Author: Grace Thompson

PHOENIX — Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego will be Arizona’s first Latino senator next year, NBC News projects, after he defeated Republican Kari Lake amid a protracted vote count in one of the key swing states. Gallego will replace Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who retired after one term. It’s the fourth consecutive Senate election Democrats have won in Arizona, which has veered sharply to the middle in the Donald Trump era after years of reliable Republican control. Trump won the state in 2016 and won it again th i s year by what appears to be his biggest margin in any of the core swing states. But Joe Biden narrowly carried Arizona in 2020, part of a recent Democratic renaissance in the state. After the race was called Monday night, Galle...

Gunfire hit a Spirit Airlines flight to Haiti on Monday, injuring a crew member, and may have struck a separate flight from the country as the State Department warned of “gang-led efforts” to stop travel to the Caribbean nation. Spirit confirmed in a statement that one of its flights from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was diverted to the Dominican Republic on Monday. It said an inspection of the aircraft showed damage consistent with gunfire. "One Flight Attendant on board reported minor injuries and is being evaluated by medical personnel," the statement said. "No Guest injuries were reported." Spirit said that it is suspending its services to Haiti pending "evaluation" of the incident and that the plane was being taken out of service for the time being....

The Summary A new report describes the dire state of Earth’s snow and ice. Among other findings, it warns that several key climate tipping points appear more likely to be reached than previously thought. They include ice melt that could cause severe sea-level rise and the collapse of a crucial ocean current that governs how heat cycles in the Atlantic Ocean. Venezuela lost its final glacier this year. The Greenland Ice Sheet is losing, on average, 30 million tons of ice per hour. Ice loss from the Thwaites Glacier, also known as the “Doomsday” glacier because its collapse could precipitate rapid Antarctic ice loss, may be unstoppable. These are just a few of the stark findings from more than 50 leading snow and ice scientists, which are detailed in a new report from ...

WASHINGTON — A looming battle among Senate Republicans over whom to pick as their next majority leader is turning into an early test of how much power President-elect Donald Trump's MAGA movement will exert in his second term. The three-way fight to replace outgoing Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, pits Minority Whip John Thune of South Dakota against John Cornyn of Texas, a former McConnell deputy, and underdog candidate Rick Scott of Florida. The battle will gauge the staying power of long-serving senior Republicans grounded in an institutionalist view of the Senate, like Thune and Cornyn, against an emboldened pro-Trump wing looking to smash any vestiges of the old GOP as he returns to power. Scott, who's seeking to claim the latter mantle, said in an inter...

Former President Donald Trump has clinched a second term in the White House, and his Republican Party has won control of the Senate. But control of the House of Representatives is still up for grabs, as is the size of the incoming Senate majority. In the fight for the House, Democrats are facing an uphill climb to net the four seats needed to flip the chamber, while Republicans only need to win a handful more competitive races to hold onto the majority. With more than a dozen House races still uncalled and many looking close, Democrats would need to hang onto all of their competitive seats and flip a few Republican-held seats to get to the 218 seats needed for the majority. With votes still being counted, here's a look at the key races that remain uncalled by the NBC News Decision De...

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as secretary of state for his administration in the coming days, according to three sources familiar with the selection process. Trump could still change his mind, the sources cautioned, noting that the decision wouldn't be finalized until the president-elect makes a formal announcement. The New York Times first reported Trump's plans to name Rubio as the nation's top diplomat. Foreign policy is one of the few areas where there is a deep philosophical disagreement among Trump's base. A main pitch from Trump during the campaign was that he would implement “America First” policies, a doctrine that emphasizes less foreign aid, trying to curtail U.S. involvement in current foreign conf...

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as secretary of state for his administration in the coming days, according to three sources familiar with the selection process. Trump could still change his mind, the sources cautioned, noting that the decision wouldn't be finalized until the president-elect makes a formal announcement. The New York Times first reported Trump's plans to name Rubio as the nation's top diplomat. Foreign policy is one of the few areas where there is a deep philosophical disagreement among Trump's base. A main pitch from Trump during the campaign was that he would implement “America First” policies, a doctrine that emphasizes less foreign aid, trying to curtail U.S. involvement in current foreign conf...

CHURCH CREEK, Md. — Revered abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who was the first woman to oversee an American military action during a time of war, was posthumously awarded the rank of general on Monday. Dozens gathered on Veterans Day at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park in Maryland’s Dorchester County for a formal ceremony making Tubman a one-star brigadier general in the state’s National Guard. Gov. Wes Moore called the occasion not just a great day for Tubman’s home state but for all of the U.S. “Today, we celebrate a soldier and a person who earned the title of veteran,” Moore said. “Today we celebrate one of the greatest authors of the American story.” Tubman escaped slavery herself in 1849 and settled in Philadelphia. Intent on helping others achieve freedom, ...

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to name Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as secretary of state for his administration in the coming days, according to three sources familiar with the selection process. Trump could still change his mind, the sources cautioned, noting that the decision wouldn't be finalized until the president-elect makes a formal announcement. The New York Times first reported Trump's plans to name Rubio as the nation's top diplomat. Trump had previously considered Rubio as a running mate before ultimately choosing Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. Trump has made a series of other staffing announcements in recent days. On Monday, he announced plans to nominate former Rep. Lee Zeldin , R-N.Y., as the Environmental Protection Agency's top admi...

Firefighters on both coasts were battling wildland blazes Monday after thousands of acres burned in New Jersey amid a historic drought and after strong winds last week sent a blaze howling through Ventura County, California. The late-season fires, which come just a few weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, are a reminder that wildfires are quickly becoming a year-round hazard in the U.S. In California, the so-called Mountain Fire in Ventura County has grown to 20,630 acres, or 32 square miles, and was only 36% contained Monday evening, according to CAL Fire, the state agency responsible for fire protection . About 2,800 people were working to contain the blaze, which has damaged or destroyed nearly 250 structures since it started Wednesday. Ventura County Fire Capt. Tony M...