10 things you need to know today: December 14, 2020
1.
The Electoral College meets Monday to formally choose Joe Biden as the next president of the United States. Electors will cast their ballots in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, then send the results to Washington, D.C. Biden plans to address the nation Monday night. The votes will be tallied on Jan. 6 at a joint session of Congress, with Vice President Mike Pence presiding. The Electoral College ritual is normally considered a formality, but this year the balloting has taken on unusual significance, as it is seen as marking the end of President Trump's legal avenues for reversing his loss. Trump has made baseless claims that vote fraud cost him the election. He said in a Fox News interview that aired Sunday that "it's not over," and that he would continue fighting to overturn the outcome. [The Associated Press, The Washington Post]
2.
The Trump administration on Sunday confirmed that hackers conducted a cyberattack on the Treasury Department and part of the Commerce Department. The acknowledgement followed news reports of the breach. Cybersecurity firm FireEye, which disclosed last week that it had been hacked, said the monthlong "global campaign" had been perpetrated via malware inserted in the security update of SolarWinds' popular Orion server management software. The Homeland Security Department's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) issued a rare directive late Sunday for "all federal civilian agencies to review their networks for indicators of compromise and disconnect or power down SolarWinds Orion products immediately." It was not immediately clear what data may have been compromised. [CNBC, Reuters]
3.
White House staff members who work closely with President Trump will be among the first Americans to get coronavirus vaccinations, an administration official said Sunday. Trump backtracked later in the day, tweeting that they "should receive the vaccine somewhat later in the program, unless specifically necessary." Pfizer on Sunday started sending out the first doses of the vaccine it developed with German partner BioNTech. Trucks left Pfizer's Kalamazoo, Michigan, manufacturing plant to deliver doses to hundreds of sites around the United States. Front-line health-care workers, the elderly, and other vulnerable people will be among the first to get the Pfizer vaccine, the first to receive emergency-use authorization from federal regulators. [The New York Times, The Washington Post]
4.
Washington, D.C., police said Sunday that they were investigating vandalism that targeted two historic Black churches during Saturday clashes between supporters of President Trump and counterprotesters. Police are treating the attacks at the Asbury United Methodist Church and Metropolitan A.M.E. Church as potential hate crimes. Vandals tore down a Black Lives Matter banner and sign from the churches, and set the banner on fire. A video posted on Twitter showed men taking down a BLM sign while members of the crowd shouted, "Whose streets? Our streets." One religious leader compared the incidents to a cross burning. "This weekend, we saw forces of hate seeking to use destruction and intimidation to tear us apart," District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser said Sunday. "We will not let that happen." [The Associated Press, BBC]
5.
Germany is imposing a strict lockdown over Christmas to fight the spread of the coronavirus, after a surge that has resulted in record new infections and deaths, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced Sunday. German has enacted less stringent restrictions in recent weeks but the outbreak has continued to worsen. Starting Wednesday, all nonessential stores, schools, and hairdressers will have to close. Companies are being urged to extend holiday vacations for their workers, or let more people work from home. Restrictions for private gatherings are being tightened. Fireworks sales are being banned, as are public gatherings, essentially prohibiting outdoor New Year's celebrations. Shoppers flooded stores in several Italian cities on Sunday, as expectations rose that their government would soon impose similar restrictions. [The New York Times, Reuters]
6.
A former staffer on Sunday accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) of sexual harassment. The ex-aide said Cuomo often talked about her physical appearance. "I could never anticipate what to expect: would I be grilled on my work (which was very good) or harassed about my looks," Lindsey Boylan, the former aide, tweeted. Boylan declined The New York Times' requests for comment. She said she was "about validating the experience of countless women" but had "no interest in talking to journalists." Cuomo's press secretary, Caitlin Girouard, denied the governor did anything wrong. "There is simply no truth to these claims," Girouard said. Boylan recently launched a campaign for Manhattan borough president, after failing in an attempt to unseat Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.). [The New York Times]
7.
Indian workers smashed windows, broke office furniture, and set fire to a sign at a Wistron Corp. factory that makes iPhones during a protest over wages and working hours. Police said Sunday that they had detained 100 people. Police also said they were following up on complaints from workers who said they hadn't been paid by the Taiwanese company. Wistron spokeswoman Joyce Chou said the company follows the law and is "deeply shocked" by the unrest. An Apple spokesman in the United States said the company had started an investigation into the factory, which India's government had praised as an example of its success boosting manufacturing. M.D. Harigovind, general secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress, blamed the incident on "sweatshop-like conditions" at the factory. [The Wall Street Journal]
8.
New York City police on Sunday fatally shot a man who allegedly opened fire near hundreds of people who had gathered for an outdoor Christmas concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It was not immediately clear whether the gunman was shooting at anyone in the crowd. The church said via Facebook that he appeared to have fired into the air. A choir had just finished singing Christmas carols when the man, standing on the cathedral steps near its door, started firing, witnesses and police said. He had two handguns, and was yelling, "Kill me," several witnesses told investigators, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said. Two NYPD officers and a sergeant fired at the man, hitting him in the head. [CNN, The New York Times]
9.
The Cleveland Indians baseball team has decided to change its name, which Native American groups for years criticized as racially insensitive, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing three people familiar with the matter. The team is expected to announce the move this week. One of the Times' sources said the name and uniforms would likely stay in place through the 2021 season, before a transition starting as early as 2022. The team, which has been known as the Indians since 1915, is contemplating going forward without a name and working with the public to come up with a replacement. Cleveland recently began phasing out logos and imagery that showed the cartoon mascot Chief Wahoo, which many Native American groups said was an offensive caricature. [The New York Times]
10.
John le Carré, author of best-selling and critically acclaimed spy thrillers, has died, his family confirmed Sunday. He was 89. Le Carré reportedly died of pneumonia at the Royal Cornwall Hospital late Saturday. Le Carré's novels included The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and The Night Manager. His longtime agent, Jonny Geller, praised him as "an undisputed giant of English literature. He defined the cold war era and fearlessly spoke truth to power in the decades that followed." Before starting his writing career, le Carré, born David Cornwell, worked briefly for the British Foreign Service as an intelligence officer, managing spies behind the Iron Curtain from the British intelligence service's headquarters in London. [The Guardian]
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