Monday, December 20th, 2021
‘Test to Stay’, TikTok Kitchens & Spider-Man Surprise
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Schwab.com/plan and Ritual.com/newsworthy
Story Summaries
All the news stories mentioned in today's episode are listed with links below, so you can spend as much -- or as little -- time as you want to review the latest happenings...
Latest U.S. Covid Wave
New Covid-19 cases are surging in the U.S. Public health experts blame the new variant, omicron, and think it may push the number of new infections to their highest level yet. Initial data showed omicron may cause mild cases of Covid-19. But, even if true, delta is still the dominant variant. With omicron spreading fast, the sheer numbers may overwhelm hospitals, especially as beds fill up with non-Covid patients, and hospitals have staffing shortages. President Biden is meeting with his Covid-19 response team this week, and he is expected to address the nation to share what he knows about the Omicron variant tomorrow.
Read More: AP, WSJ, CNN, Vox, Johns Hopkins
Appeals Court Reinstates Employer Vaccine Rules
President Biden scored a legal win recently. Previously, he’s been pushing for a new mandate for all American businesses with 100 or more workers to make sure their employees are either vaccinated or tested weekly. A court blocked the mandate last month. However, over the weekend, an appeals court reinstated it. Now, it’s set to go into effect in February. That is unless the U.S. Supreme Court rules against it. A mix of Republican state attorneys general, conservative advocacy groups, and business owners appealed to the high court.
WSJ, Reuters, Axios, AP, Courts.Gov
CDC’s New ‘Test to Stay’ Protocol
Even with Covid-19 spreading, health officials are focused on keeping as many children in school as possible. The CDC is now endorsing a “test to stay” policy, meaning when a kid comes in contact with someone who had Covid-19, they shouldn’t have to immediately quarantine. Instead, they can get tested at least twice in the week after they’ve been exposed. If they never test positive, they can stay in school. The CDC says this policy can apply whether students are vaccinated or not. Still, the CDC suggests students wear masks and stay distanced from each other. And, if kids feel sick, experts say they should stay home.
Read More: NPR, CNN, NY Times, LA Times, White House, CDC
Pfizer Results on Younger Kids
It seems parents will have to wait a little longer before their children who are five years old or younger can get a Covid-19 vaccine. Pfizer says two doses of its small kid-sized vaccine didn’t work as well in the younger age group as researchers expected. So, they’re adding a third shot to the regimen to see how that goes. But that means it will be a little while. Pfizer is still hoping it can get enough good data to the FDA in the first half of 2022, but it probably won’t happen until the spring. For now, the vaccines are only authorized for Americans older than five.
Read More: NBC News, WaPo, CNN, The Hill, Pfizer
Deadly Philippines Typhoon
A typhoon hit the Philippines this weekend, and at least 208 people died. Hundreds more got seriously hurt. Rescue teams describe scenes of “complete carnage” in the aftermath. This is the 15th typhoon to hit the Philippines this year. But, this one was especially bad because it packed winds of up to 160 miles an hour. For now, the estimated cost of damage is about $4.2 million.
Read More: NY Times, CNN, AP, BBC
Chile Presidential Election
Latin America's wealthiest country has elected a new leader. Gabriel Boric won Chile's presidential election. He promised his government will improve public healthcare and education. He also promised to fight climate change while expanding rights to native peoples and LGBTQ people. Boric is only 35 years old, so he’ll be Chile's youngest leader in history. But, Boric said, “I am going to be the president of all Chileans.”
Read More: BBC, Reuters, WSJ, AP, NY Times
Senate Confirms Biden Nominees
American lawmakers confirmed more than three dozen of President Biden's nominees before they left for the holiday recess. Most of the nominees are now taking on roles as ambassadors. The Senate also approved 10 more federal judges. 40 of his judge picks have now been confirmed this year. Still, the President didn’t get everything done he wanted to before the holiday recess. The roughly $2 trillion social spending and climate package will not be passed by Congress by the end of the year.
Read More: WaPo, CNN, AP, NY Times, Axios
Dry Shampoo, Conditioner Recall
Dozens of dry shampoos and conditioners are now recalled because they have too much of the cancer-causing chemical benzene. The recall names 32 spray products under familiar brands like Pantene, Aussie, Herbal Essence, Hair Food, and Waterless–– all made in the United States. Procter & Gamble says it’s pulling the products out of an abundance of caution. So far, there haven’t been any reports of major problems because of the issue. Check the product code on the bottom of your can and see if it’s listed on the FDA’s website as a part of the recall.
Read More: Reuters, USA Today, Miami Herald, P&G, FDA
SES Gives JPMorgan Record Fine
JPMorgan Chase will pay what’s thought to be the largest-ever fine for breaking federal record-keeping laws. The SEC fined the big bank $125 million for letting employees use personal phones, email accounts, and messaging apps, like WhatsApp, to work on official business. Under federal law, banks are supposed to keep detailed records of business between brokers and clients so regulators can keep an eye on the transactions. But, the SEC says the bank’s Wall Street division kept information from SEC staff for extended periods, and sometimes, permanently. So far, JP Morgan hasn’t commented.
Read More: UPI, WSJ, NY Times, Fox Business
YouTube TV’s Disney Deal
It seems a battle between Disney and Google’s YouTube TV has come to an end. The two media giants reached a deal after a two-day outage. The two companies were re-negotiating a contract about how much Google should have to pay Disney to carry its content. As you might expect, each side blamed the other. But, the new deal means YouTube TV customers should now have access to Disney’s programming once again, and they’ll get a $15 discount for the disruption.
Read More: USA Today, The Verge, AP, Engadget, YouTube TV
TikTok Kitchens
TikTok partnered with a company called Virtual Dining Concepts to launch TikTok Kitchen locations across the U.S. They start in March and are delivery-only. VDC says about 300 TikTok restaurants are planned for the launch, and more than 1,000 are expected by the end of 2022. The TikTok Kitchen menu will be based on the app’s most viral food trends and will rotate quarterly, given how fast viral content comes and goes on the app. TikTok says creators who inspire those viral recipes will receive part of the proceeds.
Read More: Bloomberg, Eater, The Verge, TechCrunch, Business Insider
Weekend Box Office
There looks to be no stopping Peter Parker, not even the pandemic. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” scored the third-best opening weekend in cinematic history with a whopping $253 million across North America. Only the last two “Avengers” movies, “Endgame” and “Infinity War,” had higher debuts. Of course, that means the newest Spider-Man shattered all pandemic box office records, too. The highly-anticipated Marvel superhero movie may pick up even more momentum over the next two weekends thanks to the Christmas vacation for schools.
Read More: Variety, Deadline, CNBC, CNN
Money Monday: How Much the '12 Days of Christmas' Would Cost Today
If you're thinking about spoiling your true love with 12 days of Christmas gifts, just like the classic song, expect to pay more than ever this year. The total costs of everything would be more than $41,000. That’s more than $2,000 more than 2019. The financial services firm PNC Bank measures the cost of all items in the song every year, and it sort of tells the story of inflation. It seems the only part of the song that costs about the same now as in 2019 is the eight maids a-milking since the federal minimum wage has stayed the same.
Read More: CNN, WGN, NPR, Fortune, PNC Bank