News

Just in via press release: Working to protect Californians from the incoming winter storms, Governor Gavin Newsom today proclaimed a state of emergency throughout California to support the ongoing response to recent winter storms. The emergency proclamation supports emergency relief efforts including authorizing the mobilization of the California National Guard to support disaster response, directing Caltrans to request immediate assistance through …

CNN reports: The House has voted to adjourn until 8 p.m. ET Wednesday. Rep. Kevin McCarthy has now failed to receive a majority of the vote six times. The House cannot move forward with business until a speaker is elected. Republicans are considering appointing four members each from the pro-Rep. Kevin McCarthy and anti-McCarthy camps to negotiate a path forward …

The Washington Post reports: The quest of House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to become speaker dragged on for a second day as Republican foes kept him from getting close to a majority of votes in another round of voting. Even a last-minute plea from  Trump for Republicans to unify around McCarthy failed to sway 20 Republicans — the same number …

Courthouse News reports: Court records unsealed Tuesday revealed federal prosecutors have charged two men for a series of substation attacks in Pierce County, Washington, that left thousands without power on Christmas Day. On New Year’s Eve, the FBI and local law enforcement executed an arrest warrant for Puyallup residents Matthew Greenwood, 32, and Jeremy Crahan, 40, who face federal charges …

Reuters reports: Megan Hess, 46, and Shirly Koch, 69, dissected some 560 corpses between 2010 and 2018, selling parts to medical training companies which did not know they had been fraudulently acquired. Entire bodies were sold in some cases, prosecutors said. Hess was sentenced to 20 years in jail and Koch to 15. Hess – who ran the Sunset Mesa …

Vice News reports: A new law makes porn sites liable for content deemed “harmful to minors” if it doesn’t install age verification technology for anyone accessing them in Louisiana—and it’s already affecting how people in the state access Pornhub. When Motherboard tested the verification, Pornhub directed us to AllPassTrust, a third-party identity verification site, which connects to LAWallet, a digital …

The New York Times reports: Mr. McCarthy and his allies will most likely begin horse-trading with rebel lawmakers on the House floor or in the cloakroom to try to win their support. At the same time, other lawmakers may try to run as potential consensus candidates. Or Republican rank-and-file members could try to draft one of their colleagues into running …

NPR reports: A first-ballot failure is embarrassing to the top Republican who led his party’s efforts to win back the majority. McCarthy ran for speaker in 2015 when then House Speaker John Boehner stepped down, but withdrew abruptly from the race after conceding he didn’t have the votes to win. The public vote on the House floor showcased the GOP …

ESPN reports: Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin had his heartbeat restored on the field after suffering cardiac arrest during the team’s game Monday night against the Bengals, and he is currently in critical condition at a Cincinnati hospital, the Bills said in a statement early Tuesday morning. The chilling scene midway through the opening quarter of the Monday night showdown between …

Orlando’s NBC affiliate reports: Shortly after 1 p.m. on Monday, social media began swarming with reports of flights heading into Florida being halted or canceled. The FAA told WESH 2: “The FAA has slowed the volume of traffic into Florida airspace due to an air traffic computer issue that is being resolved.” Miami International Airport stated that there was a …

The Washington Post reports: In a new firsthand account of the frantic efforts of Capitol Police officers to protect Congress and themselves from an armed mob on Jan. 6, 2021, the department’s former chief blames cascading government failures for allowing the brutal melee. The federal government’s multibillion-dollar security network, built after 9/11 to gather intelligence that could warn of a …

The Associated Press reports: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI ’s body, his head resting on a pair of crimson pillows, lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday as thousands of people filed by to pay tribute to the pontiff who shocked the world by retiring a decade ago. As daylight broke, 10 white-gloved Papal Gentlemen — lay assistants to …

The New York Times reports: Mr. Bolsonaro’s decision to spend at least the first weeks of Mr. Lula’s presidency in Florida shows his unease about his future in Brazil. Mr. Bolsonaro, 67, is linked to five separate inquiries, including one into his release of documents related to a classified investigation, another on his attacks on Brazil’s voting machines and another …

The BBC reports: Crowds of people are gathering in the Brazilian capital, Brasilia, ahead of the inauguration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as president. The state of Brasilia has pledged to deploy “100%” of its police force – around 8,000 officers – to the city amid fears that some supporters of Mr Bolsonaro could seek to disrupt proceedings. Mr …

EuroNews reports: In the new year, Croatia will become the latest country to join the Eurozone and the Schengen area, a move that European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen says makes the European Union stronger. As of Sunday, the country will “join a community of 347 million Europeans who use the euro in their daily lives,” von der Leyen …

The Guardian reports: Anita Pointer, one of the Grammy-winning Pointer Sisters whose string of pop, country and R&B hits in the 1970s and 80s included I’m So Excited, Jump (For My Love) and Fire, has died of cancer aged 74, her publicist said. Pointer was surrounded by family at her Beverly Hills home when she died on Saturday, publicist Roger …

Bloomberg News reports: Elon Musk was the second person ever to amass a personal fortune of more than $200 billion, breaching that threshold in January 2021, months after Jeff Bezos. The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer has now achieved a first of his own: becoming the only person in history to erase $200 billion from their net worth. Musk, 51, has seen …

NBC News reports: A new version of omicron has taken hold in the U.S., according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The subvariant of omicron, named XBB.1.5, has raised concerns about another potential wave of Covid cases following the busy holiday travel season. The CDC projected Friday that about 40% of confirmed U.S. …

Reuters reports: Outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro landed in Florida on Friday, after delivering a teary message to his supporters less than two days before his fierce leftist rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is set to take office. An official Brazilian plane landed in Orlando, Florida late on Friday, flight tracking website FlightAware showed. Although Bolsonaro’s destination has not …

The New York Times reports: Pope Benedict XVI, the eminent German theologian and conservative enforcer of Roman Catholic Church doctrine who broke with almost 600 years of tradition by resigning and then living for nearly a decade behind Vatican walls as a retired pope still clad in white robes, died on Saturday at age 95, the Vatican said. Just as …