US Domestic News Roundup: US' Harris to visit Parkland shooting site, push new gun laws; Biden administration urges US Supreme Court to reject Musk appeal in SEC dispute and more

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.

Measles cases in US rise to 62 as of Thursday, says CDC

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday the number of measles cases in the United States has increased to 62 as of Thursday, higher than the whole of last year. The CDC issued a health advisory on Monday urging people, particularly children and international travelers, to get vaccinated against measles due to the increase in cases this year. Total cases were at 58 last week.

US Congress averts government shutdown, passing $1.2 trillion bill

The U.S. Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed a $1.2 trillion budget bill, keeping the government funded through a fiscal year that began six months ago and sending it to President Joe Biden to sign into law and avert a partial shutdown. The vote on passage was 74-24.

US' Harris to visit Parkland shooting site, push new gun laws

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday will push states to strengthen laws that can strip firearms from high-risk people as she visits the Parkland, Florida, high school where a gunman killed 17 people in 2018. Harris is traveling to meet with families of the victims and see Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where the murders happened, according to a White House official.

The al Qaeda plot to kill Bill Clinton that history nearly forgot

Air Force One with President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton aboard was on its final approach to Manila on Nov. 23, 1996, when their U.S. Secret Service detail received alarming intelligence: an explosive device had been planted on the motorcade route into the Philippines capital. Acting swiftly, the agents switched to a back-up route to the Clintons' hotel, foiling a suspected al Qaeda attempt to assassinate the president of the United States minutes after his arrival for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

Biden administration urges US Supreme Court to reject Musk appeal in SEC dispute

President Joe Biden's administration on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to turn away billionaire businessman Elon Musk's dispute with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Musk in December asked the justices to take up his appeal after a lower court upheld his consent decree with the SEC that arose after he posted on Twitter, now called X, in 2018 that he had "funding secured" to take his electric car company Tesla private. The SEC accused Musk of defrauding investors.

FBI tells Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 passengers they may be crime victims

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has told passengers who were on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 that suffered a Jan. 5 mid-air emergency that they may be victims of a crime, according to letters seen by Reuters. The letters, a procedural step in some criminal investigations by the Justice Department, are a sign that its probe into the MAX 9 emergency is moving forward.

'God gave us Trump': Christian media evangelicals preach a messianic message

"This is really a battle between good and evil," evangelical TV preacher Hank Kunneman says of the slew of criminal charges facing Donald Trump. "There's something on President Trump that the enemy fears: It's called the anointing." The Nebraska pastor, who was speaking on cable news show "FlashPoint" last summer, is among several voices in Christian media pressing a message of Biblical proportions: The 2024 presidential race is a fight for America's soul, and a persecuted Trump has God's protection.

Ad campaign uses humor to urge Americans to ditch natural gas

When environmentalists talk about climate change, it's typically in stark terms, describing it as a crisis that threatens the future of the planet. A scrappy group of filmmakers and activists think it can also be funny. The Gas Leaks Project, a group formed by climate advocacy veterans, launched a $1 million campaign this week that uses humor to push back against oil and gas industry messaging that natural gas, which is lower emitting than coal, is a critical "bridge fuel" in the transition to renewable energy.

Treasury's Yellen says funding bill allows lending of $21 billion to IMF trust

A $1.2 trillion government funding bill passed by Congress will allow the U.S. to lend up to $21 billion to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) trust to help the world's poorest countries, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Saturday. Yellen said the funding would make the United States the largest supporter of the IMF's Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), which provides zero-interest rate loans to support low-income countries as they work to stabilize their economies, boost growth and improve debt sustainability.

US home flipping malaise pinches reality TV stars to contractors

While the increase in interest rates engineered by the Federal Reserve over the last two years put a damper on the overall U.S. housing market, it took a sledgehammer to home flippers from small contractors to reality TV stars. Just ask Tarek El Moussa, star of HGTV's "The Flipping El Moussas" and former co-host of the real estate and renovation-focused channel's mainstay, "Flip or Flop."