First Thing: Joe Biden’s son faces a federal tax investigation

Good morning.

The US attorney’s office has launched an investigation into the tax affairs of Hunter Biden, son of the president-elect, Joe Biden. Hunter Biden has long been a target of Donald Trump’s, who has regularly pushed unproven claims of corruption, eventually leading to his own impeachment. Yesterday, the president tweeted a quote which said “10% of voters would have changed their vote if they knew about Hunter Biden”, while the younger Biden said he was “confident” a review would prove he had handled his tax affairs “legally and appropriately”.

Meanwhile, some congressional Republicans are starting to wonder if Trump will ever concede the election. However, at present 90% of Republicans in Congress won’t admit that Joe Biden won the election, and the number of Republican voters who think Trump was wronged is still growing.

• Trump’s administration is ramping up the pace of federal executions, announcing five executions beginning today and ending days before Biden is inaugurated on 20 January. If they are carried out as planned, Trump’s legacy will be cemented as the most prolific execution president in more than 130 years.

The US recorded its worst daily death toll yet on Wednesday

The US recorded its highest level of deaths in a single day from the coronavirus pandemic yesterday, two weeks after Thanksgiving – when millions defied travel restrictions to spend time with family. According to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, 3,124 deaths were recorded, with a further 221,276 cases confirmed.

The US is experiencing a critical shortage of intensive care beds in hospitals, with officials scrambling to set up field hospitals to deal with the overflow of patients, on the deadliest week of the pandemic so far. More than a third of Americans live in areas where hospitals are running dangerously low on the beds, with one in 10 US citizens living in places where ICU beds are full or at less than 5% capacity.

Despite this, regulators are hesitant to approve the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. The US pumped large sums of money into the vaccine and has ordered 300m doses, but there are concerns around the vaccine’s efficacy, which is about 70% overall compared with the 95% in other vaccines, and an adverse reaction from one trial participant.

But even if a vaccine is approved, it won’t be plain sailing: a recent survey showed that only half of Americans would take a vaccine. A quarter of the adults surveyed said they wouldn’t, while a further quarter said they weren’t sure. Experts estimate at least 70% of the US population needs to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.

• California’s Lake Tahoe is temporarily shutting to outside tourists as a result of stringent lockdown restrictions, in the pandemic’s latest blow to the economy. It came as California marked its deadliest day in the pandemic so far, with more than 219 deaths recorded on Tuesday.

• Johns Hopkins was a slave owner, his university of the same name has revealed. The university has been at the forefront of reporting on the coronavirus pandemic, and had previously taken pride in the fact that Hopkins was a staunch abolitionist.

Biden announced more of his top team, as the Trump administration agreed to talk

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‘A civilian leader’: Lloyd Austin nominated as Biden’s defense secretary – video

Joe Biden formally nominated Lloyd Austin, a retired four star army general who headed the US military effort in Iraq, as his defence secretary. If confirmed, 67-year-old Austin would become the first African American to lead the Pentagon. Yet Austin faces resistance on Capitol Hill, where members of Congress have long warned against nominating a former commander to lead the Pentagon in a nation that prides itself on civilian control of the military. Congress would have to grant a waiver for him to serve as defense secretary, as it did for Jim Mattis in 2017. Biden is also reportedly set to nominate Katherine Tai as the US’s top trade envoy. Tai is chief trade counsel for the House ways and means committee, and has experience in overseeing China trade enforcement.

Trump’s health secretary, Alex Azar, announced yesterday that he met with Biden’s team in an attempt to ensure a smooth rollout of coronavirus vaccinations in the US. “We will ensure a full, cooperative, professional transition,” Azar told CNN. “I’m going to do anything I need to do to make sure no balls are dropped in terms of protecting the American people.” US officials are hoping to roll out multiple vaccines in the coming months.

• Kamala Harris has been named the third most powerful woman in the world, according to the popular Forbes list. She comes behind Christine Lagarde, president of the European central bank, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel.

In other news …

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Fireball engulfs SpaceX’s Starship SN8 rocket – video

• SpaceX starship has exploded while attempting to land after a test launch. The self-guided rocket, from the entrepreneur Elon Musk, was being developed to carry humans and cargo to the moon and mars. But Musk wasn’t deterred, tweeting: “Mars, here we come!!”

• The government and a coalition of 48 states and districts have filed lawsuits against Facebook, accusing the firm of anti-competitive behaviour which could force it to break up. The major antitrust action aims to combat Facebook’s dominance of social media, and examines whether the giant crushed its rivals by taking them over or blocking market access.

• Heart disease, cancer and diabetes were the biggest killers of 2019, according to the World Health Organization. Noncommunicable diseases now make up seven out of the top 10 causes of death, an increase from four out of 10 in 2000. Heart disease was the leading cause of death, accounting for 16% of all lives lost.

Stat of the day: 42 journalists have been killed doing their jobs this year

More than 40 journalists and media workers have been killed over their work this year, and a further 235 imprisoned, according to the International Federation of Journalists’ (IFJ) annual tally. Mexico recorded the highest number of killings for the fourth time in five years, with 13 deaths. In the three decades the IFJ has been keeping count, 2,658 journalists have been killed. In China, a journalist detained over her reporting in Wuhan, where coronavirus first broke out, has been restrained and force fed after going on hunger strike, following claims she spread false information.

“These are not just statistics. They are our friends and colleagues who have dedicated their lives to, and paid the ultimate price for, their work as journalists,” Anthony Bellanger, the general secretary of the IFJ, said.

Don’t miss this: Georgia officials are facing violent threats over Trump’s claims of voter fraud

Republican and Democratic officials in Georgia have been subjected to violent and sexual threats against themselves and their families, as Republicans continue to dispute the election results. “We are watching you, you have kids, we are coming to your house,” one was told. Ed Pilkington and Sam Levine share their stories.

Last thing: New York Chipotle branch rattled by rodents

An Upper Manhattan Chipotle food chain has been inundated with rats eating burritos and attacking staff. The rats have developed a rather “millennial” taste for avocados, with staff having to freeze the fruit to prevent them feasting. Chipotle were forced to close the location only after the rats chewed through the wiring of its computer system, meaning that they could no longer handle orders. But the rats didn’t stop there; employees have been forced to come in to work to clean throughout the closure to try and keep the rats at bay.

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