Top Eight

Top eight CNS stories for today including President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign officially petitioned for a recount of ballots in two liberal Wisconsin counties; Pfizer announced a viable coronavirus vaccine candidate is 95% effective and on the path to quick federal approval; New York City students will stop in-person classes amid a surge in virus cases, and more.

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National

1.) President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign officially petitioned for a recount of ballots in two liberal Wisconsin counties on Wednesday, two weeks to the day after the battleground was declared in favor of President-elect Joe Biden by more than 20,000 votes.

Workers count ballots in Milwaukee on Election Day, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

2.) After millions of infections and nearly nine months of a global pandemic pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Wednesday announced a viable vaccine candidate is 95% effective and on the path to quick federal approval.

A general view of Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium in Puurs, Belgium, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. Pfizer said Monday that early results from its coronavirus vaccine suggest the shots may be a surprisingly robust 90% effective at preventing COVID-19, putting the company on track to apply later this month for emergency-use approval from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

3.) President-elect Joe Biden met with an assortment of frontline workers Wednesday in a virtual roundtable that allowed participants to voice concerns and apprise the incoming president of the challenges faces by nurses, firefighters, teachers and others as the pandemic continues to rage.

President-elect Joe Biden attends a national security briefing at The Queen theater, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Regional

4.) The Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed Wednesday to sort out the dispute over some Philadelphia ballots that were mailed in with some information missing from the envelope.

Hector Lugatero, of York, Pa., an Immigrant from Michoacan, Mexico, demonstrates outside the Pennsylvania State Capitol to urge that all votes be counted, Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, in Harrisburg, Pa., following Tuesday’s election. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

5.) Aided by a booming third quarter, California’s economic recovery is gaining steam with analysts estimating Wednesday that tax collections could outpace the summer’s projections by $26 billion.

Shoppers walks past a Nordstrom window display at The Grove shopping center Wednesday, May 27, 2020, in Los Angeles. California moved to further relax its coronavirus restrictions and help the battered economy. Retail stores, including those at shopping malls, can open at 50% capacity. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

6.) New York City students will stop in-person classes starting Thursday as a surge of coronavirus has ushered in the region’s dreaded second wave.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announces Wednesday, Nov. 18, that in-person classes are dismissed for the foreseeable future because of a spike in Covid-19 positivity. (Image via Courthouse News)

International

7.) Years of investigation into the former leader of Mexico’s army, arrested last month for ties to a violent cartel, has culminated in a dismissal of all charges.

In this court artist sketch, former Mexican defense secretary Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda's appears in federal court, Friday, Oct. 16, 2020 in Los Angeles. Cienfuegos, who led the country’s army for six years under ex-President Enrique Peña Nieto, has been arrested on drug trafficking and money laundering charges at Los Angeles International Airport, U.S. and Mexican sources said Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Bill Robles via AP).

8.) Employers can give single mothers additional parental leave beyond what the law provides but they don’t have to extend the same benefit to single fathers, the EU’s high court ruled Wednesday.

FILE - This Feb. 16, 2017 file photo shows newborn babies in the nursery of a postpartum recovery center in upstate New York. According to a government report released Wednesday, May 15, 2019, U.S. birth rates reached record lows for women in their teens and 20s, leading to the fewest babies in 32 years. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

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