-elect Donald Trump stunned Senate Republicans by announcing that he will nominate Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz as attorney general.
Associated Press
Vermont man is fit to stand trial over shooting of 3 Palestinian college students
The man charged with shooting and wounding three college students of Palestinian descent in Vermont last year has been declared fit to stand trial, according to the judge presiding over the case. The findings from a psychological evaluation of 49-year-old Jason Eaton were discussed during the hearing Tuesday, and the judge also gave defense attorneys more time to collect depositions. Authorities say Eaton shot and seriously wounded Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad in Burlington on the evening of Nov. 25, 2023, as they were walking in his neighborhood near the University of Vermont.
AFP
US envoy says Mexico's 'hugs not bullets' strategy failed
The "hugs not bullets" security strategy introduced by Mexico's former president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to tackle criminal violence at its roots failed, US ambassador Ken Salazar said Wednesday.While crime prevention was a valid concept, "the hugs not bullets strategy did not work," Salazar told a press conference where he was asked about the efforts of Lopez Obrador and his successor President Claudia Sheinbaum to address crime through social policy.
Reuters
Sri Lanka votes for new parliament as economic recovery hangs in balance
Sri Lanka holds a snap election on Thursday which will determine if the South Asian island nation wants to empower its new, leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to push his anti-poverty policies as it recovers from a financial meltdown. A little over 17 million Sri Lankans are eligible to elect lawmakers to the 225-member parliament for a five-year term. A record 690 political parties and independent groups are in the fray across 22 electoral districts.
NBC News
Trump endorses Mike Johnson for speaker in meeting with House Republicans
House Republicans are slated to elect a leadership team, including re-nominating Mike Johnson for speaker, and meet with President-elect Donnld Trump.
AFP
Trump's top team: firebrands and stalwarts
US President-elect Donald Trump is building his administration ahead of retaking the White House in January, handing top roles to a mixture of political allies, outright firebrands and a few relatively conventional figures.A pro-Trump firebrand in Congress, Gaetz is subject to a House ethics probe into alleged sex trafficking.
USA TODAY
'We're just on day 1': Republicans and Democrats are gearing up for a new status quo in Congress
Republicans are giddy and preparing for at least two years with a trifecta. Democrats are reassessing their losses and looking to Trump's agenda.
Associated Press
Mississippi governor intent on income tax cut even if states receive less federal money
Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Wednesday that he will continue pushing lawmakers to phase out the state income tax, even with the possibility of federal spending cuts that could affect states after Donald Trump begins his second term as president. Mississippi is one of the poorest states in the U.S., and it receives billions of dollars a year from the federal government. One of the biggest chunks of federal money is for Medicaid, a government health insurance program for low-income residents.
Associated Press
Louisiana asks court to block part of ruling against Ten Commandments in classrooms
Lawyers for the state of Louisiana asked a federal appeals court Wednesday to immediately block a judge's ruling ordering education officials to tell all local districts that a law requiring schools to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge John deGravelles in Baton Rouge declared the law “unconstitutional on its face” in a lengthy decision Tuesday and ordered education officials to notify the state’s 72 local school boards of that fact. The state plans to appeal the entirety of deGravelles’ order, but the emergency appeal at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is aimed at just one aspect of it.
NBC News
Trump announces Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general
Gaetz, a Florida lawmaker who has been under federal investigation, has been a staunch Trump ally on Capitol Hill.
Associated Press
Investigation into Chinese hacking reveals 'broad and significant' spying effort, FBI says
A federal investigation into Chinese government efforts to hack into U.S. telecommunications networks has revealed a “broad and significant” cyberespionage campaign aimed at stealing information from Americans who work in government and politics, the FBI said Wednesday. Hackers affiliated with Beijing have compromised the networks of “multiple” telecommunications companies to obtain customer call records and gain access to the private communications of “a limited number of individuals," according to a joint statement issued by the FBI and the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. The FBI did not identify any of the individuals targeted by the hackers but said most of them “are primarily involved in government or political activity."
Politico
Attorney Ted Olson, who argued Bush recount and same-sex marriage cases, dies
“Even in a town full of lawyers, Ted’s career as a litigator was particularly prolific,” said Mitch McConnell, the longtime Senate Republican leader.
NBC News
House Foreign Affairs Chair McCaul 'briefly detained' by police after appearing drunk at airport
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was briefly detained by police at a Washington-area airport after mixing Ambien and alcohol.
Associated Press
US ambassador says Mexico 'closed the doors' on security cooperation and denies its violence problem
U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar lashed out Wednesday at Mexico’s failure to accept aid in the fight against drug cartels, claiming the country “closed the doors” on security cooperation. In a press conference, Salazar launched his harshest criticism yet of rampant violence, police corruption and the Mexican government’s mistaken attitude that “there is no problem.” Mexico's foreign relations ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the statements by Salazar.

Chiefs parade livestream: Watch Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City celebrate Super Bowl 57 win

Kansas City Chiefs Parade 2023 schedule, route

Latest Stories

Virginia Democrats advance efforts to protect abortion, voting rights, marriage equality

E. coli cases rise to 104 in outbreak linked to McDonald's Quarter Pounders

RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine group lost $3 million last year

Cold case arrest: Florida man being held in decades-old Massachusetts double murder

Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas says he was detained in airport over being 'disoriented'

Trump picks former House Democrat Tulsi Gabbard to be director of national intelligence

Trump baffles Republican senators by picking Matt Gaetz for attorney general

Vermont man is fit to stand trial over shooting of 3 Palestinian college students

US envoy says Mexico's 'hugs not bullets' strategy failed

Sri Lanka votes for new parliament as economic recovery hangs in balance

Trump endorses Mike Johnson for speaker in meeting with House Republicans

Trump's top team: firebrands and stalwarts

'We're just on day 1': Republicans and Democrats are gearing up for a new status quo in Congress

Mississippi governor intent on income tax cut even if states receive less federal money

Louisiana asks court to block part of ruling against Ten Commandments in classrooms

Trump announces Matt Gaetz as his pick for attorney general

Investigation into Chinese hacking reveals 'broad and significant' spying effort, FBI says

Attorney Ted Olson, who argued Bush recount and same-sex marriage cases, dies

House Foreign Affairs Chair McCaul 'briefly detained' by police after appearing drunk at airport

US ambassador says Mexico 'closed the doors' on security cooperation and denies its violence problem