Top Eight

Top eight CNS stories for today including Hurricane Zeta made landfall on the southern tip of Louisiana as a Category 2 storm; Some 16 million acres representing one of the world’s largest preserved temperate rainforests will soon be open to logging; Markets tanked again as coronavirus cases skyrocket, and more.

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National

1.) Some 16 million acres representing one of the world’s largest preserved temperate rainforests will soon be open to logging following a Wednesday announcement from the Trump administration.

2.) Two American citizens are among the five people arrested Wednesday morning, on the east and west coasts, charged with conspiring to help the Chinese government stalk, threaten and extradite a New Jersey resident.

A federal complaint against against members of a secret Chinese task force called Operation Fox Hunt includes these photo 24-year-old Zheng Congying and other evidence. (USAO via Courthouse News)

3.) Two days after one of the worst routs in months, markets again tanked as coronavirus cases skyrocket and several states report hospitals nearing or over capacity.

FILE - In this Oct. 18, 2020, file photo, people walk by outdoor plastic dining bubbles on Fulton Market in Chicago. The United States is approaching a record for the number of new daily coronavirus cases in the latest ominous sign about the disease's grip on the nation. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

4.) A poll released Wednesday shows Democratic candidate Joe Biden with a huge 17-point lead over President Donald Trump in Wisconsin and a smaller 7-point advantage in Michigan.

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry in Manitowoc, Wis., Monday, Sept. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Regional

5.) Hurricane Zeta made landfall Wednesday afternoon on the southern tip of Louisiana, with top winds falling just below the threshold for a Category 3 storm.

Palm trees are buffeted by the winds of Hurricane Zeta in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on Oct. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Tomas Stargardter)

6.) Using an old playbook of last-minute political chicanery updated with a modern faux-news segment, the right wing of American politics has launched a smear attack on former space shuttle commander Mark Kelly — who is returning fire.

NASA astronaut Mark Kelly and wife and former congresswoman Gabby Giffords at an event in Tucson, Arizona, in 2016. (Gage Skidmore via Wikipedia)

7.) The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a second attempt by Pennsylvania Republicans to block an extended deadline for the state to tally absentee ballots.

A worker processes mail-in ballots at the Bucks County Board of Elections office in Doylestown, Pa., on May 27, 2020, prior to the primary election. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)

International

8.) German highway tolls are too high, the EU’s high court ruled Wednesday, calling out the country’s inclusion of policing costs in autobahn fees.

Trucks are jammed in the early morning on Autobahn 12 in front of the German-Polish border crossing near Frankfurt (Oder), Germany, Wednesday, March 18, 2020. In order to make it more difficult for the corona virus to spread, Poland had reintroduced controls at the border crossings to Germany. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. (Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP)

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