With the formation of subtropical storm Theta in the Atlantic Ocean, 2020 is now the most active hurricane season on record. Here’s what you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.
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The transition to the Joe Biden administration will likely be much more difficult than those in his camp had hoped. President Donald Trump’s administration has yet to sign off on a key document needed to formally begin the transition process. Meanwhile, Trump has so far refused to concede the race and is continuing to baselessly claim election fraud. Attorney General William Barr reminded federal prosecutors that they should examine allegations of voting irregularities before states move to certify results, despite providing no evidence of fraud. The Justice Department’s top election crimes prosecutor resigned in protest. Still, as the GOP continues to defend Trump publicly, several top Republicans acknowledged that there was little chance the outcome of the election could be changed.
Here’s some good news for a change: The drugmaker Pfizer said early data from its human coronavirus vaccine trial shows that it is more than 90% effective — a much better efficacy than expected if the trend continues. It’s a huge breakthrough in the global pandemic that has killed more than 1.2 million people, and experts say the news bodes well for other vaccines against Covid-19, too. Pfizer says it expects to have 50 million vaccine doses globally this year, and 1.3 billion next year. Monday also brought another glimmer of hope: the FDA said it had granted emergency authorization for Eli Lilly’s antibody therapy to treat mild to moderate coronavirus infections in adults and children. Meanwhile, the US has surpassed 10 million infections — far more than any other country.
The Supreme Court will meet today to discuss whether to invalidate the entire Affordable Care Act, in perhaps the most consequential case of the term. The case is brought by a coalition of Republican-led states and the Trump administration, who argue the law’s individual mandate is unconstitutional, and the entire law must fall. Wiping away Obamacare would have a sweeping impact on the nation’s health care system and on the lives of tens of millions of Americans. That includes the roughly 20 million people who’ve gained coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges and through the expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults, as well as nearly 54 million people with pre-existing conditions. Today will mark the third time the court has heard a significant challenge to the law.
Trump announced that he had fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper over Twitter on Monday, and that Christopher Miller, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, would take over “effective immediately.” The relationship between the President and Esper has been tense for a while now. This summer, Esper publicly broke with Trump over sending active duty troops to control protests against police brutality in American streets. His firing has raised concerns that other top national security officials who have earned Trump’s wrath — such as CIA Director Gina Haspel and FBI Director Christopher Wray — could be next.
Armenia’s Prime Minister announced he had signed a peace deal with Russia and Azerbaijan to end the war over the disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh, just hours after Azerbaijan claimed it captured the region’s strategic city of Shusha. The dispute over the mountainous region has run hot and cold since a 1994 ceasefire, and control over the area has become a point of nationalist pride in both Armenia and Azerbaijan. It’s populated and controlled by ethnic Armenians, but it sits inside Azerbaijani territory. Azerbaijan has long claimed it would retake the territory, which is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani. Tensions flared up again over the summer and escalated in September, with both sides reporting dozens of civilian casualties since.
You called, we listened: What thousands of voicemails reveal about the 2020 election
We asked American voters how they feel now Joe Biden has been elected President. Here’s what they told us.
Oxford dictionaries change its definitions of the word “woman”
Even the dictionary can be sexist and out of date.
2,400 rare NASA photos are up for auction
Among them is the only photo of Neil Armstrong on the moon.
A military carrier pigeon message turned up 110 years after it was sent
Better late than never, as they say.
This Italian town was known for its old folks. Then they vanished.
The town is now picture-perfect, but its residents have been driven away.
“The voters of Georgia hired me, and the voters will be the one to fire me.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, rejecting calls to resign from Republican US Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue as both of their Senate races appear to be headed for a January runoff. Raffensperger is also a Republican.
$750,000
That’s the amount of a settlement reached between NBA player Sterling Brown and the city of Milwaukee over a 2018 altercation with the city’s police where he was tased, tackled and stepped on by officers.
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A Colosseum, fallen
Watching this giant structure made of 9,000 wood blocks and 1,200 dominos crumble is satisfying and painful at the same time. (Click here to view.)
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — As some conservatives in South Carolina celebrated getting a bill that would ban almost all abortions in the state past a legislative barrier and likely becoming law, they said they are not finished trying to end all abortions.
A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.