Extra, Extra
Red Skies at Night: “After weeks of intense earthquake activity, a volcano has erupted on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland.” In pictures: Volcano spews lava after erupting in Iceland. These epic volcanic images cap off a year in remarkable photos. NYT: 2023: The Year in Pictures.
+ Lane Mines: “In the last four weeks, Houthi militants have attacked or seized commercial ships 12 times and still hold 25 members of the MV Galaxy Leader hostage in Yemen … The U.S. is still actively seeking member countries to join the mission, and increase the number of navies present and participating.” Pentagon announces new international mission to counter attacks on commercial vessels in Red Sea. Here’s the latest on Hamas and Israel from CNN, BBC, and Times of Israel.
+ Law of the Jungle: “Driven by economic crises, government repression and violence, migrants from China to Haiti decided to risk three days of deep mud, rushing rivers and bandits. Enterprising locals offered guides and porters, set up campsites and sold supplies to migrants, using color-coded wristbands to track who had paid for what. Enabled by social media and Colombian organized crime, more than 506,000 migrants — nearly two-thirds Venezuelans — had crossed the Darien jungle by mid-December, double the 248,000 who set a record the previous year. Before last year, the record was barely 30,000 in 2016.” The jungle between Colombia and Panama becomes a highway for migrants from around the world.
+ Why Don’t We Steal Away: “Big retail chains have been using claims about mob shoplifting to obscure why they’ve been closing stores in some neighborhoods. Target has attributed closings of stores in Seattle, New York and San Francisco to crime, although in some cases those neighborhoods have been shown to have lower shoplifting rates than locations left open. The real issue, in other words, may be that the retailer made a mistake in locating these stores and is trying to blame local residents, rather than its own executive decision-making.” LA Times: How the retail lobby sold a $45-billion whopper about organized shoplifting.
+ Dropped Majors: “Marvel Studios has parted ways with Jonathan Majors — the actor cast to play Kang, the central antagonist in the Multiverse Saga of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — after he was convicted on Dec. 18 of two misdemeanor counts of harassment and assault of Grace Jabbari, his ex-girlfriend.”
+ Sports (Shifting) Center: “More than 92,000 fans filled the University of Nebraska’s football stadium to watch a women’s collegiate volleyball match, setting a global mark for the largest attendance at any women’s sporting event.” That was just one example of why the year in sports could be fairly described as the year in women’s sports. NYT (Gift Article): A Record-Breaking 2023 in Sports.
+ Shopping Haul: The mega retailers are racing to keep up with Amazon’s delivery times, and that’s good news for you if you’re still shopping. (It’s probably less good news for smaller retailers that seem to be falling further behind.) Retailers are improving their delivery speeds, meaning good news for late holiday shoppers.
