10 things you need to know today: December 6, 2020

(Image credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

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1. Trump claims election fraud at Georgia rally, but urges Republicans to vote in Senate runoffs
2. Dwindling ICU capacity triggers stay-at-home orders throughout California
3. Trump reportedly called Kemp to ask him to help overturn Georgia election result
4. U.K. preparing to roll out Pfizer vaccine this week
5. Maduro set to take back control of Venezuela legislature as opposition boycotts elections
6. Loeffler, Warnock prepare for pre-runoff debate
7. U.K.'s Johnson, EU's von der Leyen agree to renew Brexit negotiations
8. Protesters, police clash across France
9. Report: Mysterious symptoms experienced by U.S. diplomats consistent with directed microwave energy
10. Laverne & Shirley actor David Lander dies at 73

published 6 December 2020

1. Trump claims election fraud at Georgia rally, but urges Republicans to vote in Senate runoffs

President Trump on Saturday night urged Georgians to vote in the state's January Senate runoffs that will determine which party controls the upper chamber going forward. Trump hosted a rally in Valdosta, Georgia, to stump for Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.), both of whom are trying to fend off Democratic challengers and hold their seats. There was concern among some state Republicans that Trump would incidentally discourage people from going to the polls by pushing unfounded claims of voter fraud and instilling distrust in the process. He did focus heavily on those claims throughout the event, but he also warned that if Republicans didn't go to the polls next month, the Democrats "will have total Socialist one-party control." Loeffler and Perdue also spoke on stage, heaping praise on the president and sparking chants of "fight for Trump."

Tens of millions of Southern California and San Joaquin Valley residents will be under stay-at-home orders beginning Sunday night after intensive care units in the two California regions, which include Los Angeles and San Diego, fell below 15 percent capacity amid the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on Thursday announced that any region that hits the threshold would be subject to such an order. Additionally, six San Francisco Bay Area jurisdictions issued a proactive stay-at-home order for 6 million residents that also goes into effect Sunday. San Mateo County, however, is breaking with the plan and said it won't implement Newsom's order immediately if and when ICU capacity falls below 15 percent. California reported more than 25,000 new confirmed COVID-19 infections Sunday, the state's highest number since the pandemic began. Hospitalizations also hit a record high with more than 10,200.

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President Trump on Saturday reportedly called Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and requested that he call a special session of the state legislature to get lawmakers to override the presidential election results and appoint electors to vote for him instead of the winner, President-elect Joe Biden. Kemp reportedly declined. Trump also demanded a signature audit for absentee ballots, a person familiar with the conversation told The Washington Post. A spokesman for the governor confirmed Kemp and Trump spoke, and Kemp mentioned he spoke with Trump on Saturday morning in a tweet. The phone call is the latest attempt by the president to overturn the election, which he falsely claims he lost because of widespread voter fraud, despite being unable to produce evidence that it occurred in Georgia or any other swing state.

The United Kingdom is planning to become the first country to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech this week, the government said Sunday. The shots will initially be available at hospitals before being distributed to doctors' clinics. The first doses are set to be administered Tuesday, and priority will go to people older than 80, frontline health care workers, and care home staff and residents. The U.K., which approved the two-shot vaccine for emergency use last week, has ordered 40 million doses, which means it will have enough to vaccinate 20 million people, a little less than one-third of the entire population. The 94-year-old Queen Elizabeth and her 99-year-old husband Prince Philip reportedly plan on getting inoculated and will apparently let the public known when they receive their shot. Their participation reportedly could be seen as a counter to skepticism about the vaccine.

Venezuelans are headed to the polls Sunday, with President Nicolás Maduro and his loyalists reportedly set to take back control of the National Assembly after the opposition won a majority of seats in 2015. If Maduro's allies do secure victory, as expected, he will have consolidated power over every major political institution in the country. The election could spell trouble for the political future of Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader who declared himself Venezuela's interim president in 2019 and received international backing, including from the United States. Ultimately, though, his efforts failed to gain momentum. Independent observers have questioned the legitimacy of the election, and opposition supporters, many of whom are planning to boycott the voting booth, have called it fraudulent.

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) will face off against her Democratic challenger Rev. Raphael Warnock in a debate scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on Sunday night. Warnock has sought additional debates, but this is the only one that's officially on the docket before the Jan. 5 runoff election. The other Georgia Republican senator looking to hold his seat, David Perdue, has declined to meet his Democratic challenger, John Ossoff, for a debate before their runoff, although the two did duke it out twice before the general election in November. Instead, Ossoff will make his case solo Sunday night. The outcome of the runoffs will determine which party controls the Senate going forward. Republicans need only one of Loeffler and Perdue to win to keep the majority, but the party undoubtedly prefers a sweep.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to instruct their negotiators to renew Brexit talks in Brussels on Sunday after speaking over the phone Saturday, signaling that hope for a deal remains. The U.K. has already left the bloc, but the transition period — during which governing rules have remained unchanged — ends Dec. 31, and both sides are hoping to strike some sort of agreement and avoid a chaotic breakup. However, major sticking points remain over fisheries, fair competition guarantees, and ways to solve future disputes. The two leaders acknowledged the differences are serious, but agreed a "further effort should be undertaken" to resolve the outstanding issues since no pact would be feasible without a consensus. Johnson and Von der Leyen said they will speak again Monday night.

Protests over a controversial French draft security bill that would make it illegal to film and identify police officers with malevolent intent took place again Saturday, sometimes turning violent as demonstrators clashed with law enforcement in Paris and other cities. By the end of the day, 95 people were arrested and 67 police officers were reportedly injured. In addition to the security bill, tensions are high in France after footage of Paris police officers beating a music producer at his studio in the city last month sparked outrage. President Emmanuel Macron has said those police officers and others who commit acts of brutality should be punished, while also criticizing the violent nature of some of the protests.

A long-awaited report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that has been obtained by news organizations has found that the mysterious neurological symptoms American diplomats experienced in China and Cuba are consistent with the effects of directed microwave energy, making it the most likely cause behind the illnesses that first struck people working at the U.S. embassy in Havana in 2016. The report, which was drafted by a committee of 19 experts in medicine and other fields, did not conclude that the energy was delivered deliberately as a weapon, but it does leave open the possibility. Some U.S. officials believe that is the case and suspect Moscow is behind the alleged attacks.

David Lander, the actor best known for his role as Andrew "Squiggy" Squiggman on the sitcom Laverne & Shirley, died Friday, his family said in a statement. He was 73. Lander died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after battling multiple sclerosis for many years, his family said. He was initially diagnosed in 1984, but kept the illness a secret until 1999 when he revealed it in his memoir. He became an advocate for people living with multiple sclerosis, speaking at conventions and fundraisers. He enjoyed a prolific career on screen, appearing in 120 movies and television series, per CNN. "David's family hopes his fans will remember him for all the laughter he brought into the world," the family's statement said. He is survived by his wife of 41 years, Kathy Lander, and his 37-year-old daughter Natalie Lander.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.