Author: Grace Thompson

Former Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s attorney on Sunday confirmed to NBC News that Hegseth, whom President-elect Donald Trump has named as his candidate for defense secretary, paid a woman an undisclosed amount after she accused him of sexual assault. “In 2023, Hegseth paid the complainant as part of a civil confidential settlement agreement and maintains his innocence,” Timothy Parlatore, Hegseth’s attorney, said in a statement. He also denied that the encounter between Hegseth and an unnamed woman, which she alleges happened in 2017, was sexual assault. Parlatore’s statement comes after The Washington Post on Saturday reported that a friend of Hegseth ’ s accuser sent a memo to the Trump transition team detailing the allegations. NBC News has not independently...

Attorneys for X Corp., the firm established by Elon Musk to take over Twitter, filed a notice of appearance on Thursday in the bankruptcy case of Alex Jones and his Infowars platform. The new owners of satirical news site The Onion had been declared the successful bidders for Jones ’ controversial platform , alongside families of the Sandy Hook massacre victims. But this week, the Texas bankruptcy judge overhearing the case voiced concerns about the transparency of the auction process and called for a new hearing to discuss those potential issues. “Nobody should feel comfortable with the results of the auction,” Judge Christopher M. Lopez said, according to a Bloomberg News report. The X Corp. filing , dated Nov. 14 and first reported by Mother...

A month after Donald Trump danced spontaneously at a political rally, the moves have made their way to sporting events around the country. After two attendees fainted at an Oct. 15 rally in Pennsylvania, Trump ended his remarks, saying: “Let’s just listen to music. Who the hell wants to hear questions?” He then danced for roughly 40 minutes, according to reporters at the rally. The moves remained solely in the world of politics as an unexpected moment in the run-up to the election until recently, after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris to return for his second stint in office. San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa celebrated a sack with teammates in a game at Tampa Bay on Nov. 10. Asked what inspired the dance, Bosa told reporters, “I think you know the answer to that...

MANILA, Philippines — A powerful typhoon wrecked houses, caused towering tidal surges and forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee to emergency shelters as it cut across the northern Philippines on Sunday in the sixth major storm to hit the country in less than a month. Typhoon Man-yi slammed into the eastern island province of Catanduanes on Saturday night with sustained winds of up to 125 miles per hour and gusts of up to 149 mph. The country’s weather agency warned of a “potentially catastrophic and life-threatening situation” in provinces along its path. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the typhoon, which was forecast to blow northwestward on Sunday across northern Luzon, the archipelago’s most populous region . The capital...

A defamation case against Kari Lake brought by Maricopa County, Arizona, Recorder Stephen Richer has been settled, representatives for both parties confirmed Sunday to NBC News. Richer, a Republican, filed a claim in June 2023 saying Lake falsely accused him of "intentionally sabotaging the election" after she lost the 2022 Arizona governor's race. Richer's office is tasked with maintaining voter files and works with Maricopa County Elections to administer elections. Richer sought unspecified nominal, compensatory and punitive damages. "As a result of Defendants’ knowing and malicious falsehoods, Richer and his family have been the target of threats of violence, and even death, and have had their lives turned upside down," Richer's team said in the claim last year, whic...

Days after Russia launched an unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with missiles and artillery rounds raining down on Kyiv and other cities, former Democratic lawmaker Tulsi Gabbard posted a perplexing video message. “It’s time to put geopolitics aside and embrace the spirit of aloha, respect and love, for the Ukrainian people by coming to an agreement that Ukraine will be a neutral country—i.e. no military alliance with NATO or Russia,” the former Hawaii congresswoman wrote on social media. Such an arrangement would “allow the Ukrainian people to live in peace. Aloha.” Unlike her former colleagues in Congress and the leaders of Western democratic countries, Gabbard offered no condemnation of Russia and no reference to the unprovoked nature of the a...

The U.S. on Saturday reported its first case of a more aggressive strain of mpox : an individual in California who had recently traveled from eastern Africa. The case was confirmed by the California Department of Public Health and reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The person was treated in San Mateo County based on their travel history and symptoms and is now isolating at home and recovering, the state's health department said in a press release. Public health workers are contacting people who had close contact with the patient, "but there is no concern or evidence" that the strain is currently spreading in California or the U.S., the statement said. The U.S. is the sixth country outside of Africa to have detected the strain, according t...

The late, beloved "Golden Girls" actor Betty White will be memorialized on a new postage stamp next year. The U.S. Postal Service announced Friday that one of its 2025 Forever Stamp offerings will include an illustration of White. White died in 2021 , weeks shy of her 100th birthday. Besides "Golden Girls," she was known for roles in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Boston Legal." In a release featuring a sneak peek of the stamp, the Postal Service called White an "icon of American television" who "shared her wit and warmth with viewers for seven decades." "The comedic actor, who gained younger generations of fans as she entered her 90s, was also revered as a compassionate advocate for animals," it wrote. The stamp features a 2010 photo taken by Kwaku Alston th...

The election showed voters are increasingly split by education level and angry about the economy even as college costs ease. This “diploma divide” is now a defining feature of American politics . It comes at a time when earning a degree remains among the surest paths toward a higher income and when the costs of embarking on it are falling. But many don’t seem to notice. The net costs students pay for four-year degrees have been declining for years, College Board data shows. When adjusted for inflation, in-state students now pay an average of $2,480 in tuition and fees at public four-year colleges this academic year, down 43% from a peak of $4,340 in 2012-13. At pricier four-year private institutions, the net tuition and fees students pay has declined a more modest 15%, ...

The legendary “doom fish” has returned to California. A long, ribbon-shaped oarfish, rarely seen and believed to signal disaster, has washed up on California’s shores for the second time this year. PhD candidate Alison Laferriere from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego discovered the nearly 10-foot-long oarfish on a beach in Encinitas, in southern California , last week. Oarfish are elusive creatures that dwell in the deep ocean — often as far as 3,300 feet below the surface — in the mesopelagic zone, a dark region beyond the reach of sunlight. These mysterious fish, which can grow up to 20 feet long, remain largely unstudied by scientists, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Rare, monstr...