As COVID disrupts 2nd Christmas, Pope prays for healing and peace
Pope Francis used his annual Christmas message Saturday to pray for the many whose lives have been upended by the pandemic and to urge the world’s leaders to engage in “patient dialogue” to end conflict and “encounter others and do things together” at a time when so many are forced to be apart. It was the second year the pandemic held sway in the pope’s Christmas message. But in a contrast to last year, when he made the address surrounded by only a few because of coronavirus restrictions, this year Francis spoke from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to thousands of faithful present in the adjacent square.
Man killed in apparent shark attack off California
A man who had been on a boogie board off the coast of central California died after he was apparently attacked by a shark near Morro Bay, authorities said Friday. The man, who authorities did not identify, was found floating and unresponsive off Morro Strand State Beach about 10:40 a.m. and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a statement from California State Parks. If confirmed, the attack would be the first fatal shark attack in the United States in 2021, according to an incident log kept by the Global Shark Attack File.
As Russian threat looms, Ukraine’s government no laughing matter
Before turning to politics, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was a television actor and comic. At a time when Russia has built up forces on Ukraine’s border and fear of an invasion is running high, Zelenskyy has surrounded himself with people drawn from his comedy studio, Kvartal 95. Few have any experience in diplomacy or warfare. Zelenskyy was elected as an outsider to Ukraine’s dysfunctional, often corrupt politics two years ago, and, trying to bypass its bitter feuds and opaque motives, he ushered in a government as unorthodox as he was, relying on personal loyalty rather than expertise or building coalitions in Ukraine’s fractious democracy, political analysts say.
Flight cancellations continue to snarl holiday plans
Airlines continued to cancel hundreds of flights Saturday because of staffing issues tied to COVID-19, disrupting holiday celebrations during one of the busiest travel times of the year. FlightAware, a flight-tracking website, noted nearly 1,000 canceled flights entering, leaving or inside the U.S. Saturday, up from 690 flights scrapped on Friday. Over 250 more flights were already canceled for Sunday. FlightAware does not say why flights are canceled. Delta, United and JetBlue had all said Friday that the omicron variant was causing staffing problems leading to flight cancellations.
As omicron spreads and cases soar, unvaccinated remain defiant
In the year since the first shots of coronavirus vaccines began, opposition to vaccines has hardened into something approaching an article of faith for the approximately 39 million American adults who have yet to get a single dose. Now, health experts say the roughly 15% of the adult population that remains unvaccinated is at the greatest risk of severe illness and death from the omicron variant. So far, the threat of omicron is doing little to change people’s minds. Nearly 90% of unvaccinated adults said the variant would not spur them to get shots, according to a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Report: Women, children among dozens killed in Myanmar
Myanmar government troops rounded up villagers, some believed to be women and children, fatally shot more than 30 and set the bodies on fire, a witness and other reports said Saturday. The purported photos of the aftermath of the Christmas Eve massacre in eastern Mo So village, just outside Hpruso township in Kayah state where refugees were sheltering from an army offensive, spread on social media in the country, fueling outrage against the military that took power in February. The accounts could not be independently verified. The photos showed the charred bodies of over 30 people in three burned-out vehicles.
Suicide bomber attacks bar in eastern Congo, killing 6
A suicide bomber attacked a restaurant and bar Saturday as patrons gathered on Christmas Day, killing at least six others in an eastern Congolese town where Islamic extremists are known to be active. Heavy gunfire rang out shortly after the bomb went off, with panicked crowds fleeing the town’s center. Saturday’s attack marked the first known time that a suicide bomber has killed victims in eastern Congo, where an Islamic State group affiliate earlier this year took responsibility for a suicide bombing near another bar in Beni who had caused no other casualties.
By wire sources
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