Good morning. We're covering the Omicron variant and disastrous floods in Brazil. |
 | | A movie house near Leicester Square in London advertising the need for a Covid pass to enter on Tuesday.Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images |
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Omicron's ceaseless march |
The highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus, first detected last month, has swept across the world, infecting millions of people and proving too fast to catch, even in nations with high vaccination rates. |
That daunting notion is tempered by early evidence that the variant causes milder symptoms, with vaccinations and boosters helping to prevent serious illness and death. More than 300,000 new Covid cases were recorded in Britain between Saturday and Monday, yet hospitalizations remained far below last winter's peaks. |
That rapid spread and the dominance of Omicron mirror what has been seen around the world. In Israel, the variant is expected to overtake Delta as the dominant one in the country within days. Positive test results are disrupting businesses and wreaking havoc on global travel, entertainment and sporting events. |
Analysis: John Bell, a professor of medicine at Oxford and an adviser to the British government, said Omicron was "not the same disease we were seeing a year ago." |
- People who have recovered from an Omicron infection may be able to fend off later infections from the Delta variant, a study suggests.
- The surge in cases has produced a jump in hospitalizations among children in the U.S. But early data suggest that Omicron is not more severe for young people.
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 | | Supporters of the human rights group Memorial International outside Russia's Supreme Court in Moscow on Tuesday.Natalia Kolesnikova/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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Russian human rights group ordered closed |
Russia's Supreme Court ordered the closing of Memorial, a human rights group founded more than three decades ago that chronicled political repression in the country, including persecution in Stalin-era labor camps. The hearing drew dozens of protesters outside the courthouse. |
The decision comes after a year of broad crackdowns on opposition in Russia as the Kremlin moved aggressively to stifle dissent — in the news media, in religious groups, on social networks and especially among activists and political opponents, hundreds of whom have been harassed, jailed or forced into exile. |
The liquidation of Memorial is yet another step in an effort by Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, to recast Russia's legacy as a series of glorious accomplishments and to soften the image of the often-brutal Soviet regime. The increasingly emboldened Kremlin has moved aggressively to remove alternative interpretations of Russian history by organizations it does not control. |
More to come: In a separate hearing scheduled for today, the Moscow City Court will rule on whether to shut down Memorial's Human Rights Center, which compiles a list of current political prisoners in Russia. The center is accused of "justifying terrorist activities" by including members of banned religious organizations on the list. |
 | | Itapetinga, in Bahia State, Brazil, on Sunday.Clewton Dias/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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Devastating floods in Brazil |
Rescue teams used boats and helicopters to reach parts of Ilhéus, Itabuna, Irecê and more than 100 other cities in Bahia State. Neighboring states sent aircraft and firefighters to help the police and members of the armed forces, while volunteers distributed donations of food, mattresses and blankets for the poorest communities. |
For five years, northeastern Brazil had suffered from a stubborn drought. But early this month, the skies opened, hitting Bahia with the heaviest rainfall for December in the state in three decades, according to Brazil's center for monitoring natural disasters. The extreme rain caused two dams to collapse, further exacerbating the situation. |
Quotable: "We've had other floods, other disasters with deaths, but nothing, absolutely nothing, with this territorial extension, with this number of cities hit at the same time and with the number of people impacted by this storm," said Rui Costa, the governor of Bahia State. |
 | | Dibyangshu Sarkar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images |
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- The Indian government blocked the Missionaries of Charity, the Christian humanitarian group founded by Mother Teresa, from accepting foreign donations.
- Afghan people born and raised in Pakistan are in a legal limbo and at risk of deportation to Afghanistan, a strife-torn country they have never seen.
- Harry Reid, the former Nevada senator, has died at 82. He led a Democratic majority during Barack Obama's presidency and steered the Affordable Care Act into law.
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 | | Alastair Grant/Associated Press |
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 | | Camilla Ferrari for The New York Times |
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Residents of Porretta Terme, a hillside town in central Italy, have a request for the Vatican: to recognize Madonna of the Bridge, the town's local icon, as the patron saint of Italian basketball. |
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Over the thousands of articles published by The Times this year, the 10 below were among those that people spent a particularly long time reading. Pour yourself a hot drink, get comfortable, and revisit these great reads. |
 | | Kate Sears for The New York Times |
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In this stunning tart, a custard studded with sliced almonds is baked in a buttery shortbread crust. |
"Podcast movies" feature real stars and recall midcentury radio drama — without the radio. |
That's it for today's briefing. Thanks for joining me. — Natasha |
The latest episode of "The Daily" features a Capitol police officer who recounted Jan. 6. |
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