Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Wednesday. |
 | | A Covid-19 testing van in Queens, N.Y., on Wednesday.Janice Chung for The New York Times |
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1. Omicron infections appear less severe compared with previous variants. |
New research suggests that the Omicron variant often results in milder illness compared with previous variants. But hospitals could still be flooded with patients because Omicron is exploding so rapidly. |
U.K. researchers found that compared with Delta variant cases, individuals infected with Omicron were 15 to 20 percent on average less likely to end up in hospitals and 40 to 45 percent less likely to be hospitalized overnight or longer. |
But the researchers also found that the Omicron virus was not that much less dangerous than Delta, because of the speed of the Omicron surge and the contagiousness of the virus. "I still can't quite wrap my head around how quickly this is moving," one epidemiologist told The Times. "I think it's going to be really bad. I don't know how else to put it." |
 | | President Biden during a meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Wednesday.Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times |
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2. The White House will extend a freeze on student loan payments until May 1, citing the economic impacts of the pandemic. |
The extension affects about 41 million borrowers, including nearly 27 million who haven't paid their monthly bill since early in 2020. About 7.2 million borrowers who were in default got a reprieve from collections. |
Since his first days in office, President Biden has been pressured by Democratic lawmakers who have urged him to deliver on a campaign promise to wipe out $10,000 per person holding federal student loan debt. |
 | | Leonard Mosely's Christmas light display on his home in Del City, Okla..Brett Deering for The New York Times |
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3. The supply chain hasn't ruined Christmas. |
The warnings started to stream in early this fall: Shop early if you want to get your gifts on time. Despite those fears, holiday shoppers have received their gifts. UPS and the Postal Service delivered about 99 percent of their packages on time from Nov. 14 to Dec. 11; FedEx was close behind at 97 percent. |
Many Americans also eased pressure on delivery companies by doing more shopping in stores. In September, in-store sales accounted for about 64 percent of retail revenue, up 12 points from its low point during the pandemic, but still somewhat below 2019 levels. |
 | | A Tesla Model 3 electric car in San Diego, Calif..Roger Kisby for The New York Times |
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4. A U.S. regulator is investigating Tesla for its in-car video games. |
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Tuesday it was investigating "Passenger Play," which allows drivers to play games on a dashboard touch screen while the car is in motion. |
The move comes after The New York Times reported on the safety concern this month. The agency is separately investigating potential flaws in the electric car company's Autopilot system, which can steer, accelerate and brake a car on its own. |
Separately, The Times examined CATL, the world's biggest maker of electric car batteries, which supplies almost all of the world's automakers. It got there with the help of lavish subsidies from Beijing, a captive market of buyers and lax regulation. |
 | | Pastor Vinod Patil, a Pentecostal preacher, does a religious service in Madhya Pradesh, India.Atul Loke for The New York Times |
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5. A growing anti-Christian hysteria is spreading across India. |
The pressure is greatest in central and northern India, where the governing party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is firmly in control, and where evangelical Christian groups are quietly making inroads among lower-caste Hindus. |
The anti-Christian forces are growing stronger by the day, and they have many faces, including a white-collar army of lawyers and clerks who file legal complaints against Christian organizations. |
 | | Police officials disperse the crowds in Portland after declaring a riot the day after the November 2020 presidential election.Mason Trinca for The New York Times |
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6. The F.B.I. deployed surveillance teams inside Portland's racial justice protests. |
Some within the departments worried that the actions could be compared to F.B.I. surveillance transgressions of decades past and undermine the First Amendment right to protest. |
Federal teams were initially dispatched in July 2020 to protect the city's federal courthouse after protesters lit fires, smashed windows and lobbed fireworks. But the F.B.I. role quickly widened, persisting months after activists turned their attention away from the courthouse. |
 | | Jack Dorsey, a big proponent of Bitcoin, warned of venture capital's role in Web3.Alfonso Duran for The New York Times |
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7. Venture capitalists are clashing over the future of cryptocurrency. |
The fight is over Web3, the industry name for a blockchain-based internet that runs on crypto tokens. Supporters say it will democratize and decentralize commerce. But Dorsey, who believes Bitcoin is the only way forward, says V.C. firms are in charge. "It will never escape their incentives," he tweeted. |
 | | Elizabeth Weinberg for The New York Times |
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8. Exercise and alcohol frequently go hand in hand. |
A new, large-scale study adds more evidence. The fittest women were about twice as likely to be moderate drinkers as women with low aerobic capacities; the fittest men, twice as likely to be moderate drinkers than men who were less fit. The study did not determine a causal relationship, but some animal studies show that both exercise and alcohol light up parts of the brain related to reward processing. |
 | | Carrie-Anne Moss has returned to an action role in "Matrix: Resurrections."Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times |
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9. It's time to re-enter the Matrix. |
Nearly two decades after the original trilogy concluded, "The Matrix Resurrections" arrives today in theaters and on HBO Max. Carrie-Ann Moss, who plays Trinity, is the rare woman over 50 to be both an action star and the romantic lead in a major studio film. |
"I feel a sense of responsibility to those women who love Trinity and felt ignited by her to be authentic at this age, and not be an idea that is unattainable and is perpetuating this myth about what it means to be a woman," Moss told The Times. |
 | | A school of sulphur molly fish.Juliane Lukas |
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10. And finally, Mexican fish that do the wave. |
In the sulfur-infused ponds of Tabasco State in Mexico lives the sulphur molly. Toss in a rock, and the water's surface will erupt in pale, pulsing waves. Every few seconds, thousands of fish will repeat a quick diving motion to generate the wave. |
The slingshot was used to simulate a divebombing kingfisher, and consistently triggered the waves. The waves reduced birds' luck in getting fish, which they seemed to realize. It seems to be one of the rare cases where the benefits of synchronized animal behavior can be deciphered. |
Have a synchronous evening. |
| Angela Jimenez compiled photos for this briefing. |
Your Evening Briefing is posted at 6 p.m. Eastern. |
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