Wednesday morning news - December 29, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kristen Flavin. 

Airlines again cancel more than a thousand flights » A rash of flight cancellations is becoming its own pandemic.

Airlines cancelled more than a thousand U.S. flights once again on Tuesday.

Ohio resident Sassy Estes was stuck at Boston’s Logan Airport.

ESTES: I’m probably going to sleep because it makes the time go faster. So I’ll just curl up here and sleep.

Airline workers calling in sick with COVID-19 caused a fifth straight day of disruptions.

President Biden said Tuesday that he plans to talk with his top medical adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci about new safety measures for flying, hinting at possible testing requirements.

And Fauci on Tuesday sought to clarify recent remarks about a vaccine requirement for domestic flights.

FAUCI: I did not say I support mandates on domestic flights. I said that is something that is on the table for consideration. I didn’t say I support it or didn’t support it.

The omicron variant continues to fuel a steep surge of new cases. It appears to be less deadly than the delta strain, but it’s also more contagious.

The 7-day rolling average of new infections is now close to a quarter of a million per day for the first time since the peak of the pandemic back in January.

Five dead, including gunman, in Denver shootings » Several families are mourning in the Denver area after a gunman opened fire in several locations, killing four people.

The attacks spanned more than an hour, beginning in central Denver after 5 p.m. on Monday and then continuing in the nearby city of Lakewood.

The shooter also seriously wounded a police officer. Lakewood Police Dept. spokesman John Romero told reporters Tuesday…

ROMERO: It’s a tough day for the Lakewood Police family, obviously, when this happens to one of our own.

Police pursued and exchanged gunfire several times with the suspect, who was shot and pronounced dead on the scene. It was not immediately clear if an officer killed him.

Investigators say they do not yet know the shooter’s motive.

U.S. to fund border enhancements in Ukraine » The Ukrainian government says the United States will fund multiple projects along its borders with Russia and Belarus to include surveillance cameras and drones. It will also pay for personal protective equipment for guards at the border. The total price tag of the border enhancements is said to be about $20 million.

That announcement comes amid heightened tensions with Moscow with thousands of Russian troops lined up near Ukraine’s border.

Russia and the United States are set to begin security talks after the holidays. Moscow wants guarantees that Ukraine will not be allowed to join NATO.

Russia shuts down human rights group » Meantime, the Russian government on Tuesday ordered the closure of a prominent human rights group as Moscow’s crackdown on dissent continues. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The Russian Supreme Court ruled the group called Memorial International has created—quote—“a false image of the USSR as a terrorist state, [and] whitewashes and rehabilitates Nazi criminals.” End quote.

The court concluded Memorial repeatedly violated Russia’s controversial “foreign agent” law. Founded in the 1980s to document repression under the Soviet Union, Memorial now includes more than 50 smaller groups in Russia and abroad.

Russian authorities have labeled several rights groups and media outlets as foreign agents in recent months.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Taliban militants disperse female protestors » AUDIO: [Sounds of protest]

A group of dozens of Afghan women risked imprisonment or worse on Tuesday, marching through the streets of Kabul, protesting the Taliban’s crackdown on women’s rights.

AUDIO: We want our freedom. We want justice. Want human rights. Women’s rights are human rights.

They also protested —quote—“mysterious murders” of “the country’s former soldiers.”

AUDIO: [Sounds of protest]

The women shouted “justice, justice” before Taliban forces dispersed them, reportedly firing live warning shots toward them.

The U.N. and multiple watchdog groups in recent weeks reported credible allegations of more than 100 extrajudicial killings since the Taliban took power.

Also this week, the Taliban announced more restrictions on the liberties of women in Afghanistan. The ruling government says women are no longer allowed to travel more than 45 miles unless accompanied by a “close male relative.”

Harry Reid, former Senate majority leader, dies at 82 » Former Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has died.

Reid served four years in the U.S. House and 30 years in the Senate, making him Nevada’s longest-serving member of Congress.

The combative former boxer-turned-lawyer was widely known as one of toughest dealmakers in Congress.

In 2013, Reid used the so-called “nuclear option” to change the Senate rules for votes on federal judges. That allowed Democrats to get around GOP filibusters and confirm President Obama’s judicial nominees with a simple majority vote.

REID: The Senate is a living thing, and to survive, it must change as it has over the history of this great country.

But that also paved the way for Republicans to do the same thing four years later, when the GOP majority changed the Senate rules on Supreme Court nominees. That led to President Trump seating three Supreme Court justices.

Sen. Reid retired in 2016. Two years later, he revealed he’d been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was undergoing treatment.

On Tuesday, his wife, Laura, said the former senator died “peacefully,” surrounded by friends. He was 82.

Hall of Fame NFL coach, sportscaster John Madden dies » John Madden, Hall of Fame NFL coach turned sportscaster has died.

Madden coached the Oakland Raiders for a decade, bringing home the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 1977 when his team beat the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XI.

But many fans know him best for his work as a broadcaster. Madden won 16 Emmy Awards during his three-decade run in the booth.

In 2003, Madden called his Monday Night Football gig an announcers' dream job.

MADDEN: Every broadcaster that has ever done a football game in their life somewhere would like to be part, would like to have the opportunity to be a part of Monday Night Football.

Madden also wrote three New York Times best-selling books. And he lent his persona to the Madden NFL video game series, which has hauled in billions of dollars in sales.

John Madden was 85 years old.

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

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.