Good morning. We’re covering Omicron’s rapid spread, Afghanistan’s looming starvation crisis and Syria’s state-supported drug trade. |
 | | An international traveler received a coronavirus test in Johannesburg last week.João Silva/The New York Times |
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Omicron sows global chaos |
Omicron may have been spreading in New York City well before the W.H.O. even gave it a name, thanks to a 53,000-person anime convention. And Botswana’s leaders said foreign diplomats, who had traveled from Europe, were some of the first known cases. |
Research: The Times went inside a cutting edge lab in South Africa, the first country to identify the variant. The country’s high rate of H.I.V. infection may give the virus more chances to mutate. |
 | | “I’m very afraid, this winter will be even worse than we can imagine,” a 40-year-old woman said after bringing her granddaughter to a regional hospital.Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times |
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Afghanistan faces starvation |
The hunger is the most devastating sign of the economic crash that has crippled Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power nearly four months ago. Food prices are soaring as families flood into the malnutrition wards of hospitals. |
The mass starvation could kill a million children this winter. That alone would dwarf the total number of civilians estimated to have been killed as a direct result of war. |
Background: Afghanistan has suffered from malnutrition for decades, but the country’s hunger crisis has drastically worsened without foreign aid money. The U.S. is now facing mounting pressure to ease the economic restrictions on the Taliban that have isolated the country, crippled banks and deepened the crisis. |
Environment: Afghanistan is confronting one of the worst droughts in decades. The country’s wheat harvest is expected to be as much as 25 percent below average this year. |
 | | Italian officials seized about 84 million captagon pills at the port of Salerno last year.Ciro Fusco/EPA, via Shutterstock |
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Syria turns to illegal drug trade |
Powerful associates of President Bashar al-Assad are making and selling captagon, an illegal, addictive amphetamine popular in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states. Syria has now become the world’s newest narcostate. |
The industry, which emerged in the ruins of a decade of war, has grown into a multibillion-dollar operation. Captagon is now the country’s most valuable export, far surpassing legal products. |
An investigation by The Times found that much of the production and distribution was overseen by an elite unit of the Syrian army commanded by the president’s younger brother. The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is also a major player. |
Scale: More than 250 million captagon pills have been seized across the globe so far this year, more than 18 times the amount captured just four years ago. |
 | | An official stood in an area covered by ash from Indonesia’s Mount Semeru on Sunday.Ammar/EPA, via Shutterstock |
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 | | A Ukrainian soldier near the border on Friday. A Russian invasion force could include 175,000 troops.Andriy Dubchak/Associated Press |
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- President Biden will hold talks with President Vladimir Putin this week, days after U.S. intelligence revealed that Russia was preparing a possible invasion of Ukraine.
- In Uganda, two journalists and a politician say they received alerts warning them of “state-sponsored” hacks. At least one attack appeared to have employed the Israeli-made spyware known as Pegasus.
- Brazil’s northeast is becoming a desert as climate change dries out the soil and residents make short-term decisions to stay alive.
- Antwerp has become the main port of entry into Europe for cocaine, and the Belgian city is struggling with a surge of violence.
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- The parents of a Michigan teenager, who were charged with involuntary manslaughter after their son was accused of shooting four classmates in his high school last week, were arrested on Saturday after a manhunt.
- CNN fired the anchor Chris Cuomo amid a continuing inquiry into his efforts to help his brother, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, fight sexual harassment accusations.
- About 50 days after a volcano exploded in the Canary Islands, a beekeeper discovered that his honeybees had sealed themselves in their hives away from deadly gases and survived on honey.
- A 13-year-old from England with a metal detector unearthed a 3,000-year-old ax from the Bronze Age.
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 | | Firaun Koibur travels across Biak to search for World War II relics.Ulet Ifansasti for The New York Times |
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Thousands of U.S. and Japanese soldiers died in the Battle of Biak, a fierce World War II fight. Collectors are still finding remnants on the remote Indonesian island, which could bring solace to the families of U.S. soldiers whose remains are still missing. |
 | | Tiffany Knighten quit after learning a teammate’s salary was over $10,000 higher for a similar job.Amy Lombard for The New York Times |
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Celebrating quitting, on TikTok |
Once, broadcasting the decision to quit a job might have seemed unwise, or at least uncouth. But now, many people are celebrating their departures on social media. |
They are rejoicing in Instagram reels and posting giddy “QuitToks.” They’re tweeting screenshots of their “I quit” texts to their bosses, or virtually high-fiving on the Reddit forum R/antiwork. |
The percentage of U.S. workers voluntarily leaving their jobs reached 3 percent this fall, a historic high. And employers are growing less choosy about who they hire. That may offer some cushion to those punching back at their former bosses. |
“People are frustrated, exhausted, triggered,” J.T. O’Donnell, founder of the career coaching platform Work It Daily, said. “When people are triggered, you see fight or flight responses. This is a fight response.” |
 | | Ryan Liebe for The New York Times |
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My colleagues recommend these eight self-help books, which have tips on building healthy spaces and parenting in a changing world, and inspiring poems. |
“Flee,” a Danish documentary, uses animation to tell the poignant, complicated story of an Afghan refugee. |
That’s it for today’s briefing. See you next time. — Amelia |
P.S. The Times Book Review is asking readers to choose the best book of the past 125 years. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the contest. |
The latest episode of “The Daily” is about the legacy of Stephen Sondheim. |
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