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Some in the West may see an uncommon white Christmas

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12/24/2021

Some in the West may see an uncommon white Christmas

This holiday weekend is a tale of two Christmases: Heavy snow, rain and wind are forecast for the entire US West Coast, while potentially record-breaking warmth will toast the South.

Out West, a warmer system will bring snowfall Thursday to the highest elevations before a much colder and more significant weekend storm could deliver snow closer to sea level in places like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, where the climatological odds of such holiday weather are just 1% to 3%.

The rest of the United States over this period looks to be unseasonably warm, with high temperature records set to fall Saturday from Texas into the Southeast. Cities in the South will reach 20 degrees above average for this time of the year, topping out in the 70s and 80s for highs — and near 90 along the Texan-Mexican border.

In Texas, “while Christmas Eve high temperature records are likely untouchable (88 at [Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport] and 91 at Waco), records on Christmas Day are much more attainable (80 at DFW and 79 at Waco) and appear likely to break this Saturday,” the National Weather Service in Dallas said.

The drought-strained West already has benefited from recent atmospheric river events, which deliver to the surface flows of moisture that usually travel thousands of feet in the sky. They tend to be 250 to 375 miles wide and are said to transport an amount of water vapor equivalent to 7.5 to 15 times the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River.In the Sierra Nevada mountains, isolated snow could pile high enough this weekend to reach the second story of a building — up to 10 feet, according to meteorologists at the Sacramento National Weather Service office.

“Over the Sierra Nevada there is potential for 5+ feet of snow to accumulate through Christmas morning, while more moderate totals of around 1 to 4 feet are expected across the rest of the western mountain ranges,” the prediction center said.Snowfall at these levels would make for hazardous road conditions and poor holiday travel across the region.

Atlanta is losing an iconic landmark: Iconic Atlanta bakery closes its doors after 68 years

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12/24/2021

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Atlanta is losing an iconic landmark: Iconic Atlanta bakery closes its doors after 68 years

After nearly seven decades of service, Atlanta is losing an iconic landmark.

Rhodes Bakery has been embedded in area for 68 years but will now be closing the doors to its Cheshire Bridge Road location on Friday.

But don’t fret, fans of the delicious bakery will still have another location to visit — even if those in Atlanta will have to drive a little further to get there.

Now well into their 70s, brothers Tommy Rhodes and George Rhodes made the decision to continue operating their Roswell location, 11Alive’s Jeff Hullinger reported.

It’s there the bakers’ over 100-year-old recipes will live on.

However, patrons looking to get one last taste of the classic Rhodes Bakery in Atlanta will have until closing time 4 p.m. Friday to grab their favorite treats.

China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine do not produce adequate levels to fight the Omicron

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12/24/2021

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China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine do not produce adequate levels to fight the Omicron

According to Reuters, three doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine do not produce adequate levels of antibodies to fight the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, researchers from Hong Kong said in a statement.

Hong Kong has been using the Sinovac and Pfizer-BioNTech shots. But people aged 12-17 are eligible only for the BioNTech vaccine.

Their analysis revealed Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was more effective, as a third dose of the shot administered after two doses of the same or China’s Sinovac vaccine provided “protective levels” of antibody against Omicron.

Pfizer (PFE.N) and its German partner BioNTech have said their three-shot course was able to neutralise the new Omicron variant in a laboratory test.

The latest study was conducted by researchers from the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and funded by the Health and Medical Research Fund and the Government of Hong Kong.

The statement did not say how many samples were used in the analysis. Sinovac did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Sinovac’s CoronaVac and state-owned Sinopharm’s BBIBP-CorV vaccine are the two most-used vaccines in China and the leading COVID-19 vaccines exported by the country. Sinopharm also has a second vaccine in use in China.

Canada meets 2021 immigration target with 401,000 new permanent residents

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12/24/2021

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Canada meets 2021 immigration target with 401,000 new permanent residents

According to Reuters, Canada met its target of granting 401,000 foreigners permanent residency in 2021 by focusing its efforts on temporary residents already in the country, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said on Thursday.

Canada, which depends on immigration to drive its economy and support an aging population, saw new permanent residents falling over 45% to 185,000 in 2020, when borders were largely closed due to COVID-19.

The majority of the new 401,000 permanent residents – a figure reached for the first time in more than a century – were already in Canada on temporary status, according to a statement from the immigration minister.

Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has relied on immigration to boost the Canadian economy since coming to power in 2015, setting an annual target of about 1% of the country’s population of nearly 38 million.

The government has said it hopes to add 411,000 new permanent residents next year.

China’s strict “zero COVID” policy is heaping pressure on the country’s ports

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12/24/2021

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China’s strict “zero COVID” policy is heaping pressure on the country’s ports, further disrupting global logistics and weighing on already battered supply chains.

Among other measures, China has been requiring crew members of cargo ships to be tested before docking, and if even one suspected case is found, everyone on board must quarantine for at least 14 days, according to shipping companies and others familiar with the measures.

In those cases, ships must quarantine in anchorage areas off the coast, the companies said, which has caused further congestion and delayed their arrival at other ports. In late November, following the emergence of the omicron variant, China also increased mandatory quarantine for crew members returning from duty to seven weeks from the previous six, making crew shortages and staff scheduling even more of a problem.

Beijing’s State Council on Dec. 15 said it will further strengthen measures on crew exchanges programs, including asking that all crew members be tested at a foreign port before arriving in China beginning Feb. 15 next year.

This added pressure comes as ports in Europe and the U.S. are already severely congested due to labor shortages and a high volume of goods being shipped to meet post-pandemic demand. The White House on Wednesday said the congestion has eased in recent days. Nevertheless, many logistics companies say the congestion cannot be resolved overnight, as many workers are taking time off during the holiday season, slowing down operations.

The schedule reliability of global liners — a measure of whether ships arrive or depart as scheduled — is projected to remain under 40% for the rest of this year, according to Sea-Intelligence’s latest available forecast. Four carriers had schedule reliability rates of under 20% in October, with Taiwan’s Evergreen the lowest at just 13.4%, the latest available data showed.

Shipping rates, meanwhile, have surged. The Freightos Baltic Index, which tracks container freight fares on the top 12 global routes, has surged more than 550% since the start of 2020 despite falling a bit in November and December. This includes fare for the busiest route, between China and the U.S. West coast.

‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ actor Sally Ann Howes dies at 91

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12/23/2021

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‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ actor Sally Ann Howes dies at 91

Sally Ann Howes, who played as a child actor before she later starred in the 1968 film “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” with Dick Van Dyke, has died. She was 91.

Howes, an English actor, began her career on the big screen at the age of 12 in the 1943 film “Thursday’s Child,” where she played a schoolgirl turned successful actor. She comes from an acting lineage that includes her parents, Bobby Howes and Patricia Malone.

In five decades, Howes made appearances in more than 140 films, musicals, plays and television projects including the screen adaption of Charles Dickens’ “Nicholas Nickleby” and “The History of Mr. Polly.” She made her biggest splash as the character Truly Scrumptious in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” which became a holiday favorite.

Her son Andrew Hart Adler confirmed his mother’s death in an interview with the Press Association on Wednesday. Her nephew, Toby Howes, said on Twitter that the family hoped Howes could “hold on” until the Christmas screening of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” but he said she ultimately died peacefully in her sleep.

The cause of Howes’ death has not been released.

The New York Times reported she died in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, on Sunday.

Madix the cat is found alive in the rubble 9 days after a Kentucky tornado

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12/23/2021

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Madix the cat is found alive in the rubble 9 days after a Kentucky tornado

Nine days after a tornado demolished his three-story office building in downtown Mayfield, Kentucky, Sonny “Hoot” Gibson was standing in the rubble when he thought he heard a faint meow.

It instantly gave him hope that his office cat, Madix, who hadn’t been seen since before the storms hit, was alive. Gibson said he had tried to find the solid black cat with yellow eyes that liked to greet customers of his rental business, but had given up after a few days.

“I thought I heard a meow, and I thought my mind’s playing tricks on me so I hollered his name out, and he meowed again,” Gibson said.

The noise was stifled and he couldn’t locate Madix immediately so he called some employees who came to help search. Soon after, they found the cat in a hole beneath the rubble.

“It was just an incredible feeling to put him in my arms,” Gibson said. “If cats actually have nine lives, he probably used up about eight of them in that nine-day period.”

Other than being very hungry and thirsty, Madix was unscathed. Gibson said he took Madix home, where he will live out the rest of his days as a house cat.

FDA authorizes the first antiviral pill for COVID

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12/23/2021

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FDA authorizes the first antiviral pill for COVID

In a highly anticipated decision, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the first antiviral pill to treat COVID-19 at home.

The pill, called Paxlovid, is made by Pfizer. It’s taken twice a day for five days in combination with a second medicine called ritonavir, a generic antiviral.

“Today’s authorization introduces the first treatment for COVID-19 that is in the form of a pill that is taken orally — a major step forward in the fight against this global pandemic,” said Dr. Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “This authorization provides a new tool to combat COVID-19 at a crucial time in the pandemic as new variants emerge and promises to make antiviral treatment more accessible to patients who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19.”

The Pfizer treatment could help keep people infected with the coronavirus from getting so sick that they need to be hospitalized.

The results from a Pfizer study involving more than 2,200 people at high risk for developing serious COVID-19 found Paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by 89%, compared with a placebo, when taken within three days of first symptoms of illness. When taken within five days, the drug reduced the risk of hospitalization and death by 88%.

Early results from another Paxlovid study showed a 70% reduction in hospitalization risk among several hundred people at lower risk for severe disease.

Although it’s not certain, Paxlovid’s efficacy is unlikely to be reduced in treating people infected with the omicron variant of the coronavirus virus. The drug, which belongs to a family called protease inhibitors, doesn’t target the virus’s spike protein, as the vaccines do.

The federal government has a contract with Pfizer to buy 10 million courses of the treatment for $5.3 billion. But initial supplies of Paxlovid will be limited. The company says it will have 180,000 course of treatment ready by the end of the year.

The heated bidding wars among would-be homeowners are cooling

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12/23/2021

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The heated bidding wars among would-be homeowners are cooling — but the housing market is still hot, according to new data from real estate firm Redfin.

That’s because 59.5% of all offers to buy a home in November faced competition, defined as at least one competing bid. That’s the lowest level in 11 months, according to data published Dec. 17, 2021. That’s down from 61.8% of offers in October and from a Covid-19 pandemic peak of 74.6% in April.

It is, however, up slightly from the 57.3% seen in November 2020, according to Redfin, which began tracking competition data in April 2020, when 45.1% of home offers faced competition.

The housing market still remains hot more than 18 months into the pandemic, in part because of extremely low inventory and record-low mortgage rates, but the drop in competition shows that some seasonality is returning to the market. Buyers typically take a break during the winter as the year winds down, according to Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.

But low inventory has continued to push median housing prices higher, according to related data from Redfin. The number of homes for sale across the country fell to 538,695, the lowest number during November since Redfin began tracking the data in 2012. That is down 26% over 2020 and down from the 967,199 for sale during November 2019.

That has helped push the median sale price of homes to $360,375, up 14% over the same time last year and up 31% over November in 2019, according to Redfin.

But experts see a less frenzied housing market in 2022, according to forecasts released by some of the country’s biggest real estate services firms. Homes will continue to go up in price but not at the same rate seen since 2021, according to a report by Real Estate Editor Ashley Fahey.

China city Xi’an’s all 13 million residents are now under lockdown

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12/23/2021

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China city Xi’an’s all 13 million residents are now under lockdown

On Tuesday, the central Chinese city of Xi’an recorded 52 new Covid-19 cases. By Wednesday, authorities had imposed strict lockdown measures on its estimated 13 million residents.The sweeping restrictions, which prevent people from leaving their homes, come as the country braces for the Lunar New Year travel rush, followed by the 2022 Winter Olympics, due to begin in the capital Beijing on February 4.Xi’an, an ancient city known internationally as the home of the 2,000-year-old Terracotta warriors sculptures, detected its first case connected to the latest outbreak at a quarantine hotel on December 9. The virus is believed to have then spread into the community via an infected hotel worker.

Officials believe the cluster is linked to an inbound flight from Pakistan on December 4, where at least six passengers were found to have the Delta variant. So far, there have been no reported cases of the Omicron variant in Xi’an.

Authorities moved swiftly, suspending schools and conducting mass testing for the entire city. Cases have continued to climb, however. Since December 9, the city has recorded a total of 206 cases. On Wednesday, authorities recorded 63 new locally transmitted cases, Xi’an’s highest daily figure this month.

By noon on Wednesday, more than 30,000 people who were believed to have come into contact with a confirmed case were placed in government quarantine, according to state-run newspaper China Daily. That same day, the city imposed a strict lockdown until further notice for all residents.Xi’an is now designated a “controlled area,” China’s second-highest category of lockdown — meaning residents are banned from leaving their homes except for urgent cases like medical emergencies. Each household is only allowed to send one designated person out of the house to buy groceries every two days.

After the new restrictions were announced, families rushed to supermarkets to stock up on supplies before the lockdown went into effect at midnight, according to state-run tabloid the Global Times.Schools, public facilities and transport systems are also closed except for essential service providers like hospitals and supermarkets, according to the local government’s announcement.

Xi’an is one level away from the highest lockdown category of “sealed area,” in which residents are completely banned from leaving their homes, and groceries are delivered to their door.This is only the fourth time a major Chinese city has been placed under the “controlled area” lockdown. Though previous outbreaks have seen similar restrictions, they are typically only applied to specific areas where infections are most prevalent — not an entire city.