U.S SECRETARY of State Antony Blinken (Ukraine govt. photo).

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Beijing on a diplomatic mission to try to ease tensions between the U.S. and China.

According to CBS News, Blinken will be there for two days of talks. An earlier planned displomatic mission was scrubbed after the U.S. shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon in American air space.

Major sticking points between the two nations are the status of Taiwan, human rights issues in China and conflicts over territorial rights in the South China Sea.

Massacre at school in Uganda

At least 41 people were killed when rebels attacked a school in Uganda.

The Associated Press is reporting that the attackers made a night-time raid and fled back across the border to the Congo Republic.

The victims were said to have been burned or hacked with machetes by their attackers. Six students were abducted to serve as porters taken from the school store.

Also in the news … A federal judge on Friday blocked big  parts of Indiana’s new law banning puberty blockers, surgery and hormone therapy for trans-gender youth.

Sports: Angels blow big lead; Dodgers bombed

An 8-2 lead wasn’t enough for the Los Angeles Angels as their bullpen yielded eight runs in the last three innings in losing 10-9 to the Royals in Kansas City on Saturday.

The Halos got two home runs from Brandon Drury (his 11th and 12) and one each from Taylor Ward (ninth) and Shohei Ohtani (23rd), but the team still lost to fall to 40-33, third in the American League West.

The Los Angeles Dodgers had another bad day on Saturday as they were hammered at home 15-0 by the San Francisco Giants. With the loss, the Blue Crew has lost 10 of its last 15 games and are still in second place in the NL West with a 39- 32 record, a half-game ahead of the third-place Giants.

Weather: ‘70s here to stay

Nice weather and sunny skies are in the forecast for our West Orange County area for the next week or so. Sunday should have morning clouds and afternoon sun with a daytime high of 74 and an overnight low of 61. Monday will be a bit similar with a high of 73 (59). Tuesday will usher in three day of sunny skies with temperatures ranging as high as 77.