Federal courts in Colorado and New Jersey must reexamine whether state restrictions on indoor religious services violate the U.S. Constitution. After overturning New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s total ban on indoor services, the Supreme Court on Tuesday in two unsigned orders tossed the lower courts’ decisions upholding Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy’s health orders and told them to reconsider.

More than 330 schoolboys went missing in Katsina state, Nigeria, after gunmen attacked their school on Friday night. On Tuesday, Boko Haram terrorists in an unverified audio message claimed responsibility for abducting hundreds of students, according to the Daily Nigerian.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., on Tuesday said the Electoral College “has spoken,” acknowledging President-elect Joe Biden won the election. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Polish President Andrzej Duda, a strong supporter of President Donald Trump, also offered best wishes the day after Biden got the votes of 306 electors. Several other Republican leaders in recent days congratulated Biden for his success.

As healthcare workers across the country began receiving Pfizer’s coronavirus shot on Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration geared up to consider a second vaccine later this week. The agency is set to debate whether to grant emergency use authorization to Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday.

Robert Levinson retired from the FBI in 1998 and went missing on March 9, 2007, during a trip to meet a source on the Iranian island of Kish. In March, his family revealed U.S. officials believed the retired FBI agent had died. For the first time, the United States on Monday formally blamed Iran for Levinson’s death, publicly identifying and sanctioning two Iranian intelligence officers.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo closed down indoor dining again starting Monday as the number of COVID-19 cases begin to climb faster after Thanksgiving. Some expect the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency use authorization to Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine as soon as Saturday after a panel of advisers gave the thumbs up on Thursday. One of the four members of the panel who voted no, Dr.

The National Defense Authorization Act heads to President Donald Trump’s desk under the looming threat of a veto. Like the House, the Senate approved the measure with a wide enough margin to override a veto—84-13. Congress has reupped the bill for the last almost 60 years to fund a wide range of defense-related policies.