5 things to know for December 16: pandemic, transition, government government, El Salvador, Hungary

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell yesterday recognized for the first time President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election during the Senate floor statements. Many other Senate Republicans have still refused to publicly accept election results, and McConnell would have dissuaded his Republican Party colleagues from opposing state election results when Congress officially counts votes on Jan. 6. campaign sent some mixed messages in a recent funding email to supporters, asking them if Trump should run again in 2024. Meanwhile, Biden will appoint Pete Buttigieg to be his transportation secretary. The former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate served as Biden’s fierce ally after the nomination of the president-elect and is set to be the first LGBTQ cabinet secretary confirmed by the Senate in history.

U.S. officials are still trying to make sense of a serious data breach that has affected several federal agencies, including the departments of Homeland Security, Agriculture and Commerce. While the investigation is ongoing, officials suspect it was carried out by a group of Russian hackers through SolarWinds, a technology company whose products are used by various federal civilian agencies for network management. The National Security Council and the Cyber ​​Response Group meet daily to determine the extent of the hacking, what data may have been exposed, and the danger of the effects. However, Russia’s alleged involvement in the hacking raises questions about previous security breaches and, of course, recalls Russia’s efforts to infiltrate the 2020 US electoral process. So far, Moscow has denied any “offensive operation in the cyber domain “.

An asylum agreement between the United States and El Salvador is about to enter into force and would send some immigrants seeking asylum at the U.S. border to El Salvador to seek protection. The so-called Asylum Cooperation Agreement is part of the Department of Homeland Security’s continued effort to redirect asylum seekers to Central American countries. The United States had reached agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, but only the agreement with Guatemala has been reached so far. Immigration advocates have criticized these policies, saying they endanger migrants.

The Hungarian parliament has passed a law that reduces the definition of “family” to the country’s constitution, which effectively prohibits same-sex couples from adopting children. The new law defines marriage 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 denied the decision, which is the latest in a line of decisions against LGBTQs taken under the administration of Prime Minister Victor Orban. In May, Hungary made it illegal for trans and intersex people to change their gender on identity documents, and Orban and his ruling party Fidesz are particularly opposed to legalizing same-sex marriage. The human rights organization Transgender Europe has called on the EU to address Hungary’s recent anti-LGBTQ motions.

Healing Thoughts for Keyontae Johnson.

Find out who got the crown in this competitive and socially distant season.

Deceive me once, shame. Deceive me twice, shame on these cheating eggs.

Don’t be scared, it wasn’t just you!

Hey, when you have a feeling, you have a feeling!

According to a report by the country’s Royal Commission of Inquiry, it is estimated that many vulnerable children, young people and adults have been abused in the faith and state care institutions of New Zealand between 1950 and 2019.

Entrepreneur Steven Klein, who wrote an emotional obituary for her beloved Michigan bowling alley. Due to the ups and downs of the pandemic, Klein says he’s not sure if the bowling alley will recover.

Today and tomorrow marks the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven. Let’s celebrate it with fireworks in the form of legendary pianist Krystian Zimerman who will take over Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, with none other than Leonard Bernstein at the helm. (Click here to see)