The New York Times reports: For more than half a century, New Yorkers have trudged through the crammed platforms, dark hallways and oppressively low ceilings of Pennsylvania Station, the busiest and perhaps most miserable train hub in North America. Entombed beneath Madison Square Garden, the station served 650,000 riders each weekday before the pandemic, or three times the number it …

CBS New York reports: A Staten Island bar cited for numerous social distancing violations is set to reopen Wednesday. This comes as one of the owners, Danny Presti, is scheduled for a court case on Jan. 11. Presti allegedly hit a sheriff officer with his car earlier this month, dragging him 100 yards and breaking both of his legs. Indoor …

The Hill reports: The United States on Tuesday broke its record for the most number of coronavirus-related deaths in a single day with 3,725 reported, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Tuesday surpassed the country’s previous single-day death toll high of 3,656 set on Dec. 16. As of Wednesday morning, the U.S. has now recorded a total of …

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: Law enforcement and election investigators didn’t find a single fraudulent absentee ballot during an audit of over 15,000 voter signatures, according to a report by the Georgia secretary of state’s office released Tuesday. The audit contradicted allegations that absentee ballots were rife with fraud after President Donald Trump said the election had been stolen, said Secretary …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump’s pardon of four American men convicted of killing Iraqi civilians while working as contractors in 2007 violated U.S. obligations under international law, U.N. human rights experts said on Wednesday. The Geneva Conventions oblige states to hold war criminals accountable for their crimes, even when they act as private security contractors, the U.N. experts said. …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump complains a lot about “fake news,” but on Tuesday night he shared some of his own. Trump continued to attack Governor Brian Kemp and Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger as he said they “are a complete disaster and don’t have a clue, or worse.” And then he went on to weave some kind of conspiracy …

The Tennessean reports: Sixteen months before Anthony Quinn Warner’s RV exploded in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, officers visited his home in Antioch after his girlfriend reported that he was making bombs in the vehicle, according to documents obtained by The Tennessean. On Friday, 63-year-old Warner blew up a city block, police say, about 6:30 a.m. on Second Avenue outside …

NPR reports: Health officials in the U.K. authorized the AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday, giving the nation a second option for inoculation against the coronavirus. The government will begin rolling out the inexpensive and easy-to-store vaccine beginning Monday. It has ordered 100 million doses — enough to vaccinate 50 million residents, or three-quarters of the country’s population. The government has …

The BBC reports: Argentina’s Congress has legalised abortions up to the 14th week of pregnancy, a ground-breaking move for a region that has some of the world’s most restrictive termination laws. Senators voted in favour of the bill after a marathon session with 38 in favour, 29 against and one abstention. Until now, abortions were only permitted in cases of …

CNBC reports: The Trump administration began sending stimulus payments of up to $600 to millions of Americans Tuesday evening as part of the recently passed Covid relief bill, the second such direct payment to Americans amid historic unemployment and ongoing business closures. The second round of payments will be distributed automatically in the following breakdown: up to $600 for eligible …

The Associated Press reports: Luke Letlow, Louisiana’s incoming Republican member of the U.S. House, died Tuesday night from complications related to COVID-19 only days before he would have been sworn into office. He was 41. Letlow spokesman Andrew Bautsch confirmed the congressman-elect’s death at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport. “The family appreciates the numerous prayers and support over the past days but …

Singer Petula Clark writes on Facebook: I feel the need to express my shock and disbelief at the Christmas Day explosion in our beloved Music City. I love Nashville and its people. Why this violent act – leaving behind it such devastation? A few hours later – I was told that the music in the background of that strange announcement …

The Washington Examiner reports: The Michigan Supreme Court rejected a Wayne County resident’s bid to revisit the certified electoral outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Robert Davis, a Detroit-area activist who previously sued former Gov. Rick Snyder, claimed Michigan Secretary of State Joyce Benson exceeded her legal purview by mailing absentee ballot applications to all residents. In a 6-1 ruling …

The Daily Mail reports: President Donald Trump lashed out at President-elect Joe Biden after Biden raised concerns that COVID-19 vaccines weren’t being given to Americans fast enough. Trump, who throughout the pandemic has pushed responsibilites off to the states to spare his administration any blame, pointed a finger at them again. On Tuesday afternoon, Biden said at Wilmington’s Queen theater …

The Hill reports: Republican Sen. Pat Toomey (Pa.) on Tuesday evening announced he would object to a request to swiftly pass House-approved legislation to increase the amount of direct stimulus checks to $2,000. Toomey is one of several Republican senators who would object to such a request, including Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), according to a Senate …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge in Iowa who has warned against political corruption is ridiculing President Donald Trump’s pardons, including those issued to convicted Republican campaign operatives and former members of Congress. “It’s not surprising that a criminal like Trump pardons other criminals,” senior U.S. District Judge Robert Pratt of the Southern District of Iowa told The Associated …

The Denver Post reports: Colorado public health officials on Tuesday confirmed the presence of the new variant of COVID-19 first discovered in the United Kingdom, saying the state is the first to identify the strain in the United States. The variant is believed to be as much as 70% more contagious, but not more severe in symptoms, than previous strains …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Marcus D’Amico, the actor best known for originating the role Michael “Mouse” Tolliver in the 1993 limited TV series Tales of the City, died Dec. 16 of pneumonia at his home in Oxfordshire, England. He was 55. Patrick Baca, his former manager, said the cause was bronchial pneumonia. Although best known to U.S. audiences for starring in …

The Independent reports: President-elect Joe Biden sharply criticized the Trump administration over its Covid-19 vaccination deployment, saying it is too slow and promising a more robust effort once he takes office. “As I long feared and warned, the effort to distribute the vaccine is not going … as it could go,” the incoming chief executive said of the vaccine distribution …

The Guardian reports: The UK has recorded a dramatic jump to more than 53,000 Covid-19 cases – its biggest ever daily case count, one day after it crossed 40,000 cases for the first time. Cases have been on the rise as the fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus makes its presence felt. The UK recorded 53,135 new daily infections, as well …