BitGou: Monday Briefing: Omicron snarls 4,000 more flights

Monday, January 3, 2022

by Robert MacMillan

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Here's what you need to know.

Omicron swallows holiday flight plans whole, Tesla again beats delivery expectations, Sudan’s prime minister has had enough, and banks continue to explore the joys of the home office

Today's biggest stories

People walk along a street in Istanbul, November 30, 2021. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

WORLD

Turkey’s annual inflation soared to its highest in nearly two decades, with consumer prices rising higher than expected and staples such as transportation and food and drink rising even faster. The lira continued its fall, even as President Tayyip Erdogan urged Turks to keep their savings in that currency and to bring gold savings into the banking system. Erdogan’s words come after the government sharply raised prices for electricity and natural gas prices, and as prices also jump for gasoline, car insurance and some bridge tolls.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok resigned six weeks after taking his job back following a military coup that ousted him in October. His departure throws a transition toward elections deeper into uncertainty, and the United States urged the nation’s leaders to ensure civilian rule and end violence against protesters.

Australia is pushing ahead with plans to reopen the economy even as new COVID-19 infections hit a record and hospitalizations rise. The Omicron variant continues to make itself omnipresent, contributing to the cancellation of 4,000 flights around the world on Sunday, more than half of them in the United States. Top U.S. infection-diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said there is a danger of a surge in hospitalizations even as Omicron appears to be a less severe strain.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he would use his last months in office to press for a diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea. That country’s leader Kim Jong Un marked his 10th anniversary in power with a speech that made more mention of tractor factories and school uniforms than of nuclear weapons or the United States. And a man who crossed the border into North Korea last week originally defected into the South in 2020 in the same area, Seoul’s defense ministry said.

COVID-19 precautions, displayed at the South Boston Catholic Academy, January 28, 2021. REUTERS/Allison Dinner

U.S.

Many U.S. schools that would normally welcome students back to classrooms today are delaying their start dates, scrambling to test pupils and teachers, and preparing as a last resort to return to remote learning as Omicron cases sprout up across the country. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meanwhile tested positive and said he had mild symptoms of COVID-19, joining the ranks of more than 345,000 people in the United States whose cases were registered on Saturday.

Two people remain missing and are feared dead after a wildfire roared through two towns in Boulder County, Colorado, and destroyed nearly 1,000 homes.

A 2009 settlement that the late financier and accused sex offender Jeffrey Epstein made with Virginia Giuffre is expected to be made public on Monday as part of Giuffre’s civil lawsuit accusing Prince Andrew of sexual abuse. The lawsuit accuses Andrew of forcing her to have sex more than two decades ago when she was under 18 at the London home of Ghislaine Maxwell and abusing her at two of Epstein’s homes.

The congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol is considering whether to subpoena Republican members of Congress to force their cooperation. The committee is trying to establish what former President Donald Trump’s actions were while thousands of his supporters attacked police, vandalized the building and sent members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence running for their lives.

A man drives a Tesla taxi in Paris, December 14, 2021. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

BUSINESS

Tesla reported record quarterly deliveries that far exceeded Wall Street estimates despite a global chip shortage for cars. Hyundai and Kia forecast that their combined global annual sales will jump more than 12% this year, even though the chip crunch made them miss their targets in 2021. Analysts said the target is reasonable.

The chief executives of AT&T and Verizon rejected a U.S. government request to delay the introduction this week of new 5G wireless service over aviation safety concerns. They said they would not deploy 5G around airports for six months, but rejected any broader limitation on using C-Band spectrum.

Trading in shares of embattled and heavily indebted property developer China Evergrande were halted pending the release of “inside information,” but there has been no word so far on what that information is.

Goldman Sachs is encouraging eligible U.S. staff to work from home until Jan. 18, following other big banks that are altering their return-to-office plans as Omicron spreads.