THE BIG STORY

Biden said “things are going to get worse” as COVID-19 continues to surge in the US

During this coronavirus wave, the US has seen numbers skyrocket, with 175,000 to 225,000 people testing positive daily for the virus in recent weeks. Experts believe January will be worse than December.

Based on current numbers, more than 121,000 infected Americans will ring in the new year in a hospital. And it’s not like hospitals are coping well — in Los Angeles County, hospitals are so overwhelmed that patients are being placed in gift shops, the Los Angeles Times reported.

It’s against this backdrop that President-elect Joe Biden told Americans, “the next few weeks and months are going to be very tough — very tough for our nation, maybe the toughest in this entire pandemic.”

“We might not see improvement until we're well into March,” Biden said during a briefing, referring to how long an infection takes to develop after exposure and the fact that people who die are typically weeks into illness.

“Things are going to get worse before they get better,” Biden added.

Medics assess a woman for COVID-19 symptoms before taking her to a hospital in Yonkers, New York, Dec. 28, 2020. John Moore / Getty Images

STAYING ON TOP OF THIS

The officers who killed Tamir Rice in 2014 will not face federal charges

Two Cleveland police officers shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in 2014. On Tuesday, the Department of Justice announced no charges will be filed against the officers, arguing there wasn't enough evidence to concretely determine what happened.

Although there is video that shows officers shooting the boy just two seconds after stepping out of their patrol cars, prosecutors said the quality and angle of the footage failed to show whether Tamir had reached for what officers thought was a handgun.

The object turned out to be a black toy Airsoft pistol that the 12-year-old had been playing with, just minutes before he was killed.

SNAPSHOTS

Video shows Nashville cop narrowly avoiding the RV bomb seconds before it went off. The footage shows the officer walking about a block from the RV, seconds before it exploded on Christmas, killing its occupant and injuring three others. The footage was released after officials identified the person killed in the explosion as 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner.

Trump’s COVID deal politics are helping Democrats in Georgia with the argument they’re already making. The chaos of the last-minute COVID deal has made things easier for the Democratic Senate candidates — it lines up with an argument progressives have already been making in Georgia.

Officials have confirmed the first US case of a new coronavirus strain first identified in the UK. The Colorado State Laboratory confirmed the case of the variant B.1.1.7 in a man who is in his twenties and has no travel history.

A bunch of TikTok stars appear to be vacationing in The Bahamas and fans are disappointed. Charli and Dixie D'Amelio, Chase Hudson, Noah Beck, Madi Monroe, and others have been allegedly spotted at the Atlantis Bahamas as the pandemic worsens in Los Angeles.

Dolly Parton perfectly explained why she doesn’t take down her Christmas decorations until January. The legend revealed that she puts up her decorations the day after Thanksgiving, and added, “I celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving until my birthday on the 19th of January.”

A MASSIVE INCREASE

We found the factories inside China’s mass internment camps

Quick background: In August, BuzzFeed News uncovered hundreds of compounds in Xinjiang bearing the hallmarks of prisons or detention camps, many built during the last three years in a rapid escalation of China’s campaign against Muslim minorities including Uighurs, Kazakhs, and others.

Our new investigation shows that at least 135 of these compounds also hold factory buildings. Forced labor on a vast scale is almost certainly taking place inside facilities like these, according to researchers and interviews with former detainees.

It’s important to note that the factory facilities are growing in a way that mirrors the rapid expansion of the mass detention campaign. Fourteen million square feet of new factories were built in 2018 alone.

Observers have long warned of rising forced labor in Xinjiang. Satellite images show factories built just steps away from cell blocks.

TURN THE PAGE

That was 2020

Well… that was a year, huh? Here’s some sampling from our end-of-year series.

👉 The year in pop culture: pop culture failed to capture the grief and isolation of 2020.

👉 The year in rich people: the ultrarich made a lot of money as the world fell apart.

👉 The year in disinformation: lies about science, civil rights, and the election turned Americans against each other.

👉 The year in TikTok: I mean, look, TikTok was the MVP of 2020.

👉 The year in sports: Sports should’ve been an escape from the pandemic. Instead, watching sports reminded us of our failures.

👉 The year in memes: Good memes, folks. Good memes. Here are the best of ‘em.

There are plenty more in our end-of-year series, so go explore.

END OF YEAR NOTE

I don’t need to tell you the kind of year it’s been, but I want to spend a moment reflecting on one dimension of it. One of the big takeaways from 2020 is a new understanding of the ways we are dependent on each other. Whether it’s the collective effort needed to “flatten the curve,” or how our circumstances were intertwined with the behaviors of our neighbors, 2020 has at least momentarily exposed the limits of our imagined solitude.

In one way, this leaves us more vulnerable, relying on others for safety. In another, it’s a reminder that we are far more connected to each other than we usually recognize. There is power in this, and I am hopeful that long after the turbulent winter ahead, long after people are vaccinated, we remember all the ways we realized that we are each other’s harvest.

I hope you have a safe and fulfilling new year celebration.

We'll take a cup of kindness yet,

Elamin