Good morning. It's Wednesday, Dec. 2, and we're covering the Department of Justice, an economic boost in Canada, and the collapse of an iconic telescope. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

Bill Barr

Attorney General William Barr said yesterday that Justice Department investigations have not uncovered evidence of voter fraud on a scale sufficient to affect the outcome of the 2020 election. Barr had previously authorized attorneys to follow up on credible allegations of election and voting fraud.

The comments run counter to claims by President Trump of significant election fraud in key battleground states. Trump campaign lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is expected to lay out similar allegations at a Michigan legislative hearing today. However, Barr's findings thus far align with court results, where no instances of fraud have yet been proven, despite more than 40 legal challenges filed. The attorney general also seemed to reference claims by lawyer Sidney Powell—working independently after being released from the Trump campaign—alleging a conspiracy that certain voting systems, connected to the late Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez, skewed results for Joe Biden. Barr said no evidence supporting the claim was found.

Separately, Barr revealed he had previously appointed John Durham as special counsel to investigate the origins of the 2016 probe into Russian election meddling, ensuring the probe will continue into the next administration. 

Canadian Stimulus

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's administration unveiled a sweeping $77B economic relief package yesterday, an effort meant to buoy an already-battered economy facing a surge in new COVID-19 cases. While less than US stimulus in absolute terms—Congress has passed roughly $2.3T in aid so far—it marks Canada's biggest support package since World War II, equaling about 4% of the country's gross domestic product (the US CARES Act was roughly 10% of GDP). The country's unemployment rate currently sits near 9%, after spiking to almost 14% early in the pandemic. 

Back in the US, a bipartisan group of senators unveiled a narrowed $900B stimulus yesterday. The bill's prospects appear dim; preelection negotiations between House Democrats and the White House stalled over cost disputes and haven't restarted in earnest.

Still, the proposal does have a narrow window of opportunity—stimulus-provided unemployment benefits for nearly 14 million people expire Dec. 26, and the new bill could potentially ride a 2021 spending bill that must be passed by Dec. 11. 

Arecibo Collapses

Puerto Rico's iconic Arecibo Observatory radio telescope suffered a catastrophic collapse yesterday, just one week after the US National Science Foundation said it would shutter the already-damaged installation. Originally constructed in 1963, Arecibo and its 1,000-foot-diameter dish was the world's largest single-aperture telescope for more than five decades.

Engineers had begun planning for a safe demolition, but gravity beat them to it—having sustained two broken cables in four months, a third snapped cable sent the telescope's 900-ton receiver antenna plummeting 400 feet onto the north side of the dish. No injuries were reported. See drone footage of the aftermath.

Arecibo's unique design—in addition to numerous scientific accomplishments—served as the backdrop for Hollywood films, including the final fight scene from the 1995 James Bond film "GoldenEye" (watch clip).

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IS YOUR BUSINESS GROWING?

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

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> Elliot Page, Oscar-nominated “Juno” actor formerly known as Ellen Page, announces he is transgender (More) | Academy Awards will be held in-person in 2021 (More)

> Quibi, short-form streaming service led by CEO Meg Whitman and founder Jeffrey Katzenberg, officially goes dark less than eight months after it launched (More)

> US Women’s National Team and US Soccer Federation settle portion of equality lawsuit; players will continue appeal for equal wages (More)

Taste the nostalgia. Magic Spoon's healthy and delicious breakfast cereals will take you right back to your childhood—minus the sugar highs. They recently launched a peanut butter box, which you can mix and match with their other scrumptious flavors—like fruity, cocoa, and frosted—to BYOB (Build Your Own Box, of course). Go nuts. #Ad

Science & Technology

> Single-dose vaccine based on previously developed vaccines for yellow fever shown effective against COVID-19 in animal studies (More) | CDC releases recommendations on vaccine prioritization, leading with healthcare workers and nursing home residents (More)

> Facebook's oversight board reveals the first batches of cases it will review; the independent group was established to help the company refine its content moderation practices (More)

> False widow spiders are capable of transmitting antibiotic-resistant bacteria to humans; study confirms a long-debated theory that explains rare but severe secondary symptoms from spider bites (More)

Business & Markets

> Forbes releases annual 30 under 30 list of brightest leaders and entrepreneurs across industries (More)

> Cloud software giant Salesforce to acquire communication platform Slack for $27.7B (More)

> US stock markets up (S&P 500 +1.1%, Dow +0.6%, Nasdaq +1.3%) as S&P 500 and Nasdaq reach all-time highs (More) | Nasdaq files proposal which would require listed companies to have two diverse board members—one woman and one identifying as underrepresented or LGBTQ; 75% of Nasdaq’s approximately 3,200 companies do not currently meet the threshold (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> The UK authorizes Pfizer and BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use; first shots expected next week (More) | See US rolling averages (cases, deaths)

> Drunken driver barrels into a downtown crowd in the German city of Trier, killing at least five people—including a nine-month-old baby—and injuring 15 (More)

> Supreme Court hears case determining whether American corporations can be held liable for serious violations of international law in US courts; Nestlé and Cargill stand accused of aiding child slavery in Côte d'Ivoire (More)

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ETCETERA

The top 100 innovations of 2020.

Record-breaking baby born from a 27-year-old frozen embryo. 

Help 1440 improve: Have five minutes? We'd be forever grateful if you took this survey.

America's most valuable real estate cities (mapped).

The Associated Press photographers capture a year of distress.

The 2020 experience—as seen through Spotify playlists.

Polish zoo captures a birth of the rare mouse deer. (w/video)

Chinese submarine reaches one of the deepest places on Earth.

When you share your home with a spider, but it just keeps growing.

Clickbait: Here's 52 things one smart person learned this year.

Historybook: RIP abolitionist John Brown (1859); US Environmental Protection Agency formed (1970); HBD Britney Spears (1981); Benazir Bhutto becomes first female prime minister of Pakistan (1988); Colombia drug lord Pablo Escobar is killed (1993).

"To make peace, one must be an uncompromising leader. To make peace, one must also embody compromise."

- Benazir Bhutto

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