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379 million
“The Drug Enforcement Administration said Tuesday it has seized more than 379 million potentially fatal doses of illegal fentanyl this year, as Mexican drug-trafficking organizations continue to flood the United States with the cheap synthetic opioid responsible for record numbers of U.S. overdose deaths,” the Washington Post reports.
2.9%
“The economy grew at an annual 2.9% pace in the third quarter, updated figures show, and the U.S. is on track to expand again in the waning months of 2022 despite growing worries of recession,” Marketwatch reports.
61 to 36
“The Senate on Tuesday passed the Respect for Marriage Act, which would enshrine marriage equality into federal law, granting protections to same-sex and interracial couples,” the Washington Post reports. “The bill passed in a 61-36 vote. The bill includes a bipartisan amendment that clarifies protections for religious liberties, and will now return to the House for another vote before it can go to President Biden to sign into law.”
301,500
“Georgia voters set a single-day early turnout record Monday as 301,500 people stormed to the polls on the first day they were open in most counties ahead of the U.S. Senate runoff,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
9 in 10
Washington Post: “While older Americans have consistently been the worst hit during the crisis, as evident in the scores of early nursing home deaths, that trend has become more pronounced. Today, nearly 9 in 10 covid deaths are in people 65 or older — the highest rate ever.”
19,749
“Last Friday went down in history as likely the third-best day for gun sales ever, with the FBI recording 192,749 background checks,” the Washington Examiner reports. “Traditionally, Black Fridays are the best gun sales days of the year, and last Friday was bested by only two other recent Black Fridays, in 2017 and 2019.”
50
At least 50 women have won election to the state legislature, and a 51st is leading in her bid for a state Senate seat in Colorado Springs. That would make Colorado the second state — after Nevada — to have elected a majority-female legislature, Pluribus News reports.
315
New York Times: “While deaths have plummeted since the beginning of the year, about 315 Americans are still dying of Covid on the average day. This year’s toll has so far exceeded 219,000. More than 27,000 Americans with Covid are in hospitals on any given day, and an uncertain number face lingering complications, so-called long Covid. Declines in test positivity and hospitalization are flattening, hinting at a possible reversal.”
$94 million
“Donald Trump hoarded $94 million this election in his various political committees as his anointed candidates lost the Senate for Republicans in tight races where that money might have made the difference between winning and losing,” the HuffPost reports. Said one Trump adviser: “We didn’t lose because of Trump’s rhetoric. We lost because Trump is cheap. He left them all hanging dry …. It gave a free shot for all the right-wing pundits to turn on him.”
8 billion
The world’s population is projected to reach 8 billion people sometime tomorrow, according to an estimate by the United Nations. “While it took the global population 12 years to grow from 7 to 8 billion, it will take approximately 15 years—until 2037— for it to reach 9 billion, a sign that the overall growth rate of the global population is slowing.”