Biden officially secures Electoral College majority after California certifies votes
DECEMBER 5, 2020 / 7:26 AM / AP

California certified its presidential election Friday and appointed 55 electors pledged to vote for President-elect Biden, officially handing him the Electoral College majority needed to win the White House.

Secretary of State Alex Padilla's formal approval of Mr. Biden's win in the state brought his tally of pledged electors to 279, according to a tally from The Associated Press. That's just over the 270 threshold for victory.

These steps in the election are often ignored formalities. But the hidden mechanics of electing a U.S. president have drawn new scrutiny this year as President Trump continues to deny Mr. Biden's victory and pursues increasingly specious legal strategies aimed at overturning the results before they are finalized.

Read more @ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-electoral-college-majority-certified-states/

'Rare' meteor triggers sonic boom, brilliant flash over Lake Ontario
“To have something so close to a major city, that's pretty rare,” an expert said.
By Tim Stelloh
Dec. 2, 2020, 10:09 PM EST

A meteor crashed through the Earth’s atmosphere over New York state Wednesday, triggering a thunderous boom and a spectacular flash over Lake Ontario, officials said.

Bill Cooke, who leads NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office, said the meteor made its fiery entry traveling west and clocking speeds of 56,000 mph at 12:08 p.m. ET.

As the meteor broke into pieces at an altitude of 22 miles between Rochester and Syracuse, Cooke said, it created a sonic boom reportedly heard across New York.

Read more @ https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rare-meteor-triggers-sonic-boom-brilliant-flash-over-lake-ontario-n1249795

Cyberattacks Discovered on Vaccine Distribution Operations
IBM has found that companies and governments have been targeted by unknown attackers, prompting a warning from the Homeland Security Department.
By David E. Sanger and Sharon LaFraniere
Dec. 3, 2020
Updated 7:12 p.m. ET


A series of cyberattacks is underway aimed at the companies and government organizations that will be distributing coronavirus vaccines around the world, IBM’s cybersecurity division has found, though it is unclear whether the goal is to steal the technology for keeping the vaccines refrigerated in transit or to sabotage the movements.

The findings were alarming enough that the Department of Homeland Security issued its own warning on Thursday about the threat.

Both the IBM researchers and the department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency said the attacks appear intended to steal the network log-in credentials of corporate executives and officials at global organizations involved in the refrigeration process necessary to protect vaccine doses.

Read more @ https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/us/politics/vaccine-cyberattacks.amp.html