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Hard Numbers: Holiday flights canceled, “Putin’s chef” condemned, Israel invests in Golan, El Salvador frees miscarriage “murderers”
A screen showing cancelled flights is seen at John F. Kennedy International Airport during the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant in Queens, New York City, U.S., December 26, 2021.
1,000: More than 1,000 airline flights with a stop in the US were canceled on Sunday due to crews testing positive for COVID. Globally, thousands of holiday season flights have been scrapped due to the omicron wave.
310 million: Israel will invest some $310 million to double the number of Jewish settlers living in the Golan Heights, a swath of strategic territory captured from Syria in 1967. Although Golan is considered occupied land under international law, the US has recognized Israeli sovereignty there since 2019.
15: Fifteen Western governments have condemned the deployment of mercenaries employed by Russia's shadowy Wagner Group in conflict-ridden Mali. The Kremlin has officially denied any links to the private military company, which is owned by Vladimir Putin's former caterer.
3: El Salvador freed three women who’d been jailed for aggravated homicide after suffering miscarriages. Under the country’s draconian abortion laws, losing a pregnancy can count as murder. The women were serving sentences of up to 13 years.