Donald Trump's Cabinet choices are putting his power over Senate Republicans to the test. Why, after Roe v. Wade was overruled, the number of abortions did not decline as precipitously as expected. Mario Andretti, a former racing champion, also discusses his initial plans for his new Formula 1 team. What to know today is as follows. Trump's Cabinet nominees test his sway with Senate Republicans Republicans reclaimed the Senate majority after Donald Trump won the presidency, raising concerns about whether his supporters and party members would support his choices or oppose them. The answer was no for former Representative Matt Gaetz. Gaetz reportedly withdrew from consideration of the president-elect's choice to head the Justice Department because of substantial resistance from Senate Re...

High-ranking officers of Brazil's army are heard discussing attempts to urge then-President Jair Bolsonaroto to stage a coup and stay in power in a cache of leaked audio recordings from late 2022. The Federal Police received the 53 audios, which The Associated Press accessed on Monday. They offer a unique opportunity to hear military personnel voicing their desire to prevent leftist Luiz Incio Lula da Silva from assuming office. Some of those recordings were cited by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is in charge of the police's extensive investigation, in his decision last week to order the arrest of five individuals for planning the 2022 assassination of then-President-elect Lula and then trying to remove him from office on January 8, 2023, when Bolsonaro supporters destroye...

Lebanon's AABRA Despite the constant fear of bombs, Mayada El Sayed effectively removes ripe olives from a tree while wearing duct tape across her fingers to prevent bruises. A 45-minute drive south of the capital, Beirut, and a few miles inland from Lebanon's Mediterranean coast, El Sayed, 45, said she was afraid of the frequent strikes, one of which was less than half a mile from Bustan El Zeitoun Grove, where she was employed, as Israel advances into the neighboring country to combat the militant group Hezbollah. The mother of three expressed concern about what might happen to her kids at their house in Haret Saida, a community where numerous Israeli bombings have targeted residences and commercial buildings. She expressed her concern that she might not be able to return home to them....

In order to combat obesity, the Biden administration intends to mandate that Medicare and Medicaid provide coverage for weight-loss drugs. Proposed by the administration on Tuesday, the new rule would significantly increase access to anti-obesity drugs such as Mounjaro, Ozempic, and Wegovy. These medications have only been covered by Medicare and Medicaid up until now when they are used to treat diseases like diabetes. The modification would significantly lower the medications' out-of-pocket expenses. According to a White House official, the cost of a month's supply of weight loss medications might now reach $1,000 or higher. Over 40% of Americans are categorized as obese. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention state that obesity is a chronic disease that increases the risk of hear...

Pakistan's Peshawar As thousands of supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan breached government barricades and engaged in combat with law enforcement in the nation's capital, Islamabad, on Tuesday, four members of Pakistan's security services were slain. The paramilitary personnel were run over by automobiles in a protester convoy, according to a statement from the interior ministry. It's not a nonviolent demonstration. In a different statement released by his office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared it to be extremism. Demands for Khan's release from prison and the federal government's resignation over what they claim were rigged general elections this year served as the impetus for the protests. Roadblocks, such as shipping containers, that had been erected on highways and...

Israel's war cabinet met with Lebanon's Hezbolla on Tuesday to negotiate a cease-fire proposal after the latter's military began more attacks on southern Beirut. On October 8 of last year, a day after the Hamas terrorist strike from Gaza, Hezbollah, Iran's most significant proxy and a potent Lebanese political and militant organization, started exchanging gunfire with Israel. Israel views it as another attempt by Tehran to attack the Jewish State, while Hezbollah claims it is backing the Palestinian resistance. Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, stated on Monday that the proposed truce would probably be discussed by his nation's security cabinet when it convened the next day. An Israeli source knowledgeable on the situation verified this to NBC News. According to Ali Hamdan's advi...

Australia's SydneyMeta Platforms, the company that owns Google and Facebook, encouraged the Australian government on Tuesday to postpone a measure that would prohibit children under 16 from using most forms of social media, stating that more time is required to evaluate the potential effects of the policy. By the end of the parliamentary year on Thursday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's center-left government hopes to enact the bill, which would include some of the strictest restrictions on children's use of social media that any nation has ever imposed. Last Monday, the bill was introduced in Parliament and was only available for one day for public comment. In their arguments, Google and Meta stated that the government should hold off on taking action until the outcome of the age-verifi...

South Korea's SEOUL After attempting to eat his way out of mandatory military service, a South Korean man who wanted to escape it was found guilty. An official at the Seoul Eastern District Court told NBC News on Tuesday that the guy, who has not been officially identified, was convicted of evading national service after he purposefully attempted to put on so much weight that he would be disqualified for combat duty. Under the Military duty Act, which stipulates that escaping mandatory military duty without a valid reason can result in terms of up to three years, he was given a one-year prison sentence with a two-year suspension. Due to a contentious policy that began in the 1950s following the Korean War, South Korea mandates that nearly all physically fit male citizens between the ages...

Washington In contrast to eight years ago, when he narrowly defeated his opponent and took office while police pepper-sprayed protesters who were terrified by his ascent, Donald Trump wants his second inauguration to be more widely accepted and applauded. An someone close to the president-elect told NBC News, speaking on condition of anonymity, that he hopes this time there would be fewer protests and less division. Unlike in 2016, Trump won both the popular vote and the electoral college by a wide margin in this year's election. According to the source, Trump is confident that his presidency won't be stigmatized in the same way as it was in the past after those outcomes. Trump hopes that. His advisors are currently working on an inauguration that will be unlike any that the United State...

Boston In a case that U.S. authorities said showed a growing nationwide torrent of antisemitism following the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza last year, a man from Massachusetts entered a guilty plea on Monday to accusations that he threatened to kill Jews and bomb a synagogue. At a federal court hearing in Boston, John Reardon entered a guilty plea to charges of threatening to kill children and bomb the Congregation Agudas Achim in a voicemail he left with the synagogue in Attleboro, Massachusetts, in January. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the defendant's threats to kill Jewish children and bomb synagogues incited fear among the congregation at a time when Jews are already dealing with an alarming rise in threats. The increase in threats came after...