December 6, 2020 7:50 am
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese probe that landed on the moon transferred rocks to an orbiter Sunday in preparation for returning samples of the lunar surface to Earth for the first time in almost 45 years, the space agency announced. The upper stage of the Change’e lander blasted off Friday from the lunar surface. If the mission succeeds, it will make China the third country after the United States and former Soviet Union to bring moon rocks to Earth. The ascent stage docked with a robot spacecraft orbiting the moon at 5:42 a.m. Sunday (2142 GMT Saturday), state media reported, citing the China National Space Administration. A container with 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of rocks was transferred to the orbiter 30 minutes later. A capsule carrying the rock samples is due to land in China’s northern grasslands in the Inner Mongolia region in mid-December. They will be the first fresh samples of the lunar surface obtained by scientists since the Soviet Union’s Luna 24 probe in 1976.
December 6, 2020 7:49 am
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Provincial governments across China are placing orders for experimental, domestically made coronavirus vaccines, though health officials have yet to say how well they work or how they may reach the country’s 1.4 billion people. Developers are speeding up final testing, the Chinese foreign minister said during a U.N. meeting last week, as Britain approved emergency use of Pfizer Inc.’s vaccine candidate and providers scrambled to set up distribution. Even without final approval, more than 1 million health care workers and others in China who are deemed at high risk of infection have received experimental vaccines under emergency use permission. There has been no word on possible side effects. China’s fledgling pharmaceutical industry has at least five vaccines from four producers being tested in more than a dozen countries including Russia, Egypt and Mexico. Health experts say even if they are successful, the certification process for the United States, Europe, Japan and other developed countries might be too complex for them to be used there. However, China said it will ensure the products are affordable for developing countries.
December 6, 2020 7:47 am
VALDOSTA, Georgia (AP) — President Donald Trump is pressing his grievances over losing the presidential election, using a weekend rally to spread baseless allegations of misconduct in last month’s voting in Georgia and beyond even as he pushed supporters to turn out for a pair of Republican Senate candidates in a runoff election in January. “Let them steal Georgia again, you’ll never be able to look yourself in the mirror,” Trump told rallygoers. Trump’s 100-minute rally before thousands of largely maskless supporters came not long after he was rebuffed by Georgia’s Republican governor in his astounding call for a special legislative session to give him the state’s electoral votes, even though President-elect Joe Biden won the majority of the vote. The Jan. 5 Senate runoffs in Georgia will determine the balance of power in Washington after Biden takes office. Republicans in the state are worried that Trump is stoking so much suspicion about Georgia elections that voters will think the system is rigged and decide to sit out the two races. The latest futile attempt to subvert the presidential election results continued Trump’s unprecedented campaign to undermine confidence in the democratic process, but overshadowed his stated purpose in traveling to Georgia — boosting Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.
December 6, 2020 7:45 am
PITTSBURGH (WPXI) — You may have seen the tall silver structures, or monoliths, showing up in random places. A local business owner decided to make one to attract customers to his store in the Strip District. When he arrived to open up Grandpa Joe’s, it was gone. Owner Chris Beers said the gimmick worked. He put it up three days ago, and people have come from hours away to check it out. Once he discovered it was stolen, he sprang into action. “I immediately gathered my team and we started building a bigger and better monolith. I just want it to be here. It supports the people who are coming out to see it. I hope this one lasts longer than the last one,” Beers said. He told Channel 11 he’ll be bolting this one to the ground. A monolith is a single great stone often in the form of an obelisk or column, according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary. A team of biologists counting bighorn sheep discovered the first metal structure on Nov. 18 in a Utah desert. A slightly similar structure then appeared in Romania days later. A third was found in California and a fourth was erected in Texas.
December 6, 2020 7:39 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania who are still questioning without basis the validity of the Nov. 3 election are drafting a boatload of voting-related legislation, with top Democrats quickly accusing them of setting up a sham process and undermining faith in elections. While top Republicans vowed to make a major initiative out of addressing what they deem to be problems arising from the election, Democrats said election officials and poll workers in every county executed a free, fair and secure election “with the utmost integrity.” Democrats also say Republicans should have simply allowed counties to process mail-in ballots before Election Day, the counties’ top request to help them manage the election. Meanwhile, 75 Republicans in Pennsylvania’s Legislature, including House Speaker Bryan Cutler and Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, signed a statement Friday urging members of Congress to block Pennsylvania’s electoral votes from being cast for Democratic President-elect Joe Biden. That outcome is “extremely unlikely,” said Derek Muller, a University of Iowa law professor who specializes in election law, because, at minimum, it would require the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives to vote to block Pennsylvania’s electoral votes.
December 6, 2020 4:17 am
ELIZABETH, Pa. —(WPXI) The body of a missing teen was found by crews near the Elizabeth Bridge Friday, ending a weeks long roller coaster for the family of 15-year-old Jeno Moretti. Moretti was reported missing in the days before Thanksgiving and his body was found by crews with specialized equipment. “We had special teams in here from Charles County, Maryland and also from the Christian Side Ministry search and rescue team,” Elizabeth Borough Police Chief William Sombo said. Rescue crews have been conducting extensive searches in the area near the bridge for weeks now. A tip was called in to investigators that someone matching Moretti’s description was seen walking up the stairs to the bridge in the early morning hours. Officials believed bullying on social media may have contributed to what happened. They said Moretti was targeted for being adopted. Before he disappeared, the West Jefferson Hills School District sent a letter to students about an investigation into an Instagram account that targeted students and staff with hurtful and potentially dangerous comments. Moretti’s family sent Channel 11 a statement: “We want to express our gratitude to the Elizabeth Borough police especially Chief Sombo and Elizabeth fire departments and river rescue for their tireless efforts in the search for Jeno. And for coordinating the search team and divers from Maryland. And thanking the Maryland search crew for bring Jeno home. The love and support from the Jefferson Hills, Elizabeth and surrounding communities was greatly appreciated and no words can express how we feel from the outpouring of support. #Jenoshome” Safe 2 Say Something hotline: 1-844-SAF2SAY. For immediate help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
December 5, 2020 9:26 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The Trump administration must accept new applications for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects some young immigrants from deportation. U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis says the government has to post a public notice within three days that new DACA applications are being accepted. The ruling follows one from November where Garaufis said Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf was unlawfully in his position. In the latest ruling, the judge says that invalidates the memo Wolf had issued in July suspending DACA. An email seeking comment was sent to Homeland Security.
December 5, 2020 9:24 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Fire danger remains high amid unpredictable wind gusts and dry conditions in Southern California, as crews made progress against blazes that burned several homes and injured two firefighters. The region’s notorious Santa Ana winds decreased slightly but red flag warnings of extreme wildfire risk were in place into the weekend because of low humidity. After the weather calms in the southern part of the state, winds are expected to increase in Northern California. Firefighters were still busy trying to contain a number of blazes south and east of Los Angeles. The biggest, in Orange County’s Silverado Canyon, is 10% contained.
December 5, 2020 9:21 am
California has certified its presidential election and appointed 55 electors pledged to vote for Joe Biden, officially handing the Democrat the Electoral College majority needed to win the White House. Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s formal approval of Biden’s victory brought the Democrat’s tally of pledged electors so far to 279, according to a tally by The Associated Press. That’s just over the 270 threshold for victory. These steps are often ignored formalities. But the hidden mechanics of electing a U.S. president have drawn new scrutiny this year as President Donald Trump continues to deny Biden’s victory and pursues specious legal strategies aimed at overturning the results.
December 5, 2020 9:19 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Under pressure from moderates in both parties, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have initiated late-game negotiations in hopes of combining a relief package of, in all likelihood, less than $1 trillion with a separate $1.4 trillion governmentwide omnibus spending bill. After lengthy delays, optimism is finally building in Washington for a COVID-19 aid bill that would offer relief for businesses, the unemployed, schools and health care providers, among others struggling as caseloads are spiking. Success is not certain and considerable differences remain over details, such as whether to issue a second round of $1,200 direct payments to most Americans.
