Monday, December 27th, 2021
Flights Canceled, Rare Snowstorms & Happy Kwanzaa
All the news you need in about 10 min:
This episode is brought to you by Schwab.com/plan and BetterHelp.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...
Thousands More Flights Canceled
Holiday travel has been especially difficult for thousands of Americans. The flight tracker Flight Aware says more than 8,000 flights were canceled just over the last three days. Major airlines like Delta, United, and JetBlue blamed the highly contagious omicron variant of Covid-19. The trade association Airlines for America has asked the CDC to cut the quarantine period for employees who get Covid from ten to five days. So far, no response from the CDC. But assuming nothing changes, some analysts say these disruptions are almost certain to last through the upcoming New Year’s weekend.
Read More: FlightAware, Reuters, Fortune, WSJ, CNN
U.S. Omicron Spread
These days, on average, more than 197,000 Americans are testing positive each day for Covid-19. That's a 65% jump over the last two weeks. Hospitalizations are still relatively low compared to big peaks earlier in the year, but they’re ticking up, too. And, over the last week, about 71,000 Americans have been hospitalized with Covid-19. Remember, hospitalizations tend to lag a few weeks behind new cases. But, experts aren’t sure what to expect this time since it will depend on whether omicron is less severe than other versions of Covid-19 as some studies suggest.
Read More: CNN, USA Today, NY Times, ABC News, HHS
Myanmar Military Attack
Myanmar is growing more violent, and now, aid workers and children are getting caught in the crossfire. At least 38 people, including kids, died in an attack over the weekend, and a couple of Save the Children aid workers are still missing. Myanmar’s military is said to be behind the attack. Earlier this year, the military overthrew the government. Ever since, the country has been in turmoil, and the military has been asserting its power with force. As of this morning, few details have come out about this incident, but one nonprofit organization says the Myanmar military has killed over 1,300 people since seizing power.
Read More: Al Jazeera, CNN, BBC, WSJ, Save the Children
Desmond Tutu Dies
Over the weekend, the world lost a Nobel Prize-winning, iconic activist. Archbishop Desmond Tutu died at 90 years old. His powerful voice helped end apartheid in South Africa in the 1990s, but he never stopped advocating for racial justice and LGBTQ rights around the world. Cape Town is planning a 7-day mourning period before Tutu's burial. It’s not clear exactly what caused Tutu's death, but he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Read More: Reuters, NY Times, BBC, South Africa President
West Coast Snowstorms
Parts of the west coast are getting a rare deep freeze. The Sierra region got nearly 30 inches of snow, and the National Weather Service says it’s not over yet. It issued winter storm warnings for Lake Tahoe and other parts of California that last through tomorrow morning. The Pacific Northwest is also dealing with an unusual cold snap, and nearly four inches of snow fell over Seattle yesterday, where it doesn’t usually snow. Southern California got a wet, rainy Christmas that caused flash flooding in some places. Several roads up and down the west coast are now shut down, and emergency officials say they could be dangerous for the next few days.
Read More: CBS News, AP, NY Times, NBC News, Fox News, NWS
Bowl Games Canceled
More college football bowl games are not happening because of Covid-19 outbreaks. A total of five bowl games were impacted by the virus in the past week. The Military Bowl, Fenway Bowl, and Hawaii Bowl were canceled. Also, Texas A&M had to pull out of the Gator Bowl, and the University of Miami dropped out of the Sun Bowl. The committee that handles the College Football playoffs updated its policies for the semifinals. It says if a team doesn't have enough players, it will have to forfeit, and the other team will advance to the National Championship game.
Read More: ESPN, NPR, SI, CNN, College Football Playoff
All DoorDash Employees to Deliver
Your next meal could be delivered by a DoorDash engineer, executive, or even the CEO. DoorDash says every employee must make at least one delivery every month. The only exceptions are for employees who physically can’t deliver food. Though, they must still do something similar, like shadow a customer service agent. It’s part of the company’s program called WeDash that’s been around for years but was put on hold because of the pandemic. The new rule starts in the new year.
Read More: MarketWatch, Forbes
Habitat for Humanity’s First 3D-Printed Home
Habitat for Humanity has now completed its first 3D-printed house in the U.S. It means a Virginia mother and her son had a place to call home just in time for Christmas. Even though the groundbreaking was in July, the 3D printing technology allowed the crew to “print” the home in just 12 hours. It knocked off at least four weeks of construction time. Many 3D printed homes use concrete instead of typical materials like lumber, so it costs less to build, and it also helps save the homeowner money in the future. For example, concrete retains the temperature inside, saving on heating and cooling costs, and it’s likely to stand up better to natural disasters.
Read More: WTKR, Axios, CNN, Habitat For Humanity
Weekend Box Office
After just 12 days in theaters, the latest Marvel movie broke a major milestone. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is the first movie since 2019 to make $1 billion at the global box office. It also scored the third-best Christmas Day earnings of all time in North America after two Star Wars movies. Other new movies came out just in time for the holiday weekend, too. “Sing 2”, “The Matrix Resurrections”, “The King’s Man”, and “Licorice Pizza” also brought in millions. Still, Spider-Man is eclipsing everyone at the box office, bringing in about $22 million more than the next nine highest-grossing movies combined.
Read More: Variety, Deadline, CNBC, WSJ
Kwanzaa Begins
Christmas may be over, but Kwanzaa is just beginning! Kwanzaa is an annual, week-long, non-religious holiday that celebrates African-American culture. It started yesterday, and it ends on January 1st. There will be daily ceremonies with food, decorations, music, and other cultural objects. Each day is dedicated to a specific principle marked by lighting a new candle on the Kinara. Translated, the principles are unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
Read More: Kwanzaa, CNN, PBS, Chicago Tribune
Money Monday: Holiday Sales Rise
People were busy buying this holiday season. Sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even though shoppers faced supply chain issues, higher prices, and labor shortages at the stores. Some analysts thought shoppers were determined to celebrate this year after Covid-19 made for a quiet Christmas the year before. This year, clothes, jewelry, and electronics made up most of the increases. Online sales saw a huge boom, too, making up about 21% of total holiday sales compared to about 15% in 2019.
Read More: Axios, AP, Reuters, NY Times