December 2, 2020 News Summary
US Politics and Economics
As the deadline for the electoral college vote nears, two more key states, Arizona and Wisconsin, have certified their election results, which shows Biden’s lead of 11,000 and 20,000 votes respectively. This is the Trump campaign’s 6th defeat of the 6 states that they disputed during the election (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin). This implies that Trump’s lawsuits and campaigns to discredit votes without any evidence of fraud did not significantly change the results of the election. Despite these intense lawsuits, Arizona governor Doug Ducey claimed “We do elections well here in Arizona. The system is strong.” Wisconsin attorney general, Josh Kaul, said in a statement that “there is no basis at all for any assertion that there was widespread fraud that would have affected the results.” As of 8 am this morning, Biden leads Trump by roughly 7 million votes nationwide.
Health
According to, CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, as of December 2, 2020, 12:32 PM, there are 13.62 million cases nationwide and 269k deaths. Currently, Texas leads with 1.27 million cases, while California follows with 1.22 million cases.
(NYTimes) In the U.S., doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, made by Pfizer, an American pharmaceutical giant, and BioNTech, a small German company, will likely begin to be given out to frontline healthcare workers and long-term residents at nursing homes once the FDA once they are given emergency use authorization. However, the U.K. has already approved a vaccine, as “regulators in Britain and elsewhere in Europe lean more heavily on companies’ own analyses…” and “...ground their decisions in company-provided documents.”
Southeast US Weather
(Atlantic) The disturbance located east of Africa has a low chance of hitting the U.S., but its possibilities increase if it makes a minor turn east. Currently, it is causing strong winds to affect nearby islands, despite having a 10% chance of forming.
(Pacific) There are no disturbances are expected to form in the next 48 hours.
(Local) While the northern states of the U.S. are already experiencing heavy snowfall, Houston has a low of 41 degrees Fahrenheit and a high of 73 degrees. The skies will remain clear for tomorrow, but rain clouds may pass by on Friday and Saturday.
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Writers:
US Politics and Economics: Dylan, Miranda, Caleb, and Annabelle
Health: Matthew, David, and Owen
Southeast US Weather: Simon
Editor: VIA
(All writers and editors are in middle to high school)