Top Eight

Top eight CNS stories for today including the Supreme Court sketched uncertainty for the Trump administration’s latest census ploy; President-elect Joe Biden announced his nominations for key members of his economic team; The number of new coronavirus infections is decreasing around the world with much of Europe under lockdown, and more.

Your Monday night briefing from the staff of Courthouse News

Sign up for the CNS Top Eight, a roundup of the day’s top stories delivered directly to your inbox Monday through Friday.

National

1.) The Supreme Court sketched uncertainty Monday for the Trump administration’s latest census ploy, with the government downplaying Democrats’ fears about lost seats in Congress.

Amid concerns of the spread of COVID-19, census worker Jennifer Pope wears a mask and sits by ready to help at a U.S. Census walk-up counting site set up for Hunt County in Greenville, Texas, Friday, July 31, 2020. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

2.) President-elect Joe Biden announced his nominations for key members of his economic team Monday, including one name that many Americans will recognize.

FILE - In this Aug. 14, 2019, file photo former Fed Chair Janet Yellen speaks with FOX Business Network guest anchor Jon Hilsenrath in the Fox Washington bureau in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

3.) Moderna is ready to seek emergency use authorization for the vaccine it has reported as over 94% effective in preventing Covid-19, the Massachusetts-based drugmaker said Monday.

FILE - In this July 27, 2020, file photo, nurse Kathe Olmstead prepares a shot that is part of a possible COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna Inc., in Binghamton, N.Y. Moderna Inc. says it will ask U.S. and European regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the shots offer strong protection. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File)

4.) The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday over whether a police officer broke a federal computer crime law when he accessed a government database to check a license plate for someone who bribed him.

A person types on a laptop. (AP photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Regional

5.) Virginia’s Democratic governor released a doorstopper of a marijuana legalization report Monday afternoon, projecting hundreds of millions of dollars in annual tax revenue while stressing the need for social equity in the legal pot market.

A marijuana plant nearly ready for harvest. (Matthew Brown/AP)

6.) Facing a tight runoff race for reelection, Senator David Perdue of Georgia is raising eyebrows with some of the stock trades he made as a sitting lawmaker. But it is not the first time he has faced questions about his actions surrounding the stock market.

Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., takes the stage before Vice President Mike Pence during a Defend the Majority Rally, Friday, Nov. 20, 2020 in Canton, Ga. (AP Photo/Ben Gray)

International

7.) With much of Europe under lockdown, the number of new coronavirus infections is decreasing around the world though Mexico and Brazil are seeing a dangerous rise in cases and deaths, the head of the World Health Organization said Monday.

FILE - In this Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020 file photo, women wearing face masks walk past a Christmas tree and lights in Burlington Arcade, where all non-essential shops are temporarily closed during England's second coronavirus lockdown, in London. Nations are struggling to reconcile cold medical advice with a holiday tradition that calls for big gatherings in often poorly ventilated rooms, where people chat, shout and sing together, providing an ideal conduit for a virus that has killed over 350,000 people in Europe so far. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File)

8.) Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s popular former conservative president, became the first French head of state in modern times to take the stand on Monday in a trial where he is accused of corruption.

FILE - In this Oct.29, 2020 file photo, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy attends a ceremony in Nice, southern France. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants authorities to drop an investigation into alleged illegal financing of his 2007 campaign by the regime of late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. A French-Lebanese businessman this week backtracked on claims he made in 2016 that he had handed Sarkozy suitcases of Libyan cash (Valery Hache; Pool via AP, File)

Top Eight

Read the Top 8

Additional Reads