Government

The BBC reports: Paris will shut all bars completely from Tuesday after the French government raised the city’s coronavirus alert to maximum following a period of high infection rates. Bars, gyms and swimming pools will all be closed for two weeks in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, the city’s police chief said. But restaurants will remain …

The Christian Post reports: The Freedom From Religion Foundation filed a lawsuit against Alabama’s Secretary of State John H. Merrill [photo] claiming that the state’s voter registration form is unconstitutional because it includes an oath that says “so help me God.” “Alabama is the only state in the country that requires voters to register on a form mandating they swear …

Reuters reports: New cases of COVID-19 rose in 27 out of 50 U.S. states in September compared with August, led by an increase of 111% in Wisconsin, according to a Reuters analysis. The Midwest states of North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin all saw cases surge more than 50% month-over-month, as did Montana, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming. Illinois had …

The Guardian reports: Amy Coney Barrett, the Trump administration’s supreme court nominee, publicly supported an organization in 2006 that has said life begins at fertilization. It has also said that the discarding of unused or frozen embryos created in the in vitro fertilization (IVF) process ought to be criminalized, a view that is considered to be extreme even within the …

NBC New York reports: Alarmed by soaring infection rates in nearly a dozen New York ZIP codes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo felt compelled to hold a second conference call in two hours Monday to discuss the clusters and warned drastic measures may come next. Of 1,769 ZIP codes in the state, Cuomo said 10 are averaging an infection rate of about …

The Associated Press reports: The worldwide death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed 1 million on Tuesday, nine months into a crisis that has devastated the global economy, tested world leaders’ resolve, pitted science against politics and forced multitudes to change the way they live, learn and work. The bleak milestone, recorded by Johns Hopkins University, is greater than the population …

Click Orlando reports: The state of Florida surpassed a grim milestone Sunday after new cases pushed the state over the 700,00 case mark. The Florida Department of Health announced 1,882 new cases of the coronavirus in the state as of Sunday. The new cases of the respiratory illness bring the state’s total to 700,564 since the pandemic was first detected …

Bloomberg News reports: New York state reported more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time since early June. The state confirmed 1,005 additional positive cases, or 1% of those tested yesterday, bringing the total to 454,760. Hospitalizations increased by 16 to 527, according to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office. New York, the early epicenter of the U.S. Covid-19 outbreak, …

ABC News reports: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg became the first woman to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Friday. She may also be the only person to lie in state who has had a mourner do calisthenics in front of their casket. Bryant Johnson, Ginsburg’s longtime trainer, dropped and gave the Justice a quick trio of push-ups when it …

NBC News reports: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will become the first woman and first Jewish person ever to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol when she is honored on Friday. Former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, are among those planning to pay their respects. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Biden’s vice presidential nominee, also …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge has stopped the 2020 census from finishing at the end of September and ordered the once-a-decade head count of every U.S. resident to continue for another month through the end of October, saying a shortened schedule likely would produce inaccurate results. U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in California made her ruling late Thursday, …

Reuters reports: The number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States topped 7 million on Thursday – more than 20% of the world’s total – as Midwest states reported spikes in COVID-19 infections in September, according to a Reuters tally. The latest milestone comes just days after the nation surpassed over 200,000 COVID-19 deaths, the world’s highest death toll …

CNN reports: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg returns for the final time to the Supreme Court this morning, and an army of more than a hundred of her former clerks will meet the casket and accompany it up the stone steps leading to the great hall. Besides her family and written opinions, Ginsburg’s clerks are her most lasting legacy. They began …

NPR reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued new guidelines on how to celebrate Halloween safely. No big surprise: Classic door-to-door trick-or-treating and crowded, boozy costume parties are not recommended. The agency says this way of trick-or-treating poses a moderate risk (compared with the higher risk of the traditional style): Kids could pick up individually wrapped gift …

Bloomberg News reports: Donald Trump is moving toward nominating Amy Coney Barrett to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court, according to people familiar with the matter, despite the president saying Monday he’s considering as many as five candidates. Barrett met with Trump and separately with White House Counsel Pat Cipollone on Monday, said people familiar …

Politico reports: Joe Biden would not say whether he opposes the mounting calls in his party to add more members to the U.S. Supreme Court in retaliation for Republicans filling a vacancy right before the presidential election. Biden told a local Wisconsin TV station that he wants to keep the focus on President Donald Trump and not get distracted by …

NY1 reports: The Brooklyn Municipal Building will be named after late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday. During his daily briefing, the mayor noted the honor is a testament to Ginsburg’s roots and legacy that began in the borough. “It’s personal for us as New Yorkers,” de Blasio said. The building, located …

Politico reports: Sen. Mitt Romney said he would support a floor vote on President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court, essentially clinching consideration of Trump’s nominee this year despite the impending election. Just two Republican senators have asked for the party to put the brakes on the confirmation. And with a 53-seat majority, Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) now has the votes …

Denver’s CBS News affiliate reports: Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner released a statement about his position on the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy left by the late-Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Gardner had avoided answering questions from journalists until Monday evening. “When a President exercises constitutional authority to nominate a judge for the Supreme Court vacancy, the Senate must decide how to best …

Law & Crime reports: A federal judge in Wisconsin ruled on Monday that absentee ballots postmarked as mailed on or before Nov. 3—namely, Election Day—shall be counted up to six days later. U.S. District Judge William Conley issued a series of election-related orders that favored the Democratic National Committee plaintiffs while allowing the Commissioners of the Wisconsin Election Commission and …