In today’s newsletter: A new strain of the flu is spiking. The Trump administration freezes child care payments to the state of Minnesota. And, eyewitnesses recount an explosion in Venezuela that has raised concern over U.S. military action against the South American country.
Here’s what to know today.
A new variant of Influenza A, nicknamed “super flu,” is taking off faster than usual this season.
“Just looking at the trajectory of the curve, it’s really a pretty sharp increase that we’re seeing, and it’s not anywhere close to peaking or leveling off,” said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, a senior infectious disease physician at Mass General Brigham in Boston.
The dominant, mutated H3N2 strain emerged over the summer and includes changes to a key surface protein that make it harder for the immune system to recognize the virus.
Older adults and people with chronic conditions are more likely to need hospitalizations if they contract the flu, adding more stress to facilities that already have limited beds because of Covid and RSV cases, according to Dr. Lauren Siewny, the medical director of Duke University Hospital Emergency Department. But doctors warn that young children, particularly infants and young children through age 4, have been hit the hardest.
Symptoms mirror previous flu seasons but can start acutely, such as people experiencing higher fever, shaking, chills, cough and shortness of breath, said Dr. Molly Fleece, associate professor in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Those symptoms can be more severe, especially if a person is unvaccinated, she said.
Doctors say they expect to see an increase in flu cases for at least the next several weeks, with illnesses not leveling off until the end of January or possibly February.
Read the full story here.
Eyewitnesses describe mysterious explosion in northwest Venezuela
A firsthand account of an explosion along the Venezuelan coast on Dec. 18 has prompted questions about the source of the attack and whether it was connected to the United States’ escalating pressure campaign against the South American country.
Two members of Venezuela’s Wayuu indigenous community told NBC News they witnessed an unexplained explosion that destroyed a hut that was possibly used for storage.
Ana, one of the witnesses who did not want her last name used for fear of reprisals, told NBC News by phone that a few days after witnessing the explosion, she heard a strange noise that she guessed might be a drone surveilling the area.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ana said, noting the explosion was so loud that she and her relatives were unable to hear for hours. She suspects some of them suffered hearing damage and said her family’s boat was destroyed along with their fishing nets.
Representatives from the Venezuelan government showed up the morning after she heard the blast on Dec. 19, Ana said. Residents asked them for help, for a doctor to check on the hearing problems and for new fishing nets and hammocks, which had also been blown up, she added.
The arid coastal strip in the northwest of Venezuela, known as Alta Guajira, is heavily controlled by the National Liberation Army, an armed guerrilla group known for its history of drug trafficking that is also active in neighboring Colombia.
NBC News reporting has not established a link between the explosion described by Trump and the one described by the eyewitnesses in northwest Venezuela, and it is not clear who was responsible for the Dec. 18 explosion.
Read more about the eyewitness accounts here.
Trump administration halts federal child care payments to Minnesota
All federal child care payments to the state of Minnesota have been frozen after a viral video alleged widespread fraud at child care facilities across the state. The freeze comes days after FBI Director Kash Patel said the bureau had “surged” resources to the state as part of an ongoing fraud investigation that has largely targeted Somali immigrants.
Patel said the FBI’s work was in place before a right-wing influencer’s video purporting to show certain child facilities weren’t operational but were receiving state and federal funds gained traction online.
Nick Shirley, who describes himself as an independent journalist, brought the subject into the spotlight of conservative media in recent days. His report out of Minneapolis was quickly championed by Vice President JD Vance and Elon Musk, and the video received millions of views on YouTube and X.
Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill and Assistant Secretary Alex Adams said on X that they had halted the payments and implemented additional requirements for child care payments nationwide.
Read the full story here.
Read All About It
- Three hikers were found dead near a popular mountain trail in Southern California that had been battered by powerful Santa Ana winds.
- Gold and silver prices are about to record their biggest annual gains since 1979, rising sharply since Trump’s global tariff rollout.
- Tatiana Schlossberg, an author and journalist who was the granddaughter of John F. Kennedy, died Tuesday after previously revealing she had acute myeloid leukemia. She was 35.
- Star New England Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs is accused of slapping his live-in private chef and choking her until “she had trouble breathing,” according to police reports. He is set to be arraigned Jan. 23.
- President Donald Trump this week issued the first vetoes of his second term in office, rejecting the Finish the Arkansas Valley Conduit Act and Miccosukee Reserved Area Amendments Act, two bills that passed Congress with bipartisan support.
- Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr., best known for his role on HBO’s 2000s crime drama “The Wire,” has died, his manager said. He was 71.
Staff pick: How Japan is fighting back against a surge of bear attacks
A sign in Japanese reads: Beware of bearsTony Studio / Getty Images file
Northern Japan is facing a problem: it now has fewer people but more bears, and the growing imbalance has turned life-threatening at times.
This year, a record 235 bear attacks have killed 13 people across Japan, a country universally considered one of the world’s safest.
Many of the victims are elderly rural residents, and they were attacked while hiking or picking mushrooms.
There are many factors behind the surge: A shortage of food, partly driven by climate change, is drawing the animals into residential areas and traditional bear hunters are outnumbered by the animals.
So far, Japanese officials have deployed riot police and the military to keep the bears at bay. But at least for now, the animals don’t seem to be going anywhere, leaving residents to adapt to the new norm.
— Peter Guo, associate producer
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