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📝 Good afternoon and welcome to Notes on the News. Here’s what you should know today, Jan. 11: A record-high number of nursing-home employees have Covid-19, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell explained how he’d deal with inflation this year and China’s Covid strategy could disrupt the world economy. Let us know what you think by replying to this email. Thanks for reading. |
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| Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell waited for his Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday. PHOTO: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/PRESS POOL |
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1. The Federal Reserve chairman outlined his strategy for tackling inflation. Jerome Powell said during his confirmation hearing for a second term that he was prepared to raise interest rates but hoped that supply-chain snags would straighten out. Powell also told the Senate Banking Committee that the economy no longer needs aggressive stimulus. |
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2. President Biden advocated for voting-rights legislation and, if need be, changing the filibuster to get it passed. In a speech in Atlanta Tuesday, he characterized recent GOP-led changes to state election procedures as voter suppression and said, “Will we choose democracy over autocracy, light over shadow, justice over injustice?” Democratic bills seeking to counter those new measures need 60 votes to advance in the 50-50 Senate due to the filibuster, which a handful of Democratic senators have voiced skepticism about changing. |
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3. A federal judge recused himself from an Amazon case due a financial conflict. A Wall Street Journal investigation found that U.S. District Judge Liam O’Grady’s wife owned about $22,000 worth of stock in the online retail giant during a nearly two-year period when he presided over the case. Her investment adviser sold the shares after the Journal’s query. In the civil suit, Amazon accuses two ex-employees of accepting kickbacks from a real-estate developer and violating the company’s conflict-of-interest policies. |
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4. Companies aren’t talking much about return-to-office dates anymore. After Delta and Omicron surges foiled employers’ previously laid plans, many are adopting more flexible procedures, such as predicating in-office work on infection rates, specific teams’ needs and the amount of time required for in-person collaboration. |
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5. China’s zero-tolerance approach to Covid-19 might trigger disruptions that would domino through the global economy. Factory shutdowns, congested ports and labor shortages are among the issues that the planet’s second-biggest economy is contending with as Chinese authorities stick with the same hardline playbook they used earlier in the pandemic. That the Omicron variant is very contagious could make the ripple effect around the world more acute. |
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41% — The share of the world’s Catholics who live in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the Vatican. But this longtime stronghold of Catholicism is weakening, as the faithful convert to other religions, especially Pentecostalism, or become unchurched. Under Pope Francis, the first Latin American pope, the Church has tried to avoid fighting the rise of rival faiths. 21 — The number of Grand Slam titles Novak Djokovic would have clinched should he win the Australian Open, which he is back in the running for now that his visa appeal has succeeded. He held his first official practice on Tuesday. A victory at the coming tournament, which begins Jan. 17, would be a record for the Serbian player ranked No. 1 in the world. 20% — The potential increase in lifespan some researchers believe is possible through antiaging treatments, beyond the current, roughly 80-year average in the U.S. for men and women. The scientists, whose estimates for boosting life expectancy range as low as 10%, are looking at medications and cellular reprogramming but caution that a “magic pill” isn’t likely. |
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| What Everyone Wants To Know |
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| Staff members at the Good Samaritan Society’s nursing home in Denton, Texas, working near the so-called red zone, where residents with Covid-19 are relocated. PHOTO: NITASHIA JOHNSON |
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Nursing homes are contending with a record-high number of staff Covid-19 cases. According to the most recent week of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data, 57,243 staffers tested positive, 36% higher than the previous week’s tally and close to twice the total at the December 2020 peak. So many staffers testing positive means workforce shortages and some nursing homes have had to stop admitting new residents. That causes upstream backups at hospitals, because they can’t free up beds, which means patients are staying in ERs. Eighty-two percent of nursing-home employees have completed vaccination, but only 28% have received a booster, the CDC said. The operational pressures on medical providers comes as the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations reported in the U.S. hit a new pandemic high, with the latest seven-day average of 140,576 surpassing last winter’s peak. |
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Do-it-yourself healthcare is on trend, with some caveats. Don’t try to Bob Vila your own MRI machine just yet. Faced with long waits for appointments due to staffing shortages and employee burnout, some people are relying on gadgets, home kits, apps and monitors to address everything from blood pressure and migraines to cholesterol levels and colon cancer. But doctors who applaud DIYers’ initiative still say they need expert guidance to ensure that no important health issues are accidentally overlooked. |
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| Machine Gun Kelly, Harry Styles and Tyler, The Creator ILLUSTRATION: FRANZISKA BARCZYK |
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Go do your nails: Male celebrities want to be part of your mani-pedi. Singer Harry Styles, rappers Machine Gun Kelly and Lil Yachty and Backstreet Boy AJ McLean are among the bold-faced names that have launched their own nail polish lines. Lacquers are a way for these guys to gain a foothold in the $500+ billion beauty industry. |
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Today's newsletter was curated by Zlati Meyer in New York, in collaboration with publishing editor Rich Bellis in New York. We hope you’re enjoying Notes on the News. If you would prefer to receive a different newsletter, please check out all your options to keep up with the latest on markets, economics, politics and more. For members, we recommend The 10-Point. |
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