Top Eight

Top eight stories for today including the United Kingdom imposed a new lockdown while becoming the first nation in the world to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine; California Governor Gavin Newsom said he will press lawmakers for an additional $300 million to jumpstart the state’s lagging vaccine distribution efforts; President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom to Congressman Devin Nunes, and more.

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National

1.) President-elect Joe Biden headlined an Atlanta drive-in rally Monday to stump for Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and the Reverend Raphael Warnock ahead of Tuesday’s pivotal runoff elections that will decide control of the chamber.

President-elect Joe Biden campaigns in Atlanta, Monday, Jan. 4, 2021, for Senate candidates Raphael Warnock, center, and Jon Ossoff, left. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

2.) President Donald Trump awarded the Medal of Freedom on Monday to Congressman Devin Nunes, and Trump’s fellow ally, Representative Jim Jordan, is slated to receive the nation’s highest civilian honor next week.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif, left, speaks with then-Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in December 2019. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

Regional

3.) California Governor Gavin Newsom said Monday he will press lawmakers for an additional $300 million to jumpstart the state’s lagging vaccine distribution efforts.

FILE - In this July 21, 2020, file photo, Darryl Hutchinson, facing camera, is hugged by a relative during a funeral service for Lydia Nunez, who was Hutchinson's cousin at the Metropolitan Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Nunez died from COVID-19. Southern California funeral homes are turning away bereaved families because they're running out of space for the bodies piling up during an unrelenting coronavirus surge. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

4.) Completing a project years in the making, long before the pandemic brought international interest in the unassuming bicycle, New York put the finishing touches on a record-setting 750 miles of contiguous trail.

Cyclists cruise along the Erie Canal outside of Syracuse, New York. (Credit: Parks & Trails New York via Courthouse News)

5.) A hotly contested Texas policy that halted abortions during the early days of the pandemic forced hundreds of women to travel out of state for care and led to a spike in later-term abortions after the policy was abandoned, a new study finds.

International

6.) Faced with an escalating coronavirus crisis, the United Kingdom on Monday imposed a new lockdown and also became the first nation in the world to use the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, an antidote that experts hope will become a centerpiece in the global fight against the pandemic.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson watches as nurse Jennifer Dumasi is injected with the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, during a visit to view the vaccination programme at the Chase Farm Hospital in north London, Monday Jan. 4, 2021, part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool Photo via AP)

7.) Climate scientists predict temperatures in Earth’s cities — which will be home to 70% of the planet’s residents by 2050 — could spike by nearly 8 degrees.

People cool down in the fountains of the Trocadero gardens in Paris, Thursday July 25, 2019, when a new all-time high temperature of 42.6 degrees Celsius (108.7 F) hit the French capital. (AP Photo/Rafael Yaghobzadeh)

8.) Citing concerns for the WikiLeaks founder’s mental health, a British judge on Monday rejected America’s request to extradite Julian Assange.

This is a court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Julian Assange appearing at the Old Bailey in London for the ruling in his extradition case, in London, Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. A British judge has rejected the United States’ request to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to face espionage charges, saying it would be “oppressive” because of his mental health. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser said Assange was likely to kill himself if sent to the U.S. The U.S. government said it would appeal the decision. (Elizabeth Cook/PA via AP)

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