USA

PORTAGE, Michigan (AP) — The first of many freezer-packed COVID-19 vaccine vials made their way to distribution sites across the United States on Sunday, as the nation’s pandemic deaths approached the horrifying new milestone of 300,000.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Presidential electors are meeting across the United States on Monday to formally choose Joe Biden as the nation’s next president.

Monday is the day set by law for the meeting of the Electoral College. In reality, electors meet in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to cast their ballots. The results will be sent to Washington and tallied in a Jan. 6 joint session of Congress over which Vice President Mike Pence will preside.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States reported over 244,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day on Friday, setting a gloomy new record as the country is preparing distribution of the first COVID-19 vaccine to states.

A total of 244,011 new cases and 3,013 deaths were reported across the country on Friday, according to data updated Saturday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), setting new world records.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A Virgin Galactic test flight Saturday ended prematurely as the spacecraft’s rocket motor failed to ignite and it then glided down safely to its landing site in southern New Mexico.

The spacecraft’s engine is supposed to ignite moments after the craft is released from a special carrier jet, sending it in a near-vertical climb toward the edge of space.

The first trucks carrying a COVID-19 vaccine for widespread use in the United States were set to pull out of a Michigan manufacturing plant Sunday, with the shots that are critical to stopping the nation’s coronavirus outbreak destined to reach states a day later.

Shipments of the Pfizer vaccine will set in motion the biggest vaccination effort in American history at a critical juncture of the pandemic that has killed 1.6 million and sickened 71 million worldwide.

Washington, Dec 13 (AP-PTI) Thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump returned to Washington for rallies to back his desperate efforts to subvert the election that he lost to Joe Biden. They cheered as Trump flew overhead on the Marine One helicopter on his way out of town for the Army-Navy football game in West Point, New York.

Washington, Dec 12 (AP-PTI) Supporters of President Donald Trump are returning to Washington on Saturday for a pair of rallies to back his desperate efforts to subvert the election that he lost.

The rallies come a month after a pro-Trump demonstration that drew at least 10,000 people to the capital. The day began with Trump thrilling his supporters by driving by in his limousine and ended with scattered clashes between Trump supporters and local activists near Black Lives Matter Plaza.

Washington, Dec 12 (AP-PTI) Doctors and nurses around the US are becoming exhausted and demoralised as they struggle to cope with a record-breaking surge of COVID-19 patients that is overwhelming hospitals and prompting governors to clamp back down to contain the virus.

New York Gov Andrew Cuomo on Friday banned indoor dining in New York City, saying he had been waiting in vain for hospitalisation rates to stabilise.

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — US experts voted Thursday to recommend granting emergency approval for Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for America to become the next country to move ahead with mass immunization.

It comes as the worst-hit country in the world logged more than 3,000 virus
deaths in one day and its overall toll was approaching 300,000.

With northern hemisphere countries hit by a pandemic winter surge, Britain this week became the first Western country to roll out the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

11 Dec 2020; MEMO:  The United States is poised to impose sanctions on Turkey over its acquisition last year of Russian S-400 air defense systems, five sources including three US officials told Reuters on Thursday, a move likely to worsen already problematic ties between the two NATO allies.