Here's the biggest news you missed this weekend – USA TODAY
Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning activist and retired Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, has died. He was 90. An uncompromising foe of apartheid — South Africa’s brutal regime of oppression against the Black majority — Tutu worked tirelessly, though non-violently, for its downfall. The buoyant, blunt-spoken clergyman used his pulpit as the first Black bishop of Johannesburg and later Archbishop of Cape Town as well as frequent public demonstrations to galvanize public opinion against racial inequity both at home and globally. Tutu’s death on Sunday “is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,” said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in a statement.
More than 7,300 flights were delayed or canceled Christmas Day as days of scheduling nightmares left holiday travelers scrambling for transportation. Delta, United and JetBlue have all blamed the omicron variant for staffing problems leading to flight cancellations in recent days. United spokesperson Maddie King said it was unclear when normal operations would return. Flight delays and cancellations have been a recurring theme this year as airlines have ramped up schedules. Thousands of workers were driven from the industry last year when air travel collapsed, and staffing has not kept up with the resurgence in demand for flights. And the holiday travel woes are far from over: More than 5,900 flights were delayed across the nation Sunday and 1,300 were canceled. More than 700 Monday flights already have been canceled, too.
Dr. Anthony Fauci Sunday said the “extraordinarily contagious” omicron variant will continue to drive daily coronavirus infections higher across the nation. “Every day it goes up and up. The last weekly average was about 150,000 (per day) and it likely will go much higher,” Fauci said on ABC’s “This Week.” President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser warned that while studies show omicron is less severe in terms of hospitalizations, he said that more cases could still lead to overwhelmed hospitals. And he defended the administration’s efforts to provide more tests amid a shortage. He said wished he had thought about ordering 500 million at-home tests two months ago. “I think things will improve greatly as we get into January,” he said. “But that doesn’t help us today and tomorrow.”
Aaron Rodgers made a little history on Christmas. The Green Bay Packers quarterback became the franchise’s all-time touchdown pass leader with an 11-yard throw to Allen Lazard in the first quarter Saturday against the Cleveland Browns. It was Rodgers’ 443rd touchdown pass of his career — one more than Brett Favre. Rodgers tied Favre’s record with three touchdown passes last week in Baltimore. The quarterback was swarmed by his offensive linemen immediately after the score. Center Lucas Patrick lifted Rodgers in the air and carried him. Before the extra point that gave the Packers a 7-6 lead, the kicking unit paused as fans serenaded Rodgers with “MVP” chants.
Forget dreaming of a white Christmas this year – most places in the United States were out of luck. The unexpectedly toasty south-central U.S. on Saturday was predicted to be the warmest in more than 50 to 100 years for parts of that region, according to Accuweather. “Dallas, Houston, Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Oklahoma, Little Rock, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee, all stand to match or top the record high for Dec. 25. this Saturday,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Brett Anderson predicted. December has already been a far-from-frosty month for much of the central and southern Plains and across the Rockies and Mississippi Valley. While temperatures 5-10 degrees higher than average are not totally uncommon for a few days, Accuweather said, temperatures 10-12 degrees over an extended period – especially for an entire month – are “downright rare.” Meanwhile, unrelenting wet weather battered a wide area from the California coast to Arizona in the days before Christmas. Both Flagstaff and Phoenix, Arizona, recorded rainfall totals of at least an inch within 24 hours. Phoenix had its wettest Christmas Eve in 80 years, Accuweather said. Winter was not missing in action everywhere. Multiple potent storms are expected to pummel the Northwest in the days after Christmas, Accuweather said, with a wintry mix of rain, snow and ice that could trigger travel troubles.
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This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. Contributing: Associated Press.
