Axios

American Airlines on Tuesday flew Boeing's 737 MAX for the first time in nearly two years, having been grounded since March 2019 after a pair of crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia killed 346 people just months apart, the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: The fatal crashes led to huge damage to Boeing's reputation and billions of dollars in costs.

Sens. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) on Tuesday both came out in favor of increasing direct payments in the coronavirus relief package from $600 to $2,000 per person.

Why it matters: The two Republican senators are on the ballot in a pair of runoffs in Georgia next week that will determine control of the Senate.

The Wall Street Journal published an editorial on Monday effectively accusing President Trump of sabotaging Republicans' chances of winning the Georgia Senate runoffs with his push for $2,000 stimulus checks, calling it an "in-kind contribution to Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden."

Why it matters: It's another sharp criticism from a newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch — co-chair of Fox Corp. and executive chair of News Corp — that comes one day after the New York Post said Trump is "cheering for an undemocratic coup" with his efforts to overturn the election he lost.

China will end this year as the only major country in the world to see its economy grow rather than shrink.

Why it matters: China is operating from a position of great strength, with an economy expected to grow by 8.4% in 2021. If President-elect Joe Biden views China as a "serious competitor," then the competition will be fiercer during his presidency than at any point in history.

President Trump's brash communication style — combined with a societal shift towards streaming, where there are no regulatory restrictions on speech — has forced the entire media industry to present information in a more candid and less polished way.

Why it matters: It’s no longer uncommon to hear cable anchors use foul language or for TV or radio personalities to make indecent remarks on air. Now that the standard has been set, it’s hard to see how networks and news outlets could go back to their postured presentations of the past.

The Transportation Security Administration screened 1,284,599 people at airport checkpoints around the U.S. on Sunday, according to agency data.

Why it matters: It's the highest number of travelers the TSA has recorded since the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March.

President Trump personally fed the N.Y. Post's "Page Six" when he lived in Manhattan, and reached for that Post first once he moved to Washington. Rupert Murdoch — co-chair of Fox Corp. and executive chair of News Corp, which includes the Post — became a Trump confidant.

Where it stands: Murdoch had grown exasperated with Trump before the election, and now it's divorce. The Post, which endorsed Trump, says in an editorial that Trump is "cheering for an undemocratic coup" with his efforts to overturn the election he lost.

The New Yorker is devoting nearly the entire issue — something the magazine has done just a handful of times in its history — to "The Plague Year," a 40-page account by Lawrence Wright about how America botched its virus response.

The intrigue: Much of Wright's narration of the West Wing's panicked early response is from the point of view of deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, a former Marine and China correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and Reuters

President-elect Biden will spend 2021 trying to return America to what he considers a more normal time, while President Trump tries to lock down control of the GOP — all at a time when misinformation and alternate narratives get even worse.

• Here are five of the biggest storylines that will shape America next year, according to Axios experts — from politics to business, technology and media.

Getting a cranky, stubborn President Trump to belatedly sign the COVID relief bill, after unemployment benefits had already lapsed, was like being a hostage negotiator, or defusing a bomb.

Driving the news: The deal was closed on a Sunday afternoon phone call with Trump, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy. "This is good," Trump finally said, an official familiar with the call told me. "I should sign this."

China's central bank announced Sunday it ordered Ant Group, controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, to follow regulations, revamp lending and other consumer finance operations and "return to its roots" of online payment services. Ant said it plans to comply.

Why it matters: The action against the world's largest financial technology firm marks the latest move by Chinese officials to knee-cap Ma's empire. Ant's plans to raise what would've been the largest global IPO were ditched in November after regulators said more regulation was needed. Chinese officials opened a monopoly investigation last Thursday into Alibaba Group, which Ma co-founded.