Start your week smart: Winter storm, North Korea, Trump, Ukraine, NFL playoffs

Air travel this summer has been challenging to say the least. About 55,000 flights have been canceled in the US since the Friday before Memorial Day, according to data from flight tracking site FlightAware, and nearly a quarter of all flights have been delayed. But some industry experts are cautiously optimistic about air travel this Labor Day weekend, with predictions for a smoother fall travel season.

Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.

The weekend that was

• NASA will not pursue a launch of Artemis I for the remainder of the launch period, which ends on Tuesday, according to an update from the agency Saturday after a second scrubbed launch attempt.

• As a prolonged record-setting heat wave tightens its grip on the West, millions in California are again being asked to reduce their energy consumption amid worries about a strained power grid.

• Ukraine’s largest nuclear plant lost its main connection to the power grid again Saturday amid sustained shelling, despite the presence of international inspectors.  

• The death toll in Pakistan due to catastrophic flooding has surpassed 1,200, and almost a third of the victims are children.

• A worker at an airport who stole a twin-engine plane Saturday morning and threatened to crash it into a Mississippi Walmart was arrested after he eventually landed in a field, police said.

The week ahead

Tuesday

Happy Lunar New Year! Today is China’s biggest holiday. Every year, hundreds of millions of people pour onto trains, buses and planes to see their families. And yet again, Covid-19 restrictions are making travel difficult, with officials discouraging such trips to curb the spread of the virus.

Today also marks the beginning of Black History Month, a federally recognized holiday in the US honoring the contributions and achievements of Black people in history.

Wednesday

Today is Groundhog Day – the day Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania makes his prediction for the arrival of spring. According to the tradition, If Phil sees his shadow when he emerges, there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t, spring will arrive soon. After the weekend the Northeast has had, let’s hope Phil has a shadow-free morning.

Thursday

A 555.55-carat black diamond believed to have come from space is going up for auction today at Sotheby’s in Dubai. The rare gem, dubbed “The Enigma,” is believed to have been created by a meteoric impact or from a diamond-bearing asteroid that collided with Earth. The auction house is expecting it to fetch as much as $6.8 million.

Friday

Wall Street will be closely watching the January employment report today. The US added just 199,000 jobs in December – the fewest of any month in 2021 – sparking fears that the jobs recovery may be losing steam. 

Today is also World Cancer Day, a global initiative that brings together individuals, organizations and governments around the world in an effort to create awareness and help close the gap in cancer care.

Want to hear more CNN reporting?

In this week’s One Thing podcast, CNN Investigates producer Curt Devine explains how a small piece of plastic is fueling a rise in machine gun fire across the US. Listen here.

Photos of the week

A Ukrainian soldier mans a gunner position in a front-line trench in Avdiivka, Ukraine, on Sunday, January 23.

A Covid-19 patient is embraced by his son and daughter before he is intubated at a hospital in Mission Viejo, California, on Tuesday, January 25.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer holds up a copy of the US Constitution on Thursday, January 27, as he announces his intent to retire. Breyer, 83, is the oldest of the nine current justices, and he has served on the high court for more than two decades.

San Francisco kicker Robbie Gould is lifted by a teammate after he kicked a field goal to win an NFL playoff game in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Saturday, January 22. The 13-10 victory moved the 49ers into the NFC Championship game.

The casket arrives at St. Patrick's Cathedral for the wake of New York police officer Jason Rivera on Thursday, January 27. Rivera, 22, was fatally shot last week while responding to a domestic disturbance call. His partner, 27-year-old Wilbert Mora, also was killed. See photos from their memorials.

Sweat drips from the face of tennis star Rafael Nadal as he plays his fourth-round match at the Australian Open on Sunday, January 23.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, greets Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov before their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, January 21. The United States sought to convince Russia to de-escalate the situation at the Ukrainian border, where Russia has amassed tens of thousands of troops. Both sides agreed to keep talking.

Hundreds of migrants are rescued off the Italian island of Lampedusa on Tuesday, January 25. The Italian Coast Guard found them in a packed wooden boat in the Mediterranean Sea. At least seven migrants aboard the boat died of hypothermia, according to Italy's ANSA news agency.

Former baseball star David Ortiz celebrates in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo on Tuesday, January 25, after finding out that he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ortiz, a 10-time All-Star known as "Big Papi," won three World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox and was World Series MVP in 2013. He hit 541 home runs during his 20 Major League seasons.

A wild macaw eats peanuts on the edge of an apartment building in Caracas, Venezuela, on Thursday, January 27. There, macaws regularly land on balconies and window sills to get food that people have put out for them.

Firefighters search through debris after a car park collapsed onto houses in Antananarivo, Madagascar, on Monday, January 24. Several bodies were found after the landslide. The country had been experiencing heavy rains brought by tropical storms.

"Jeopardy!" champ Amy Schneider had her 40-game win streak snapped on Wednesday, January 26. Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California, finished with more than $1.3 million in winnings.

Activist Mamadou Drabo announces to a crowd in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, that Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Damiba, a senior military officer, was now the African country's new leader on Monday, January 24. The crowd was showing support for the coup that deposed President Roch Kabore and dissolved the government and parliament.

The Colorado Fire burns along Highway 1 near Big Sur, California, on Saturday, January 22. The wildfire prompted evacuation orders in Monterey County.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves No. 10 Downing Street to attend a session in Parliament on Wednesday, January 26. Johnson has been under immense pressure recently over alleged summer garden parties and Christmas gatherings held when the rest of the country was under strict Covid-19 restrictions. He apologized Wednesday for attending an event in May 2020.

Baltimore firefighters sit on a stoop across the street from a vacant row home where several firefighters died in a building collapse on Monday, January 24. The firefighter on the right is holding balloons that were given to him by a local resident.

Fritzi the raccoon plays with water at the Berlin home of veterinarian Mathilde Laininger on Thursday, January 27. Laininger cares for four raccoons that can no longer be released into the wild. An Instagram account for Fritzi has more than 10,000 followers.

Charlotte Casiraghi, the niece of Monaco's Prince Albert, rides a horse during a Chanel fashion show in Paris on Tuesday, January 25. Casiraghi is a competitive showjumper.

Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce makes the game-winning touchdown catch to defeat Buffalo in an NFL playoff game on Sunday, January 23. The Chiefs won 42-36 in overtime, and many football fans were saying it was one of the greatest games in league history.

The Rev. Canon Michael Smith lights candles in York, England, on Wednesday, January 26. It was in preparation for Holocaust Memorial Day.

A runner takes part in the Pole of Cold Marathon near Oymyakon, Russia, on Saturday, January 22. It was minus 53 degrees Celsius (minus 63.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Baylor's Caitlin Bickle is hit in the face with a ball during a college basketball game in Lubbock, Texas, on Wednesday, January 26. Texas Tech's Ella Tofaeono was called for a foul on the play.

This aerial photo, taken on Saturday, January 22, shows oil cleaning operations in the Ventanilla Sea, north of Lima, Peru. The oil spill was blamed on abnormal waves triggered by the eruption of an underwater volcano near Tonga.

A fight broke out on the floor of Honduras' Congress on Friday, January 21. It happened after some members of the Libre Party broke a prior agreement and elected Jorge Calix as Congress' president instead of Luis Redondo.

Local residents drive past an apartment building in the Ukrainian city of Marinka on Saturday, January 22. The building was badly damaged during fighting in 2015 between the Ukrainian army and Russian-backed separatists. "Although this small city is less than 15 miles from the separatist front line, residents try to continue their lives as normal as possible," said Timothy Fadek, who has been taking photos in the region over the past week.

Revelers take cover during a fireworks battle that was part of the Carantoñas festival in Acehuche, Spain, on Friday, January 21.

A wax figure of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is prepared at a museum in Hamburg, Germany, on Wednesday, January 26.

The Parthenon is seen atop the Acropolis after a heavy snowfall in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday, January 25.

Bing Dwen Dwen, the mascot of the Beijing Winter Olympics, tries to enter a door at the main media center on Monday, January 24. The Olympics begin next week with the opening ceremony taking place on February 4.

Ball kids dry the court after rain at the Australian Open on Wednesday, January 26.

People in Washington, DC, attend a rally against vaccine mandates on Sunday, January 23.

Ottawa's Tim Stutzle scores a goal past Columbus' Elvis Merzlikins during an NHL game on Sunday, January 23.

A farmer fights a bushfire in Guatavita, Colombia, on Saturday, January 22.

A zookeeper watches a pair of Humboldt penguins during the annual animal count at the Marwell Zoo in Winchester, England, on Tuesday, January 25.

Lightning strikes near the Uruguayan Yacht Club during a thunderstorm in Montevideo on Saturday, January 22. See last week in 31 photos.

The week in 35 photos

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What’s happening in entertainment

David Letterman set to return to ‘Late Night’

Current host Seth Myers says Letterman is returning to the show he launched back in 1982 for its 40th anniversary. Letterman is scheduled to appear on Tuesday, February 1.

‘Janet Jackson’ airs on Lifetime and A&E

A new Janet Jackson documentary premiered over the weekend, and while the singer gave a documentary crew access for five years, CNN’s Brian Lowery says the end result “feels too conspicuously like a licensed product,” that addresses some uncomfortable parts of her biography while sidestepping others.

What’s happening in sports

The NFL conference championships kick off later today

The Cincinnati Bengals take on the Kansas City Chiefs at 3 p.m. ET today in the AFC Championship Game.

The San Francisco 49ers will face the Los Angeles Rams at 6:30 p.m. ET in the NFC Championship Game.

Winners go to Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 13. 

Light the Torch!

The Winter Olympics in Beijing begin Friday with the opening ceremonies. Nearly 3,000 athletes will compete in 15 disciplines across 109 events, lasting until the closing ceremonies on February 20. Organizers have set an extremely strict standard of Covid-19 prevention and control measures, most notably a “closed loop system” – a bubble completely cut off from the rest of the city. 

Quiz time!

Take CNN’s weekly news quiz to see how much you remember from the week that was! So far, 65% of fellow quiz fans have gotten eight or more questions right. How will you fare?

Play me off

Adele does it again.

This chaotic yet insanely elegant music video set to her new song “Oh My God” is a masterpiece and a whirlwind of emotions. See for yourself. (Click here to view)