Good morning. It's Thursday, Dec. 3, and we're covering a vaccine milestone, cities under siege in Brazil, and much more. Have feedback? Let us know at [email protected].

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NEED TO KNOW

UK Approves Pfizer Vaccine

The United Kingdom approved a COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech yesterday—becoming the first Western country to make such a move. Officials say the first shots will be given within days; the country has ordered 40 million doses—enough for 20 million people taking a two-dose regimen—with 800,000 doses available by next week. The country has more than 66 million residents to vaccinate. 

The Food and Drug Administration is expected to consider authorization for the drug Dec. 10. The UK's approval and distribution are not expected to affect the timeline for the already-existing US contract with Pfizer for an initial 100 million doses (with the option for 500 million more). 

The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine must be stored and shipped at temperatures near 100 degrees below zero—read about the ultracold supply chain logistics required here.

Separately, Russia said it would also begin widespread distribution of its Sputnik V vaccine next week. Officials have said the treatment is 92% effective; Brazil, Egypt, and others have lined up to order the drug, despite ongoing skepticism among scientists who say the trials lacked transparency.

Meanwhile, the virus continues to surge in the US, which set records for both single-day deaths (more than 2,760) and current hospitalizations (passing 100,000). More than 200,000 new cases were also reported yesterday. At the same time, the CDC shortened its recommended quarantine period from 14 days to between seven and 10 days for exposures without symptoms. 

The US has reported almost 14 million total cases and 273,836 total deaths as of this morning; see rolling averages for both here and here.

Brazen Brazil Raids

At least one person was killed and a number of others were injured after more than 20 masked gunmen seized the Brazilian city of Cameta yesterday. The raid appeared to target a branch of the country's state-owned bank—a police station and multiple houses were also attacked—and came one day after a similar operation in the city of Criciuma, more than 2,220 miles to the south. In both instances, the attackers, armed with high-caliber military-grade rifles effectively took the cities hostage, using civilians as human shields as they overpowered security forces. See footage from social media here.

Such raids—smaller versions of which have occurred with increasing frequency across the country—have been termed the "new cangaço," a reference to an early 20th-century group of bandits that roamed the Brazilian hinterlands. The modern-day attacks are believed to be coordinated by the First Capital Command (see background), the country's largest organized crime group.

Hong Kong Protesters Sentenced

Three prominent pro-democracy protesters were sentenced to between seven and 13 months in prison yesterday for their role in June 2019 demonstrations that kicked off nearly a year of mass protests in Hong Kong. Among the trio was Joshua Wong, the most globally recognizable face of the city's youth-led pro-democracy movement. Wong gained notoriety a decade ago for protesting what he perceived as Chinese Communist Party indoctrination in Hong Kong's school curriculum. 

Hong Kong—returned to China by the British in 1997—has historically had more democratic tendencies than the mainland; however, Chinese President Xi Jinping has increasingly moved to squash dissent and outlaw government criticism in recent years. The sentences are some of the highest-profile to be handed down under a new national security law that went into effect this summer. 

Also yesterday, media tycoon and activist Jimmy Lai was charged with fraud.

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IN THE KNOW

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture

Brought to you by Bright Cellars

> Rafer Johnson, 1960 Olympic gold medal-winning decathlete who later helped tackle and disarm Bobby Kennedy’s assassin, dies at 86 (More) | Pat Patterson, WWE Hall of Famer and first openly gay pro wrestling star, dies at 79 (More)

> College football coaching great Lou Holtz to be awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor (More) | LeBron James to sign two-year, $85M contract extension with Los Angeles Lakers (More) | Houston Rockets trade former MVP, Russell Westbrook, to Washington Wizards for John Wall and 2023 draft pick (More)

> Dr. Anthony Fauci, George Clooney, Selena Gomez, and Regina King named People magazine’s 2020 People of the Year (More) | Discovery’s new streaming service, discovery+, to launch Jan. 4 at $5 a month (More)

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Science & Technology

> Singapore grants world's first regulatory approval to sell cultured meat; the food products are grown in labs using animal-derived cells (More)

> China's Chang'e 5 spacecraft successfully lands lunar probe; mission will return soil samples from the moon for study (More) | Watch video (More)

> Doggerland—the ancient land bridge that connected Britain with Europe—may not have been wiped out by a devastating tsunami around 6,000 BCE as previously thought, but survived as islands for centuries afterward (More)

Business & Markets

> Cyber Monday sees $10.8B in US sales, up 15% over last year, setting record for largest single day of online sales in US history (More)

> American Airlines flies media members from Dallas to Tulsa, Oklahoma on Boeing 737 MAX, staging the first flight since the jet was grounded following two deadly crashes (More)

> Shares of Snowflake, a cloud-based data management provider, fall 5% after reporting widening losses in first quarterly report as a public company (More)

Politics & World Affairs

> Congress passes bipartisan bill to remove Chinese companies from US stock exchanges if they continue to deny regulators access to their audits (More)

> Retired astronaut Mark Kelly (D) sworn in as Arizona's junior senator, narrowing GOP majority to 52-48; Kelly won a special election, with the winner to be seated once the vote is certified, over incumbent Martha McSally (R) (More)

> Annual defense authorization bill will contain a provision to rename military bases that honor Confederate figures, will not White House request to modify Section 230, which protects internet companies from liability (More)

IN-DEPTH

The Air-Conditioned Cowboy

MIT Press Reader | Stefan Al. The history of El Rancho, which opened in 1941 along Nevada's Highway 91—and set the tone for what would eventually grow into the Las Vegas Strip. (Read)

Welcome to 'Toke-lahoma'

Politico | Paul Demko. Despite being one of the reddest states in America, Oklahoma's hands-off regulatory approach has led to a booming medical marijuana market, with the state approving more than 9,000 new cannabis businesses in two years. (Read)

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ETCETERA

Heartwarming (and some heartbreaking) letters to Santa.

It's that time of year when you brag about your Spotify playlist.

This year's most downloaded apps.

See the 25 stunning finalists for the best wildlife photo of the year. 

... and these eye-popping aerial photographs from around the world.

The 100 best "Seinfeld" characters.

Let the Hubble Telescope be your Advent calendar this year. ($$, Atlantic)

Probe launched after South Africa's lottery hits 5-6-7-8-9-10.

Clickbait: Denmark to unbury millions of culled minks.

Historybook: RIP novelist Robert Louis Stevenson (1894); HBD rock star Ozzy Osbourne (1948); HBD actress Julianne Moore (1960); First human heart transplant carried out (1967); Mikhail Gorbachev and George H.W. Bush declare end to Cold War (1989).

"There is no higher honor than to serve free men and women."

- George H.W. Bush

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