Covid-19 Live Updates: U.S. Breaks Record for Most Deaths in a Week  —  Trump officials passed when Pfizer offered to sell more vaccine doses months ago.  Britain is readying a mass vaccination drive.  —  RIGHT NOW The U.S. has recorded its most Covid-19 deaths in a week.  —  Here's what you need to know:

Biden picks retired general Lloyd Austin to run Pentagon  —  President-elect Joe Biden has selected Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin to serve as secretary of defense, according to three people with knowledge of the decision.  If confirmed, Austin would be the first Black person to lead the Pentagon.

Agents raid home of fired Florida data scientist who built COVID-19 dashboard  —  State police brandishing firearms raided the home of Rebekah Jones, the former Department of Health employee who built the state's much-praised COVID-19 dashboard before being fired over what she said was refusing to manipulate data.

Scoop: Trump plots mass pardons, even to people not asking  —  President Trump isn't just accepting pardon requests but blindly discussing them “like Christmas gifts” to people who haven't even asked, sources with direct knowledge of the conversations told Axios.

Lou Dobbs Snaps at Stephen Miller Over White House Not Doing More on Trump Legal Fight: 'Why Don't You Answer Me?!'  —  Fox Business' Lou Dobbs snapped at White House advisor Stephen Miller as he raged over why Republicans and the White House aren't doing more on the president's legal fight in multiple states.

Trump asks Pennsylvania House speaker for help overturning election results, personally intervening in a third state  —  President Trump called the speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives twice during the past week to make the extraordinary request for help reversing his loss in the state …

Ivanka & Jared buy $30M lot on high-security Miami island  —  Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have splashed out on a $30 million-plus dollar lot of land on Miami's uber-swanky and high-security Indian Creek Island — known as the “Billionaire's Bunker” — Page Six can exclusively reveal.

Former Israeli space security chief says aliens exist, humanity not ready  —  This “Galactic Federation” has supposedly been in contact with Israel and the US for years, but are keeping themselves a secret to prevent hysteria until humanity is ready.  —  Has the State of Israel made contact with aliens?

Exclusive: Suspected Chinese spy targeted California politicians  —  A suspected Chinese intelligence operative developed extensive ties with local and national politicians, including a U.S. congressman, in what U.S. officials believe was a political intelligence operation run …

MSNBC to Name Rashida Jones President, Succeeding Phil Griffin  —  Mr. Griffin, who has been with the cable news network for 25 years, will leave after the end of January  —  MSNBC is expected to name Rashida Jones as the network's president, people familiar with the matter said …

Bipartisan COVID-19 relief talks hit familiar snags on Capitol Hill  —  Liability reform and aide to state and local government remain challenges.  —  Is COVID financial relief coming for millions who need it?  —  Leaders in Congress are making moves to end a months-long stalemate, but there are major sticking points.

House conservatives urge Trump not to concede and press for floor fight over election loss  —  What Republicans are saying privately about the election  —  (CNN)President Donald Trump's staunchest defenders on Capitol Hill are urging him not to concede even after President-elect Joe Biden wins …

The Marines And The Racist Porn Actor Who Tried To Start A ‘Modern Day SS’  —  Four neo-Nazis arrested on gun charges wanted to spark a race war, prosecutors said, and their potential targets included Black Lives Matter protesters.  —  In 2016, Liam Collins, then just a teenager living in New Jersey …

What The Polls Say About Georgia's Senate Runoffs  —  Headed into the 2020 election, we knew that Election Day might turn into Election Week or even Election Month because of the huge increase in mail voting due to the coronavirus pandemic.  While it thankfully didn't take a month to find …

Tribes Want Deb Haaland For Interior Secretary.  Some Biden Advisers Are Trying To Thwart Her.  —  Anonymous Biden allies are telling news outlets the Indigenous congresswoman is not qualified.  “Of course it's offensive,” said Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.).

Former Alabama senator dies of Covid at age 78, and in his last words warns, ‘We messed up’ … A former Alabama state senator died of Covid-19 last week at age 78, officials said.  —  Former Sen. Larry Dixon, a Republican who also served as the executive director of the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners …

Trump Admin to Rename Two Bases for Space Force Over Military Objections  —  The Air Force had quietly agreed with Congress not to change anything until the NDAA settles a way forward on Confederate base names.  —  The U.S. Air Force plans to change the names of two Florida military bases heavily involved …

Armed Mexicans Were Smuggled In to Guard Border Wall, Whistle-Blowers Say  —  In a complaint unsealed on Friday, whistle-blowers working on President Trump's wall said that contractors were illegally bringing in Mexican guards to protect construction sites.  —  WASHINGTON — Two whistle-blowers …

Elevating Fringe Theories, Ron Johnson Questions Virus Science  —  The Wisconsin Republican has transformed his Senate panel into a forum for amplifying dubious theories and questionable treatments pushed by President Trump.  —  WASHINGTON — In choosing a slate of doctors to testify …

ER doctor who criticized Trump's actions to be removed from Walter Reed schedule  —  Dr. James Phillips, the emergency room physician who publicly criticized President Trump's decision to drive with Secret Service agents to greet supporters while he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October …

Cornell offers ‘person of color’ exemption for flu vaccine requirement  —  Students at Cornell University can use their status as a “person of color” to be exempt from the university's flu vaccine requirement.  —  “Students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or as a Person of Color (BIPOC) …

This Is How Trump's Executions Are Spreading The Coronavirus  —  The government admitted in a buried footnote of a court filing that “some” key staffers contracted COVID-19 after the last execution.  —  In late November, as health officials urged the public to avoid travel amid a new wave …

No, President Trump can't pardon himself  —  In June 2018, in the throes of the special counsel's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible obstruction of justice by President Trump, the president claimed “the absolute right to PARDON myself,” citing “numerous legal scholars.”

Why the discourse about Palestinian payments to prisoners' families is distorted and misleading  —  The war of narratives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has intensified as the Trump administration is poised to leave the scene.  As the New York Times recently reported, the Palestinian Authority …

Christchurch inquiry report released - as it happened  —  Below are is our summary of today's key findings.  With that, we will now be closing this blog.  Thank you for following along.  —  Here is our full story on the report's findings:  —  More from AAP:

Journalists Turn on Free Expression  —  Mainstream journalists have used their access to a massive audience to mislead the public in many ways, but this isn't a free-speech problem.  —  In an interview MSNBC's Katie Hunt, The New Yorker's Steve Coll contends that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's …