Here’s what you need to know at the end of the day.
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Good evening. Here’s the latest at the end of Tuesday.
1. The U.S. and Russia will hold another round of talks to try to head off a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia on Friday in Geneva, a sign that the two sides are willing to continue discussions over Ukraine, even after a senior Russian diplomat warned last week that the talks were reaching a “dead end.”
Blinken departed today for Kyiv, where he will meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine tomorrow in a show of support.
In Kyiv, Russia began emptying out its embassy. The move may be part propaganda, part preparation for a looming conflict or part feint, Ukrainian and U.S. officials say.
2. Americans can now order free at-home Covid tests after the Biden administration’s website covidtests.gov went live a day early.
Visitors to the site can click through to a Postal Service webpage, where they can order up to four tests per household. More than 700,000 visitors were on the home page today, more than 20 times as much as the government site with the next highest traffic.
The Omicron wave may be cresting in the northeastern U.S., but the number of Covid-19 patients is at a record high and climbing, and hospitals are overwhelmed. A fourth shot may not offer much more protection against contracting Omicron, an early Israeli study suggests.
3. Microsoft will buy the video game maker Activision Blizzard for nearly $70 billion.
The blockbuster acquisition is the largest ever by Microsoft and for the gaming world. The deal may also strengthen the company’s hand in the metaverse, the nascent world of virtual and augmented reality.
Activision makes some of the most popular titles, including Call of Duty and Candy Crush, but it has been roiled by employee revolt over accusations of sexual harassment and discrimination.
In other tech news, Verizon and AT&T said that they would delay the debut of new 5G service near some airports after airlines warned of disruptions, and U.S. antitrust leaders said they would focus on the tech industry’s free services in a broad effort to strengthen enforcement.
4. The committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol subpoenaed Rudolph Giuliani and the legal team that made claims of voting fraud.
Giuliani served as former President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer and was a ringleader of the group, which pursued conspiracy-filled lawsuits on behalf of Trump.
The panel also subpoenaed Jenna Ellis, who drafted a memo on how Trump could overturn the election; Sidney Powell, a lawyer whose organization raised millions of dollars based on false claims; and Boris Epshteyn, who pursued allegations of election fraud in Nevada and Arizona and participated in a call with Trump on the morning of Jan. 6.
5. A deal to end Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy was approved by a federal judge.
It would be the largest public sector debt restructuring deal in the history of the U.S., reducing the biggest portion of the debt — $33 billion — by 80 percent and saving more than $50 billion in debt payments.
When the territory entered bankruptcy in May 2017, it had more than $70 billion in bond debt and more than $50 billion in unfunded pension obligations. Its economic crisis has since been deepened by two hurricanes, a series of earthquakes and the coronavirus pandemic.
Critics worry that Puerto Rico will not have enough money in its general fund to make even the reduced debt payments over the long run, eventually forcing more painful austerity measures.
6. Can anyone satisfy Amazon’s craving for electric vans?
The company pledged that half of its deliveries will be carbon-neutral by 2030. But the auto industry barely produces any of the vehicles it needs to get there.
This month, Amazon said it would buy thousands of electric Ram vans from Stellantis. It has also ordered 1,800 electric vans from Daimler and 100,000 more vans from the American manufacturer Rivian. By comparison, Amazon expected its entire fleet to total 175,000 by the end of 2021.
Amazon isn’t alone. WalMart put in reservations for 5,000 vans from BrightDrop, a division of General Motors. FedEx, in pursuit of its goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2040, plans a fleet of perhaps 250,000 small and midsize electric vans.
7. Naomi Osaka is back, ready or not.
In the 10 months since she won her fourth Grand Slam title, the dominant figure in her sport struggled on the court and took two lengthy breaks from it, including a four-month layoff during which she questioned what she wanted from tennis.
“I was just sitting in my house wondering, what do I want to do in the future?” she said.
Yesterday, Osaka won her first-round match at the Australian Open — the site of her last major victory. Her next match is tomorrow against Madison Brengle of the U.S.
In other sports news, artificial intelligence is radically remaking poker, and Norwegian triathletes are remaking their sport with big data.
8. Scholars doubt a new theory of Anne Frank’s betrayal.
A new book, “The Betrayal of Anne Frank,” made headlines this week after naming a Jewish notary, Arnold van den Bergh, as a suspect. But many experts said they doubted the book’s theory.
The suspect wasn’t new to historians. Anne’s father received an anonymous note that said van den Bergh had alerted the Nazis to their hide-out. The book, which is based on a six-year investigation by about two dozen researchers, claims that van den Bergh had a list of Jews in hiding that he got from the Amsterdam Jewish Council, but critics questioned the validity of the evidence.
“They came up with new information that needs to be investigated further, but there’s absolutely no basis for a conclusion,” said Ronald Leopold, the Anne Frank House’s executive director. Here’s The Times’s review.
In related news, the Nazi role in antiquities looting is drawing attention as scholars peel back the mysteries of what happened to objects that were excavated or seized eight decades ago.
9. America’s next great restaurants are in the suburbs.
From 2010 to 2020, the number of Americans living in suburbs grew by 10.5 percent. It’s an increasingly affluent and diverse demographic, driven by millennials who have brought an urban feel to many suburbs.
Many of the most exciting suburban restaurants have been opened by smaller-scale entrepreneurs taking a considerable risk. There’s less competition and lower rents, but local governments are often less equipped to support independent restaurants.
And while big-city suburbs are globalizing, there are still adjustments to be made. “We have to adapt quite a bit with the flavor sometimes,” said the owner of a Malaysian restaurant and a Vietnamese diner near Houston. “Like shrimp paste — we have to back it off a little bit, not make it too funky.”
10. And finally, a beached barge sparks joy.
In November, a fierce rainstorm ripped a barge from its moorings and deposited it near a park in Vancouver. For months, efforts to free it have failed — but residents aren’t complaining.
Instead, it’s become both a popular sightseeing spot and meme. One man proposed to his fiancé in front of it. The city’s Park Board erected a temporary “Barge Chilling Beach” sign.
“I think it’s just something we needed right now, just to give us a laugh in a dark time,” one resident said.
Have a grounded evening.
Angela Jimenez compiled photos for this briefing.
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