WABASHA, Minn. The bald eagle is getting closer to becoming the official national bird of the United States. You can pardon yourself if you didn't think this was necessary. A unanimous vote to incorporate the official national bird designation into the U.S. code was approved by the Senate late one Monday night in July, after the majority of senators had already left for the day. After Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., moved to approve the bill without any opposition, Senator Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., stated that it was so ordered. It was off to the House in an instant. The bald eagle is not yet the national bird of the United States, although the U.S. constitution officially names the oak tree as the country's national tree, the rose as its national flower, and Congress even decided in...

According to authorities, a youngster who claimed to have killed four family members at a house in New Mexico on Saturday was imprisoned on murder charges. According to New Mexico State Police, the 16-year-old reported the killings to 911 at 3:32 a.m. near the little town of Belen, which is located 33 miles south of Albuquerque. According to authorities, the adolescent, who was "extremely intoxicated," fled a home and offered his hands in surrender to deputies who arrived. According to investigators, they discovered a firearm on the kitchen table and four deceased persons inside. The teenager's and the victims' identities were made public by state police, but NBC News usually doesn't identify minors who are charged with crimes. The four fatalities were ages 42, 35, 17, and 14. Although aut...

Washington Two U.S. officials who were familiar with the classified briefings told NBC News that the FBI has warned a few U.S. lawmakers that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to fabricate stories to paint them negatively due to their support for Taiwan and hawkish views of Beijing. Due to the sensitive nature of the briefings, the U.S. officials asked not to be named. They claimed that one of the false narratives being spread by the CCP and referenced in FBI briefers is that these senators are supporting Taiwan because they accepted bribes from Taiwan. One of the two U.S. officials told NBC News that the CCP is attempting to discredit congressional support for Taiwan's democracy by portraying it as corrupt and not in the best interests of the American people. It won't function. The...

A guy from the Boston region has been taken into custody by Massachusetts authorities in relation to a murder-for-hire scheme involving the 1992 killing of an Army soldier, authorities announced Monday. In a statement released Monday, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Cambridge Police Commissioner Christine Elows announced that Edward J. Watson, 65, of Mattapan, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 29-year-old Michelle Miller, who was last seen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the summer of 1992. Watson, who was placed in jail without bail, entered a not guilty plea at his arraignment on Monday. According to the authorities, Miller's violent partner, Daniel J. Innis, ordered Watson to kill Miller. On an unrelated manslaughter allegation in 1994, Innis received...

Cheap seats are no longer sufficient for travelers on airlines. Travelers have demonstrated to airlines that they are prepared to pay more to seat in the comparatively roomy front section of the aircraft since the outbreak. Since many of the seats are already taken, frequent travelers have a difficult time getting free upgrades to the front of the aircraft. Additionally, there is increased competition for those seats as the ranks of frequent passengers with elite status are growing from the airport lounge to the crowded first boarding group. Airlines forecast that the year-end Christmas period will see even more crowds, setting yet another record. In early 2025, CEOs have predicted robust demand even during the off-season. According to aviation data provider Cirium, the capacity of U.S. ca...

Washington In an effort to defeat the second Trump administration, a strong group of congressional Democrats on Monday suggested Virginia Representative Gerry Connolly over New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez for the top Democratic position on the House Oversight Committee. According to a panelist, the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, which closely resembles Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., held a closed-door meeting and Connolly received 34 votes while Ocasio-Cortez received 27. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on Oversight, challenged Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., for a comparable position on the Judiciary Committee, forcing Nadler to resign, creating the vacancy. In a surprise move, the Steering group on Monday suggested Rep. Angie Craig of M...

As investors awaited the Federal Reserve's anticipated interest rate cut later this week, bitcoin surged to a new all-time high on Monday. According to Coin Metrics, the flagship cryptocurrency's price was last up about 3% at $106,126.74. It had previously reached a new high of $107,229.38.Ether surged 3% to surpass the crucial $4,000 mark. The whole cryptocurrency market, as indicated by the CoinDesk 20index, saw a rise of almost 1%. Cryptocurrency stocks returned their earlier gains.Coinbase saw a rise of almost 1%. Bitcoin proxy sharesFollowing the announcement on Friday night that MicroStrategy would join the Nasdaq-100 stock index and the highly traded QQQETF later this month, the stock dipped below the flat line after rising as much as 7%. Michael Saylor, the creator of MicroStrategy...

A source familiar with the arrangements told NBC News that President-elect Donald Trump is meeting with Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, on Monday in anticipation of a potential ban on the video app in the United States. The meeting was announced just hours after Trump said during a press conference that he had a soft spot for TikTok and that they would look into the app and perhaps banning it. President Joe Biden approved a federal law last year that will prohibit TikTokin from operating in the United States as of January 19 unless the Chinese company that owns the app consents to sell its stake. After a federal appeals court upheld the statute this month, TikTok sought the Supreme Court on Monday to halt it. Biden might potentially give the app a 90-day temporary reprieve. The day follow...