Asian Stocks Fall on Monday            11/30 06:01

   Asian stock markets declined Friday as questions about the effectiveness of 
one possible coronavirus vaccine weighed on investor optimism.

   BEIJING (AP) -- Asian stock markets declined Friday as questions about the 
effectiveness of one possible coronavirus vaccine weighed on investor optimism.

   Benchmarks in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Sydney retreated while Shanghai 
gained.

   Investors have been encouraged by reports of progress toward a possible 
vaccine. But they were uneasy after researchers questioned data that showed a 
candidate from the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca was 70% effective.

   "Market participants showed increasing signs of nervousness as data errors 
were revealed," said Mizuho Bank in a report.

   The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo lost 0.1% to 26,506.97 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng 
sank 0.2% to 26,761.22. The Shanghai Composite Index added 0.4% to 3,383.06.

   The Kospi in Seoul lost less than 0.1% to 2,625.84 and Sydney's S&P-ASX 200 
fell 0.7% to 6,592.50. New Zealand and Jakarta gained while Singapore retreated.

   U.S. markets were closed Thursday for a holiday.

   Investors are looking forward to a possible vaccine to control the 
coronavirus following the deepest economic slump since the 1930s, though 
forecasters warn the stock market rebound might be too early to be sustained.

   Those hopes were dented this week when researchers questioned how Oxford and 
AstraZeneca calculated the effectiveness of their vaccine. That alliance is 
among researchers who have reported the most progress toward a possible 
vaccine. The AstraZeneca CEO told Bloomberg News the company might conduct 
another trial.

   Investors also are dismayed that U.S. states and European governments are 
reimposing controls on business and travel as infection rates surge.

   The disease has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide and there are 
61 million confirmed cases, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins 
University.

   Markets are uneasy about U.S. data showing consumer spending weakening and 
job losses rising.

   Supplemental unemployment benefits that supported consumer spending, the 
engine of the U.S. economy, have expired. Congress is deadlocked on a possible 
new aid plan.

   In energy markets, benchmark U.S. crude lost 67 cents to $45.04 per barrel 
in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude, used to 
price international oils, lost 11 cents to $47.90 per barrel in London.

   The dollar fell to 104.07 yen from Thursday's 104.25 yen. The euro rose to 
$1.1920 from $1.1906.

Fauci:May See Surge Upon Surge of Virus11/30 06:07

   The nation's top infectious disease expert said Sunday that the U.S. may see 
"surge upon a surge" of the coronavirus in the weeks after Thanksgiving, and he 
does not expect current recommendations around social distancing to be relaxed 
before Christmas.

   (AP) -- The nation's top infectious disease expert said Sunday that the U.S. 
may see "surge upon a surge" of the coronavirus in the weeks after 
Thanksgiving, and he does not expect current recommendations around social 
distancing to be relaxed before Christmas.

   Meanwhile, in a major reversal, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio said the 
nation's largest school system will reopen to in-person learning and increase 
the number of days a week many children attend class. The announcement came 
just 11 days after the Democratic mayor said schools would shut down because of 
rising COVID-19 cases.

   "We feel confident that we can keep schools safe," he said.

   Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and 
Infectious Diseases, told ABC's "This Week" that the level of infection in the 
U.S. would not "all of a sudden turn around."

   "So clearly in the next few weeks, we're going to have the same sort of 
thing. And perhaps even two or three weeks down the line ... we may see a surge 
upon a surge," he said.

   Fauci addressed the school issue, saying that spread "among children and 
from children is not really very big at all, not like one would have suspected. 
So let's try to get the kids back, but let's try to mitigate the things that 
maintain and just push the kind of community spread that we're trying to 
avoid," he said.

   Fauci also appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," where he made similar 
remarks, adding that it's "not too late" for people traveling home after 
Thanksgiving to help curb the virus by wearing masks, staying distant from 
others and avoiding large groups of people.

   The number of new COVID-19 cases reported in the United States topped 
200,000 for the first time Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins 
University. Since January, when the first infections were reported in the U.S., 
the nation's total number of cases has surpassed 13 million. More than 265,000 
people have died.

   Fauci said the arrival of vaccines offers a "light at the end of the 
tunnel." This coming week, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices 
will meet with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss a 
rollout of the vaccine, he said.

   He added that President-elect Joe Biden should focus on distributing 
vaccines in an "efficient and equitable way." Fauci also said he planned to 
push the new administration for a rigorous testing program.

   Health care workers will likely be among the first to get the vaccine, with 
the first vaccinations happening before the end of December, followed by many 
more in January, February and March, he said.

   "So if we can hang together as a country and do these kinds of things to 
blunt these surges until we get a substantial proportion of the population 
vaccinated, we can get through this," Fauci said.

   Other experts agreed that the coming weeks would be difficult, especially 
since so many traveled over the holiday and held in-person dinners indoors.

   Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said 
Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation" that Americans who traveled this past week 
should try to avoid people over 65. She said that those who were around others 
for Thanksgiving "have to assume that you were exposed and you became infected 
and you really need to get tested in the next week."

   Meanwhile, a busy travel weekend continued, despite warnings for Americans 
to stay close to home and limit their holiday gatherings.

   Aside from the Thanksgiving holiday itself, anywhere from 800,000 to more 
than 1 million travelers made their way through U.S. airport checkpoints on any 
day during the past week, according to Transportation Security Administration 
statistics. That's a far cry from the 2.3 to 2.6 million seen daily last year. 
But it far surpasses the number of travelers early in the pandemic, when daily 
totals fell below 100,000 on some spring days.

   More COVID-19 restrictions were in store for California starting Monday. Los 
Angeles County will impose a lockdown calling for its 10 million residents to 
stay home. Santa Clara County, which includes San Jose, is banning all high 
school, collegiate and professional sports and imposing a quarantine for anyone 
traveling into the region from more than 150 miles away.

   Back in New York, some elementary schools and pre-kindergarten programs will 
resume classes Dec. 7, a week from Monday, the mayor said. Others will take 
longer to reopen.

   The plan for reopening middle and high schools is still being developed, de 
Blasio said.

   About 190,000 students will be eligible to return to classrooms in the first 
round of reopening, just a fraction of the more than 1 million total pupils in 
the system. The great majority of parents have opted to have their kids learn 
remotely by computer.

   De Blasio said that many of those returning in person will be able to attend 
five days of class a week, up from one to three days previously.

   Elementary school students attending in person will be required to undergo 
frequent testing for the virus. Previously, the city set a target of testing 
20% of teachers and students in each school building once a month. Now the 
testing will be weekly.

   The mayor said the city was doing away with its previous trigger for closing 
schools, which was when 3% or more of the virus tests conducted in the city 
over a seven-day period came back positive.

   New York exceeded that threshold early in November, and infections have 
slightly worsened since then. More than 9,300 residents have tested positive 
for the virus over the past seven days.

Wisconsin Recount Confirm's Biden Win  11/30 06:10

   

   MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin finished a recount of its presidential 
results on Sunday, confirming Democrat Joe Biden's victory over President 
Donald Trump in the key battleground state. Trump vowed to challenge the 
outcome in court even before the recount concluded.

   Dane County was the second and last county to finish its recount, reporting 
a 45-vote gain for Trump. Milwaukee County, the state's other big and 
overwhelmingly liberal county targeted in a recount that Trump paid $3 million 
for, reported its results Friday, a 132-vote gain for Biden.

   Taken together, the two counties barely budged Biden's winning margin of 
about 20,600 votes, giving the winner a net gain of 87 votes.

   "As we have said, the recount only served to reaffirm Joe Biden's victory in 
Wisconsin," Danielle Melfi, who led Biden's campaign in Wisconsin, said in a 
statement to The Associated Press.

   Trump campaign spokeswoman Jenna Ellis said in a statement that the 
Wisconsin recounts have "revealed serious issues" about whether the ballots 
were legal, but she offered no specific details to validate her claim.

   "As we have said from the very beginning, we want every legal vote, and only 
legal votes to be counted, and we will continue to uphold our promise to the 
American people to fight for a free and fair election," Ellis said.

   With no precedent for overturning a result as large as Biden's, Trump was 
widely expected to head to court once the recount was finished. His campaign 
challenged thousands of absentee ballots during the recount, and even before it 
was complete, Trump tweeted that he would sue.

   "The Wisconsin recount is not about finding mistakes in the count, it is 
about finding people who have voted illegally, and that case will be brought 
after the recount is over, on Monday or Tuesday," Trump tweeted on Saturday. 
"We have found many illegal votes. Stay tuned!"

   The deadline to certify the vote is Tuesday. Certification is done by the 
Democratic chair of the Wisconsin Election Commission, which is bipartisan.

   The Wisconsin Voters Alliance, a conservative group, has already filed a 
lawsuit against state election officials seeking to block certification of the 
results. It makes many of the claims Trump is expected to make. Gov. Tony 
Evers' attorneys have asked the state Supreme Court to dismiss the suit. Evers, 
a Democrat, said the complaint is a "mishmash of legal distortions" that uses 
factual misrepresentations in an attempt to take voting rights away from 
millions of Wisconsin residents.

   Another suit filed over the weekend by Wisconsin resident Dean Mueller 
argues that ballots placed in drop boxes are illegal and must not be counted.

   Trump's attorneys have complained about absentee ballots where voters 
identified themselves as "indefinitely confined," allowing them to cast an 
absentee ballot without showing a photo ID; ballots that have a certification 
envelope with two different ink colors, indicating a poll worker may have 
helped complete it; and absentee ballots that don't have a separate written 
record for its request, such as in-person absentee ballots.

   Election officials in the two counties counted those ballots during the 
recount, but marked them as exhibits at the request of the Trump campaign.

   Trump's campaign has already failed elsewhere in court without proof of 
widespread fraud, which experts widely agree doesn't exist. Trump legal 
challenges have failed in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania.

Congress Returns to Aid, Funding Fight 11/30 06:12

   After months of shadowboxing amid a tense and toxic campaign, Capitol Hill's 
main players are returning for one final, perhaps futile, attempt at 
deal-making on a challenging menu of year-end business.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- After months of shadowboxing amid a tense and toxic 
campaign, Capitol Hill's main players are returning for one final, perhaps 
futile, attempt at deal-making on a challenging menu of year-end business.

   COVID-19 relief, a $1.4 trillion catchall spending package, and defense 
policy --- and a final burst of judicial nominees --- dominate a truncated two- 
or three-week session occurring as the coronavirus pandemic rockets out of 
control in President Donald Trump's final weeks in office.

   The only absolute must-do business is preventing a government shutdown when 
a temporary spending bill expires on Dec. 11. The route preferred by top 
lawmakers like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader 
Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is to agree upon and pass an omnibus spending bill for 
the government. But it may be difficult to overcome bitter divisions regarding 
a long-delayed COVID-19 relief package that's a top priority of business, state 
and local governments, educators and others.

   Time is working against lawmakers as well, as is the Capitol's emerging 
status as a COVID-19 hotspot. The House has truncated its schedule, and Senate 
Republicans are joining Democrats in forgoing the in-person lunch meetings that 
usually anchor their workweeks. It'll take serious, good-faith conversations 
among top players to determine what's possible, but those haven't transpired 
yet.

   Top items for December's lame-duck session:

   ___

   KEEPING THE GOVERNMENT OPEN

   At a bare minimum, lawmakers need to keep the government running by passing 
a stopgap spending bill known as a continuing resolution, which would punt $1.4 
trillion worth of unfinished agency spending into next year.

   That's a typical way to deal with a handoff to a new administration, but 
McConnell and Pelosi are two veterans of the Capitol's appropriations culture 
and are pressing hard for a catchall spending package. A battle over using 
budget sleight of hand to add a 2 percentage point, $12 billion increase to 
domestic programs to accommodate rapidly growing veterans health care spending 
is an issue, as are Trump's demands for U.S-Mexico border wall funding.

   Getting Trump to sign the measure is another challenge. Two years ago he 
sparked a lengthy partial government shutdown over the border wall, but both 
sides would like to clear away the pile of unfinished legislation to give the 
Biden administration a fresh start. The changeover in administrations probably 
wouldn't affect an omnibus deal very much.

   At issue are the 12 annual spending bills comprising the portion of the 
government's budget that passes through Congress each year on a bipartisan 
basis. Whatever approach passes, it's likely to contain a batch of unfinished 
leftovers such as extending expiring health care policies and tax provisions 
and continuing the authorization for the government's flood insurance program.

   ___

   COVID-19 RELIEF

   Democrats have battled with Republicans and the White House for months over 
a fresh installment of COVID-19 relief that all sides say they want. But a lack 
of good faith and an unwillingness to embark on compromises that might lead 
either side out of their political comfort zones have helped keep another 
rescue package on ice.

   The aid remains out of reach despite a fragile economy and out-of-control 
increases in coronavirus cases, especially in Midwest GOP strongholds. 
McConnell is a potent force for a smaller --- but still sizable --- package and 
has supplanted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin as the most important 
Republican force in the negotiations.

   Pelosi seems to have overplayed her hand as she held out for $2 
trillion-plus right up until the election. The results of the election, which 
saw Democrats lose seats in the House, appear to have significantly undercut 
her position, but she is holding firm on another round of aid to state and 
local governments.

   Before the election, Trump seemed to be focused on a provision that would 
send another round of $1,200 payments to most Americans. He hasn't shown a lot 
of interest in the topic since, apart from stray tweets. But the chief 
obstacles now appear to be Pelosi's demand for state and local government aid 
and McConnell's demand for a liability shield for businesses reopening during 
the pandemic.

   At stake is funding for vaccines and testing, reopening schools, various 
economic "stimulus" ideas like another round of "paycheck protection" subsidies 
for businesses especially hard hit by the pandemic. Failure to pass a measure 
now would vault the topic to the top of Biden's legislative agenda next year.

   ___

   DEFENSE POLICY

   A spat over military bases named for Confederate officers is threatening the 
annual passage of a defense policy measure that has passed for 59 years in a 
row on a bipartisan basis. The measure is critical in the defense policy world, 
guiding Pentagon policy and cementing decisions about troop levels, new weapons 
systems and military readiness, military personnel policy and other military 
goals.

   Both the House and Senate measures would require the Pentagon to rename 
bases such as Fort Benning and Fort Hood, but Trump opposes the idea and has 
threatened a veto over it. The battle erupted this summer amid widespread 
racial protests, and Trump used the debate to appeal to white Southern voters 
nostalgic about the Confederacy. It's a live issue in two Senate runoff 
elections in Georgia that will determine control of the chamber during the 
first two years of Biden's tenure.

   Democrats are insisting on changing the names and it's not obvious how it'll 
all end up.

Beware of COVID-19 Vaccine Scams       11/30 06:15

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The coronavirus vaccine inching toward approval in the 
U.S. is desperately anticipated by weary Americans longing for a path back to 
normal life. But criminals are waiting, too, ready to use that desperation to 
their advantage, federal investigators say.

   Homeland Security investigators are working with Pfizer, Moderna and dozens 
of other drug companies racing to complete and distribute the vaccine and 
treatments for the virus. The goal: to prepare for the scams that are coming, 
especially after the mess of criminal activity this year with phony personal 
protective equipment, false cures and extortion schemes.

   "We're all very excited about the potential vaccine and treatments," said 
Steve Francis, assistant director for global trade investigations with Homeland 
Security Investigations. "But I also caution against these criminal 
organizations and individuals that will try to exploit the American public."

   No vaccine has yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 
The FDA has approved the first treatment for COVID-19, the antiviral drug 
remdesivir. With vaccines and treatments both, it has warned about the 
potential for fraud.

   "The FDA is particularly concerned that these deceptive and misleading 
products might cause Americans to delay or stop appropriate medical treatment, 
leading to serious and life-threatening harm," the agency said in a recent 
statement.

   The drug companies are to have safeguards and brand-protection features in 
place to help avoid fraud, but that may not be available until the second 
generation of vaccine because everything is operated on such an emergency 
basis, said Karen Gardner, chief marketing officer at SIPCA North America, a 
company that works as a bridge between the government, businesses and 
consumers. She said that makes it more important to educate health care 
providers on what the real thing looks like.

   "When you have anything in high demand and limited supply, there is going to 
be fraud," she said. Desperation will drive people around normal channels.

   Meanwhile, investigators are learning about how the vaccine will be packaged 
and getting the message out to field agents, creating a mass database of 
information from more than 200 companies, so they can be prepared to spot fakes 
and crack down on dangerous fraud. They are monitoring tens of thousands of 
false websites and looking for evidence of fake cures sold online.

   Earlier this year as cases exploded, hospitals and governments grew short on 
masks, gloves and other protective gear. Scams grew, too. Tricksters preyed on 
unwitting citizens to hand over money for goods they'd never receive.

   Homeland Security Investigations started using its 7,000 agents in tandem 
with border, FDA and FBI officials to investigate scams, seize phony products 
and arrest hundreds of people. The effort is headquartered at the National 
Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, a government watchdog aimed 
at enforcement of its international trade laws and combating intellectual 
property theft.

   The agency has already analyzed more than 70,900 websites suspected as being 
involved in some type of COVID-19 fraud. Millions of fake or unapproved 
personal protective equipment products and antiviral pharmaceuticals were 
seized. Homeland Security Investigations made more than 1,600 seizures of 
products worth more than $27 million and made more than 185 arrests.

   Home test kits, for example, were only recently made available to the public 
in the past few weeks. But investigators seized tens of thousands of fake kits 
in the months before. On the dark web, scammers were selling domain names like 
"coronaprevention.org," attractive to counterfeiters. In the U.S. alone, more 
than 1,000 fake websites a day have been removed during the pandemic.

   A vaccine can't come fast enough, as virus cases have topped 13 million in 
the U.S. and many cities have started restricting movement again as the country 
heads into winter. The pandemic has killed more than 1.4 million people 
worldwide, more than 266,000 of them in the U.S., according to figures compiled 
by Johns Hopkins University. But Francis and other investigators are worried 
that desperation will make Americans more susceptible.

   If the FDA allows emergency use of a vaccine, there will be limited, 
rationed supplies before the end of the year.

   Gen. Gus Perna, in charge of the government's efforts to distribute the 
vaccine, said on CBS' "60 Minutes" the government was prepared to distribute 
the vaccine within 24 hours of approval. There's a stockpile of the prospective 
vaccine itself plus kits of needles, syringes and alcohol swabs needed to give 
the dose. The secret stash is watched by armed guards.

   "We have taken extraordinary precaution in this area," he said. "It's such a 
commodity to us, we're taking the full steps to make sure that the vaccine's 
secure."

   Who is first in line has yet to be decided. But Health and Human Services 
Secretary Alex Azar said the hope is that enough doses are available by the end 
of January to vaccinate adults over age 65, who are at the highest risk from 
the coronavirus, and health care workers. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. 
government's top infectious-diseases expert, said it may take until spring or 
summer before anyone who is not high risk and wants a shot can get one.

   States already are gearing up for what is expected to be the biggest 
vaccination campaign in U.S. history. First the shots have to arrive where 
they're needed, and Pfizer's must be kept at ultra-cold temperatures --- around 
minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 70 degrees Celsius. Moderna's vaccine 
also starts off frozen, but the company said it can be thawed and kept in a 
regular refrigerator for 30 days, easing that concern.

   Governments in other countries and the World Health Organization, which aims 
to buy doses for poor nations, will have to decide separately if and when 
vaccines should be rolled out broadly.

   Meanwhile, Homeland Security investigators and others are trying to send the 
message now to the public before the vaccines are approved and begin 
distribution. They say people should only get a vaccine from an approved 
medical provider. They shouldn't respond to calls seeking personal information. 
And they shouldn't click on social media posts purporting to sell cures.

   "If it sounds too good to be true, it is," Francis said.

Biden Economic Team Sees Diverse Picks 11/30 06:16

   

   (AP) -- President-elect Joe Biden is expected in the coming days to name 
several of his most senior economic advisers, a group that includes several 
liberal economists and policy specialists who established their credentials 
during the previous two Democratic administrations.

   Biden, who has placed a premium on diversity in his selection of Cabinet 
nominees and key advisers, is looking to notch at least a few firsts with his 
economic team selections.

   The Biden campaign has not yet announced the picks, but these are some of 
the individuals he's expected to select to high-profile positions on his 
economic team, according to people familiar with the transition process who 
were granted anonymity to speak freely about the president-elect's 
deliberations:

   JANET YELLEN, Treasury secretary

   Yellen became Federal Reserve chair in 2014 when the economy was still 
recovering from the devastating Great Recession. In the late 1990s, she was 
President Bill Clinton's top economic adviser during the Asian financial 
crisis. Under Biden she would lead the Treasury Department with the economy in 
the grip of a surging pandemic.

   If confirmed, Yellen would become the first woman to lead the Treasury 
Department in its nearly 232-year history. She would inherit an economy with 
still-high unemployment, escalating threats to small businesses and signs that 
consumers are retrenching as the pandemic restricts or discourages spending.

   NEERA TANDEN, Office of Management and Budget director

   Tanden is the president and CEO of the liberal think tank Center for 
American Progress. She was the director of domestic policy for the Obama-Biden 
presidential campaign, but she first made her mark in the Clinton orbit.

   Tanden served as policy director for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential 
campaign. Before that, she served as legislative director in Clinton's Senate 
office and deputy campaign manager and issues director for Clinton's 2000 
Senate campaign. She also served as a senior policy adviser in the Bill Clinton 
administration.

   If confirmed, she would be the first woman of color and the first South 
Asian woman to lead the OMB, the agency that oversees the federal budget.

   BRIAN DEESE, director of the White House National Economic Council

   Deese, a former senior economic adviser in the Obama administration and now 
the managing director and global head of sustainable investing at BlackRock, 
would be the top economic adviser in the Biden White House. He worked on the 
auto bailout and environmental issues in the Obama White House, where he held 
the title of deputy director of both the NEC and the OMB.

   CECILIA ROUSE, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers

   Rouse is a labor economist and head of Princeton University's School of 
Public and International Affairs. She served on the CEA from 2009 to 2011, and 
served on the NEC from 1998 to 1999 in the Clinton administration.

   Notably, she organized a letter earlier this year signed by more than 100 
economists calling for more government action to mitigate the fallout for 
Americans caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

   Rouse, who is Black, would be the first woman of color to chair the CEA.

   Biden is also expected to name Heather Boushey, the president and CEO of the 
Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and Jared Bernstein, who served as an 
economic adviser to Biden during the Obama administration, to serve on the 
council. Both Boushey and Bernstein advised Biden during the presidential 
campaign.

Iran: Israel Remotely Killed Scientist 11/30 06:20

   

   TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- A top Iranian security official on Monday accused 
Israel of using "electronic devices" to remotely kill a scientist who founded 
the Islamic Republic's military nuclear program in the 2000s.

   Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the country's Supreme National Security 
Council, made the comment at the funeral for Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, where Iran's 
defense minister separately vowed to continue the man's work "with more speed 
and more power."

   Israel, long suspected of killing Iranian nuclear scientists over the last 
decade, repeatedly has declined to comment on the attack.

   Fakhrizadeh headed Iran's so-called AMAD program, which Israel and the West 
have alleged was a military operation looking at the feasibility of building a 
nuclear weapon. The International Atomic Energy Agency says that "structured 
program" ended in 2003. U.S. intelligence agencies concurred with that 
assessment in a 2007 report.

   Israel insists Iran still maintains the ambition of developing nuclear 
weapons, pointing to Tehran's ballistic missile program and research into other 
technologies. Iran long has maintained its nuclear program is peaceful.

   Shamkhani's remarks drastically change the story of Fakhrizadeh's killing 
Friday. Authorities initially said a truck exploded and then gunmen opened fire 
on the scientist, killing him. State TV even interviewed a man the night of the 
attack who described seeing gunmen open fire.

   State TV's English-language Press TV reported earlier Wednesday a weapon 
recovered from the scene of the attack bore "the logo and specifications of the 
Israeli military industry." State TV's Arabic-language channel, Al-Alam, 
claimed the weapons used were "controlled by satellite," a claim also made 
Sunday by the semiofficial Fars news agency.

   None of the outlets immediately offered evidence supporting their claims.

   "Unfortunately, the operation was a very complicated operation and was 
carried out by using electronic devices," Shamkhani told state TV. "No 
individual was present at the site."

   Satellite control of weapons is nothing new. Armed, long-range drones for 
instance rely on satellite connections to be controlled by their remote pilots. 
Remote-controlled gun turrets also exist, but typically see their operator 
connected by a hard line to cut down on the delay in commands being relayed.

   While technically feasible, it wasn't immediately clear if such a system had 
been used before, said Jeremy Binnie, the Mideast editor of Jane's Defence 
Weekly.

   "Could you set up a weapon with a camera which then has a feed that uses an 
open satellite communications line back to the controller?" Binnie said. "I 
can't see why that's not possible."

   It also raised the question of if the truck that exploded during the attack 
detonated afterward to try and destroy a satellite-controlled machine gun 
hidden inside of it. Iranian officials did not immediately acknowledge that. It 
also would require someone on the ground to set up the weapon.

   Shamkhani also blamed the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq as well for 
"having a role in this," without elaborating. The MEK did not immediately 
respond to a request for comment.

   Monday's service for Fakhrizadeh took place at an outdoor portion of Iran's 
Defense Ministry in Tehran, with officials including Revolutionary Guard chief 
Gen. Hossein Salami, the Guard's Quds Force leader Gen. Esmail Ghaani, civilian 
nuclear program chief Ali Akbar Sahei and Intelligence Minister Mamoud Alavi. 
They sat apart from each other and wore masks due to the coronavirus pandemic 
as reciters melodically read portions of the Quran and religious texts.

   Defense Minister Gen. Amir Hatami gave a speech after kissing Fakhrizadeh's 
casket and putting his forehead against it. He said Fakhrizadeh's killing would 
make Iranians "more united, more determined."

   "For the continuation of your path, we will continue with more speed and 
more power," Hatami said in comments aired live by state television.

   Hatami also criticized countries that hadn't condemned Fakhrizadeh's 
killing, warning: "This will catch up with you someday." Overnight, the United 
Arab Emirates, which just reached a normalization deal with Israel, issued a 
statement condemning "the heinous assassination." The UAE, home to Abu Dhabi 
and Dubai, warned it "could further fuel conflict in the region."

   Last year, the UAE found itself in the middle of an escalating series of 
incidents between Iran and the U.S. Though long suspicious of Iran's nuclear 
program, the Emirates has said it wants to de-escalate the crisis. The UAE just 
started passenger air service to Israel and Israelis are expected to vacation 
in the country over Hanukkah in the coming days.

   Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz has sent a 
cable to all Israeli diplomatic delegations around the globe urging diplomats 
to maintain "the highest level of readiness and awareness of any irregular 
activity" around missions and Jewish community centers.

   Hebrew-language media in Israel reported that following the Fakhrizadeh's 
killing, the Foreign Ministry ordered security beefed up at certain Israeli 
diplomatic missions overseas. The ministry declined to comment on diplomatic 
security matters.

Moderna Asks US, EU to OK Virus Shots  11/30 06:21

   Moderna Inc. said it would ask U.S. and European regulators Monday to allow 
emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the shots 
offer strong protection -- ramping up the race to begin limited vaccinations as 
the coronavirus rampage worsens.

   (AP) -- Moderna Inc. said it would ask U.S. and European regulators Monday 
to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the 
shots offer strong protection --- ramping up the race to begin limited 
vaccinations as the coronavirus rampage worsens.

   Multiple vaccine candidates must succeed for the world to stamp out the 
pandemic, which has been on the upswing in the U.S. and Europe. U.S. hospitals 
have been stretched to the limit as the nation has seen more than 160,000 new 
cases per day and more than 1,400 daily deaths. Since first emerging nearly a 
year ago in China, the virus has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide.

   Moderna is just behind Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in seeking to 
begin vaccinations in the U.S. in December. Across the Atlantic, British 
regulators also are assessing the Pfizer shot and another from AstraZeneca.

   Moderna created its shots with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and 
already had a hint they were working, but said it got the final needed results 
over the weekend that suggest the vaccine is more than 94% effective.

   Of 196 COVID-19 cases so far in its huge U.S. study, 185 were trial 
participants who received the placebo and 11 who got the real vaccine. The only 
people who got severely ill --- 30 participants, including one who died --- had 
received dummy shots, said Dr. Tal Zaks, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
company's chief medical officer.

   When he learned the results, "I allowed myself to cry for the first time," 
Zaks told The Associated Press. "We have already, just in the trial, have 
already saved lives. Just imagine the impact then multiplied to the people who 
can get this vaccine."

   Moderna said the shots' effectiveness and a good safety record so far --- 
with only temporary, flu-like side effects --- mean they meet requirements set 
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use before the 
final-stage testing is complete. The European Medicines Agency, Europe's 
version of FDA, has signaled it also is open to faster, emergency clearance.

   WHAT COMES NEXT

   The FDA has pledged that before it decides to roll out any COVID-19 
vaccines, its scientific advisers will publicly debate whether there's enough 
evidence behind each candidate.

   First up on Dec. 10, Pfizer and BioNTech will present data suggesting their 
vaccine candidate is 95% effective. Moderna said its turn at this "science 
court" is expected exactly a week later, on Dec. 17.

   RATIONING INITIAL DOSES

   If the FDA allows emergency use, Moderna expects to have 20 million doses 
ready for the U.S. by year's end. Recipients will need two doses, so that's 
enough for 10 million people.

   Pfizer expects to have 50 million doses globally in December. Half of them 
--- or enough for 12.5 million people --- are earmarked for the U.S.

   This week, a different panel of U.S. experts, established by the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, will meet to decide how initial supplies will 
be given out. They're expected to reserve scarce first doses for health care 
workers and, if the shots work well enough in the frail elderly, for residents 
of long-term care facilities. As more vaccine gradually becomes available in 
coming months, other essential workers and people at highest risk from the 
coronavirus would get in line. But enough for the general population isn't 
expected until at least spring.

   Outside the U.S., Zaks said significant supplies from Moderna would be 
available later, "in the first quarter" of next year.

   "Obviously we are doing everything in our power to increase the capacity and 
accelerate the timelines," he said.

   Both Moderna's and Pfizer's vaccines are made with the same technology, 
using a piece of genetic code for the "spike" protein that studs the virus. 
That messenger RNA, or mRNA, instructs the body to make some harmless spike 
protein, training immune cells to recognize it if the real virus eventually 
comes along.

   ASTRAZENECA CONFUSION

   AstraZeneca last week announced confusing early results of its vaccine 
candidate from research in Britain and Brazil

   That vaccine appears 62% effective when tested as originally intended, with 
recipients given two full doses. But because of a manufacturing error, a small 
number of volunteers got a lower first dose --- and AstraZeneca said in that 
group, the vaccine appeared to be 90% effective.

   Experts say it's unclear why the lower-dose approach would work better and 
that it may just be a statistical quirk.

   A larger U.S. study of the AstraZeneca candidate still is underway that 
should eventually give the FDA a better picture of how well it works. The FDA 
has said any COVID-19 vaccine would have to be at least 50% effective.

   Meanwhile Britain's government will have to decide whether its U.K. data is 
sufficient for an early rollout there.

   STILL IN THE PIPELINE

   Johnson & Johnson also is in final-stage testing in the U.S. and several 
other countries to see if its vaccine candidate could work with just one dose.

   Both the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines work by using harmless cold viruses to 
carry the spike protein gene into the body and prime the immune system.

   The different technologies have ramifications for how easily different 
vaccines could be distributed globally. The AstraZeneca shots won't require 
freezer storage like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

   Candidates made with still other technologies are in late-stage testing, 
too. Another U.S. company, Novavax Inc., announced Monday that it has finished 
enrolling 15,000 people in a late-stage study in Britain and plans to begin 
recruiting even more volunteers for final testing in the U.S. and Mexico "in 
the coming weeks."

   Vaccines made by three Chinese companies and a Russian candidate also are 
being tested in thousands of people in countries around the world.

   ____

   The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the 
Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is 
solely responsible for all content.

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