The Week of December 6, 2020 by CoenM

What US STATE's legislature had to close as roughly a dozen Republican lawmakers had spent time unmasked with Rudy Giuliani (also unmasked) just prior to Giuliani's positive Covid-19 diagnosis?

What NOBEL LAUREATE sold the publishing rights to his entire catalog of songs to Universal Music Publishing Group? While no figure was announced, estimates put the sale price at $300 to $500 million dollars.

President-elect Joe Biden named retired US Army general Lloyd Austin as his pick for Secretary of Defense. Austin's last post before retiring was running what COMMAND, whose area of responsibility includes the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of Africa and South Asia?

The test flight of what SPACEX VEHICLE, the planned upper stage of the Super Heavy rocket that could take astronauts to Mars, ended with an explosion upon landing?

Farmers in what ASIAN COUNTRY protested new agricultural laws that the government says will spur investment? The farmers fear the changes will eliminate regulated markets for rice and wheat, which provide reliable income.

An international group of climate scientists found one bright side to the Covid-19 pandemic, announcing that 2020 saw a seven percent drop in emissions of what GREENHOUSE GAS, thanks largely to a sharp drop in transportation emissions in North America and Europe?

A trio of amateur cryptographers announced they had cracked the 340 Cipher, a message sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969 by what SERIAL KILLER? The content of the message did not reveal the identity of the killer, as some had hoped.

Morocco became the latest Arabic country to normalize relations with Israel, thanks to the US agreeing to recognize Morocco's sovereignty over what TERRITORY? The US is the first Western country to make such a recognition.

A statement by the family of what CHILDREN'S AUTHOR apologized for his anti-Semitic statements, made in 1983 and before he died in 1990? The statement, made on the author's website, was undated, making it unclear as to when it was actually made.

Your HallR mini-theme of the week (TM): See You In Court! Or Not. The US Federal Trade Commission and 48 state attorneys general filed lawsuits against what SOCIAL MEDIA GIANT, alleging that acquisitions of companies like Instagram and WhatsApp have squashed competition?

The US Supreme Court declined to hear the case brought by what US STATE that sought to invalidate election results in four swing states? The court's order said that the state "has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections."

The US Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act by a veto-proof 87-13 margin, important as Donald Trump has threatened to veto it because it doesn't include a provision to repeal what SECTION of the Communications Decency Act, which protects tech companies from liability over content that appears on its platforms?