Monday morning news - December 27, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

COVID variant disrupts holiday travel » Many travelers found themselves stranded in airports over the weekend as one word repeatedly appeared on airport video screens: “canceled.”

In San Francisco, traveler Ratan Nair told KGO tv he’s hoping for the best.

NAIR: We’ve been constantly checking all kinds of different websites, you know the airport site, the airline sites and all of that. So we’re crossing our fingers and hoping we’ll be able to make this trip.

Airlines canceled more than 700 flights Sunday, as positive COVID-19 tests led to staffing shortages. And that was after canceling more than a thousand on Christmas Day.

Globally, airlines scrapped more than 5,000 flights over the weekend. And cancellations are likely to remain a big problem this week.

Henry Harteveldt is a travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research. He said you can more or less predict the risk of an air travel interruption by checking the latest data from the CDC.

HARTEVELDT: That will tell you what travel is going to be like. If you see a lot of people getting sick, you can assume that a lot of those folks work at the airline that you’re supposed to fly this week.

New U.S. infections, fueled mainly by the omicron variant, have exploded in recent weeks with positive tests now topping 200,000 per day.

But omicron does appear to be less lethal. COVID-related deaths have not risen significantly over the past month.

Holiday sales make biggest annual gain in 17 years » The virus wreaked havoc on travelers, but shoppers shrugged it off.

Mastercard Spending Pulse, which tracks all kinds of payments, reported that holiday sales, from November 1st through Christmas Eve, rose 8.5 percent from a year earlier.

That marked the biggest annual gain in 17 years. And sales were up more than 10 percent over the pre-pandemic 2019 holiday season.

Officials in Congo urge vigilance after Christmas Day suicide bombing » Authorities in Congo urged churches, restaurants and hotels to step up security Sunday after a deadly suicide attack in Beni on Christmas Day.

Five people died, including the bomber, when a terrorist set off explosives at the entrance of a busy restaurant. Thirteen others remain hospitalized.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. An ISIS affiliate earlier this year took responsibility for a suicide bombing near another bar in Beni, which caused no other casualties.

Desmond Tutu dies » Desmond Tutu, who helped to end apartheid in South Africa, died Sunday at the age of 90.

Tributes continue to pour in. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby…

WELBY: It’s not a zero sum game. Can we be a humanity that says my gain need not be your loss. Your gain need not be my loss. We can both flourish and grow. And that is, I think, the greatest part of Tutu’s legacy for the world.

Tutu worked non-violently to tear down apartheid — South Africa’s decades-long regime of oppression against its black majority.

The clergyman used his pulpit as the first black bishop of Johannesburg and later the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town to galvanize public opinion behind racial equality. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 for his efforts.

When Nelson Mandela became president a decade later, he appointed Tutu to be chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission that uncovered the abuses of the apartheid system.

Mary Robinson is the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. She said Tutu tirelessly fought for peace, justice, and human rights.

ROBINSON: Starting with his fight against apartheid. He was very courageous in that. Going on then to supporting all the kind of lost causes around the world.

Tutu is survived by his wife of 66 years and their four children.

Spider-Man: No Way Home first $1 billion film of pandemic era » At the weekend box office, Spider-man swung into first place once again.

TRAILER: When Mysterio revealed my identity, my entire life got screwed up. I was wondering if you can maybe make it so that he never did?

Spider-Man: No Way Home hauled in roughly $100 million domestically over the holiday weekend. And globally, the latest Marvel blockbuster just became the first pandemic-era film to top $1 billion in ticket sales.

Universal’s animated comedy Sing 2 finished second, earning about $24 million over the weekend.

I’m Kent Covington. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

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