Timeframe: December 24th to December 30th, 2021
Contributors: Sabyasachi Karmaker, Redwan Reham, and Farhan Uddin Ahmed.
To read the Bangla version, click here.
1. COVID-19
New York City pediatric Covid-19 hospitalizations increase nearly 5-fold over 3 week period, data shows
Pediatric coronavirus hospital admissions in New York City have increased nearly five-fold since the week ending Dec.11 through Dec.CNN reported Sunday that officials issued a health advisory late last week which indicated a four-fold increase in New York City’s pediatric admissions through data available as of Dec. Meanwhile, about a third of the 608 nursing homes across New York state have at least one resident with a Covid-19 infection, but only about two-thirds of nursing home residents have been fully vaccinated and boosted, Bassett said Monday.
Source: CNN
2. Economics & Business
Oil settles higher despite Omicron concerns
Oil prices settled higher on Tuesday, with Brent crude ending the session near $80 a barrel despite the rapid spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, supported by supply outages and expectations that U.S. inventories fell last week.
Brent crude settled up 34 cents, or 0.4%, at $78.94 a barrel by 1:39 p.m. EST (1839 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude settled up 41 cents, or 0.5%, at $75.98.
“Support comes from high aggregated production disruptions in Ecuador, Libya, and Nigeria and the expectation of another large drop in U.S. crude inventories,” said UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
The three oil producers declared forces majeures this month on part of their oil production because of maintenance issues and oilfield shutdowns.
Source: Reuters
Labor crisis: The new concern in the US economy
Twenty-one months into the pandemic, America is no longer struggling with an astronomically high unemployment rate. Instead, its big problem remains a shortage of workers.
That makes it hard for businesses to keep up with rampant demand. Economists worry about how long it will take for people on the sidelines to come back into the workforce.
Source: CNN
3. Politics
Myanmar massacre: two Save the Children staff among dead
Save the Children has confirmed that two of its staff were killed in a Christmas Eve massacre blamed on junta troops that left the charred remains of dozens of people on a highway in eastern Myanmar. Anti-junta fighters said they found more than 30 bodies, including women and children, on a highway in Kayah state where pro-democracy rebels have been fighting the military.
Save the Children later said two of its staff members had been caught up in the incident and were missing. Myanmar has been in chaos since the coup in February, with more than 1,300 people killed in a crackdown by security forces, according to a local monitoring group.
Source: The Guardian
Russian court orders oldest civil rights group Memorial to shut
Russia’s Supreme Court has ordered the closure of the International Memorial, Russia’s oldest human rights group. Memorial worked to recover the memory of the millions of innocent people executed, imprisoned, or persecuted in the Soviet era.
Formally it has been “liquidated” for failing to mark a number of social media posts with its official status as a “foreign agent”.
That designation was given in 2016 for receiving funding from abroad. But in court, the prosecutor labeled Memorial a “public threat”, accusing the group of being in the pay of the West to focus attention on Soviet crimes instead of highlighting a “glorious past”.
Source: BBC
4. Science & Technology
Alphabet CEO Pichai can be questioned in privacy lawsuit, judge rules
Plaintiffs who accused Alphabet Inc’s Google of unlawfully tracking their internet use while on “Incognito” browsing mode can question Chief Executive Sundar Pichai for up to two hours, a California federal judge has ruled. In the lawsuit filed in June 2020, users accused Google of illegally invading their privacy by tracking internet use while Google Chrome browsers were set in “private” mode. The plaintiffs are arguing that Pichai has “unique, personal knowledge” of issues relating to the Chrome browser and privacy concerns, a Monday court filing showed.
Source: Reuters
Disclaimer: The information provided here is obtained solely from the third parties mentioned above. Youth Policy Forum (YPF) is not responsible for any misinformation or misrepresentation.