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1. Coronavirus
2. Transition in the White House
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell first acknowledged President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election yesterday during comments from the Senate floor. Many other Senate Republicans have still refused to publicly accept the election results, and McConnell has reportedly stopped his GOP colleagues from objecting to the state election results when Congress officially counts the votes on Jan. 6. While President Donald Trump has not officially recognized the election, campaign sent some mixed messages in a recent funding email to supporters, asking if Trump would re-run in 2024. Meanwhile, Biden will nominate Pete Buttigieg as his transportation secretary. The former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate served as a fierce ally of Biden after the president-elect’s nomination, and is slated to be the first Senate-confirmed LGBTQ cabinet secretary in history.
3. Government hack
US officials are still trying to gain insight into a serious data breach that has affected multiple federal agencies, including the Departments of Homeland Security, Agriculture and Commerce. As the investigation continues, officials suspect it was carried out by a group of Russian hackers through SolarWinds, a technology company whose products are used by a number of federal civil network management agencies. The National Security Council and the Cyber Response Group meet daily to determine the extent of the hack, what data may have been exposed and how dangerous the effects could be. However, Russia’s suspected involvement in the hack raises questions about past security breaches, and is, of course, reminiscent of Russia’s efforts to infiltrate the US 2020 election process. Moscow has so far denied any “offensive operations in the cyber domain” .
4. El Salvador
An asylum agreement between the United States and El Salvador is ready to go into effect and would send some migrants who apply for asylum at the US border to El Salvador to seek protection instead. The so-called Asylum Cooperative Agreement is part of the Department of Homeland Security’s ongoing efforts to divert asylum seekers to Central American countries. The US had made agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, but only the agreement with Guatemala really took off so far. Immigration advocates criticize this policy, saying it puts migrants further at risk.
5. Hungary
The Hungarian Parliament has passed a law narrowing down the definition of “family” in the country’s constitution, effectively prohibiting same-sex couples from adopting children. The new law defines marriage as between a man and a woman and says that in a relationship with children, “the mother is a woman, the father is a man.” LGBTQ rights groups and the EU community at large have rejected the decision, which is the latest in a series of anti-LGBTQ decisions taken under Prime Minister Victor Orban’s rule. In May, Hungary made it illegal for transgender and intersex people to change sex on identity documents, and Orban and his ruling Fidesz party are particularly against the legalization of same-sex marriage. Human rights organization Transgender Europe has called on the EU to address Hungary’s recent anti-LGBTQ motions.
BREAKFAST LEAF
The University of Florida basketball player who collapsed mid-game over the weekend is breathing alone and talking
Healing Thoughts for Keyontae Johnson.
‘The Voice’ has crowned a new winner
Find out who won the crown in this competitive, socially distant season.
Fake eggs are used to track turtle poaching
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, be ashamed of these decoy eggs.
Gmail is suffering from another email outage
Don’t panic, it wasn’t just you!
A man played the same songs on 160 lottery tickets on the same day. He won $ 800,000
Hey, if you have a feeling, you have a feeling!
TODAY’S NUMBER
256,000
According to a report by the country’s Royal Commission of Inquiry, it is estimated that so many children, youth and vulnerable adults were abused in New Zealand’s faith-based and state care institutions between 1950 and 2019.
TODAY’S QUOTE
She sees that the letterbox keeps filling up with bills. Bills that have never ceased to come. The bills are as grim as a shark smelling blood in the water. The end is near.’
Business owner Steven Klein, who wrote an emotional obituary for his beloved Michigan bowling alley. Because of the pandemic’s ups and downs, Klein says he isn’t sure the bowling alley will recover.
TODAY’S WEATHER
Check your local weather forecast here >>>
AND FINALLY
How much excellence can fit in one room?
Today and tomorrow we celebrate the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven. Let’s celebrate with some fireworks in the form of the legendary pianist Krystian Zimerman taking on Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, with none other than Leonard Bernstein at the helm. (Click here to view)
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story had the wrong date in the headline.