BRIEFLY ...

Fearing omicron, holiday revelers curb celebrations

Christmas revelers across Europe are lying low, and U.S. officials are intensifying calls for unvaccinated Americans to get inoculated in the face of the new omicron variant, which threatens to wipe out a second holiday season that many hoped would bail out pandemic-battered industries. Scotland and Wales on Friday pledged millions of pounds for businesses hurt in Britain’s latest infection surge. In the United States, President Joe Biden’s administration resisted tightening any restrictions, but also sketched out dire scenarios for the unvaccinated in a plea for hesitant Americans to get the shot.

Union objects to results of Starbucks votes

The union vying to represent Starbucks employees is objecting to the results of elections at two Buffalo-area stores. The union says the coffee retailer waged a “shock and awe” campaign meant to dissuade workers from voting to unionize. The claims are made in objections filed with the National Labor Relations Board late Thursday. Starbucks denies the accusations. Employees at a Buffalo Starbucks voted in favor of a union last week, becoming the first in the U.S. to do so. But Workers United says the company’s intimidation tactics affected the other stores where votes either failed or weren’t immediately determined. The NLRB will decide whether to schedule a new election.

Stocks end lower, marking another losing week

Banks led another pullback for stocks on Wall Street Friday, as the market racked up its third losing week in the last four. The S&P 500 fell 1 percent, with three-quarters of the companies in the benchmark index closing lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.5 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq slipped 0.1 percent. The S&P 500 fell 48.03 points, or 1 percent, to 4,620.64. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 532.20 points, or 1.5 percent, to 35,365.44 The Nasdaq fell 10.75 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,169.68. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 21.48 points, or 1 percent, to 2,173.93.