November 16, 2020 4:27 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Joe Biden’s scientific advisers will meet with vaccine makers in coming days as the presidential transition remains stalled because of President Donald Trump’s refusal to acknowledge that he lost the election. The government’s top infectious disease expert says that delayed handoff to the next administration is especially problematic during a public health crisis. Dr. Anthony Fauci tells CNN, “Of course it would be better if we could start working with them.” Biden’s outreach to the vaccine manufacturers comes as the coronavirus pandemic in the United States has entered perhaps its most dangerous phase. The seven-day rolling average for new daily cases stood at 145,400 on Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
November 16, 2020 4:25 am
UNDATED (AP) – U.S. officials say the Pentagon is expected to cut the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan almost in half by Jan. 15. The order would stop short of outgoing President Donald Trump’s goal to have all troops withdrawn by the end of the year, which had faced opposition from military and diplomatic advisers. The Pentagon also expects to cut the number of troops in Iraq to 2,500, a reduction of more than 500. The decisions follow Trump’s shakeup of the Pentagon last week in which he installed loyalists who share his frustration with the continued troop presence in the Middle East.
November 16, 2020 4:19 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The FBI says a man who was serving a life sentence for murder when he escaped custody while attending his grandmother’s funeral nearly 50 years ago has been captured in Michigan. Leonard Rayne Moses was 16 when he was convicted in the 1968 killing of Mary Amplo during civil unrest in Pittsburgh over the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Moses escaped custody in 1971. The FBI says he’d been living under an assumed name in Michigan. Moses was charged with stealing pills from a pharmacy earlier this year and the FBI said Friday the fingerprints from that arrest came back a match.
November 16, 2020 4:18 am
UNDATED (AP) – Republican leaders in four critical states won by President-elect Joe Biden say they won’t participate in a legally dubious scheme to flip their state’s electors to vote for President Donald Trump. Their comments effectively shut down a half-baked plot some Republicans floated as a last chance to keep Trump in the White House. State GOP lawmakers in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have all said they would not intervene in the selection of electors, who ultimately cast the votes that secure a candidate’s victory. Several noted that such a move would violate state law and a vote of the people.
November 16, 2020 4:16 am
West Penn Power Company tells WJPA News that crews are continuing to work to restore power to customers who lost electricity when a severe wind storm moved through the Washington County area on Sunday, but they can’t guarantee everyone will be back on line by Monday night. Spokesman Todd Myers says that at one point, there were more than eleven-thousand people without power after the storm hit, but they have reduced that number to about eight-hundred. Myers says the outages were so widespread that it makes it difficult for crews to get to them and make repairs so they’ve tried to get the bigger outages first and will then concentrate on the smaller, individual problems. Myers says Sunday’s storm was a very damaging event for them, but they hope to have everyone’s service restored by Tuesday evening. Claysville Elementary was among the locations to lose power. The McGuffey School District announced that elementary students only would be remote learning on Monday. All other buildings in the district maintained their regular hybrid schedule.
November 15, 2020 8:11 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — And how the bidders loved him! A buyer shouted out with glee that they would pay $368,000 for the Rudolph and Santa Claus figures used in the perennially beloved Christmas special “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” Bidding for the figures soared past the projected sale price of between $150,000 and $200,000 on Friday at the Icons & Legends of Hollywood Auction held in Los Angeles by Profiles in History. The buyer was not identified. The seller was Peter Lutrario, 65, of New York, who told The Associated Press before the auction that he thought he would never part with the dolls but wanted to be able to take care of his children and grandchildren with the money. The figures were among several used to make the 1964 stop-motion animation television special. The 6-inch-tall Rudolph and 11-inch-tall Santa were made in Tokyo of wood, wire, cloth and leather, and are still malleable. Rudolph’s nose still lights up. Santa’s beard is made from yak hair. Other highlights from the two-day auction include Marilyn Monroe’s tiger-striped gown from “The Seven Year Itch,” which sold for a whopping $593,750. Another Monroe gown that she wore when she met Queen Elizabeth II at a London film premiere went for $294,400.
November 15, 2020 8:09 am
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York man was arrested Saturday in connection with an unprovoked assault against Rick Moranis that occurred as the 67-year-old actor was walking near Central Park in October. New York City police said 35-year-old Marquis Ventura, whom authorities listed as homeless, was arrested Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t known if Ventura had retained an attorney who could comment. Moranis, known for his work in the 1980s sketch comedy series “Second City Television” and roles in movies such as “Ghostbusters,” “Spaceballs” and “Honey I Shrunk the Kids,” was walking on a sidewalk near Central Park on the morning of Oct. 1 when he was attacked. Video released by police showed a man wearing a black “I (heart) NY” sweatshirt hit Moranis with a sucker punch and knock him to the ground. Police didn’t identify Moranis at the time, but Moranis’s representative, Troy Bailey, confirmed the actor had been attacked. Police characterized it as a “random, unprovoked assault.”
November 15, 2020 8:06 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico on Saturday topped 1 million registered coronavirus cases and nearly 100,000 test-confirmed deaths, though officials agree the number is probably much higher. How did Mexico get here? By marching resolutely, even defiantly, against many internationally accepted practices in pandemic management, from face mask wearing, to lockdowns, testing and contact tracing. What is more, officials in Mexico claim science is on their side. Assistant Health Secretary Hugo López-Gatell says any wider testing would be “a waste of time, effort and money.” Face masks, López-Gatell says, “are an auxiliary measure to prevent spreading the virus. They do not protect us, but they are useful for protecting other people.” President Andres Manuel López Obrador almost never wears a mask, and López-Gatell only occasionally does. Except science does not appear to be on their side. International experts have recommended mass testing, and say face masks protect both the wearer and other people. In part that has been a hallmark of López Obrador’s administration: never back down, never change course, and if challenged, double down.
November 15, 2020 8:05 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Israel worked together to track and kill a senior al-Qaida operative in Iran earlier this year, a bold intelligence operation by the two allied nations that came as the Trump administration was ramping up pressure on Tehran. Four current and former U.S. officials said Abu Mohammed al-Masri, al-Qaida’s No. 2, was killed by assassins in the Iranian capital in August. The U.S. provided intelligence to the Israelis on where they could find al-Masri and the alias he was using at the time, while Israeli agents carried out the killing, according to two of the officials. The two other officials confirmed al-Masri’s killing but could not provide specific details. Al-Masri was gunned down in a Tehran alley on Aug. 7, the anniversary of the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Al-Masri was widely believed to have participated in the planning of those attacks and was wanted on terrorism charges by the FBI. Al-Masri’s death is a blow to al-Qaida, the terror network that orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S, and comes amid rumors in the Middle East about the fate of the group’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The officials could not confirm those reports but said the U.S. intelligence community was trying to determine their credibility.
November 15, 2020 8:02 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several thousand supporters of President Donald Trump in Washington protested election results and then hailed Trump’s passing motorcade before nighttime clashes with counterdemonstrators sparked fistfights, at least one stabbing and at least 20 arrests. Several other cities on Saturday also saw gatherings of Trump supporters unwilling to accept Democrat Joe Biden’s Electoral College and popular vote victory as legitimate. Cries of “Stop the Steal” and “Count Every Vote” continued in spite of a lack of evidence of voter fraud or other problems that could reverse the result. After night fell, the relatively peaceful demonstrations in Washington turned from tense to violent. Videos posted on social media showed fistfights, projectiles and clubs as Trump supporters clashed with those demanding they take their MAGA hats and banners and leave. The tensions extended to Sunday morning. A variety of charges, including assault and weapons possession, were filed against those arrested, officials said. Two police officers were injured and several firearms were recovered by police.
