Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Friday. |
 | | The Covid I.C.U. unit at Covenant HealthCare in Saginaw, Mich.Isadora Kosofsky for The New York Times |
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1. Doctors and nurses are bracing for the impact of a fourth wave of coronavirus infections. |
Some researchers are hopeful that Omicron may cause less severe disease than Delta, but officials still worry that it could send hospitals to the breaking point. "Living in a constant crisis for 20 months-plus is a little overwhelming," one Michigan doctor said. |
 | | A line for coronavirus vaccinations at St. Thomas' Hospital in London on Monday.Dan Kitwood/Getty Images |
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2. Britain recorded more than 93,000 daily infections today, the third consecutive day that the country's case count set a record. |
The surge puts pressure on a government that has resisted imposing tough restrictions before Christmas. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Conservative Party lost a seat it had held for more than a century, a loss that could hamper his efforts to address the spike in cases. |
 | | Russia's military buildup along the Ukrainian border has raised alarms of an invasion.Sergey Pivovarov/Reuters |
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3. Russia laid out its demands for NATO. |
The proposal, coming as Moscow masses troops on the border with Ukraine, would establish a Cold War-like security arrangement in Eastern Europe. Russia called on NATO to offer written guarantees that it would not expand farther east toward Russia and would halt all military activities in the former Soviet republics. NATO officials immediately dismissed the idea. |
The proposals represent, in startling clarity, goals long sought by President Vladimir Putin, who analysts say is growing increasingly concerned that Ukraine is drifting into a Western orbit. In Moscow's view, that poses a grave threat to Russian security. |
 | | The San Francisco mayor, London Breed, outside City Hall earlier this month.Eric Risberg/Associated Press |
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4. The mayor of San Francisco declared a state of emergency in the Tenderloin, one of the most crime-ridden and drug-infested parts of the city. |
"We are in a crisis, and we need to respond accordingly," London Breed said on Friday. Observers said the move marked a sharp turnaround in both tone and policy. Earlier this week, Breed acknowledged that many of her progressive constituents would push back on her efforts, which include giving people who use drugs in the open a choice between treatment or jail. But she said, "We can't do the same thing every day and expect different results." |
The Tenderloin is just steps from city hall, but it has been ground zero for drug dealing, overdose deaths and homelessness for years. Twice as many people died of drug overdoses in San Francisco last year than from the coronavirus. |
 | | Residents survey the damage after a strong storm swept through Hartland, Minn., this week.Christian Monterrosa/Associated Press |
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5. Hurricane-force winds, immense dust storms, and the first-ever December tornadoes observed in Minnesota and western Iowa. |
After a week of wild weather in the Midwest, disaster scientists are asking: How can we protect people in the storms' paths? The science suggests that the U.S. can expect more unusual and severe storms as the world heats up, increasing the urgency for action to protect communities. |
It is less certain whether those increasingly severe storms will lead to more tornadoes, like the one that leveled American communities across 260 miles last week. We tracked the storm's deadly route and heard the tales of survivors. |
Today, regulators warned Congress for the first time that climate change was an "emerging threat" to the U.S. financial system. |
 | | Staff shortages have led to a chaotic living environment inside Rikers and a persistent culture of violence. Todd Heisler/The New York Times |
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6. New York City's incoming mayor wants to close the Rikers Island jail complex. It may not be that simple. |
Hanging in the balance are the thousands of incarcerated people and jail officers at Rikers who are struggling through its worst crisis in years. |
 | | Isiah Miller, 22, with his football jersey outside his apartment building in the Bronx, N.Y. Desiree Rios for The New York Times |
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7. "Football was my way out." |
Isiah Miller was part of a group of teenagers who believed an Ohio school, and its vision of football glory, could help make their dreams come true. The start-up institution, called Christians of Faith, later known as Bishop Sycamore, recruited him and other players from tough neighborhoods with talk of academic help and a path to success. |
But the path only led them back to where they started. The prep school didn't prioritize education, and it lacked stable accommodations and a football training ground. Reporters later highlighted myriad legal, financial and governance problems involving Bishop Sycamore and its founders. |
 | | Elijah Wood, left, with Peter Jackson and Sean Astin, right, on the set of "The Lord of the Rings." Warner Bros. |
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8. Elijah Wood will be Frodo to fans forever — and that's just fine with him. |
It's been more than 20 years since Wood joined a fellowship of actors in New Zealand for 16 months to film the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy from Peter Jackson. Wood, now 40, reminisced about the monumental filmmaking adventure (and the pair of hairy hobbit feet he kept after production wrapped). |
Wood said that if he learned one thing from playing Frodo it was "that there's fortitude in his outlook that makes it all possible." |
 | | One person's trash is another's treasure.Laurent Allard |
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9. Need a last-minute gift that's both laziness- and supply chain-friendly? Look no further than your own things. |
Once deemed tacky, regifting is being recast as a more thoughtful and sustainable way to shop. (No one even needs to know.) We asked a group of creatives what they would regift from their collections, and the list included plant clippings, an Oprah 25th-anniversary coffee table book and crystals. |
 | | Neal Moore ended his two-year paddle journey at the Statue of Liberty.Hilary Swift for The New York Times |
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10. And finally, paddling from sea to shining sea. |
Neal Moore left Astoria, Ore., on Feb. 9, 2020, in his 16-foot red Old Town Penobscot canoe loaded with a tent, jugs of water, a bucket of freeze-dried meals, navigational charts and a marine radio. Inspired by the travelogues of Mark Twain, Moore, 50, set out to roam "community to community" and write about the people he met. |
What followed was a 22-month, 7,500-mile trek that brought him through 22 states and as many rivers. On Tuesday, he completed the last leg of the journey, entering New York Harbor with a dozen kayakers who paddled along with him and watched as he reached the Statue of Liberty. "I felt like I followed that light shining all the way across the country," Moore said. |
Have an illuminating weekend. |
| Eve Edelheit compiled photos for this briefing. |
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. |
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