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Here are the week’s top stories, and a look ahead.
1. A new coronavirus variant has the world on edge: Omicron.
Countries around the world are scrambling to stop the spread after the W.H.O. described Omicron as a “variant of concern,” its most serious category. The W.H.O. said the variant, first detected in southern Africa, carries a number of genetic mutations that might allow it to spread quickly, perhaps even among those who are vaccinated. But scientists say vaccines seem likely to work against it.
Omicron has already been spotted in Hong Kong and Belgium and may well be in other countries outside of Africa. Germany, Italy and Britain reported cases yesterday. African officials lashed out at new travel bans, saying that the continent was again bearing the brunt of panicked policies from Western countries and that vaccine hoarding helped pave the way to this crisis.
2. Democrats are struggling to energize their base despite big wins.
Even as President Biden achieves some victories like the bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill, Democrats warned that many of their most loyal supporters see inaction on key party priorities such as voting rights, immigration and criminal justice reform. This has left the party base unsatisfied and unmotivated ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
The mounting frustration has reignited a debate over electoral strategy that has been raging within the party since 2016.
Biden’s approval ratings have slipped into the mid-40s, even though virtually all of his legislation commands majority support in the same surveys. Nate Cohn explains the disconnect.
3. Israel and Iran have for years engaged in a covert cyberwar targeting each other’s military. Now the shadow war is broadening and hitting millions of ordinary citizens.
In recent weeks, a cyberattack on Iran’s fuel distribution system paralyzed the country’s 4,300 gas stations. It took 12 days for service to be fully restored. A few days later, cyberattacks in Israel hit a major medical facility and a popular L.G.B.T.Q. dating site. The latest attacks are thought to be the first to do widespread harm to large numbers of civilians.
As hopes fade for a revival of the Iranian nuclear agreement ahead of talks scheduled to begin in Vienna tomorrow, such attacks are only likely to proliferate.
Separately, Iran violently cracked down on protests against growing water shortages. Weather experts say 97 percent of the country is dealing with water scarcity issues.
4. Hondurans are heading to the polls in what could be their country’s most significant elections in more than a decade.
Voters will choose a new president, a political contest that has been marred by violence and is being closely watched in Washington. Polls are showing a tight race between Nasry Asfura, 63, a charismatic mayor, and Xiomara Castro, the leader of a major protest movement and the wife of a former president. If elected, she could become the country’s first female head of state.
The outcome may have consequences for the Biden administration, which is focused on controlling immigration and fighting corruption in Central America.
In Brazil, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has beat back a flurry of corruption cases and is staging a comeback ahead of next year’s presidential race.
6. For years, Uber’s intelligence arm acted behind the scenes. Then a former employee accused his co-workers of illegal activity.
Uber, like many other tech companies, recruited a team of former C.I.A. officers, law enforcement officials and cybersecurity experts to gather intelligence about threats and competition facing the company. But in 2017, one of the team’s members turned on the others, accusing them of stealing trade secrets, wiretapping and destroying evidence. Four years later, he retracted the allegations and admitted they weren’t true.
Awash in other scandals, Uber had denied the allegations, but failed to set the record straight on behalf of the intelligence team. Some of the men involved spoke to The Times about that chapter in their career and its aftermath for the first time.
7. Brian Shelton may be the first person cured of Type 1 diabetes. Diabetes experts were astonished but urged caution.
Shelton was the first patient to receive an infusion of lab-grown cells that produce insulin. Now his body automatically controls its insulin and blood sugar levels. The study is continuing, but the results so far have given experts hope for the 1.5 million Americans living with the disease.
“It’s a whole new life,” Shelton said. “It’s like a miracle.”
8. From turkey to latkes.
Hanukkah starts tonight, and while there will be plenty of potato pancakes this week, Joan Nathan suggests this one-pot matzo ball stew. During her long career writing about Jewish cooking, Nathan focused on finding lost recipes. But the inspiration for this recipe came from a group of mothers sharing recipes at the playground. We have loads of other recipes, too.
9. As winter closes in, there’s at least one place where plants will still grow: a terrarium.
These miniature landscapes allow you to expand your indoor plant collection far beyond typical houseplants. The first thing to keep in mind when building your own is that the same rules that apply to tending your garden outside apply to these miniature gardens, our garden expert Margaret Roach writes.
You’ll know you have built a good terrarium when “you get the ‘I want to live here’ feeling inside your chest,” said one terrarium designer.
For more inspiration, these are not your traditional holiday wreaths. T Magazine spoke to a new generation of florists who are fashioning garlands out of dried flowers, herbs and grasses.