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The Summary A patch of snow in Scotland known for lingering year-round has melted for the fourth consecutive year. It's just the 10th time in more than three centuries that it has vanished. Such snow patches can act as harbingers of the broader consequences of climate change. A patch of snow in the Scottish Highlands dubbed the Sphinx typically lingers year-round, staying frozen through the summer. But it has melted away for the fourth consecutive year — only the 10th time in more than three centuries that has happened. The Sphinx, which adorns the side of Braeriach, the third-highest mountain in Great Britain, was historically considered the United Kingdom’s longest-lasting snow patch because it was known for sticking around even after most snow and ice vanis...

Many Americans have been holding back from jumping into the housing market in the hopes that mortgage rates will decline. So far, they haven’t. The average 30-year mortgage rate has been above 6% for two years — and is likely to stay above that level for the foreseeable future, experts say. A combination of better-than-expected growth and uncertainty about the impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s economic proposals, especially on inflation and the deficit, are combining to keep rates elevated. That’s despite the Federal Reserve’s push to lower its key federal funds rate to make borrowing in the economy easier. “Sixes are the new normal,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, a mortgage listing services group, referring to 6% mortgage rates. Interest ra...

Throughout his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump signaled he would resume federal executions if he won and make more people eligible for capital punishment, including child rapists, migrants who kill U.S. citizens and law enforcement officers, and those convicted of drug and human trafficking. “These are terrible, terrible, horrible people who are responsible for death, carnage and crime all over the country,” Trump said of traffickers when he announced his 2024 candidacy. “We’re going to be asking everyone who sells drugs, gets caught, to receive the death penalty for their heinous acts,” he added. While it remains unclear how Trump would act to expand the death penalty, anti-death penalty groups and criminal justice reform advocates say they are taking his...

For three straight seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles have been one of the NFL’s best teams nearing the middle of November. In 2022, the Eagles were 8-0 heading into Week 10 and eventually made the Super Bowl. Last year, they were 8-1 before they lost six of their last seven games, including a loss in the divisional playoffs. This season, Philadelphia is 6-2 as it heads into a Week 10 battle with the Dallas Cowboys. And there are reasons to believe this Eagles team is closer to the one that made a deep postseason run, as opposed to the one that faltered down the stretch. Philadelphia's season started with some issues — a turnover-filled performance by quarterback Jalen Hurts in the Brazil opener, head coach Nick Sirianni jawing with home fans after a lackluster effort against ...

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department plans to focus on arresting the "most egregious" Jan. 6 rioters — particularly those who committed felony assaults on law enforcement officers but have not yet been arrested — in the remaining 72 days before President-elect Donald Trump is back in the White House, a law enforcement official told NBC News this week. Trump is expected to shut down the years-long investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack and has said he would “absolutely“ pardon some, if not all , of his supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol that day, labeling them “ warriors ,” “ unbelievable patriots ,” political prisoners and “ hostages .” A Trump campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on which rioters Trump would conside...

A resistance movement was born in the wake of Donald Trump’s 2016 victory, sending thousands of people into the streets wearing pink hats and signs with punchy slogans . The leaders of left-leaning groups that emerged in response to Trump’s first election say they expect to be just as forceful in pushing back against the policy moves of a second Trump administration. “I think that folks are very angry and are going to be turning out,” Rachel O’Leary Carmona, the executive director of Women’s March, told NBC News. But “2016 was a long time ago, a pandemic ago, two presidential terms ago. Things are going to be different. It’s not going to be the same.” Following Trump’s re-election on Tuesday, scattered protests broke out in Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia and B...

Coverage on this live blog has ended. What to know about the Trump transition plans President-elect Donald Trump, fresh on the heels of his victory in the election , is already working on staffing up his next administration. Some high-profile options for Cabinet posts, such as Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, have removed themselves from contention for now, but other hires are underway, like the selection of co-campaign chair Susie Wiles to be the first female White House chief of staff . Meanwhile, the judge overseeing Trump’s criminal election interference trial has granted special counsel Jack Smith's request to pause the proceedings for a month to decide how to move forward, likely the beginning o...

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is considering ending two Biden administration programs that have allowed more than 1.3 million immigrants to enter the U.S. legally, making those who entered but have not yet received asylum eligible for deportation, two sources familiar with the plans told NBC News. The exact number of people who could face deportation after arriving in the U.S. legally is not known, but it is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. Trump’s plan to end the two Biden programs comes as the president-elect’s promised plan to carry out mass deportations is taking clearer shape. Trump’s transition team is considering plans designed to maximize the scope of the deportations and prioritize certain immigrants as among the first to be forced to leave. ...

State attorneys general across the country are urging people to notify the authorities if they received one of the racist text messages sent Wednesday to scores of Black people, telling them they had been “selected” to pick cotton “at the nearest plantation.” They said anyone who received these texts should contact local law enforcement, the FBI, or file complaints with state agencies if they feel threatened. New York Attorney General Letitia James directed recipients to file a complaint with the office’s civil rights bureau, while Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison encouraged anyone who received the message to fill out a complaint form with his office. The FBI said it is investigating the case but would not confirm to NBC News if they have information on whether ...

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a train station in restive southwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing at least 24 people, including security officers, and wounding about 50 others, some critically, officials said. The attack happened when nearly 100 passengers were waiting for a train to travel to the garrison city of Rawalpindi from Quetta, the capital of the restive Balochistan province, a c cording to Hamza Shafqaat, a senior government administrator. A separatist group, the Balochistan Liberation Army , claimed the attack in a statement, saying a suicide bomber targeted troops present at the railway station. The outlawed BLA has long waged an insurgency seeking independence from Islamabad. Police said about a dozen security forces are also among...